#Especially since I plan on making it More foreshadowed now that I have the means to do so

[shiroselia]

Genuinely hilarious that one of the most intense and arguably cool things I'm going to do in Squirrel Punt entirely stems from my Complete lack of desire to deal with Mr Sands, including forgetting that I needed to like. do something with him, and my complete inability to be assed to fit the dark riders into Squirrel Punt because that plot just does Not have the space for them

[miimo96]

Thoughts on My Adventures with Superman S2 episode 4

Alright 2 things, 1 I love how General lane Not only set up an entire bunker like fortress in Clark and Jimmy's apartment, but also made them Use a Code word in order for them to Even get in, 2 I Reallly love Clark's reaction to Jimmy's achievement, it really shows how much he cares about his friend and is really happy for him 😊 Also is it me or has the Animation gotten So much Better this Season, they really stepped their Game up since the Spiderman fiasco, especially when it comes to the lighting and faces, I mean just look at Clark's smile here >_<

Bruh I'm calling it right now, by the end of this Season Jimmy is going to lose ALL of his Money, that Money meter keeps going down each episode, if that isn't foreshadowing Idk what is ^^;

Once again I'm really loving the relationship between these 2, the fact that Jimmy wants Clark to come not because he's an Alien but because he's his best friend is really sweet, and it really shows just how much the writers Really know about Superman and his world and want to make it to the best version, also the fact that Clark is LITERALLY deciding which outfit seems more "Hype man" is Really funny to me, especially Jimmy's comeback line after this

Judging how Waller is clearly making another Task force X I wanna say this Blockbuster, but I'm not entirely sure, so far this guy's only appeared in like a few episodes this season, So if they kill him off I Wont entirely be mad, because he serves No purpose other than filling out the Villain slots, and the reason why I'm saying this might be Blockbuster is because I can't recall another Villain with super strength and Built like this in the suicide Squad other than blockbuster, who coincidently died IMMEDIATELY in a Suicide Squad comic run

Even though the episode is clearly about lois and father, it's Super obvious that it was actually focused on the relationship between Clark and Jimmy, and how they feel about 1 another, this scene with Clark telling Jimmy about how he's made him feel was really beautiful and Ngl, I kinda teared up at this point, the relationship between the 2 is some of the best I've seen in a Long time since the animated series back on WB Kids, they really put a lot of effort into fleshing out each character and making us Fall in love with them even more ^w^

The whole Superman Debate Scene was great, I really loved how Lex and Jimmy are basically two polar opposites, 1 supporting superman and his pureness and the other being Superman's biggest Hater, with both literally being incredibly rich rn, and it's kinda funny, while Jimmy is losing money, Lex is Gaining money, gaining everyhing that we know him for; Lex brought up a lot of good points regarding Superman and how "Dangerous" he is, Stuff that I think will Return in Season 3 with people Gunning for Superman or trying to Eliminate him, maybe we might actually see Batman Show up Next season 😏

I find it So CONVENIENT that general lane's Rendezvous point Just so happens to be near the STAR Labs EXPO, almost like if this was planned for this to happen here, So that when Superman shows up he could be made out as the Bad guy *looks intently at Lex*

As Sad as this scene is you're really telling me He DIDN'T HEAR THAT!? I mean the dude has SUPER HEARING for a reason, you're REALLY telling me he Didn't hear that? Ok whatever Sure, I guess super hearing Only works when the Writers Need it huh, even though they made a WHOLE episode about that Last season 😒

🥺🥺🥺 I don't have any words for this scene other than Seeing Clark like this really hurts my soul, seeing him come to the Realization that he's Never gonna truly fit in and that He NEEDS Someone like him to Really understand him just shows how much Clark has repressed these feelings by trying to be Something he's not, which is human, Now he's Finally starting to accept his Alien/Kryptonian half, with the 1st step being to find someone Truly like him

ZOD IS HERE OMG ZOD IS HERE!!

Also I Officially dub these Days "Superman Saturday's" ^^ 🦸‍♂️

[frootertooter]

Really really long ass rant/ slight analysis? (I dunno what to call this) about Arkhamverse Scarecrow's progression, design, and Rocksteady's environmental storytelling:

I seriously love the world building/design/environmental storytelling around him so damn much- Especially with Arkham Shadows coming out (they better put some cool ass Scarecrow sequences in it since it's in VR), you get to see how he started out as just a guy in a stitched up gas mask. Professor Jonathan Crane in the fullest

Nothing over the top yet (might change, Shadows isn't out yet), until then we hit Arkham Asylum- This game shows us 2 Scarecrow costumes. The one presumably before his incarceration, and the one he wears while inside the asylum.

Inside the asylum, his costume is made of stitched up chunks of inmate uniforms, he's resourceful, he has a higher pitched, cackly voice at the time. He knows his way around the asylum and creates a makeshift secret lair within it. He also knows the doctors within, and uses his experience as a psychologist to trick them during the patient interviews. He even tricks the players when you first listen to the tapes, making you assume the person speaking is the interviewer, and not Scarecrow manipulating/ using the interview tapes as a means to experiment on the doctors. He's even hinted at to have possibly worked at, or with the asylum at some point before he became Scarecrow? (goon dialogue in Arkham Knight)

Favourite quote from the tapes: "I believe he is quite sane. Just evil"

His next change, like his Asylum design, was a result of him being forced to adapt. He gets mauled by Killer Croc in the sewers, barely surviving with his face ripped apart, leg broken, and presumably his throat torn.

Although not present in the second game, the environment of Arkham City shows that Scarecrow is planning on a comeback. There's his mask hidden away, a few goons of his scattered about, and cannisters of fear toxin that you can find in Riddler's rooms and Hush's lair. He's building up connections again, getting ready for the next game.

^^ Using his masterline figure bc it's the only brightened detailed full body image I could find of him (even his in game character trophy has the brightness turned all the way down sobs)

His Arkham Knight design reveals just how much damage Croc did to his body, and how much he's had to adapt. His left leg now has to wear a brace, giving himself a notable squeaking and clacking noise whenever he walks. His right eye is now glassy since he was blinded by the attack, and much of his nose had now been ripped off. So much of his mouth was ripped apart that he can't even close it anymore. Because of his adaptability however, he uses it all to his advantage. As hinted by conversations in game, Crane likely purposefully had his facial reconstruction surgery make himself look like his Asylum costume's mask-

The gas canisters attached to his face and the tubes attached to his throat is likely is what changed his voice into a low gravely tone. His skin now looks like ripped/stitched together cloth, with string tying his lower jaw to the top (don't ask me how he talks with no lips)- He now walks, talks, and acts menacingly, a far cry from his more cartoonish acts in the Asylum.

Yet despite that, he still draws back to his knowledge and familiarity from his Asylum days in Knight. Using his psychologist background, he appeals and teams with every supervillain he can in Gotham, just as the Joker had done back then. He builds his base at the Asylum, bringing Batman over in restraints and ending the game franchise where it had all started.

God I just- he's so cool, I love the world building in the Arkham games, I love the map designs, the character changes, etc. Rocksteady did such a good job at environmental storytelling

Even the foreshadowing bit with Scarecrow's speech on the blimp in Arkham Knight blew me away ksdkfd- "What can you see? A city engulfed in fear? Betrayed by those you trust the most? Your darkest secrets revealed?" He did all that, he tore Batman's legend apart, but even then it didn't break the bat :')

Ofc I still have my issues with Arkham Knight's story (WHY WAS THERE NO SCARECROW BOSS FIGHT...) but overall the series' progression based, environmental storytelling imo is phenomenal

[dipplinduo]

So you would want to write more Sweet & Sour? Interesting. Anything you wish you could rewrite in hindsight?

