#(tbf the series does most of the work)

[castor-redd]

I can’t decide if I want my Rook’s canon to be sending Neve or Bellara to deal with the wards. I hate missing the final romance scene and the interactions with romanced Neve following the Isle of the Gods (my warden really needed her support), but I also want the juicy drama that comes with Neve getting yoinked and blighted. My Rook spent the entire game fretting over her friends getting blighted. She also did her damndest — and failed miserably — to dodge love. So to potentially lose Neve to the blight… That’s some good angst.

[nightmare7612]

I want to study Lifesteal smp under a microscope. I’ve never really explored the world of pvp based smps outside of the life series before and it’s fascinating. Cause like, the life series is designed to be a short-term game. They log on for three hours once a week and go ham, and there’s an objective, from the very start everyone knows that the point of the game is to be the last one standing and they act accordingly.

Then you have Lifesteal which seems to be a long-term server to which people can log on and off at their convenience and does not have a final objective necessarily, just a mechanic that allows players to steal hearts from each other and ban people from the server via taking all of their hearts. It’s set up like a normal smp but with higher stakes which creates an amount of natural tension that isn’t really present in most smps without the players artificially adding the stressors (things such as rolplay storylines or server-wide minigames such as Demise in Hermitcraft).

And I know I’m comparing it to the life series, as they’re both pvp based servers, but that’s just to lay down the differences between them. What I actually find truly fascinating is how much my brain wants to compare it both to Hermitcraft and to my own smp that I play in. The thing that catches my attention is how a lot of things of what I know and expect out of an smp just don’t apply here.

I noticed that people seem to be very paranoid in Lifesteal, for example. A lot of bases are hidden in secret locations from most of the playerbase and I’ve seen several people literally just pack up and leave cause their base got found by someone they didn’t want to know. Or how people will literally just start destructive fights in the middle of public areas and set up explosive traps without much regard for what’s being damaged. People will just kill each other despite knowing that every death puts a person closer to being permanently off the server(?)(which tbf, im pretty sure that’s why the mechanic is there, im just way to nice for a server like this, i wouldn’t be able to kill anyone knowing that). Some people hack in here too, apparently? And I don’t even wanna know what’s going on with the mods.

I think the best way to describe this experience for me is culture clash. It’s an environment that feels so familiar in a lot of ways and yet so different from what I know. It’s culture clash in a way that I’ve experienced before when moving to a neighboring country, the exact same kind of confusion when things don’t quite work the way I’ve come to expect them to and I can’t quite figure out why.

Anyway, I found JumperWho’s channel and I’m having a blast if you couldn’t tell.

[wolvertooth]

wolverine pisces♓ sun + libra♎ rising

sabretooth aries♈ sun + virgo♍ rising

presenting -> an essay by somebody who doesnt really know shit about zodiac signs(other than my own), but tried researching em anyway. tbf, a lotta articles got conflicting views on how shit works too, so i just made my own sense for some of it(example being, some sites say the descendant should be the others sun, while some say it should be their rising. im going with the sun one, since that works best for the symbolism thing here, and it made most sense for their characters). most of this is just a bunch of notes.

for some context, ones sun sign is their core self. their rising is their outer character, kinda like a mask, what other people see first before getting to know them.

as i mentioned in another post, i hc their bdays as 2/21(logan) and 3/23(vic), logans coming from a lot of his bday fights being in winter and the numbers having significance(that i’ll explain later), vics coming from the random numbers on his mondo xmen the animated series figure box(no other figures boxes had numbers on them, just his)

gonna talk about sun signs first—

wolverine, the old soul dreamy romantic who spends all his time in his head, lost in himself.

sabretooth, the action taker, who gets shit done, actually is the best at what he does, climbing to the top. and, when given the chance(as shown in weapon x 2017 and exiles), a kickass leader.

2 sides of the same circle.

as an aries, vic lives in reality(if anything, hes forced to). while as a pisces, logan tries to escape it, focusing on his own reality rather than the one around him.

its a pisces instinct to escape and run away, to never be tied down to anything. aries can help ground a pisces when that urge kicks in. still, itd be an important part in their relationship for both vic learning to give logan his space, and logan learning to let vic there for him.

gonne go off the rails for a sec, but the dates of their bdays apply to their dynamic too.

2/21, 2 3(2+1). 23 is a reoccurring number in logans life, almost being like his symbol.

(Wolverine 1988, issue #66, being shown the number 23 by a guiding spirit) + (Wolverine 1988, issue #167, wearing the 23 bulls shirt) + (Wolverine 1988, issue #176, after being dead and talking to another guiding spirit for 23 minutes) + (Hulk vs Wolverine, X-23)

23 being a part of vics bday can be taken as vic being another key component in logans life, as well as parts of logan basically being a part of vics self. 323 is kinda like being the reverse of 23, while also including it, playing into the theme of them blurring into eachother.

23 being on its own for logan is reflective of his loner isolating tendecies(despite holding a lotta love, pisces can tend to drift off from others). logan can and does socialize, but he isolates his heart from getting too attached.

pisces, being the last sign, holds a bit of all the signs inside them. this can influence logans struggles with losing sight of who he is an individual, wanting to go against everything he seems to be in order to stay who he thinks he is. a constant search for self discovery thats disfigured by many layers of other influences, and pisces natural duality for everything(wanting to play both sides, contradicting himself, when really he doesnt know where he fits). what little logan does know about himself, he doesnt trust to know how to get others to understand. meanwhile, vic follows the mold of what others expect of him, and doesnt get a chance to really exist as himself, making up for that by being the best version of the negative traits forced upon him that he cant escape.

