#the fandom once again improving hoo

[eloise-t-g]

i think for me, the watcher situation comes down to this:

it's absolutely respectable that the watcher team wants to grow and produce better quality content. it's respectable that they don't want to stagnate and end up pushing the same content out over and over again. that's not satisfying for them creatively, i get that.

however, if higher quality, more heavily produced content is not what your fans are asking for, then you can't ask them to fund it.

this all-or-nothing method they've gone for is frankly bizarre. it feels like they leap-frogged all other alternatives to improving their finances and ended up here, alienating and frustrating the majority of their fanbase (the fanbase they thanked for getting them to where they are).

i think this could have gone a lot better if they:

Hadn't hyped up this video for a week.

Hadn't announced the worth it successor just beforehand.

Hadn't put out a wishy-washy, "boo hoo we're so sad about this", over-produced video.

Hadn't made it $6/month (more in a lot of countries given exchange rates).

Had considered that this means fans in specific countries literally cannot pay for the subscription due to geo/region-locking.

my ideas for improving their funds, aka things they could have tried before blowing their brand up: create their own website with two options - a free version with ads and a paid version without ads, OR make better use of their patreon/make their website extra content, not all their content, for example:

Put the ghost file debriefs on there.

Put shows like survival mode on there (or even shift that show from pre-recorded video to live-stream - live stream access to patrons and VOD access to everyone, maybe).

Put episode commentaries there.

Do reaction videos to their old buzzfeed content, talk about memories and BTS, and put that there.

Put one/two episodes of each show, per season on there (and ONLY there).

Put the episodes up there a few days early.

Make specific, website only content (that's not your main and most popular series aka ghost files and puppet history).

Record the live, in-person shows and put those VODs up there.

EDIT (thought of something else lmao): put extended or even uncut versions of ghost files on there. Paranormal Detour on Detune's twitch channel has shown that people will willingly sit through 6+ hours of a ghost investigation.

EDIT: idk, do livestreams once a week where you watch scary movies with fans on discord or twitch.

(side note: the fact that they're not taking down their patreon and instead shifting all of their podcast content on there, something the patreons who have been loyally giving them money for years didn't ask for, is ridiculous and greedy. add to this the fact that they don't even get a free sub to the new website, instead get 40% off - a measly 10% more than anyone else who subs before the official launch).

the thing for me is that they're claiming they want to make "television" and "television-grade content". that's completely fine. what's not completely fine is acting like your four episodes a month is equal to netflix's entire catalogue.

this really felt like it should have been something they told us they were progressing towards, not something they revealed to be on the imminent horizon. idk, it just feels out of nowhere. no, they don't owe us all of the info about their company. but something had to be better than this.

final thought - it's okay and valid to be upset at the team for this. for a lot of people, it's a complete betrayal (especially the comment that $6 a month is something "anyone and everyone can afford", i mean yikes). i do think some people's anger got the best of them, and some of the comments i've seen across youtube, twitter, and tumblr are plain bullying, racism, and harassment. until we have the whole story, we can't decide that one founder (aka steven in a lot of people's minds) is solely responsible. i know a lot of these awful things are only coming from a small minority of the fandom, but they still get seen.

at the end of the day, all three of them got up in front of a camera and made this video, together. that can only lead us to the conclusion that they made this decision together. acting like these men in their 30s couldn't stand up against it if they truly wanted to, is so strange and parasocial lmao.

tl;dr there were much better ways of going about this announcement, if it even needed to be made at all. however, that doesn't excuse the hateful shit being spewed at the team. for now, all we know is the three founders decided they were done with youtube, and done with their loyal youtube audience.

(i have so many more thoughts on this but i need to stop lmao. however i do wonder how different things could have been if 1. they had hired someone with actual business experience as their CEO from the jump, and 2. this video was more of a "hey we're broke! this is a last-ditch effort to save our company!". guess those questions will remain ... well ... you know ...).

[riinkun-art-stuff]

Howdy ho! I'm very excited to finally be able to share this illustration I worked on as part of this year's @bumblebybigbang for @tahnex's lovely and super fun fic (with no pain attached whatsoever), "Of Dragons and Panthers," which you can read here! As soon as I read the original notes on it this scene captured me so much I had to do something dramatic for it. It's been such a pleasure watching the whole collab come together, tysm for having me!

First time joining an event like this, and I'd love to again if the opportunity comes around hehe. Still a few postings to go on this one, the pieces before us this year have knocked it out of the park and I'm super excited to see the rest once they come around!

Made a few process cuts just for fun, which I left under the cut!

I did do a few sketches roughly before I started out, especially based on other parts of the chapter, but this particular composition was so fixed in my mind that I ended up just sticking with it. In retrospect, I would've loved to go back and do some more thorough exploration for it. Here are a few of the sketches I managed to fish back up:

I also was thinking of trying a few other doodles/another big piece, but ended up not really having the time between other obligations :')

And the sketch I finally settled on:

Inking was SUCH a fun process on this piece in particular. I'm a huge fan of how dragon!Yang's mane turned out, especially, and all the detailing on the head and around Blake's fur and such. Feel like I'm really satisfied w the particular way the line weight variations came out, and it's where the piece shines the most imo.

Panther!Blake, too. Oh gosh. I feel like it took me a lot of reworking to get her structure to a point where she felt very leopard-like, rather than any other type of big cat- especially around the head.

Colours were such a challenging part. There was a big feeling I had for that glow coming off dragon!Yang in the middle of the heavy rain- I love seeing that sort of effect in real life so that's something I'm really hoping to work to capture better as I practice. Trying to get dragon!Yang's slight iridescence in there and to balance out the lighting on panther!Blake's fur each took a long time, too- I'm only a pinch sad that a good chunk of it is covered by other lighting effects XD

Blake's rosettes were SO fun. Augguhugg.

In terms of backgrounds. HOO boy I was going through a strange patch in life while working on the background and final polish for this piece, which is why (at least I feel like) it looks kinda rushed. I have been practicing natural landscapes and doing some observational studies but still struggling to get those rock shapes quite right, which I think is a big make or break point of something like this. I did really enjoy toying around with inking on the foliage and foreground layers of the ground, though! And in the end, lighting and effects ended up masking a lot of the big weak spots :D

I think natural effects like smoke/steam, and rain, are big things that I got to practice more of in this piece, but also really would like to get better at in future. Esp since I feel like it's been a great opportunity to mess around with different colours and brushes that I use way less, which I'm always grateful for w painting. I think just layering the rain on its own ended up being about 10 odd layers?

I think the only other thing I would have loved to improve is to just help the piece feel more Bumbleby™ in the final look. I think I like the cool colours of the lighting for this particular outcome, but I also would have probably tried to have made things much clearer (ahem at the very least switch to yellow/purple) in the long run in terms of representation and resemblance. Ik that at least for me it is fairly easy to associate the two characters with dragons and panthers since I'm more familiar w the fandom lingo around these two, but esp for outsiders I feel like it's probably not great at conveying who they are, and why they are potentially in this situation.

I'd also love to try and find a shading style that still has a painterly quality but compliments the inking a bit better, rather than overpowering it.

I think that, on the whole, I am pretty satisfied with the piece and had a great time working with Tahnex on the whole collab! And I've also has a fun time reading his work and notes in return, and thank you so much for being so so patient with me even as my updates were slow n rocky at points :'D

That's about all I got, have a great day y'all! Still a few big bang postings to go, so very excited for those once they come around!

[soongtypehuman]

Boo-hoo update

I’m sorry to say I have an update I was hoping to not ever have to make. Some of you already know that I have some serious health issues, but I've been pretty quiet about the extent of what I'm dealing with.

The gist of it is that I have a rare bone disease called fibrous dysplasia that turned certain bones in my skull into tumors and then those tumors grew inward and started crushing my brain, so I had a craniotomy last year to remove as much as was safe and got a cool new titanium implant in my head to replace the removed bone/tumor. The unfortunate result was encephalomalacia, which is the end stage of liquifying necrosis, and now part of my brain is liquid instead of solid (it’s dead, in a nutshell). Most people don’t survive encephalomalacia, much less remain able to function, and most who survive the initial stage don’t survive the three year mark. Even when you do survive it, it often continues spreading. The last MRI showed it had already taken over about 1/3 of my brain. But I’m a stubborn asshole and am still hanging on.

Unfortunately, things aren’t getting better.

I have to have constant MRIs, EEGs, physical and cognitive therapies, and have been on more meds than I’d like to be in order to control seizures and various cognitive issues. I didn’t mention this before, but I had to go through a series of speech therapies just to learn to talk properly again. And the most unfortunate part of this is that my ability to write has been affected. Since the surgery over a year ago, I’ve only made 10 new posts in the Positronic Rivalry series, totaling around 87k words. For reference, I posted over 200k words in 2022. I’ve posted even less this year, and it’s not improving.

With that said, I have to take a step back. I’m not quitting and I’m not walking away from the fandom. I’d like to think I’ll still be able to post here and there. I just don’t know when and under what circumstances that will happen. I most certainly can’t handle the longer multi-chapter fics I once could. Maybe one day, but not this day. Since I started posting on AO3 back at the end of 2021, I’ve posted every Sunday more often than not. I’m sorry to say I can’t make that happen right now, and can’t say when I’ll post again or what it will be. I won't be able to continue with season 4.

But I’m most definitely not leaving the fandom and the people and the characters I love so much. I’ll still be here interacting and posting when I’m able. This fandom and the people in it are incredible and mean a lot to me. Data and Lore and Star Trek in general are integral to my life and general enjoyment.

But!! I’ve nearly completed compiling seasons 1-3 of Positronic Rivalry as well as 2022/23 Kinktobers into files that will be ready to print in physical book format (completely free, obviously), which I’ll make available for everyone to download in various print sizes, complete with covers, which you can then have printed at various POD sites if you’re so inclined. Digital versions will also be available (you can already download various formats from AO3, but they’re not compiled into seasons, don’t have covers, etc.).

I’m also continuing with the Trek-themed crossword puzzles because those are fun and my therapist thinks making them is good for my cognitive rehab.

This update is a massive bummer for me, but I felt it was better to just admit my limitations instead of constantly trying to convince myself that I could continue the way I had been pre-surgery and beating myself up when I couldn’t.

Lastly, I’ve finally taken the suggestion I’ve gotten repeatedly and set up a KoFi. If you’d like to buy me a coffee or toss a coin to your android porn witcher, you can do so right here and I’d be giggling and kicking my feet in gratitude.

Anyhow, I want to thank all of you for being amazing and coming along on this ride with me for as long as you have, and for as long as it might continue in whatever form it takes.

[thatonefandomjumper]

If you were able to make Valdangelo canon how would you write them ?

Very good question.