(Context: this ask)

OOH this is a good question! xD 'Cause yeah, there's some things I'd handle differently. I could be knit-picky about a number of things, but these are the main ones tbh:

Make Kieran & Juliana have an even slower burn (like pre first-kiss). I pulled the trigger on making them more romantically involved with each other because I knew I was going in that direction and felt that I would've only written repetitively about their dynamic if I kept things where they were. BECAUSE OF COURSE MORE IDEAS CAME IMMEDIATELY AFTER I PULLED THAT TRIGGER- I am a bigggg enemies/rivals to lovers fan, and I don't like it when the pair gets together too quickly. I honestly wonder what I would think about their development if I was a reader lol. (I will say that keeping the fluidity & tension up after the fact was good, though. A lot of books I read suck at doing that xD) But like, stuff like early Kieran taking care of sick Juliana and having conflicting feelings over it? That felt like a great sweet spot. I'd love to give Juliana a little more reluctance about how she feels about Kieran too; I wanted to show that she's compassionate to a fault (and now y'all may see why xDD), but yeah. I really like the early stages of their feelings, and tbh it was part of why I wrote DIOH. I chuck things in there that I couldn't go back on with S&S D.

More flashbacks, especially for Juliana. Although...:) Chapter 22 and CHAPTER 23.... (that's all I'll say on that because I have a plan to address this LOL).

As much as I dislike it, draw out the E4 battles and whatnot. S&S D is by no means a battle-oriented fic but I 100% shoehorned the challenges in to progress a necessary part of the plot and I'll own that. It's honestly one of the smaller things given that the fic has more of a romance/chain lore/dorming au/some slices of life moments in it, butttttt yeah. xD Essentially I'd have Juliana challenge them in a more gradual way.

Some writing style things. As I've been growing as a casual writer, one thing I caught myself doing - unintentionally - is some bait-and-switch writing at times.

E.g. Applins are missing at the end of one chapter -> Applins are found in the next & the plot point is immediately resolved.

It didn't feel like that to me at the time because I wrote the chapters separately at different times & it does take a whole long ass chapter to get there, buuuuut! Yeah! I could see how this could get a little frustrating as a reader (imo); however, I acknowledge it can also give a (positive) episodic feel.

Since I self-identified this, I'm trying to be mindful about it with endgame stuff. There is something coming up that does dress itself up in a bit of a bait-and-switch manner, and I'm gonna work hard to hopefully demonstrate that this was the plan all along (thank you foreshadowing xD)

Another thing is the way I describe things at times. I can tend to get very descriptive because I want to immerse people, but this in itself can likely get repetitive. I will continue the writing style in S&S D for the most part to keep the cohesion in the story though. :)

[crypticmillipede]

[percy jackson spoilers here up through Trials of Apollo and TSaTS]

listen i LOVEE the percy jackson series and its extended universe . BIG FAVORITE so trust me when i say i mean this with the UPMOST love:

gawd damn rick riordan keeps making these little choices in his writing that have me tweaking. like the way this man forgets his own lore. EGREGIOUS. pulls me out of the story. it’ll be the tiniest, most innocuous thing but it gets me everyyy time. happens more especially as you get into the later series, probably bc there’s just more stuff to keep track of. i loved TSaTS but it was especially bad there😭😭 wdym nico started playing Mythomagic in the 1940s ?? why is bianca here ?? and nico, who spends most of his time in the underworld, doesn’t know what the phlegethon is??

it’s other stuff too, i love the series but there so much missing potential for these characters that was just never fully explored.

Jason’s character had SO much potential. hello ???? child soldier trained by wolves since age 2, pressured with unwanted responsibility, forced to suppress emotions, remain stoic, be a leader. Rick could’ve done sooo much with that material. jason should get to break down, as a treat !! instead he comes off as a bit undeveloped, sort of hollow, not nearly as fleshed out as some of the other characters. he’s probably the least-liked main character in HoO, but i firmly believe that’s because Rick didn’t do his character idea justice, not because his concept was ACTUALLY boring. Not even going to go INTO what happened to him in ToA, bc i’ve GOT opinions about that but it’s too much rn.

and don’t get me started on Piper, man. the reveal in Trials of Apollo that [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER] Piper was queer? GENIUS. SOOO much potential there. but now i’m going back and rereading HoO and it’s making me mad bc we GET Piper’s pov and it’s not foreshadowed or hinted at at all. and it could’ve been SO GOOD you guys😭😭 imagine a version of HoO where Piper’s struggling with Hera-induced comphet, warring with the false memories implanted in her brain vs the way she’s expected to act as a daughter of aphrodite vs the way she actually feels ??? UGH it could’ve been so good. but instead, it’s so obvious that this was not Rick’s original plan for Piper’s character, and it was something he threw in later on. missed opportunity for sure.

in general, a lot of missed opportunities in HoO. So many missed character interaction opportunities, so much that could’ve been delved into but wasn’t! Like I wish we could’ve gotten more about Percy and Annabeth post-Tartarus, see how they’re holding up after that dumper fire.

and i LOVE HoO, it’s my favorite out of the bunch! but i think i love it for what it could be, yk?? anyways yes thanks for coming to my rant, feel free to disagree with me that’s totally fine!! this is so unserious anyways lol just me sharing some thoughts about a series i love

[callsign-relic]

wow!! thank you for writing such a comprehensive response- i love hearing other peoples opinions about things, it's always fascinating to see what people pick up from the same piece of media!!

i agree with a TON of your points, even if they didnt detract from my personal enjoyment of the movie shfjdbdj (i. genuinely could not stop talking for about 4 hours after watching it ;-;)

i especially agree about the fast pacing and the way B and Elita didn't do much in the story; the same can be said for a lot of the other non-main characters, which is somewhat understandable because the movie is framed as being focused on Orion and D-16's relationship and the destruction of, but still!! As a Jazz and Soundwave enjoyer I was. both delighted and dying. I want to see more of the High Guard/Decepticons! What little we saw of them was... compelling, but I would have LOVED if they dug into that more. The reveal of the High Guard sorta came out of nowhere for me (especially the fact that they ALSO saw Sentinel's betrayal???????)

Like you said, if this were a show it would have given more time for emotions (and concepts!) to feel more impactful and- with what they did with the characterisation in the short amount of screentime each character had?? I WANT THAT SHOW. I want to know MORE about the world and the characters!!!!! Also Shockwave was a whiny little bitch in this and I love him.

I actually think that D-16's turn to anger and violence was pretty well foreshadowed and played out nicely in terms of seeing how his views got turned around, but I also EXTREMELY agree that his constant anger gave the climax less of a punch. Again: pacing TuT!!!

I'm actually planning to watch the movie again, but for the opposite reason LMAO. I feel like I got TOO hyped and now I want to go back and dissect the movie now I'm calmer 😂 Evidently I am. still pretty excited, considering the length of this ask which im cutting off now because you can't put a readmore on these oh my god AHHH

- init

Ahhh ofc! It means a lot that you wanted to hear my thoughts!!!

Omg the brainrot hit you hard HAHAHA. My sister and I were talking about the movie the entire way home!!

I agree about this tbh! The movie was indeed focused on Orion and D’s relationship, so it makes sense that that was the main focal point. I just wish the other characters had a little more time to shine since they were there anyway you know? And about the High Guard, right!!! They came out of literally nowhere HAHA. Literally jumped out and kidnapped the main crew. We needed to learn more about them to truly understand their impact and role! Oh and little sidenote, the fact that D choked Starscream so hard his voice box started glitching was such a good detail.

And YES right! Honestly feel like this should have been a show. Of course that would’ve meant slightly lower quality animation and score and everything, but from what we saw from the movie the writing could’ve saved it from that. I really just wish we had more time to get to know the story more in full.

