#(which is peoples' main complaint with it. i don't see the problem with it honestly)

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

ds remix 7 is the best remix ngl. it has everything you could ask for. good music. good games. it's fun. not too hard. i love it v much it gives me serotonin.

[queenofmalkier]

Okay, I just have to say it to anyone feeling isolated or picked on or like the Main Character standing against Amazon's Wot-Show wrongs: nobody is mad that you don't like the show. People have different opinions! Different expectations! In a series this long there's dozens of things people will disagree on in terms of importance and that is normal!

You know what nobody likes?

The condescending, holier-than-thou attitude of some individuals who don't like the show who have decided that It Is Actually Bad And Terrible and anyone who likes it is Wrong.

Who constantly invade show-friendly spaces, who review bomb, who basically act like five year olds having a tantrum in the middle of Target.

People who I'm sorry to say don't seem to understand that there's no one way to adapt a series. Think of it like the works of Shakespeare and move on with your day.

The way I'd do it is going to be different than the way you'd do it, which will be entirely different from the way a third person will do it. That doesn't make any of us wrong - and YET you get mad when reasonable people point out that when you say the show is an Evil Bad Wrong No Good Bad Adaptation Without Question you are discounting those of us who think it's honestly not bad.

And then those same people wrap themselves up in a mantle of hurt and victimhood because everybody is being mean to them! Nobody understands!

Honey, we understand talking to you about the show right now is like talking down some drunk guy in a Denny's parking lot who is screaming at the curb. You aren't making rational points. You are Big Mad and trying to make it the problem of anybody who doesn't think the way you do.

I know I've made an effort to be understanding and empathetic about it, I've tried to explain my reasons for enjoying the show while seeing the point of others who hate it, but I'm tired of only receiving "that's cute you think that but Actually I Am Correct still" in return.

There's no growth, no learning, no further understanding. At this point it's bitching to bitch while pretending to be the only one knowledgeable on the subject. It's screaming about "that's not what I'm asking for!" while, actually, the complaints you're making are very much asking for a perfect 1 to 1 adaptation or some secret third thing that remains a mystery to me.

Either way, I love ya'll, I love WOT, I hope like hell this is a taken as the I Don't Know What Else To Do intervention, come-to-maker post it's meant to be but if it's not and you're angry maybe think about why.

[greenerteacups]

I think I've seen you mention in previous asks that you didn't really like aspects (or possibly the whole thing) of DH. I'm curious if you could expound more on that? Was it the horcrux hunting? The hallows themselves? Did you think the final battle came too quickly? What did you want to see when you read it the first time? And looking back as an adult what ways do you think DH should have been altered?

I've always found DH has too many plot holes.... Almost like it tried to wrap itself up too quickly. When I was reading the books as a kid I actually thought there'd be more than 7 books. Like there'd be a least one more since the war began and ended rather quickly when the first wizarding war seemed to go on for years.

To make a long story short, I don't like DH because it's not a war story, and Books 5 and 6 read like the setups for a war story. They are books packed with espionage and spycraft, flareups of violence, and are simmering with tension. In contrast, most of DH is spent camping in a forest, far away from anywhere that the Death Eaters or the main battle could have been. The Order has vanishingly little to do and the friends that we spent the last 6 books making and learning to care about vanish until the last act, where half of them die in a big battle that only happens because Harry needs to find the last horcrux.

And the thing is, horcruxes are a great plot mechanic for the final book, because they give you discrete milestones that count down to the final battle. They also clearly establish why you can't just rock up and fight Voldemort the old-fashioned way, i.e., why the Order needs to run defense for most of the book. What they don't explain is why the Order isn't then a much bigger part of the horcrux hunt, because by all accounts, Harry's first move should be to tell them what's up with Voldemort and how they can help, including — especially!— if Harry and the Trio happen to die, in which case the only knowledge of how to kill Voldemort would die with him. This is the nightmare scenario, and I cannot think of a counterfactual risk attached to telling the Order that would outweigh the danger of this happening. But I could honestly tolerate plot holes if it weren't for the thematic problem — if the story is about love and familial sacrifice, why do we spend 75% of the last book completely disconnected from the found-family that Harry built? Why are the Weasleys gone? Where is Ginny? Where is Molly? Where is Lupin?

The book really should have been called "Harry Potter and the Last Horcrux," in my opinion. The Hallows are red herrings, and they're used more as excuses to set up nice scenes/moments than they ever are as mechanics that fully integrate into the world. The ring gives Harry the ability to talk to his parents before the final sacrifice, which is a nice touch, and it explains why his Invisibility Cloak is so OP, but (and I've complainted about this before, but TLDR) the Elder Wand stuff makes no sense except as a buff for Harry in the final battle to explain how he beats Voldemort in a 1v1. Which, fine, but it opens up more questions than it ties off: how does it work? What does this mean for wand ownership? Is it actually possible for a wand to be "unbeatable"? Also, why do wands respond to fucking monkey-in-the-middle rules? If you hand your wand to someone, does that count as disarming? Etc., etc. And it also weakens the final battle of the series, which should be about Harry as a person triumphing over Voldemort because he was capable of doing something Voldemort never could, i.e., fully and willingly sacrificing himself for another person (or people). You have a soft magic system! You don't need to invent these weird rules of wand ownership to give Harry the W here! There's so much more that could have been done with this!

So. To leave a long story long, I was disappointed with Deathly Hallows. It wasn't bad, in that there were no decisions I thought were galling or egregious breaks with someone's character, and nothing happened that ruined what came before; but there was a ton of missed potential, and that's why I still kvetch about it all these years later.

[gay-jesus-probably]

I feel like Zelda does not recognize that her actions have consequences, which is. A very bad attitude for a leader to have, and seems to extend VERY far back in the Hyrulian royal family. You're also very right about them seeming to think that Ganondorf was too far beneath them to do any real harm. They thought they were being clever, but they failed to recognize that he can be very dangerous if he wants to be. This is entirely in a "good for her" way towards Ganondorf btw. So basically I am shaking Zelda by the shoulders and screaming "WHEN WILL YOU LEARN!!! WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!!!"

Oh my god, right??? I mean, I'm not surprised, that kind of shit is just par for the course with royalty. They're literally born into a position of absolute power and authority, and told that they deserve it because they are fundamentally better people than literally everyone else, and all these lesser people exist only to serve them. That is the philosophical bedrock that a monarchy is built on. And in the LoZ universe it's a thousand times worse, because now we're also talking the divine right of kings (divine right of princesses in this case i guess), except it is canonically true. The literal canon says that the Hylian royal family has actually descended from a goddess, and that means they get to rule the world forever, and anyone who disagrees with them is pure evil to be crushed.

I mean, don't get me wrong aesthetically I love a good fantasy monarchy, that's just an inherent guilty pleasure of the genre. But I like them being done well. I don't want my fantasy royalty to just be the beautiful well mannered people that wear fancy clothes and sit on thrones. I like them being written as a person in a mandatory lifelong political position, and taking their duty as head of state really fucking seriously. Yeah, they're rich and powerful and live in a cool castle, but the trade off is that literally their entire life is dedicated to the betterment of the kingdom, regardless of what they actually want to do. That's the deal. You get anything you want, but you don't get to be your own person. If you don't want to do the job, then you don't get to have the privilege that comes with it. Honestly, one of the best examples I can think of off the top of my head is Riju; she's the unelected leader of the Gerudo and took the throne as a child... and took her responsibility really fucking seriously. She's been an exemplary leader in all her apperances, and she's clearly dedicated to the idea that being the head of state means serving your people above all else. She's dedicated her life to the wellbeing of the Gerudo, and that makes her an incredibly good person; she's more than earned her position and the benefits that come with it.