The thing is, Valdangelo is a relationship that I feel had so so much potential due to how the characters were individually written, but at the same time, I really don't trust that Riordan would have done them justice just on account of how Heroes of Olympus was written as a whole. To really make their relationship satisfying, I'd probobly need to make some substantial rewrites to the series as a itself.

But for simplicity sake, let's say we're keeping all big plot points and beats the same with the only difference being that Valdangelo is endgame.

House of Hades would be the most logical place for the two of them to shine, considering Nico was, uh, quite occupied during Mark of Athena. Leo is canonically very spooked by Nico's mere existence on the ship and Nico prefers to keep to himself most times. Not only that, but the two places they each spend the most time is not only the most isolated parts of the ship but also, sort of the furthest away from each other (Crows nest and Engine room).

Not only that, but these two are so bad at normal human interactions that the only way they could genuinely start to open up to each other and find that they are oh so eerily similar is for some outside factor to push for it to happen.

Whatever that is, and no matter how it happens, the biggest thing the two of them need is just a conversation. Genuinely, I think that's all that is needed for something to happen. Something romantic? Not necessarily, but hoo-boy if they opened up to each other in one way or another things would never be the same.

There will always be a terrifying thought of "Oh god, you see right though me and I see myself in you. This is awful I must stay away or I might learn something about myself that I don't want too." But at the same time, no one else will ever get it. To hate yourself so much. To feel alone all the time. To be unworthy of love and broken beyond repair.

So as much as they want to stay away, they inevitable meet again. Possibly in the night, when they are alone, because they would not want anyone around for this.

I am a dynamic girly at the end of the day, so when I ship characters I rarely actually think about the getting together part or anything that relates to that, but were they to get together at this point, it would be in a sort of fucked up self-discovery way where both of them adamantly agree to keep it a secret. They do not want anyone to find out ever that they kiss when they are on the verge of breakdowns.

But evolving from that (And after Nico's outing and Leo's stay in Ogygia, probobly with platonic Caleo or at least Leo feeling obligated to save her out of guilt for not being able to be with her) they become each others confidants. They both dislike showing true weakness, especially of the emotional kind so having someone who just gets it is not only new but terrifying. Whether that be the deaths of their family members or both of their serious cases of internalized homophobia, the other will understand.

People notice, of course, but Nico and Leo avoid each other in public to such a comical degree that it makes it almost more obvious that something is going on. They deflect like crazy when their relationship is brought up and most back off out of respect, but Piper and Percy are the two who speculate the most...

As the journey passes, little things start happening. Leo tells Nico to eat once in a while. Nico forces Leo to take a proper nap. Things the others either don't know they struggle with or aren't thinking about because there ae more important things going on. And slowly, the two start... improving? It was never the intention because they don't see themselves worthy of healing, but the other wants them to get better, and they don't want to lose the one relationship that let's them be wholly vulnerable. It's strange, but it feels good.

Now, I have always hated how angry Nico was at Leo for dying in canon because it makes zero sense in my opinion, but that's a whole 'nother conversation. But this time around, Nico would feel every right to be furious, because let's be real, Leo's secretive ass would not tell him this. There is a line to his emotional openness and telling his sort-of-dating-for-convenience-boyfriend about the fact he's actively planning his own suicide, despite the fact he's planning to bounce back from it is just a step too far. He knows it's selfish. But he just can't.

And it's in the time they're apart that they truly understand just how much they'd started leaning on each other in the time they were together. The bad habits they broke coming back and the longjng to see the other growing stronger. They both sort of hate it. Nico joins Jason and Piper in their search while Leo is trying his best to get back to camp.

No matter how the reunion would go, I like to think that Nico would have spilled the beans about their relationship to the others at that point, so Leo, who had been psyching himself up to swoop Nico into his arms and declare their love to the camp doesn't exactly get that. But what he does get is tears, angry, possibly unfair words, and reconciliation. Their back with each other, and this time, they won't screw it up.

Valdangelo is a story of healing. Of two broken people building each other back up. No matter what direction I'd go with actually making the relationship happen, they will always represent the mortifying ordeal of being known.

Anyway, they are actually impossible and there is something very wrong with them. Thank you for the ask and here's a drawing:

Also, I wrote a Valdangelo fic way back in 2021 where a similar scenario played out if you are interested:

[im-no-jedi]

took a while to get out, but in a similar but opposite toned way to last week, here are my long, rambly, and barely coherent thoughts about episode 9 “The Crossing”

which are thankfully much more positive than last week 😋

where do I even begin y’all. the vibe of this episode really emphasized the end of episode 8 with its melancholy; we didn’t even get any dialogue for the first couple of minutes. all of them silently exiting the Marauder as just the four of them was painful to watch. and it didn’t take long to get into the sibling squabbles after that.

which, as I’ve mentioned before, was another great example of why I think this show does an excellent job selling TBB as siblings. the Clones in general have always been good sibling rep, but TBB does it the best imo. Wrecker and Tech’s bickering with Hunter and Omega pitifully trying to stop it was *chef’s kiss*. even Tech and Hunter hounding Omega about being careful with the ipsium was very “older sibling trying to be the parent”, especially with Omega’s mocking responses LOL. I mean, we even finally got a confirmation that they see each other as family! finally!! thank you Omega!! \o/

speaking of Omega! my girl has really learned how to express herself, as we saw with her rant in episode 8, and I’m glad she was letting her feelings out to the boys. yes, she was overly emotional, but it was understandable! she’s still a child, and it’s hard to process loss without getting emotional, trust me.

that being said, it’s still unfortunate that the boys aren’t the same way. Wrecker has been the only one who’s ever been comfortable showing his emotions and feelings, but even so, he clearly still struggles with it. I really hope we get to a point where the boys are able to open up more (although they admittingly have improved since the beginning thanks to Omega).

now for some specific moments I enjoyed or were just notable to me. 

firstly, Hunter’s spidey senses going off not once, not twice, but THREE times this episode. oh Lordy. if I didn’t know he had enhanced senses, I woulda thought he was freaking Force sensitive with how in tune he was with what was going on. him sensing that something had happened to Omega and Tech? hello?? is he really THAT sensitive, or was that his Dad™ senses going into overdrive LOL

next, I obviously have to talk about the Lion King stampede (thank you Kiners for the blatant spoilers ROFL). OMG I felt so bad for Wrecker, poor baby. him complaining about his back afterwards was a MOOD. and then the exchange with him and Tech, “why don’t YOU carry it?” “fine.” I laughed SO hard, peak sibling humor 😂👌🏻 Hunter holding onto the wire tho... Lord have mercy 🥵

and now circling back to Hunter again cause I’m not done talking about my man yet. can we just appreciate how well he was able to keep himself together in this episode with all the chaos? he could’ve easily joined in with the bickering or gotten frustrated, as we saw him do in “Entombed”. but no, he stayed calm the whole time, even when confronting Tech about his behavior. the only time he actually got frustrated was with Cid (rightfully so). I know that man is a boiling pot of emotions inside, but still he remains the calm and collected leader, keeping everyone on track and not escalating anything further. my man... I love him so much 😩💙

last specific thing I wanna mention cause OMG am I still mad about it. Cid. what. the. HECK. as someone who has loved this character since we first saw her, I’m with TBB (and the rest of the fandom!) on this one. she crossed a line. I gave her the benefit of the doubt with the riot racing, but this was TOO far. she’s gonna catch these hands fr 😤

ok! now I’ll talk about the more serious subjects again. I’ve got two things I wanna talk about because hoo boy, do they relate to me personally.

I wanna talk about the subject of loss and dealing with trauma. if you read my post from last week, you’ll know that I was absolutely devastated by the loss of Echo, regardless of it being temporary or not. it brought me down to one of the lowest points I’ve been at in YEARS. so yeah, having this episode showcase Omega (and the others) going through the exact same thing? yeah.

honestly? I needed that. I needed to have my own feelings validated as much as Omega did, and I got exactly that. Omega wasn’t just upset, she was angry and hurt and worried and didn’t know how to handle all of those emotions at once. it was way too real. that’s what trauma does to you; it gives you way too many emotions to process all at once, so it often comes out in unpleasant ways. I’ve learned to process my own feelings through years of therapy, but clearly it’s still something I struggle with. and I always will. that’s just how trauma works. and I think this subject was portrayed perfectly in this episode.

and now, the absolute cherry on top for this already perfect and beautiful episode... my boy Tech.

I’m not kidding when I say I’m getting emotional writing this cause umm... YEAH

so I’ve been labelling myself as neurodivergent for a few years now. I began to suspect I might have ADHD back in like, 2019 I think, and since then, I’ve also strongly suspected I might just be overall autistic. I haven’t gotten an official diagnosis yet but... I know I’m somewhere on the spectrum, I have to be. and this show has been one of the things that’s helped me realize that. I’ve been 100% behind the “Tech is autistic” train since the early days of the show. I also strongly believe the entire squad is neurodivergent in some way, even Echo and Omega. mostly because I can relate to them in many ways in terms of behavior. I’m not gonna get into a discussion about that here though, I’ll save it for another post✨

the bottom line though is that me being able to see myself in these characters has been one of the major reasons I love the show so much. so now having this canon confirmation about Tech has made me absolutely ecstatic.

after we were done with the episode, @jam-n-ham were talking (as we always do), and she had a hard time getting behind the idea of Tech basically being confirmed autistic. but as we talked about it, she realized that the whole issue between Omega and Tech mirrored a lot of issues she and I have had in the past. and the convo between the two of them by the water was extremely similar to convos she and I have had in the past. again, I myself am not officially diagnosed but... I’m just sayin’ 😬

so uhh, yeah. I’m obviously very happy about this, to the point where I can’t even be sad about them being currently stranded on that planet for who knows how long. the well-done portrayal of Omega’s grief coupled with canon neurodivergent Tech has uplifted me to the point where I literally can’t be sad anymore. this episode gave me hope, y’all. which is why I’m not worried about them. I know they’re all gonna be ok in the end. they have to be. they will be.

cause even when you’re grieving or dealing with mental illness... you still can have hope. it’s gonna be ok 💙💙💙

oh, and one more actual last final thing I wanna say. because of this episode, I’m no longer worried about getting an official diagnosis for my mental illness. in fact, I plan on talking to my therapist about it and seeing if I can schedule an appointment to get checked out. I’ve been debating about doing it for a couple years, and now I’ve finally got the courage to do it. so yeah. that’s a thing 😊

[sonofsallyjackson]

I really wish Rick had actually remembered the kids were different ages in HoO. Like I mean obviously it would have saved us from the unhealthy age gap that is Frazel, but it would have also introduced so many different character dynamics to the seven.

Annabeth meets Hazel for the first time in MoA and instead of being weirdly jealous, just thinks to herself exasperatedly “Are we going to adopt all the children of the Underworld Percy?” The others try to protect Hazel because she’s the youngest (and they couldn’t stand it if she dies again). But Hazel is so done with them. She may look like a child but she has survived the worst the world had to throw at her. She’s also powerful and can handle herself.

