#really nice pacing and dialogue and acting

[tinesleftnipple]

the duality of man is wei qian fist fighting one on six and succeeding but also going weak in the knees from yuan kissing him

[incorrect-riordanverse]

watched ep 3 & 4 of the pjo show. here are random thoughts:

ep 3

ive said before that ive put off watching the pjo show after episode 2 because the pacing seemed like a rush of getting from story checkpoint to story checkpoint and it never sat in one place long enough to actually grip me. episode 3 started off like that too, before the trio went on the quest. i only started to really like it when they were on the bus together and more of their dynamic was shining. theyre so funny bru.

i like all the acting but leah jeffries and aryan simhadri are CARRYING SO HARD. its like they took annabeth exactly how i imagined her out of my head and plopped her on screen and im so shocked at the accuracy??? her attitude and side eyes and sass is perf. and simhadri’s grover is insane because (dont come for me) i actually like the show version of him better than i did in the book 😭 perhaps reading him was rocky and i interpreted him wrong but seeing him on screen makes me SO attached to him. like in the books he always seemed like a sort of third wheel and annabeth and percy were outshining him so much but he’s actually slaying the show. i love him lots.

i like the dichotomy between percy and annabeth. their dynamic is already so juicy, especially with how they view both their godly and mortal parents. you can see some of their fatal flaws already shining through UGH i love them

i like medusa WAY more in the show. she seems so menacing yet classy and much more multifaceted. my only complaint was that she died way too quickly. there was so much build up in tension only for her to get one-tapped and it was honestly disappointing.

LIN MANUEL MIRANDA SPOTTED 🫵🫵

dialogue was great in this episode, btw.

ep 4

dream sequence went so hard -> “just breathe mummy ☺️ you’ll always be here 😁” *cuts to percy alone on a desolate plane where she is, in fact, not here*

sighhh sometimes i forget these kids are just twelve and theyre literal BABIES and percy just misses his mum 🙁

annabeth exposition time. a comment on all the exposition— there’s always something each episode but i think the show is doing a well enough job of not dumping everything in a way thats spoon-feedy to audience or in a way that makes viewers feel overwhelmed. theyre breaking information up nicely (imo).

echidna is slaying so hard. sorry but the villains are actually eating the whole dish up. mwah no balls.

its giving “im not a monster, im a mother” 🔥

fight scene annoyed me again but at least the mother of all monsters wasn’t ONE TAPPED. but i was annoyed because the monster was not thrashing him around as much as it had the opportunity to and it was giving plot armour im so sorry. might be cause of budget or target audience/rating though idk. the commentary of the show seems more mature however.

anyways yurr those are my observations. i like these last two eps more than the first two so maybe i should let this series cook.

remember to pirate this show if ur gonna watch it!!

[bookandanimelover312]

Ok so I have a lot of thoughts about this first episode: Beware spoilers

Things I liked

I really liked the beginning narration with Cregan, it was really nice to see Winterfell again.

The way Rhaenys put Daemon in his place, great bit of acting because you can feel the familial relationship between them. Also Rhaenys explaining her grief over Laena was really emotional.

Rhaenyra searching for Luke’s remains was great. Congrats to Emma for their acting, they managed to emote so much without any lines. Rhaenyra’s yell mixing with Syrax made me tear up a little bit.

Alicent lighting a candle for the dead mix with Luke’s funeral also was awesome. You can really feel the grief of all the characters in that scene.

Overall I think the scenes with the blacks were the best part of the episode because they really went with show don’t tell. We could feel the emotions of the characters without it being explained in a condescending manner to the audience ( something I feel season one did way to much of the time) they also didn’t rushed through these scenes so I think it contributed to my enjoyment of them.

What I didn’t like

Personally I feel like the scenes of the greens felt way to rush both in the dialogue and the pacing in which they were shot. One second Aegon is bursting in the looking for Jaeherys the next he goes to the small council, the next he is talking to Larys.

Yeah Otto is still a piece of shit. No more comments on that.

Ok WTF is up with Criston and Alicent hooking up? I have really mix feelings about this. On one hand I love that Alicent is exploring her sexuality after spending her life chained Viserys and then being SA by Larys buuuuut in terms of narrative I feel that it is extremely out of character for both Alicent and Criston. My take on Criston is that he condemns Rhaenyra for her enjoying her sexuality and “lack” of morals. That scenes in S1 where Alicent offer him redemption is him equating her with what he thinks a pious and moral woman should be. So him breaking his kingsguard vows (again) to sleep with him when his so called honor it’s his now defining trait feels like a very odd choice.

Now Alicent is defined by her obedience of her father, her husband and society’s rules. So as I mentioned before I really like the idea of her exploring her pleasure and sexuality and it makes to choose Criston because she feels safe with him. However I feel that this decision contradicts her core values installed by the seven about sex and her image as the dutiful queen and daughter. I can be onboard with this decision IF the writers managed to address this conflict within her which I honestly doubt.

About blood and cheese

Ok so my expectations of this scene where pretty great not gonna lie. Mainly because of the build up during the press tour ( it’s gonna bigger and more shocking that the red wedding!!!!!) and because we have already seen this in the animated shorts (Michelle Fairly is perfect voice narrator for this bit)

I really liked the idea blood and cheese being sent for Aemond but stumbling upon Heleana and the twins. Many people from what I seen are critiquing Phia’s acting but I actually like it, I totally think this is how Tv!Heleana would react to this situation since she has never been a loud person.

However I think we needed more episodes to get to know her and the twins, the writers seriously missed that the reason the red wedding shook us was because we loved those characters after following their journey for three seasons we were invested in their survival and their death was harrowing because of it not because of the gore.

Also I don’t think the lack of maelor makes Heleana’s choice any less horrible. So those people can shut up, she is still being forced to choose with child to save or let them all die.

I REALLY hated the fact she interrupted Alicent and Criston having sex, it felt more for shock value than anything else. For me it would been better it she came across Aegon and Aemond you know the two people directly related to the murder. One because Aegon is the father and two it’s Aemonds fault that blood and cheese where there in the first place.

Overall I didn’t love these episode but I didn’t hate it, it just felt underwhelming for the start of the season. But I’m not discarding it as of now.

Also the new intro is cool.

[shrimshrim4fun]

Dating Headcanons for Sanhua

Note- I tried my best. I skipped some of her dialogue and I regret it 😭 Anybody wanna friend me, I’m lonely 😞

SFW

- Doberman energy. She follows you everywhere you go. She once cut up a thorn bush to shreds because you accidentally grazed it. But from her words Anything can be a threat to you but you can trust her. She likes to keep you close so she can better protect you in any occasion. Sometimes it can be a bit overbearing at times of how she lingers over you.

- She isn’t the best at showing affection but in public she’ll have a hand around your waist or link pinkies with you.

- She listens to EVERYTHING you say. And I mean it. She’s not much talkative but she listens. Even the small small things you say, she remembers. And from those things you say, she’ll decide what gifts to give you.

- She also remembers every holiday you celebrate, your birthday, and your siblings birthday if you have any.

- Likes pressing kisses along your knuckles or inside your wrist. And like it when you press kisses onto her cheek or head even though she’s too embarrassed to admit it.

- Big spoon. She likes to feel you in her hands as you guys cuddle. But sometimes she likes to little spoon.

- Acts of service is her biggest way to express love due to her not being able to express herself very well with words.

NSFW

-Not really NSFW but gets really flushed if you hook a finger on her dress thingy and tug it slightly. I don’t know how to call it and I apologize.

- If you wrap your arms around her waist and squeeze you’ll notice how sensitive her sides are to your touch. She’ll somewhat get red and ask what are you doing in a slight stuttered tone.

- She’s a service top. She’ll go at what pace you ask for anything you want she’ll do. And she’ll try out anything you want to.

- Her chest is the perfect combination between firm and soft. Is very nice to nuzzle into. Trust me on this one 👍

- Pet play. Strap a muzzle over her as she pounds you from behind. Also a custom collar made just for her while you pull the leash if she goes too fast. Call her a good girl and she’ll be even more eager to please you.

- The best punishment is to grind against her abs and she’s not allowed to touch you. Her hands are griping the handles of the chair as your slick drips down her side.