(Sabretooth: The Adversary)

logan tries to be what he thinks others want, while vic tries to be what others say. logan thinks hes escaping from his expectations, but really hes trapping himself in a cage of other peoples needs. vic thinks hes being better than other people in his situation by not escaping, taking choice in it, when really hes still keeping himself in a similar cage.

pisces escape themselves, aries push to be themselves. but in their own ways, theyre also doing the same as eachother.

even tho pisces can be loners, their relatablility to other signs draws a crowd to them. everyone knows wolverine(insert that classic post of ‘wolverine is there’, yall know the one). sabretooth can be good with people when he needs to be, but he doesnt have many friends…being the first of the signs, aries are kinda on their own.

unless, ofc, one was on a cusp.

vics 23 in his birthdate doesnt just tie him to logan, being on the cusp of pisces is important too.

it allows vic to truly know who logan is, underneath it all. his true self. since a part of him works the same way, inside.

talking a bit about the risings now—

libra rising doesnt seem to fit logan at first glance, as his quick anger tends to mess up a lot of his encounters with others, but i see him as someone who likes solving others problems. hes the guy others go to for help, despite his reputation. he fights for justice, or what he percieves as such, since his pisces nature kinda detatches him from reality. he can seem like a threatening guy at times, but people tend to somehow feel comfortable around him, even strangers. he claims he doesnt talk much, but hes the kinda guy to indulge in conversation if someone started it with him, and his libra rising energy draws people to do so.

and i could honestly write a whole thing about how the duality of pisces fucks with his life, like the duality of wanting to do good but continuing to fall back into doing what he wants, while also constantly seeking to know if either of those things are truly what he wants. he knows but doesnt know, acts but doesnt act, hides but shows himself loudly, playing the Bad Boy while hes secretly nice and caring. hes a mix of everything and nothing, wanting to be like the people around him, but also wanting to know who he is as an individual.

some sources for virgo rising were like 'they prefer fashionable clean wardrobe, and strive to rise to the top of their work, falling into perfectionism in both their presentation and reputation' like...as a rising, thats def his mask, to make up for who he is.

vics way of proving his worth to others is very much based on how helpful he is to them, doing things for them rather than himself(the chance of them being satisfied being enough to fuel his motivation). his whole career is based around doing shit for others in order to make a name for himself, his mask, what he thinks hes good at. but, he also primarily does acts of service for those he cares about, things he wants to do for them rather than being expected to do so, being unaware that hes good at THAT as well.

logans mask is what vic secretly excels at, and vics mask is what logan thinks he isnt good enough at.

while logan spends a lot of time striving to be the best in what he does, vic strives to be the best in who he is. which, according to their risings, they’d have more luck if they switched those goals.

(X-Men Forever 2009, issue #6) + (Wolverine 1988, issue #123)

i know a lot of this probably comes across as being a challanging relationship, but i think thats the kinda thing they both want. they both crave a good challange, something to fight for. and for once, they wouldnt just be fighting for themselves, theyd be fighting for someone else. for the same cause.

vic holds the answer to all logans questions about himself and the ability to know exactly how to take care of him, and logan holds the love and equality that vic craves. but vic wont be able to do so unless he realizes he can take care of others, and logan wont be able to do so unless he realizes how to care for himself, which includes also allowing others to take of him(and learning to hate himself less, which is blinding him from being able to accept vic)(typical twinflame shadow stuff)

vics signs make him a natural helper, and logan tends to be stubborn in letting others do that for him. a lotta their relationship is based around stubborness on both ends, in ways where they secretly want something but refuse to let themselves accept it. both signs like control, in their own ways. pisces like control in a more mental way, and aries like control in action. and thats just something they would have to work together on to get proper communication for.

aries could take pisces by the hand as they continue on, if pisces let him. and in turn, pisces could show aries the truest form of love and connection that aries lacks.

[bananaquilava]

In-depth thoughts on The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles as I play it

Adventures case 1: The Adventure of the Great Departure

Obviously a lot of parallels can be drawn with 1-1 (and some with 1-2), which makes it really interesting to see how they contrast, mostly to due to this case being made after the team had 7 games worth of experience under their belt.

The biggest, of course, is the visuals, and I'm not referring to the change from gba sprites to 3D models. The games have advanced to the point that they can fit so much character into the, well, characters. Every single one of Ryunosuke's animations showcase his nervousness and inexperience, and they're all so expressive! And on top of that I even got to see him slowly gain his composure throughout the case! It's just so beautiful. I don't think I've seen this level of quality in the main series, even in Spirit of Justice which was made after this. (Though tbf the bar is not that high.)

Then there's Kazuma, who's role in this case is similar to Mia's dynamic with Phoenix in 1-1 but cranked up to 11. Again, this is mostly a consequence of the writing having improved after so many years, but the advice he gives and the ways in which he helps feel more involved and natural than just telling you to point out the obvious. It gives a much stronger impression of the two working together, that Ryunosuke couldn't have done it without Kazuma, but still ultimately was the one who saved himself in the end.

From a story perspective, this case was very fun and engaging, but from a gameplay perspective, it did drag on for a while. There were so many times I thought the case was over and then it just kept going, one time even hitting me with a "To be continued". Most tutorial cases are short enough that they don't prompt you to save in the middle of them, but this one asked me to save twice. That is just ridiculous. They probably could've cut some of the middle stuff out and come back to the missing coin plot thread sooner. I think that would've helped a lot.

All in all this was a very enjoyable introduction to the game, with a few dangling threads to leave me wanting more. I only got a glimpse of the "multiple witnesses at once" mechanic that was advertised, but it looks promising so far. Definitely a lot of potential there. I'm also looking forward to seeing Susato's personality. I'm assuming she does have one, though I haven't seen it in any of her appearances so far. And I think one part of the ending hinted to Satoru being a recurring character, maybe the detective for all future cases? I'll find out tomorrow.

[victory-valkyrie-01]

So the finale

While a lot of it didn't go the way I was thinking one part did, Machu is out Utena equivalent (and this makes the Shuji romance stuff even worse) (also it was slightly funny to be yelling about Lalah not needing protection while literally blocking attacks for her, but it works thematically). Also on Utena stuff, glad Lalah was allowed to wake up and make her own decisions thus freeing her from the vines, was not expecting her to return to her universe but this does fit more with an idea that she has been allowed to actually process the trauma of losing Char since Shuji couldn't kill her this time, which is that Eva influence coming back. Also, I like the mention of multiple previous universes as the equivalent to the repeating Rose Bride stuff, a.k.a revolutions, from RGU.