[artsybookworms]

A pointless thread in which I rate the seven demigods:

Preface: These are my PERSONAL opinions! My ratings will be based on how I feel about them at the moment, not an analysis of how well they’re written (although it might play a role in some of them).

I’m not even rating him—a 10/10 would be an understatement for how I feel about Percy. I grew up with him, and he honestly feels like an old friend. It’s because of him I found friends in this fandom and felt a little less lonely when I was younger. I owe him a lot, even if he is fictional.

10/10: Man I love her. Does she have a lot of flaws? Yeah. But that doesn’t make her any less of a good character. If anything, she feels more real because of it. Also, I’m very biased because I related a lot to her as a kid.

3/10: Pleaseeee don’t hate me. Jason just never resonated with me, and he was kinda boring. I hated reading anything from his POV lmao. I feel like Rick tried to make him this stoic, rule follower with a heart of gold and accidentally made a wet sack of rocks who’s conveniently oblivious to when people need him as a friend (see: Reyna and (to a lesser extent) Percy). Idk he just rubbed me the wrong way.

5/10: I liked Piper when I was first introduced to her. She honestly felt like the main character of TLH; she definitely outshone Jason. I think she’s really cool, but I couldn’t really relate to her. We don’t have a lot in common, and that’s really the only reason I was never that interested in her character.

6/10: Remember when I said these are my personal opinions? I like Frank mainly because he’s Chinese and I’m Chinese and I’m that desperate for Chinese representation (I was especially desperate as a middle schooler in the Midwest). Is the representation necessarily good? No… some might even say it’s problematic. But he’s really sweet (if a little bland), and he has his moments. Not my favorite character and he could be improved a lot, but again, I’m biased.

6/10: I love Hazel! I think her backstory is really interesting and I just really liked reading about her. I also relate to her because we both like to make art lol. I wish Rick had made her 15 since that’s how he wrote her, but other than that I think she’s a really charming character and one of my favorite of the seven.

4/10: Um… once again… please don’t kill me. I was never a Leo fan. It really just comes down to bad writing on Rick’s hand. He felt like your regular old “joker on the outside broken on the inside” stock character. I’d seen it before and he just ended up kinda flat? He’s an overused trope, and while it can still be compelling done right, Rick didn’t do anything interesting with it. Also, I really hate arrogance, even if it’s fake. It’s one of my pet peeves.

Honestly, I think the reason I rated the HOO characters so low is because they’re extremely underdeveloped. I mean, we spent FIVE YEARS with Percy and Annabeth, getting to know who they are as people and growing to love them. It’s kind of hard to suddenly build the same kind of relationship with 5 other people, especially when their “screen time” is divided leaving us even less time to get to know them. I love the fanon version of their characters, but going off canon alone, they fell flat. Hopefully this didn’t offend anyone, I’m curious to know if you agree!!

[delicourse]

hi !! scrolling through your blog after not seeing it on my dash for a while, as one does, and i noticed your drawings from some years ago of yams and tsukki, and i just. had a very strong nostalgia attack !!! i remember following you since... basically the beginning ? at least mid 2016. and you've changed and improved so so much !!! i still knew it was you at first glance, there's a way you draw soft faces that i could recognise everywhere, but the colours are more present and the movement !! the flair !! idk i just really really appreciate your art and i'm so happy to have seen it evolve. we don't share fandoms anymore but i'm still here because your content is amazing

have an amazing day !!!

oh thank you so so much!!!! it’s really impressive that you’ve been around for so long!! thats been like? 5 years?! makes me realize how long i’ve been on here too lmao!! it’s really cool to hear that my current art still has something thats recognisable to it, after all this time!

also this ask came in at such a fun time since i recently started rewatching haikyuu through showing it to my sister, (we are on season 2 currently) and hoo boy am i hit with some nostalgia as well! i literally have so many sketches for it rn but i was worried that nobody’s still around for me to post them, but honestly i’ll think about finishing them if only bc of this message!! once again thank u i really appreciate it!! you have an amazing day too!

[seattlesea]

The Poor Character Developments in the Heroes of Olympus Series

Rick Riordan doesn’t know how to write character arcs ✨

-Percy. What arc did he even have? From The Last Olympian to The Son of Neptune it seems like he just got more arrogant and douchey, and this is never explained or expanded on. The readers don’t know why he suddenly got so arrogant. His pride got out of control and he was doing things he knew he couldn’t do but jumped into anyway like attacking a giant head-on alone. He was reckless in PJO, but every time he always had a plan. In HoO he just turned careless. He even put other demigods’ lives at risk at times and honestly didn’t do much throughout the series. He was just kind of there, not really contributing to anything and only involved when the book needed comedic relief or to remind the readers that ‘Hey, Percy is super cool and powerful’. As for his arc, he didn’t change at all. He just got annoying and way too self-involved and vain. I mean- he was literally in front of Hercules, the man who broke Zoë Nightshade’s heart- the girl who literally sacrificed herself for Percy- and he didn’t even say or do anything? He didn’t even mention Zoë or think about her at all. All he was worried about was how ‘big-shot Jason’ got to meet the all-famous Hercules and he didn’t. And this never changed. Percy’s character arc was completely flat cause he never learned from his lessons or mistakes. Even when in Tartarus and was reminded of all the people that he lost during the Second Titan War, how he forgot about Calypso on her island for over two years, and how he left Bob the Titan alone in the Underworld, he didn’t make any move to change. After that scene, he completely forgot to even mention them again. 

-Annabeth. Same thing with Annabeth, except her realism was ripped from her. She was well-written in PJO with actual flaws and weaknesses, relationships outside of her romantic one with Percy, a very important and crucial role, fighting bravely, etc., but in HoO, she- just like Percy- was pretty much dead weight, and she became extremely weak. The only thing she really accomplished was following the Mark of Athena and getting the Athena Parthenos, but she still had to be saved by everyone else, and honestly any other demigod could’ve done it way faster. Nico literally could’ve just shadow-travelled to the statue then shadow-travelled it back out. The only times she fought (which was very few times) she was always with another demigod, and the two-three times she actually fought she always had to be saved, by a newbie, especially. In the Temple of Fear, Piper ‘toughened’ her up and saved her three times from the giant Mimas, and when caught by the giants, Piper was the one to save Annabeth (again). She couldn’t do anything by herself without others having to save or help her. And she also became very dull. She didn’t have any more of her pride, short temper, care, ferocity, etc. All she was was a Percy fangirl. Everything was about him and him only. This also didn’t change. We didn’t see any improvement or alterations to her personality whatsoever. 

-Jason. The majority of the fandom doesn’t like Jason- which is understandable- but they hate on him for the wrong reasons. They dislike him cause he was ‘boring’ despite him actually having multiple distinct personality traits. They just think he didn’t have any personality cause his traits weren’t directly commented on like the other characters’ were (which is actually bad writing, readers should be able to interpret a character’s personality without it being stated to them by other characters). And he even had a sense of humor. His character arc though...fell short. But! He could’ve had an amazing character arc, Riordan just focused on the wrong parts. Riordan’s take on Jason’s character arc was deciding if he was more ‘Greek or Roman’ and then deciding he was both. But...that makes no sense, cause that’s just stereotyping every single Greek and every single Roman. The fandom says that the Romans are the cruel, harsh, and merciless ones, but what about Hazel? Or Frank? Or Reyna? Or the fact that they immediately accepted Nico while Camp Half-Blood outcasted and even ostracized him? And they say that the Greeks are the fun, cool, relaxed ones, but what about Percy, the only character to canonically torture? Or Annabeth, the unfriendly bossy one? Or Thalia, the merciless, ambitious hunter? Or Piper, the prejudiced manipulator? So really, Jason’s character arc made no sense. It was written to be Jason going from ‘always following the rules and following expectations because of his godly parent’ to ‘doing whatever he wants’, but the fandom forgets that Camp Jupiter is the one who doesn’t care about godly parent, Camp Half-Blood does, cause Camp Jupiter has demigods live in barracks for the sole purpose of demigods without family members not having to live alone while Camp Half-Blood separates cabins and tables by parentage and immediately set Percy to high standards after he was claimed. Besides, does Camp Jupiter have harpies that literally kill demigods if they’re out past curfew? Plus, Jason was breaking multiple rules before his character arc anyways- leaving Camp Jupiter, sailing across the Mediterranean Sea, etc. 

-Piper. Oh boy. Where to start with this one. I’ve already gone over how her horribly-portrayed backstory ruined the chances of a good character arc, but now let’s discuss the character arc she actually had. And the best way to describe it is ‘tell not show’. The main idea for Piper’s character arc was that she felt insecure about herself and useless and that she gained confidence in herself and her powers, but that’s not actually what happened, because starting from The Lost Hero, Piper showed multiple narcissistic tendencies that showed that she had a huge ego and placed herself on a pedestal she did nothing to earn or deserve. This is first shown with femininity- Piper immediately thinks that she’s better and above any girl if they so much as wear lip gloss or a dress, which is a sign of an obvious ego: thinking you’re better than everyone else (or in her case, a certain group of people) before getting to know them first. It’s also shown when her and Annabeth are looking for a weapon for Piper and when suggested that she doesn’t choose a dagger cause she’s a newbie, Piper retaliates with “But you use a dagger”...aka thinking she’s already on Annabeth’s level and that she can do whatever Annabeth can despite being a newbie. It’s not hypocrisy if Annabeth has been training for over nine years. Another example would be in The Mark of Athena-  "Piper's eyes flashed defiantly, like anything Reyna could do, she could do". Like, no, she can’t, cause Reyna has been training her whole life and Piper doesn’t even know her. Piper shows multiple signs of having a very high opinion of herself, including degrading others (especially other women) for her own sake, thinking she can do what anyone else can, thinking she’s better than everyone else, constantly fussing over her appearance, thinking she deserves everything she’s gotten and that she deserves more without earning it, etc., so her entire character arc wasn’t even there. She just went from quiet about her narcissism to openly expressing it. She never grew from her horrible traits and habits, never realized she was wrong by jumping all over Jason while he was amnesiac, etc., and the whole ‘feeling of uselessness’ was brought up once then never expanded on or mentioned ever again, and nor was her internalized misogyny and fiery hatred towards femininity (which wasn’t even explained). Riordan should’ve used the ‘snobby rich girl learns to be kinder and more modest’ or expanded on the fact that Piper almost killed her friends multiple times. In Katoptris, she saw Jason with gold eyes in Kansas then said ‘Let’s go to Kansas!’ She saw her, Jason, and Percy literally drowning and legit said ‘Let’s go drown!’ without telling them about what she actually saw in her dagger. She saw her and Annabeth exploring some ruins and said ‘Let’s go!’ despite knowing the visions were deadly. She put all of her friends in multiple, life-threatening situations and never felt guilty and wasn’t even called out on it, because no one said if the visions in Katoptris were fate- something you can’t avoid- or destiny- something you can choose and change. 

