#which is imo a problem in and of itself

[enbyfication]

ok as someone who both. is trans and goes out of their way to say 'ppl with dicks' or 'ppl with vaginas' in conversations with people when that's what i mean, can we just take a moment and. appreciate how incredibly awkward the terminology is compared to saying boys or girls. so much of using gender neutral or trans inclusive language when communicating is like this and it's frustrating that u can only talk about these things in a way that sounds clunky. it also means that trans inclusive language becomes inaccessible unless u Know The Buzzwords which is less than ideal also. i don't have any solutions but i think about it a lot 😔

[xxplastic-cubexx]

what is your favorite thing about charles and your favorite thing about erik? separately, as in what you like most about their characters :]

a devious question this one is, my friend!!! it's hard enough for me to explain my thoughts cohesively, but having to pick ONE thing i particularly love is difficult. with characters like charles and erik, theres been so much done with their characters over the decades and so they have so many components to them that make them so interesting and fun to observe. BUT I TRY FOR YOU TODAY. under the cut i kinda ramble and the size of this text box makin me anxious

i think if i were to be simple and broad, what i enjoy most about charles is his determination to help others, even if he isn't really thanked and/or if people don't even like him. ofc, this isn't to say he hasn't done wrong- to be honest, the fact he does wrong/questionable things at times is another aspect of him i really enjoy, maybe because- broadly speaking- he's meant to be altruistic (intent vs outcome and all that). i don't know if that's super exciting to most people, but it is for me

as for erik, my reason for liking him is easier to explain tbh. To Be Simple And Broad, his progression from villain to antihero over the decades has been fun to observe (as much as i have so far anyhow) and analyze. i think to be a bit more specific, him using his rage and pain as justifications for his villainous actions is definitely what compels me the most: hurt people hurt and the sort, an idea i've always found interesting (something something vicious cycles and the like). yet now, he recognizes this wasn't really. A Just Thing To Do and is beginning to change that, which i enjoy

[matteoberrettini]

are you catholic? i wouldn't have said so

anon 😭😭 i'm not trying to make fun of you and i'm taking this as a compliment actually but i don't know how to tell you this... i'm literally italian 😭

but seriously, i've grown up catholic yeah, but i don't believe in god and haven't taken part in anything religious in many years. i would say i'm like culturally catholic tho. and technically still catholic to the eyes of the church bc baptism and all that

[lunar-years]

(I actually love the way the Jamie love confession to Keeley is written but I understand that it doesn’t land for a lot of people and I do wonder if part of why it feels so out of left field is because we literally don’t see Jamie all episode only for him to pop up in the last 10 minutes and say all that…. Like, “I’ve been all over the place today” “today taught me” okay babe but like. WHERE.)

[shoechoe]

Ghiaccio's White Album is probably a really convenient Stand to have around with Grateful Dead. I imagine he could keep the rest of the group from aging so it can specifically kill the target while keeping the members of La Squadra safe from harm's way. (I kinda wonder what the Grateful Dead fight would've looked like with Ghiaccio there or what missions would look like with him and Prosciutto paired up instead. There would be no need for the freakout over losing ice cubes and Bruno's group would probably try to use the freezing ability as refuge only for Ghiaccio to go "Ha! No, sucker!" and reverse the effect or just start freezing them to death or something)

[katiekatdragon27]

Guys you don't understand how much I love these two. (Oh yeah, and Finn's there too)

Glisten: Awww~ Shrimpo, you remembered Shrimpo: B*tch I'm in LOVE with you, of course I REMEMBERED! Glisten: What!? Wait really?? This is very sudden wow! (You said you were straight?) Shrimpo: AAAAAAAAAA

Finn: (yapping) Shrimpo and Glisten: SHUT THE F*CK UP, FINN!! Shrimpo and Glisten: ... Shrimpo and Glisten: (kissing)

The first comic takes place before the two started dating. Shrimpo is really really really bad at expressing emotions other than anger and frustration, so anytime he tries to express anything, he just blurts out his feelings without thinking. Then he gets second-hand embarrassment lol. Glisten was pretty aware that Shrimpo liked him before, but he's pretending to be surprised to make Shrimpo "feel better" (also to mildly embarrass him lol).

Also, I think that Shrimpo and Glisten bonding over hating Finn is very based and true. They need that autistic man to SHUT UP/silly

I think Shrimpo and Finn are very cousin coded. Not close enough to be siblings but definitely got some familial genes going on imo (plz don't shoot me Shrimpbowl shippers🙏🙏🙏) Doesn't stop Shrimpo from being violent towards Finn tho, and Finn does nothing to deter it lol (he finds it funny). Also, Glisten throws no punches bc he doesn't want to get his hands dirty.

Finn: Sooooo?? How was the daaaate~ Finn: No need to be such a clam about it! Shrimpo: I'M SO KILLING YOU!

The second image takes place the day after this post lol. Shrimpo is recovering from a hangover covered in lipstick kisses and super conflicting emotions and Finn is NOT helping.

On the other end, I've been thinking about Shimmer a lot lol. So here is a doodle of her with her "sister aunt" Toodles, and Pebbles.

They all get along super well. In this pic, Toodles is like 12ish and Shimmer is 4 (but her weird biology made her age up to like 7 here). Pebble is pebble, that's all you need to know.

Also, I was in a horror-ish mood earlier so here are some Twisteds <33 (below cut cuz kinda scary):

I love you angst comfort. My sib pointed out while playing one day that Shrimpo looked traumatized as a Twisted, which like, fair, but it make me think.

Glisten: "They say you are not here anymore. But I think you are."

I had this silly idea that Twisted Shrimpo was infected by Dandy personally, and that whole conflict got Shrimpo's lower jaw ripped off. He is very violent and volatile, and very hard to calm down. But, when he runs into a twisting Glisten alone and scared, he comforts him (to the best of his ability).