...And then we have Zelda, who isn't so good at this. Honestly, I'd say her main problem is just straight up entitlement; not really surprising given her environment. I mean for fucks sake, just look at how the civillians in TOTK treat her; I'm still absolutely horrified by that one sidequest where a research team misheard her instructions, thought she told them to go exploring in their underpants, and instead of refusing or even questioning the situation, they actually fucking did it. Every single one of them stripped naked, and set off to do their job in the manner the Princess had asked them to. A job that included going into monster dens. Now of course this is all silly, because naked people are funny, but if you actually think about it for five seconds, it's actually not funny at all. A group of civilians believed that their ruler ordered them to throw away their weapons, remove all their armour, strip naked, and walk into a monster den. This is outright said to be suicide. And they were actually going to fucking do it, without a single complaint or word of question. And the game's actual response to this is just "wow, it's so great to see how everyone's so devoted to our princess! this is a really heartwarming story". No game, I do not consider it heartwarming that a group of civillians were immediately willing to throw themselves to a pointless, agonizing death for no benefit other than Zelda's amusement. Not that she actually told them to do it, but the misunderstanding spiralling that far says so much about the state of Hyrule, and how much accountability Zelda is being held to. Which is to say, literally none whatsoever. Even when the fake Zelda is raising hell across the country and actively ruining lives, the only response from her apparent victims is to get worried that they haven't been showing Zelda enough devotion which is why they must have deserved this torment, so the only response is to dedicate even more of their lives to her service! Nobody questions her, nobody even gets angry or scared that she's seemingly hurt them. They just grovel at her feet.

The point I'm making here is that Zelda has spent years in an environment where literally everyone tells her that she is the most important person in the world, she deserves all the power, respect and riches, and she could never do anything wrong. That would go to anyone's head, and let's be real here... the game never even suggests that Zelda's tried to get people to take it down a few notches. She isn't worried about the mindless worship, she's perfectly okay with her country being a goddamn suicide cult. And you can see the entitlement coming across in her actions during the game - she has the four sages swear that their entire races will dedicate themselves to serving the Hylian royal family, and specifically their still-unborn descendants will take up the role to do her dirty work. She thinks it's perfectly reasonable to ask people to sell their unborn children into her service, and there's nothing ethically dubious about making demands of people who haven't been born yet, with two of them still being children when they're ordered to take up arms. And I realize it's a serious situation, but the game doesn't acknowledge this as being a morally grey action; the new sages are swearing to dedicate their lives to the glory of their god-ruler, how could anyone find that alarming?

And her treatment of LInk is particularly infuriating, because let's remember her, the last time she sees Link is immediately after he's been gloom-fucked by Ganon. His entire left arm is dead, and his beloved weapon is destroyed. She saw it happen. He absolutely could have just died right after she was yeeted back in time, because again, he was mortally wounded and in an extreme amount of danger. And even if he did live, he's just had his entire arm ripped off; after everything he's gone through, it would make perfect sense for him to finally hit a breaking point and decide he can't stand to fight anymore. My man's literally died before, and now he's lost his dominant limb, how could anyone be expected to keep going after that? But Zelda never even considers that Link might not be able or willing to fight for her. She treats it as a given that he's perfectly fine, and will do exactly what she wants even if she isn't there to order him around. It's not like he can think for himself, that would be ridiculous. Link is denied any and all agency; he can't even form his own opinions about the main plot or influence it in any way; everything was decided several thousand years ago. He's just here to do as he's told.

It just... all makes me think of that one memory in BOTW where Zelda runs away from Link, and when he catches up to do his fucking job, she greets him by angrily declaring that obviously she's the only one with a mind of her own. That was supposed to be her being way the fuck out of line, and abusing Link to deal with her own frustrations. But apparently TOTK... decided that she was right. Zelda is the only one with a mind of her own. Link's just here to follow her around and swing the sword when she tells him to.

It's just so fucking bleak, I hate this story so much. I love the gameplay, but I'm having a miserable time with the plot, every new development just makes me more frustrated and upset. I'm working on the fifth sage thing right now, and gotta say, absolutely fucking hate how Mineru refers to Link as just Zelda's Human Weapon. Like thank you furry goat lady, I realize that Zelda chose me to be her personal bootlicker, but I sure as hell didn't consent to any of this, and nobody has asked me if I'm actually willing to put my life on the line for this woman yet again.

At least BOTW fucking asked me if I was willing to risk my life to stop the Calamity.

[beardedmrbean]

Oh I mean when I say do leftists see history as a Disney cartoon because how they talk about people

“Indigenous people wouldn’t do that to their native lands!” Well that because most tribes learn from the mistakes of their ancestors, like modern American farming-

Holy shit Dave is right that they never left their metropolis area

But there this complaints how geeks spaces don’t want black people in it

Black activists: Why don’t white people want us in it?!

Me: Every since we somehow switch from racial equality to black supremacy

Hmm what we done in media? Oh yeah let start in black Panther where

1. They made a oversized shantytown with different African cultures, many of which hate each other guts

2. Expect to believe that everyone with sympathies with the main antagonist, now the movie did point out Killmonger was a hypocrite because he took a mask that didn’t belong to wakandans because he felt like it. And did the exact things he bitch about white colonizers to Wakanda

Though the irony is that Killmonger represents a lot of bitter black supremacists with a pan Africa fetish

Oh oh fantasy, my Indian friend pointed out that the issued with modern fantasy is that they are using a post mayflower American structure vs any form of feudalism

Because my chimera republic made realize it more easier to create black fantasy characters in a colonial and beyond world like ones based off George Carver or Bass Revees

Also like that black elf in rings of power and black Aragon, the problem to me that they look like larpers especially the black elf

Pssst modern Hollywood hairstylists, the fade was a post ww2 thing black men started after vets return from duty, so it automatically stick out for most black people

Also if you want to use Middle Ages hairstyles for black characters. Just go to the tribes that exist as many hairstyles we use today are thousands of years old and if you stretch it to the 13 century you have enough resources for reference

Actually someone pointed out that lot of fantasy places have LA demographic structure, this got me thinking and I’m paraphrasing

Who more bigoted?

My countryhick West Virginia friend who gave me a lot of insight on American history including my people and you who help me try to research west African cultures like the Yoruba?

Or the colored hair, glasses, usually upper middle class feminists that rarely interact with non whites unless they’re genetrifed and lived in gated communities?

Keep in mind a lot of them write or influence current fantasy stuff

Oh I mean when I say do leftists see history as a Disney cartoon because how they talk about people “Indigenous people wouldn’t do that to their native lands!” Well that because most tribes learn from the mistakes of their ancestors, like modern American farming- Holy shit Dave is right that they never left their metropolis area

Not all of them, but for the most part ya, it's respect for the land created after generations of learning that it's important to respect the land, with a additional healthy sized dose of religion and remembering to thank the land and everything else that provides for their needs.

"Noble Savage" is the term you're looking for there, "soft bigotry of lowered expectations" is another one you'll see a lot and not just for natives.

Low hanging fruit in Berkeley talking about why voter ID laws are bad and racist because black people may not know how to get one, or be able to afford one, or even get to the dmv.

Forever funny

But there this complaints how geeks spaces don’t want black people in it

Geek spaces are welcoming and inclusive, they just want you to geek out with them and not start trying to force changes, I honestly don't blame some people for gatekeeping their hobbies. People are coming in and demanding changes to fit their sensibilities and what not and when they're done the 'space' completely different.

That and all the other stuff you mentioned as well.

The question to ask is, why are you in this particular fan space if you are going to change 80% of it, can you maybe just make your own instead?

Oh oh fantasy, my Indian friend pointed out that the issued with modern fantasy is that they are using a post mayflower American structure vs any form of feudalism Because my chimera republic made realize it more easier to create black fantasy characters in a colonial and beyond world like ones based off George Carver or Bass Revees

Look up the show Firefly, if you don't already know about it. There's two really good SciFi western tv shows and neither of them are Westworld, the one besides Firefly is The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. and it's there in my list because it stars Bruce Campbell.