Ig also Amuro is kind of part of all this since he is the Gqux apparently, which raises further questions about the GFred that idk what to say about (maybe its Harman), which actually works out a bit better since fighting for newtype freedom and filling a loose Utena role does work well for Amuro as a character. Also, on the GQUX the teeth thing returns for the final form of the thing to be an Eva Unit 1 reference, but way less horrific.

I think on account of now properly being invested in this story, compared to things like ep 2, the Gundam 0079 references didn't become as hype (mostly the battle between Challia and Char being Gundam vs Zeong) though I do like how splitting the fight this way allowed proper focus on both the new and returning cast rather than having one fully outshine the other.

You can definitely feel the time constraints in the wrap-up, firstly in how the Titans (still don't love how the Psycho Gundam was used with all the potential it had) get 0 mention and then from the just drop of Artesia role in everything, but it does tie a bow on most things (also Ramba Ral gets a cameo)

Rip the ship with any chemistry and setup for the most boring couple in all of the Gundam I've seen. Like the scenes leading up reinforces Nyann and Machu's bond and Nyann kind of rejection of Shuji. Like Nyann and Machu don't have to be a couple but if you're given either of them one then it's with each other not Shuji (tbf my personal dislike for Shuji and like of yuri isn't helping). Also, as I mentioned above it clashes with the Utena stuff in the series since Shuji is kind of a Dios/Akio character so pairing them with your Utena has some interesting implications, and unlike Char and Lalah there isn't 0079 to given precedence for them being together to help offset the issues of an Akio-Anthy relationship.

I enjoyed the series overall but I think the ending was rocky (like the hype from ep 11 didn't translate into a strong feelings as everything wrapped up like it did with most of the other shows), so I am curious how this will go down in Gundam history but ig only time will tell for that.

Also I've written this pretty much right after I finished so Apologies if it seems a bit all over the place and random or if I've miss, underappreciated or misinterpreted stuff.

[morallyambiguousfrog]

tmagp thoughts ep 1-10

finished protocol ten and i have thoughts to scream into the void (in no particular order)

GERRY MY BABY BOY HE'S BACK! i almost started crying when i heard his voice, i wonder how he met gertrude? she called him her grandson but is that biological by some weird timeline things in this universe? or did they just meet and become close

also celia. Interesting character to bring back. The most recurring of all of our returning friends. Mentioned knowing georgie so im hoping to hear from her potentially. also odd that she has her fake name that she gave her self when she couldnt remember the real one post stranger.

Specifically celia's "memories" are interesting to me as well. a few of her lines (some of which i might be over thinking) like her mentioning "wrestling with tape recorders and manilla folders" when comparing the system, then more obvious hints like asking about finding cases "about being buried alive" and "meat" (Smirkes 14 reference!!! wooo!!) Plus her recognizing chester's voice and asking about other dimensions. most compelling thing to me is that this series isn't the aftermath of tma, it's an entirely seperate universe, so that raises the question of why celia seems to be so connected.

I realize that my other thoughts have been very focused on connecting the two shows but here's a tmagp specific thought: COLIN i love him i dont need to explain myself im sure that something absolutely horrible is going to happen to him and he won't survive til the end of the series but stillll he's amazing. what does he know about the computers? is this regular paranoia or does he have other knowledge?

my knowledge before starting this series (due to me trying my best to avoid spoilers) was pretty much just: there's a guy called needles and he's been labelled by the fandom as twink, mr bonzo, melanie comes back at some point also with past events knowledge, and gerry makes a brief return.

i adore needles, beautiful boy, he just wanted cuddles :(

mr bonzo being this universe's mr blobby is so funny to me. Like "hey you remember that 90s tv show with mr blobby? well we've pretty much copied the entire story into our universe with only the tiniest changes exept also mr bonzo kills people :)"

Alice my precious girl :(((( she's using her humor as a defense mechanism :((((((((

I love Gwen's girlboss mentality. Like, you go girl! climb that corporate ladder! hire that hitman! good job! however her blackmail skills might need some work, as well as lena blatantly using her.

once again, only just finished ep 10 so this might change but has there been any actual hints of romance between gwen and alice or did we, as a fandom, just see two people being mean to eachother and the distant jmart portions of our brains went "romance???"

i love sam, dont get me wrong, but i feel his common sense might be a bit lacking. for some one who is asking a lot of questions, there seem to be some big questions he's missing. specifically about the massive ammounts of weird paperwork asking strangely personal questions that he's just filling out for fun? then sending in? without knowing for sure where they're going? just because he's pretty sure no one reads them anyways? tbf to him that does get into the whole "it's unfair to characters to assume their genre aware" thing.

other than that i love sam. interexted to see his ties to the institute

i feel that we probably havent seen that last of teddy. wether we see him back as a character or a corpse? that's what im worried about

currently the oair staff are ranked in my mind as 1. Colin 2. Celia 3. Alice 4. Sam 5. Gwen 6. Lena

sam humming while working never ceases to be adorable

Sam getting an email from someone named Jon (or spelled john in the transcripts but to be fair that's also how the archivists name was supposed to be spelled so point stands) with a random name and address?????????? xtfrxhdcgjvh expecially from an internal email which was also weird? plus colin acting... a bit suspicious about it

hilltop road mention!

"canaries should stay above ground" preumably a reference to sending canaries into cole mines to test for poisonous gasses, i think it's interesting how both tma and tmagp both start with animal imagery, the angler fish luring you in compared to the canary warning you away. also relating to the first episode: when listening i was wondering what others pictured. personally i pictured a pair of eyes, scooped from canary's skull but i was wondering if others pictured something differnt considering that the description was pretty vague

[formulatrash]

(genuine question) what do you think of fe's women test? is it a good opportunity for them?