[crowcaws]

Wyll's not boring he just got shafted outta a really good man vs self storyline after killing Karlach where he could've lost his humanity after choosing to believe in a lie or fought a path to redeem himself by his own standards. Wyll has nothing to prove to anyone but himself and the idea of him losing faith in himself because of a passing act of human folly would've been so good but instead we got- "I defied a demon and did the right thing but I'm gonna be upset because I no longer look the the part of the hero but ope that's only one cutscene daddy issues instead" LIKE WYLL you're literally the most stable, sane and sexy person here I need you to grow or regress with the story your too perfect for my gremlin ass Tav. (He's so painfully out of everyones league it hurts like it's actually a problem that he's the only functional adult, like it's a stereotype he's the token support and he deserves a bit more than that )

Hello to you too anon 🤣 I pretty much agree with you, Wyll does have the weakest storyline when you put him next to all the other main six. Someone was going to have to wear that crown.

However I maintain that he's still a funny dude with a lot more pinache than people give him credit for -- and I think there's still a fair bit to his story that gets overlooked or dismissed by the fandom in general, based on what they wished/hoped it would be, instead of appreciating what it actually was.

Wyll's arc is the opposite to most of the other cast like Gale, Astarion, Shadowheart. All of them are faced with changing themselves and growing into different people throughout the story. Wyll's influence is the opposite: He has to fight to maintain who he is, when a very real force of evil is manipulating him into doing things that are unthinkable to him morally. If he kills Karlach, he loses himself. If he doesn't re-sign the contract, he loses his father, and Mizora makes it clear the blame will be on him, and he loses his reputation -- which he relies upon in order for the people of the Sword Coast to recognise and accept his help when he offers it. He could lose his father all over again. Constantly he's pushed into positions where he has to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders, and must maintain his integrity through it without angering Mizora, who will kill him if he steps too far out of line.

All his life he's had to make the tough choices and shoulder the consequences alone and unsung. He saved Baldur's Gate at sixteen years of age and was never allowed to tell anyone, and has been burdened with the devil because of it ever since. He lost his home. And the first thing he tells Tav is that he doesn't regret that for a second. He is the kind of person to take a bullet, and Mizora keeps trying to force him to be the one to pull the trigger.

I, personally, think that's interesting enough and a change of pace from the other three or four character arcs that are more of the "do you want to be nice and friendly, or an ambitious/aggressive/murderous wank?" variety. And to Wyll's credit, his personal quest has a way more to do with the overall plot of the game than Gale's and Astarion's do. (For the record I am absolutely a Gale and Astarion girlie so no hate)

Again, Wyll's still the weakest of the six, but one of them had to be. There are things I love about all of the main character arcs, and things I would change. And Wyll's still leagues ahead of Halsin, whose personal quest feels tacked on to a plot that seemed like it would have happened anyway without his input. I still hope that one day we get some bridging dialogue or updates in future patches that make Wyll's arc a little bit more impactful and cohesive. I would also love if they added a bit more banter/more scenes with Karlach and Wyll becoming friends and bonding.

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

boom-squirrel replied:

Okay, I'm curious... if Teadpoled-Isobel-strikes-back™, who's the one in Last Light sustaining the shield??? oO Doppelganger?!

Hahah, well, that's obviously one of the moments when modded playthroughs like this one take a bunch of suspension of disbelief.

I call this one "The Duality of Isobel".

My justification and vague storyline idea for this HM run was that an abducted tadpoled Isobel from around the end of Act 2 ends up back on the nautiloid, via a timely divine intervention or some such brand of shenanigans (Selûne? maybe? or something altogether more sinister?). And now she is on a big mission to fix everything.

But honestly, if you could find an excuse for Jaheira and the Last Light bunch surviving without Isobel there to establish the haven so Act 2 can still work vaguely similarly, I think Isobel would be a really, really awesome origin with interesting ties into the narrative. Kicking off with her resurrection, running away from Ketheric, and ending up abducted and tadpoled on the nautiloid with the others instead of at the inn. Maybe some amnesia thrown in there to keep some of the mystique of Ketheric's storyline for the player and pacing out the reveals (a la Durge).

This is also a killer idea for some AU fanfic, I will note.

Also part of my romance pick considerations, beyond, you know, just me wanting to play out one I haven't done yet (hence no Shadowheart, I'm aware she is the obvious choice here). NPC Isobel and Aylin will of course get their beautifully touching reunion and live as happily ever after as I can manage, Honour Mode permitting (knock on wood, so far it has been), but my PC Isobel will ultimately want and need to basically leave Faerûn. So I felt it would be fitting to have her go off dragon riding with Lae'zel and have various astral (mis)adventures. Visit the actual Tears of Selûne and all, it's super Meaningful. And having Lae'zel going from constantly ragging on Isobel for being weak and soft-hearted - with me pointedly picking every single Aggressively Compassionate Selûnite Cleric dialogue option in her presence, while also showing flashes of that Isobel-brand Steel that is very much there - to finally becoming open to the very idea of tenderness and being protected is a very nice arc, I think.

I have committed severe overthinking of everything mentioned above. Now, for the Aylin playthrough I have no explanation whatsoever beyond the lethal combination of "I felt like it" with "big lady pretty" and a truly unconquerable addiction to playing paladins.

[thankskenpenders]

Sonic Prime!

The first eight episodes of Sonic Prime are out! I've been busy for obvious reasons this past week (I kinda released a video game), but I've now seen all eight episodes, and as such can give more structured thoughts on them.

Overall: pretty good! I like it! ...But it's not 100% there yet for me. In the spirit of Festivus, I'm here to air my grievances.

Let's start with one of the highest points. First and foremost, this show looks great. We FINALLY have a Sonic cartoon that actually looks like the games with no asterisks attached, even across multiple wildly different AUs. And everything from small acting choices to big, bombastic fight scenes is a joy to watch in motion thanks to the fluid, expressive, fast-paced movement, with characters pleasantly squashing and stretching in fun ways. It's so fun literally to just watch Sonic's face move in dialogue scenes. God, I wish the cutscenes in Frontiers had animation this good. I get why they don't, but still.

And those action sequences! Man, some of these are the most fun fight scenes in any Sonic cartoon ever, period. Lots of great shot choices, a good mix of recognizable moves from the games combined with new ones and improvisations, I could go on and on. The shot of Sonic leaping backwards down that long stairwell, only for the camera to pan around beneath him and show his friends following suit? There's a reason why they put that in the trailer. It rules. This isn't the greatest action series ever - it still has your typical kids' action cartoon problem where the stakes rarely feel adequately high and you can turn your brain off during fight scenes - but it's fun to look at in a way that previous Sonic cartoons haven't always been.

Really, with how strong the presentation is, it's the writing that tends to let the show down in this first batch of episodes. The writing isn't even bad - there's some really cool stuff to latch onto, and I'm optimistic about them leaning more into what's interesting as the plot continues to develop. It's just... well, it's a Man of Action cartoon.

I'm going to nitpick a lot here, so I want it to be perfectly clear that I like Sonic Prime. I think it's a solid cartoon, and firmly on the high end of the Sonic cartoon spectrum. There's a lot that I'm into, and if someone told me it was their new favorite Sonic cartoon, I could absolutely see why. It mainly just has three things working against it:

It can't decide whether or not it actually wants to be wholeheartedly faithful to the games.

It was very clearly written to be a weekly TV show and not a Netflix show dumped in large batches.

The bar has been VERY high for Sonic content this year across every other medium.

Faithfulness to the games

As has been touted in interviews, Sonic Prime is actually canon to the games, and in many ways it's slavishly faithful to them. Which only makes it weirder when it isn't.

The thing that'll immediately stand out is the new voice cast they had to get because Canadian production laws blah blah blah. Now, they're all good here, particularly Deven Mack as Sonic. His take definitely sounds similar to previous takes on Sonic, but I think he manages to find a nice middle point between the youthful enthusiasm of movie Sonic and the more experienced heroics of game/IDW Sonic. He's great. And not to knock Cindy's performances, but I think Shannon Chan-Kent's voice might actually fit Amy just a liiiiittle better here. But the problem is it gets harder to view this as the regular game cast and alternate timeline versions of them when everyone always sounds a little off. Knuckles in particular is really weird because his AU counterparts have a completely different voice actor, and neither particularly sounds like his current voice in the games. I have no idea why.