Which actually you might give that one a look too,

Keep forgetting how much of a giant Julius Carry was, it's got a lot of steampunk elements and it's funny as heck.

Mentioning Bass Reeves made me think of that.

Also like that black elf in rings of power and black Aragon, the problem to me that they look like larpers especially the black elf ECT

Never saw the show, but everything I did see told me they had zero respect for the source material so I didn't expect respect for anything else to appear.

Hair thing we have current year references that since as you said, they haven't really changed them up much in the last few thousand years.

Who more bigoted? My countryhick West Virginia friend who gave me a lot of insight on American history including my people and you who help me try to research west African cultures like the Yoruba? Or the colored hair, glasses, usually upper middle class feminists that rarely interact with non whites unless they’re genetrifed and lived in gated communities?

I'm sure you already know the answer. As a generalization at least.

The joke about internet racists being a tolerant group of people, 'they don't care what race you are so long as you're racist' actually pans out to be fairly true a lot of the time.

Granted a lot of them aren't actually terribly racist, they just like to be able to rip on each other and like doing it Eric Cartman style, le edgy people.

The "Anti-racists" are the ones to watch out for, that's the people from berkeley in that video up there.

It's performative for them, look at how tolerant and accepting I am.

Like this.

I know it's what you want there my whatever you are, but there's a multitude of reasons why this

won't be happening, but I'm sure you've managed to take great strides in the effort to eradicate racism and didn't just totally become a joke for millions of people of all colours.

Except maybe this creature

I love how that's become a insult to people for some reason, she just called him a individual thinker and is mad because he doesn't support the hive mind.

Granted any positive accomplishment in the black community is greeted with several different cheers about how they all share in that accomplishment, but when bad shit happens all of a sudden we're not a monolith.

That's human psychology tho so not much more to expect from that honestly.

Multimillionaire tv host saying she's oppressed and that black people can't make it in the US will forever be funny to me, also sad because that sentiment is holding people back by saying things like that, since it's discouraging, why should I try if I've got no chance to make it anyhow.

May as well just get mine any way I can or maybe lay down and give up.

[torashisama]

WoT about: "The writers keep giving time to plots that aren't bad, but do nothing to actually serve the story".

Disclaimer : As always, it's long.

Alll of these comments are from a discussion I had with a book reader in the comments of a post on S3E01 being written by S1E06 and S2E07 writer: Justine Juel Gillmer. Basically, the original poster was celebrating more Siuan (however it might be) and/or a possible Siuanraine reunion in S3.

Book Reader 1:

In a story about the potential end of all things, I can't honestly say that I care about Suianraine. Side romance plots are fine, but they're not what WoT is really about. I hope they give a little ship time to those who are craving it, but they really need to work on the Nerf Reborn. He's way weaker in the show than he is in the books. We need a Rocky montage to put the Dragon back on track.

Book reader 2 :

One of my biggest issues with this show. The writers keep giving time to plots that aren't *bad*, but do nothing to actually serve the story.

Moiraines family scenes? Well written and acted, but that's 30-40 minutes that we could have had in Falme, or building up the Horn, or generally building the legend of the dragon.

Book reader 1 :

Yep. The show wastes precious time on things which aren't central to the plot.

Torashi :

That mostly has to do with the fact that the show is not about Rand but about Moiraine and specifically about Moiraine's Quest which is something that most book readers seems to have overlooked and that's the most important and fundamental change from the books yet it's overlooked when it comes to understanding how and why everything plays out the way it does.

If we had to choose a character and declare them the main one for the show, it would be Moiraine. That's the main difference that explains most of the complaints bookcloaks and book readers may have with the show.

The books are about Rand. Here, it's about "Moiraine's Quest", and it gives the show more room to explore the characters deemed as side characters and one of the most interesting group of people in this universe in my opinion: Aes Sedai's and their warders.

Both are telling the same story but not from the same POV, and that changes a bunch of things and it includes what gets showed or not.

Book reader 1 :

I certainly didn't overlook that the show is focused on Mo. That is the biggest problem, as you say (pre post edit: I did not say that the the Mo focus was a problem, never had actually) . Book Mo isn't anywhere near a main character after TEOTW, so it's a very questionable decision to promote her to a main, outside of real world "politics". Pike is the most recognized actress **and** she's a producer.

While I get that non-readers don't mind it, I and millions of other readers waited 39 years for the books to be turned into a show.

We weren't waiting on Siuan and Moiraine.

Torashi:

I'm not saying that you're overlooking this but that those who did read the books tends to do so and fail to realise( pre post edit: or recognise really) that the things they're complaining about usually makes sense as Rand is not the main character anymore.

The pov's are mostly Moiraine's, and while it's different from the books, it doesn't mean that it's not good. The story is just told differently, and a lot of you guys fail to realise that while it's not what you hoped for, you at least get to experience the same story told another way and in the same world you grew up loving but on screen.

I understand that it's disappointing as it's probably not what you guys imagined and expected the show would be if you ever got to see it, but Rand, as the main character, probably wouldn't have worked as needed exactly because it's been so long since the books.

The classic hero trope is not as appealing as it used to be for TV, and switching the focus and putting it onto the Gandalfs of the WoT world probably was better so it ended up as the Moiraine's Quest show and not as the Randland show. It's also probably because it's usually better if most actors in a fantasy show are unknown so that their reputation and previous roles do not taint the ones they'll have in the show.

( pre post edit : in case some people don't get why I'm comparing them, it's to emphasise that all of these fantasy shows have 1 or 2 of their main cast and characters as the biggest stars so that they don't have to rely only on the existing fandom but can also count on their main celebrity to bring a wider audience (advertising aside) which allows for the rest of the cast to be lesser known or straight-up debuting and/or unknown actors)

For ex, Matt Smith and Paddy Considine probably are the most recognisable actors of HOTD (HBO) and they're brothers in the show and have a close relationship ( in case you didn't see it, Matt is Daemon and Paddy is King Viserys)

WoT (Prime) has Rosamund Pike and Sophie Okonedo as their biggest star, and they have a close relationship.

(Fun fact : Sophie wasn't even supposed to be in the show and probably wouldn't have accepted if she was offered the part but Rosamund specifically wanted her to play her love interest and Sophie had to be written to personally by Ros so that she would accept the role ( anyone who knows or follows Sophie's work knows that her playing Siuan was as probable as a WoT + GoT crossover episode) )

The Witcher( Netflix) they really just needed Henry Cavill as he actually is a mainstream celebrity and was at the prime of his career when he took the role.

Good Omens (Prime) : David Tennant and Micheal Sheen, they lead and are close. ( they really could have been fine with David here. Actually, he probably has one of the most dedicated fan base I've seen because of his performance as the doctor ) ( they also have benedict cumberbatch but I'm sticking to mains biggest star + they're closest relationships )

Carnival Row (Prime and original so a lil different): Cara delevigne and Orlando Bloom, biggest stars + close relationship.

Good Omens is focused on the gandalfs ( Crowley & Aziraphale) again btw and it's one of amazon most successful adaptations.

The Witcher is also focused on the Gandalfs of their world: Geralt & Yennefer (by extension)

WoT switched it to be the same : Moiraine & Siuan (by extension).

What i'm saying is that basically most of the complaints are related to missing things from the books, the cast diversity, things people wish they could have seen or wishing Josha's (pre post edit :Rand) or Daniel's (pre post edit : Lan) characters where depicted as in the books or it's blaming the show (pre post edit: or really mainly and mostly Rafe and sometimes the rest of the writers) for spending time on things that actually makes sense when you recenter yourself in what the show is actually doing which is telling the story from Moiraine's POVs.

