#((i could've made icons out of them but i was feeling lazy))

[ficoandleo]

((Leo and his fake ass confession tears that anyone who didn't know him well enough might think were real, in case you wanted to see him cry))

[sepublic]

Again, what frustrates me about Federation Force's mech gimmick is that it's rendered useless by scaling up every enemy as well. What's the point of saying you're using a mech, if you don't feel like you're using one; You're still the same size as enemies. Hell, even the environment is scaled up, and I'm talking about manmade structures! The doors are conveniently your size, as are railings, various devices, etc.

It just utterly breaks the illusion of being in a giant mech; You can only really tell because of the cutscenes where the mechs are actually contrasted with the pilots, and that one level where you're forced to leave your mech and sneak around those giant pirates as a normal-sized human. That IS good, but it's just one level!

And again, why is every door sized up??? Like from an in-universe perspective, the amplification beam made an entire army of pirates gigantic, so they probably needed tech and architecture to accommodate this new size. But from an artistic perspective, it just makes the whole mech angle even more pointless, especially when the mechs look like regular humans in armor; Their proportions match the human pilots, so for most people who only know Federation Force by a glance and osmosis, they probably don't even realize it's a mech game! I was one of those people for a while!!!

Even the Metroids, one of the series' most iconic and recurring enemies, the titular mascot, for whom we DO have a consistent understanding of relative scale... is also sized up, instead of being used as a reference point. It's one thing to have a new alien enemy be conveniently gigantic from the start, but the pre-existing Metroids being made that way just feels like you couldn't be bothered to consider how being in a big mech would change the way you interact with the Metroid universe, compared to how Samus would; Especially when your arsenal and gameplay mimics Samus'.

There's no art direction, is what I'm saying; The environments, the enemies, they aren't designed around the idea that you're in a giant robot. It's just another regular environment. One of the things I remember learning about VFX is that adding more details can help create the illusion of something being bigger, because it has more space for more detail, that sort of thing. But this is a game on the 3DS, plus it's a simplified chibi art style that throws off the proportions in general.

It'd have been cool if there were a lot of small doors and hallways that you couldn't access because you're too big; Imagine levels in buildings being designed around the idea that you're navigating giant hangars and all that. The immersion is lost if every room is conveniently enormous for these mechs. The doors themselves could’ve been different from the typical ones in Metroid, for example they’re clearly gateways, to differentiate them from smaller barrier-operated doors. Sometimes you just create doors by smashing through walls because you're a giant mech!!!

It's lazy. It's half-assed. There's no thought put into it; It’s generic. The mech aspect of the game feels tacked on, last-second, like the mechs were supposed to be regular-sized humans in special armor, but someone felt like there needed to be some gimmick to make the game seem more interesting. So they threw in some cutscenes with smaller human models, and one level where you have to sneak around the bigger pirates. But everything else fails to reflect the idea. Why.

The art direction could've been so fun, the gameplay could've revolved around your titanic size, and maybe synergize mech gameplay with gameplay as just a regular pilot who can get out and back in whenever you please. And that could play into the larger teamwork aspect, you could make puzzles based on your pilot having to leave the mech! But noooooooooooo! I was ambivalent towards Federation Force until I found out the player characters are supposed to be mechs, and now I'm pissed. You could've had a really fun concept to mix up the Metroid formula and stand out from other games, make this spin-off take advantage of and embrace that it's so unusual. BUT YA DIDN'T. Metroid Prime Pinball is unironically more creative and thought out around its core gimmick than this.

[s1urpjuic3]

More Scathing hot takes

RANDOM DISCLAIMER I have not watched not a nan lick of g3 Monster High, this is entirely based off of Tumblr post, y'all please inform me of wtf be going on over there.

Tonight, I will be touching on Monster High, because honestly, I don't see enough people talking about my opinions so I'm forcing y'all to see it lmaoo

THE WORLD SHALL KNOW PAIN

Anyways, I feel like this is gonna come out so wrong omgggg but

I DON'T LIKE HOW THEY BROKE OFF ICONIC SHIPS AND MADE EVERYONE LGBT+!!! I don't even care that their gay, it's just the fact that I feel like when shows/media wants to be inclusive when they remake/bring back old shows, they get lazy and just rewrite the existing characters to fit their agenda.

