#GUYS IF THE DYNAMIC IS GAY ITS GAY IN BOTH MEDIA

[tentaclecats]

NO BECAUSE IM SEEING ALL THIS DEAD BOY DETECTIVES STUFF ONLINE (i have never watched this show) AND IVE SEEN PEOPLE COMPARING GAY GUY #1 TO KAZ BREKKER AND IVE SEEN PEOPLE COMPARING GAY GUY #2 TO JESPER FAHEY BUTTTT

BUT WHEN I SAY I SHIP KAZ AND JESPER. SOCIETY. SOCIETY GOES CRAZY. SOCIETY CALLS ME GAY.

[tgcg]

part 1 of something specific

TG: oh my god you get it

CG: OF COURSE I FUCKING DO, DAVE. I’LL ALLOW MYSELF CREDIT FOR ONE GOOD THING, AND THAT’S THE FACT THAT I KNOW HOW TO CONSUME MEDIA CORRECTLY.

TG: you understand me

TG: so many damn times ive tried to turn john over on this business and he doesnt listen

TG: like you dont need to be gay to see how naruto and sasuke are the romance of the fuckin century man its not rocket science dare i say it is elementary level 

CG: IT’S BASIC READING COMPREHENSION, I AGREE.

CG: I’M NOT ABOUT TO EVEN *TRY* TO UNDERSTAND EARTH’S BIASES TO CERTAIN FORMS OF ROMANCE, BUT IS IT LITERALLY JUST BECAUSE THEY’RE BOTH GUYS?

TG: i dunno i dont think hes like

TG: homophobic or something

TG: i think if anyone is the number one ally to anything its probably john yknow hed have your back bro if you were all up and being bisexual on earth and people werent scrambling hand over foot away from you because youre an alien 

TG: but just because you were that 

TG: thing

TG: bisexual

CG: YEAH, THAT THING.

TG: he wouldnt care man

TG: he wouldnt give a shit or fuck about it probably

CG: SPEAKING OF LABELS THOUGH!

TG: aw man are you about to pull out the quadrant shiz on my boys

TG: are you gonna tell me naruto and sasuke got a hate on for each other or something cus thats 

CG: OH JEGUS NO, DAVE. THAT WOULD BE COMPLETELY MISSING THE POINT OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP’S GROWTH AND THEIR ENTIRE DYNAMIC, NEVERMIND THE PURPOSE OF THE STORY ITSELF.

TG: alright lay it on me shercock homos ill be your watson watching you with the big twinkling eyes of a newborn fawn

TG: sleuth this shit like you were there when kishimoto invented it

TG: his alien understudy rises from the caverns of anime hell clutching the scroll of one universally understood truth and with his otaku disciples there to listen he takes a deep breath and delivers his groundquaking sermon to the masses

TG: jesus take the mic

CG: I’M CLUTCHING THE MICROPHONE IN MY CALLOUSED AND BONE-DRY TOUCHSTUMPS, BODY WEARY AND ON THE BRINK OF CAVING IN ON ITSELF, BUT I SPEAK WITH A STALWART DETERMINATION THAT WILL RING TRUE THROUGHOUT THE COSMOS FOR SWEEPS TO COME. THEY WILL WRITE MY FUCKING WORDS IN THE STARS, DAVE. IT’LL BE ALL THEY HAVE LEFT OF ME EVENTUALLY, BECAUSE I’LL PREACH IT HARD AND FEVERISH UNTIL THIS MORTAL COIL DECIDES IT’S FINALLY HAD ENOUGH OF PUTTING MY PATHETIC HALF-CORPSE THROUGH THE RINGER BY MAKING ME GET UP EVERY MORNING LIKE IT’S SOME KIND OF JOKE, AND FINALLY LETS ME KEEL OVER. THAT, DAVE, IS MY CRUCIFIXION. IT REPEATS ITSELF, OUROBOROS-LIKE, EVERY CYCLE, AND MAY WELL LAST UNTIL THE COLLAPSE OF PARADOX SPACE ITSELF SINCE THEY APPARENTLY FIND IT SO INCREDIBLY HILARIOUS. THEY BETTER MARTYR THE FUCK OUT OF ME. YOU BETTER PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT I AM MARTYRED TO *SHIT*.

TG: done and done

CG: THANK YOU. WHERE WAS I? OH RIGHT. NARUTO SHIP ANALYSIS.