For another example, Green Hill is used as a setting in a cartoon for the first time ever, and it looks exactly how you remember it. Cool! But it's also framed as the place where Sonic and all of his friends live 24/7, which has never, ever been true in the games. Even Knuckles is here with no explanation for why he isn't guarding the Master Emerald. (One might think that not drawing attention to Knuckles' job allows the writers to just pretend it doesn't exist, similar to what Sega does in many games, but then we get a literal 16-bit flashback to him guarding the Master Emerald in Hidden Palace.)

This would be a totally fine concession if this show was just doing its own thing like every other Sonic cartoon. The different universes are all different bad timelines for Green Hill, with Sonic spotting the unique iconography of the level buried beneath whatever's taken over South Island this time - a smog-filled Eggman city, an overgrown jungle, an abnormally high sea level - to drive home how wrong the AUs are. It also explains why Sonic can always find the AU versions of his friends in Green Hill, and it probably cut down on the number of sets they had to model. But because it is canon to the games, things like this distract me as a hopeless Sonic nerd. It also leads to some repetitive dialogue in the first few episodes as characters constantly comment on the presence or lack thereof of palm trees, because their only reference for what the world is supposed to look like is Green Hill.

Rings are also treated as a minor plot point early on to incorporate another thing from the games, as Sonic is late for the big battle against Eggman because he was off collecting extra rings. But despite how often it's brought up in that context, they aren't actually a factor in the fight at all, and then rings are never seen again in the AUs.

Also Orbot and Cubot are in this in the regular universe and then we never see them again? Are they going to come back??

This extends beyond these pedantic nitpicks, though. To me, the worst offender of the show selectively choosing when to care about the source material is the dichotomy of the character writing in the alternate universes.

Every AU will have one or two takes on one of Sonic's friends (Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, and Big) who are The Interesting Ones, the spotlighted characters for each subplot. These are the ones that get actual character arcs, and they feel like they're written in conversation with their original game counterparts in interesting ways.

In the dystopian world, Tails is known as Nine, a cynical loner inventor who was never saved from his bullies and inspired to be a hero by Sonic - but who, when pushed, is still a good kid deep down. In the jungle world, Amy is the extremist Thorn Rose who rides around on a giant Flicky like it's a chocobo and prevents foragers from "stealing" from the forest, possibly riffing on her bond with the Flickies in SA1. She's still looking out for the little guy, she's just doing so at the expense of everyone else. And in the pirate world, Knuckles is the captain Dread Knuckles, who instead of diligently guarding a magic rock was a pirate obsessed with obtaining a magic rock, and who swore off of that quest (and fighting in general) after it cost him the trust of his original crew.

These characters and their interactions with Sonic are all fun - Nine in particular provided a lot of my favorite emotional moments so far - and it feels like it gets at why you would do a multiverse story like this in the first place. You get to examine the characters from other angles! It's just that then there's... the rest. Characters who aren't the focus will just kind of get inserted into roles as Man of Action rests on broad cartoon tropes instead of actually doing anything with the Sonic source material. The dystopia of New Yolk City feels like a good fit given the history of the franchise, but then the other two worlds we've seen so far rely largely on stock "tribal" tropes and pirates going yaarrrrr.

I'm biased, but the worst off here seems to be Rouge, who has yet to get her spotlight universe (assuming she gets one next). This really stings because she's spot on in the regular universe. She hasn't been retconned to be part of Team Sonic, she's invited herself over because she's got her eye on the Paradox Prism (even dropping in unannounced at Tails' workshop). She's got a bit of that playfulness that makes her so fun, and the animation is able to lean into it. But then you go to the other universes and it's all gone.

Pirate Rouge is pretty fun, I'll admit, but I'm shocked they don't play up her love of gems there. Rebel Rouge (yes that is her literal name, the other rebels call her Rebel) gets to be a spy with a fun dynamic with Knuckles at first, but it quickly devolves into her just being the serious, responsible girlboss leading the rebellion who acts as a straight man to Sonic's snark. In other words, she's a lot like... Sally? I hate making that comparison because SatAM/Archie fans have been derisively comparing literally every new female character in the franchise to Sally since the '90s, but it's really hard to shake. (Similarly, it's hard to shake comparisons to Bunnie and Mecha Sally with Rusty Rose, the evil cyborg version of Amy with extendable limbs.) And Rouge's jungle universe counterpart ("Prim Rouge") is also just kind of there as the no-nonsense leader of the tribe, similar to Rebel.

And it's in scenes revolving around the blander of the AU characters when I'm like... man, I kinda wish they'd just made a show about the regular game universe without having to watch Man of Action bust out the pirate joke book and write the dollar store version of Princess Mononoke. I want to spend more time with the actual characters. Because they nailed the tiny glimpses of the game world that we got. This isn't a constant thought I have - again, I like the show, and the major AU characters are cool, and I like seeing new things be done with Sonic. But I'd be lying if I said I never wished the show had gone a different way. My perfect Sonic cartoon continues to elude me...

Story construction

Let's back up a bit and describe the basic premise. On the regular version of Sonic's Earth, things are business as usual, although Sonic seems to be getting a little too cocky and taking his friends for granted. During a fight with Eggman, Sonic accidentally shatters our new macguffin, the Paradox Prism, creating a series of new bad timelines in which he never existed. In that way, I might almost compare it to a multiverse-hopping adventure version of It's A Wonderful Life. A pretty solid emotional throughline to give the show a little more heft. In each of these worlds, Sonic helps set things right with the alternate versions of his friends and finds another shard of the Paradox Prism in an attempt to restore his world. He also usually faces off with the Chaos Council, a team of five alternate Eggmen who are all different ages.

Beyond the fact that there are like five versions of most characters, it's not THAT complicated, especially in a time when damn near everything in pop culture is doing multiverse shenanigans. Which is why it's frustrating that the script seems to think it's fucking House of Leaves.

For the first few episodes, Sonic has a VERY hard time grasping the fact that he's in an alternate universe. This is to be expected to some extent - Sonic is our point of view character through all of this, and it's a kids' show, so he's got to go through a process of figuring things out so that it can be explained to the kids at home. The problem is that it takes him damn near the entire first mini-arc in New Yolk City to figure it out, which starts to come off as insulting and leads to EXTREMELY repetitive dialogue where Sonic wonders why his friends don't remember him and where all the palm trees went. You'd think that by the time Nine explains that his personal history is completely different from how Sonic remembers his time with Tails he'd get a clue, but no, not really. He continues to meet alternate versions of his friends, stubbornly refer to them with their original names, and wonder why no one remembers their previous adventures together. This then somehow even continues into the second universe, the jungle one, where he somehow thinks he's still in New Yolk City and wonders why the cyberpunk rebel versions of his friends are all covered in leaves and wielding spears now. Thankfully, by the time he reaches the pirate world Sonic finally gets a clue, so this isn't a pattern that's going to continue. But it does make the first few episodes a drag.

This, the many recaps, and the out-of-order presentation of scenes back in Green Hill so that they can have a flashback to the regular universe in every episode for context really make it clear that this series was written for TV, not for Netflix. It's assuming that every single episode is going to be some 7-year-old's first episode and that they need to have everything explained again. I'd probably be a bit more sympathetic towards this repetitive, patronizing writing if it actually was airing on Cartoon Network, rather than being a Netflix show where they're dropping eight episodes at a time.

Stiff competition

This is the least fair of my complaints, but I gotta say it. As solid as Sonic Prime is for the most part, it looks worse at the tail end of a year when we've been FEASTING as Sonic fans.

We got a movie sequel that pivoted HARD into game elements, giving us both really great takes on the characters and interesting remixes of old ideas. The IDW comics are still going as strong as ever, with the continually compelling arc of new villains Surge and Kit and now the wildly inventive and downright beautiful to look at Scrapnik Island. And, of course, we got Frontiers, a return to form for the series that adapts it to a semi-open world with the best and most interesting story we've had in god knows how many years.