Yeah, pacing!! And actually I do agree with you there, we do see his dedication to Sentinel well beforehand, I do agree that the buildup and foreshadowing was great. It was just— his anger felt like a punch in the face. On its own, would be great. But the fist never pulled away from my face, and kinda just. Stayed there smushing my face. And they’re like “does it hurt??” By the end and im like “yeah I mean you punched me in the face ofc it’s gonna hurt. But you could’ve pulled back, gained more momentum, and punched me again”.

Hopefully that metaphor makes sense LOL

And YEAHH REWATCH!! And pls be assured I don’t mind the lengths of your asks at all! I love hearing your thoughts and really appreciate that you want to hear mine! It’s a fun discussion :D

[naffeclipse]

Ok, ok, I'm gonna set aside that chapter ending for a bit so that I'm able to talk about the parts before it even though it has me in a very tight grip right now fdkhjgkjh

Just hrrrrrrrrr, so many thoughts where to even start!!! AHHHHH

Ok first of all, the first night! We get to see the perspective of the boys! They really were just about to go for a random human huh? Which I mean makes sense, but that would have been so very absolutely bad because while in the other hunter's case they could have claimed self-defense (very loosely as one, in the position of the hunter, could argue they didn't have to go that far), in this case would have literally just been, well, murder. From a demonic perspective it was perfectly reasonable of course! They DID seek out any animal prey first, and finding none, it was their one option left. But from a human perspective? Literally no different than any of the other monsters y/n has been hunting to protect innocent people. Little Reid will never know how his presence actually saved the people travelling with him.

And omg the kid! The sacred rules intrigue me more and more! The knowledge that he was in danger and lost was enough to make their growing hunger almost completely ignorable. As long as they hadn't found him they focused so intently on him and nothing else. Of course, the hunger was bad enough that they were still constantly aware of it, but it amazes me, because we see that later in the chapter they even fear being tempted by y/n's heart.

But ahhh, ok, getting back on track before I jump too much around, oof! That next morning was rough. Y/n already struggles so badly with their own self doubt, and obviously the one course of action the boys could take to not be discovered (or delay the hurt that came the next night anyway), was to latch onto that and make y/n belief they were tricking themselves which oof, oof, oof. I love the boys but yikes they do deserve to feel guilty for that one, because they at the same time made y/n feel guilty for doubting them.

AND then the next night! Oh boy, oh boy! I was actually wondering if the rake had no heartbeat, which I think this confirmed it doesn't, with Sun and Moon actively scanning for it. The night before they would not have noticed out of being too busy with Reid, (since they also didn't notice y/n's own when it spiked in fear), but this one? When filled with rage and scared that they could have returned to a corpse, and HUNGRY? I don't think they would have missed it, so I'm guessing it's kind of like the vampires that have it but it doesn't beat. Or it does but it produces no sound? Since the creature itself seems to not make a sound in general hmmm.

Oh and Naff! The foreshadowing with the bear traps was so clever! When they were mentioned again I didn't think of it much, but then I was like "huh funny that they've come up ag- WAIT A MINUTE, COULD IT BE?" And then it was!! Ahhh!! I like how once again we can see how smart and capable the hunter is. They are sick and very weak, but learned quickly from the last night and knew not to look at those eyes. They got a hit in, tried to get to the salt (which not a bad idea! and I have a feeling it will come up again too hehe), and then they manged to make a plan on the spot to lure the rake into the bear traps! Clever heart, indeed!

And then! What a brutal death for that cryptid! Honestly, all the others should be grateful (well, except doppleganger XD) that it was the hunter getting to them, because Sun and Moon do not hold back, especially knowing how close this one was to killing them. And gosh, y/n got to see every detail in that killing. They were horrified even when the thing was about to kill them. The glimpse at the demonic cryptid and now knowing it's the same one they thought they saw before? I can see a great deal of paranoia in the future days, which only combines now with what's happening with Sun and Moon.

(Sidenote: "Eclipses the gray fog" hehe, I see what you did there~ )

The relief of them being safe was so brief, because that following conversation was going to be hard yes or yes. Gosh, just, the plead for them to not be scared? Killed me. Instantly. They know they were seen. They know this fear, when everything is safe, is due to them. And now there is no hunger to distract from that little fact. And then the hurt, the disappointment. All around.

They were caught in a lie. As much as it was not a verbal lie, the insinuation that they didn't leave was clear as day. The making them believe that they were being ridiculous was clear as day. And they might be too sick to reflect on that now, but oof, it's right there for them to see. And it's a valid thing for y/n to push! The care has always been clearly mutual, but not the trust. From their perspective they have bared themselves to the boys, letting them in in so many ways, so from their perspective they are being shut out. And now they inevitably think it's because of something about them. Not proving themselves as trustworthy, and now Sun and Moon assuring it's not the case, and then immediately not providing a better explanation, while just having been caught tricking them will not be very credible.

And now y/n is afraid. Afraid their love for the boys is more one-sided than they thought, because even when asking if they won't ever leave (meaning for good), the boys can't promise they won't (because they might have to leave briefly again), and it hurts them so badly, it hurts them they aren't apparently trustworthy in the boys eyes and it's enough to not want them at their side through the night even when their presence has helped them emotionally and through the fever! And the boys can do nothing to reassure them, because it's either straining their relationship, or potentially losing them forever.

And hhhhh, when they ask if y/n wants them to leave! And they say no, but with how exact words are for them, the addition of there being something dangerous out there might imply to them the answer would be yes if not for the hypothetical threat! And that must hurt a lot too! And they are feeling rejected, and the last nights they couldn't allow themselves to be nearby and now that there is no pressing issue that would make them leave, they aren't welcome to be close and ahhhhh

My last thought is that now y/n is sad, and sick and will likely have night terrors for a good while, having felt the terror of a demonic so nearby again, thinking themselves so surely dead, but now the boys will be unwelcomed to help, at least these first few nights I think D:

Oooough, my heart hurts, I am eating this angst, it's just SO FREAKING GOOD!!

Excellent chapter Naff, 10 broken hearts out of 10 would cry again! </3

I'm so excited for what's to come! :D

Chaotik I am eating up this entire ask I just ahhhhh!!!! *rattles you affectionately*

There is so much I want to touch on but, especially that, yeah, the boys are making a lot of terrible decisions, not only for themselves but for Y/N's well-being and their relationship, but it's funny what fear will have you do, huh?

Thank you so much for reading and for all of your beautiful thoughts, babe ♥ ♥ ♥

[threewaysdivided]

I just wanted to say: I love your art and especially your banner rn by talos! also your fic as well thank you for creating everything that you do for people, it’s awesome!

Second: what’s something that you’ve been chewing on lately, story wise? What character conflict, or plot point can you tell me about (that doesn’t spoil too much of course)? I wanna hear your thoughts about the characters you write and your head-cannons on them too! Just spit some word vomit at me!

Thank you! 

My current banner art is actually a crop of the first paired piece I ever did to go with my Deathly Weapons fic.  (Specifically Chapter 11, which I still have a soft spot for since it’s one of earliest chapters that really let me lean into scratching the thing-I-haven’t-seen-too-often-in-fanfic itch.) 

I recently got my hands on a discounted Wacom (my digital art process got tanked a few years ago when my poor art-compatible hybrid tablet-laptop was tragically taken from us by a cracked motherboard) so I’m looking forward to getting into a faster art workflow again and maybe putting some new pieces out more easily.  I’d like to do more comic art pieces for the Chapter 18 mission, and there’s a silly little concept drawing for the planned Mission 5 that might be new-blog-banner material if it turns out nicely.  We’ll have to see how that goes.