The only time in media it really makes sense (to me) is when a character is going through change, or left a traumatic situation, OR they were always written as a queer character

ie: Harley Quinn. Yeah, I (think) she's always been Bi, but i'd definitely wanna stay the hell away from men after The Joker. I say this as a lifelong Jarley fan. #GoJivey.

And before I go any further, girlllll everybody alr new Clawdeen was lesbian she wasn't fooling nobody💀 it makes SENSE for her character.

Like I know there are now hardcore Cleo x Frankie shippers, and that's fine, I love when people ship characters like that, it's expression of the love for the show, but making it canon??? *Faints*

Maybe i'm just a diehard Cleuce fan idk lmaooo

What I (personally) think they should have done is just introduce new queer/gender neutral/LGBTQ+ characters! I think that would have been so cute and unique cs I feel like no show does that and it's lame.

Like, I just feel like it's such a missed opportunity to make their love interest dynamic, y'know? Like, give them actual depth outside of liking their ghoul.

ie: Deuce. They could've gone into depth about his career and his hopes dreams and aspirations was, and it still ties into Cleo because of her dad and things of that nature.

(Sidenote: Clawd & Jackson/Holt could literally take over the Monster High fandom if they wrote him better in all the gens but y'all not ready for that Convo.)

THERE WAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL FOR JACKSON/HOLT OMG

I WANT NEW QUEER/LGBTQ+ CHARACTERS

Especially the boys ;)

Anyways, that's my hot take for tn, first moderately sized post (Hooray)

Post Script: What is this narrative that G1 Frankie liked too many boys?? Y'all be so frl. She liked 2 people. Jackson and Holt were the same people stop playing in my Tumblr space like that :|

Post Post Script: They had low-key pmo not giving lala some depth we all know she a bad bitch stop acting like she static.

[iloverianjohnson]

my thoughts on NHIE season 3

big ol' spoiler alert

devi!! i absolutely loved her character this season. she's constantly hated on for being problematic, so it was so cool to watch her grow this season. i hated how i could never like her because of her problems, and watching her change is so therapeutic. she's definitely a fave now.

aneesa and fabiola... i kind of hated how they treated that relationship. like it totally came out of nowhere and i was SO ready for it, and then there was this huge buildup to them dating and then... nothing? they broke up?

it felt like a big slap in the face for the queer viewers. devi and eleanor's heterosexual relationships were deeper and more explored while all of fab's were just like "oh! here! we made a lesbian a main character! we're such allies!"

i just feel really upset about that because they had so much potential. they couldn't have spent some more time delving into the awkwardness in aneesa and fab's relationship and how they move past it together? it's like they were each others' rebounds (which it was clearly stated in the show that they weren't)

but! addison is super hot and the way they casually slid in that they use they/them pronouns was cool. i hope addison and fab get more screentime in s3.

also i didn't like eve but i hate how they just... had the breakup offscreen? like cmon devi's breakups are so much more explored so why can't we have the same for fab?

anyways. BENVIIIIIIIIII

the boink card. im so

ben has ALWAYS been the one for devi, i hope she sees that next season. he always loved her, he never thought she was "too much" like des and paxton. benvi 4 lyfe idc IDC

also. des? he's literally desi paxton. honestly i don't ship them, but it was good while it lasted! they balance each other out, but... i was always on ben's team so i can't say i'm upset they broke up.

ALSO RHYAH??? that lying skank. "she's got problems" sorry, devi's not healing fast enough from her OWN FATHER'S DEATH??

nalini. she ate this season up. im glad she found a friend in rhyah and it was nice while it lasted, but rhyah can suck a fat one.

paxton. i was never team paxton and always kind of despised him (no hate to daxton shippers ofc) so i'm honestly glad they broke up.

she wasn't ready for him, and he wasn't what she needed.

you know who WAS what she needed though?