And then we've got Sonic Prime, a pretty good cartoon that between fun action scenes and interesting story ideas frequently relies on genre pastiches that were tired 30 years ago and jokes that aren't particularly funny.

I think reading Scrapnik Island #3 really put this into perspective for me. Which, again, isn't fair. The comics target older kids and are ALWAYS heavily tied to established continuity, and a comic miniseries can afford to go way more niche than a Netflix show. But Scrapnik is just doing such amazing and original things, bringing back long-forgotten elements of the games and recontextualizing them in fascinating ways. That mix of both the heartwarming sight of the Scrapniks finding happiness in their new lives and the EXTREMELY atmospheric horror aboard the ruins of the Death Egg. It rules! It takes elements hardcore fans wanted to see again and tells a totally new story with them that's unlike anything we've seen before in the franchise. It's really, really hard for "what if Knuckles was a pirate" to compete with that.

But we're still early in Prime. Things are getting more interesting over time, with Sonic acclimating to the dimension hopping and more crossover between the different universes. Nine discovering a completely dead, empty world and wanting to start from scratch there was also really interesting, and I'm curious if that goes anywhere. Again, I've been nitpicking a lot, but the show is pretty good and I've enjoyed my time with it overall. I just don't quite think it's 100% there yet. But I definitely think it could get there within the next 16 episodes.

Misc thoughts

Rouge sleeping like an actual bat is cute.

I like that the environmental themes of the series are such a big focus here! They fall to the wayside too often

I like that the AU characters have different names for the sake of telling them apart, but some of them are pretty bad (the aforementioned Rebel Rouge) while others I just don't get. Why is the old man Eggman named Dr. Done It? Why is the teenage one Dr. Don't?

I thought the scene where Sonic was trying to talk to the New Yolk City crew after a battle and they had to keep ducking under a laser that was still slowly circling the room was funny

The new shoes and gloves are ugly and I think it's really contrived that they magically transform into the perfect tools for every new universe

Between this and Frontiers it's becoming a pattern that Tails and Knuckles can get explicit flashbacks to previous games to highlight their histories with Sonic, while Amy can't. I don't know what to make of this

Thorn is pretty good overall but I do think the flashback depicting her as just randomly snapping one day when her friends pick one too many berries is so hokey that it wraps around to being kinda funny

I've neglected to mention Shadow, but I like him okay in this. It's definitely modern Shadow, but I think "hardass, no-nonsense rival who thinks Sonic is an idiot who acts without thinking and thus wants to kick his ass" is a decent place for Shadow to be in, compared to just The Vegeta, even if it's not my favorite version of the character. I'm curious to see what his role is in the rest of the show, especially given the cliffhanger, and hope he's able to work together with Sonic instead of just being a pissed off antagonist the whole time.

I hate baby Eggman

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - a new #1 for me from Thailand

Nov 2022 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) 1&2 of 11 - Apparently VIPs get the next episode early. So I watched both. It’s a good story and a great set up and it opens with one of my favorite under appreciated Thai actors: Plustor (as Vee) in a side bartender romance with younger Game. Sunshine bisexual himbo + older tsundere = YES! Gimme! Main character, Mum, is your bog-standard player. (I weirdly love how they translate clubs & bars as “pub” in Thailand - and yes, I get that it ties to the history of the area.) Kinda fun street fight. NO SINGING. Game is BL’s new bisexual king! I will brook no arguments on this matter. Omg kisses already? This is a well paced story! OhmFluke man, can’t knock the visuals, their eye connection and sympathetic chemistry work is good. I never believe they wanna bone but I do believe them falling in love. ALL HAIL QUEEN MINT. 

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 4 of 12 - This is such a fantastic show. I’m so glad they got OhmFluke back to play sides and support roles, it’s really making the found family aspect shine, especially in contrast to Win’s real family. This one is very complicated and deep and kind of modern. Very much the opposite of UWMA but in a good way. WATCH ALONG HERE.

My School President (Fri YT) 1 of 10 - it’s Love Sick + Korea and Japan's influence. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but this is me: I never met a high school BL I didn’t want to grant a fair shake. At the very start we get self with a whistle and NO SINGING. Yay! Fantastic beginning. Our tiny music club president/idiot is definitely giving me Noh vibes & our suave student president definitely giving me Phun vibes - bonus this time no girlfriends! It moves this out of Love Sick arena, which was all chaos bisexuals, and into just completely gay. I’m happy with that and I like the dancing and the marriage on his mind. New candidates for one braincell friendship group from GMMTV (they love this archetype). Tinn is already pining and so completely gone. On a completely different aside, I really want a lesbian romance between Gun’s maa and the principle. I have a tiny ship sailing off to one side. 

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI)10 of 12 - holy crumbs outta nowhere, Batman. Lots of relationship chat not enough shirtlessness, but since I’ve been binging Oh! My Sunshine Showering Night it’s no problemo. Also yes, Nahi does look and act a lot like Joanan, Ai totally ended up dating his mother. 

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 8 of 12 - Champ’s storyline is dull, although I like the actor. Yay, JaFirst got together!! Cute line, “can we skip being friends and just be in love instead?” LOVE THEM. Please can we take Mean out of that wig now? Why are the straight’s so boring? The Name stuff continues to upset me. 

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) 3 of 12 - When these two are sweet together, they are really very sweet and I actually kind of like it. I think Noey uses ter because he’s younger, and doesn’t want to use phi. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Fri Viki) 9 of 12 - while 609 and Between Us are v good, this is currently my favorite BL airing by a mile. The conversation between the young one and the bar owner made me hoot with laughter. “Are you trying to speak the language of adults?” probably one of the BL’s best put-downs. All the dialogue really: “Are you gonna make him tie himself in a red bow and send himself to you?“ “That’s nice. Can I choose another color?” It’s so fucking cute. The courting with food, and everybody taking photographs of how happy the dentist is. I can’t even with this show. Add the cutest smiles kisses, this is GREAT. I did in fact clap. 

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry Tues YT) 9 of 11 - Man, this show really makes me laugh so hard. Especially the cat character. I love how they called out the fact that they actually have customers for a change. Jealous Milk made me cackle so hard it scared the actual cat on my lap. How are they going to end this happy? In Strongberry we trust. Just repeat the mantra ABL, just keep repeating it. 

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan Thurs Gaga) 7 of 8 - It takes me a lot to work up the courage to watch this show on Fridays. It’s so sad and traumatizing. But it’s also so good I can’t stop. I have to watch Tooth on either side of it to comfort myself. All that to say, it’s as we all expect: Michan is holding so hard onto Koichi that he has anchored him from death through shear force of will. Also… SWITCHES? Although, does it count if it’s necrophilia? Asking for a friend. 

Oh! My Assistant (Korea Thurs Viki) 1-2 of 8 - This has a very JBL feel (including the title), don’t get mad if I get confused. Anygay, this is a very silly show that acts like it comes from a very silly yaoi. Out gay younger seme (we stan) pretending to be tsundere is smitten by chaos bi uke puppy. And they gave us a very interesting new take on crash into me. It’s racy but in that way Korean does racy, like Love & Leashes. Cheeky racy. 

Happy Ending Romance (Korea Thurs Gaga) 3-4 of 8 - This is such a complicated show about profession, ego, reputation, safety, and trust, but not much about romance. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to Leo portraying evil (see most of his guest MV’s and half of VIXX’s) but I can’t trust his character, and I’m not sure if I’m meant to. Is that the romance? Or is this a romance about an editor’s love for a writer’s work? Or for the writer himself? And is there a difference? Meanwhile, I’m getting a bad feeling about the ending of this one. And yet... How much did I love the dialogue around love and possession? So much. 

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y (Thai Gaga) 20 eps - it’s just all too much for me.

2 Moons 3 (Thai Mon ??) 10 eps - Possibly a future binge watch. Rumor is it’s banal.

Love Bill  (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising stuff going on. I’ll wait and binge.

The Star Always Follow You (Vietnam YT) - same Team RL peeps we have seen before (Sunshine, Stupid) 

Till the World Ends (Thai YT) 10 eps - ?

Why You... Y Me? (Thai Weds YT) 10 eps - It's not primarily a BL, but another meta show about BL shipping, with side BLs. @heretherebedork is watching it, ask them about it. 