I don't know, would be the honest answer. in the past the tests have been good opportunities - well, I say "tests," it in fact was just the one in Riyadh.

but being forced to find a woman if you wanted to run a second car, in the first in-season Gen2 test, meant teams actually had an incentive to do it. I honestly don't think any FE teams are ill-intentioned or that they had planned not to have female drivers but well, even from being heavily encouraged at the start, none of them did by Season 3.

so the fact they got forced to go and find a woman and give her sim time to prep and work with her and sign her onto their books suddenly made them think: oh. maybe this is easier than we thought. several of the women at that original Diriyah test came back and a few got formalised roles with teams. Tatiana Caldéron, in particular, was really quite in-demand between teams for a bit. but then a global pandemic happened and teams could barely make contact with their regular drivers and everything turned so survivalist this sort of stuff all disappeared, too hard to work out the tangles of for most contracts.

so I think it's good that those are being re-upped, that teams are being forced to make contact with women and to work with them. every session with the Gen3 EVO counts so, so much so they will have needed to brief the hell out of the drivers to make sure they can get stuff out of it - this isn't a show run, the teams need this data.

given the power of the machinery it does worry me a lot that so many of the drivers are stepping in from F4 (F1A & other equivalent series) but tbf, there have been men who've done that in past tests. it also feels a bit that there's a distancing in that - obviously you would not expect to see a lot of these testers progress to an FE seat any time soon because they are too junior.

(not everyone, obviously. Simona de Silvestro literally used to be a full-time Formula E driver)

I'd like to think there will be follow-up opportunities. Extreme E, FE's weird sister, has shown that not only does equal seat time level the board but that elite women can outmatch elite men when given the same opportunity: in a stacked field of champions, Laia Sanz came out on top as the best driver in the Odyssey-21.

one test session, during which the drivers are mostly under pressure not to bin the car, won't level the field. but if even a handful of the drivers prove they can give useful feedback and run productive test sessions, then that puts them in consideration for more running and that is, unfortunately, more than they would have got otherwise.

so: do I think it is world changing? no. but I think there are opportunities, if teams use this as a chance to assess the drivers for them.

[zoyo14]

dont kill me pls

uh, controversial opinion, i didnt like the MD finale

[spoilers/ranting]

now dont get me wrong, i feel like the ending was fine, but the trip to get to said ending? ehhhhhhhhhhhh..

the animation is like, the greatest, prob the greatest in the entire series. however, the writing for that episode feels under cooked. like, theres too many plot holes, too many lose ends, the pacing is absolute dog water.

but the biggest issue? N and Uzi's personalities changed. Uzi reverted back to pilot emo gremlin, and N turns into strictly Uzi support with PTSD.

like, idk, i feel like N really didnt do anything, like, you could prob remove him from the episode and it would be more or less the same. and if you look at the merch?

feral N? decapitating J??? i dont think N earned this, that didnt happen. im 99% sure N doesnt even lay a finger on J that whole episode, the most he even interacts with J is writing the "I O U one spaceship" note. like, the N that was teased and shown in the merch vs the N in the actual episode is not the same person. [no i dont mean that literally]

Vs stand? she 'died' fighting the sentinels, Uzi's? she sacrificed herself fighting the solver/cyn, N's? he didnt do that, eldritch J doesnt even show up in the finale, N doesnt really even fight outside of supporting Uzi and V, none of the DDs even get X visors for that matter.

alot of the characters feel useless i think. like, khan doesnt really do anything, nori doesnt really do anything, thad and lizzy, N, hell, even J. this episode just kinda boils down to Uzi vs Cyn with strong support from V. wouldnt be so much of an issue if Uzi hadnt had her time to shine in episode 7 aswell, like, everything before this was building up for N to take a grand stand or something. he should be PISSED at Cyn, everything and everyone hes ever loved got stripped from him because of Cyn, he literally DIED for Cyn back at the manor, only to watch as himself and V are mutilated and transformed into the DDs, and he gets dumped on a planet where hes abused by J for god knows how long, and when he finally starts to stand up for himself, make a friend/lover in Uzi, reconnect with V, they end up 'dying' right in front of him, FOR him aswell.

all of that stress, all of that fear, all of that anger, and what does N do when he gets back to the surface? sees J working with Cyn? sees Cyn literally destroying the planet? hell, even comes face to face with Cyn?? he just stands there in fear. weve seen N push past his fear before, weve seen N confront Cyn before, so why now is he just standing there? or the one point in the fight where he stops because Cyn flashes a picture of a dog on her visor, like, that shouldnt of have stopped him. thats the person he should hate the most in the universe right now, giving him second thoughts over a png of a random dog. like, huh???????

N also never gets a resolution to his literal years of CONSTANT abuse from J. the only time N lays hands on J is episode 2 with eldritch J. who fights J the whole finale? V. whos pissed at J for betraying them? V. but whos decapitating J in the mural? N. huh? what? why??? also this is a minor nitpick, but in the ending where N yells "THATS MY GIRLFRIEND!!! :D" that doesnt seem like an N thing to do, like, N is a very humble character, he doesnt come off as the type to brag about having a gf.

not to mention Uzi, omg. i think in the finale Uzi is just being a dickhead. for example, when N recovers her he openly says and expresses that hes angry at her for what she did, and what does she do? she headbutts him and calls him a bitch. now lets consider V. what does she do upon finding out N is alive? she apologizes profusely, UNPROVOKED.

what does Uzi do upon seeing V is fine? she makes a deadpan comment about how shes happy V is alive. now tbf, she does look back and give a genuine smile, just to say like "hey, im being serious tho", but like, still, damn Uzi.

another thing i dont like is how serious moments keep getting ruined by jokes. every time something devastating happens, you either dont get time to process it before gets resolved, or the tension is destroyed by a joke.