As for what I’ve been chewing on story-wise lately… I’ve sort of been all over the place.  I’m still on burnout recovery so I’ve been letting myself move non-sequentially, working on the bits my brain feels like focussing on rather than trying to force creativity where the juice isn’t flowing.   (One of the things about being my type of writing-nerd is that “self-indulgent” for me means a story with plenty of material to analyse, which is very fun as a reader but has created a lot of work for myself as the writer.  As mentioned in another post, I have a full-blown TV-show-style story-bible for this one.)

Recently, my authorial ping-pong-ing has been going into a fair bit of spoiler territory.  There are some chunks of the Act III endgame plan which are underdeveloped in the specifics of what the big-boss bad-guys’ plan is, whether I want to involve the Anti-Ecto Acts more, and the logistics of both the counter-strategy our heroes are planning to use and how to make its more action-heavy parts look cool in writing.  When I’m not doing that I’ve been focussing a lot on the upcoming Wally-centric chapters, which are a set I’ve been wanting to keep schtum about since there’s a small potential spoiler mixed in and I don’t want to risk giving the game up or pre-setting people’s expectations before they have a chance to blind read (even if a few people have already made some close guesses in the comments).  It puts me in a bit of an odd-spot right now because the chapters I’m drafting are an immediate spoiler, the later sections I’m working on are a major spoiler and there’s a good chance that a lot of the character stuff going on in the middle won’t make a whole lot of coherent sense without prior context because of how I like to layer foreshadowing/development.

That said, Wally-centric chapters mean Wally thoughts, and of those I have plenty to share:

First of all, I want to establish that I really do like Wally as a character.  The DW chapter set comprising Flashpoints through to Equilibrium is going to explore and develop some of his flaws and insecurities, which means he isn’t going to be looking his best, but it’s not meant to be a Ron The Death Eater situation.  He’s just a complex person, and taking him warts and all means sometimes you have to get up close and personal on the warts.

Something that I’m maybe a bit over-conscious of when reviewing my DW story notes is worrying about letting Wally slide into just being punching-bag joke-fodder.  Wally is quippy, irreverent, a little tactless and prone to being a bit of an impulsive goober who sometimes gets possessed by teenage boner-brain, which makes him easy to fall back on as a default source of incidental levity (whether cracking the joke or being the punchline).  Because I’m now writing an 8-character ensemble where most non-focal characters only get a few lines per conversation, it’s easy for characters to slide into being defined by their strongest surface level trait(s)… and something I worry about with Wally is that his availability as a source of jokes runs the risk of Flanderisation into a disposable Scrappy/ Flirty Comic Relief, which isn’t his character.  Wally is actually really important – not just for his scientific book-smarts but for his perceptiveness, earnestness and ability to function as one of the emotional barometers for the squad – so I always have it in the back of my mind to make sure I include enough moments that actually demonstrate those qualities and the other characters’ appreciation of them/ their friendship, so that it counterbalances the more light-hearted goofery.

I think he’s walking the same tightrope as Sokka from Avatar: the Last Airbender – yes, he tends to take the L more often than the others for comedy purposes and sometimes he gets stuck with supremely dumb side-plots for the sake of tonal balance, but to claim that it’s the entirety of his characterisation really misses the point by a wide mile.

On that note, I actually really like the decision YJ!Animated decided to go with in its first and only season (ahem) in giving Wally a normal and functional family background.  I know that’s not the typical background for his comics counterparts (and no shade on other fan-writers who want to write AUs exploring the abuse dynamic, those are really interesting stories) but I think it was a smart deviation for the purposes of a large ensemble, and offered a fair bit of potential for cast-balance.  It lets him serve an important role as the normal one – not only as an easy window into what the current lives of ordinary middle-class civilians look like (which is good because ordinary people are who our heroes are donning the masks to protect) but also as a touch-stone for the others, most of whom either come from different cultures or from very atypical backgrounds.  Even if we discount the Impure Atlantean with military training, the ostracised White Martian and the Half-Alien clone-weapon, the other members of this line-up are an orphaned circus acrobat adopted by a billionaire, a girl from a dangerously dysfunctional criminal household where she was forced to fight her sibling, and a fledgling sorceress raised by an overprotective single Dad.  The others might intellectually understand what a “normal” childhood and family look like but they don’t necessarily know it as intuitively and intimately as Wally does.  That normality gives Wally the potential to be a more stable foundation for the others, a source of emotional contrast and of a necessary wholesome mundanity.  That is a good thing for the Team to have.  I think it also speaks volumes to the heart of his character.  For this Wally, the Flash and heroism weren’t an escape from a bad personal situation.  His life was actually pretty comfy and privileged - he didn’t experience a brutal wakeup to the injustices of the world or some other personal call to action.  This is a Wally who opted into the game because he loves the players and sincerely believes in their values and mission.  And while that might mean he has a more romanticised idea of what heroism entails – and will probably face some rough shocks down the line as that rosy vision runs into those more brutal realities – it also means he brings a sincere hopefulness to the job that is less hardened than a lot of his roughed-up, pre-jaded peers.  Underneath the teen sarcasm and surface-level lancer/smart-guy traits, this Wally has as much power to be a stealth-Heart as any of his Flash!counterparts.

Something else I find interesting when using Wally is how a lot of his strengths and flaws feed into each other – and I think this alternate backstory is part of it.  For all of his good heart Wally can come off as insensitive, and I think some of that could be read as a product of living a more charmed life.  I think he’s susceptible to a thing that a lot of real people do – universalising their own personal experience as the default – and that while he is canonically a geek and somewhat genre-savvy about hero cliches, he’s a geek about in-universe media so he probably doesn’t think to apply those tropes to “real people” like himself or his colleagues.  While this Wally is a skeptic, he’s not a cynic, and I think he might forget how much of an outlier he is in a world where things like living parents and loving parents are often mutually exclusive.  He’s smart enough to connect dots but there’s a little blind-spot where he simply might not think to until one of the others jabs an elbow into his ribs, because his default view on humanity is in some ways a little kinder than typical due to that small but still significant amount of privilege.

At the same time, Wally is also someone who has probably run into (or watched his mentor run into) a lamp-post at high-speed at least once in his career.  He contains multitudes and among those multitudes is an endless capacity for some absolute Looney-Tunes nonsense, which the world is 100% better off for having.

I love him, your honour.

[gillianthecat]

My Thoughts as I Watched Episodes 2 and 3 of Between Us.

in which your intrepid reporter files her article two weeks late

I actually watched them and wrote this two weeks ago, but didn't post it because I had vague plans to write more about them. But I want to catch up on the next two episodes, so any additional thoughts will wait for after that. The summary is: I continue to love the show, and it continues to make sense to me without seeing Until We Meet Again

Episode 2

- Ok, I think my initial prediction will be laughably wrong. It looks like so far Win is absolutely not trying to hide how he feels. Team though is. It's all very cute, I'm really into their dynamic. And they have CHEMISTRY, my goodness. I loved Team's reaction after Win left his room—his big sigh, his trying to hide his big smile even from himself.

- I just find Win so utterly charming. It makes the whole thing work; he might come across as a bit of a creep otherwise. I love his little smirk to Tul as he gets in the elevator.

- OH MY GOODNESS! Is there going to be a romance between Tul and Win's older brother?! - A gamer, internet stranger romance? I am so here for this. (Also Tul's actor has gotten even hotter as he's gotten older.)

- Ah, besides age gap we have a sprinkling of Forbidden Romance. Win is not supposed to be dating his juniors in the club. I dig it.

- Speaking of age gap (and perhaps this is because I've been watching Cutie Pie) hearing Team call Win Hia is very seductive. Especially that he's contouring to do it after Win asked for it in the heat of the moment. Whew. I cannot blame Win for being captivated by this boy.