Siuan is important so she gets time, Lan is important so he gets time (pre post edit : mainly referencing the Aes sedai + Warder focused episodes of S1, from Ep4/5 to Ep6).

Liandrin is a problem and has a grudge against Mo that leads her to be a threat not only because she's a red and black ajah but also because of an ulterior reason so she gets time and is developed, Moiraine is pushing everyone away even the only 2 people she could allow herself to be close to during her mission because of her depression and allow herself no other choice but to go to Cairhien alone which happens to be her hometown so we get a family reunion and see how much her quest for Rand impacted her and her family too and how unusual it is even for an Aes sedai( Alanna's scenes with her family).

The main problem isn't that the story is being told through Moiraine's POV but that they only get 8 episodes of approximately 1 hour each to tell a story that required 14 books to finish, they clearly need more or longer episodes per season to include more of what they initially intended to put in each season. ( pre post edit : in case you didn't know Lan was supposed to start training the boys from s1. you can check here )

For reference, GOT had 10 episodes for each season until S7 for 8 season out of 10 initially planned, each episode falling anywhere between 1h and 1h22 max, and it's only 5 books out on 7 planned.

There, we have 8 episodes falling anywhere between 54 minutes to 1h10 min max each, planned to have 8 seasons for 14 books.

(Pre post edit : so far, and yes i went to check the longest ep so far was 1h10 min and it's s2 finale in case you were wondering)

Original poster reaction :

OMG!!! I wish I could give you gold for this comment. I am getting tired of when I post something about the show, instead of people focusing on the show, they wanna bring the "but but but the books did this and that and it is nowhere to be found on the show", like I don't care, let's focus on what's happening in the show and can we only talk about that? You should make another main post pointing this out and that for the sake of productive conversations, this sub should stop complaining about what isn't on the show from the books and more on what we actually get, if it works or not let's stick to that!

Torashi :

I understand, but I totally get their reaction, too. It's been so long for them that it's probably hard to accept anything else than what they expected or wished they had.

(pre post edit :

While i do understand the frustration, i do not understand why you think it makes it fine to ruin (or tarnish) the experience of genuine show only fans by complaining and shitting on the show for missing things or not doing it the way you wanted it to be instead of going:

"That's cool i wish they had room for this or that, in the books there's this or that and whatever, you should check the books."

"The story is so much more richer even though the focus is not on the guide in the books. It could be interesting for you to see it from another PoV too"

You'd actually make show-only fans want to read the books. You guys have been tainted by so much display of lack of respect and gratitude towards those making and/or enjoying the show that I think that you're actually deterring show only fans from the books by dividing the fandom as much as S8 divided GOT fans and by making people afraid to read them before the show ends because of how ugly your reactions are and have been. (You guys are literally associated to Whitecloacks).)

Torashi:

What's infuriating me, though, is that most of the books things they wish they saw when that's what they're complaining about are things that had to be cut because they were details and did not impact the rest of the story as much and instead of complaining about the show having an insane amount of episodes, episode's length and planned seasons for 14 books each individually as big as an encyclopedia they blame Rafe who actually loved the books and is a fan too, that's literally why the books got approved to be on screen. Rafe he's a book fan that got lucky the same way Brandon Sanderson was a book fan that got lucky back then. He probably wish he could put more things in there too.

Instead of complaining about the real problem, they should be battling against, its straight up hate (from bookcloaks) and endless complaints about things that does not matter as its really just "yes but in the books" for choices that does makes sense when they stop being Rand centric while watching a show that isn't about the hero's journey but about the Quest itself.

(Pre post edit thoughts:

Robert made a mistake by calling his books: The Wheel of Time ,to then make most of the pov's and most of the story revolve around a single character. He should have called it "The dragon Reborn" or something along those lines, because most of book readers' new complaints I've seen so far, really are just about it not being ridiculously focused on Rand's story or like the books when they know that this is not a "Randland" show but specifically one that corrects this major flaw from the books by using the only character close enough, interesting enough and refreshing enough to tell this story trought a different lense that allows more freedom to explore other "z-list"/ side characters who actually plays a role in all of this, it's actually painfull to see so many book readers fail to realise that Moiraine really is just the best character to tell this story as she actually knows what's going on behind the scene whereas Rand is just clueless.)

E.g: Rand apparently being powerless (or rather not as powerful as they wished he would be already).

Even though he was alone and in hiding for the last 6 months and only ever channelled because he lacked control and only got to Logain once, because he stayed close but still ignored him for as long as he could. Until he left with Selene to then be found by Mo, he still kills Ishy, Turak and his guards, takes the shield off Egwene (pre post edit: who's struggling btw) and looks like he doesn't even break a sweat.

Yet, all some book readers allow themselves to see is him being "powerless" because he didn't get a flashy 1vs1 against the bad guy even though it wouldn't makes sense with his current development (that was impacted by what ? Cuts because of time/budget constraints ) and Egwene literally is the strongest and most experienced of them all right now because of the Sanchean (pre post edit : the bright side of being a damane lol ) and is one of the most developed character of s2 from EF5 because of what needs to happen with Siuan at some point in S3 and where her (really theirs) story might be going.

(more on this topic here)

This ends here, feel free to share your opinion on this.

[hopeymchope]

"Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" might've had a lot less kaiju action than the previous attempt to translate Godzilla into a TV series, but it more than made up for that in quality storytelling!

My sundry observations, gripes, praises and questions:

They really went out of their way to honor the Japanese roots of the source material, didn't they? We're in Japan for a ton of the show, dealing with Japanese and/or Japanese-descended characters for the majority of it, and have a surprising amount of Japanese dialogue throughout — it's nice.

I know Wyatt Russell is a Nepo Baby, but he's honestly still very good at what he does. I don't think the series has any bad acting... but the two Russells (because Kurt Russell is, ofc, amazing), Mari Yamamota (Keiko Miura) and Joe Tippett (Tim) are still the absolute highlights for most of the run, IMO. The Russells and Yamamota do the emotional heavy lifting with aplomb, whereas Tippett is so naturalistic and likable that it's hard not to find him engaging.

Cate starts off the series being such an asshole who doesn't show any empathy for people going through the EXACT SAME SHIT that she is, but I think the later reveal of her trauma on "G-Day" somewhat explains her attitude problem. She then manages to pivot to being much more likable JUUUUST in time for the episode where we get the flashbacks revealing she was a shitty person even BEFORE G-Day. LOL.

May ALSO swings between being likable and being a total ass, and while that sounds like a complaint, I actually sort of appreciate it. We're seeing the main female characters get the kind of nuance and depth to them that they aren't often afforde in mass-market media, and that's cool.

On the flip side, there's Kentaro. The fact that both Cate and May get to act both likable and dickishreally me expect the same thing for Kentaro. They're the trio of young people who make up the titular "Legacy," right? (Well, I guess that's mostly meant to refer to Cate/Kentaro.) So... I was shocked when Kentaro's chance to be a total prick never came around. He's pretty likable and understandable throughout! Even when he's being SUPER harsh on Hiroshi, I still understand it in light of what Hiroshi's done to their families. I feel like maybe Kentaro got something of a short shrift on this front. He gets adequate backstory, mind you, but he also never gets either A) as much focus time as May and Cate, nor B) a chance to come off like kind of a dick like May and Cate sometimes do? It's a little tempting to say that making him the more "pure" of the trio comes off as sexist, but... the way that he gradually is shoved into the background of the story's focus and doesn't even get to go on the big final adventure makes it pretty clear that this ISN'T because the producers favor Kentaro. More like the opposite....

In fact, take particular note of how nobody really gives him credit for how he was the ENTIRE REASON THEY SURVIVED Episode 4. They diss him and don't believe him, and when he's ultimately proven right in a way that saves all their asses? May gives the credit for her survival to Cate for some inexplicable reason. (Except for ONE later moment when neither Kentaro or Cate can know or hear her admit Kentaro saved them.) WTF. I found that frustrating.