-Frank. Frank’s character arc was clear, but it happened in the wrong way. The main idea of his development was that he was insecure about his appearance then gained confidence from it, but he did only after he magically gained rippling abs and muscle. He only felt good about himself once he lost all his fat as if that’s not obvious lookism, fatphobia, and fat shaming (thanks, Riordan). Frank should’ve learned to love himself despite his flab and appearance and learned that it didn’t matter what he looked like cause he would still be a hero either way. He should’ve shown the readers that ‘Hey, I don’t care what I look like, cause appearance doesn’t matter, whether you choose to do the right thing or not does’, but it was wasted for fat shaming every single reader who was insecure about their weight and didn’t or couldn’t get skinnier and telling them that they should be insecure about themselves because they don’t look like Frank. Is it really so hard for society to believe that a lot of people who aren’t stick-thin are happy and confident about their body? 

-Hazel. Honestly, her character arc was one of the most confusing ones, cause she didn’t have anything to drive or even start one. Her backstory is tragic, yes, but there isn’t anything in it that she has to learn to change from cause all of that was resolved when she took down Alcyoneus and Gaea. The only thing I can think of is learning to break away from toxic people even if they’re your family or friend or cause you don’t want to hurt their feelings, but Hazel didn’t struggle with relationships at all. She wasn’t even introduced to any toxic people besides Octavian, and she already hated him. Her transition from the racist and segregated days to the modern world could’ve been really good material for a character arc along with internalized racism- she of all people (someone born and raised in segregation who was taught to hate herself and her skin tone) would grow up thinking that there was something wrong with her because of her dark skin tone and- especially after meeting so many different people of different ethnic groups and skin colors- could’ve learned to love herself and learn that skin tone doesn’t define you (which also would’ve been a perfect lesson for younger readers). Another thing that puzzled me about her ‘development’ was her powers. Her Mist control powers are cool, but what would’ve been cooler was if she was reluctant to use them because she wouldn’t want to twist the minds of people just like Gaea did to her mom. Her gem and metal control powers could’ve been expanded on but they were barely mentioned after The Son of Neptune. As for her curse, that...made absolutely no sense. Her curse was honestly just dead weight. It wasn’t even that one thing that had a lot of potential, it didn’t even have potential, cause what would she ever use it for? It was just used to make her backstory sadder, but it was never mentioned again or even explained. The only thing it could’ve been used for (and what I was hoping would happen) was if one her friends or allies took one of her cursed jewels and died because of it. The one thing I was really hoping to see in her character arc was from the quote she said to Hecate after Hecate gave her the three paths to choose from- “I’m not choosing one of your paths. I’m making my own.” This really sparked my interest because almost everything Hazel had gone through was forced onto her by others without her consent. She didn’t choose to be born into racism and segregation. She didn’t choose to be cursed. She didn’t choose to be used as a pawn by Gaea through her mother. She didn’t choose to almost raise a giant and nearly bring upon the apocalypse. She didn’t choose to use her curse against others and move to multiple places. She didn’t choose to be brought back to life. She didn’t choose to be brought to Camp Jupiter and thrown into an army. She didn’t choose to be a part of the Seven and face the same woman who used her and had her mother possessed years ago. The only two choices she made herself- destroying the island and Alcyoneus and sacrificing Elysium so her mother wouldn’t go to the Fields of Punishment- and she and her mother died because of it and she went to Asphodel for years. I was really hoping to see Hazel break free from others always making decisions for her and learn to make her own choices, but that never happened. 

-Leo: His character arc was also very confusing, but because it was all over the place. Riordan kept switching up Leo’s internal problems; forgetting about one of them and jumping to another, jumping to three different others, and then going back to the first one a few chapters later. It was so confusing. And then- in the end- he focused on the worst problem Leo had- not finding a love interest. I mean, who exactly focuses on whether or not they have a girlfriend while in the middle of a war and fighting to survive again? I liked Leo’s other problems- guilt over and blaming himself for his mother’s death, seeing his fire powers as a curse instead of a gift, forcing himself to hide his pain with humor instead of opening up to people, running away from all his problems, and his abandonment issues and constant fear of being left out and alone, but they were all replaced with ‘He felt like the seventh wheel’ (cause yes, Riordan, if you don’t have a love interest, you are immediately lesser than anyone who does, obviously). Leo got over his mother’s death in The Lost Hero- which, great- but after that nothing too memorable changed about his character. He never even used or mentioned his fire powers after The Lost Hero, he continued to hide all his pain with humor, hide his emotions from other people, and never learned to open up to others about his pain and trauma, he never learned to stop running away from his powers (shown by when he faked his own death without bothering to talk to the others about feeling left out), and his abandonment issues and fears were never expanded on, he just ran into the arms of a girl who verbally abused and constantly insulted him AKA ran to the person who gave him attention, even if it was the bad kind of attention, as if that’s not something emotionally scarred people and people with abandonment issues do, and he never grew from accepting unfair hate and criticism. 

-Nico. His character development was actually pretty good. From going to an energetic, cheerful, and playful kid to becoming a quiet, closed-off, and independent teen who struggled with depression and feeling alone and like he didn’t belong, to finding comfort in his family and friends (especially Reyna, Hazel, and Will) and learning to accept himself for who he was (as a son of Hades and as gay) and how to confide in others about his struggles, problems, and trauma and finally letting people in after being do dubious of people after Percy broke his promise to protect Bianca, he found out that King Minos was using him, and almost all of Camp Half-Blood excluded and ignored him. After being alone for most of his life, by the end of The Blood of Olympus, he has two homes (as stated by Reyna), is comfortable with people hugging him, allowed people to take care of and help him, decided to stay at Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter instead of isolating himself, made a bunch of new friends that helped him through his struggles, and he even showed multiple signs of healing from his depression and anxiety. His character development was pretty well-written. But, there was one thing wrong with it that kind of ruined the rest- his love life. Nico had an incredible character arc that could’ve taught multiple valuable lessons to younger readers, but most of it was ditched after he came out as gay in The House of Hades. Throughout all of his point of views in The Blood of Olympus, Nico never thought about any of his past trauma or struggles, Bianca, his new family and friends, etc. Pretty much all he thought about was finding out how to come out to the others and Percy. And while mustering the courage to come out is a huge deal and is great material for a character arc, Riordan never actually utilized it. Nico telling Reyna he was gay was really touching (best duo) and telling Percy he had a crush on him was great, but after that, his entire character was about his attraction towards Will (which was way too rushed, but that’s for another rant), and it got pretty annoying cause it made it obvious that Riordan only confirmed him gay for publicity by trying to shove it in the reader’s faces as if every gay person needs to have a boyfriend to validate and prove their sexuality. Riordan should’ve stayed on track with Nico’s original character arc. 

-Reyna. THE BEST CHARACTER ARC. Hers was actually really good. She started off trying to do everything on her own because she believed that she had to be strong enough to do things by herself without help from others to learning that it’s okay to ask for help. She also started off with the (quite serious and traumatizing) problem of bottling all her emotions because she believed that she always had to put on a strong, brave face for others without showing any signs of weakness to learning that it’s okay to express your emotions and confide in others (and again, that it’s okay to ask for help). This was mostly evident after she met Nico, which (in my opinion) kick-started her motivation to change because once she saw how much Nico needed help and giving him that support and comfort, realized that everyone is allowed to ask for help and started confiding in Nico as well. I like how she stayed strict and serious cause she has a formal job- a job that’s equivalent to an American’s president, that is- so she’s supposed to be serious, and she’s only strict cause she wants to protect her people. Though I do hate when people misjudge her as ‘cold-hearted’ or ‘cruel’ because Reyna is actually one of the kindest and most selfless characters in the series. Even Pegasus (the immortal lord of the pegasi) was ‘touched’ by Reyna’s ‘compassion’ towards Scipio (he didn’t even say that to Percy about Blackjack), and it’s pretty obvious she cares deeply about her family, friends, and people. And overall, her character arc was easily the best-written one in HoO. But then Riordan- just like he does with most things in this series- completely trashed her character arc just so he could have the opportunity to make fun of wlw readers who thought Reyna and Thalia would be a good couple by making her leave everything behind for the Hunters of Artemis just cause she ‘couldn’t find a love interest’ as if joining the Hunters is the only option for single female demigods instead of just...living a normal demigod life without a partner without leaving everything they know and love behind for no reason other than their shitty love life. 

[canonicallyanxious]

Not sure if this is phrased right. how do you write characters without making them seem to ooc???

Hoo boy anon I gotta say this is a hell of a question sdnfskdjnfs but i will try my best to be at least a little bit helpful in my answer!

[Couple notes: I am just one writer and different things work for different people so what might work for me might not work for you and that's totally okay! Also I'm answering this question under the assumption that you're talking about fanfic but for original characters i think a lot of this advice could still apply too, it's just that you end up making a lot of your own rules rather than following someone else's. And i feel like the answer to this question can also vary per fandom or character as well so just keep that in mind.]

First thing that comes to mind is that what qualifies as "ooc" or "in character" is very subjective and might vary a lot from person to person. So my first piece of advice is to focus on what YOU think is "ooc" rather than anyone else because that's really the only perspective you can know or have control over! as long as you feel you are being genuine to the characters you are trying to write there is bound to be someone out there who vibes with your ideas too.

This might seem kind of like it goes without saying but when it comes to any aspect of your writing you want to get better at, really the best thing to do imo is to practice, practice, practice. It can really help to practice writing while you have a specific thing in mind you want to improve [so in this case characterization] and focus in on that one thing. it's like practicing a piece of music - much more effective to break it down into chunks and pieces rather than trying to practice the whole thing at once.

also just in my personal opinion another way to get better with writing is to read a lot, especially if you're reading specifically with the things you want to improve in mind. So for characterization, when you find a book or a fanfic with characterization you really like it can be helpful to think why you like that characterization and how the writer pulled it off, because knowing what works for you in the things you like to read will help you figure out what works for you in your own writing!

And again this point is my personal opinion, i'm sure different writers have different perspectives on the issue that are totally valid, but for me with my fic I feel like if I focus too much on, like, trying to sound exactly like the character in their dialogue or slang or cadence I get too bogged down with the details and it gets hard to get anything out. especially since a lot of the time i'm writing english fics for fandoms that aren't english-language, which means I'm relying on subs, which means I'm already going off someone else's interpretation of the characters. so for me something I like to keep in mind is to focus less on exactly how the character is saying something and more on their emotions, the substance of what they're saying, how they're reacting to a situation, etc. like i think as long as you get the gist of what makes a character tick, that's what matters most!