- It does feel like this is going to be a very simple story—just two people fumbling their way toward falling in love—without a lot of plot happening around them. Interesting with all the reincarnation drama happening in the background. Since I like the characters and their actors, I like this simplicity.

- Also, now I can see why everyone was so frustrated that Even Sun was bad. These two are so good together.

- I love how much they talk during while making out. I love how conversation about consent and who they are to each other are made such a natural part of it, and also really hot. That "kiss me" !!! I also love how much they're into slamming each other into walls. These two can seriously convey desire and lust. It really feels like they want to fuck.

- I like how Team is worried about what he means to Win, and still figuring out what it means to desire someone, but he doesn't hold back sexually.

- I'm nervous that they will be discovered at some point; that no one will see us felt very foreshadow-y. And I really liked the questions that Team was asking - is either of us using each other, what happens if we break up - both because they're good questions and because it feels like something he would do. But it also felt a bit foreshadowing.

Episode 3

- Ooh, another side romance? That brings the total up to five romance pairs in this show (so far!). That is a lot to balance, I hope the script can manage it. And it's Fee from My Only 12%! (I had to look him up, he looked familiar but I couldn't figure out from where.)

- I saw the Wabi Sabi logo, and I realized there were several overlapping actors, but somehow it wasn't until now that I connected this was made by the same production company as My Only 12%. It makes sense, although the overall feeling of the show is different, a lot of the things I like productions wise are the same. They both feel like money was spent on making a professional product. And they both are good at making friend groups feel natural, which is not always the case. (And also why Sea looked familiar - he was Cake's university friend Auk in My Only 12%.

- Oooh that drunk/flashback scene. I will come back to that later.

- One thing I love is that I feel like I can trust Win not to try anything while Team is drunk because he was so careful to make sure that Team was sober enough to consent the first time. There are many drunken hook ups in BLs that I've loved (Love Mechanics, Big Dragon, in its own toxic way), but that thread of toxicity doesn't fit their dynamic, and it's such a relief to trust that the show won't go there.

- Team's actor plays drunkenness well. I love the way Win responds to it, switching between feeling he needs to be the stern mentor figure, annoyance, fond indulgence, and feeling desire, despite his best intentions.

- I feel vindicated in my initial snap judgements of their characters. (Well, and also this show did a good job introducing them.) Team literally calls Win "the cool one" and Team is becoming more and more chaotic now that the he's no longer on his beginning-of-the-school-year best behavior. (Also several people have affirmed to me that he is indeed a chaos monkey.)

- This flashback! I guess these two won't be all sex and awkward flirting after all, they will have their own angst and pain. It was hinted at in their breakfast date when Team was so shaken by the ordinary question of, "do you have siblings," but honestly I got distracted and forgot. I suspect this was something that was not known in UWMA, it's the kind of secret that wouldn't be shared about the side couple.

- Darling Win's response. I think I will write a separate list about what I like about this pair, because there are a lot of things.

- I love how Manow and Team are teasing Pharm about Dean. Seeing these hints does make me want to watch that series more now.

- Tul and Waan! I already love them. I assume they're brand new for Between Us; there's no reason that they would have been in Dean and Pharm's awareness. Tul has such a crush! The way he's smiling at his phone!

- I guess with the way UWMA opened I shouldn't be surprised by this traumatic memory of his brother drowning. But it's still hard to watch.

- Ok, but how are the dorms at the university so enormous! And singles! This can't be what any actual university dorms are like in Thailand, right? I lived in doubles half that size freshman year.

- I have a lot of thoughts comparing this, Love in the Air and Big Dragon all to each other. I'll save most of it for another post, but I'm intrigued by the different depictions of a dominant older character winning over a bratty younger character. I don't know if Win and Team are intended to be explicitly dom and sub, but the age gap, the power difference, Win's caretaking tendencies and Team's... whole thing (traumatized, anxious, pouty) have created that dynamic between them anyways. And I really like it here!

[finitefall]

Hi! Your blog is amazing! I love talking with people who love Dany like I do! Speaking of Dany… I might have asked you this already, and I am sorry if I am repeating, but what do you think her ending will be? That S8 shit was obviously just Dumb&Dumber’s gross sexist end for a character they hated because she was strong and kind and smart and they hate the idea of a woman being like that (it’s not a coincidence they made sweet and compassionate women like Dany, Arya, and Brienne cold and stoic in the show and status quo conformists like Sansa and Septa Mordane and Catelyn a lot nicer than they actually were (well not really with Sansa. They made her arrogant and bratty while framing her as smart). They also whitewashed so many of the men like made Daario, a lustful sleaze, and Jorah, a man lusting for a teen, nice and genuinely in love with Dany. And Jon they removed his intelligence and ambition and pragmatism and made him a bland wooden Ned Stark clone. Sorry for the rant, just get angry at how they treated Dany in the show. Anyway, do you think she’ll live and be Queen in the real ending? I’ll be perfectly happy as long as she lives and has a peaceful life but I do really want her to be Queen especially because she has an arc about learning how to rule.

Hi! Thank you and you can always rant away here! Catelyn's chapters are really interesting because she's a smart woman no matter her flaws. She's not as interesting in the show, which I guess served to whitewash her. Sansa was especially whitewashed, and I actually used to like her a lot (not at first, but finale episode of season 1 to beginning of season 4). Anyway, if I stark talking about the show it's gonna be a very long answer, so...

Dany's arc is, for me, about three things: finding home, fighting slavery, being a ruler. So an ending without at least one of those wouldn't make sense and couldn't be satisfying to me. If after they defeat the Others and she destroys the Iron Throne, she decides on her own to go back to Essos because she thinks her fight against slavery there is more important and that Westeros can have a good and fair ruler besides her, I would be all right with it. What's important for me is to respect her character and arc. Her other ending would be to rule in Westeros, and I do believe she would be a great Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. It wouldn't be a Disney ending at all since there would be so much to do, and we know Dany isn't perfect either and would still has to learn. It wouldn't be "Dany rules Westeros and everything is all right", it would be "Dany finally came home and rule Westeros... but that's gonna be another long journey for her".

I'm totally against Dany sacrificing herself to save the world, as I absolutely agree with what @rainhadaenerys said here and here. Does that mean I don't doubt she'll live? No, like many people I have doubts but it would be so disappointing and if that's what GRRM plans to do, I'm glad I'll never read that cheap ending. Of course, what I'd really want is for Dany to rule with Jon, and for both of them to be happy and have the family they want (besides Arya, of course), because the both of them are amazing characters and have great leadership arcs (and I won't go back on the Jonerys foreshadowing). I truly believe they would be the best change to happen to Westeros and that, once again, it wouldn’t be a Disney "everything is gonna be great now" ending, but there would be hope.

[twotangledsisters]

You said you'd finished writing S2, congratulations! Can I ask what you're most excited for in S3 or is that too spoilery?

Thank you so much! I am very proud to be this far ahead in writing it's always a relief!

And of course you can ask anything, and this questions comes at the perfect time because you do not understand how much I need to just ramble about something I love right now!

But you're also right it's hard to talk without spoilers so I'm going to try my best to talk about my fave bits... briefly. Without giving too much away! Obviously if you wanna go in completely blind, do not continue reading!

1.- Caine! She's kinda chilling in the current fic... On some involuntary sideline no action time. But she will be back in S3 full force! She'll get a new weapon at least temporarily, there's a scene where she sits on the floor with Hamuel in her lap, she's just as sassy as ever and she just has a good arc for the start of S3.