N getting his core ripped out for example, the second i started to panic, like "OH GOD CYN HAS N'S CORE-" his core is back in his body and hes fine after like 10 seconds. every 'fake out' death in that episode doesnt work, because it gets resolved in literally 20 seconds or less. but i feel thats more a result of the serious pacing issues in the episode.

the episode is 20 minutes, whatever, but keep in mind, MD: Intermission, THE FAN EPISODE, is about 21 minutes long. thats right, A FAN EPISODE MADE BY A COLLEGE STUDENT WAS LONGER THAN THE FINALE. WHAT????????

overall i just think the finale comes off as incredibly rushed, hell, even the merch seems rushed. now im not gonna point any fingers, but certain items seem kindaaaa, ehhhhhhh [cough cough, cat V plush, Cyn plush, and random sticker sheet that just uses the animatez box art]

but yea, thats my 2 cent about the MD finale, overall im prob gonna forget about that episode and go read fic rewrites or something

[sunshinemoonrx]

Thoughts about the female characters in Saint Seya. We talked about the series' handling of gender nonconformity few months back and I want to hear more

IT'S COMPLICATED

So Saint Seiya jumps with both feet into being a SHONEN MANGA about THE BEAUTY OF MEN WHO FEEL LOVE AND LOYALTY FOR EACH OTHER...it's very Manly, in the unique way that it is (men don't have to be "masculine", they can be very effeminate and this is lauded as heroic, but they are still "manly" in that melodramatic, chivalrous, 'manly tears of friendship' way). So with that heavy focus, where does that leave the women?

(There is one big obvious point here and everyone who's seen the show knows what it is but we are going to put a PIN in it and come back to it at the END okay)

They kind of run the full spectrum for this kind of show. In the original series, you have a weird complex of ideas around Athena; she's simultaneously the most powerful being in the show whose mere aura renders all terrified speechless before her, and the cosmic damsel device who enables most of the plot by needing rescued from increasingly involved timed deathraps so that the hard-working punch-lads have anything to do; simultaneously the stone-cold leader of Sanctuary who will stride into the underworld to smack Hades until her hand bleeds, and the idealised passive maiden who all the Saints orbit with a sort of platonic courtly love type devotion. She's the symbolic femininity to the Saints' symbolic masculinity. This makes the whole existence of women Saints interesting, but we have PUT A PIN IN THE THEMATIC PART HERE so let's just talk about those women as individuals for now.

The actual women Saints, as uncommon as they are, are legendarily cool. Marin and Shaina should kiss are also, indeed, stone-cold, and are among the most memorable magical warriors in the show. There is a manga/anime difference here--the anime, for whatever reason, plays up Shaina at Marin's expense; giving her more followers and making her out to be dominant in their rivalry, while Marin is a bit softened in general and gets some more stereotypical needing-to-be-rescued moments not in the manga. Her overall personality is still primarily 'cool and intimidating' though, and I don't think this is really noticeable unless you've seen both versions.

Then, of course, there's the one million and one spinoffs. Some of these are really interesting! Saint Seiya Omega is much more interested in Youth generally than Manliness, so it leans more sentai-like; the original series' women Saints are antagonists, mentors and side characters, while Omega puts one in the main Plucky Kids Squad and puts some among the Gold Saints (which I do appreciate, much like the CG movie doing so, but I don't hugely begrudge the original for not doing? it's impossible to overstate how much the classic Golds make up of the bedrock for the whole culture of hot anime boys to imagine kissing you or each other); and the second season of that show may have really taken a nosedive but my brain lights UP when Gemini Integra swears knightly loyalty to Athena on her knees and this enables her to defeat her evil counterpart through the Power Of Love.

But if you want a spin-off with really well-written, well-drawn and hot as fuck women you must read the Lost Canvas (which is written by a woman tbf). I mean, you must read the Lost Canvas anyway, but also for this reason. Yuzuriha occupies the cool mysterious role someone like Marin always did, but among others it also takes the character of Pandora, who was kind of a shallow "passive maiden but evil" character in the original, and makes her an absolutely incredible well of determination and driving force the whole story trails after. She's so awesome.

There's also a character named Behemoth Violate!

I think she's interesting,

(For real it's cool that her gender is extremely not obvious at first when she's fully armoured, and nor is it treated as a big reveal to my memory. design that conveys Powerful and Intimidating way before Girl)

I will leave aside the Next Dimension character who is maybe probably some sort of trans woman, partly because we discussed that in the talk you mentioned in the ask, partly because that's a whole other IT'S COMPLICATED, so let's finally take that pin out and talk about:

Women Saints, like, symbolically, as embodied by the most overtly sexist part of the whole series, the Mask Rule, and how I think the wider series takes the original way too literally on it.

The gist is that because the original Saints in ancient times were all men (unclear when this changed, clearly at least by the 1700s, or the 1400s if Lost Canvas flashbacks count), a woman Saint has to symbolically 'abandon her femininity' by wearing one of those metal facemasks at least around men, and can only show her face to a man if she loves him; and if a man who she doesn't love sees her face, she has to kill him.

Now, you might ask, "why the hell would Athena come up with this", and the answer is: High shojo melodrama.

Or really, one instance of high shojo melodrama. I'm not even convinced Kurumada had this in mind when he first drew a pair of rival mentor-women with very similar designs, down to the matching metal facemasks, for chapter 1. Like, he might've. But Marin shows Seiya her face at the end of the chapter with the implication it's secret but not forbidden, and the series doesn't float her as a romantic interest for him thereafter; nor does Shaina bring this up when her mask is broken, and she's swearing vengeance on Seiya anyway so it mostly fits together but it does feel pretty retroactive when she shows up five volumes later to say "and by the way the rules say I have to kill you unless I happen to fall in love with you--ahhhh shit". An encounter which, as indicated, I firmly believe the whole rule was created to enable, because the series is interested (briefly) in presenting Shaina as a romantic interest for Seiya, and because this series can't do anything at less than 200% drama, that has to involve them facing the ULTIMATE CHOICE between LOVE or DEATH!!!

So I don't think it particularly says much about Kurumada's attitudes towards women so much as his desire to tell love stories as over-the-top as his battle scenes. Especially as the women in the other gods' armies, their Saint equivalents (Mariners, Spectres, Satellites--hey shoutout to Artemis for having an army of bunnygirls on the moon, shoutout to Next Dimension for keeping some level of homoromantic subtext with Callisto), don't have any such rule. Of course they don't--we only needed it for that one story beat.