That episode was the start of Cate and May becoming incredibly tight-knight with one another, and I'm still not clear on how/why that happened. Is it just because they both vascillate between being chlidish assholes and likable adults?? By the halfway point of the show, I was really getting strong shippy vibes off them. Which would be super cute and sweet if it wasn't also, y'know... kinda shitty. Because May used to be with her brother? Who clearly still had feelings for her when the series starts, just a few days prior? MMM.... not cool, May. To be fair, however, not always caring about their own hurtful/sketchy behavior is actually pretty in-character for them both, so maybe it works. And I suppose you gotta take that happiness where you can get it in this crazy, now-kaiju-laden world.

The character who shows up at the end of Episode 9 completely shocked me. They got me there. And in light of that twist — that character who disappears near the end of the finale? Perhaps this goes without saying, but there's no way we've seen the last of them. ZERO chance... unless the person portraying them doesn't renew their contract for season 2 or something. :P

This is, of course, a "Monsterverse" series. But the logic of how the Hollow Earth works in this show doesn't seem to REMOTELY align with how it was portrayed in Godzilla vs Kong, does it? Not even KIND OF. I wonder if Godzilla x Kong will get that disconnect to retroactively make sense.

At least one returning actor from the Monsterverse films shows up to provide a link... for one scene.

And speaking of the Monsterverse, that's hardly the only Continuity Sketchiness going on here! Serizawa only gets name-dropped ONCE in this series despite the fact that he's still presumably the HEAD DUDE IN CHARGE over there. They keep calling Verdugo the Deputy Director because Serizawa is the director, right?? Though Verdugo sure does make unilateral decisions about the whole-ass organizations multiple times in this show.

All of my prior point is especially goofy when the idea of HELPING Godzilla is treated as this shocking, bizarre concept ..... despite the fact that it's Serizawa's entire fucking philosophy since BEFORE this takes place???

Okay, let's shift back to positives: Takehiro Hira doesn't get as much screen time as many cast members, but his performances over the last two episodes are friggin' emotionally devastating. Fantastic.

The lack of more Toho monsters in the Monsterverse has been something of a downer for me personally, but they still do pull out some really cool original designs. That Frost Vark is pretty badass.

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

I think part of why most people I've talked to like Hazbin Hotel better then Helluva Boss, and why most of the writing problems in Helluva aren't as present in Hazbin, are because Hazbin is an ensemble show that treats all it's characters as EQUALLY IMPORTANT, while Helluva Boss is an ensemble show that just. Really wants to be the Blitzø and Stolas show.

Like oh my god that show wants to be about only Blitzø and Stolas so bad. It's why Moxxie gets more focus then Millie(he's closer to Blitzø), it's why the Stolitz drama gets dragged out the way it does, it's why Fizz has been getting more attention then the rest of the supposed main cast lately. Viv and Brandon(who doesn't get brought up very often when discussing the writing in Helluva Boss despite being the main cowriter?) CLEARLY just wanna focus on Blitzø and Stolas' backstories and relationship, despite marketing Helluva as an ensemble show. Moxxie gets some time as an individual, but I think that's more of a biproduct of him being around for longer then the other side characters tbh. Like they were initially concieved FOR Hazbin, and I'm not really sure where production went from there, but I believe they were originally just supposed to be an assassin duo that showed up in Hazbin a couple times? Idk details are fuzzy so if anybody knows more and feels like sharing feel free to rb/comment with your knowledge. Anyways Moxxie has more depth because he's been in development for longer, and as season 2 progresses it really feels like they're running out of shit to talk about with him. Everybody else is secondary to those two, which would be FINE if the show was PRESENTED as being about Stolitz, but it's kinda. Not. The show, especially if your going off of the pilot, is presented more like "the Office but in Hell". That is the concept most people are drawn in by. So when the people who signed up for a funny ensemble show in Hell start watching and end up with just a bunch of relationship drama and some occasional focus on like 1 or 2 other characters, they get confused and put off. It's like trying to watch the Office but getting Bojack Horseman(I think. I don't know much abt BJH-) instead.

Meanwhile Hazbin is advertised as an ensemble show and, so far, has fulfilled that promise. All 4 of the episodes we've gotten so far have focused on different characters and, between them, given an equal amount of focus to everyone except maybe Niffty. Episode 1 had Charlie and Vaggie leading the subplots, episode 2 had weirdly Vox and Sir Pentious as the focuses?, episode 3 was about. Pretty much everyone really but Velvette, Carmilla and Vaggie got especially highlighted because of their songs, and episode 4 was focused entirely on Angel and his relationships with the rest of the cast. Like. That's how ensemble shows are supposed to work. And while Charlie is still the main focus of the show, and I'm sure we'll see her get highlighted a whole lot more in coming episodes, Hazbin is still at it's core about EVERYBODY. Even characters that aren't even close to mains are getting attention! And aside from some uh. Very obvious pacing issues, the show handles the ensemble cast surprisingly well! And like, I think the main complaint I've seen(that isn't a straight up controversy) is that the Hotel isn't the main focus of the show? Which like. To be fair we're only like four episodes in? And also fits into my false advertising argument about Helluva but honestly this post is getting long and my brain is kinda melting and it's almost 2am and I have school tomorrow so I'm gonna cut this off here.

In conclusion Hazbin Hotel is generally more well liked than Helluva Boss because it's a true ensemble show, while Helluva is actually the Blitzø show PRETENDING to be an ensemble show. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk :)

[orange-orchard-system]

Disability Pride Month is a complicated time for us, as we have a complicated relationship with the word "disabled". Technically, we could use it to describe ourselves, but between our history with it and the way our conditions affect our life, it's not really something we're comfortable using. Instead, we typically either describe our specific problems (ex. our chronic pain), or use other terms, like "disordered", "with a condition", or even "handicapped". Occasionally, we'll play around with words and describe ourselves as "someone with conditions that can be disabling", but "disabled" as a word is not really one we use for ourselves.

... Which makes it a bit estranging when we enter Disability Pride Month and, oh, look! Lots of people talking about the same struggles we face! Lots of people with our same conditions and problems speaking up about them! Lots of people spreading awareness about how to make things more inclusive and accessable for people like me! Lots of people showing pride for... how they fall under an umbrella term that we don't personally use. Yeah, it gets awkward fast.

But I've come to accept this awkwardness. I don't really mind the widespread use of the word "disabled" – it's fitting, and it works as an umbrella term for a lot of difficulties and/or inabilities people have. Honestly, my main complaint is with those who accuse folks like me (who could describe themselves as disabled but choose not to) as "just having internalized ableism". My fellow on Earth, I promise you, even if that's the case, shoving people into a label before they're ready for it will not help. Maybe go target the causes for this hypothetical internalized ableism before you start demanding people just get over it. (Also, aren't we supposed to show support for both person-first language and identity-first language, depending on a given individual's preference? Some people just prefer the former, especially if some of the disableism they've faced is people refusing to see them as a person; show some compassion, jeez. Someone describing themself as "a person with disabilities" rather than "a disabled person" is not your enemy.)

But anyway. Happy pride month to all those like me, who have complicated relationships with the disabled label and/or community. Having pride during this month can be awkward or difficult at times, but you're not a bad person for opting out of an umbrella term, or not being ready to use it. I hope you're able to find words and community that work best for you!

[crystalelemental]

Okay last thing to keep up on. I finished Volume 5 of MagiRevo.

