#rip I want narrative development and character building

[brionysea]

learning things about batman comics is the worst because you find out he has like 15 children and you're like oh, generational healing narrative? bettering himself through his love for his children?? and you find out one of those children is a scrappy homeless boy from the most destitute part of gotham which is also where batman's parents died and he's lowkey been ignoring it this whole time and you're like oh, a direct challenge to his narrow billionaire's worldview in the form of this small child? a forced confrontation with the fact that he's been letting down the place that is the very source of batman which reminds him that he owes it everything he is by giving him his son? learning to live with and build a life around his grief and actively look forward to the next sunrise narrative??? bettering himself through his love for his children?????? and then you learn that none of that happened and character development for batman is illegal, actually. stay depressed forever. the best you get is they don't really feel like killing themselves anymore but even that is more about the furry cosplay than the family element when you really get into it. like how could you not go for the better story here it's so obvious i want to rip my hair out

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 21, MAG 21 Freefall

Tom Petty plays in the background as a man falls to his death

Is this too niche a joke? Not possible. MAG 21 analysis, spoilers ahead!

Facts: Statement of Moira Kelley, regarding the disappearance of her son Robert. Statement given October 20th, 2002.

Statement Notes: I have some friends with thrill seeking hobbies and I've really just been waiting for this to happen to one of them. RIP Robert Kelley but my bros are NOT built different and the sky will eat them.

The intensity of Robert's fear in this episode was so deep and profound. The way that he fell for so long that he actually wanted to hit the ground. The fact that he didn't open his parachute on time because he was so desperate to reach the ground faster. You were really able to experience and understand his emotions.

"The sky ate him" is usually the line that gets a lot of press in this episode, and for good reason. But the line that's always stuck with me is "Enjoy sky blue." It's only three words, but it says so much. The word "Enjoy" highlights the normalcy of life in the Magnus Archives universe. Rober is doing what he loves, he should be happy, he should enjoy the jump. But he won't. Fairchild won't let him. The horrors won't let him. The narrative won't let him.

But the second half of that sentence--"sky blue"--adds a whole other element. Syntactically speaking, Simon Fairchild presents it as a noun. It could be an activity or experience to Fairchild, like skydiving. It's something he does often, experiencing the thrill and horror of the fall by "sky bluing." It could be fun for him. Maybe if Robert had enjoyed the fall, Fairchild would have recruited him as an entity. It's not capitalized in the transcript, but because it is being spoken by Moira Kelley who lacks context, it's possible it is a proper noun. Could it be a place? An area the Fairchilds blip in out of and send hapless victims to, the same way the Lukases send people to the Lonely? Or is it a name? A living entity that got a taste of Robert on his first dive and decided to finish its meal on the hill?

The wind sfx in this episode is so great. I've been suspending my disbelief with the sound effects in the early episodes because I assumed they were mainly just to build ambiance for the listener, but they do have interesting implications for future episodes. If, in recording early statements, Jon begins experiencing/developing his Eye powers, then these effects (the wind in this ep, the heart beating with Julia Montauk, etc.) could be him "hearing" what the victims felt and experienced. He is looking through their eyes as he reads the statement.

Entity Alignment: Tom Petty continues playing quietly in the background

Really great Vast episode. I've never been particularly scared of heights, so I don't often find the vast episodes "scary," but I do find this one to be particularly unsettling and thrilling. The sky being presented as semi-sentient, with the ability to not only steal but eat a man makes the idea of falling through all the more terrifying.

When Moira Kelley began the statement, she explains that she "doesn't have the words" and doesn't know what to write. But of course, she explains everything in perfect detail anyway. By virtue of being in the Institute, she is compelled to tell her story. The Eye is urging her to relive the horror that she sold her home to escape. She says that "knowing won't bring him back," but the Institute doesn't care. It just wants more knowledge and fear to consume.

Character Notes: In MAG 111, Gerry explains that families are often just tools for avatars to ensure transfers of power and increase their own power. This vaguely seems to be what Fairchild is doing with Harriet, although less so. But I also wonder if the same can be said of the businesses that avatars and entities involve themselves in. According to Jon, Open Skydiving isn't a "real" company with any records, but it clearly has been operating for many years and people utilize its services. Similar circumstances seem to be true for the Magnus Institute, as well as Peter Lukas' real estate and shipping companies. They provide moderate services merely to provide funds and resources to avatars, while also functioning as mediums through which they can create more fear.

(Something something a company treating you like family means they want to use your success to increase their own status something something)

Slightly less relevant, but Robert says the jump was a charity event for Simon's deceased wife. I would love not only to know more about who Fairchild's wife was and how she died, but also what charity he could possibly be leaving any money to. "Defective parachutes for youth" "Old men against OSHA" "Wheelchair kitesurfing fund."

Slightly more relevant, but Martin!! He's back! Oh no!

The most important thing about Jon's reaction to Martin bursting in is when he shouts "What are these things?" Not only has he never seen the worms before, but he has no idea what they are. Even after reading Timothy Hodge's statement, he can't connect the worms he sees to Jane Prentiss. This is totally reasonable for any regular person, as he likely never expected to see the worms in person nor would expect Martin to burst in covered in them, but Jon isn't a regular person. At times, Elias has allowed Jon to make leaps in logic that lead him to the actual truth as a means of hiding his Eye powers. Elias wants Jon to know things he shouldn't, but only on his schedule. Jon needs to explore Prentiss more deeply so he will be marked for the ritual, so he's rationing information.

[ladydeath-vanserra]

I feel like Rhys would be more interesting for me if SJM made up her mind on what kind of character he is supposed to be. If he's the "ideal man" then why write him performing textbook acts of abuse. the "ideal man" who is the pinnacle of Healthy Relationship Material cannot really mesh well with grey morality

part of being a morally grey character is,, the fucked up morality that "normal" characters would be like "dude wtf" which you can see with characters like Kaz Brekker and to an extent Damon Salvatore. Their grey morality is tied to their actual personhood and their actual sense of morality. they're not haunted by their actions. it is *within their morality* in their own ideals of what they consider right and wrong

Rhys' "grey morality" is tied to that of his "mask" and then he gets so tortured by how he just has to hurt all these people for the "greater good" my good dude that's not morally grey. a morally grey character is going to see it as worth it and not blink an eye bec it was what needed to be done- see Kaz literally ripping out that dudes eye and not blinking about it while everyone else was like what the fuck

Rhys is written closer to a character similar to Stefan who is just so tortured and the narrative and the people around him (and by extension many of his Stans™️) will go out of their way to completely forgive all the problematic shit he did bec he "has a pure heart" or "hes an addict tho" or whatever and it's easier to excuse when he's standing next to Damon, who is outwardly fucked up and problematic in such an obvious way (Rhys next to Tamlin or even Nesta)

she Wants him to be a morally grey bad boy but he's not *written* like one. he's not allowed to be problematic the way morally grey characters are problematic. Morally Grey characters are inherently toxic and problematic and often to the point where they can be/are abusive

but also, it's the fact that he just,,, doesn't have any real character growth outside of MAF. he becomes stagnant. his characterization doesn't really change. he keeps lying to Feyre. His actions don't really change bec the narrative doesn't challenge him to bec he's "the ideal man"

Hell Rhys taunting Tamlin in TAR was interesting and entertaining for me to read but when we get that in later books from his POV with Tamlin literally just beaten down and having had given up there is nothing to gleam from that. it's beating a dead horse, it's kicking someone while they're down. it's not taunting, it's not entertaining where someone can snap back, it's just demeaning and cruel at that point like fuck just leave him alone and maybe stop trespassing

I'd probably view Nesta and Rhys' beef differently if he didn't abuse political and magical power over her- if the narrative itself didn't immediately side with Rhys as objectively in the right despite lying and abusing his power over her. and maybe to an extent I'd forgive it if we had more scenes with them where they, more or less, buried the hatchet and let their relationship actually develop and build nuance

he gets boring. no one pushed back against him in a way that actually challenges the plot or Rhys, outside of Maybe Nesta when she told Feyre about the pregnancy but even then that went out of its way to vilify Nesta and not Rhysand for putting the gag order in place in the first place

like maybe if SJM committed to a Side with Rhys or actually got the plot to challenge him and give him actual growth I'd be more interested in his character. Right now he's just boring. and he's a dick. and not in the way I find very entertaining in characters

[liesmyth]

Do you have any tips/resources on writing smut? I've never really written it, but I need to include a little in a fic I'm writing rn and yours is very good.