Since Glisten is still able to be somewhat conscious, he realizes that the Twisteds are actually not completely gone like he originally thought, and it helps him keep his sanity longer, hoping for a way out for everyone.

Willpower is a crazy thing.

On the complete opposite note, I love you horrifying freak of ichor child.

Since Shimmer was made from the ichor itself with no sort of skeleton or solid foundation, her condition is very unstable. And the problem is that her body is affected by her emotions. On a bad day, she can suffer from lots of pain and her body literally melting away. That's when she hides out and waits for her body to stabilize again.

When she completely twists, her body completely falls apart, becoming a puddle of ichor on the ground. If she was an encounterable twisted, she would work like Sprout's puddle root things, but easier to maneuver around and avoid. Also, her antenna glow.

Mini yap session aside, I think I cooked on the art lol.

Anyways, the og images lol:

Have a good one pookies!

[nicosaysnope]

i do find it very interesting how different the foxes and the trojans go about caring for and supporting each other. well, actually, i mostly find it interesting how differently people seem to feel about it, especially in regards to kevin's drinking problem.

the way kevin's clearly unhealthy relationship with alcohol doesn't get condemned or fixed in the original trilogy for example is something that many people in the fandom have been pretty upset and critical about for many years and jean's reaction to it seemed to have really moved people (though that in particular, imo, had at least as much to do with jean's very restricted and in itself unhealthy relationship to food and drinks as with him uniquely seeing and caring about kevin's substance abuse issues. like, yeah, he really, really cares about him, but i don't think he'd have been thaaat much less upset if kevin was coping by eating chips or something. but well, whatever).

but to me, that never really read as no one caring about kevin or thinking alcohol is the ideal way for him to regulate his emotions.

the whole premise of how wymack runs the foxes and how they treat each other is just very built around the idea that all these people have been through awful things and that the way they'll cope with that won't always be pretty. but as long as they cope at all, they'll be around for another day, and another, which'll buy them to actually get better.

which is how you get stuff like wymack, in good conscience, not only tolerating but at times even soliciting underage drinking. and looking past the harder drugs some of the team are doing. and it's how him and the team all accept that neil is definitely lying about pretty much everything but mostly just leave him be. and how they all agreed to let andrew get off his legally mandated medication during games even though that could have terrible consequences for all of them. and how matt's mom said "sure random eighteen year old calling me on the phone, do give my addict son speedballs, you seem to have a higher success rate at getting teenagers clean than me 👍" because they all view life less as you're either doing good or you doing bad, and more as you're either surviving whatever it takes to do so, or you don't, so who cares if you aren't coping in healthy or acceptable ways, as long as you are coping. (and then once they're ready to work on getting better, they do have a support system in place to help them get there)

meanwhile the trojans are mostly pretty normal and well adjusted, so they have a pretty clear idea of what a healthy person who's doing well looks like, and that's what they generally want for other people, especially those they care about. so when they see someone who's not doing well and not dealing with it in healthy ways they are very direct about it, sort of a "your behaviour is not healthy, stop doing it" thing. your eating habits are really restrictive? try eating different food anyways, it's really good, i prommy. you hurt yourself when you're upset? here's how to physically stop this from hurting. you get incredibly startled when you're touched unexpectedly? well, just let me try hugging you again. you drink to deal with your feelings? please don't, it's not good for you.

and obviously that's a lot more normal and straight forward than what the foxes are doing, and it's done with love and support. and a lot of fans find it very moving and beautiful and sweet. but i also know that i'm not the only person who was really put off by this and still finds it kinda disconcerting. to me it feels, especially in contrast to the foxes, who would largely find this sooo overbearing and rude and uncomfortable, kinda like strongarming someone into doing well, with (at least in the context of these specific books) shockingly little regard for personal boundaries.

my point isn't that one's better than the other or anything, i think both approaches are going to work differently well for different people and within the books it makes perfect sense why the different teams would act this way, and it's also perfectly understandable why some people really resonate with one approach and find the other irritating or unkind. it's simply some thoughts that have been rattling around in my head. building up to: nothing really. oh well

[megaderping]

I think one of my problems with the "Akechi dying is better for the themes of P5R and Joker's character growth and mourning" is like... Okay, but what about Akechi? That framing makes Akechi more of an object to Joker's character, IMO, whereas I think that him surviving in the max confidants ending has so much fascinating potential for Akechi having to live with his mistakes and move forward. He went in expecting to die, to have a simple final act of freedom... But I think him being forced to keep living, to face every day one at a time, to find ways to make peace with what he did and live in the world is just infinitely more compelling from a storytelling standpoint. For Akechi, I think it's a better outcome because it's lacking in elegant simplicity. Even if he lives, he was still willing to die for the sake of everyone's freedom. His survival doesn't erase that. It may "lessen" Joker's choice to reject Maruki's reality, but I think it also makes accepting that reality incredibly cruel, when a strong enough bond with him is enough to save his life and make a miracle happen. Mona describes the world itself as cognition. In P5's vanilla ending, he says it was the PT's bonds that allowed him to continue to exist as a cat in the real world. Given the significance of a maxed confidant making him appear in the postcredits, I believe that it is very simple to read his survival being because of that bond. That wish that they both shared, as confirmed by the Royal artbook. If you prefer exploring the grief and mourning, that's completely fair, but I think there are many ways to interpret Royal's themes, and Akechi living in a harsh reality where you can't escape your past but you can heal and do better is still very on point with what P5R is all about. Unlike P3, which centers more heavily on death, P5R simply touches on it as a part of its greater narrative. And even in P3, you can save a certain character from death via player choice and connections. So, yeah. :p