I like MagiRevo. I think it's fun, Euphyllia is my girl, but it's had some problems. A big one being that it's kinda...slow and dry at times? Like, when we hit a scene that is Euphie and Anis being cute, it's fantastic. When we have a serious character moment, it generally does pretty alright. But those feel like infrequent occurrences, around a mountain of text that is worldbuilding and politics, and while the author creates a cohesive story, they also made a boring one. There's a reason I read the entirety of WataOshi between volumes 3 and 4, and then went like three months before getting to volume 5. Book 4 in particular felt really dry. Barring the one excellent Lainie chapter and a few sporadic scenes (Euphie's coronation, Duke Magenta experiencing a typewriter and going insane), it's almost entirely dry politics talk that does not land.

Book 5, I think, hits a much, much better balance. In part because the big politics stuff is kinda over, now that the next queen is decided. They still dabble a bit in political stuff, but it's (1) much shorter worldbuilding around what the eastern frontier is like, and (2) tied in to Anis' parents and the vaguely understood coup plan from her father's day, which makes it a lot more emotionally salient than the usual explanations. Around this, we get a two pretty fun fights that honestly feel more like character building than just descriptions of what's happening, some incredibly cute scenes of Euphie and Anis, and the dread return of Algard.

Which is, and I cannot believe I'm saying this, the best part. Algard comes back, but is now accompanied by his wolf-girl...friend? Their relationship isn't super clear, but "friend" best encapsulates the present moment. Acryl (like Acryllic, do you get it?) is a pretty interesting character to bring in, both in the sense of an outsider being a good companion for Algard in general, and for the lore she ropes in. There are wolf-people that descend from monsters? There's a whole-ass vampire clan? The vampires try to enslave the wolf-people to fight some unspecified fucked up super monster that seems to be building up as a major boss later? Shit dude, consider me invested. Algard's character is honestly pretty nice here, having essentially let go of the obligations he felt before, and being much more open and honest about what it was he really wanted. His reconciliation with Anis is really heartfelt and I like it a lot. Acryl, by comparison, being a character that hates Anis but for like normal human reasons is kinda refreshing. We've had a lot of "people don't really like Anis" touted in the background, while everyone we meet loves her and is, at worse, kind of a conservative about things and doesn't like her research. But Acryl legitimately just does not like Anis as a person on principle, even as she recognizes Anis isn't a bad person, and I cannot tell you how nice it is to have that. I feel like your main PoV character needs at least someone who just dislikes them.

If there's any major complaint, it's...the usual. Side characters in this story do not get a lot of play. Lainie got one really good chapter, and that led me to hope she and Ilia might get more play, but they're barely around and contribute basically nothing. Tilty doesn't even show up, which is really bothersome to me personally. Gark and Navre are around, but mostly as knights to highlight that yeah, we're trained warriors, who cannot possibly keep up with how strong Euphie and Anis are. Which like. Fine. I just wish they had more to do if they were gonna be here, you know?

This one was really good, though, I tore through it in like three or four hours. Very much enjoyed, excited to see about volume 6 in March.

[trust-ceremony]

Your tags on the Mei agency post are so true. Especially the shipping part, people really act like her and Red Son are just like. Hunt|ow with a different coat of paint, it completely erases Mei's whole entire character.

Anyways, say more

I love complaining thank you for giving me an opportunity

I've watched TOH but it isn't really my thing so I never really cared about Huntlow much but I think I get what you meant and honestly I think the characterization of Redson in the fandom erases a lot of Redson's actual character too

I feel like the fandom tends to erase his character and infantilize and that unfortunately happens to most traumatized/abused characters which. As someone who has gone through abuse is really gross imo. I don't really think about Redson that much so I don't have too many points for him but yeah mischaracterisation sucks

Onto Mei, who I have a lot of points about. I feel like the fandom reduces her personality down to “bubbly girlboss” when she’s really not. Honestly I think the only time that she actually is bubbly (that i can remember atm) is when she’s making fun of or mocking people (main example that comes to mind is her with redson in rotsq) her temper is kind of just removed from her character by most of the fandom even though it’s a reoccuring trait that she’s had since the pilot. I guess the reason could be that she was more angry than usual in s4 ep9 and since it was one of the main things in that episode people actually noticed it (because no one in the fandom actually notices Mei unless she has something major in an episode) but there was a reason she was so upset. I think anyone would be upset if their best friend had a breakdown in front of them and then flew away to where you wouldn’t be able to find them and then you were forced to wait around and do something that you perceive to be useless instead of stopping the person who caused all of this. I’ve seen some people call it out of character which is already bad but seeing it attributed to Redson just feels worse because she’s already only ever talked about in relation to other people. In general I feel like some people don’t really get the point of Mei’s character and only talk about her in relation to OTHER PEOPLE (even with how people talk about the samadhi fire thing for some reason??)

I think Redson and Mei work together so well because they’re so similar. With stuff like both of them feeling out of place in their families (small complaint again but the fandom generally doesn’t talk about Mei’s family issues either and imo they probably effect how she deals with emotions which is interesting), feeling like they will never live up to expectations, they both seem to have a few shared interests and their personalities bounce off eachother very well beause they have similarities but not too the point where they’re the exact same person. I think the whole samadhi fire training (while unfortunately mostly off screen) developed their characters and relationship with eachother so much. Their friendly banter (idk if that’s the word) actually seems friendly whereas before the training it was a bit antagonistic. Both of them having the samadhi fire at one point causing Redson to be able to help Mei in a way that no one else probably could have. Speaking of that I think it’s also really interesting that Redson doesn’t seem to want the fire back at all people also never talk about that.

I think this problem exists with every character in the show actually. Everyone gets put into small character archetypes just to fit into the view of shipping and other stuff to a degree where people just miss the entire point of a character. I think people should have fun with what they want but some people treat it as if it’s canon. The reason it annoys me so much with Mei in particular is partially because she’s my favorite character and partially because there’s literally no other content of her alone which is exclusive to the fandom actually I’m pretty sure she has the most centered episodes out of everyone in the main crew (aside from MK but he’s the mc so it makes sense)

Have a silly image of her

[rollercoasterwords]

hi this isn’t exactly to do with ask game but i would love to hear your thoughts on why ai art is bad/unethical etc etc. rather than the typical complaints that it’s not real and produced my labor …. love ur mind mwah xx

hi laura i am of course always happy 2 share my thoughts w u <3 <3 w the caveat that i am by no means an expert on ai + am not trying to position myself as such, + all my opinions are informed by things smarter/more knowledgeable people have said lol BUT. basically all the convincing critiques i have seen abt ai have been focused around the way it is used to exploit people or deepen already-existing inequality so like. with the wga strike for example--apparently companies are sometimes using ai to create scripts etc which they can then hire writers to fix, and in doing so they can pay those writers less by saying that they're "editing" something instead of creating something new. so in situations like this one, i think ai is something to be wary of not because ai writing a script in and of itself is inherently a bad thing, but because of the way companies are using it to exploit workers--a condition that existed before ai and will continue to exist regardless of ai, bc capitalists can only profit by exploiting workers, and so any anti-ai stances here that act as tho ai is the problem rather than the structural inequality of capitalism sort of miss the mark imo. obviously we need to find ways to respond + protect workers' rights when capitalists use new technology to exploit us, but we shouldn't lose focus of the fact that it isn't the technology itself that is exploitative but rather the capitalists' use of it.

beyond that, i have also seen people critique ai bc it is often assumed to be "objective" or neutral, when in fact ai often relies on biased datasets + therefore ends up reflecting preexisting biases in society--but those biases are assumed to be natural/normal/invisible bc it's a machine spitting them out, not a person. i definitely think that is a reason to be wary of ai--but again, that's due to preexisting inequality and not so much a product of ai itself, y'know? similarly, i've seen people talk about how they're wary of ai (esp things like facial recognition) bc of the ways it contributes to + is used for state surveillance, which i think makes a lot of sense (but is, again, less an issue with the technology in and of itself + more a broader problem w state uses of technology to surveil people).

so like -- all of these are definitely real issues + there are definitely reasons that i can understand being wary of ai (+ reasons that i am wary of it myself!). but honestly most of the critiques i've seen thus far abt ai specifically in fandom spaces seem more reactionary than anything. i guess maybe i'm missing something? but so far the main critiques i've seen about ai art/fics are like

1. it's not "real art" which. i personally do not find to be a compelling argument + quite often seems to devolve into positions about art + value that i am pretty fundamentally opposed to. for example that the amount of time/labor/etc put into an art piece is what confers value, or that the 'quality' of art as measured by [socially constructed list of standards often hearkening back to white western academic tradition] is what makes it 'real' or 'not real.'