2.- Edmund... I am still not 100% sure about how I'm gonna handle him. I do know where he goes to at the start. But if you know me and you've been following for a while you know I don't quite enjoy how quickly the show glossed over how terrible Eugene's childhood was and how hard it must have been to get back to Edmund who is like 'yeah I knew where you were this whole time, I know you were heading down a bad path cause of the wanted posters. What did I do about it? ....' Like... I love Edmund, there needed to be more than one episode to mend that father-son relationship. Trust me... He gets an earful about that, but he gets that in S2.

3.- Lore, worldbuilding, prophecies... I have so many plans. So many plans. Some of these plans we've been getting foreshadowing for since forever, others we're gonna start getting foreshadowing very soon. I am excited! Especially diving deeper into the capabilities of the sundrop, moonstone and how they came to be.

4.- Getting darker. Up until now I've tried to keep things... Relatively tame. Please ignore The Great Tree for this statement. But things get serious in S3, there are character who won't make it out alive, and I don't means character like Weasel who I doubt anybody shed a tear for. I think my writing when allowed to get dark can be really good, take the finale of Princess, Pirate, Prosecutor for example!

5.- Frederic and Arianna... Look, they aren't the center of attention by a long shot. And they spend a lot of time splitting up to be more productive in season 3. But when they are together, when they are being a couple and making decisions for their kingdom and their family, they have some very strong moments this upcoming season.

And so much more that I cannot talk about because of spoilers!

But trust me, I'm excited! I've been waiting for this for sooo long! Season 3 is where we stray the furthest from the original canon and it's just so exciting for it!

Thank you so much for asking, I needed this today.

[violetlunette]

I really dont like the recent chapters. Which sucks cause i like these concepts and tropes!

The lack of world building and discrimination as a tangible thing is the story screwed Shoji and Spinner over. Especially since both of their stories been foreshadowed since the very beginning but the lack of build up and focus around them makes the pay off feel unearned and shoved in.

Shoji's arguements make no sense, Spinner can't even coherently oppose him since he's under AfO grasp. It doesnt show or provide anything. We didn't know before hand the abuse heteromorphs face was inconsistant in the city compared to the countryside (which feels like a copout to me) nor were we ever shown the characters questioning any form of discrimination and actively doing something about it in a broader societal sense.

It feels so underdeveloped despite apparently being a core part of the worldbuilding.

Speaking of discrimination, what about the quirkless? What about those with weak quirks? Why is it focusing only on Heteromorphs? What about the broader implication of that discrimination? What would happen to others under AfO's new rule? Why is it exclusively a city and country thing? If defeating Spinner is defeating his arguements then why isnt he present for it?

Not to mention, what about the current system? Why have we not seen the systemic issues be challenged or change and only get a brief mention? Why have Spinner be unable to counter Shoji's weak arguements? Why bring AfO into it at all? (aside from what he was offering)

You know the longer im writing this the more i wonder WHY AFO?

The meta liberation army represented these themes much better and there would be a more concrete focus on why what theyre doing is wrong for everyone (ie changing who the aggressor is rather than addressing factors that limit them)

AfO has no connection to this, aside from beneffiting him. AfO being involved cheapens it since because of him Spinner can't respond! Hell combine with him possessing Shigaraki it feels more of 'AfO is the root and cause of all the problems' rather than 'AfO is exploiting the problems the heroes themselves cause' since the heroes apparently aren't aware of those problems or are tackling them.

Sorry if this sounds incoherent. I like AfO as a villain and him possessing Shigaraki is still neat, but i feel like the way/when of it isnt the best executed. I dont know how to word it without going to another long ramble, but the short version is i feel like the league members should have been more opposed to the whole possession thing and have more imput into the situation before majority where killed or incompacitated. But that may just be me.

Welcome back, Longy! (Hope that's you. If not, hello Longy 2.)

I agree with several points here! I think a lot of these come from the fact Hori’s a plotter, not a pantser. For those unaware, a plotter—aside from being someone who schemes—is a type of writer who needs to plan the whole story out before writing. A pantster--aside from being a mischievous asshole who pulls people’s pants down—is a writer who writes by the seat of their pants. Meaning, they figure things out as they go along with only the bare basics to guide them. Hori seems to fall into the former. Everything that he planned since the beginning seems to be flowing smoothly. Like with All Might’s arc; that was planned out since the beginning, and there wasn’t a lot of change to it, so it all connects together smoothly. Meanwhile, things he was forced to change or suddenly add feel rocky and out of place. For example—just pick an arc that feels weird to you. That was probably suddenly added or changed. (Trust me, you’ll know what this is. As I stated previously, human brains are programmed to follow stories. That’s why plot holes, or things that don’t fit, irk us so.) And now Hori’s being forced to rush things, so he’s trying to force it all in, but there’s no time, so it’s clunky. It doesn’t help that these are subjects that he doesn’t have experience writing, as evident from his previous works. Hori does have interesting ideas; Shoji’s conflict and backstory are interesting (though they should have been introduced before the climax, that's for when the manga's done). And having Spinner become a monster was also good. It was supposed to demonstrate how All for One corrupts desperate people and twists them along with the things they once valued. However, he didn’t have enough time to sit with it and plan it out, so it was hurried and sloppy. As with several points of this story.

Personally, I believe that if was able to plot out the entire series and write it before publishing, we would have gotten a better story. But sadly, as a mangaka, you can’t do that. That profession requires pantser skills where you have to adapt in an instance to every little thing in context and meta-wise. Fans like a character you were going to make an asshole, or suddenly got the urge to write said character in a different light? Then you have to make up a new arc and fit it smoothly into the story on the dot. People don’t like a character who was going to be a major player? Gotta either figure out how to fix him or kick him to the wayside. The plot point doesn’t match up, shoot gotta fix it, and so on. That’s why a lot of manga characters are pretty simple to start off with and the stories are in smaller arcs with a VERY simple overarching arc to tie them together. (Such as there's a great evil that the heroes want to stop, or they're looking for a lost treasure.) It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it is. I really wish we got to read the version where Hori was able to take his time and plan everything out but once the manga became popular, that wasn’t going to happen.

[toffee-hammer]

Spoilers for Destiny 2: Season of Defiance.

So Amanda just died and I’m already seeing a handful of people saying they don’t want her to be revived as a Lightbearer. Not only do I disagree but I feel like those people are going to be very disappointed. Here’s a few of the reasons I believe Amanda’s return as a Guardian is fairly inevitable:

Amanda spoke with Devrim earlier in the season about wishing she were a Guardian so she could help more. Devrim replied by telling her we don’t get to choose who becomes a Lightbearer and Amanda basically said “yeah I know, it just sucks is all”. Pretty heavy foreshadowing in retrospect.

It would basically be the perfect thing to happen at this point in the story imo. The Witness just (apparently) won and began it’s Big Bad Evil Plan. The Traveler’s corpse is hanging above the Earth as a constant reminder of that. Amanda returning from the dead would be a great little piece of hope in these dark times. A sign that even with the Traveler being “gone” it’s still watching over us and the strength it granted us is still ours to wield. A reminder that we’re not powerless.

It’s called Season of Defiance not Season of Acceptance after all, right?

They made a point of having Amanda tell us her story. Almost as if we’re supposed to re-tell it to her when she comes back with no memory of who she is.

Honestly, her death just seemed extremely abrupt. You could argue that that just happens sometimes (especially in wartime) but I’m definitely getting the feeling that it was done that way because it isn’t meant to be dwelled on for a long time like Cayde’s death. By comparison everything about Amanda’s death feels very temporary.

They just killed a pretty major character (Rasputin). This isn’t Game of Thrones. I don’t believe they would kill Amanda off (permanently) so soon afterwards.

They’ve been putting Amanda into combat situations for a while now despite her being lightless. Her becoming a Lightbearer would just make sense.