Anon! Thank you so much, this is Extremely flattering ❤️ Honestly, my #1 rule to Writing Smut is that actually anything can be hot if a scene is written to be arousing. It's all about the setup.

Some things that work for me:

EMOTIONS. ime, smut scenes should cause some level of emotional response in the reader. It can be the POV character experiencing strong feelings and that coming through in the narration; it can be a taboo or hard kink that’s enough to guarantee some kind of reaction; it can be an emotionally cathartic scene or character study through sex. It doesn’t have to be a lot! But there has to be Something that makes the reader invested, a takeaway that you couldn’t get from a purely objective description or looking at a picture.

FLOW. You’re either trying to make the reader horny and/or you’re trying to make them interested in what the characters are doing and feeling. Lean into that when crafting a scene! I find that varying the length of sentences in a paragraph helps (building up to a crescendo) and so does the deliberate use of terminology to set up a specific mood (more descriptive euphemisms vs. crude slang as the POV gets more overwhelmed, alternating lush prose and crass descriptors to create some contrast.)

CHARACTER-APPROPIATE VERBIAGE. This is a big one! There are NO forbidden smut words, actually. I have read super hot smut that hinged on the repeated use of some deeply unsexy terms. It’s ALL about the narrative voice. Try to construct a scene that’s immersive, with a narrative voice that suits the characters and the story, and the type of vocabulary that suits the POV and setting. Ime, anything and everything can be sexy if the mood is right. Yes, even the word “penis.” YES even funky euphemisms.

PURPOSE AND PACING. Why is the scene there? Try to strike a good balance between descriptions, feelings, and words. If the characters stop mid-sex to talk, it’d be harder to get back into a sexy mood (why I’ve been stuck on this one WIP for months. RIP) On the other hand, sometimes it’s fine to skip moments / descriptions, or even end the scene mid-sex.

(This is especially important in chaptered fics, in my experience. Sometimes there’s a long elaborate build-up to a get together and then all the emotions fizzle out during The Sex Chapter, or a plot-heavy story, and then the story slows down to fit in 3 orgasms per character. It’s fine, often better, to just stick to one orgasm, make it extra hot, and skim over the others)

WRITE DRUNK EDIT SOBER or any variant thereof. Write in comic sans and edit in times new roman. Write horny edits in public. It’s really easy to overthink smut and in my opinion, it Really helps to fully commit to a shitty first draft—no quibbling over word choices or positions; just don’t look at the screen and bang out 500 words. (Ah-ah, bang.) Write on your phone if you want! Put it away for a while then edit.

SMUT IS NOT SEX ED. Realism matters less than feelings do. I don't need to know every detail unless it's relevant to the development of the scene. Unless it’s something glaring like someone is suddenly naked or used soap as lube, no one is going to nitpick how realistic it is to hold X position for Y minutes or how many spankings a human being can endure. The scene works narratively >>> the scene can be recreated by random non-athletes having sex. It’s fic! If someone is taking it as a Guide To Sex that’s not on you.

Other resources: This is a good essay directly from 2005 era livejournal. Some posts about vocabulary: on kissing, smut thesaurus, more words! (use with caution, don't take anything as a hard rule etc.)

Also I just think I'm funny:

GOOD LUCK WRITING IT LMK HOW IT GOES

[roykleinberg]

a couple unpopular tron opinions!! lmao

Tron '82 > Legacy, but idk if that's an unpopular thought loll

What that makes Legacy's story go from good to great is all of it's various companion pieces— The Flynn Lives ARG, The Next Day, Betrayal, Evolution, Uprising, etc etc. The best thing about the Tron franchise is how it uses so many different mediums (and technology that viewers interact with in different ways!).

The Flynn Lives ARG, to me, is still the most ingenious thing that has happened to this franchise. Is it a little sad that the deeper aspects of Alan and Sam (and sort of Lora and Roy)'s characters get sidelined to something that average movie-goer isn't going to seek out? Yes, extremely. But the ARG is such a treat for fans that I'm genuinely surprised that Tronblr of the 2020s doesn't pay any attention to it. There's so much character and world building, and so many little, little easter eggs— I think the ARG deserves so much more attention!!!!

Evolution does more for the main program characters of Legacy (Clu2, Quorra) character development than Uprising does 😭The existence of Abraxas makes Clu more sinister because we see him purposefully going behind Flynn's back, and as dark as it was, Quorra's personal losses almost felt more heavy in Evo than Uprising since Anon and Quorra work together through the game. But I'm also very biased because I liked Evo's story so much lmao

—— from @quorras :)

tron confessional with moss

alright let's break this down lol

1. 82 v Legacy

admittedly I have gone back and forth on this one a lot over the years. because I generally (obviously) love 82 to bits and it is my favorite part of the whole franchise. but at times I have questioned if Legacy is narratively the Better Movie(tm). and at the end of the day I think it's somewhat hard to compare because they're telling pretty different stories, once you get past the surface level sucked into cyberspace plot. 82 has a warmer fuzzier view of the potential of technology in the right hands compared to Legacy, which in my interpretation leans more into the idea that family -- human love and connection -- supersedes the more "alien" program way of life. 82 wants you to like the programs and see them as people just like us, whereas Legacy has more of a Basics kinda suck and only the more human ISOs are worth anything approach lol. and I think there's validity in both those takes, and I think the times and environments in which they were created has a huge impact on how they view and approach technology. but. yeah. 82 wins for me on its more optimistic hopeful vibe alone.