BEN.

also i didn't really realize i'd be rooting for trent and eleanor, but...

idk something about their relationship kind of throws me off. it's like trent can't be mature about her. like he avoids the problems in their relationship by turning on the charm, which he KNOWS she loves.

something about it just kind of rubs me the wrong way... but they're still kind of cute.

aneesa deserved better.

that's it.

also, back to devi.

i loved her character so much this season but... her reason for not going to shrubland was kind of flimsy (at least to me). the whole "i want to spend more time with you" thing would've worked out with her mom if they had spent the season setting up a conflict between devi and nalini but... they didn't? it was just all past season drama which is still important but to me it just didn't make sense. idk if anyone else thinks that.

KAMALA AND MANISH??? like cmon hottest and most overlooked couple. though it was kind of a jumpscare when manish shaved his iconic scrub for the first time.

kamala ate this season. she's an independent woman who can make her own decisions about her love life! good for her!

wish she had more screen time though

THE TIME SKIP IN THE BEGINNING. cmon netflix don't be pussies, give us more episodes!!

literally the time skip was so stupid. we skipped over devi's entire healing process and it was lazy writing so we wouldn't have to see how she coped with getting dumped by paxton.

also they spent so much time last season setting up daxton and then literally got rid of it in .000394238 seconds??

like what...

i know the reason they broke up was valid but honestly? we could've skipped over the entire des thing and just had a long season of paxton and devi's relationship problems.

it just seems like such a waste to have all the setup and barely any payoff.

makes me kind of think it was just fanservice to please the daxton shippers (again no hate)

i think that's it - may make a second post if anything else comes to mind

overall i give the season a 7/10. there were a lot of plotholes and lazy writing and queer erasure that need to be addressed and fixed next season. but we got to see the character we all despised grow and actually make good decisions for once. we got to see all the characters learn about themselves and grow and honestly, that was a very beautiful thing to see.

[innuendostudios]

Thoughts on... some funny games

[no spoilers to speak of]

Thoughts on Lair of the Clockwork God

The wisdom of the gaming cognoscenti insists that comedy is hard to do in video games. Having grown up with Monkey Island and Zork, I've never found this convincing. But one true thing is this: it's hard to write about comedic games. The ineffability of humor is hard enough to describe in less-interactive media; I can't even explain to my partner why Gretchen saying "I met January Jones once!" on You're the Worst busted me up, and they were sitting right next to me when she said it. Throw in the "you had to be there" nature of the player's active participation and I lose myself in a cornfield. The thing I found hilarious might come a beat to early for you, or not at all, or not be funny in text like it is in gameplay.

Why did I like Lair of the Clockwork God? It made me laugh.

The premise and particulars are a lot of "that could go either way." Ben and Dan - stars of Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentleman, Please! - have returned. Ben is still an adventure game star, but Dan has adopted platforming mechanics in an attempt to get with the times. So playing the game involves switching back and forth between a character who can leap across canyons but can't pick up items or talk to people, and one who can combine inventory but can't climb over a 3-pixel rock.

Does that sound potentially funny? Potentially grating? Yes to both!

The plot centers around our heroes trying to save the world from several simultaneous apocalypses and having to teach human emotions to a supercomputer in order to do so. (Don't ask.) These means, rather like Ben There, Dan That, traipsing through a number of fantasy worlds (read: computer simulations) until the correct emotion is provoked. This requires cross-genre cooperation: finding ways to get Ben to areas only Dan can access, getting Dan new power ups by combining objects in Ben's inventory (an act Dan insists on calling "crafting").

The best bits are at these intersections, when Dan's platforming is the puzzliest and Ben's puzzles take advantage of Dan's skills. Periodically the game gives you a Dan-centric platforming gauntlet the controls are NOT precise nor pleasant enough for, or a Ben-only moon logic puzzle that leaves you googling the walkthrough.

But I liked it! A lot. The genre-hopping seems to have invigorated the developers, Ben Ward and Dan Marshall. I discussed my favorite joke in Ben There, Dan That (in what is probably the least popular video I've ever made that wasn't asking for money), but was also dismayed that the game was never that clever again. But this one is, several times over! Progression here involves cheating your way to a better respawn zone, goofing around in game menus, exploiting "glitches," exiting out and loading up entirely other games. There is a lot of poking and prodding at what a game of this nature can or should be.