With all that said, I have a few thoughts on how they might do it:

I can see them playing the long game like they did with Crow but I’d also put money on her being back on her feet again by season’s end.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the same old Amanda but also...not quite? Perhaps she’ll take a name change. If they’re planning on going pretty hard on her and Crow being a pair going forward then maybe that combined with her established love of flying might compel her to name herself after a bird as he did (Kestrel or something like that?).

Everyone is sure that Crow will eventually become the new Hunter Vanguard but what if they throw us a huge curveball and Amanda fills that spot instead? I know the Vanguard Dare means it should technically be Crow but Amanda has been with us since D1. The very beginning. She was basically Cayde’s best friend and she’s already brought him up twice this season which is why I feel like her taking his old job is a somewhat likely outcome. I can see a future where Amanda becomes Hunter Vanguard but Crow is sort of her right-hand guy.

It would be very cool if the mission at the end of the season is basically the Shadow Legion identifying the Farm as the source of the disruptions to their recent kidnapping operations and launching a huge attack. We fight to repel them but they manage to break through at which point Amanda gets rezzed and turns the tide.

[moonstone27ls]

Chucky -Doll on Doll

Spoiler warning....

warning....

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....one more warning....

last warning you don’t like spoilers/or my opinion probably don’t read8B....

Thats it....

Soooo thoughts I have several. First off glad Andy is alive and again hope him and Kyle survive this because I do love the young cast. But give credit to the originals! Like Laurie Strode Kyle and Andy have been through A LOT, especially ANDY. He’s literally being tortured. Sooo hope Devon and Lexy can save him.

Okay were to start... guess I’ll go into the kids section or story first. Devon’s story feels a bit forced. Not the part were he’s traumatized no thats fine. The part were he’s mad then he brings up their relationship status. A part of me is “Dude I get it, don’t trust Chucky but considering you have killer dolls and a clearly homophobic priest bullying you, the love drama can wait”.

But before someone jumps and goes, “Devon...”. No dude I totally see why he’s frustrated. Jake isn’t hearing Devon out, or trying to compromise. Devon’s been traumatized and asked to believe they’ve deprogramed one Chucky?... I mean even if he’s broken. I’m with Devon they only had ONE day. That takes longer I suspect to break a person. So I see the skepticism. 

And then we have the priest. Whether its cause its horror, teenager stupidity, Devon literally is taking the brunt of Jake’s actions now. Even if Jake doesn’t see it. Though I admit although its clear the priest is bully him... I don’t see why  he’s trying to what I assume convert just Devon. I mean he DID see Jake kiss him back why isn’t he trying to “deprogram” him... is it cause Devon’s black? Is this priest mildly racist too?

I dunno, and no I’m not referring to JUST the doll stuff the priest found. Ever since the kiss, the priest has been acting like its Devon who’s his “bad influence”... which I would almost believe IF he had seen any real signs of it. Like I dunno example “Jake breaking windows and Devon’s like “DO IT, DO IT”.... butttt I haven’t seen that. Jake just goes to him to talk just like Lexy. But whatever priest is an asshole. 

But anyway sorry people I got sidetracked. Point is that doll was a good example, for Jake and them being “so aware” that Chucky killer doll is a subject they have to be “hush-hush” about. Jake literally leaves Devon with a crucified  rambo Chucky. Does Jake go “Lets clean this before the father sees it “... no he leaves him to “clean up” his mess. (or Good Chucky’s... I dunno either way its a mess). And the priest immediately blames Devon. For all this “teamwork” stuff the kids get separated awful fast. I mean sorry Jake/Lexy was dumb of ya’ll to not one time go “Oh we should make sure Devon’s okay” even if its a “lover spat” in Jake’s head.

I think the problem is the kids are either being “kids”/or horror stupid. Cause instead of talking to each other... shit everyone’s scattered to the four winds with plans. Now I get why Nadine is... neutral with Good Chucky and not really “Oh lets make a plan guys”. She’s more of the flighty friend who walked into this. Nadine has not been directly affected by Chucky so... she’s not really suppose to be fearful and stuff. Though I won’t lie I think its SOOO cute how she calls him her “sweet baby boy”. Its cute!

But I will let the whole “kids stop being stupid and just talk” go IF Lexy/Devon are able to save Andy. Cause then yes splitting up worked on their favor. 

Lexy’s bit has been okay, I won’t lie her character isn’t my fav. But I am glad how they wrote her and Nadine’s scenes felt good or real? if that makes sense.

Andd.... kudos to whoever thought something was fishy about that psychiatrist.... because they were right. She’s been in on it the whole time... real question. Who is she? And what role is she playing? Is she some idiot who got conned.... or some nutcase like that nun. Alsoooo wonder if that Belle is gonna be used, still feels like foreshadowing...

I think thats it for the kids... mentioned Andy/Kyle. Sooo onto Tiffany/Jennifer Tilly.

Still think that math’s off with the twins but onto the other subject.... so Tiff has kept the real Jennifer Tilly alive...but if thats strange. No I mean not the part using her, no that made sense to me. It explains how she paid for everything... my question is in Seed... Tiff used that same doll to murder a nanny.... sooo where was Tilly then? Was she asleep or did Don Mancini just reboot that/or ignore it? (i’m not judging just curious)

Also... if she’s really been “alive”... then doesn’t that mean Tilly’s twins should also still be alive in the Glenn/Glenda doll? Or do they not count cause they were born through vodoo or it doesn’t work with babies? Sorry to ask those dumb questions but  Mancini put it out there for me to question, lol. 

Still think Tiffany’s either psychotics or losing it, besides killing poor Meg Tilly (a little disappointed wanted to see more of her but oh well), she’s still calling Nica her girlfriend.... and I’m soooo cringing everytime. I’m like “Tiff she hates you”. Why not just go back to Gina? And I know people will hate but with her unraveling if not Gina she’s still clearly Chucky’s better half. She’s very much an unapologetic murderess. And I’m okay with that, as a villian she’s awesome.

As a “victim” people say with her I just keep shaking my head cause her actions don’t scream victim. I mean come on “Pft” to the excuse that she wanted to be Jennifer Tilly to be better for her kids. Pleaseeee Tiff was an idiot who wanted to be a star, her twin were NOT on her mind. So the sweet/truth reveal was hard for me to take seriously.

Do find it funny that she’s still going “killing’s an addiction” to Glenn. Soo with that dumb excuse in mind guess she has still killed maybe even in front of the twins.

Though I can’t help but wonder what’s Mancini ‘s ultimate plan for all this reveal....will the twins really wanna go back to their body? Whats to become of the real Jennifer Tilly, I mean I guess yes Tiff could have taken her to keep her cash flow? I dunno. I don’t feel she’s keeping her to “switch back”.

Heck I dunno what Glenn has in mind personally. I don’t think they’ll really let Nica or the real Jennifer be prisoners of their mother. Especially after seeing their mother murder “Aunt Meg”, the relative that was very welcoming/and embracing to them. I dunno I saw how Glenn looked at their deceased “aunt”... thats not something you can shrug off for your own mother.

I mean its like I said Glenn is usually the good one. They did help Nica escape, just don’t see them willing let Jennifer become Tiffany’s victim. Still also wonders whats further road for our survivors,... the guide said Nica will go on with her plan.

But I’m like can Nica even do anything? No its not cause she’s been disabled. Its because one half of her mind is under Chucky’s control and the group’s got Glenda. Who I wanna say is a good alley.... is still Glenn’s ying to their yang.... I just dunno if Glenda is here to be “good” or be an “antihero” or is just planning to be an underling to Chucky.

I just know ... I don’t want Nica to be a victim to Chucky/or Tiffany anymore. 