When it comes to fandom specifically here are some things I like to pay attention to when I'm trying to figure out the gist of a character: 

how they react to different situations in canon [what will they do in response to a stressful situation versus a situation that makes them happy versus an emotionally fraught situation?]

how they express their emotions [do they tend to go silent when overwhelmed or are they more vocal? Do they seem on the more introspective, in touch with their feelings side or do they not have as much self awareness about their emotions?]

how they interact with different people [do they act differently around their close friends vs casual acquaintances? how so?]

if you like analyzing stories and characters like me it can help to come up with your own list of things to pay attention to because I think knowing what's actually important to you in characterization will give you a good starting point to focus on. but if not that's okay too! really what matters is figuring out what works best for you.

Hm... I hope there's at least something in here that will be helpful to you anon?? But let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try my best to be helpful =] also if any of my followers have any other advice to contribute please feel free!!

[star-crossedfidelity]

Juliet’s Story - I’m Sorry, My Love

~

Mun!Yuki: HOO BOY! HELLO EVERYBODY!!! IT’S BEEN A WHILE!!! So uh... I have finally finished this after about two months? This one is actually going to be a bittersweet one.

So um... Lind/Milady (formerly known as @/first-blood-moon) has silently left the fandom, and while I didn’t get a reply regarding the relationship between Juliet and Thomas, I think it would be for the best from them to break up.

Not just for angst reasons, but I think it would help Juliet grow as well in her own development as a character.

Sometimes, good things must come to an end. It’s something we’ve all experienced and have to go on with our lives doing. It’s a frustrating thing but it’s not exactly a bad thing. It’s an experience.

So I decided to write this as a proper way of transitioning from one chapter of Juliet’s life to another.

There is also an extra bit in the end, so please do stick around to the very end!

To help set the mood for this rollercoaster: Please do listen to this track while reading this.

I hope you guys enjoy as well as I did writing this.

~

He wasn’t responding back to my letters.

He made me promise to not look for him or follow him, but he also promised to send me letters.

Something must’ve happened to him.

I’m sorry, My love; But I’m going to find you.

In the middle of the night, once everyone was asleep, I grabbed the things I packed in advance to leave through my bedroom window. I live on the first floor while my parents live in the second floor with Leon.

Before I leave, I placed a sealed envelope on my desk.

A gut-wrenching feeling hit my stomach; To think I would leave behind the family I loved most in this world...

But for him, I...

‘I’m sorry, Mother, Father, Leon.’

I open up the window and jumped out before closing the window close as carefully as I could before getting prepared to leave.

I take one last look back to the house, before letting out a shaky sigh.

‘Goodbye...’

... That was what I hoped it could’ve been.

Before I could go further ahead, I stopped at a familiar figure in front of me, “Leon...”

Leon, my little brother whom I grew up alongside with all of my life, blocking my way.

He wasn’t looking at me with his usually gentle, understanding eyes. He looked stern and grounded. A look he only had when he is determined to a point nothing can change his mind.

‘My little brother.. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be..’

“... Go back inside, Leon.” I commanded, staring down at him; However, he showed no signs of backing down. “You’re going to go look for him... aren’t you?” He questioned. I can only be silent. But like that even mattered. He knows me well enough as I know him better than himself. “Sis, please, this needs to stop. You must snap out of it.” Leon pleaded. But like him, I showed no signs of submitting either, ”Snap out of what? You’re spouting nonsense. I won’t go back. He’s in trouble, and he needs me-“

“Sis, He hasn’t written to you for two month!” Leon’s voice rose, “There has been no word of where he could’ve gone! Not even the letters he sent to you were enough to pick up where he could be! How can you find him when you don’t even know where to look first?!” With every word he spoke, my irritation grew alongside my frustration. ‘He’s spouting nonsense again... Why was I wasting my time talking with him? My beloved needs me..!’

“Sis, listen to me-!!”

“ENOUGH!”

I growled and grabbed his collar before pulling him towards me, “You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about! You’re the one that needs to listen and to snap out of it! Tom and I are still in love! He wouldn’t just stop writing to me without a good reason! That means something must’ve happened! And all you’re doing is wasting the time I could be using to find him by spouting nonsense! He NEEDS me! Just as much as I need him! I’m not like you and that blue-haired bastard, We have no problems with our relationship unlike you two!!!”

In my heart, I knew I have hurt Leon’s feeling with my words. But my mind was clouded with rage and impatience to find my beloved that I couldn’t even feel the painful guilt from seeing the shocked, hurtful look upon Leon’s face.

And just as I was about to pull my hand away, I felt Leon’s hand gripping at the wrist of the hand I’ve grabbed his collar with. I looked at his hand in confusion before looking up to see his face was no longer shocked and hurt. While he did look pained, he had fiery determination in his eyes. “If he needed you, he would’ve asked you to come along with him!!!”

I gasped at his words.

Who is this?

Who am I speaking to right now?

Leon? Or Leo?

Leon would never say such words to me, or anyone in general; But Leo wouldn’t care if I left as he would be the first to celebrate.

So.. who is this in control?

“You’ve been like this with everyone! Denying the truth when it is right there! Whenever someone speaks up about it, you’re always looking for a fight! This isn’t healthy! At least Isaiah and I were able to work things out! Just because you two never had problems doesn’t mean your relationship was never going to end! That’s reality! Of all people, you should know that better than anyone! I’m not trying to stop you because I want to get in your way! I’m trying to stop you because I want to help you the same way you helped me! It’s time to accept the truth! And if you won’t face it, then I’ll just say it to you so you can finally understand!”

I gritted my teeth and growled, “Shut up...”

“He’s gone!”

I feel my body shaking from the rage bottling up within me, “Take that back...!”

“It’s over between you two!”

“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE, LEON!!!” I yelled at him, balling my free hand up in a fist.

“HE’S NOT COMING BACK, JULIET!!!”

My eyes were clouded with the color red and I was about to throw my fist into a punch until...

“Hic..! Sis...!”

A memory...

A memory of little Leon, bruised up and crying on the ground, trembling and helpless.

From the memory flashing in my mind, I blinked and was brought back into reality, immediately stopping my fist right in front of Leon.

I looked in shock as I saw that tears were running down Leon’s face. He looked as if he was bracing himself for the impact yet he flinched and trembled with his eyes were shut. He looked scared, yet somehow prepared.

It was that moment, I realized what I was doing.

I loosen my grip, resulting Leon loosing his own grip on my wrist, and looked down at both of my hands. I sensed Leon’s eyes were open and looking at me as I stared down at my own trembling hands. “What.. What the hell was I doing...?” I questioned myself.

‘I was about to punch Leon... my sweet, kind brother that I swore to protect from any harm since we were little...’ I thought to myself, ‘But these hands... I was about to hit him... and I hurt him with my own words...’

As I stared down to my hands, droplets fell upon the palms. I blinked in confusion and realized... these were my tears.

“Leon...” I tried to speak as the realization made it hard for me to breathe, “I-I... I’m so sorry...”

I felt warm arms embracing me, and heard my brother’s whispers of reassurance. “It’s okay... I’m here with you... It’s just me.. You can let it out... You’re human too... You don’t have to prove yourself anymore, Sis...”

‘He forgives me... but could I really forgive myself for what I was about to do...?’

I couldn’t look up at him, but I knew he was crying alongside with me. This is the first time we’ve ever fought with one another.

‘I’m a selfish woman.. I’m cruel.. I’m ruthless.. I’ve been very open and proud of those things about me... I’m Juliet Marie Mukami.’

I slowly wrap my arms around Leon, holding him tightly as we both slowly fell to the ground.

‘But just for tonight... just let me be a girl suffering a broken heart...’

“Hic... hic...! Aaaaaaaahhhh....!!”

I couldn’t help but cry out all the grief, pain, and anxiety that swelled up within me into Leon’s chest.

I used to think that love besides familial was a illogical and useless thing to feel. But when I found it, I changed. For the better. And yet... if this was how it was meant to be, I... A part of me wished I never met him... But another part of me was happy to have fallen in love with him...

My memories with him filled up in my mind as I poured my heart out from the tears flowing from my eyes. The day we met, the day he approached me in wanting to be my friend, the day I confessed to him, the day he gave me the necklace, returned my feeling, and shared our first kiss, the day we went on our first date together...

I miss him...

I miss my Thomas...

I suppose this really is goodbye...

I’m sorry, my love....

~

It has been about three years since his disappearance... since our love story came to its end. We tried to make it work... But the distance grew wider and before I knew it, the letters came to a complete stop. Just as Leon said. I became delusional, waiting for his return; I even tried to follow him, prepared to leave everything behind; But Leon stopped me and opened my eyes to the truth:

He was never coming back.

While I was delusional, I coped by studying to get back into school. My school of choice being Ryoutei Academy in hopes he would come back to see I’ve become a better woman than ever before; Even after accepting the breakup, I was too far into my studying to go back. As a result, I got into the academy with flying colors and even became the new Student council President for my second year. I maintained my usual dominant, sadistic nature, I’ve toned down my need to fight to prove my dominance. Since then, I’ve been working on improving myself with this new position, which has surprisingly earned me the respect of others. I’m no longer known as the delinquent girl that would violently beat up others with my book; Rather, I’m the authoritative Student council President that will not tolerate any insubordination that will cause hindrance to the students.

“President, I just received word that the rest of the new student council members have all arrived in the student council room!” The Vice-president of the student council informed me as she spotted me coming out of the library, checking out a new book. “Thank you, Suwabe.” Suwabe is a third year that was also part of the student council when I was a first year; However, I was chosen as President for my second year due to, not only the former president finding me a suitable successor, but also from Suwabe willingly choosing to take the position of Vice-President. She is a good upperclassman to have, as she doesn’t belittle my vast knowledge; Apparently, it made things easier for her that I already knew everything so that it would save her the trouble of having to explain it. Quite a strange one. But not a bad one.

“Willing to make a bet?” She questioned with a kind smile on her face. I only continued to look forward as we walked and replied, “When will you cease this kind of nonsense? I already told you I’m never going to be interested in anybody. Love-“

“-is an unnecessary feeling to have.” Suwabe giggles softly after she finished of my sentence. Suwabe was different from the other girls here who would gossip about dating and material stuff. If anything, Suwabe loves to observe interesting events unfold and making bets on unpredictable futures which I have been guilty of taking part in; Like me, she is extremely observant and can predict a person’s move as well as I can. I guess that’s why I tolerate her better than anyone else here. She’s entertaining.