Hence I think Lost Canvas, again, handles this the best out of the various spinoffs, by having Yuzuriha briefly appear in a mask, then discard it very quickly saying the rule is kinda old-fashioned (in the 1700s!) and who cares anyway; matching her up with what seems to be Marin's "eh, whatever" attitude. (This, I feel, provides some very strong retroactive characterisation for Shaina, fitting in perfectly with her being an obsessive stickler for Sanctuary's various insane murderous honour-rules, as basically the only character in the series to follow this one to the letter)

Omega, meanwhile, uses it to more explicitly go into feminism and misogyny? Which I certainly agree with in principle--of course, an organisation with such a marked double standard clearly does have ingrained biases, and that makes a useful pull for a story about a woman choosing to dramatically cast off that which forces her to hide herself, and declare herself the equal of her male counterparts. It's a good episode. I do feel, though, that in doing so it presents an exaggerated idea of how much of a big sexist deal was made of this rule in the original series--in which, as mentioned, it's really only Shaina the arch-traditionalist who's yelling about it.

I also feel there's more to dig into here than was, I'm sure, consciously on Kurumada's mind at any point when coming up with the original justification. By putting on the mask, female Saints are symbolically becoming male Saints on one level (and that "on one level" is a strong qualifier; they are still referred to as and considered to be women, but they're not assumed to be 'non-combatants via chivalry' or 'potential targets of heterosexual interest'). They're also entering into the same devoted-protector/admirer-of-heavenly-beauty relationship those male Saints have with Athena, the idealised divine graceful woman. And isn't that really interesting? Isn't introducing the whole idea of gender as a piece of apparel you can don and discard into this Weekly Jump fantasy series kind of fascinating? (Especially accidentally via the medium of 'what if this organisation had weird archaic rules to enable this specific high drama romance plot point I wanna do in this chapter') Does this make Marin/Aiolia yaoi?

So yeah, that's some more about gender in Saint Seiya.

Oh yeah also there's a whole spinoff manga about a special secret squad of girl Saints (Saintia Sho). It's aight. Mii wants Saori so bad it makes her look stupid.

[seriousbrat]

what on earth is with cassandra claire. i think i arrived late to hp fandom because i seriously have no idea who she is. wrote a series called the mortal instruments? is it derivative of hp?? im skimming through it and i dont really see it- oh. Pangborn and Blackwell??????????

oh boy! I mean I wasn't in the fandom when she was what used to be known as a BNF (Big Name Fan. retch) but she's so infamous in HP fandom history that I found about it much later.

First, I highly recommend reading this. It's a great read, almost as good as the msscribe story (also an HP fandom history classic and a must-read) I'll summarise the basic facts below but there's just no replacement for reading the Cassandra Claire Plagiarism Debacle for yourself.

Basically, in the livejournal days she was a BNF, the BNF, idolised by most of the fandom. Her most famous fic was the 'Draco trilogy' which spawned a number of popular tropes like 'Draco in leather pants' or whatver that was. Cassie shipped DracoxGinny, HarryxHermione, and to a lesser extent Drarry. I believe she loathed Hinny, and would frequently bully Hinny shippers. (she also shipped RonxGinny, there's a reason for the incest plot in TMI lol. It's DracoxGinny but they're siblings.) In general she was very well known for bullying in the fandom, and would often have her lawyer friend Heidi send people legal threats in order to intimidate them.

Anyway, as the archived post I've linked above details extremely well, one fan discovered that the extremely popular Draco Trilogy was heavily plagiarised. And when I say plagiarised, I mean Cassie lifted entire passages from books and just changed a few details. You can see it very clearly in that account. It was completely barefaced, and the reason she got away with it for so long was because she chose relatively unknown books that were no longer in print (and at the time it was more difficult to detect these things because the internet wasn't what it is now.) On a more minor level, she also would lift dialogue from shows like Buffy, Blackadder, and Red Dwarf.

Again, just read that account. It's totally worth it. I haven't actually read any of Cassandra Claire's published works tbf, I'm sure the plot is generally different (although i think there's still some kind of magical academy, though that's not bad in and of itself) it's more that the characters are pretty obviously Ginny (Clary) Draco (Jace) Harry (forgot his name but its Clary's friend) and Hermione (sassy girl whose name I also forgot) and a Voldemort/Lucius amalgam (evil guy who is Jace's dad.)

Tbh I dislike her so much for her behaviour in the fandom and the fact that despite everything she still got a book deal, that I'm just inclined to think the worst of everything she does haha. Maybe it's unfair to say she could never write anything original-- time and practise eventually will make a better writer out of anyone, and it's not like she had no talent to begin with. There have been some plagiarism accusations for the mortal instruments but nothing proven-- at the published level, an editor won't let you get away with something as extreme as what she did in the Draco Trilogy, so there's that.

[zeronetxt]

examples from this post below

Aro/Aces

Jason Todd. I'm fr heavy on this one because i'm gatekeeping him cough cough but to me (idc that its canon that he is not, if i ignore canon its not real) he seems like the type not to really gaf. and honestly, NOT EVERY SUPERHERO NEEDS TO HAVE A ROMANTIC ARC 🙄🙄 take notes from me, dc. i have an demi-aspec oc who is feral af and would totally smother jason with affection and he is thriving (he really isn't, hes a traumatised demon)

Chuuya Nakahara because NOWHERE IS IT MENTIONED (that i could find, at least) THAT HE HAS AN INTEREST IN WOMEN OR MEN. The only one i can think of that he would be interested in is dazai and i see that as a "pikachu! i choose you!" moment instead of a "i hate you, i want to be yours" type of thing. i'm not sure how to explain it, but like a forced crush since they have after all known each other for 7 years and literally dazai can anticipate his movements. (im talking about that one scene in the guild arc i think it was. "WHY YOU!")