2. it's "stealing" which. again i am not quite sure what the underlying argument there is bc i usually just see people making this claim w no further explanation but. i guess if ai is copying and pasting someone else's work that seems like plagiarism yeah, but my understanding of ai is that it is essentially derivative in that it 'learns' by looking at already-created content but is then creating a 'new' work, albeit derivative. but in fandom spaces it seems like we're all pretty much on board with derivative art, y'know? so i honestly don't really understand how different it is for like. a human being to read my writing + get inspired by it + write something that echoes or builds off it versus a machine doing that. again don't know a ton abt how ai works so maybe i'm missing something but currently i just truly do not understand what's going into the stealing argument

and honestly i think both the idea that ai art [art including writing here] isn't 'real' and that it's 'stealing' sort of rely on the myth of meritocracy + manufactured scarcity economies. as in. personally i do not see any downside to there being more art in the world--whether i personally think it's good or bad--unless i am supposed to be competing for limited space in the ~art world~ with other people. but like. in fandom spaces it's not like we're out here competing for resources, y'know? i'm just writing for fun, so why do i care if someone posts like. a chatgpt fic on ao3. i don't have to read it, and if other people are choosing to read it that isn't like....taking anything away from me, y'know? unless we're trying to say that only certain fics/art is "deserving" of attention but. that sort of position relies on a manufactured scarcity economy by acting as though "attention" is some sort of limited resource we must all compete for, and also depends on very arbitrary standards for determining who's "deserving" and i just. do not really buy into either of those stances. so! maybe there are other reasons people are upset abt ai in fandom spaces specifically that i'm missing but currently those r my thoughts on critiques of ai that make sense vs critiques that do not make sense

edit bc i realized i didn't actually answer the question lol - basically i don't think ai art is bad! i think ai is frequently used in bad ways by capitalists but in and of itself i do not really see an issue with creating ai art

[erigold13261]

If you could fix ONE or more plot point(s) from NSR/Psyconauts, what would it be?

Oh absolutely the ending of NSR. I'm sorry, but I fucking HATE that stupid hand they did at the end. It makes me so mad. All that buildup just to have a giant hand make a rock symbol and blow up the satellite. Like I am okay with some stupid things to happen, but that is way too much for me.

Especially by the fact that Tatiana specifically states she is going to clear out the tower in case the plan doesn't work, only for all the surrounding buildings to run up the tower and make a hand. What about all the people in THOSE buildings? Huh Tatiana!?

Also like, they make it VERY clear that the naval force of Vinyl City is a big one, with flying submarines/battle ships and regular battleships in the water. They could have easily done something with those!

Or even like some kind of powerup or something that allowed a beam to shoot from the tower to the satellite would have been fine! (though the implications of either beam or hand of the tower becomes dangerous considering that would mean NSR could literally just kill people in the city if they wanted to).

Like I GET they needed some super big bad to give power back to the charters and fix Mayday and Zuke's mistakes/actions, but they could have thought of something else that wasn't so ridiculous. Like do something with the main qwasa in the center of the city or something.

Also, a small thing, I would have liked to see 1010 and Mama in the end. I know it would have been a bitch to somehow add 5 more bodies to the already busy scene, but it would have been nice to see them. (though I do like the implications that 1010 get repaired later. I just wish they could have represented their own district instead of just Neon since Sayu is representing mer own district. But the devs/game is being ambiguous on how sentient 1010 are so I understand that, but at least let Mama be with her kid).

As for Pyschonauts, I think this is more gameplay than story, but I wish the first game made it easier to get down from the tower. Or at least tell us earlier there is no going back because I couldn't 100% the game afterwards and didn't want to go down the tower a 4th time. Otherwise with that first game I have no real complaints about plot or story. (other than not having Augustus screaming RAZPUTIN over and over every second in the last fight which got annoying quick).

For the second game though, I wish the interns were more prevalent in the story. Give them some side missions or something that INVOLVE them, not just us doing their work. Or make them do more in the scenes we see them in. Maybe each intern could help up with one of the Psychic 7 when we are recruiting them (I like the idea of Lizzie helping Compton). Just SOMETHING.

I've seen a lot of people say that you could take the interns out of the game entirely and not have to change much to get the same story. And honestly I see that as pretty true. I just wish they were more involved because you could completely ignore them if you wanted to once you get out of the mother lobe (pretty sure you can).

But yeah, other than that I don't have any real problems with the plot of the game. I only played them each like once compared to me playing NSR about 5-6 times, so I might not be as experienced in the game to give my take on the story. But from what I remember the story was fine. Fine enough I have no outstanding complaints in my head to change something other than gameplay/mechanic wise.

[nutritionalyeasty]

I finished part one of A Strange and Stubborn Endurance and honestly I am leaning towards dropping it. The first part is so bad. Spoilers for the first part of A Strange and Stubborn Endurance.

My first issue with part one is how info dumpy it is. I don't understand why the story starts with Vel arriving at his father's estate. The beginning should have been pushed back. It would have worked better if it began when Vel was still in the capital city. We should have seen his life there: his friends, his social circle, his house, his relationship with Markel. We should have seen how he interacts with Kellic and what their relationship is like before everything falls apart. We should see Vel be a bit of a misogynist or at least dismissive of his female friends. Maybe a friend is angry that her father is marrying her off without her consent and Vel is a bit cruel and dismissive towards her. So much could have been shown and established if the story was pushed back a bit rather than the paragraphs upon paragraphs of info dump we get in the first chapter.

Which leads me to my second complaint: Kellic and the rape scene. I don't have any issue with how the rape was depicted but I do have an issue with Kellic as the perpetrator. One of the main problems with where the story starts is that Kellic is not established as anything. We are told that he is Vel's ex and that he slept around. But we don't see anything else about him. We don't know anything about him. Again to my point above, a simple scene that establishes Kellic's possessiveness would have made this scene so much more impactful. But instead, Kellic feels like a shadow villain that comes out of the dark to rape Vel and then leaves. Perhaps he is established more in the later part of the book, but the scene and his character just left me thinking, okay...? Kellic as the rapist also raises an interesting thread about intimate partner violence and rape within homophobic societies. How does one deal with that when one has to navigate that their relationship is already clandestine and illicit? How does one deal with that when one's social circle is so interconnected? Will one's friends betray them? Will they turn on them? Can they even really leave them because one's partner could out them? But the story isn't concerned with that because Vel's life and society is so underdeveloped to begin with. We can't mourn with Vel about what has been lost by Kellic's actions. We can't mourn what Vel loses when he is forced into a betrothal he doesn't want and isn't ready for. All of it feels so empty.

My third issue with this book is that queer normative society is 100% good and homophobic society with 100% bad. Vel is a character with no flaws. He is from a homophobic society but doesn't have any internalized homophobia. He's only dismissive about women's plight but he rights this immediately. He is a noble but not classist at all. His is not ableist in anyway. He doesn't hate his step-mother or his half-brother for disinheriting him. He is 100% good without any indication that his is from this homophobic and misogynist society. The people from the queer normative society are also 100% good. They would never force someone into a marriage they don't want. They understand consent. They are a bit ableist to Markel but those are unnamed characters so it really doesn't count. I don't understand this need to have queer normative societies be utopias. There might be issues with the queer normative society but it is not established or hinted at in the first part. I understand we don't need queer characters to be mustache twirling villains anymore but can these characters and societies not also be complex? Can they too not be human who make mistakes? Who do bad things? Kellic is in some sense a villain but he is not established as human or even really a character in the story.