[dreamboundedstar]

Belcher Sibling Fankids Update:

Unfortunately, I still haven't drawn the fankids yet. I wanted to update regardless though. I added a fourth kid for my version of the Zekina family (the right amount of boys/kids is 4, forever am I right?! XD) and I almost completed the info for Louise's adopted kid. So to keep it brief, I'm going to recap the Zekina kids and give the inspiration behind their names while I provide a bit of info about Louise's adopted child. Adult Gene still doesn't have kids and I don't plan to give them any. Tina:

Daniel “Dani” Bob Belcher - 1. Daniel was the name of pilot Tina, so I thought it would be a fitting name for her first kid. 2. I also made it a headcanon that Danielle is Zeke's grandma's name so it could be more special in the lore. I'll have to find another reason if the show kills my headcanon 3. Bob is his middle name after his maternal grandfather for obvious reasons.

Jeffrey “Jeff” Griffin Belcher - 1. Jeffrey is the name of Tina's body pillow. 2. His nickname, Jeff is based on Tina's ex-ghost box boyfriend. 3. His middle name Griffin is based on Tina's favorite Boyz 4 Now band member. 4. The reason for both names is that they both had an indirect influence on leading Zeke and Tina to each other. Jeff for my headcanon "Tina and the Real Ghost" was around when Zeke realized he had a crush on Tina. Meanwhile, Griffin for the time Zeke and Leslie helped Tina and Louise get to the Boyz 4 Now concert.

Lily Cherilyn Belcher - 1. Lily is the name of Bob's late mother who Tina wanted to honor. 2. Lily is also what Louise tricked Linda into thinking they were renaming Tina (it was a horse called "Gelding the Lily" which in general I think the phrase, "gild the lily" fits Tina perfectly). 3. Cherilyn is a mix of Cheryl's and Linda's name that's not too obvious to honor both of them. 4. It's also a reference to the singer, Cher's full first name. However, that only matters because I have a story idea that Zeke tries to recreate the lost Bolognese sauce recipe from Linda's family. The pun name for Zeke's recipe recreation attempt is, "Do You Bolognese in Life After Love".

Brian “Brine” Tad Belcher - 1. Brian is an anagram for brain, stuff zombies eat. 2. Brian also almost sounds like brine which I thought it be cool to make people think of pickles. 3. The nickname "Brine" is also just me subtly roasting Tina for the time she put too much salt in the soup before Bob found out Zeke had a perfect palette. 4. Tad is a reference to the fact that he is the youngest. 5. Tad is also to honor Teddy because I see him and Zeke bonding really well (especially when he helps Zeke get his captain license in my headcanon). Also, Tina loves Teddy too so of course, she approves. 6. Tad is dated slang for "street kid" in the same way urchin is (so it helps me connect it to touch tank in an indirect way) 7. Tad is a variation of Thaddeus which in Dutch, Taco is also a variation of Thaddeus. (don't ask me, language is weird XD. I'm just happy to connect touch tank and tacos in one name). 8. I really wanted to make the initials BTB so it can also reference the abbreviation of the phrase that excites Tina, "bumper-to-bumper". Louise: Robin Susie Belcher-Stieblitz (- Fischoeder) -

Robin is two years older than Lily and the only child of Lousie through adoption. Robin is a variation of Robert which is where the name, Bob comes from. So Louise named the kid after Bob in a subtle way. However, since Robin is also the name of a bird, she sometimes calls Robin her "little chick". Her middle name, Susie which means "lily" is a way to subtly honor Bob's mother without hogging taking attention away from Lily. Susie is also a reference to "Calvin and Hobbes" as a way to foreshadow that Robin is connected to Calvin Fischoeder. Louise finds out from an old letter that Robin is the long lost grandchild (or great-grandchild, I haven't figured out the timeline yet) of Calvin Fischoeder and the woman he was only married to for a week (not sure if I want it to be Shelby Schnabel or an OC I'll have to make later but my lazy butt says Shelby atm) The greedy side of Louise is thrilled with the potential to finally get a taste of the Fischoeder wealth through Robin. However, the good person side of her throws that idea out the window once she realizes that Felix must never know that Robin is related to the late Calvin. She knows how unhinged Felix is and doesn't want to find out whether Felix would love his grand-niece with open arms (or great-grand-niece) or try to murder her on the spot to keep his spot as head of the Fischoeder wealth to himself (Calvin died at some point, not sure exactly when but definitely after Louise became an adult) Robin takes after both Lousie and Calvin in that she is a major troublemaker. Robin is often the ring leader when it comes to the daily chaos the next-generation Belcher family has to deal with.

That's all I got beyond that. I still need to figure out her family tree so I can even have an idea of what I want to do with her skin tone. I probably need to look more into the Fischoeder lore to get an idea about that. I'll love to get some help/suggestions from the Calvin Fishoeder fans on here. if you're reading, please. :3 Anyway, that's about it. Hope I'll actually draw the munchkins one of these days.

[mrbensonmum]

TV Shows - 3 Body Problem VII

Episode five is my favorite, and for many reasons.

For those who don’t know, I’m quite fascinated by Sophon and her German voice actress, Sophie Rogall. When Wade and Jin manage to decode the Judgment Day data disc, they enter the virtual reality of the game and are greeted by Sophon. She explains why all these things are happening, especially in science. This explanation still fascinates me, even though it’s been quite a while since I first heard and saw it. The idea of protons being unfolded into higher dimensions to become an oversized computer—who comes up with something like that?

But now I’m wondering if it actually makes sense. I don’t mean scientifically, but rather within the book's universe. I need to think about it more and maybe read up on it, because later on, the concept of dimensions comes up a lot, and I’m not sure if there might be some contradictions.

However, the San-Ti world isn’t the only fascinating part; Auggie on Earth also has a lot to deal with. Her nanofibers are used in a massacre, and I find it very interesting that she’s not portrayed as being indifferent to it. Even at the beginning, before Judgment Day arrives, she starts to have doubts. Later, we see how she actually breaks down because of her actions. I think this is a very realistic portrayal, and I appreciate it because it shows a lot of humanity.

Something I just noticed is that the Judgment Day data disc is the same color and shape as the red book carried by the protesters and revolutionaries at the beginning of the first episode. Could this be a symbol of a failed revolution, or some subtle foreshadowing of what's to come?

Back to Sophon’s explanation of how the San-Ti plan to remain superior to humanity. The entire explanation is incredibly creative and interesting, showing how well the author prepared and how detailed his storytelling is. I’ve mentioned before that many characters make decisions that have effects far into the future. This forward-thinking approach is a major aspect of the Wallfacer Project, which we only get to see near the end of the last episode.

This is what I meant in my last post when I said that the brakes are no longer on and things are speeding up rapidly. Will’s story is also picking up pace and will soon become much clearer.

At this point, or maybe one episode later, I wish they had already started with the Wallfacer storyline. Yes, I understand the dramatic choice made by the series creators, but if they had started it earlier, it would make more sense by the end. In the book, you’re also thrown off at first, but then things are explained more, so it all makes more sense. I’m very curious to see if the Wallfacers will make the same proposals, if there will be Wallbreakers, and how it will all develop.

With every post, a thousand thoughts come to mind about how things will be portrayed, and I find it so exciting. I’ve mentioned this many times, so please forgive me. But let me explain! I’m a big fan of Isaac Asimov, have read many of his early books, and I like how he often critiques society. Many of his ideas are still relevant today. I’d put Liu Cixin on the same level as Asimov. He fascinates me just as much, brings up similar societal critiques, and captivates me because I’ve read a lot from other authors, but most of it I found quite boring (maybe I should write about authors I like—let’s see!). But yes, that’s one of the reasons for my fascination. I’ve found something that captivates me with its complexity, its imagined scale, its style of science fiction, and its societal aspects.