2. The Tron EU (extended universe not European Union)

100% agreeeeeeeeee. I sometimes catch myself lamenting the fact that it's such a small franchise, but when you add up all the comics and games and the ARG (Flynn Lives ARG light of my life we will get to you in a moment xoxo) and the show there really is a lot! honestly throw ElecTRONica in there too, there was lore there. half the reason I have such a hard time even recommending the movies to people is because I want to be like okay but you also need to watch/read/play all of this please you don't UNDERSTAND

the way Tron has been handled by some many creators and creative teams is honestly just.... really beautiful and special to me in the most unironic sense. it sucks that the mouse has never given the franchise the trust or the resources to grow, and I hate that so many projects are soured by this air of something being ripped away from people who clearly loved it and wanted to do more. but that love is so undeniable in all these bits and pieces of the franchise. there will always be people who love Tron as much as we the fandom do, and I would rather have a hundred of these one-off passion projects like Uprising or Identity than a bunch of soulless blockbuster movies

3. ARG my beloved <3

42 Entertainment I am kissing you on the mouth

I really can't even articulate everything that the ARG is to me, and I wasn't even involved when it was ongoing. when I was just getting into Tron after Legacy got the home release, a good chunk of the ARG sites were still live, and I remember digging into all of it and being amazed and obsessed. I still have the wiki site where everything is archived bookmarked. there's so much good background in there. and Roy! ROY!!!!!!! and the big reveals in The Next Day? OUR little operation, ISOlatedThinker???? I am not and will neve be normal about it, and it's sad to think the current iteration of the fandom doesn't know about or acknowledge it as much

4. Evolution v Uprising

I feel ya. don't get me wrong, I love the Uprising cast, but I was never completely in love with how the show handled the pre-established characters. like I was saying before I didn't like how Uprising made Clu a more detached / distant villain, so having him be a more direct bastard in Evo worked better for me. and Quorra ugh :( she really loses everything over the course of the game, and I think it makes her character in Legacy so much more poignant knowing that she went through all of that but was still so hopeful. Abraxas was such a good, tragic, fucked up antagonist. and Gibson oughhhhhh. again hard to say what would have happened in a second season of Uprising (pour one out), but Evolution is so deliciously bleak in a way the show never completely got to be. Uprising is mostly dark because we know or can infer what's going to happen, because we know where canon ends up. but Evolution has more of an opportunity to show us the dark and horrible things that went on after the coup, and it's a carries a little more weight as a result. rip Anon you will always be famous

[voxofthevoid]

JJK 213 💀

If 212 stabbed me in the heart, 213 has ripped out my guts and poured acid on them. Mother of fuck.

I say this with a measure of glee because I do love a narrative that emotionally eviscerates me.

Spoilers and thoughts under the cut

It’s long and rambling because I’m basically sorting my thoughts out.

The chapter felt pretty short this time, but there sure were some mindblowing developments: Confirmation that Sukuna can use Megumi’s cursed technique (and dial it up to eleven WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT MOTHRA-NUE); Megumi’s ideal vessel status (rejoice, sukufushi shippers, it’s now canon that Sukuna always wanted to be inside Megumi! Too soon? Sorry.); the Angel’s cursed technique in its full glory (I cannot wait to see that animated...eventually); and my boy Yuuji being made into a slightly mashed donut (I joke, but I’ve been nail-biting worried about this since I read the chapter and this will continue till we see confirmation of his survival).

The vessel business

Megumi cannot catch a fucking break, can he? I’m not convinced he’s truly gone, especially because Gege did leave that breadcrump about Megumi having the potential to suppress Sukuna. But that brings me to my major issue with this recent development: if Megumi can suppress Sukuna, it implies sorcerers who can eat his fingers and not only survive but also prevent him from incarnating exist--because what are the chances it’s just Megumi and he just happened to get embroiled in all this? And despite calling him a potential cage, Sukuna doesn’t seem surprised that this is a thing Megumi can do, the way he was with how thoroughly Yuuji caged him. In fact, he seems to have settled on the formula to get into Megumi right after realizing this. All that’s fine, but it raises the question of what, exactly, makes Yuuji special.

I don’t mean it in a “why is Yuuji the MC kinda way” because (a) I love that dude to death and am following the story mostly for him and (b) Yuuji’s emotional arcs have always been a lot more compelling than his powers (or lack thereof), and I think having Sukuna out of him, possibly permanently, is an excellent development as far as his character arc is concerned (more on that later). My issue here has more to do with Kenjaku and the implied alternations they made to Yuuji in the womb: I’d say it’s a fair assumption that Yuuji’s superhuman physical capabilities and unusually powerful ability to constrain Sukuna aren’t natural, and as much as I love the “they just wanted some dick jokes,” I’m pretty sure Kenjaku didn’t conceive and deliver a kid for shits and giggles. Granted, it would kinda suit their personality; however, plot-wise, it’d be a waste.

At the moment, it looks like, while the degree of Yuuji’s ability to suppress Sukuna is unusual/unnatural, other sorcerers are capable of hosting and even caging him. So what exactly is Yuuji’s purpose, at the narrative level and in terms of Kenjaku’s plans? Did they account for Sukuna potentially breaking free, and if they did, what was the point of making a custom vessel for the guy? And is being Sukuna’s vessel all there is to Yuuji (not as a person or character but from Kenjaku’s perspective)? I have a feeling that’s not the case, but I’d need to go reread the manga to try and see why I’m so sure Kenjaku’s interested in Yuuji beyond his potential to contain Sukuna. Either way, I’m curious how the narrative will handle it. Which brings us to--

Yuuji’s survival and future arc

Gege, please.

I am fairly sure protagonist plot armor will kick in and Yuuji will survive (and honestly, him dying at this point would feel pretty damn pointless--I’m all for major character death, but if you’re killing the main lead, make it worth it, ya know?), but fucking how? He’s naturally a lot sturdier than most people, but dude’s got a fist-sized hole in his stomach and got punched through, what, three buildings? He’s got to be on his last legs there. Yuuta isn’t anywhere in the vicinity either. Lowkey hoping for Mumjaku to pop out, but that’s mostly because I have been dying for some interactions between these two since the big reveal about Yuuji’s parentage.

Assuming he survives (he better, GEGE), I’m honestly pretty excited to see how his story will progress from here. Yuuji’s whole thing since the start has been to save as many people as he can and die a good death as a martyr, and with every new trauma the narrative has piled on him, that desire has only increased to the point that it’s now a fixation. The guy seems actively suicidal after Shibuya, and the only thing keeping him from killing himself is the fact that he can’t allow himself to die meaninglessly after all the death Sukuna caused and all the people Yuuji himself failed to save. If the plot had progressed in the direction it had been taking before Sukuna used that binding vow to fuck everything to hell, Yuuji would happily have let the Angel erase him and Sukuna. And he could have called it a good, noble death because he was dying to save Gojou and eliminate a good 75% of Sukuna’s power.

And now he doesn’t have that. His death would no longer serve any greater purpose (...assuming Sukuna doesn’t somehow hop back into him, but that’s starting to look unlikely). To make a difference and help people like he so desperately wants, Yuuji will have to live. I am dying to find out how he’s going to reconcile that with his current mindsent.

Assuming he survives.

Hana and the Angel

I’ve been seeing a lot of hate for Hana after this chapter came out, regarding her decision to rush to Megumi, but honestly, it’s perfectly coherent characterization. It’s certainly a foolish decision, but it’s a completely emotion-driven, considerably panicked one that is in line with everything we’ve seen of Hana so far. She is in no way any more well adjusted than any of the main cast. Her childhood was Trauma Central: Eldritch Horror Edition, and she fixated hard on the boy who saved her despite their paths crossing for a grand total of five seconds. Megumi clearly registered her, since that’s the only way Sukuna would know to use that memory to manipulate her, but he doesn’t even acknowledge her. And there’s no indication they’ve ever interacted since; in fact, I’m rather confused on how Hana even recognized Megumi. Or whether/how she kept track of him all these years, given there’s no indication she was a sorcerer before getting Kenjaku-ed into a coma (presumably) and then hosting the Angel. Yet, she’s convinced she’s in love with him and they’re fated. Hardly a healthy coping mechanism, but it is what it is.

If Hana had a random crush on Megumi and ignored the Angel to fall for Sukuna’s trick (which seems pretty transparent to us readers, but Hana really doesn’t know the actual Megumi enough to tell that he wouldn’t be caught dead doing that pose, sweet fuck, my eyes), it would be some shit writing, but Hana isn’t acting out of infatuation or puppy love but a nearly lifelong fixation.