But, honestly? The only real selling point is... it was funny. The humor is as anarchic and metatextual as in previous titles, but it feels good-natured in a way BT,DT didn't. And there are, here and there, little bits of meat on its bones - the characters wondering if, as a couple thirtysomething white guys, the world hasn't left them behind, no longer comfortable with the juvenile humor of their youth but not really understanding the youth of today, but having not yet fully escaped the mentalities they used to hold. (There's an unspoken humor to Dan's idea of "modern" gameplay being 2D platforming mechanics, especially at a time when adventure games are significantly more popular than on his last outing; this is a good joke whether or not it's intentional.)

Also: this game contains the most poignant urinating-on-a-grave puzzle in gaming history, and you may quote me on that.

Having finished it months ago, I can't even remember what all the gags were that tickled me at the time. Comedy fades from memory faster than drama or frustration. Mostly I just remember having a good time.

Thoughts on The Darkside Detective

Here's a hook: sometime after the mayhem ends in Ghostbusters, The Exorcist, Evil Dead 2, or some other paranormal blockbuster that you watched over and over in the 90's until the VHS wore out, some overworked detective has to come into your town and piece together what the hell happened.

This is his story.

It's a good gag, and the devs wring every drop from it. Existing in a world where these things are commonplace and you have to fit them into some notion of "police procedure" is just funny. Like, it's one thing to have a running gag where you keep observing the moon in outdoor scenes, commenting, with increasing hostility, that its behavior is suspicious (it has been present at multiple crime scenes); it's a slightly different thing when, given the things you've encountered, the moon being the Big Bad is actually somewhat possible.

The game is divided into six main cases and three bonus DLC missions (which come included in the base game now, and the third of which is the proper ending/setup for the sequel). You are the cop tasked to deal with The Other Side - and, when The Other Side bleeds into our own world, its cops have to deal with you. You have a sidekick with a mental maturity of about 6, which I guess makes you the straight man. (You have to grade on a curve to find a straight man in this game.) And you solve tasks like rounding up escaped gremlins or finding an AWOL lake monster all juxtaposed with mundane problems like inter-office squabbles and having not bought your Christmas presents early enough. It's (pleasantly) lo-res and sparsely isolated, so the dialogue and premise do most of the work, but they are ably up to the task.

The gameplay... not so much. I'm an adventure game lifer, so I can put up with a lot of nonsense. It's mostly straightforward inventory puzzles and occasional minigames. Most of the puzzles are fine enough. As the cases progress, things get more involved, and the DLCs especially involve some awful moon logic. And the minigames are not above using that same jumping peg puzzle you've solved in a dozen other games already. So gameplay ranges from serviceable to irritating, but it mostly exists to string together funny lines and silly images. (Christmas mall elves being secretly in service to Krampus - that's the kind of thing we're talking about here.) You won't feel much guilt for opening up a walkthrough; the puzzles aren't why you're here.

The sequel has just been released, and both games are cheap, so check them out if you feel like smiling.

Thoughts on The Procession to Calvary

It's rare for a game to be hilarious to look at.

The Procession to Calvary takes its name from the Bruegel painting. It also takes all it's graphics from Renaissance oil paintings, and the designer delights in making famously rendered heroes and religious icons steal, stab, fart, and swear.

A strong Terry-Gilliam-with-After-Effects vibe is what we're describing.

You play as a lady knight from a war that's just ended, which sucks for you because, in this age of peace, you're no longer authorized to kill. And killing's, like, you're whole thing. But the one person your new, pacifist king wouldn't stop you from killing is the warlord you just deposed, who fled to the South. So you embark on a nonsensical journey to seek out the one human on Earth you are authorized to kill, because killing is just The. Best. Ever.

Of the three games we're discussing, this is the most overtly cheeky, and, at times, the most scatological. I could've done with a bit less scatology, if I'm being honest, but the cheekiness is very winning. As with Lair of the Clockwork God, a lot of jokes could go either way - a field of people being tortured and a woman on a blanket selling commemorative torture merch could be painfully try-hard. But something about the victims being seemingly everyone ever crucified or broken on the wheel in a famous painting, and having them writhe on their crosses in a way that is both gruesome and goofy, and having a cacophonous soundtrack of their screams and moans that you will now imagine every time you look at one of those elegantly elegiac paintings from now on... it works. That the music score is being played by an extremely jaunty piper who dances behind you just out of sword's reach as you traverse the field pushes it over the top.