“The future is an unpredictable thing; I will bet you will fall in love during your term as Student council President; But you are free to bet that you will not fall in love during your term. You know I’m doing this as a form of entertainment for us both.” She explained. “Is there a reason you want to bet on this now? Whenever you make bets about my love life, you always voted I won’t fall in love with even the former members of the council. What make you decide to bet on the opposite side?” I questioned. In response to that, Suwabe’s smile turns into a smirk, “Because you’re entertaining to observe. From a rebellious delinquent to a respectable model student. Also, your younger brother is coming here as a first-year and you two are close, correct? If that’s the case, I’m pretty sure this year will become fun to observe.”

I glance at it and smirk back, “I suppose it would be a good change of pace for this school year. I won’t deny the fact that your eccentric nature is certainly something I’m going to miss once you graduate; Perhaps I should take advantage of this chance while we still have it.”

“Hahaha! Now that’s more like it! I knew you wouldn’t be able to refuse! You just know how to lit the fire within this gambler’s heart!” Suwabe laughs. Now I’m convinced that when my third year starts, I’m going to die of boredom without having this damn fool around.

We reached to the student council room, and, just as Suwabe said, everyone was seated; Especially the new ones. I see one face that looked rather familiar somewhere. A boy. One of the new first years perhaps? But I mentally shook my head and shrugged it off. If he’s somehow familiar, then he must be a friend of Leon’s that I just don’t remember.

“I see that everyone is present here,” I said as I looked around the room with my arms crossed, “Not bad.”

Suwabe goes to her usual seat before winking at me as a reminder of our little bet. In my mind, I simply rolled my eyes. She won’t be around long, so to humor her a little is the least I can do for keeping me entertained for this long since the beginning of my first year here.

I went back to being the icy, cruel-hearted girl I’ve always been. A woman that found love to be unnecessary.

But that’s okay... I’ve accepted the truth and will move on with my life.

I suppose that was one of the things that caught Suwabe’s attention in the first place. And that’s also why she recommended me to the former Student Council President as their successor. Someone that wasn’t swayed by unnecessary things, that can be trusted with enforcing the rules, and a reputation that can make the disobedient kneel and obey.

I just happened to be the right person for the job.

I have had about one or two men that have tried to confess, but I’ve shot them both down with a blunt “No”. It wasn’t anything personal. Everyone knows I never sugarcoat my words, and things like love became unnecessary. Thus, I’m highly unapproachable when it comes to stuff like that.

“My name is Mukami Juliet. I am a second year from Class 2-A.” I began, “I am also the new Student Council President from now on, so listen very carefully.”

Even if I never smile his smile again..

Even if I somehow love another or not...

Somewhere in my frozen heart, remains fragments of my love for him.

“Do not disappoint me as members of the student council, or you will be punished; That is your only warning.”

Forever and always.