And it’s probably going to get her killed. I don’t see Hana getting out of that on her own; she hasn’t noticed Stretchy Headman there, and the Angel’s warnings clearly aren’t reaching her. The only way I see this moving forward without them both dying is for the Angel to take over completely--and we know she’s opposed to that, but would she make an exception with death imminent? I hope so. Because losing these characters, especially the Angel, at this juncture would just be a waste.

Now excuse me while I go scream into the void for the next two weeks.

[embrose]

It doesn't feel that good to critique Hazbin Hotel, I want to give it all the support I can, but...the story just isn't living up to the hype.

I was expecting, wanted, a story about what it really means to be redeemed. About self-improvement and learning, that instead of continuously yearning for a better place "grass is greener on the other side" style you should try to make the place you're in better, be the change you want to see and find the strength to do so in your loved ones and family. And once you make the place you are in and yourself happier you fight to defend it.

Instead, we get a rushed story about hell vs. heaven with an idealistic (to the point of feeling dumb) and underdeveloped disney princess protagonist with side characters who I vastly prefer to her. There are plot holes, the original premise of the pilot gets shoved to the backseat. A good mystery is set up only for it to be mostly solved a bit later and for the deed to have been done by a character we don't even know. We are told a sinner has made great progress and they don't even fucking show how he got there, just that he somehow did. And two episodes prior this character wasn't even near being redeemed! They lean a lot on the popularity of the pilot and don't try to build the characters or develop their relationships, we're just left to assume that they do grow closer when we're not looking.

Hazbin hotel has its merits. The songs are great, the style is amazing and unique, I like the side characters, the story has stuff that I like, too. I will watch it to the end. But I can't help but feel that the original premise, the one we were promised, is being trampled in favour of a narrative without depth and little to no cohesion. It's not the discussion of morality and self-betterment and found family I wish we had instead.

You can disagree with me. Rather, I wish you do. These are just my thoughts and I'm sad I have them. But I wanted to get them out there. Hopefully you won't rip me a new one.

Thanks for listening to my screams, void

[kittenfangirl20]

*Eren from my fanfiction reading Chapter 139*

Eren: Are they trying to say that I came back as a bird just to put that scarf back around Mikasa’s neck? Why is Armin thanking me for killing so many people? He was so adamant about stopping the Rumbling, but now he is cool with it because the narrative said I did it for their sake. Am I supposed to believe that Mikasa got over her obsession with me even though it doesn’t look like it? I feel bad for her husband because the only time we see her with him is visiting my grave, that seems more like she settled because she didn’t want to die alone. Am I also supposed to want to punch myself when I am throwing that temper tantrum over Mikasa falling in love with another guy after I am gone, because I really want to punch myself in that scene. But most importantly of all, fuck you for saying that Ymir Fritz was in love with King Fritz, you know the guy that called her his slave. It is especially bad when the narrative wants to compare Ymir Fritz and King Fritz to Mikasa and me where I am put in the role of King Fritz. Why is it now saying that Ymir Fritz waited 2,000 years for Mikasa when before everything in the story pointed to her waiting for me. This is almost enough to make me want to finish the Rumbling.

*decides to instead hunt down any copy of Vol 34 he can and rip out the pages for Chapter 139 from each copy*

Historia: You also forgot to add how stupid it was to have Reiner drool over the letter I wrote after all the character development he had. It is also cute that they think that I would be happy with one of the guys that bullied me especially when I have you for my husband.

*Historia smiles seductively at Eren*

Eren: Sorry about that, you are right, it is stupid what they did to you especially when the story seemed to build up you getting with me and making a baby with me. It is almost as if someone really wanted me and Mikasa to be a thing even though the narrative was leaning towards it being terrible for both me and Mikasa.

[weirsight]

hotd 2.03

so, what's going on with the intro? is it gonna change every episode or every other episode?

couldn't afford to show us burning mill and i only assume it's b/c of budgetary restraints.

rip bracken twink. you had great hair. 🐎

love that they've called back to luke gouging out aemond's eye twice, now. that really was the beginning of everything. first blood had already been drawn on driftmark. 🗡️👁️

she still cannot call them her brothers or sister, it's always 'alicent's son' and at this point i would rather she just say half-siblings like in the book. seriously, it's making the dialogue clunky.

grover tully 🐟 continuing to catch strays left and right.

building tension by seeding animosity between aegon and aemond would make far more sense if there had been a scene or two of the fallout from luke's murder + jaehaerys' murder. instead, they're clutching onto this "greedy younger brother wants the throne" narrative with aemond that just feels so trite without the proper context.

i don't mean to harp on this too much, but it genuinely warms my heart that somebody on that production team listened to the criticism and toned down mysaria's accent, b/c sonoya mizuno didn't deserve to be a human shield for all the ridicule that character got in s1.

i NEED the show to STOP telling me what a GOOD MONARCH™️ rhaenyra is by having her personality and actions propagated by other women in a moment of solidarity which feels like nothing more than shallow #girlpower

the only way i can accept rhaena being treated as an afterthought by her family (feelings i'm glad that she gets to express to baela, at the very least), is if her time in the vale with jeyne arryn is showcased as being worthwhile. seriously, the amount of politically savvy women in asoiaf + got who don't have a dragon is not inconsiderable! show the audience the benefits of being a highborn lady by developing a friendship/mentorship with rhaena, jeyne, and even jessamyn.

larys being the most hated member of his family ... check's out.

now, i'm wondering if it was just the presence of daemon + caraxes that got house strong to fold so easily, or had they been planning anything ahead of time, because simon was suspiciously accommodating.

there she is, the witch queen of harrenhal herself. look forward to seeing what you can do, ms. rivers.

also, stop writing dialogue to be used for online memes and just make these characters sound as if they're actually from the world they inhabit.

i genuinely welcome any sort of discussion about race and class in regards to criston cole, but to have gwayne hightower be the one who spouts microaggressions towards him is ... a choice, i guess. gonna need to see where this goes. 🤔

ok no, this is going to bother me if i don't state just how much more interesting it would've made criston as a character if they had shown him navigating his life at court beyond just his position as rhaenyra and alicent's sworn sword in s1! why not show us the microaggressions he faces daily from the highborn lords and ladies at the red keep as a lowborn dornishman, instead of just relegating him to the "thug" which many people in-universe and IRL see him as? 😒

as much as corlys went on and on about his legacy, he sure has nothing to say when it comes to the idea of rhaena being heir to driftmark.

i kinda understand what they were going for in the scene between helaena and alicent, in that the former is absolving her mother of any guilt she must be feeling. while it's nice to have both of them communicating with each other, however awkwardly, it still would've meant so much more if alicent had been present to endure the tragedy with her daughter. they would've truly been united in their grief if b&c had been more of a straightforward adaptation.

the amount of screentime dedicated to introducing (and in some cases reintroducing) smallfolk characters is such a mixed bag, because in the back of my mind i'm worried about the potential for rhaena's storyline to merge with nettles. if all this time and energy can be spent shooting scenes which establish several of the dragonseeds ... except for the one canonically black woman, then that's very telling.

you know what? i'm just gonna say it. the whole brothel subplot feels absolutely vapid. imo, it's just a retread of an already shallow subplot that happened in early got when benioff & weiss made up ros and inserted her with tyrion/varys/littlefinger under the flimsy excuse of needing a smallfolk pov. like, if sylvie never shows up again after this and is not the character i'm guessing she's supposed to be, then what the fuck is the entire point of her being here?