In Case You Missed It

To Sir With Love AKA Khun Chai (16 eps) seems to have ended HAPPY! This is a soap opera so next time I have a day off I may binge and trash watch.

GAP the series (Sat YT) is a classic office set romance. WATCH IT! It’s GL and this studio needs our support! I’m enjoying it but not chronicling my journey. (Also, the stairs are back!)

I decided to binge watch Oh! My Sunshine Showering Night. What a wild ride. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Dec 9: Semantic Error movie (Viki) - the repackage, rumored to have some added footage

2022 still to come?

Dec 19: Chains of Heart (movie? theaters?) trailer Suspense thriller about a forest ranger, smugglers, memory loss, and lost love. Stars Haii (Cirrus in TT2) and Poppy (Porpla in YYY). Adapted from a Y-novel of the same name by TJ Tommy. I don’t know if this is still releasing or if C19 impacted it. Delayed until Feb 2023.

This Week’s Crimes Against Fashion

Between Us punishing their crumbs. 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I LOVE HIM. (609) 

I love them! (Between Us). 

Magic crumbs (Ai Long Nhai) 

Truth (Ai Long Nhai) 

Cats.

Me.

Also me. 

(last week) 

[always-outlander]

Outlander 7x01 Thoughts & Easter Eggs

Feel free to look below the cut, spoilers ahead!

First episodes are always interesting in that they have so much hype because the fans are starved for new episodes, but they rarely do more than set the table for the rest of the season. A hard thing to juggle and be able to hold peoples attention while also jamming a lot of context clues in there. I think overall this one served its purpose and I felt like it was a wise decision for there to not be a time jump between the last episode of season 6.

That said, we all need to keep in mind the parameters of season 7 going into the rest of the episodes of this first half. The first 4 episodes of season 7 were supposed to be a part of season 6. Then the rest of season 7 was filmed with the creators not knowing if they would be given a season 8, so they jammed 3 books worth of content into it. I don’t know about everyone else, but I certainly felt that pacing and quicker speed in this first episode. With a show and book series which historically takes forever for storylines and payoffs to come to fruition, it’s hard not to feel that change.

Opening scene and “vision” (? Or is it just a thought Jamie has?) of Claire being sentenced was impactful, excellent acting once again by Caitriona. I thought the internal monologue of Jamie knowing she’s not dead was lovely and a smart way to call back their vows. He does so twice in this episode.

Bree & Roger

Bree and Roger are such dweebs and their endless use of puns and 20th century references cracks me up. That said, if they keep it up I’ll get annoyed, sometimes it feels like a cop out for better dialogue and gives the impression that these two never share serious conversations between them. I understand their dynamic is different than Jamie and Claire’s, but there is a fear that the writers are solely using their conversations as the comedic relief points in the show.

Rogers preaching leads him to Indigo Donner (the actor is perfect, he’s a sneaky snake). The fact that Roger may likely have something to do with his escape is the ultimate irony. Especially given the time taken to find the date of the house burning in the future, and that he and Bree came back to try and avoid it.

Claire

Claire’s scenes in the jail cell are great, and the women in the jail were excellent character actors, especially Sadie. When Jamie and Young Ian finally reach the jail we see our first glimpse of vengeful Jamie and while I do sometimes get frustrated with Sam’s use of a furrowed brow, his anger and reactionary body langue is still in line with young Jamie. The continuity of the character has always been impressive to me, right down to his little finger movements and facial twitches.

Claire being a healer in action was so nice to see again, I feel like it’s been a while since she’s been actively healing others. Just like the books, her skills have granted her a literal get out of jail free card.

It may just be me, but I do feel like Claire is now capable of doing some bad things and has a bit more mischief in her eyes in her old age. Jamie is still a hot head willing to break every rule to protect Claire, and her moral compass is the only thing that keeps him in line. But the older she gets, the more Jamie’s willingness to bend the rules is rubbing off on her, and I really love that we don’t always know exactly how Claire is going to react anymore. She’s got a poker face now, and it makes her far more interesting to watch.

Major McDonald on board the ship is from the books but it’s also a great scene to help move the plot along. Governor Martin was a real historical figure and the actor who plays him is another great character actor. Forcing Jamie to gather men for the revolution and pick a side has been the trend of the last 3 seasons so it comes as no surprise that he’s once again being forced to swear loyalties to the crown (and finding a way out of it).

Tom Christie

Mark Lewis Jones as Tom Christie is a wonderful casting. He’s such a strong actor and his portrayal of Tom’s (very unfortunate) unrequited love is perfectly done. The scene where Tom tells Jamie his plan to free Claire was not shown in the books, just implied. Seeing that conversation was a perfect spot for Sam and Mark to wrap a bow around Tom Christie’s character and his relationship with Jamie. The callback of Jamie’s vow to Claire on their wedding night was also a very sweet bit of added dialogue. There are many moments where the show is able to add scenes and dialogue that seamlessly fit into the story, and this is one of them.

The way in which Tom was willing to lay his life aside for Claire was a beautiful thing. Jamie putting aside his pride to allow it was a big moment for him. I also loved the eulogy moment. Jamie giving Tom the eulogy he would have wanted and deserved was such a perfect way to close out their storyline.

The scene between Claire and Tom had so many lovely call backs to the books, and majority of the dialogue was straight from the text. The scene shed light on Tom’s brother, his wife, and the reasons Tom became the man he did. It also shed light on Malva’s upbringing and how that informed Tom’s shaping of his own motive.

Claire seeing through his lies actually reinforces why he fell in love with her. When he tells her that he loves her my heart broke for him, and for Claire. It’s not like she can do anything to persuade him, and she will never reciprocate. His life for hers is the ultimate sacrifice, and a debt she knows she cannot repay to him. I thought the acting of both Cait and Mark shined brightly in this scene.

Jamie

Jamie and Claire’s second reunion is cute, but this goes back to the timing issue I highlighted above. It feels off with all the abruptly cut scenes. In their first reunion, the two share a kiss and the scene immediately cuts to Jamie standing alone in the cabin with governor Martin. Then the second reunion, they meet on the docks and it immediately cuts to them laying in bed. You mean to tell me this man who just traveled for days and moved mountains to find his wife is given a literal peck of a reunion, then we skip their entire conversation and cut to them in bed hours later? It felt like they removed dialogue for the sake of run time and personally, I’d always prefer small talk with Claire and Jamie and a full two minutes of them staring into each others eyes than any B-Roll.

Third strange pacing and editing choice was when Jamie tells Claire to rest and she’s IMMEDIATELY asleep. It’s not even a minute later and he’s able to sneak out on her. At the very least they could have dimmed the lights and implied it has been an hour or so before he left.

But they redeemed themselves with the last scene between Jamie and Mr. Brown, that was great. Now that Jamie’s older and has greater responsibilities we see less of a fire in him. While his love for Claire is still strong, he’s not as reckless. But this scene shows the viewers that the fire is still very much alive in Jamie, along with his tactical mind. Having Ian go back to the ridge to implement his revenge was a great callback to young Jamie and his strengths. One of the best lines of dialogue in YEARS was:

“I’m also a violent man, any goodness that prevails in me is because of my wife. You tried to take her from me.”

THIS is what I hope we get loads of this season.

I’m optimistic after this first episode. Visually it was stunning as always, there was a lot of acting highlights for numerous characters, and the storyline and dialogue stayed true to the books when it needed to, and added more depth and context when necessary.

[jesncin]

My adventure with superman what is the positive and negative of this show

So these are just my feelings! (beware spoilers)

Thing I like: In ep 2 there's a scene where Clark and Jor-El have a confrontation. But because there's a language barrier between them, Jor-El has to communicate by showing Clark what he needs to know instead of telling. I think it's a really nice depiction of the cultural separation between the two. Too bad it was kinda ruined by the last episode where the Jor-El hologram starts speaking English and acts way too sentient for my liking. It cheapens the separation that i liked.

Things I dislike: Basically everything else? Woops! The plot is repetitive and generic, the conflict is always petty and melodramatic, the pacing is too fast, the dialogue is awful, the characters are watered down, the villains are bizarrely adapted and dull. For a show that takes major liberties with the lore of Superman, it manages to land on telling an uninspired and vanilla story with those changes. I've talked in depth over how white-washed the characters of color are, but it's related to how sanitized and unpolitical the show is. Just a major disappointment, coming from someone who was ready to like it.