[oopsallmabari]

like. if someone is capable of convincing me that having the viper be the black divine is a good idea, by all means. but i struggle to understand it beyond a weird first draft idea that should be treated as just that, a weird first draft idea that isn't canon.

overall i think the game is missing out on really involving the elves in a thoughtful way, and that includes the shadow dragons. so unless your rook is a shadow dragon and an elf, all of the major shadow dragons(i include dorian in this, even though he's technically an ally, i guess) are humans save for lorelei, the merchant? and save for tarquin, they're all mages, folks who have at least some standing in tevinter society. i haven't read the supporting novels/comics so i don't know all of the details surrounding mae and neve's backstories--but even though mae's been stripped of her magisterium seat and presumably faces discrimination in tevinter as a trans woman, she has had some level of privilege as an altus (she was a magister with a magister parent, so i'm assuming that's the accurate social class to put her in). dorian has been harmed by societal homophobia, but he is still an altus with a seat in the magisterium. the viper is, at minimum, an altus. elves are rescued from slavery, aided and supported by the shadow dragons, which is great, but they lack agency. they aren't the leaders of their own movement, they aren't even a strong consideration. a group of people, mostly human mages, can attempt to change tevinter by installing a new archon, theoretically for the benefit of elves (the primary victims of tevinter slavery), without including a single elf in the conversation, or even considering if their opinion should matter.

it is, imo, shortsighted at best to have the group of fantasy freedom fighters/abolitionists to mostly be controlled by the privileged, especially without making any commentary on that and the potential issues with it, especially if the writers' intent (even if not officially confirmed) is to make one of their advisors the leader of the imperial church, which seems to still be relevant and powerful in tevinter society, even with the magisterium. putting aside the logistics of the viper not getting caught, is tevinter just so corrupt that there's no real difference for him to make within his own station? is he unwilling to use whatever political power he has as divine because it'll expose him to personal danger? would it compromise the shadow dragons? why would that not be a problem in itself given the goal is to end slavery in tevinter, if the dragons' ability to take decisive action is stymied by their own leadership? why not keep the viper as an ally, a patron, a sympathizer with means to support with no decisionmaking power (even that has its issues, if you think about corporate capture of regulatory bodies/nonprofits)?

like, to my knowledge this is information people have gotten through datamining, so i don't take it as canon, but like...if we're gonna treat this as canon, i would like to think about the implications of it beyond how surface-level cool it is for fantasy abolitionist batman to secretly be the fantasy imperial pope. consider that yes, these are people with good intentions, but they do not exist absent the power structures they grew up in.

[cuephrase]

as someone who loves comics, hell as someone who got into this fandom because of comics, the comics-reading fandom commentary i keep running into that seems set on villainizing non-comics reading and fanon-enjoying members of fandom by complaining about the fic that gets published is seriously exhausting at best and deeply frustrating at its worst.

and let me preface this by saying, if you actually want to try and analyze perceived trends in good faith, by all means, do your fandom meta, so long as you are not treating other people like problems that require solutions. the solution starts with you. focus on changing your mindset from that of entitlement to appreciation. you are not owed quality fic- whatever that looks like to you. a fic not being to your preference doesn’t make it any less a labor of love, a creation that someone spent their free time putting together and sharing.

also i do scroll/block. i am not being “forced” to engage with this rhetoric. still, the prevalence disheartens me because this attitude runs in direct contradiction to what my understanding of fandom/ao3 is.

is fandom not the space to have fun with our blorbos? to share headcanons and art and analysis and connect with those who share our love and vision? do you forget that the A in AO3 stands for Archive? that the T in OTW stands for Transformative? why is it so offensive for someone to write and post a fic, to an archive, that is OOC to you that you have to complain about it in a public tumblr post? why does seeing someone enjoy and/or create something you dislike warrant you going to the town square and bitching? what gives you the authority to tell someone whether or not they deserve to exist in the fandom? are we not all guests?

just because we’re all in one fandom doesn’t mean you are the target audience for every creation. especially in big fandoms, where the breadth of interpretations is vast. like. you do know that even if every person who posted a batman fic read the comics, you still wouldn’t like every fic? something not being canon to you, while perfectly valid, doesn’t change the fact that it is or was canon and therefore may very well be canon to someone else. and vice versa! not to mention that someone can read the exact same comics and reach an entirely different conclusion. they can love the same character and see them totally differently.

y’all stroll up to a sprawling potluck, see some dishes you dislike, and start crashing out like. pause for a second. damn. you don’t have to eat any of that!! i don’t really care if you have a hard time finding fic you like, because, what? you think that makes you special? do you want a medal or consolation prize for doing what literally everyone who uses ao3 has to do to find fic they like if they’re picky? should i marvel at your commitment to only consuming that which has the finest of characterization, the most artful prose, the deepest, most esoteric insights? give me a break. what a first world problem.

“but they’re not even really fans of-” shut up. just shut up. keep that stuff in dms or the appropriate discord servers. private places where someone can’t accidentally stumble across them and get hurt. people come to fandom for so many reasons, why risk ruining something that is bringing someone comfort and community just because you dislike seeing blorbo written that way?

yes, it is up to individuals to curate the experience they have in fandom. it is their prerogative to block/scroll/not click on that fic that is clearly tagged with something they dislike. but it is not up to you to try and curate the Fandom itself. do you see the difference? you can make your own discord server and decide the rules, you can make your own archive and decide the TOS, you can and should make your space a space you enjoy being in. but the Fandom as a whole? that’s not yours.

like tagging is a very important part of good etiquette on ao3 imo, but the discourse over what fic can/should be has gotten so out of hand that my friend, who loves superboy and reads his comics, worries about what fandom tag to use for their fics that aren't canon compliant. hell, i tag all my fics that do not directly deal with a comics canon incident as "Batman - All Media Types" and not "[Character] Comics", even though i've read tons of comics and they are solely what i base my characterization off of because i'm paranoid about someone coming into my comments and giving me grief about it not being canon accurate enough, or being the inspiration of a vaguepost. what a sad environment that has been built. why should there be any stress over whether a transformative work belongs under the applicable fandom tags? what a bastardization of fandom etiquette to push for people to only tag with X fandom if they've "earned" it, if the fic is something that a Real fan would want to read. dgmw, i'm grateful that the Batman - AMT tag still exists, i think it's an extremely useful catchall, but the way that people weaponize the fandom tags is just so disappointing. and also? honestly? a little chronically online. because it presumes that ao3 authors will also be present on other fandom spaces to know the "rules", which is absurd. someone should not need to be involved on tumblr, or any other site, to know how to tag on ao3. following the rules as outlined on ao3 itself should be sufficient.