it's utterly redundant b/c readers know that aemond begins a relationship with alys rivers, so they're trying to set the stage for her by implying he likes older women and/or has an oedipal complex which is just ... so ... fucking ... banal!

listen, i appreciate ewan for having the courage to go fully nude (especially in the wake of the gross body shaming people were doing last week), but the entire context surrounding it doesn't achieve the level of importance or resonance condal & co. think it does. it's mediocre fanservice wasting valuable time that could've been dedicated to showcasing aemond's relationship with other members of his family.

it's also just a useless chekov's gun that i'm assuming will misfire in the next episode if the leaks are to be believed.

while it's nice to see 'baela the brave' in action, i know that it's filler for rook's rest ................. but, it's good filler. it's short and sweet characterization for someone who has been a glorified extra, but a hopeful precursor to the events that take place on dragonstone towards the end of the dance. plus, i'm surprised by how much i like moondancer's design. she's cute. 🐉

CURSE. OF. HARRENHAL. LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

listen, as wonderful as it is to see milly again, i can't help but think it says something that they brought her back to act opposite matt in the same episode that they made a non-canonical scene where emma acts opposite olivia. hint: it's because daemyra has no chemistry.

you're going to tell me that when all rhaenyra's council are jumping up her ass to do something after an attempted assassination ... the writers decided to have her go on an undercover mission into king's landing to secretly convene with alicent ... with 1 guard? no advice from rhaenys, no outrage from her council?? how does she get off dragonstone with a single guard and no one making a fuss??? not even syrax follows her???? 🤯🤯🤯

great, so that entire prophecy + miscommunication subplot amounted to absolutely nothing at all. it was never going to prevent the dance from happening and ultimately it's not going to solve the issue of the others/white walkers 172 years beyond the lifetime of these people and their descendants.

[montilyets]

my bridgerton s3 thoughts because i can't stop thinking about it (spoiler warning under the cut)

overall, i quite liked the season. i'm never going to like all of it because there is the main romance plot and then like 7 sideplots, but i liked the pacing of part 1. now, for some thoughts on the different characters and their plots:

colin and penelope are cute. i'm not a friends to lovers fan most of the time, but the build-up of their relationship this season so far is working for me. i think that's mostly because of the actors' great acting, especially nicola's. i love that woman. their first kiss scene and the carriage scene were sooooo good and i loved seeing colin gradually realize his feelings for pen.

unfortunately, i'm not as enthusiastic about eloise's plot. she's been my favorite character all along and i absolutely adore the friendship between her and penelope, so the tension between those two this season is absolutely killing me. i absolutely despise that she's befriended cressida in between seasons. i really do believe that cressida deserves to be portrayed with more depth than just mean girl bully, but it doesn't make sense to me that eloise would befriend her. she's still being an absolute cunt to penelope this season and i won't stand for it, and it really pains me that eloise doesn't interfere when cressida ruins penelope's dress. i get that cressida has a difficult situation at home, but that doesn't excuse her behavior, past or present. i think it's good that eloise is opening herself up to other young women, but i'm really sad that that seems to mean she's basically giving up on her political beliefs. i really like the idea of there being a bridgerton who just straight up becomes a political radical and says fuck this polite society bullshit. i still love eloise and her personality, but i wish we could've gotten a different story for her this season.

benedict is my other favorite bridgerton. i'm annoyed that they've once again given him a random woman to fuck while not actually focusing on any meaningful character development for him. what a waste of such a fun character who has the potential to be really interesting.

i've liked the mondriches since season one and am glad they're still here. i like that they have their own narrative conflict, although i wish they would be more involved with some of the other plotlines, as their story feels weirdly detached from the rest of the season so far for me. still, i like them and their little family.

francesca is a sweetheart and i like her story with john so far. not a plot i care about a whole lot, but it's fun to see a bridgerton who doesn't really like being the center of attention for once.

the featheringtons give me severe second-hand embarrassment as usual. not my kind of comedy. prudence's husband is really cute though.

as much as i'd love to see more queer rep in bridgerton (rip brimsley x reynolds #whereisreynolds), i don't want it to be cressida/eloise. i strongly believe in queer eloise (i was rooting for aroace!eloise until theo, now idk anymore. bi maybe?), but the idea of making the (former... allegedly) mean girl bully the queer character doesn't sit right with me. it just plays into all kinds of negative stereotypes i'm not here for. cressida is going to actually have to do some apologizing to penelope for me to ever consider liking her as a character.

[thstarsofsilver]

Gina going back to liking Ricky felt very out of character for me because she showed no signs of still liking Ricky she was more focus on her relationship with EJ. I am surprised how Gina forgave Ricky so easily after the way he treated her in Season 2 which he still hasn’t apologize to Gina about which makes me so mad Ricky still owes Gina an apologize. I am still mad three months later about the way things ended for Portwell without any closure just to make Rina happen. 1/2

I expected so much better from the writers than to repeat the love triangle storyline from season 1 by making EJ get dumped by his girlfriend who ends up dating Ricky after their breakup. It just really annoys me how sometimes Ricky gets away with stuff without apologizing but when EJ makes a few mistakes some fans still see EJ as the “bad guy” when he is trying his best. At least EJ tries to make up or apologize for his mistakes which is what Ricky needs to do more often. 2/2

hey anon! firstly thank u for helping revive my account

secondly i'm on the same page! i'm still mad about it 3 months later but i guess i've had to accept it lol. i feel like if i accept it i won't spend s4 mourning them and instead i'll be able to enjoy the reunion aspect, which is mostly what i'm really looking forward to haha

definitely agreed that it was lazy writing to gratuitously break up portwell when unlike s1 rini they showed no fault lines that could have become earthquakes, which is what happened with rini (although i still completely think out-of-show factors played a major role in their irreversible split).

they retconned a LOT of what we were shown towards the end of s2 - for instance (1) gina being over ricky, as you said, (2) gina waiting for the right guy to show up and ej being presented as her right guy and (3) ej developing into a person who puts others' needs first. all of a sudden in s3, (1) gina is showing signs of being into ricky again, (2) ej is suddenly the "wrong guy" and yet again she's waiting for the right guy to show up, and (3) ej being unaware of others' needs (arguably he is STILL putting others' needs first, but many viewers lacked the nuance to actually see this, and the show itself didn't do much to help).

i think all the characters need to be held accountable, but especially ricky when it comes to gina (which is what i would have wanted to see from their confession!!!!). the whole point is that characters are supposed to be flawed, and they should all learn from their flaws, but certainly some characters' flaws are presented as more forgivable than others', and the narrative certainly has favourites.

anyway rip ej's character growth, rip portwell, and PLS t*m f*derle, no more repeating storylines unless you're somehow actually building to some powerful, symbolic resolution. just don't do it.