Oh, and the puzzles, while never hair-pullingly obtuse, will leave you stumped at times. Push past that to get the proper ending, but, if you're sick of trying, you can, at any point, just start stabbing your way through problems. Which, again: it takes a very deft touch to make "protagonist resorts to violence" actually funny rather than lazy and obvious. And maybe, in another game, the perfect timing of every animation, the clever quips, the careful contrast of cathedrals and high-society music halls with gleeful sword-swinging wouldn't be enough. But something about it being frickin' Renaissance paintings carries it the last mile.

This is probably the basest game of the three, but it's also the one that made me giggle the most. Having a BFA that required several art history classes may have something to do with it. But check this thing out.

[twigstarpikachutroll22]

spiral, vast, corruption

The Spiral: Favorite dialogue/quote from the series?

OHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD THERE'S LITERALLY SO HECKIN' MANY OKAY-

Favorite dialogues include:

Basira and Melanie's conversation in mag 106

Jon and Gerry's entire conversation in 111

Jon and Daisy's entire conversation in 132

the iconic Let's Gouge Out Our Eyes And Make Out scene in 154

that part of 167 where Martin asks Jon to describe his current emotional state and all Jon can say is "I feel...sad." and then "Very sad."

Jon and Martin playing I Spy in mag 180, and then obviously the "It's a mystery!" part jkfjgl;ksd

the conversation Jon and Martin have towards the end of 199 during which Jon ends up crying (ToT)

Favorite quotes include:

"If I'm going to be operating on a man's pancreas, I want to feel that pancreas."

Am I allowed to say Jane Prentiss's entire statement??? 'Cause I really really liked it for some reason lksdjgklsd

"I just need to know if you can save my son. I’ve asked and asked and your people only ever tell me to write my statement. Put it down on paper for investigation. Is that going to help? No. Of course it isn’t. Even if you had the power to do something, would you? Or would you rather watch my son burn so you can take notes." (a.k.a. the beginning of the statement in episode 37. made me go O_O)

Am I also allowed to say the entirety of the statement in mag 75? That person with insomnia to an insane degree? Because I also really really liked that one. ksdjklsdg

Jon: "Yes, I know what a meme is."

Jon: "Not today, dude!"

Jon: "Am I...Elias, am I still human?" (;o;) (TOT)

Tim: "Who am I even sad for?"

Gertrude: "-there’s ten years yet before I can afford a conscience."

Gertrude, sharply: "And you’re all lazy fools. So used to it being easy, to picking off the vulnerable and the unprepared, you can barely conceive of anyone actively working against you, of being ready. You honestly thought when she died I’d just be struck dumb with terror, just waiting around for one of you to finally get around to revenge, paralyzed with fear, because that’s all you’ve ever known."

"Intelligence doesn’t make you less prone to taking on bad ideas, it just makes you better at defending them to other people and to yourself. Smart people can believe some truly ridiculous things, and then deploy all the reason and logic at their disposal to justify them, because a belief doesn’t begin in your mind. It begins in your feelings."

Eric Delano's whole The Reason You Suck speech to Gertrude in mag 154.

Adelard Dekker: "Goodbye, Gertrude. May you find your rest where no shadows are cast, and no eyes may see you slumber."

Peter: "He doesn’t… want… to see you." Jon: "Then let me hear that from him."

Jon: "-but we need you. I need you." Martin: "No you don't. Everyone's alone, but we all survive." Jon: "I don't just want to survive."

Jared: "Who's this? Your boyfriend?" Jon: "Yes, actually."

Martin: "I am Martin Blackwood, and I am not lonely anymore; I am not lonely anymore. I want to have friends; I – no, I have friends. I-I’m in love. I am in love, and I will not forget that; I will not forget."

Salesa: "Your powers won't work here, Jonathan Sims Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute London."