~ END~

~~~

Special chapter:

~ Leon’s Special POV ~

I have been waiting for this day to come.

I finally get to attend school with Sis.

It has been about three years since our first fight.

But we’ve both grown in our own way.

She is more well-respected now, now that she is facing the truth instead of using violence to get her way.

I have overcome my fears and accepted my inner demons, becoming whole once again instead of running away from it all.

We agreed not to talk about what happened and act as if nothing happened.

It’s just better that way.

“Hey Leon!!!”

‘Wait, that voice..!’

Before I could finish that thought, I feel an arm around my shoulder and met with a familiar face.

Reddish pink hair, dark violet eyes, a boyish grin that you can identify from a mile away... There was no mistake about it!

“Shiki! You made it!” I smiled back, giving him a side hug.

Igarashi Shiki.

He’s been my best friend ever since elementary school.

He was always encouraging me and defended me from bullies.

We were always inseparable; Except during middle school, he had to train in order to become an idol. So we often texted each other.

However, once he told me he was also attending Ryoutei Academy and was in the same class as me, We could hardly wait.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world, man. We need to make up for lost time!” Shiki laughed, “How have you been? I see you’ve grown out your hair pretty long now, huh?”

It’s true. Ever since my personality merged and I became one with Leo, I decided to take the first step in letting my hair grow out. Now it’s at my waist. I’m satisfied with how it looks.

“I’ve been good, excited even,” I look up at the night sky with a smile, “You’re here. My sister’s here. Life is good right now.”

“Wait.. Julie is here too?”

I turned to see Shiki’s face in surprise.

“Yeah, she’s the new student council president now. She cleaned up from being delinquent and...”

... Wait a minute.

“... You still like her.”

Shiki looked down with a sad smile and removes his arm around me, “You catch on pretty quick...” He places a hand behind his neck awkwardly.

I sighed, feeling bad from what I’ve just done.

Shiki... has always had unrequited feelings for Sis.

One day, when we were still kids, we were cornered by bullies who were older than us; But when Shiki was about to engage in a fight with them, Sis appeared and beaten them all up with her book. Almost killing them.

But despite the fact that incident almost lead her to a juvenile center, Shiki developed a crush on her right then and there.

... Actually, no. He fell in love with her.

But he didn’t want to neglect me as his friend either. So whenever Sis is in the same room as us, Shiki took any moment he can get just by looking at her.

But that all changed when she met Thomas.

Her ex.

At first, Shiki was immensely jealous. How did someone like him catch Sis’s attention?

But then when he saw how happy Sis looked with him, Shiki saw no chance in even competing for her affections and cried to me when he found out she liked Thomas back.

I think that was what lead him to become an idol.

I mean, he always thought he would make a good idol from Uncle Kou; But he never seemed like he would actually do it due to the strict rules with “No love” and such.

But after that, he ended up going for it and ended up genuinely loving his job.

But what if...

“Sis is single right now.”

Shiki raises his head and grabbed my shoulder firmly with a serious look on his face, “No way! Wasn’t she with..?!”

I smiled sadly, “She was... But three years ago, he disappeared and stopped writing letters to her... She almost ran away and-“

“Was that when you called me...? When you were crying about how you and Juliet had your guys’ first fight? That’s what that was about?” Shiki questioned, I could only respond as a nod, “Holy shit...” He added, removing his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry.. If I had known you still had feelings for her sooner, I would’ve-“

“Holy shit...!” I see the look upon Shiki’s face slowly glowing in pure happiness as he laughs with his hands on his head whole-heartedly, “Hahaha!!! This is... This means I still have a chance!” He pumps a fist in the air and looks like he was about to burst into tears.

Has he been holding onto those feelings after all these years?

“But you’re an idol now, right?” I blurted out, “Even if you were successful, wouldn’t you end up getting in trouble?”

Shiki turned around to me and grinned, “Leon, I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment. I’ll find a way to continue my work as an idol and make Julie happy!”

The moment I realize he was running, I shout out, “Hey! Where are you going?!”

Shiki turns to me and winks, “Didn’t I tell ya?! I’m part of the Student Council too! I’ll see you later, Leon!!!” And he left.

I just stood alone in disbelief and confusion.

Only a couple moments later was when I was able to say the only I could think of from these turn of events.

.

.

.

“HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!!!!!!”

~ END ~

[chaosstar290]

Reasons try out Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore.

Nintendo's been pretty casual with porting Wii U games over to the Switch, and for good reasons. Normally, I'm not all into porting games that I've already played, but my personal favorite games on the system that lack good marketing and advertising are now getting the attention and love they deserve.

Take Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for example, one of my favorite 2D platfomers. The game originally sold 1.72 million copies worldwide on the Wii U. Not very good numbers, huh? However, the Switch port managed to beat those sales numbers with 2.25 million units sold worldwide by the end of March 2019.

So while this could be seen as a way for Big N to earn more $$$, this is also a way for those who never owned a Wii U and missed out on some of the system's best titles to give these games a shot. Now we just need a port of Xenoblade Chronicles X and The Wonderful 101...and Star Fox Zero, I guess.

But that's a topic for another time. This post is specifically for my favorite JRPG on the Wii U only to be tied with Xenoblade Chronicles X....Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.

This'll be a long one, so here's hoping you'll stick with it until the end.

Development

Before I get into the reasons, lemme educate you guys a bit. Back in January 2013, both Atlus and Intelligent Systems made a teaser trailer for a potential Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem crossover for the Wii U.

The trailer was mostly just a slideshow with various character artwork. Despite this, there was a decent amount of hype surrounding it. But development around the game was pretty silent. That is, until we fast forward to the Nintendo Direct in April 1, 2015. We got a trailer of the ambitious SMT x FE crossover that fans were waiting for...but this was the final product.

Needless to say...neither SMT nor FE fans were happy about this. The fandoms were incredibly salty and foaming at the mouths, basically calling it a Person 4 Lite with a hint of FE. Heck, they're probably still posts on this site from 5 years ago that'll show that.

Fast forward to the games initial release, and you'll see quite a few positive reviews and thoughts about TMS. Unfortunately, the sale numbers were not all that great for the game. Obvious reasons being that it was a Wii U game, and many fans of both SMT x FE were not happy with how it turned out.

And to be honest, I wasn't feeling the game myself at first. It seemed too lighthearted and upbeat, and the J-Pop, anime-ish aesthetics were very off-putting. However, the more I saw about the game, the more I was drawn into it. Somehow all that disappointment I had about TMS originally just washed away. And considering it was a new IP, I decided to give it a chance. And hoo boy...I was generally pleased.

With that outta the way, let's get into why I'm excited for the Switch port of game, and hoping people will give it a fairer chance.

The Setting

The plot of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is mostly simple. You start out as high schooler Itsuki Aoi, the main character of the game encountering his childhood friend Tsubasa Oribe at an audition event to become a idol. It isn't until moments later in the game that the area gets overruned by shadowy creatures known as Mirages that suck out the creative energy known as Perso-- ah I mean Performa from the other idols and audience.

Poor girl doesn't know what's gonna happen next.

Despite our main characters seeming unharmed by the effect, the Mirages drag Tsubasa into their world known as the Idolsphere. And of course, courageous Itsuki takes action to follow and rescue her.

After trying to make a daring rescue, Itsuki gets bombarded by a Mirage, but somehow manages to awaken it. Taking the form of Fire Emblem Awakening's protagonist Chrom. Itsuki does the same with the Mirage that captured Tsubasa that takes the form of Cedea from Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon. The two awakaned Mirages, however, suffer from a bit of amnesia and can't quite remember who and what they are.

From there on, Itsuki and Tsubasa form a partnership with Chrom and Cedea, encountering various characters trying to reach their way to stardom while trying to draw back the opposing forces from taking over Tokyo and the world. Typical RPG stuff, am I right?

It's a fairly standard and slightly cliche plot with some common anime tropes, but for this game...it works. It's a plot that's incredibly silly, upbeat, and over-the-top, but again...it works for this game. And I love it. It may not be original, deep, or complex, but the story does its best to not take itself too seriously, and it doesn't fail to keep a smile in my face.

Aside from the vanilla cookie-cutter MC Itsuki, the various casts that you meet are incredibly charming, and go through their own personal growth as celebrities. Though you mileage may vary on this.

The Gameplay

The combat is the real star of Tokyo Mirage Sessions. Basically, it's your standard turn-based combat system...but with a few twists. If you've ever played a SMT or Persona game, then don't be surprised that elemental weaknesses make an appearance here. Along with that, the Triangle Weapon system from Fire Emblem also makes an appearance in the game.

But if you're not familiar with either franchise then give you a basic example how this works. Say that you've encountered an armored Mirage wielding an axe. The weaknesses on that enemy are both lightning and swords, and Itsuki just so happens to have both the necessary element and weapon equipped.

In case you're wondering...how the Triangle Weapon mechanic works in FE is that Swords beat Axes, Axes beat Lances, and Lances beat Swords.

The interesting thing about this is that once you exploit an enemy's weakness, other characters will jump in and combo extra attacks. These are called Sessions, and their not only powerful...but also flashy as all hell and it's glorious. Not only that, but there's also Duo Arts where two certain characters will sometimes perform a song that unleashes a powerful attack...which also strings up more Sessions. As broken as this sounds, it actually is pretty strategic for taking down harder enemies, and they can also form Sessions...so be careful.

There's more to the gameplay like roaming Tokyo, exploring dungeons, and upgrading your characters and Mirages by Tiki from Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon as well.

There's mixed opinions on the dungeon aspects of Tokyo Mirage Sessions, but...I personally enjoyed them. Aside from the first one. Once you get past the first dungeon, they get better as the game progresses. From exploring a darker version of Shibuya where you have to avoid giant cameras from sending you back to the entrance of the of the room you currently entered, to venturing through a maze-like TV studio.

There's also side-missions that you can do with your main cast that'll help them grow and develop even further. You'll be rewarded with either a special cutscene or a special attack. Or maybe both.

The Visuals

Go go...Persona Rangers?

If it wasn't obvious from the amount of images I'm posting, Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a very colorful game. Fitting with it's lighthearted theme, the amount of colors the game throws at you makes visuals aesthetically pleasing. Heck, you could make these your personal wallpaper on your phone or something.

Sure, Tokyo Mirage Sessions isn't nearly as strong as Persona 5 graphically or even artistically, but like most Nintendo games...what their games lack in terms of detailed ultra-hyper graphics, they make up for it with giving their games gorgeous artstyles.

Also, this game has some reeeeeally good artwork.

The Music

J-Pop plays a pretty big role in Tokyo Mirage Sessions, so expect a lot of vocal tracks. If you're not into this kind of genre of music, then you might wanna stray away from this game. If you are (or if it doesn't bother you), then you're in for a treat. As someone who really isn't into J-Pop myself, the songs in this game are incredible and catchy followed by some beautiful cutscenes. Reincarnation from Kiria Kurono and Feel from Tsubasa Oribe are some of my personal favorites.

The music from outside the vocal tracks are pretty good too. The normal battle theme and the Illusion Shibuya dungeon theme are just to name a couple.

What's New?

Like I said before, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is a port of the Wii U version, but with added content. Any DLC that was added in the original game will part of the base game in the Switch version. But let's talk about the new stuff.

EX Story and Songs

The EX Story is basically a dungeon that you explore in short bursts. Here you'll find new costumes such as a Joker outfit from Persona 5 for Itsuki, or an Annette outfit from Fire Emblem Three Houses for Mamori Minamoto. Or you can have a much easier time grinding for EXP. Also, much like the side-stories, this dungeon will also explore the main casts' issues and help them grow.

New songs will also be added in this port. A duo song called "She is..." sung by Tsubasa and Kiria is one of them.

Sessions

By making Sessions even more powerful and ridiculous, unplayable characters like Tiki, Maiko Shimazaki, and Barry Goodman will also join in Sessions.

In addition, a Quick Session option will be added. Which is a major upgrade in my book. One of the big issues the Wii U version had was while the Sessions were fun to watch, they took forever to get through with the more characters that joined your party. There are also smaller improvements like the Switch version having faster loading times.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this long as hell post will spark some interest into those who'll give the game a shot. I know there's small nitpicks like the lack of English voice acting and censorship, but the latter is a topic I'd rather not delve deep into.

Regardless, these small cons are greatly outweighed by the large pros this charming game has. If you're an Atlus fan, a lover of JRPGs, or wanting to play something that'll ease the wait for Persona 5 Royal, I highly recommend you give Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE encore a shot.

If you're also waiting for Persona 5 to actually come to the Switch like me, this game is next best thing we've got for the time being.

This is one of the most stylish menu screens ever.

[aetherstitchold]

@sword-and-lance , @ren-roelanberry laughs omg do y’all think I’m gonna go through the roof?

WELL YOU’RE RIGHT SO STRAP IN FOLKS.

There are a lot of things about this fandom I dislike (and many more that I do like, don’t get me wrong!), but I think the biggest problem I have with it is the call-out culture. I have no problem with call-outs if there’s a person who is legitimately dangerous, i.e. this person is a predator and you need to be careful, but I’ve seen that once for maybe every ten call-outs I’ve seen go by on my dash. The majority of what I’ve seen has been absolute petty, childish bullshit because someone had a falling out with someone else, people jumped in and took sides, and it got really fucking ugly when it didn’t have to.

Here’s the thing, when people are involved shit is sometimes going to go sideways. Not everyone is compatible and there are some people who really should be nowhere near each other because they mix like a gas tanker and a Zippo. There is NOTHING wrong with that. What’s wrong is when people begin to share chat logs/screenshots, point fingers, place blame, and get everyone all stirred up over a personal disagreement. In general I have a big problem with sharing private conversations, namely because when things get heated, nobody is at their best. When the anger fades, a lot of the time people will feel bad about what was said and will want to apologize for it, or at least recognize to themselves that they really did a poor job of it and need to try to do better should they find themselves in that situation again- and then to turn around and find the log of that argument posted for everyone to gawk at... wouldn’t that really suck? It’s hard to learn from your mistakes and improve as a person when people you don’t even know are forming opinions of you based on how you were at your worst.

Now, then, if you’re consistently not improving and you’re finding the same scenario repeating over and over? It’s not them, honey, it’s you. Take a step back, take a breath, and take a hard look as to why that is.  That said, however, does that sort of repetitive behavior always deserve a public shaming? There’s a thin line between “these people don’t get along” and labeling someone as abusive, and that’s where my problem tends to be. Disagreeing with someone and speaking your mind is not automatically emotional abuse. Slapping that label on someone just because you don’t like their opinions or because you argued with them is a shitty thing to do. 