[alexcaldownapier]

Film Project - Crit Reflection

Longboard Nights Feedback

Positive:

engaging

good world building

consistent visual aesthetic

impressive fight scenes

focal length and camera work coherent in fight scene

“technical firepower”

achieves the goals

worked well as a crew

brilliant sound design

excellent production design (sets tone)

great practical FX

good script redrafting

horror aspects most effective

attention to detail

Negative:

flashbacks are entirely lost

a little bit missing focus on what the central theme is

not a lot of character development

disappointed in how easy the final kill was

intercutting doesn’t entirely work

abrupt ending

want to see Alex convince Casca to enter the flat

Going into the project, we were all very aware that what we were doing was “over-ambitious” and that if it was going to work at all we had to plan everything out to a T. So, it was a huge relief to hear that, despite their worries about the film, the lecturers were happy with the final product and saw it as a “pleasant surprise”. (“They said it couldn’t be done!”) It was really great to receive a positive response, not just from the lecturers, but also from our peers. I agree with most all of the feedback and think a lot of it can be linked to the flashbacks not quite working as a narrative element due to quick intercutting and lack of visual clarity. I think giving the opening more time to breathe would mean we better understand Alex���s background and her subsequent character arc. This would also help focus in on a central theme. 

The abrupt ending note is the only one I disagree with as I think the cut to black leaves us in that moment and feeling instead of having that moment come to an end or change. If the shot carried on for longer, it would read as Alex being unable to get Casca help. Whereas in this cut, it reads as Alex is desperately trying to get Casca help, but we don’t know whether she’ll succeed. It leaves us more invested in the final moment when we have a ‘happening’ instead of a ‘happened’. 

In terms of responses to my work on the cinematography, I was very happy. As Andrew often said, the cinematography really relies on the production design - what’s in the frame is more important than how it is framed. So, having Bonnie’s work to shoot was a real blessing and I think the way we worked between our departments shows in the note of a “consistent visual aesthetic”. This lets me breathe a little as that was the main critique of my work last term - inconsistency - so I’m glad my fear of a repeat note has pushed me to be more consistent in my visual approach. The note on lens choices and camera movement was also nice to hear as I have never shot a fight scene before, so knowing that it was coherent and the visual choices made helped it to succeed, was very encouraging.

Kate’s note on the moment where Alex convinces Casca to come into the flat is one I agree with as well and it’s a wee shame as it was a shot we had in our shot list, the only one we cut during shooting. This was due to taking a bit too long in setting up the lighting and tracks for that scene and deciding that with combining the insert with the 2-shot and having the wide, we would have enough coverage. But yeah, I think a two-shot of their conversation would have really helped to sell the emotion of that moment.

(RIP shot 4.3, forever in my heart) (or is it 4.2? I mislabelled my storyboard)

But yeah, overall, extremely happy. It’s always great to see everyone in the group praised for their work. I loved everyone’s work and I loved working with everyone. Everyone really pulled their weight and went above and beyond to make the film work and yeah, I really appreciate them all.

About That One Time Feedback

(I didn’t take notes; I am idiot) but, from what I remember, the film was deemed: visually interesting and well-edited but overall unclear, with the sound working against the image and a build-up of tension that didn’t pay off.

Again, I agree with most of the feedback and think that one change would solve most of the issues. If we were able to cast a young actress, the meaning of the film, the emotion of the film and the narrative would be a lot clearer. I think we should have probably considered this issue more in pre-production and come up with a way around it as I think it is definitely the main drawback of the film. Natalia and I talked after the crit and also thought that maybe some more on-the-nose dialogue that set up the exact events we are about to see, early in the film, would have been a way around the casting issue. 

However, again, I disagree with a note - that the film feels anticlimactic and misleading. This one confuses me a little as I think it is clearly a creative choice and the meaning within that creative choice is also quite clear, I think. By putting the audience in the headspace that something bad is going to happen, we are showing how leaving a young child by themselves for hours is an accident waiting to happen and the fact that nothing happens doesn’t stop it from being worrying. This was something we spoke about throughout the process of making the film and I think it is one of the ideas that (although undercut by the age of our main actress) comes through the best. I think with student films that are experimental in some way, there is a tendency to mistake provocative contradictions as being unintentional or a mistake. There was a similar note about the documentary Natalia directed last term, where the dissonance between a loud sound design and the line “a moment of silence” was seen as a mistake, instead of a deliberate choice to provoke an intellectual response in the audience, where they look for the meaning in the contradiction. 

This is a film that, I agree, is confusing and unclear, but is also, for me, quite interesting and has a lot of good ideas within it. Natalia’s simple and emotive story is complimented well by the stark and isolating visuals and is well-shaped and given good momentum by Eva’s edit. It was a really rewarding process and every step forward, we were uncovering new things about the film. Eva’s reshoot suggestion really saved the film and Natalia and Sam’s support through the post-production helped me feel like we were on the right track.

Overall, I had a great time working on both of these projects and I learned a lot. I’m very happy with how this term has gone and I feel like I’ve gotten a lot out of it. It’s sad that that was our last proper crit, but, again, I’ve had a blast and I really do love working with everyone and getting to see everyone’s films in such a supportive and enthusiastic setting. I really loved seeing what everyone has been up to and looking for what I can learn from my peers. 

In terms of cinematography, I always gush about Eva and Sam Duner’s work and this term was no exception. Eva’s framing choices felt so perfect for the story being told, I was always where I needed to be to not only see the story, but to feel it too. Sam’s lighting work is always a joy to look at and the way he handles his shots in post really elevates them as well. Cal’s visuals were so full of energy and charm; Aimee’s brooding images were perfect for the film’s tone and Peer’s approach to lighting the night-time shots was really interesting and evocative. Samuel Tabotta shot something that captured the humour and tone of the story and was also clearly very well planned in terms of the edit. (And that’s a guy who’s spent the whole term saying he’s no cinematographer!)

The sound designers also had some great work, both technically and creatively. Tom’s dialogue edit was incredibly crisp, especially for a film with a lot of character movement and exterior sound recording. Contrary to Leo’s notes, I thought Orla’s FX work with the morgue dialogue really tied the character’s words to the space. James’ location recording is something to take inspiration from as the opening montage he says is mainly made up of sync sound. Rowen’s work in the mix is real impressive, being able to juggle so many different elements and create something that feels cohesive and clean cut. Eilis’ sound design was fun and energetic; Peer’s work in a short time frame was very commendable and Alex managing to do a sound design on top of directing and editing his film is also mad! 

Anyways, enough compliments. I’ll see you all next year. It’s been a pleasure!

[jcmarchi]

Concord Preview - Concord Feels Like Destiny Meets Overwatch - Game Informer

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/concord-preview-concord-feels-like-destiny-meets-overwatch-game-informer/

Concord Preview - Concord Feels Like Destiny Meets Overwatch - Game Informer

Last month, PlayStation released the first big look at Concord, its upcoming 5v5 multiplayer hero shooter from Firewalk Studios, a team it acquired last year. Though the recent cinematic footage teases something like a single-player, narrative-driven heist game akin to a Guardians of the Galaxy movie, the gameplay reveal that followed showcased the strictly multiplayer experience in a new light. Admittedly, this reveal left me feeling blasé; it looked fine, but not necessarily something I hadn’t seen before. However, after playing the game for a few hours during a recent preview event, I’m excited for more of the action. It feels like a mix of Destiny and Overwatch, but I am wary of the team’s emphasis on lore and storytelling and if it will pay off in a multiplayer-only format. 

Before going hands-on with Concord, Firewalk director of IP Kimberly Kreines and lead gameplay designer Claude Jerome walk me and my peers through a presentation to highlight the game’s sci-fi world. Kreines explains Firewalk set out to make something “unlike anything out there today”: a multiplayer experience that feels tactile and visceral, “like taking an action game and bashing it with a shooter,” and characters that feel real. She explains that players control various Freegunners in Concord, together in an outlaw crew of mercenaries taking jobs that play out in the game’s multiplayer matches. The government of this universe, the Guild, controls the freedom of the stars, but recently, a crew stole a Galactic Guide and our crew gains access to it, giving them (and you) access to this special map. 