I don't think I will be continuing this book. There much better written books on my tbr I can focus on.

[vtori73]

I love JJK and I do have critiques of it but personally I don't have as much or nearly as much as others do on the "sexism," in the series. I'm not saying there isn't any, I put it in quotes because a lot of what people say or claim is sexism found within the series is stuff I dont fully agree with. My main complaint about sexism within the series is the girls/woman did deserve more time to shine or just to be explored more backstory wise, especially the one that was considered a special grade but at the same time I was not too torn up about it only because literally all of them died, all of them are currently dead except for the youngest (Yuta). I do think she died in an asinine way though, considering what happens to Choso but I also will say it makes sense for the story (the Choso dying and Yuki dying not the dying FOR Choso to live on part). I mean, I will say I still do get it to a degree because Gege does love being cruel (lol). That sounds harsh but what I moreso mean is he loves his bittersweet moments that really make you feel something like the moment with Riko & Geto when she says she wants to live as a normal girl and be with her friends and we think things are going to be fine or could turn around but then gets shot by Toji and dies instantly. It's meant to make us feel a certain way and I could say the same about a LOT of the other deaths.

Again my problem more so is the angle she came from and the fact that we don't really get to see her actually be strong and show us how/why she is a special grade because the first time we ever see her full on fight she dies (I think she may fought a bit before with Mahito but I honestly don't remember, but still it was barely anything) or at least learn more about her and get some backstory like all of the other special grades. She deserved more time, but I don't think her dying was necessarily wrong or a bad thing when it comes down to the story Gege is trying to tell. Most of my other issues are similar in that they just deserved more time to shine like the male characters and to show that they ARE powerful, not saying they aren't powerful because many of them are BUT we the audience deserve to see it to be shown much more equally like the boys/men through fighting and screentime and not just through power level/grades, text, and such.

I do believe part of it is censorship tbh, im not going to say ALL of it is but the lack of time spent on them feels more like something not 100% under Geges control, especially if what I saw was correct about a recent interview he had in which he felt forced to rush Tsumiki's come back and interactions with Yuji, maybe he meant more in general than something forced upon him but regardless it is a known fact that the company (shonen jump) has a sexism problem and so it would be wrong to not take that into consideration.

Other than the above though I don't really have other criticisms regarding the woman characters, I have other criticisms unrelated to them but again those are unrelated. One thing that does make me have a more positive view of Gege and why I grant some leniency like taking possible censorship and such into account is because he HAS shown he can write woman characters and do them justice, like specifically Maki.

I believe ignoring Makis whole storyline is a huge misstep to take when trying to make any legit and fair critique of JJK. Maki's whole arc was about fighting against her own family that upheld patriarchal abusive values over her to keep her and the woman in the family in line and she wanted none of that and wanted better for herself and her family (sister). She worked hard to become stronger but was fought at every turn and despite becoming very strong for someone who was born a non- sorcerer she was still denied basic respect, agency, & decency and they still very much felt she needed to know her place as a woman who was a non-sorcerer. Despite being told she wasn't strong & worthless she still fought back and killed them all after what they did to her sister. She did this so EASILY too, the person they looked down upon and showed no respect or humanity towards slaughtered them like they were nothing but livestock.

Her story is literally overcoming the old patriarchal thinking found within Japan perpetuated by specific families and she WINS, she does it, she beats them, at a cost though but that's JJK. Also some might take issue with the sister dying but I honestly don't see her storyline work as well as it does without her. If she were an only child it just wouldn't have tugged at our heart nearly as much & considering various factors about Maki and her story the majority of other sibling variations she could have would just not have worked well ESPECIALLY if the gender of the sibling wasn't a girl. Her fighting the patriarchy, for let's say a hypothetical brother, just wouldn't be nearly as impactful or... make sense because again her story is dealing with a PATRIARCHAL family, a boy would automatically be treated better than Maki regardless because Maki deals with being oppressed by her family for being a non-sorcerer and a girl. Also not to mention her having a brother might come off a bit too Toji 2.0, just saying.

Again, I've said it before but I do think some "fans" of the series and people within fandom spaces in general don't really actually know all that much about sexism and such to really know how to criticize it well within the media they consume. I feel JJK gets a lot more flack in this regard while other popular series don't get nearly as much and also at the same time have much more people making excuses for it. Part of it I do believe has to do with the simple fact that a lot of characters actually die within the series which makes people more upset/quick to judge without considering all the other info and facts that happen within the story. But, I do believe another contributing factor to this as well is people are inherently sexist. Let's face it, we are born in a patriarchal society, it's very much a global thing so a lot of people are just going to be sexist and even those who work on it will be at different stages of it and maybe never progress to knowing more than the basics of what's sexist &/or feminist. So inevitably we will get people who don't do deep enough thorough dives into the overall picture of the series or take in any other info when making their critiques which makes for a very poor analysis.

Anyway... I'm done. I know I've typed about this stuff before but I feel my thoughts just keep coming together better as the series goes on and seems to be heading closer towards its end and have had more time to ruminate on my thoughts. Also, sorry for any typos, I have ADHD meaning despite the fact I work hard on trying to catch my mistakes I will 99% of the time miss something, lol.

[fairysbookshelf]

Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood

Book Stats:

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5)

Spice Rating:🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️(4/5)

Tropes: Forced Proximity, Hookup before Context

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Review:

*Disclaimer- Most people know I am a ride or die Ali Hazelwood fan(she is a auto buy author of mine), and I typically don't review-review her books, but this one is very different then her typical books so I figured I would share my thoughts about it!*

Ru is your average socially awkward girl. Doesn't do good in large crowds, not good at expressing feelings, and can't fully comprehend what she wants. Her job at Klein lets her have financial stability that she craved as a kid while also allowing her to continue research and work with her couple of close friends. Which is all fine and dandy, until Harkness investment firm comes and buys out Klein's loan. Eli happens to work for said firm, and was suppose to be one of Ru's "One and done" hookup's. Now they are toeing the line with their relationship.

Where to even begin? As much as I LOVE Hazelwood's general Rom-Comy book style, This one may just be my favorite.

This book deals with a unlikeable main character. Now I know what your thinking, how bad can she really be? I just don't think she fits on the same line up as the other heroine the author has written. Think your typical nerd problems multiplied by 10 with a true side of trauma. She has layers to her, she is not effortlessly beautiful(a complaint I hear a lot about Hazelwood's books), She is not always great at communicating. I can see why many people may not feel she is not the best female lead.

Now, Eli on the other hand is your perfect golden retriever. He knows and understands where Ru is and meets her in every way. Yes, he is a little basic, but I honestly think that is what our MC needs in this situation.

They have great chemistry, and I love that they started in a rom-comy way, but their relationship is different than that. It's very raw.

Now, let's talk about the big thing-There is A LOT more steamy scenes in this book than normal(Which I think is main people's issue with it) and to that I say, not every relationship looks the same. Both of these characters are more complex than your typical billionaire and science weapon. They are COMPLEX. Hence why I think this type of relationship works for them. It starts and makes sense for both of them from where they are in life. And yes, while I do think smut may not be Miss Hazelwood's strong suit, I do believe it's a lot better than what's out there.

This book is NOT for your rom-com fluffy girlies. It's for your readers who enjoy emotional, character growth pushing, complex characters, and of course a healthy dose of smut romances. If your looking for a romcom novel like the one the author typically writes, this is not the book for you.