“well i enjoy venting-” yes, okay, i’m sorry that you lack the empathy to understand why your actions are discourteous. and like, to be crystal clear, i am strictly opposing vent posts/vagueblogging that calls out/complains about fic specificially. stuff like “i’m so sick of seeing people write X fic” or “saw this fic, why would anyone write a fic like this?” it’s not a legitimate question. it’s not a legitimate question, because the answer is simple even if you dislike it. they wrote it because they wanted to. that’s the only reason anyone needs to write a fic. and guess what, the great thing is that there’s an equally simple answer for why someone may not want to read a fic- because they don’t want to!

not that it matters, but i’m not saying this because i just love every single part of fanon and every fic is right up my alley- no. not only am i incredibly picky, but my tastes have shifted over time. past me adored some fics that i would scroll right past now- and those fics aren’t bad, i can re-read the ones i remembered to bookmark and see why i liked them. and i read fics now that past me would/did scroll past. i just don’t think my personal enjoyment of a fic should have any bearing on whether or not that fic should be allowed to exist- unless ofc, it’s my own fic. and even then, i, personally, orphan stuff, i don’t delete akdhfkdhf.

we are all guests. we are all playing with IP we don’t own. we do a disservice to ourselves and others when we forget that.

[aesethewitch]

And you know what, I'd be so bold as to say that a lot of witches need to learn how to advertise ethically and effectively! Even folks whose services are 100% legit and genuine can be (or come off as) extremely shady. It's a problem! You don't have to be an expert or anything, but understanding what makes a good product listing and how to ethically advertise your goods and services is absolutely critical.

Having done marketing and advertising work for a Major Company with Many Advertising Regulations, these are the extremely basic hallmarks I look for in a good advertisement or product/service listing:

Language is clear and concise, focusing on the specific product or service in question *

Language is engaging but not inflammatory **

No typos, misspellings, or grammatical mistakes

All products and services are clearly described, and the consumer knows exactly what they would receive if they were to purchase from you

If applicable or possible, at least one quality photo of the product is provided (more than one from multiple angles is preferred, but one very good photo is sometimes enough)

Provided images appear legitimate (not AI, not stolen from the internet, etc.) and product descriptions appear to have been written by a real person ***

Prices are clearly stated and appear fair when compared to other sellers offering similar products and services, or which are otherwise explained (for example, if prices are unusually high, it may be because the seller only has limited stock or is providing a unique, high-effort service; this should be clearly stated in the listing in a simple, matter-of-fact tone)

The method of delivery is clearly described, including delivery timelines and whether tracking will be provided

If not provided elsewhere, or if it's a long list of available products/services, contact information and instructions are provided somewhere obvious and easy to access for questions and concerns

Disclaimers are clearly marked, and the consumer's rights are clearly explained (for example, if it's a commission for a custom spell, could the consumer publish the spell instructions on their blog, or is it for private use only?)

The refund policy is clearly described either in the listing itself, in the sales terms, or elsewhere on the page (so long as it's easily found)

It isn't explicitly about listings, but one other big thing I look for is whether the seller has a presence other than their shop or marketing space(s). This could be social media, a physical location, or a personal website. Basically, I want to see that they're obviously a real person doing real work in the field they're selling in, not just a grifter cashing in on what's popular.

I wouldn't buy cakes from someone who isn't obviously making cakes. Why the hell would I buy a tarot reading from someone who, as far as I can tell, has never done a tarot reading except in closed DMs when paid to do so?

* If you're advertising a specific product or service, the post, listing, or whatever else should be focused ENTIRELY on that specific product or service. Avoid extolling your virtues in excess.

What I mean is, your listing should not be 65% sucking your own dick about how long you've been doing the thing you're doing and how great you are. It should be about the product or service, not you. The place for that (and it does have a place, imo) is in a masterpost of services, a pinned post about yourself on your blog, and/or in the "about" section on your website/sales page.

** I mean inflammatory in the way of pushing the reader into a heightened state of emotion. These listings are purposefully manipulative, intending to take advantage of particular types of people. It's not an uncommon tactic, but it is a pretty scummy one, especially in spiritual circles, which attract non-experts who are desperate for relief, comfort, and results. Consider this example:

A listing for a tarot reading about future love saying, "Discover the future of your love life!" would be generally fine. A listing saying "Your love life DEFINED!! Once in a lifetime LOVE!!! SOULMATE CONNECTION? Is HE the ONE? Don't be fooled by NARCISSIST SOCIOPATHS!!" is inflammatory, intent on targeting a specific type of person who is likely to fall for the urgency and the particular language used here. You see the difference, no?

*** There are always cases of folks who aren't so good at words or taking pictures or who aren't using their first language and so forth, and it's important to take that into consideration. But for the most part, even those cases stand out from the bullshit artists, whose only goal is to take your money and run.

[murderbot-moodboard]

Okay, first thoughts on Murderbot (below the cut for light spoilers):

- I like that the show is emphasizing some of the things that are easy to forget as a fan who's read the whole series multiple times. Murderbot is a killing machine. It does consider killing everyone a legitimate option. It is not a human, it's a corporate product who's been forced to take a very pragmatic view of life due to its harsh experiences. All of this is good soup.