Percy Jackson. I'm putting him as demi (still somewhat on the aspec tho yk?) because of his relationship with annabeth. idc, THEY ARE EACH OTHERS ENDGAMES. id say pretty much the same for annabeth, i mean, they knew each other for a while before they fell in love and started dating, but tbf, i have NOT even read the pjo series in a ehile sad face

Jouno Saigiku because i feel like his only interest is justice. i dunno how to expand on him, but yeah. i love jouno so much and if he really do be dead before i get a suegiku reunion, im firing everyone

Tetchou Suehiro. he's an (adorable) oddity in itself, but still serious. I don't think he'd be looking for a relationship, especially in his line of work. he is quite literally an overworker. MY BOY IS TRAINING EVEN DURING MEETINGS. however my one exception to 'bro has no feelings' is jouno. why? learn in the bi section of this (its quite obvious tho)

Ranpo Edogawa. Mostly because have you seen him? i'd say his only interests are solving crimes and his snacks (and obviously the ada). obviously he has more, but those are the main ones that come to mind. other than the (probably) one sided rivalry of ranpoe where i swear poe is the only one that says theyre rivals, i dont think that he's the type to make relationships with others outside of the ada. maybe the hunting dogs/pm if he really had to, but i kin him, and i say he is

Trans people (mostly just trans men, im sorry to my girlies 🥺)

just a not i want to put, i think i only put trans guy hcs bc i myself am transmasc lewl

Junichirou Tanizaki. Sorry, i feel stereotypical for saying this, but his body, my dude. also his style, in the manga, he wears a black top underneath his white vneck(?) whichh to me feels like its a binder. also i love that ranga and naomis relationship w him kinda makes me sad, but ill post my theory on that another time. and also his hair (beautiful and gorgeous btw) just makes me so happy w the little clips and stuff. baggy shirt my guy, great style.

Jason Todd SOMETIMES. i think i just want to relate to him a lil, because im a lil silly like that.

chuuya nakahara on occasion but i think its just because were the same height 🧍

ryuunosuke akutagawa because honestly a trans aku would be interesting but not that relevant. idk, i like the idea of it

Bisexuals/Pansexuals

ATSUSHI NAKAJIMA!!! I MEAN THINK ABOUT IT. lucy??? akutagawa??? BROS HAD HEAVY MOMENTS WITH BOTH OF THEM. i can not see him as anything but a disaster bisexual honestly.

Jason Todd (again HA). Seeing as people can be pan/bi as well as aro/ace, i see him fitting into that, maybe demi-bi or something. he doesnt really strike me as the type to fall in love quickly, but he doesnt really care what he falls for, he cares for whom he does. i am a jason todd hc kinnie

Michizou Tachihara. my goody, i dont ship it but tachigin is just right there. and the scene during the corruption arc w tanizaki (i am not romanticising this but i feel like i am, DEAD). i love the content w him, and also i noticed he and juni pretty much have the same shirt 💀 but also, bro has piercings and dyes his hair, does he just know he is gorgeous???

percy jackson, i'm not even gonna expand

Tetchou Suehiro because BRO AND JOUNO FR. not even gonna lie, if a man (tecchou) says that he would put me above justice for FIVE MINUTES, I WOULD FOLD. thats the main one for me. the other would be the pushups during a meeting. their moments are just cute, sue me

lol im too lazy to come up with i cant think of any more

[princess-of-the-corner]

tbf, Sokka's sexism isn't that major in the original series so toning it down is like removing it

On one hand it isn't, on the other hand it is.

Sokka in particular being sexist didn't last long. It was only one of his many character traits, and it did get knocked out of him after only four episodes. So yes it's only on screen for a short while. Hell, most of it is in Episode 4 itself.

But on the other hand:

The Water Tribes being a society with such strict gender roles and sexism and all of that is a bigger part of the season's arc. And I'd argue a big part in the larger arc of humanizing villains as the themes and lessons we see here apply to the Fire Nation in Season 3.

Which is to say that people are taught, from a young age, how society works. And they learn that and take it at face value because they're young and it's adults telling them. And sometimes when first faced with the idea that their society might be flawed they kick up a fuss but hopefully unlearn the toxic ideas that were given to them.

Sokka's sexism isn't some unique trait only to him. It's part of the Water Tribe Society. Something he has to confront and unlearn. And he does!! But part of that is confronting the /society/ that made him that way!

And to take that away..... there are two ways for this to go with the Water Tribe:

1.) They take away the Water Tribe's sexism entirely. This culture is now presented as Perfect™, nothing at all bad! Because they're the Good Guys™.

or

2.) While the Water Tribe is still sexist, Sokka himself has somehow sidestepped 15 years of upbringing because he's a Hero™ and is just Inherently Good Like That™ so despite being told the strict gender roles, he saw right through it.

Both of these are bad.

[godihatethiswebsite]

Books Tag Game!

Tagged by @dragonnarrative-writes.

Point of order: I'm a picky bitch. The amount of books I've read vs the books I'd actually put on a bookshelf are like.... maybe 20, taking into account most of them are part of a series. Tho tbf most of the 'good books' I want aren't on KU and I'm kinda fucking broke. Also yes, the early days of booktok got me back into reading after a 10+ year slump in case that wasn't about to become insanely obvious.

1) The last book I read:

Fake It Till You Make It by Flora Quincy. Been on the hunt for more omegaverse books, but this one was terrible >< DNF'd.

2) A book I recommend:

I don't know how not to sound like a basic bitch broken record, but for the love of god go read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas. Just stop after book three in the series.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout. Binged the first three books (that were out) in two days. Wish I could afford the rest.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

Hi. Basic bitch again :) A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas. You have no idea what this book meant to me the first time I read it and the strength it gave me to open my eyes and see that I was worth so much more.

5) A book on my TBR:

Currently there are about 28 of varying excitement to read (most of it is what I refer to as 'junk food'), but I've got an upcoming release in September for the fourth book in the Beasts of the Briar series by Elizabeth Helen called Broken By Daylight I'm looking forward to.

6) A book I’ve put down:

Exodus by Kate Stewart. I was prepared to put this series as one of my all time favorites with the way I felt falling in love with Sean and Dom, but after that... refused to read more. Genuinely devastated, still not over it. Haven't looked at rainy days the same ever since.

Also just because it still bothers me - House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas. What the fuck girl?! The first one was so good and I praise so much of your work! But it's like ever since ACOTAR book 4 came out you've just dropped the ball...

7) A book on my wish list:

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Hopefully it's better than some of the other dragon books I've tried recently.

8) A favorite book from childhood:

The Sight by David Clement-Davies. It's a fantasy book that follows a pack of wolves and their daughter who has visions. Have tissues on hand.