Every time Jon calls upon the Ceaseless Watcher in season 5.

Elias/Jonah: "I don't want to die." Jon: "Neither did they."

I may have to edit this later to add more when they occur to me.

The Vast: Favorite platonic friendship?

ALL OF THEM, BRO. I appreciate the heck out of the entire S1 crew, and Jon and Basira back when they were friends, and Jon and Gerry for the short time they got to know each other, and Jon and Daisy in season 4, and I freaking WISH that each and all of the members of S3-S4 team archive could've been actual friends, I will never be over this, just let them all be friends gosh dangit I'm gonna cry 😭😭😭

The Corruption: Which fear are you marked by (ex: always see spiders, fascination with the sky)?

*opens my desk drawer to reveal an absolutely massive pile of paper and post-its on which I have doodled clusters upon clusters of spirals*

I mean. It's hard to say for sure but I can't help wondering if this means something. And I mean I do have some important memories that could possibly be called Spiral-related.

I'm also starting to think I might have some serious Lonely influences too.

[odanurr87]

My thoughts on... Scripting Your Destiny

Release date: March 16, 2021

Episodes: 10

Available on: Viki

Summary: Every human is born with a book that records each moment of their life and that we call destiny. Shin Ho Yoon is one of the many deities in charge of writing those books, known among the gods for his meticulous approach to his work. For his latest project, the destiny of the mortal Jeong Ba Reum, he intends to write a masterpiece, a perfect destiny, pairing him with his first love, Go Che Gyeong, a scriptwriter for successful, if over-the-top, makjangs like Marriage Pact and Sky Cash. However, when Che Gyeong doesn't fall for the fateful encounter that he wrote, he decides to take matters into his own hands and bluntly approaches her to find out how to get her to fall in love. As the two begin to develop feelings for each other, the perfect destiny envisioned for Ba Reum threatens to disappear and a new destiny between a god and a mortal begins to emerge. But can a god of destiny write his own fate?

Rewatch meter: Medium

WARNING: Spoilers beyond this point.

Characters

From left to right: Park Sang Nam as Shin Myeong; Ki Do Hoon as Shin Ho Yoon; Jeon So Nee as Go Che Gyeong; Kim Woo Seok as Jeong Ba Reum; and Gal So Won as Samshin.

Overall, I liked the leads and most of the supporting characters. As far as the leads are concerned, I think Ki Do Hoon was able to deliver a good performance of what a god of destiny might, or perhaps should, be like: standoffish, emotionless, uninterested in the mortal realm beyond the scope of his duties. As such, Shin Ho Yoon feels the more godly of the different deities in the show, what is curious considering he's probably one of the youngest gods of destiny, what is explained through his cycle of rebirth. I wish the writer and the actor had made full use of this cycle by having the character of Shin Ho Yoon grow more emotionless as a result, what would explain why he's different from other gods. Perhaps this was intended, but if so, the results are mixed. You can see he was more impulsive in the beginning of his cycle as a god of destiny than he was, say, at the beginning of the show. However, the last incarnation we're shown of Ho Yoon, in Episode 10, appears to be more upbeat than any of his previous ones, a fact that could've been used to feed into the notion that something has changed (more on that later) and that's why he's having fun at the expense of the "newbies."

Jeon So Nee as Go Che Gyeong was very good throughout, standing out from her male counterpart, perhaps due to the nature of her character that allowed her to show more range. I never found her to be over-the-top, and she was able to pull off the comedic and emotional scenes very well. She also passed off as a high-schooler better than Ki Do Hoon, despite the fact that she's five years his senior, but I guess that's the power of female hairstyles! My only complaint about her character is that I wish she had been a little more creative writing her own fate. I mean, she is a talented scriptwriter that even a god stole from.