- Skarsgård as Murderbot is endearingly awkward and I'm really loving his performance!

- All the PresAux characters seem to fit pretty well with their book characterizations, and the small changes/additions only enhance their characters imo. I love them all and am gobbling up their added lore like Hostile One tried to gobble Bharadwaj (too soon?).

- Something that was never spelled out in the books but has been discussed by book fans is that Gurathin is kind of a human counterpart to Murderbot, and most of the things Murderbot dislikes about him are traits Murderbot itself has to some degree. The show seems to me to be deliberately playing up this theme, such as by having Murderbot and Gurathin react with similar disgust to Arada's comment about Murderbot's face, and showing Gurathin getting uncomfortable watching the visual of the throuple making out. I think this is a great choice and am really looking forward to seeing how their dynamic develops from here.

- Also, Gurathin is definitely acting more clearly like an asshole than in ASR, and that choice not only makes his character and the overall interpersonal dynamics more interesting, but it gives Murderbot a chance to make all sorts of snarky comments in its head which are very funny.

- Interestingly though, Gurathin is the one insisting on it/its pronouns for Murderbot early on, which could look like him being antagonistic but I suspect might be shown to fit Murderbot's preference later on. Also he is now show-canonically from the Corporation Rim, which is something that was sort of maybe implied but never actually confirmed in the books, despite its being the more popular fanon interpretation. (Fwiw I think it's the more interesting choice so it's nice to have confirmed.)

- Giving Mensah panic attacks seems like a good strategy for reflecting her inner fears and sense of responsibility in a way that translates better to TV.

- I laughed out loud at Pin-Lee's snark at the corporates, and I'm really interested in the way they're being fleshed out as a character who is aggressive but with a softer side, to paraphrase something Sabrina Wu said.

- Arada seems pretty similar to book characterization, and I love that we get to see her getting defensive of animals.

- Bharadwaj is more clearly going through it and her character seems more involved in the general events than at this point in the book, which are good choices.

- Ratthi seems pretty similar to the book so far, just with more details added which all seem consistent. We also got the iconic line "For fuck's sake, Ratthi!" lol.

- From Murderbot's early comments and what it sees of Pin-Lee's reactions, it's clear that the throuple is probably not going to be all smooth sailing, but any issues will likely be due to lack of clear communication about each person's feelings and preferences, so it's also theoretically solvable.

- The only thing that bothered me during the episodes was the parts where the audio was different or differently placed than what was in the trailers. But the changes between the first and second trailer (iirc) had already clued me in that they were being a bit flexible with the audio, so I wasn't as surprised as I would've been, I guess. Personally, since I tried not to have too many expectations outside of what was confirmed in the trailers and previews, it annoyed me that even those expectations weren't 100% reliable, but that's mostly an autism problem and I know I'll get over it.

- Other than the trailer thing I have zero complaints about the show so far! It seems to maintain the spirit of the books and their characters even in the parts that are added or changed, and I'm really, really looking forward to seeing the rest!

[blueskittlesart]

did u not like totk?

i LOVED totk. i think it was well-written and did its job as a sequel to botw very well. HOWEVER. i do think it suffered slightly from the commercial success of botw. as i mentioned in my last post, nintendo does this. thing. when one of their games gets popular where every game after it has to be Exactly The Same so they can make all the money in the world via comparison marketing. (and this is a problem with the wider game industry in general but also a very observable pattern in loz specifically.) I know it's been a pretty long time since botw came out, but before (and immediately following) its release there was some pushback from longtime fans who worried that the open-world and lack of traditional dungeons meant that the game had strayed too far from the classic formula that makes a game a "zelda game." this is to say, botw was EXPERIMENTAL. and the devs had no idea if what they were doing was going to be successful or not. the open-world of botw wasn't a gimmick, and it wasn't the devs jumping on the open-world bandwagon. it was what CREATED that bandwagon. the open-world was a deliberate choice made specifically for botw because it reinforced the story that botw was designed to tell. the game is about exploring a desolate world, about making connections, and rebuilding both the broken kingdom and the player character's shattered sense of self by traveling and learning and building relationships. a large open-world map with only minor quest guidelines and lots of collectibles and side quests lends itself perfectly to this specific story, which is specifically about exploration and rebirth.

the problem is, botw was. almost TOO good. it was so good that every other game company on the planet started scrambling to build giant open-world maps into their next release, regardless of how much sense that actually made narratively. and because of that, when it came time to release a sequel to botw, the devs had a lot to think about. they had HUGE shoes to fill in terms of fan reception, but they were ALSO being asked to follow up one of the best-performing games of all time, commercially. totk needed to SELL as well as botw. And, likely because nintendo was worried about that potential commercial value, totk needed to keep people comfortable. I don't know for certain, but I definitely get the feeling playing totk that the devs were specifically told not to stray too far from what made botw marketable and successful--that being the open world and the versatility of gameplay. so in order to follow that up, they made... 2 more huge open maps, and new gimmick gameplay which was explicitly super-versatile.