[wine4thewin]

you’re so incredibly talented and i am in love with every inch of your work. with such phenomenal writing i’m extremely curious to know what your writing process is like and how you even come up with some of your plots/au’s in the first place. and have you made any hard or challenging writing/story choices as of late?? it’s such a treat to read your work and you’re so so so amazing.

☺️☺️☺️ I’m so utterly flattered, thank you x1000🥰 I’m glad my writing has been a source of entertainment!

My writing process has changed so much over the years and it’s always developing. I used to fly by the seat of my pants, but I realized that wasn’t what worked for me 😅 I couldn’t finish anything without a real plan!

~

Let’s start with ideas. That’s where things begin, right? I’ll be struck by a plot bunny or a character (usually spawned by a setting, like Zombie Apocalypse, Creepy Fairytale Vibes, Medieval Magic, Space Opera Horror, or Modern Very Dark Problematic Romance) and then I’ll try writing out a “book summary” to see if that idea might sound compelling. I think in terms of: what is the core drama, who is the main character, and who is their villain? (lol but make it enemies to lovers)

I want to know:

Where does this idea start? Why does a reader care?

Where is it taking us? What are turning points in the plot along the way?

How does it end?

✍️

I always think in terms of beginning middle end. 3 simple parts of an idea that make the idea a possible story. Sometimes, it takes me time to see the ending, so I start writing scenes to look deeper into the plot, waiting for an ‘aha’ moment.

I have written & completed massive fics just thinking in terms of 3 chapters. The starting drama, the middle crisis, and the final drama. Magically it grows from there as scenes appear 🤣 I think the 3 chapters is wishful thinking on my part.

~

It took me a few years to figure out I’ve always been a scene writer. This means I mentally work through a story in moments of time. I write out scenes that are important to me, even if they are completely out of order. It helps me shape the story as more scenes appear and I begin to place them in the beginning middle or end.

I sometimes outline in Excel, chapter by chapter. I notate time passing, what happens in each chapter, and what The Goal of each chapter is. I also try to incorporate character arcs. I do this mostly with my Original Fiction, because those are works upwards of 120,000 words.

If I outline in Word, I will bluntly write out a dry summary of what happens in the chapter and also any dialogue that I know off the bat is going to be critical. I mean, literally just write out what happens in each chapter in one doc. It feels strange, because you will want to elaborate, but this gets you writing without worrying about being perfect! Get the idea out there. The scene. The key moments. This helps find pace and purpose to each chapter. Every chapter must have a point!

Feelings: I want my reader to feel when they read. I will note in outlines what the goal is for the chapter, but also how people should feel. Are they disgusted by a choice the character has made? Or are they falling in love right alongside the character? Are they full of hate for the antagonist and whatever act they’ve just committed?

I consider the relationships and how they will change. Where they begin and how they end in the outline. I’m aggressive about seeing change in characters and their relationships…and it must make sense. I despise instant love and I hate when a morally grey character suddenly becomes a teddy bear after a few chapters and is “actually really nice” 🙄 That’s fake and unsatisfying. I will find ways to drag characters through emotional trials so that when they come together, the reader is like, “they feel like real people”.

I edit like crazy. Sometimes it takes hours. I will look at a chapter and determine if the emotional impact has been met or not. Does the change present look organic? Etc. very stressful shit and my eyes get so tired.

I will reiterate…there must be A Goal for each chapter. Do not ever write filler shit. No one likes it and you either lose readers or they skip it.

*

For inspiration and fun, I love finding pretty journals to use for anything that I want to work deeper on. This is for my original fiction. I’ll dedicate sections to a story and just work on what the story is about, who the characters are, dedicate entire pages to characters and their past, decorate everything with cool washi tapes and art stickers. I might draw out the rising drama diagram to visualize plot. I’ll even draw maps. It makes for a beautiful body of work to look back on and be like, ‘wow, I should go write that story!’

~

I like Masterclass for learning tips and tricks from different authors. For instance, I learned some interesting things from Neil Gaiman’s class a few years back that made such an impact. While I do not share the same writing process as NG at all, I took to heart a few key things:

*Dialogue & Voice: speak your lines of dialogue out loud. If it sounds unnatural, it’s probably something no person would say, therefore making your dialogue flat.

*Brainstorming: In your journal, write down everything you know about the story. Words. Places. Themes. Relationships. Symbols. Worldbuilding. Points of contention.

*“What happens next? And then what?”: Keep the reader turning the page. Do not write a chapter that does not keep your reader thinking. If it’s boring even to you, then you probably lost readers.

I always suggest at least doing a trial of Masterclass! There are so many great writers and you can find new ways of thinking just by listening to them. Some things are useful, some things aren’t. While I like Neil Gaiman’s class, I actually resonate with James Patterson far more, especially in process.

~

As for recent challenges, that usually revolves around my original fiction. I have projects I need to finish and I get distracted by writing fanfiction, which is fine because fanfiction is relaxing and less high stakes 🤣

As for fanfic, I have one project I’ve been stewing about doing and it’s something literally no one has asked for but me, so we’ll see if I ever post it lol. I had an ‘aha’ moment thinking about it last night. It was for the key turning point to reach an ending and it was diabolical. That character does not want me to bring them into the story, but oh well.

[redsbrainrot]

My Review on the Miraculous Movie

I’ve divided the review into sections with a final personal statement on it at the end. Spoilers ahead!!! Obviously.

Animation: 10/10

Absolutely gorgeous. Probably the most stunning animated film I’ve ever seen. The glow, the mist, the kwamis, the setting, fucking exceptional. Chloe’s hair especially was gorgeous. The sheer amount of detail that went into every frame is admirable. Everyone who worked on the animation deserves a massive raise.

Character Designs: 9/10

Of course most of the characters remained the same, besides the change in animation style. Like I mentioned above, I adored Chloe’s hair. Her dress at the end of the movie was also so glamorous. Marinette’s ladybug themed dress suited her so well, she looked beautiful.

The Mime and the Magician are also worth mentioning. Mime was so buff? Definitely gonna end up on thirst edits on TikTok. The magician too… very thicc…

Gabriel all disheveled waiting for Adrien to come home was so weird to see. But I liked it. His Hawkmoth suit as well was so refreshing. I couldn’t stand Shadowmoth and Monarch in seasons 4 and 5. Nice to see him again. The wings on the final fight too, mesmerising.

Emilie looked extremely different from her version in the show. I’m not sure which version I prefer. I loved her curly ponytail when she was on the stage.

Characters dialogue/actions: 6/10

Unfortunately I did have some problems with some of the minor behaviour changes in some of the characters. Specifically Adrien and Plagg. Plagg was funny in some parts (didn’t know Kwami’s could get gassy) but in others he was a bit of a dick? I can’t really explain it but there was just an off vibe with him.

Adrien also was slightly different. I actually loved seeing him stand up to Gabriel. Very much needed. I didn’t really like how distant he was with Marinette for most of the film. The Adrien we know and love from the series finds her awkwardness funny and I quote, “charming”. This was less so implied in the film. He was weirded out.

Chat Noir being extra cocky when he first met Ladybug was fucking hilarious though, I loved it. Made me giggle.

Pacing: 7/10

The pacing was mostly good… aside from the Adrienette scenes. They felt rushed. That’s all I really have to comment on this part. The film wasn’t slow though, which is a massive problem in the industry these days. I like how you were just thrown straight into it, no waiting around. As someone who zones out a fair bit, and very easily, I didn’t find the film drawn out.

Voice acting: 10/10

Exceptional. The voice actors never fail to disappoint. Especially Bryce Papenbrook and Keith Silverstein. Bryce singing “Cat Noir” in the Notre Dame scene was so funny.

And I’m sorry, Keith Silverstein’s fucking singing? I’m gonna dedicate a section to the singing but come on, worth mentioning here too.

The ending where he finds out his son is Chat Noir, made me sob. It was so well animated and acted, that I was uncontrollably sobbing.

Christina Vee also never fails to amaze me.