Park Sang Nam's Shin Myeong had good chemistry with Ki Do Hoon's Shin Ho Yoon, echoing the Goblin-Reaper duo from Goblin, what should come as no surprise as writer Kim Eun Sook is a producer for this show. They even paid homage to that iconic walking scene in the first episode. Unlike Ho Yoon, Myeong comes across as less devoted to his duties and more lazy. He himself admits to a disapproving Samshin that he copy-pastes destinies, but also makes an interesting point about only writing main events so that humans can fill in the gaps themselves. I'll let you decide whether this is really his intention or just an attempt to placate Samshin's anger. Consequently, his transition from a somewhat lazy god to a more serious one towards the end of the show was unexpected, but I guess it stands to reason given his worries about Ho Yoon, plus one shouldn't forget he's actually the older god. I do believe the show wasted an incredible opportunity to have Shin Myeong be the linchpin of our story.

Ho Yoon shields precious Samshin from Myeong's words on how to passionately express love.

As for the characters of Jeong Ba Reum and Samshin, I can say the former was functional to the plot and gets immediately sidelined once that function is completed, while the latter definitely stole every scene she was in (and she's 14!). I would've loved to have seen more of her, even though I feel her arc was a little disconnected from the overall storyline and could've been tied better if the last episode had gone in a different direction.

Execution

What if that something are meteorites?

The show has a lot of fun making fun of kdrama tropes, either through Che Gyeong's job as a scriptwriter or through the gods of destiny themselves, who take turns between being writers and viewers when coming up with the destinies of mortals. When Ho Yoon is having trouble understanding "the depth within humans which is beyond divine comprehension" (aka love), Myeong steps in to give him some advice on how "For love to happen you need to isolate them," stranding the pair in an island somewhere and having them stay in an inn with only one room available. Other gems from Shin Myeong include, "They got rained on, they're cold, their clothes are soaked. If they start a fire, we're 90% there." and "A woman always falls for a man who takes care of her when she's sick. Under one condition. He has to be good-looking." If you ask me, I think Myeong has been watching too many kdramas. Unfortunately for him, so has Che Gyeong, who makes her living writing them.

Are they gods or kdrama fans?

As you can see, there's a lot of comedy to be found in the gods' numerous, and failed, attempts to get Ba Reum and Che Gyeong together. However, as I mentioned before, the character of Ba Reum is mostly functional. We learn little to nothing of who he is, how his life has been, what his dreams are, what is a bit off considering he's supposed to be Ho Yoon's "masterpiece." With Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong slowly starting to get closer, as the former tries his best to understand the nebulous concept of love, Ba Reum falls into the background, what isn't really much of a shame as he doesn't contribute a whole lot in the second half of the show, to the point he could've been taken out completely with slight rewrites here and there.

The writing is similarly flimsy when it comes to the rules of the universe. For instance, early on it is stated that whatever gets written on a fate book cannot be erased, and yet when a character accidentally spills coffee on his fate book the ink on the page vanishes as if it were Voldemort's diary (there is also another instance of writing mysteriously vanishing that isn't explained). In another case, it is stated that anyone who knew a certain character got their memories of that character erased, yet one (very secondary) character still seems to be able to recall everything. These sort of plot contrivances are odd in that they are unnecessary and could've been worked around with relative ease.

It means we have a problem, that's what it means.

Another, more important, mystery that doesn't get explained is how Ho Yoon is able to "resurrect" multiple times. One of the rules of the universe states that any god who interferes with mortals, beyond the scope of their duties, and develops feelings for them, gets the Thanos treatment. However, it is eventually revealed that Shin Ho Yoon got the boot several times for this and yet was able to return every single time, with his memories erased. No explanation is provided for this and, instead, the show suggests, in the last scene of the last episode, that this is the case for all gods, as we see a couple of them return from extinction.

Personally, I feel there was a lot of potential left untapped here and this relates directly to my comment on how Shin Myeong should've been the linchpin of the entire story. If you'll recall the web drama One More Time, the reason why the male lead was stuck in a time loop was because of a contradiction that arose in the terms of the contract made between the female lead and the Grim Reaper. In a similar vein, I think the show could've suggested that Myeong first met Ho Yoon as a human kid and maybe wrote for him a fate that implied him falling in love or something similar. However, the human Ho Yoon died before that fate could occur and so became the god of destiny Shin Ho Yoon, destined to continuously "resurrect" until he could embrace his fate. A loophole such as this one could've neatly explained Ho Yoon's rebirth cycle.