do i think that the extra maps and ultrahand were BAD choices? no. however, i don't think they necessarily ADDED anything to the game as a narrative whole. one of my favorite things about botw was how everything seemed to be designed AROUND the narrative, with gameplay elements slotting neatly into the story thematically. totk just. didn't really have that, imo. there wasn't a huge narrative benefit to the gigantic, completely unpopulated depths and sky maps. ultrahand was cool, but within the context of the story it meant basically nothing. in some ways, i almost think totk could have benefitted from a much more linear approach to its storytelling, a la skyward sword, because there are a lot of story beats that have to be found in chronological order in order to have the right emotional impact, but because of the nonlinear open-world it kind of became a struggle to hit all the important story points in the right order. an easy example of this is the dragon's tears in comparison to the memories--the dragon tears have a very specific set order in which they happen, and finding them out of order can make the story you're seeing in them feel confusing and disjointed. the order in which they should be found is technically displayed on the temple wall, but most players aren't going to pick up on that or follow it--more likely, they're just going to explore the geoglyphs as they come across them organically, and therefore will likely witness the story in a completely disjointed way. compare this to the botw memories, which ALSO technically have a set order--the order in which they're displayed on the sheikah slate. however, because they're largely just small moments in time, and not one continuous story, finding them out of order has a lot less of an impact on how you as the player experience the narrative, and it's not hugely detrimental to your experience of the story if you find them naturally as you explore rather than explicitly seeking them out in order. If TOTK had been allowed to deviate from the botw formula a bit, i think we may have ended up with a more cohesive game in terms of narrative beats like that. as it is, i just think the game is torn slightly between wanting to be its own new game with new gameplay and needing to be botw, if that makes sense.

[loracarol]

Went and saw Wicked pt 1 today and I just. Loved it so much.

(Somehow I managed to miss all the marketing / if there were any cast shenanigans, so this is SOLELY based on the movie itself and NOTHING else.) My thoughts, in no particular order (and with some spoilers ahead.)

My biggest fear was that the two leads would seem too old for the part, but they didn't.

I don't really listen to Ariana Grande that much? But her Glinda was PERFECT. She brought such lovely orange cat energy to the role; Glinda was so perfectly bitchy and stupid that it worked for me and I couldn't hate her, even when she was being The Worst (TM).

Also, both actresses have the "desperately trying not to cry" face down to perfection; Glinda in the opening song, trying to put on a brave face about "yes!! the witch is dead!!" but she looked like she was on the verge of tears the whole time? 10/10 no notes.

Whoever was in charge of doing the green skin did an excellent job. I don't know if it was CGI, practical, or a combo, but it looked really good IMO. They even gave her green freckles!!

THE DESERT FROM THE BOOKS.

BOQ IS FUCKING SPONGEBOB???

THE CHOREOGRAPHY. Parts of it were weird in a perfectly Ozian way! But others were gorgeous! Two scenes that got me were the ~Mysterious Stranger~ and Elphaba's mom and then Dancing Through Life esp. with the library. IYKYK.

Speaking of the library, I also liked the architecture.

It didn't feel too long to me? I was immersed the whole time, but that could just be me.

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenowith have a cameo that is just beautiful.

There were several scenes that were shot where, if Elphie and Glinda kissed, I would have thought that was the natural progression of the scene BUT I also thought that Elphie had a spark with Fiyero which is good because 1. I'm an "Elphie has two hands" truther and 2. because if Elphie and Fiyero had no spark, that would be a problem in part 2. 🤣

(Like, they didn't fall in love which I wasn't expecting, but there was a spark. When they first meet, and she's going through her "yes, I know I'm green" checklist, "no, I didn't eat grass as a kid" is one of the things, and he's just like, "...I ate grass as a kid." Perfect. 10/10 no notes.)

I want to hold off my thoughts on Nessarose until part 2 and I see how they handle her, but there were several scenes were I thought, "you know, if she decided to go evil because people keep disrespecting her autonomy, I'd understand. I wish she'd focus on the people who were being disrespectful instead of being a despot, but like... I get it."

STOP GRABBING HER WHEELCHAIR.

I loved how they really put thought into how a goat would teach, with various foot pedals to operate his teaching equipment.

My Mom got actually sad about the lion cub. :(

Fiyero brought some "Chris Pines in Into the Woods" sluttiness. 10/10 no notes.

We need more Chris Pines in Into the Woods sluttiness.

The costuming in general made me Very Happy. I want the Shiz uniform, honestly.

Maybe I'll watch it again later and have Other Thoughts / more objective thoughts, but my first thought coming out of the theater was, "damn, this fucks."

I liked it a lot.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

i've realized recently that the source of my frustration with malleus (and i do like him) comes from the story not acknowledging the responsibility he has for his own level of isolation. it's like that story of a dog sitting in a cage although it's finally been opened, not leaving because the cage is all he knows (which is prominent in other stories as well; trauma shapes us. i those stories tho we are shown explicitly that the actions of the characters are wrong: riddle shouldn't be emulating his mother, idia should try to go on living despite the loss). with malleus though we have the story explain to us that his cage is a super special one, which is why he can't get out (which is also true for jamil-kalim, for instance, but they are both encouraged to process their cirumstances emotionally, even if they can't change them practically). and like. that's not entirely true? obviously malleus is under a lot of stress due to having to monitor his emotions and his royal status, but it's not the whole issue (at least imo). throughout the majority of vignettes and early main story content he actively engages in anti-socializing behavior (disappearing on people, not taking them seriously enough, not putting in enough effort into understanding them), so then seeing him be so upset not to be invited... feels strange? why is he expecting others to recognize his loneliness and keep reaching out to him when he isn't reciprocal?

and in itself i don't think it's a problem either. i do think this kind of behavior is typical for some people and i partially empathize with it as well. the problem is that the story treats him as being right instead of showing how his trauma impacted his way of thinking, leading to him making the wrong choices. clearly recognizing since childhood that you are a danger to others while also being brought up as "the chosen one", the only living relative of the ancient and powerful family, has some impact on the conceptualization of the world and others in it as different from you, weaker, not to be trusted and sometimes not to be understood. malleus has a very good reason to think of others as below him: in magical strength they are. it explains his thinking, but it shouldn't excuse it.