Chloe did sound different in this film, but it was somewhat refreshing. Her tone was less whiney like it became in season 4 and 5 of the show (I blame the writing for that though).

Songs/Singing: 7/10

I feel slightly conflicted on this subject.

Yes, the singing is good. The songs didn’t make me cringe like most musicals do. Will definitely be listening to Hawkmoth’s song again.

However… the drastic change between Marinette’s dialogue and her singing was hard to take seriously. I wish they voice matched her a little better. Adrien’s sounded different too, but it was more believable than Marinette’s. I had Monster High flashbacks from …that… film.

ANYWAY Keith FUCKING Silverstein? My jaw DROPPED. Fucking amazing.

Same with Tikki! Her singing parts were so enjoyable.

Story: 8/10

Overall, the story is good. There are some tweaks I would personally make. But I definitely prefer Jeremy ZAG’s version over Astruc’s. While there are some beautiful plots and stories lurking about in Astruc’s version, if I had to choose, I would pick ZAG’s take on it.

I will make a likes and dislikes list on some of the changes.

Likes:

- Adrien actually says “my mum died”. In the show he always just says “disappeared” or “went away”. I’m not sure if that’s just some odd Disney censorship though. But in this version, he actually says she’s dead.

- Chloe. Just Chloe. She was kind of iconic. Wasn’t over the top like she is in the show.

- Subtle hints of Nino’s feelings for Alya. They weren’t completely subtle obviously, but I like the simplicity.

- Gabriel having a fucking bob, HAHAHSHAH.

- Emilie Agrest being a stage actor

- “Watermelon”.

- Plagg being gassy

- Adrien having balls and yelling at his dad

- The way the butterfly miraculous was portrayed

- Careless whisper

- Gabriel finding out his son his Chat Noir. Like, that is the best. His reaction was beautiful, in a way? I don’t like how in the show he got off basically scot-free, and never found out his son was the hero he was fighting against, and vice versa.

Dislikes:

- Marinette having 0 friends… not even Rose, Juleka and Mylene. Sick of the loser hero trope.

- Plagg being a little condescending towards Adrien

- Adrien rejecting Marinette after Ladybug rejected him - like bestie go for the opportunity to discover new things with someone else

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Felt like 7 was too low, but 8 was too high. Don’t get me wrong, I love this film. I’ve already watched it multiple times by the time I’ve written this. Now I look at films with two different perspectives: average viewer and critic. So my final ratings always have a fair balance. If the film has a good premise, I usually enjoy it. It’s the execution of it that really matters however.

I’ve always thought miraculous has a good premise. The execution in the show… is another review I can make. In the film, it’s certainly improved. Not perfect, but improved. What made the film so great came down to the animation, songs, and character interactions. The changes made impacted the film massively, and I love most of them.

The ending where Adrien and Marinette go to kiss and then it cuts to “the end” was very rage inducing. Personally I can’t stand those types of teasing. However the next scene with Nathalie, made up for that. Having the film end on sort of a cliffhanger was unexpected I must say. I knew they’d tease at Emilie being under the Agrest mansion, but not in the way they did. Plus, she was wearing the peacock miraculous. I loved that. Even with the reveal of identities they’ve still left room for a sequel. For this franchise, I don’t think a sequel to the movie will hurt. It can’t be nowhere near as messy as the series, as the film has already proved it is not.

To anyone, in or out of the fandom, I recommend you watch the film. Definitely worth it.

[gunkreads]

I sacked the fuck up and watched episode 1 of season 2.

Honestly? It's pretty good. I do agree with the incredibly well-considered and thorough commentary about how incredibly stupid it is to have Nynaeve train with a sword, not to mention how incongruous that scene felt within the show's canon and how pace-breaking it was, but besides that, it was honestly nice! Everyone and everything look(s) great. Acting is stellar as usual.

I definitely had an easier time forgetting to track book divergences than I did in S1, so the complete abandonment of canon was totally chill this time.

That said, there are a couple quick things:

Biggest gripe right up front, and one that is either going to sound INCREDIBLY stupid or VERY salient depending on what your priorities are when reading the books: the fights are too cool. I say this as a huge fan of wuxia, martial arts, and western action movies: I want less visually impressive fights. Jordan was the absolute reigning king of "violence is bad and stupid and scary and incredibly, incredibly uncool". It's a major part of why I like his writing--not only that I like that he sees things that way, but that it means he inverts a lot of tropes by completely disconnecting glory from violence. The show doesn't have that misgiving. The show very much says "stand here and watch this fight." To its immense credit, the show makes the fights very tense, knock-down-drag-out mud fights, leaning on the fear aspect, which is as much as I should hope for in a media landscape that really, really demands cool shit. I still want less effort to be put into making the fights elegantly choreographed and more effort into making them chaotic and scary. No, I don't know how to do that. Yes, I'm making up problems here. Yes, I'm griping "oh the show isn't made exactly the way I want it in my head." However: yes, I think that the portrayal of violence in any Wheel of Time adaptation is an incredibly important litmus test for me to know if the people adapting it have similar priorities to me.

S2E1 has several dialogue lines about how quiet Lan is, which feels very self-contradictory with how chatty he was in S1. Maybe that's still a comparison to book canon, but he was fairly open and talkative in S1, so if they're trying to course-correct that in S2, it's being done in the form of a very light retcon. Which is... fine, whatever, just a little weird.

Perrin's letter threw me off a lot, actually. I couldn't tell how much, if at all, it'd been censored by the Tower, but regardless, the prose in it felt very weird coming from such a physical character who doesn't seem to express much interest in writing or reading. He's read most of the same books as Rand (the Two Rivers' resident literature nerd), yeah, but that's book canon, so show-canon Perrin's written voice being that highfalutin--for lack of a better word--felt off.

Elyas was interesting. Fusing him and Hurin is understandable, but a little sad, if only because I like Hurin and his minor role in the story. It's fine, though. I liked Elyas' thousand-yard-stare--that was a wonderful acting decision. He felt simultaneously calm and jumpy in a very fun and interesting wild-man way.

The lantern scene would've been, in my opinion, a much better (if cliched) place to end the episode.

The one point of book divergence that did kind of catch me, though, was the fight between Lan and the Myrddraal. It felt like two things happened there: one, Myrddral got way easier to kill (mechanically and logistically, cut off their heads and they die style); and two, Lan got way worse at killing them. It's a really weird gripe, since the two functionally cancel each other out, so pay it little mind.

But yeah I had a good time.

[girlgeekjf-blog]

Ranking all the main range Big Finish Eighth Doctor Stories

(Excluding Multi Doctor stories)

(With bonus Eight and Charley special releases)

1. Caerdroia: Just delightful. Witty and cathartic-listened to it twice in one week. Such strong writing and acting, everyone has a moment to shine

2. Scherzo: Some of the best acting you will ever hear, stunning sound design and an awesome script. A masterpiece.

3. The Chimes of Midnight: Meticulous plotting and wonderful dialogue, a tight and constantly gripping story. I love the message about the value of life.

4. Seasons of Fear: Highly entertaining journey through history with a memorable villain and lots of quotable lines

5. The Silver Turk- Genuinely scary, stuffed with atmosphere, one of the best Cybermen stories ever

6. The Natural History of Fear: Excellent showcase for great acting and writing with unforgettable twists. I am fond of stories about shifting power dynamics, so this really appealed to me.

7. The Company of Friends: Each story is creative and well-constructed. The Doctor has convincing chemistry with all four companions (though Izzy suffers from weaker writing) Mary's story is an atmospheric highlight and it is amazing to have Fitz off the page for once.

8. The Girl Who Never Was: Does the difficult job of separating a great doctor/companion duo while keeping them both true to themselves by intelligently combining elements of other companion departures. Heartbreaking but satisfying.

9. Living Legend: A perfect slice of pure comedy, the leads are having a ball and are at their most likeable

10. Terror Firma: Gripping, great dialogue, and a twist that blew me away. A bit over ambitious for the run time, but so memorable and quotable.

11. Storm Warning: Energetic opening story which perfectly captures our two heroes from the get go. The setting is great as well.