I’m impressed by my first viewing of this map – it’s sprawling, colorful, bright, and chock-full of locations, planets, points of interest, and more. But I later learn it’s not something to interact with in the way you might in a single-player RPG (like I had hoped). It’s essentially a massive library of lore, with each point of interset an entry to learn more about Concord. It’s a neat feature, and while I’m a sucker for lore, it’s one I can see a lot of players ignoring. The same goes for Concord’s initial vignette, which players will watch when they first boot the game up. It’s beautifully rendered, with excellent voice acting to match, and it’s a short and fun burst of personality that gives some insight into the game’s various characters. And though Firewalk promises a new one each week, I struggle to see a future where players tune in for a new one, anticipating what’s next, at least in the game’s early beginnings. When I ask if these vignettes will tell a wider narrative, perhaps across a full year of play, Kreines explains they are a mishmash of serialized stories, crew insight, and more – so probably not.

There’s plenty more that speaks to the amount of character work, world-building (like map graffiti and props that tell of a recent rebellion and skyboxes that warn of incoming storms), and lore Firewalk is attempting to inject into Concord off the rip. It’s clear the team wants its players to feel affection for these Freegunners the same way the Overwatch community does with its heroes. Throughout my time with Concord, though, I ponder the idea that a developer can create this affection from the jump. Sure, Overwatch certainly has it, but Blizzard has garnered that over years of work, with incredible gameplay at its core; it didn’t force it into the experience with copious lore entries, a massive library of universe mythology, and more.

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Fortunately for Firewalk, a 5v5 multiplayer shooter doesn’t rest its laurels on lore and storytelling – it’s about the gameplay, and so far, Concord feels great. 

Destiny is the closest comparison I can make, especially regarding its time-to-kill (TTK), map layout, first-person handling, and match progress. Though I was surprised to feel this (undoubtedly influenced by my recent journey to catch up on every Destiny 2 expansion), I probably shouldn’t have been. Director Ryan Ellis, design director Josh Hamrick, lead character designer Jon Weisnewski, and Jerome all have experience working on Destiny 2, and it shows. 

I immediately take a liking to Jabali, a machine gunner who can shoot Life Pulse Orbs at teammates to heal and Hunter Orbs at enemies to deal bursts of damage (you can probably already see the Overwatch comparison). Targeting enemies through Jabali’s aim-down-sights is good fun. With a longer TTK than faster first-person shooters like Call of Duty, I have to focus on accuracy (and headshots) to eliminate enemies before they can eliminate me. Because each hero has unique abilities, it’s critical I use my orbs in the heat of battle. Without the damage of a Hunter Orb, taking out handgun specialist Lennox (the Starlord-esque character from the reveal), whose bullets melt my health bar, would be tough. And even then, I have to watch out for Lennox’s exploding knife and self-heal ability. 

[embedded content]

As I play match after match, I enjoy that I have to think about each Freegunner’s loadout. Will fire sorceress Haymar float above the field to throw down firewalls and blinding flash grenades? Is soldier Teo, who plays most like a typical first-person shooter hero, peering through smoke bomb fields he laid down with unaffected eyesight while I struggle to see anything but grey clouds? Does sniper Vale have a trip mine set around the corner? And does former recycling robot 1-Off have an air barrier down to block incoming projectiles like my orbs, both deployables that persist through each round unless destroyed? These are the seconds-long match-ups I consistently have to consider in every engagement. I enjoy this added strategy, and it separates Concord from the typical whoever-shoots-first-wins experience of the FPS genre. 

These considerations are critical in Trophy Hunt, a team deathmatch variant where you must pick up a killed enemy’s trophy to gain a point. In Cargo Run, which tasks players with securing a Blue Buddy robot and bringing it back to one of two zones, and Clash Point, where players compete for control of a single capture zone, these considerations still matter a lot, but perhaps not how Firewalk intends. The latter two modes are round-based and feature zero respawn. If killed, you’re out until the next round. As a result, the other four players on my team (and the five enemy players) largely ignore the mode-specific objectives and instead focus on taking out the other team first. This is a typical issue with these game modes – looking at you, Search and Destroy in Call of Duty – but I still hope Firewalk finds a way around it in Concord. Otherwise, I can see myself sticking to Trophy Hunt and other team deathmatch-adjacent modes where I’m always in the action, thanks to the ability to respawn. 

Fortunately, regardless of the mode, I have a great time with Concord’s action. It’s frenetic, with plenty of variables between well-designed maps (I enjoy the three of the game’s final 16 I get to check out) and 16 Freegunners, each with unique abilities.

Firewalk says there aren’t designated Freegunner types, like tank, DPS, or support – instead, characters feature a mix of skills and weaponry that allow them to float between these traditional archetypes. In my experience, though, some characters definitely play like tanks, healers, and assault-focused heroes, and it didn’t take long for my team to consider these builds when creating a crew for a match. On top of all this, there are plenty more systems I couldn’t quite wrap my head around, like individual Crew Building that acts as a subset of your roster, Crew Bonuses, Freegunner variants, and more. But if the post-match summaries, which light up with unlocks and experience bars, are any indication, a lot is going on under the hood of this shooter, and I look forward to learning more about how it all comes together. 

I left this Concord preview significantly more excited for the game’s upcoming release on PlayStation 5, which will hopefully bolster its player base with a simultaneous PC launch. I have plenty of questions about progression, seasonal content, crossplay checks and balances between controller and mouse-and-keyboard players, and whether the emphasis on worldbuilding will pay off, but Firewalk has seemingly nailed the most important part: the gameplay.

[besidesitstoowarm]

"The Poison Sky" thoughts

well. probably won't ever watch that story again

i think the reason this story doesn't work for me is like, why? what was it about? i mean, it was about the sontarans, but what was it meant to be about thematically? "aliens of london/world war 3" was the first story of new who where it was really, genuinely a possibility that they were gonna die, where the doctor will have failed to save rose. the cybermen 2 parter in s2 reestablished the cybermen as a threat and had "upgrading out of fear of death" as a motivation. "the daleks take manhatten/evolution of the daleks" added more to the dalek mythos and had the whole "evolve or die" layered into the great depression. what the fuck was this story about?? the environment?? i don't think so, it didn't really develop any of the main characters. i'm fine with filler episodes with lame villains but i prefer them to be singles, not two goddamn hours

sorry i'm just such a hater. i don't find the sontarans compelling enough or deep enough to justify a world-threatening 2 parter. they aren't used as an analogue to say anything about humanity or the doctor or the companion. i don't care so let's blow right through

sylvia saves wilf by taking an axe to the mainframe. evil martha hacks the mainframe and the sontarans say "good work for a female" again i have to wonder why a clone race invented misogyny. donna gets a tardis key and then is locked in the tardis while the doctor gives his whole "i can do what i want forever" speech. an image of rose silently mouthing "doctor" flashes on screen before the doctor appears, which i found more compelling than anything to do w the sontarans bc rose has haunted the narrative metaphorically (s3 through martha seemingly failing to live up) and now literally (breaking back through to this world) since she left

we find out that baby elon's plan was to build a new world for just the smart kids so they won't get bullied and can breed. gross and again a throwaway futurama style gag, to me. donna talks to her family and i tear up every time wilf does. evil martha blocks the nukes from taking off and the doctor insults the general by saying "times like this i could do with the brigadier" we all could. he's giving mustache rides in peru

the doctor saves martha from the soup and clone martha dies. rip. he control-burns the atmosphere to get rid of the fog yay. then he goes to the sontaran ship and threatens to explode them and they say "a warrior doesn't talk, he acts" and dare him to do it bc a death in battle is a glorious death. mark zuckerberg switches places w the doctor at the last second and explodes on the sontaran ship. rip. martha wants to go home but something steals the tardis oh no!!!!!!!!!

onward and upward.