so i really wish there was at least some story bit showing malleus actively reaching out (how idia's ceremonial robes shows his attempts and how his mode of thinking prevents him from successfully connecting with others despite his efforts) and failing to do so successfully due to his own mechanisms rather than the comedic "woe is me" bit it often evolves into. i feel like his inability to understand technology (particularly the phone: complex, multi-purpose, neither durable nor stationary) can be seen as the metaphor for him not understanding people: rather than appreciate the things it allows him to do, malleus constantly bemoans how fragile and therefore useless it is, even though we know he can use technical appliances as long as they are straightforward enough and can take care of his gao-gao kun as long as he cares to see it as important enough, given to him by his (almost) equal. and so i wish the story highlighted that it's his responsibility, not the phone's to figure it out.

being "the chosen one" is difficult and isolating, but at a certain point you HAVE to try to leave the cage on your own. you can't be staring out the window longingly for the rest of your life.

sorry for jumbled sentences; i struggle to word this thought better, but i wanted to share it with you regardless, because i find that you are neither needlessly negative nor forgivingly positive in your outlook on the treatment of the characters in twst.

[This ask sort of goes along with my “Why I don’t like Lilia anymore” response!]

Thank you for your feedback and expressing your (very detailed) thoughts ^^ I've previously expressed similar frustrations with Malleus doing little to help his own situation.

I understand that Malleus has had a lonely upbringing (and honestly his behavior has been largely enabled by his caretakers and handlers), which would come to socially stunt him. His immense power and frightening reputation certainly doesn't help his situation either. Malleus being twisted from THE Maleficent explains the running "joke" of him always being left out of group gatherings. A lot of this is learned helplessness. Learned helplessness can quickly devolve into willful ignorance. It eventually gets to a point where it feels unrealistic and grating. This is especially because the narrative tends to frame Malleus's loneliness as purely the fault of others and their inability to understand him... even though I think it makes complete sense that others would not like him??

These people have no understanding of who Malleus is (beyond the name and title) or of his background. From their perspective, all they see is someone who constantly ghosts them, dismisses them, and doesn't reach out to connect despite their own multiple attempts to do so. They email him, send letters, visit him, conduct group searches, etc. all in an effort to fetch him. "What are we supposed to do," Azul questions, "begin every meeting by searching for Malleus? This is HIS problem."

Malleus gets defensive and deflects when Lilia calls him out for using excuses for not being at dorm leader meetings. "Are you questioning my intentions? You of all people? Humans often fear us creatures of the night. Many avoid our company out of sheer fright. It was you and Grandmother who taught me that. And you were both right. It's not my fault I don't attend such gatherings. The humans who fear me for no good reason are to blame." Though Lilia chastises Malleus for this way of thinking, the narrative will ironically go on to almost weaponize Malleus's loneliness as a means of making everyone else around him look as though they're lacking empathy when Malleus shares a fair bit of the responsibility for continuing to not respect his peers' time. Why are his peers not granted the same amount of leniency as Malleus is? It seems grossly unfair. It's always Malleus's classmates who are putting forth the emotional effort and labor to contact him, but almost never the other way around. The onus is, for some reason, always on them and never on him 😭 even when he must be aware this is a repeated issue??

On the rare occasion where Malleus is proactive, he turns others off by making arrogant comments and/or refusing to truly take the human perspective to heart. Malleus is putting forth little to no effort to resolve his own social conflicts with others, which only further perpetuates the problems and misunderstandings. I'm not saying that this is easy or that it should be easy for him, but the fact of the matter is that Malleus is granted several opportunities to engage with his peers, yet he squanders most of them, even when he is provided advice + wisdom from Lilia and corrections from his classmates.

Those that shun Malleus are frequently treated as though they are in the wrong for their perspective, and that’s so frustrating. The game never outright says “X is a bad person for being afraid of Malleus or getting upset at him for showing up late!” But it’s pretty clear how Twst wants us to perceive them from how often they explain away or justify every instance of Malleus failing to socialize. He has a messed up sense of time, everyone is so scared of him, he doesn’t want to break invitation etiquette, etc. These all feel concocted to make us feel bad for Malleus and want to take his side. I really dislike that so much of his appeal rides on these “woe is me” tactics.

Not once does the narrative suggest that others are correct for feeling anything negative towards him or even slighted by the inconveniences he causes. It’s in Malleus’s favor, forever painting him as “just misunderstood”. Malleus is frequently depicted as a victim of circumstances, and presented as someone we (the players) should pity and want to uplift because "no one else sees him like we do". He is left stunted and his loneliness is retooled to be a "moe" trait to the players, or used as a punchline to a joke. I honestly think this is the main issue with Malleus's character writing: he's not ALLOWED to seriously be held accountable for anything he says or does because 1) his character development has to be held off on until book 7 and 2) he has to be kept as the player’s “special friend”, therefore few of his other classmates can change him or get to know him intimately. And Malleus’s Very Real Issues are often relegated to a “haha isn’t he so cute and pouty?” or “oh no, he’s ANGY” moment in order to endear him to the player. His writing constantly feels like it is struggling to balance actually making sense and making him silly just for the sake of appeasing the audience. This is endlessly frustrating, and not even the only instance where Twst does this. (Another example is how Silver’s legitimate health condition is marketed as part of his appeal.)

One moment that really rubbed me the wrong way was at the end of book 7, when Lilia… apologized to Malleus for not realizing Malleus was lonely???? I was so shocked when Lilia dropped that line. It shouldn’t be anyone else’s responsibility to read Malleus’s mind, especially when be fails to properly communicate his thoughts. Maybe Lilia feels responsible for him, or maybe the point is that Malleus struggles to convey his emotions in a clear and concise manner (as his post-OB backstory shows us). However, when this moments comes after years and years of Malleus not taking accountability for his words and actions, it really does feel like an affirmation that Malleus is never in the wrong (even when senators aren’t hovering to literally tell him he did nothing wrong); it’s actually everyone else around him that’s responsible for not paying enough attention to his wants and needs. That… feels so incredibly off to me 😭 All characters should be allowed to make mistakes—but when the universe acts as though the mistakes Malleus makes aren’t actually mistakes, it’s basically the same as absolving him of them without asking that he put forth the same amount of effort to reflect and improve as an individual.