Don’t even get me started on crossing the IC/OOC line. That might be another question on the list, idk, but hoo NELLY I could write a novel about that topic. :|

[getoffthesoapbox]

[VKM Spec] Ridiculing VKM 18

As expected, Hino’s obsession with dreary funerals continues.

Obligatory disclaimer for my anti-fans: This post is zeki criticism, vkm criticism, hino criticism, and anti ky. Please blacklist those tags accordingly.

Scanlations can be found in the usual places.

The Good

Gotta give credit where credit is due!

Hallelujah! Kaien Cross bites the dust (literally) at last! Praise the heavens! At last, one of the cancers of this story has been eradicated! Screw you, Hino, for trying to make him more than oozing pustule he was. (And LOL @ that guy facepalming in front of his coffin, who the hell is that anyway, I want his autograph? XD)

Kaien’s melodramatic “woe is me, what a shitty way to die” and then his pathetic “oh a girl is finally crying for me after all this time!” dramatics were hilarious. Like...how sad of a person are you that you’re relieved any girl is crying for you at your death?

Ren is a girl. I repeat: Ren is a girl. At last we can put to bed all that nonsense.

Ren is null!Zero’s and Yuuki’s child. I repeat: Ren is null!Zero’s and Yuuki’s child. Farewell, fantasies of test tube babies and clones and in vitro. Not only that, Ren was clearly conceived in the usual fashion of conceptions, not via any Zeusian head-births or immaculate conceptions. 

Null!Zero lived to raise Ren. I repeat: null!Zero lived to raise Ren. At least the “null!Zero can’t have anything Kaname doesn’t get” rule no longer applies. 

Kaname is too much of a chicken to look at the photo album of a man who worshipped him. Methinks nu!Kaname has received some intimations about how much of a shithead he was in the past. Makes me think better of him.

Kaname is actually interested in someone from the past who isn’t Yuuki and what that person might think of him. Also that he actually genuinely seems interested in finding out how much Ai suffered from Kaien’s loss and is trying to empathize for the first time in his life. 

Ai finally showed up for a funeral. ‘Bout time, since she didn’t even bother to show up for Yori’s. 

The little girl the Prince was living with is not the mayor’s daughter, thank god. 

The mad scientist got a stylish cameo! 

And that’s about it!

The Bad

Perhaps I should rename this section to “The Stupid”? I’ll have to consider it.

Hino forgetting her own lore and that pureblood blood can cure wounds and illnesses--see Shizuka with Ichiru. Ai was right next to Kaien--she didn’t need to offer him vamprism, she could have just fed him her blood. For him to die in such a stupid fashion, despite how great it is, is positively mind boggling given the established vampire lore in this story. 

Hino retroactively trying to act like Kaien meant something to these characters when he’d routinely fucked them over in order to rescue his precious Kaname. 

Yuuki boo-hooing over Kaien dying when she didn’t bother to spend any time with him during the 100 years of life she had to enjoy his company.

Kaname’s unexplained “curse” on Touma that came out of the clear blue nowhere with no foreshadowing or set up in order to “justify” Touma’s insane behavior. Hino’s just phoning it in at this point. 

Touma is the Prince, snooze. Boring and obvious and a narrative dud. 

The “Mayor” is useless and already under arrest, and why the hell does anyone even still care about him?

Kaien’s funeral was a joke and got more panels than Yori’s, which is ridiculous.

The timeline is fucked. Ai was acting last chapter like a bunch of time had passed between the mad scientist kidnapping and the Ren pregnancy being discovered, yet the little girl is still the same age. Either she’s a vampire or Hino has no clue what the timeline is.

Instead of talking about how excited they are to meet Ren, Yuuki spends most of her pregnancy screentime rehashing bullshit about Ai’s childhood with Ai. We already spent 6 chapters on Ai’s childhood Hino, you might want to give us some time to enjoy Ren for once yeah? 

Yuuki whining about Kaien and Yori not being there is a complete joke. Bitch, please, you waiting seventy years to get in bed with your side piece is the reason they’re not there with you now. You have no right to complain because this is your own fault. You squandered the time you had with your precious people.

Null!Zero’s apparently barely there as a father figure since Hino didn’t care to show him in more than one panel with his child. 

The Ugly

All of the ugly this chapter was packed in at the end, appropriately.

Hino just completely excised null!Zero from the family. In the montage of raising Ai images, Zero doesn’t even get a panel with Ai or Yuuki--he���s separated in his own itty bitty panel as if he’s still an outsider in his own family.

No sex scene, no waiting for the baby scene, no naming Ren scene for Zeki. That’s a pretty low blow to make us wait all that time and then skip over everything, Hino. Fuck you, too.

Zero’s and Ai’s little argument at the end would be cute if we’d actually gotten some fucking answers as to why Zeki didn’t get together for an entire human lifetime, but no, Hino doesn’t care to tell us why, we can just make the answer up for ourselves!

Whether Hino intends to “make good” on this implication or not (and my bet, given how gross Ai and Ren act in the future, is that she’ll make good on it), it is utterly reprehensible that Hino made Ai have a sexual attraction to a fucking innocent baby. We all know the VK/VKM world has established that vampiric hunger the way Ai experiences it in VKM 18 is sexual in nature. Hino trying to act like it’s cute there at the end is not ever acceptable. It was not even remotely acceptable when Kaname did it, and it’s not at all acceptable now just because the girls are sisters. Just like slapping Aidou, child grooming is not appropriate or laudable behavior. Ai having a sexual interest in her baby sister is not okay.

And last, but certainly not least, null!Zero and Yuuki approving Ai’s interactions with Ren without having any concerns is deeply disturbing to me. Hino trying to play this off as a cute and normal happy family is even more troubling. I’m very concerned about how this all is going to play out in the future. 

General Aside

@vampireknightmeta brought up a few ways in which Hino might be able to salvage the story as it is now in our private conversations, but I will leave any public speculation on future positive developments to her should she choose to share them with the fandom at large. 

At this point in time, I myself have no interest in speculating about potential positive narrative developments because Hino has shown time and time again that she’s happy to sink lower than even the lowest bar I set for her. I’d rather be happily surprised by Hino saving this story on her own and just laugh at her bumbling in the meantime rather than investing my heart into trying to uncover the “secrets” of the story of a repugnant and morally bankrupt failure of a writer. From now on, I’ll only be speculating about worst case scenarios, the worst I can possibly imagine, and maybe Hino will do even worse than that just to prove to me that there’s no low she’s above sinking to. 

As such, if you’re looking for positive theorizing, you won’t find it here until I see some significant improvement in this sorry excuse for a story. Please look elsewhere for your hit of “positivity.” 

Crackpot Theory Corner

Can’t end this debacle without some crackpot theories. Here’s what could happen that could make this story sink even lower than it has already sunk!

Null!Zero might actually get suspicious of Ai’s “attentions” to Ren, but he’s going to die before he can stop anything. =P Null!Zero does still seem to have some fatherly instincts.

Null!Zero is up next for being killed, probably next volume. We’ll probably have a funeral or two every volume, because that’s totally what everyone’s reading for!

In the chapter where null!Zero dies, we’ll have Ren dying in the future while protecting Ai or Kaname! Gotta kill off dem pesky Kiryuus!

When Yuuki meant “short time after Zero” when he died in VKM 4, what she meant to say was “null!Zero died 20 years after I screwed him and I put myself to bed for 900 more.” Hence, “short time.” Time’s relative, doncha know.

After Ren dies, Kaname and Ai will mourn, then resurrect Yuuki to ease their sorrow and the Kurans will live happily ever after. 

Yuuki never intended to marry Zero, and that’s why she let Yori die before getting together with him officially so Yori wouldn’t have to know Yuuki loved Kaname and not Zero (why, only Hino knows). The wedding Yori and Aidou were waiting for will happen after they’re long dead with Kaname and Yuuki instead. 

The baby from Yuuki’s dream is her second kid with Kaname, a boy who she’ll name Zero. Ai will imprint on her new brother and the horror will start all over again with a new generation, this time blessedly free of Kiryuus, who are all dead.

Oh, and the Vampire King will never be found, because who cares. ;)

Until next time, see you later!

[ankle-beez]

ok so i’ve been rewatching star vs the forces of evil season 3 and i realized that it’s not that great??? and kinda messy??? also i wanted to point out why.

so to make this rambling post more concise i’m going to divide this post in two points, which are this season’s big problems: pacing and characters.

***NOTE: these are all, surprisingly, my opinion. you’re allowed to disagree. we can discuss why you disagree with me and you can make your points as long as it’s in a civilized and rational manner. we’re not fucking animals, after all.***

so here we go:

PACING

So lemme get this out of the way, pacing has always been one of this show’s problems. it’s been there since season 1. but like almost everything in the show, it improved massively in season 2. there was a fair balance between fluff and plot episodes, and it was good.

but season 3′s pacing has been, for lack of a better word, awful. it feels like the plot is kinda crammed in there with all the fluff, which isn’t even that entertaining in the first place.

now some of you might say, “oh but su has pacing problems and you like it regardless!” well, the difference between su and star vs season 3 is, that su has a better balance. the fluff episodes do a good job of easing you into the more plot heavy episodes. in star season 3 it’s more like “FLUFF LOVE TRIANGLE FLUFF LOVE TRIANGLE ECLIPSA IS FREE LOVE TRIANGLE FLUFF LOVE TRIANGLE METEORA IS ECLIPSA’S DAUGHTER AND THE MAGIC HIGH COMMISION HAS BEEN LYING FOR GENERATIONS LOVE TRIANGLE ohbtwmarcosmomispregananantnow”

that’s not to say that all of this season’s fluff episodes have been bad. two of my favorite episodes of this season are “death peck” and “ludo where art thou”. they’re not related to the main plot that much, but they’re both really good at telling their own self-contained stories.

there’s really good plot threads this seasons, like i said. the stuff with the magic high commission, star’s attempts to end the racism between monsters and mewmans, eclipsa’s daughter… those are all great! but they’re thrown at you without any sort of build-up and crammed between fluff that isn’t even good. and when we do get fluff, most of the time is not that good, mostly due to the second and last point:

CHARACTERS

OK so there’s actually a couple of factors within this problem. let’s begin:

ok so we all know that the earth cast has been abandoned. and i get why. in fact, i get most of the reasons why the characters this season have been written the way they are. but just because i understand why doesn’t mean that i like it.

so jackie, who is probably the best earth character in the show and we clearly don’t deserve her, got written out of the show, because marco’s a jackass. the entire cast on earth got written out, because marco’s a jackass and the shipping needed to be fueled.

most of the developments this season have been because of shipping. we’ll get to that later.

marco has been a dick almost this entire reason. and, again, i get why. but it’s not fun to watch. he’s a smug dick who blatantly disregards his earth friends and girlfriend (who, like i said before, is too good and we didn’t deserve her), arrives on Mewni, tries to shove himself into Star’s life, and once his position as squire, thinks he’s too good for anything. they addressed this in marco jr, but it’s been such a pain watching him this season.

also they have janna in the intro and she’s in like 5 episodes in this season so far. and janna is fucking awesome.

oh and pony head somehow isn’t the most annoying character this season. fucking shocking, i know.

and let’s get to tom. hoo boy. they got him back together with star? 

again i get why. star shoved her feelings for marco aside and rushed into this unhealthy relationship with tom. but it’s not fun when half of the non-plot episodes this season revolve around this relationship.

tom clearly has problems. he constantly displays unhealthy behavior and for some reason people in the fandom find it cute?? bitch your boyfriend constantly comparing himself to your best friend in a desperate plea for approval isn’t cute. it’s creepy.

also eclipsa is fantastic and amazing and we haven’t got enough of her because the show has been too busy with the shipping.

so yeah… season 3 has been disappointing so far. christ. here’s hoping we get a good conclusion to it.

[sonofsallyjackson]

Late Night HOO thoughts.

I apologize if this doesn’t make much sense it’s almost 6 AM and my insomnia has been extra unpleasant tonight. But I’m hoping that if I write this I can drain some thoughts from my head and hopefully sleep finally.

A common complaint about HOO is that it loses sight of who the series is really supposed to be about, the lost trio. While I understand the complaint since the trio really doesn’t get a whole lot of screen time together or actual character arcs, it also rubs me slightly the wrong way. Firstly, because no one really gets a comprehensive character arc in HOO, not just the lost trio. And it might be easy to ignore my unease with simply well you like Frank and Hazel, of course you dislike the idea that the Lost Trio deserves to be front and center. But that’s not it. (Believe me I chronically fall in love with background characters and have to create content for myself. I understand that certain narratives take precedence.)

I always felt like Rick sort of danced around the fact that he created the two questing groups and kept their involvement in the narrative rooted in those initial goals, but acted like they still had one big common goal while never fully intigrating the teams.

Because yes, when it comes to Gaea, it’s always going to be Piper, Leo and Jason. They are the ones Gaea identified specifically as a threat and whose lives were manipulated by Hera so they would be ready to defeat Gaea. Their focus is preventing Gaea from waking/sending her back to sleep.

In comparison, Frank, Hazel and Percy’s focus has always been on righting Gaea’s manipulation of death. They free Thanatos and then arguably make the largest contributions to closing the doors of death. Their narratives are centered around the idea of the disruption of the proper order of death the same way Jason and Leo’s revolve around Gaea’s manipulations. Hazel literally returned from the dead, after sacrificing herself to kill the life she was manipulatived into creating. Frank didn’t know if he could actually die naturally if his stick was still protected. (He’s also grieving his mother and grandmother. He learns about his connections to the gods and sets out for camp on the day of his mother’s funeral.).

As the cursed trio’s quest is only possible because Gaea is awake enough to carry out the manipulation of death, you’re technically right in saying that in the end everything should begin and end with the lost trio. Gaea is the season’s big bad villain the same way Kronos was in PJO. That’s why the Lost Trio has the final showdown. It begins and ends with them.

But the Cursed Trio’s quest is like Typhon in PJO. Typhon is a potential world-ending problem that needs to be solved before the team can safely defeat the big bad. Even if they defeated Gaea despite the severe disadvantage of things not staying dead, the world would still be in complete chaos. If Typhon destroyed Olympus, it would have been basically impossible to beat Kronos or for the gods to carry out their duties afterward. (It’s not an exact comparison but I think it illustrates my point effectively enough.) Could you erase Typhon from TLO? Sure but then you’d have a fundamentally different final battle since the gods are available to help defend Olympus. You need to Cursed Trio and their efforts to restore the natural order of things.

Just for the record, since I feel like I needed to explain how Annabeth fits into this two questing groups framework. Annabeth, despite being intimately tied to the cursed trio’s quest, has always walked alone so to speak. Her goal throughout the series was painted as recovering what had been lost, first Percy and then the Athena Parthenos. I don’t think it made any sense that the books specifically mentioned on multiple occasions that Gaea wanted Percy and Annabeth’s blood to awaken her. I mean you could argue she wanted it because they were the ones directly responsible for the Titan’s failure, or because it would be very poetic to have their blood sacrificed in the city important to both their parents, but narratively Piper and Jason/Leo made more sense.