The ending itself was a little underwhelming and it's easy to understand why, as it it suggested that Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong are stuck in an endless loop of the former falling in love with the latter and vanishing, with Che Gyeong being the only one able to remember all of their interactions. As fates go, it's rather depressing so it doesn't really jibe well when the show's upbeat main theme starts playing at the end. When I did my episode recaps for the show I suggested that, with some rewrites, we could've made Episode 9 the series finale and the show would've been better for it. How?

Imagine at some point in the show both characters remember everything, perhaps at that wind/lamb farm where Che Gyeong desperately calls out for Ho Yoon who, instead of running to her, walks away out of fear of vanishing for good this time. I would've planted seeds throughout the show suggesting Ho Yoon is developing emotions yet isn't vanishing from some inexplicable reason, and there are already some seeds of this in place. Perhaps he has a talk with Myeong about how strange that is and decides to see how far he can take it. The show would end as Episode 9 did, with Ho Yoon returning to Che Gyeong and asking for a caramel macchiato, the most expensive item. They both smile at the reference to their past encounter and we cut to credits with the main theme playing in the background. Ho Yoon's actions could serve to inspire other gods of destiny to try and write their own fates, like how Samshin (even though she's not a god of destiny) follows in his footsteps and decides to attend school.

Music

If you've read any of my reviews, you know that, usually, all of my recommended shows are accompanied by a soundtrack that not only has good music in it but that is used at the right time. This show has some very good tracks that stand out from their more atmospheric counterparts, such as Lee So Jung's "Skyline" (the show's main theme), Jeong Sewoon's "Time Machine," and Yongmin Ryu's "Chaotic." As far as instrumentals tracks are concerned, the obvious standout bar none is "The Deity of Fate." Other instrumental tracks aren't bad but they just can't hold a candle to this magical piece by Yongmin Ryu that has traces of Hotel del Luna's excellent soundtrack.

A couple of examples that prove how these tracks are expertly used include the end of Episode 7, that shows us how Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong first met through a flashback, with "The Deity of Fate" followed by "Skyline," and another scene in Episode 9, where Ho Yoon recalls his past and we see a quick transition between different days at Che Gyeong's coffee shop as she serves him a caramel macchiato, with "Time Machine" playing in the background. However, in the same way Ho Yoon conjures up a magenta pink moon to distract Che Gyeong, I do believe the show sometimes relies on such scenes to divert your attention from some of its plot holes or inconsistencies, hoping their beauty and poetic nature will thwart any deeper analysis that it might not withstand. It's up to you to decide whether you can let it slide or not.

Conclusions

In short, Scripting your Destiny is a fun show that doesn't take itself too seriously and that successfully creates a universe and characters I'd love to see more of, while trying to convey a timeless love story that has elements of One More Time, Goblin, and Angel's Last Mission: Love. I don't believe it succeeds in this respect, certainly nowhere close to the OTPs in any of those shows, in no small part because Shin Ho Yoon never makes that transition from deity to boyfriend that is present in shows like Goblin and Angel's Last Mission: Love. The romance between Shin Ho Yoon and Go Che Gyeong is one that looks good on paper and should've translated better to the screen. Having said that, their interactions are quite fun to watch and one could certainly envision a future where the two become a couple, provided Ho Yoon somehow manages to stop getting lobotomized. It's a shame but the series finale makes it lose several points as it doesn't make the most of the show's premise or message.

Would I recommend it? If you've watched and enjoyed the other shows I mentioned, yes, absolutely. Despite its flaws, which can be considered relatively minor to an extent (this is a web drama after all), Scripting your Destiny is still a much better investment than many kdramas and at a fraction of their time, and the comedy value of seeing how it makes fun of kdrama tropes again and again cannot be discounted. You're bound to have a good laugh for sure. Additionally, it features some gorgeous and creative (look at that last picture!) VFX-enhanced sets that rival fantasy dramas like Tale of the Nine-Tailed, which definitely had a larger budget and tried to recapture some of that Goblin magic but couldn't. And if you haven't watched the shows I mentioned watch this one anyway so we can have more good web or mini dramas (Handmade Love is an excellent one that runs the length of a movie) that give kdramas a run for their money. Until the next one!