The irony is that there are loud Malleus fans on the English-speaking side of the fandom that will defend his actions by blaming those around him 💀 literally by deflecting and pointing fingers at the senators, at Lilia, even saying the other OB boys are “worse” than Malleus just so he can come out of book 7 “clean” and having done no wrong. (That last point particularly unnerves me because it lacks empathy for the others in the cast and minimizes their experiences. How would you feel if someone was talking down your trauma and saying you’re “worse” than another traumatized person??? Not good, I bet. We shouldn’t be saying person A’s trauma is somehow worth more or less than person B’s.) This is another way in which Malleus is enabled and encouraged to never change, because few people (whether in-universe or in the fandom) call him out for his “oopsies” and make him self reflect and grow.

I find your technology comparison interesting 🤔 It suggests that, given the right scenario, Malleus can learn to socialize with others, just like he can learn to play with a virtual pet. The issue is… what WILL it take to get him to that point?? He has already been granted many chances, has a handful of open-minded classmates or those that are not scared of him (Ace, Deuce, Jade, Floyd, Kalim, Rook, Cater, even Rollo), and Lilia there to help him out—but none of these have proven to be significantly useful to Malleus’s social growth. The end of book 7 seems to imply that nearly losing Lilia and literally having a part of him cut off is what it will take to get him to see the other side?? That feels so unnecessarily extreme and implies even showing Malleus some simple way to understand engaging with humans wouldn’t have helped him?? We needed to scare him into actually valuing putting forth all this effort into better understand other races??? Am I to understand that Malleus did not view connecting with others (50% of which is in his hands) as an important responsibility until he literally almost brought about a cataclysm and nearly permanently killed a loved one?? I… don’t think that’s intended, but that’s partially what I’m walking away with 💀

“[…] it’s his responsibility, not the phone's, to figure it out.” This point makes me think of when Malleus fries his phone with lightning, thereby making it impossible for him to receive text messages. In that case, he’s the one that damaged his phone. The fact that he did not get the intended message isn’t the phone’s fault when he was the one that shot lightning at it. Therefore, it is also Malleus’s job to repair said phone so it can work again. This should also be true of his connections… and I’m REALLY hoping this is what book 8 may cover.

[startedwellthatsentence]

I would like to remind everyone in the Doctor Odyssey fandom that while “closed triad that replicates monogamy in every way except there’s three people now” is one hyperspecific way that polyamory can be practiced, it is not the only way that polyamory can be practiced.

It’s not even the only or most common form of non-monogamy that has been shown ON THE SHOW. We’ve had hierarchical non-monogamous relationships, both toxic and healthy (Man with wife, girlfriend, and mistress; gay couple who enjoy group sex); we’ve had people with multiple partners, both toxic and healthy (wedding couple fucking the best man and also many other people; Single Sam having sex with the majority of people during singles week; the other background characters during gay week); and we’ve seen ONE other closed triad (captain’s brother and boyfriends).

Exploring other forms of polyamory is actually one of the best ways, IMO, of us getting to have the Ody3 together while still getting multiple seasons of a network show (which NEEDS relationship drama to be viable — we KNOW they can’t sustain this show with just their silly “medical” plots).

Tristan seems to have quick, surface level attractions with a lot of people (guest with the heart problem, Vivian, Spencer, Max) but it takes him a LONG time to act on them (he pined after Avery for years without making a move; he told Vivian that he wants to take things very slow) — what does that look like if he’s in a poly relationship? How can Avery deal with her jealousy in a healthy way when she doesn’t know which of Tristan’s flirtations may turn serious? How does Max deal with not having all the information at all times?

Avery has jealousy issues that she is VERY MUCH in denial about — rationally she knows that Tristan and Max are allowed to be in whatever relationships they want, especially when she has specifically told them that, so she shouldn’t feel jealous or upset and hates that she does anyway. She has to figure out how to deal with both not wanting a monogamous relationship and not having a healthy way to deal with jealousy. Potential plots: Avery successfully achieves a polyamorous relationship, realizes that this doesn’t actually fix the disconnect between her thoughts and feelings; they talk about their relationship and how it will work, Avery agrees to things that are rational and then gets upset and then is angry about being upset, etc etc etc.

Max likes to be knowledgeable and in control. If he ever seriously considers the whole poly thing, he might start reading every book and article available, throwing around words like metamour and compersion — and then do what he seems to prefer, which is use that orthodoxy to protect himself from actually reflecting on what he really feels. We know that Tristan doesn’t like when Max gets arrogant, and we know that Avery is going to have a lot of trouble with the whole compersion thing — would this affect their relationship? Would Max use relationship anarchy to further run away from his dual needs for control and hedonism? Speaking of hedonism:

Max also loves to put himself into plausibly deniable situations in which sex might happen — taking Tristan to his quarters, watching Archer in a hotel room with Tristan, going to Avery’s quarters, taking Ken to the cryotherapy room, taking Tristan AND Avery to his quarters, taking Brooke to his quarters (I had to go back and add more because I kept remembering examples). How many more times will this happen before Avery comes completely unhinged? This seems to be his primary method of flirting — would he stop if he were in a relationship, or would he keep doing it with the “it was just ___” excuses?

Joshua Jackson called the show pro-polyamorous — if this wasn’t just a bunch of PR bullshit but was actually true, then I’d like to see some explorations of polyamory in its multiple forms. And considering the textual evidence from the show itself, which has already in 9 episodes explored many kinds of non-monogamy, I don’t actually think this is impossible.