12. Neverland: Expertly pays off what was set up in the preceding stories, with amazing concepts and can't miss character interactions

13. Other Lives: Love me a pure historical, especially one that gives each of the leads a compelling plot thread. Eight is so sweet in this it hurts.

14. If I Should Die Before I Wake: Great use of nuwho monsters to construct a twisty plot with lots of great moments between the leads.

15. Zagreus: Lives up to its reputation for being confusing, but it is also very entertaining and I admire the ambition. Plus Zagreus!Eight is a must listen.

16. The Witch From the Well: A smart blend of sci-fi and historical elements to tell a creepy and engaging story

17. The Faith Stealer: A solid story uplifted by delightful dialogue and great world building

18. Memory Lane: Does a lot with its off-beat, dream-like setting and I found the conclusion pretty unique while still fitting with the rest of the story.

20. Embrace the Darkness: Creepy concept and sound effects mixed with insight into the Doctor's character. I did get rather irritated with one of the side characters being stubbornly obstructive.

21. Solitaire: A tight, compelling showcase for Charley and the main villain, plus the idea of ventriloquist dummy!Eight is irresistible.

22. Invaders From Mars:A fun historical romp making the most of its inspired setting.

23. The Mummy Speaks!: Fast paced with some great dialogue and action set pieces. Gee the Gorilla is a star.

24. The Stones of Venice: The plot is messy, but it does a good job of continuing to develop the relationship between the Doctor and Charley.

25. Time Works: I just like the vibes on this one, a nice little self-contained fairy tale.

26. Absolution: Like C'rizz himself, kind of a mixed bag, but does a decent job of sending off my poor lizard/insect boy. The ending is a gut punch.

27. The Next Life: I really enjoyed Daphne Ashbrook in this, she's clearly having the time of her life, and she has great chemistry with McGann. Loved the villains ultimate fate. Did feel the leads were a bit out of character.

28. The Time of the Daleks: I like watching how protective the Doctor is of Charley here, and his sassy attitude towards the Daleks. Objectively, a bit of a slow story.

29. The Slaying of the Writhing Mass: Light and breezy story which has fun teaming up the Doctor and a kid for the adventure. Suffers a bit from separating the Doctor and Charley most of the story.

30. The Army of the Dead: A clichéd plot, but worth it to see the relationship developments between the Doctor and Mary.

31. Something Inside: This story is great for people who like hurt comfort. Which I do, though I prefer a bit more comfort. Otherwise, solid story if a little slow

32. The Last: Bleak, but does provide a fascinating look at the leads in extreme circumstances and helped me understand how the Divergent universe works. Did not like how Charley was written in this.

33. The Twilight Kingdom: It forces Charley to come off as irritating for plot reasons, but has some effective scenes and body horror.

34. The Heart of Orion: Improved sequel, with a better story and grasp on the characters than Sword of Orion. Still kind of middling.

35. Eclipse: Pretty unmemorable, if inoffensive; a generic sci fi story. I did like the ending.

36. Minuet in Hell: This is embarrassingly bad in many ways, especially in how women are treated. However, the parts with the Doctor are good, and I love everything with the Brig. Their meeting is fantastic.

37. The Sword of Orion: Objectively, it's perfectly functional. Subjectively, it is really dull. The leads are written to be the most generic Doctor and companion possible.

38. The Creed of the Kromons: This audio made me genuinely regret trying to eat breakfast in the car while listening. It's like they were trying to make the content as unpleasant as possible. Only good moment was the Doctor laughing about how stupid the villains were while they were torturing him. At least someone was having fun (for a moment).

39. Scaredy Cat: Deadly dull. Bad acting choices made by the main cast. The Doctor's moral compass is on holiday; not in an interesting way, just in a baffling way. It feels like the people making this just ran out of time, gave up and released something nobody particularly enjoyed, especially the audience.

Final thoughts: I adore Eight (now my current favorite Doctor), love Charley and Mary, like C'rizz and wish he had been better written. Loved most of these, and could recommend giving all but the last two a listen (the last two are in the running for worst Doctor Who story ever, and I'm pretty easy to please so I only have six or seven stories on that list).

I've been impressed with Big Finish so far, and I look forward to more Eighth Doctor.

[cloud-based-and-rainpilled]

Staged 3 thoughts! (This is gonna be much shorter than my last two because I really Didn’t like this season)

I talked about codependence in my previous post and how that would have been a more interesting angle to take Staged 3, and the finale proves this.

Staged was always "meta," but season 3 took any truth within the meta and warped it to the point where it was a farce-- without the comedy. I pretty much summarized exactly how I felt in my last post, but what's so frustrating about the final episode is that it does exactly what the third season should have been doing the entire time!

The dialogue is clever, the meta is poignant without being too self aggrandizing (except for the post credit sequence, which just annoys me to no end and takes the teeth out of the breakup,) and overall the culmination of the rest of the third season's events and tension comes together.

The last episode goes into improv theory and acting, which is something the first two seasons did quite well, and something that was sorely missing throughout this series. The usage of family members (Simon's sister and Michael Sheen's actual daughter) is a nice change of pace from celebrity cameos, at least for the last crescendo of everything falling apart.

I don't think the ending would have been as effective if David and Michael hadn't put their all into it. The script is better than the rest of the episodes (save the second episode, which I quite liked,) but you can feel the actual sadness about being separated.

This is where the meta works: Imagine your friend is sick of you. Imagine you don't want anything to change but it always does. Imagine that you're torn apart again. This is the only time codependence is referenced to seriously, and it's a shame because it would have given the last scene more of an impact.

I don't think Staged 3 is completely without value, but it's really only good when David Tennant and Michael Sheen are on screen having a good time acting together, and that's hard to do when the script is so blah and beige.

@get-me-off-this-site @tricksyliesmith @ingravinoveritas since y'all asked ✨

[thewebcomicsreview]

Do you know of any media, webcomic or otherwise, that have the same vibe that early gunnerkrig court did? Like compelling mystery with science/fantasy elements? I miss the old comic before coyote died :(

Nan Quest

What is it: In this spiritual sequel to Ruby Quest, a goat girl electrician sets out to fix a broken fuzebox and ends up ensnared in a psychological horror conspiracy.

The Good: Much more effective use of the simple MS Paint art style, with more color and some simple animations (animated panels being marked [A], a convention Homestuck would later adopt for its [S] sound panels). The characters are better fleshed out than in Ruby Quest, and the horror is more effective as well, with less gore and more tension.

The Bad: Though used effectively, the art is still MS Paint doodles. The story mechanics behind the mystery are much more ambiguous, which can be a plus.

Content Warning: Gore, threatened sexual violence.

You should read it if: You like Ruby Quest and/or psychological horror comics that can be read in a few hours.

Everything Is Fine

What is it: Maggie and Sam are a normal married couple in a very strange world where proving your loyalty is the key to winning, and the best way to prove your loyalty is to show someone else is disloyal. And also everyone wears mascot suit cat heads all the time.

The Good: Well-written characters, a novel premise, and excellent pacing. I'm not the biggest fan of the webtoon "really tall page" format, but it's taken advantage of at times for nice transitions

The Bad: The webtoon format can be irritating, and the worldbuilding is toeing the line between "compelling mystery" and "If there were two astronauts on the moon and one shot the other wouldn't that be fucked up?"-ism.

Content Warning: Gore, Suicide themes. Every page with such content has a warning on it (which works better in Webtoon format, actually)

You should read it if: You liked the dystopian fiction fiction books you had to read in high school.

Homestuck

What is it: You fucking know what this is.

The Good: Great character writing, high production values, one of the best soundtracks of really anything. The middle section (in which mysteries are slowly uncovered), is phenomenal and justifies the comic's existence.

The Bad: Most of the really bad stuff is in the sequel, Homestuck^2, but in Act 6 the story kind of goes up its own ass with the meta, and Act 1 is also a notorious slog for most people. Homestuck is an excellent sandwich with moldy bread.

Content Warning: Gore, sexual themes, some of it has not aged well (in that it's kind of edgy, but also a lot of casual ablest slurs)

You should read it if: You like seeing weird sci-fi mysteries unfold and like reading pages and pages of mostly-good dialogue, and you're okay with the fact that after all the mysteries are revealed the comic just kind of keeps going on and on instead of ending.