9) A book you would give to a friend:

Depends on the friend >>; We talking a cute hockey romance like Weak Side by SJ Sylvis... or is the freak flag flying with Shantel Tessier's The Sinner?

10) A fiction book you own:

Death: A Life by George Pendle. Not my usual fare, but it's a fun 'autobiography' about the grim reaper.

11) A nonfiction book you own:

Does a high school yearbook count?

12) What are you currently reading:

Just cracked open Baby + the Late Night Howlers by Kathryn Moon, but I'm expecting to probably close it within the first few pages (seriously, my kingdom for a good omegaverse that I haven't already read 😭).

13) What are you planning on reading next?

God, idk. Most of the books on my list either cost money, aren't out yet, or are titles I know are most likely gonna be mid at best.

No pressure tags: @cosmicpro, @void-my-warranty, @all-purpose-dish-soap, @stuffireadandenjoy, and @rememberwren

[atopvisenyashill]

what did you mean by "we're at viserys ii actions here" on your hoster and lysa post? i don't remember anything about viserys ii's parenting being shitty specifically from twoiaf other than he had naerys marry aegon

oh now tbf a lot of that is just me being a hater towards patriarchs in this series haha. i think him forcing the naerys/aegon marriage shouldn't be understated here though - he forces the marriage in 153, after Daena, Rhaena, and Elaena had already been born. He could have waited for one of them to get older and had Aegon marry Daena, he could have let Naerys be a septa, he chooses to force this marriage where Naerys is literally weeping at the altar. Not long after, Daeron starts the dornish conquest, wherein Aegon spends the entire time raping Casella Vaith the hostage and no one like,,,stops him? Viserys can see the writing on the wall here that Aegon is a nasty piece of work and the most he does is send Aegon to Essos to be a menace to someone else so Naerys doesn't literally die of marital rape. Like, HIS SON, his RESPONSIBILITY, the HEIR TO THE THRONE, is raping Viserys' own daughter into her grave and he's just like "eh get some fresh air aegon." useless. oberyn is right about him - he spent all those years trying to be the power behind the throne, then the moment he got the throne, he does jack shit with it, and gets offed by his own son. he strikes me very much as a tywin type, more concerned with What's Best For The Family then what's actually best for his family. maybe he's not malicious but he utterly fails Naerys and raised Aegon and he deserves at least a few tomatoes for that.

[not-rude-ginger]

Listening to Jurassic Park on Audiobook. Here are thoughts as I go through the story:

Spoilers galore on a 33 year old book with one of the biggest films ever, I guess. Also some gore mentions.

Jesus wept Crichton, that's certainly one way to open a story. They ate the baby's face!!

When I tell you the fear that settled in my soul when Tina picked up the tiny dino - I know this series!!! I was expecting so much worse, but it was still bad. Merci for the gore discretion scene POV change there Crichton.

What's the craic with the dino spit? What have you done Wu??

I kinda like that the secrecy of 'dinos be back baby!' is more by human apathy and shrugging off things than Hammond's magical will which is the only explanation we get in the film.

Yes Crichton, we can see you like science stuff and explaining how things work, we see it.

The film did the moment they see the dinos better. I almost missed it while making lunch in the book. Spielberg Win there - but tbf that's hard to beat on paper compared to a film with scale and swelling music.

I swear the narrator is picking up the film actors inflections when he does dialogue. Especially Nedry, I can hear Wayne Knight in his voice even though he isn't really doing distinct voices. Same with Sam Neil in Alan.

I am so glad they made Lex the older kid in the film - she's a classic annoying little sibling in the worst way in the book. She is bored of dinosaurs after a couple of hours! I can't decide if that's the most unrealistic or the most accurate thing in the book -- kids get used to wild things very quick.

I gotta be honest, I'd probably work in a Dino Nursery too.

I adore Richard Attenborough's Hammond, but the book version helps explain far better why things go so wrong. He's just a Bezos or Musk.

The debate with Wu about Version 4.4 is very interesting. Hammond thinks having the original wolf is what people want but Wu is probably right that what people really want is closer to a dog, even if they say they want the wolf. Anyone who actually wants the wolf is looking for a Darwin award.

When Crichton made sure to include an explanation of what a CD player was I cracked up laughing, because it may have been new enough in 1990 to need a quick explanation, but it will most definitely need it for the future given how CDs are being made obsolete. 😕

Interesting how Arnold (Sam Jackson) describes the dinos as 'precious and delicate'. It makes sense, but it wasn't carried over to the film where it's more ... wonder and awe and 'how could something so magical go wrong?' But the book does talk about how many dinos have died in the project from all sorts of things, so they must seem so fragile when you're buried into it.

Also interesting that even though they made sure all the dinos were girls (great work there Wu, no notes!) they admit they still call the 2 T-Rex (yes there are 2!! A juvenile and an adult!) 'him'.

To be continued when I listen to more - we're about to reach Rexy's Enclosure for the first time.

[vigilskept]

19 for ur inquisitors!

19. Did the Inquisitor begin a relationship with anyone? What attracted them to their partner?

i mean the first thing that attracts sindri to blackwall is that they think he’s hot. they would hate him on principle for being a warden if they didn’t think he was hot. they do like him more as they get to know him too tbf, but the warden thing reaaaaaaally grates on them when he gets self-righteous about it. #1 warden hater vs the warden they want so bad it makes them look stupid.

ok thea….. she’s going through the religious crisis of all time, you understand. these are not the best of times. bearing that in mind. she has an insane dynamic going on with leliana and cullen and samson. NONE OF THESE ARE GOOD FOR ANY OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED! they are getting each other through a bad time in their lives by making it worse. i’m so serious about that. the culmination of all this is a CHANTRY SCHISM, a failmarriage without the marriage & death.

sander’s in a situationship with semra adaar right up until he accidentally gets her killed at the conclave. this is followed immediately by getting into the most ill advised situationship of ALL time with solas. this crashes and burns spectacularly several months later and is followed by a series of extremely short lived relationships with dorian -> almost josie -> bull -> cass -> harding in that order. it’s all borne out of him being desperate for some kind of connection to tether him to who he is as he increasingly loses sight of that. it does not work :))))

inquisitor questions