[fantastic-nonsense]

might be an unpopular hottake in the "actual comic reader" side of the fandom, but I'm actually perfectly okay with Jason giving up his guns and/or reintegrating properly into the Batfam instead of the shallow "half a foot in, half a foot out" thing they've been doing for the last decade

"he was more interesting as a villain" was he? Was he really? Or is the idea of him as a villain more interesting than the idea of him as the prodigal son who returns to the fold? Because I can promise you that outside of Under the Red Hood, Villain!Jason as a concept did NOT go well in practice.

"he's more interesting because he kills" meh, I actually disagree with this one. I think he's probably more interesting as a character who has zero problems killing but refrains from doing so for various reasons (like characters such as Kory). As written, "Jason who kills" was basically just a bland Punisher rip-off, and it never really worked outside of a few individual stories because Jason's writers (*side-eyes Lobdell*) were never particularly interested in exploring or doing anything with his morality and ethics outside of occasionally touching on his strained relationship with Bruce

"he operates better on his own and not as a member of the Batfam" while I'm not unsympathetic to this perspective and frankly agree with the thought that he needs to get the hell out of Gotham, I would note that it's possible for Jason to operate as an independent adult and be on semi-okay terms with (at least some of) his family; Dick managed to do so pretty successfully in the late 90s/early 2000s before the "Batfamily" became an institution unto itself

"Guns are an iconic weapon that differentiate him from the family!" yeah, but he's got other iconic weapons that he can use (his All-Caste blades and his kris, for example). I hate the crowbar as much as the rest of you, but I'm not wedded to the concept of Jason having to use guns. Rubber bullets can still kill and maim someone for life, and frankly him using guns in the first place was Jason a) going for efficiency and b) attempting to spite Bruce specificially. Moving on and healing from that period of his life kind of necessitates he move on from all of the ways he chose to specifically model himself to spite Bruce, including his choice of weapons.

basically the entire reason that resurrecting Jason was interesting was because of his dynamic with Bruce in UtRH, but outside of that dynamic, what actual themes are there for Jason to build off of as an independent character? Helena Bertinelli and Jean-Paul Valley already occupied the "Gotham-based vigilantes willing to kill that come into conflict with Bruce over it" niche long before Jason was resurrected, after all

And "Cheer" presented us with a genuinely compelling narrative of how and why Jason might begin to grow beyond the mindset he developed during Lost Days by introducing the negative externalities associated with his "a criminal dead is one less criminal on the streets" mentality. He doesn't have to agree with Bruce's morals or methods to understand that the way he's been conducting business as a vigilante isn't actually solving the problem but is only further perpetuating the cycle of violence

If you all want him to grow away from being "just another narrative foil for Bruce" and into a character that can stand on his own apart from that dynamic, he has to do so in a way that genuinely grows beyond the current status quo, and without some sort of resolution and movement to the Jason-Bruce dynamic, Jason will continue to run through the 'wants to be independent->wants to work with the Batfam-> wants to be independent’ arc he's been repeatedly cycling through for another decade. Whether you agree with the actual direction or not, it's a genuine change of pace that indicates the potential for some permanent character resolution and growth, and I for one am pretty excited to see where DC goes with it

[yugiohz]

my chainsaw man review :) major spoilers be warned

Genre: I think it’s funny how, for the most part, csm makes it a point to repeatedly mock the hero archetype only for the story to have a VERY heroic ending with the city getting attacked by a Devil and Denji getting ready to fight it’s oddly satisfying .

World building: initially, I was left very dissatisfied with the world building: csm establishes several interesting elements, it never really bothers to expand on these, let alone explain its magic system but halfway through the story it becomes clear that csm is much less about the world/magic system/an abstract us vs them conflict and much more about how everything relates to Denji’s character, so in hindsight I don’t mind the lack of in-depth world-building because it’s a character-driven story, which I did not expect but enjoyed and even prefer tbh.

Which brings me to my next point

Characters: as I said, it’s a character-driven story and thus focuses heavily on Denji, which on one hand is great because he’s an intriguing protagonist but on the other, every other character falls very flat next to him, which I personally don’t mind since it’s easy to only focus on Denji but yeah I did notttt care about 90% of the cast. Power is a really fun character and Aki is cute but outside of the main trio I really did not care about who dies and who survives.

The one thing that lowered csm’s enjoyment factor significantly for me was the female characters’ writing; every non-Power csm can be reduced to one quirky characteristic and I could not care less about himeno (had to google her name) dying she’s so pathetic im sorryyyy but she needs to work on her issues and stop pining after boys that are significantly younger than her it was a bit repulsing rip.

Theme: I think csm’s strength definitely lies in its theme of consumption and how it reflects the diegetic power politics. Food/consumption metaphoric is rlly nice in general and csm implements it really well for a manga, it was easy to catch on quickly and anticipate more and the ending was very satisfying so all in all interesting theme, nice development and good closure. I know there’s also religious themes but I didn’t really notice those tbh but there’s videos on that I’m gonna watch maybe it’s gonna change my general opinion who knows,.

Anyway back to the theme of consumption, I really loved that oneeee, it’s straightforward but nice nonetheless. I really like how the food immediately reflects Denji’s (lack of) power and his vulnerability throughout the chapters: The manga opens with Denji being forced to eat a cigarette (non-edible // Denji is an abandoned child) to eating rotten food (a bit more edible // still alone) to eating basic food (edible but really odd combination (the sandwich)// lives with aki so he’s slowly socializing) to eating fancy food in a restaurant (big change // socializing, Denji has worth) to eating Makima (climax). It’s interesting how his triumph over her is different from manga like a*t (sorry) where it’s violent mid-fight consumption. Instead, he takes his time to prepare her as a meal which emphasizes his newly-gained agency through this deliberate performance, which is really important I think because throughout the manga, several adult women take advantage of his vulnerability and powerlessness so yeah the final cannibalistic act is nice because it reflects denji’s development and growth so well, albeit morbidly.

Narrative foils: Lastly I don’t want to get too much into the grooming, I think on one hand it’s definitely meant to emphasize Denji’s vulnerability so it has a right to exist in the story, on the other it quickly turns voyeuristic (and fetishistic) which I could only side-eye it is what it is. One thing I’ll say is that Makima wasn’t really a complex/interesting antagonist to me, she works well and is the perfect antagonist for this very specific protagonist (denji as a very limited focalising protagnoist vs Makima as an omniscient but closed antagonist) but outside of their antithetic dynamic, I think she’s boring but I also know the author did not have me in mind when he wrote csm so it’s whatever jskncd.

LASTLY csm has some reallyyyyyy really beautiful paneling and art I loved taking my time to stare at some pages I am sooo obsessed with the gun devil (?)’s attack and how the death count was displayed so neatly in front of the silent visual chaos, also the whole snowball scene was cinema!!!!

6.5/10 I think but im not sure im so bad with concrete ratings let’s say it was a ride.