[musicfranchisetournament]

propaganda under the cut !!

paradox live :

ive seen my friends talk about it and also theres this really pretty girl i thibk her name is anne? i wanna kiss her mwah

The world is set in the future where the hip hop artists have these cool Phantom Metals that produce cool illusions as they perform with the downside of the performers reliving their worst trauma after using it. Every group has their own theme, aesthetic, and music style Every character has canon trauma which perfect for angst Found family It's still going on They do April Fools on the fandom every year (2024 being an ad for a cat game)

charisma house :

genuinely what the fuck. i don't think i've seen a song franchise as bonkers as charisma house and i doubt i ever will. it's so entertaining and the characters are all unhinged in the best way possible. none of them are 100% good people at the end of the day and i think this just makes the whole ordeal even funnier. are you kidding me you have some random 19 yo who invites people to go live in a random house one day and they just go. the songs are so so good (most of the time. stares at my two exceptions) and whenever it's a full group song? they're always parodies of another common popular song which is so funny to me every time i hear them. i love charisma house and will defend it to the days end

It's so silly and entertaining:) the songs are sick and super catchy . The visuals are super unique .. and the concept of these eccentric crazy guys all living in a house together with the power of charisma has some super hilarious interactions.  Also charisma is the power that can save the world.. and if these guys get too overpowered with their charisma they go through yugioh style transformations and break out into song... so there is that little detail<3

they're just ordinary guys. music part aside the story is funny until it gets serious and then it's funny AND heartwrenching. music part?? group songs are based on nursery rhymes and they fucking suck but also go so hard. their solo songs all have their own genres and they're so. Aodhajhfhdhfbd Stream viva la liberation. 

Funny gay people living in a house together and all their songs parody children's songs, and all their music videos are like Cocomelon on crack. They're funny and they have a lovely found family dynamic. Very silly guys, I'm so normal about them.

Never in my life have i seen a piece of media change me this much as a person while doing the bare minimum. Perhaps the fact that it is the bare minimum and i still fell for it regardless says more about its power than any words could ever begin to describe. So utterly ridiculous in the most perfect way possible and so weirdly deep in also the best way possible but without forgetting its still fucking ridiculous. The appeal of Charisma House is that its Charisma House, and that same thing manages to be both its strength and its weakness, but its weakness is so grand it ends up becoming a strength, and perhaps its biggest strength by far. Talking about Charisma House makes me feel insane emotions because you cant describe it as good but you still know fully well its not bad either despite that being the easiest way to describe it. Sooner than later after so many episodes you'll end up realizing you have fell in its trap. Once you start caring. Once you start analyzing the miniscule tid bits of plot. Once all of that starts occurring you will soon come to realize you have been another victim of the mystical power Charisma House has on every single person that watches it. Or perhaps you just dont fucking care after 5 episodes and you leave it at that. This is perhaps the best option for everyone in the world. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but the fact that i still do from time to time is because i want everyone else in the world to experience the unknown horrors of this media project until each and every one of them realize they have fallen down a hole they will never be able to escape. also Awwwww ohsebso cute i like ohse aaawwwww so cute 😍

[auckie]

Neil gaiman is such a fucking hack. All he does is ride off Terry pratchets coattails, gets. I really hate the word cuck but idk how else to describe the Amanda Palmer situation. Cucked by women and regurgitates that into flat one dimensional characters. Queer baits and panders to trashy online YA level drivel types. He’s the definition of the word fandom. If men like his garbage they’re always the kind of guy who has a beard and lets you know he has a beard. He probably owns a kilt despite not being remotely Scottish. Funko pop owner for sure, has a mini tardis and probably that dr who scarf. A pentagram tattoo, maybe some runes.

And like. Neil gaiman is a capable writer do not get me wrong. But his idea of creative writing is theorizing about how the afterlife is all bureaucracy bc that’s never been done by a bitter atheist. It’s always secularly Christian too isn’t it? I mean i guess that’s what he knows.

So im saying this knowing that he’s not solely responsible for it, really, and having read the comics and not enjoyed them at all but continued to have done so out of some weird sense of obligation, I’m very angry to admit that I’m enjoying the stupid Netflix production of dead boy detectives. It is absolutely a mishmash of other similar cw-type shows, but that’s just the thing. I eat that shit up. Riverdale, Sabrina, teen dramas with obnoxious editing and low brow production value. I even liked the second season of good omens despite like, hating a solid 40% of the secondary character and plot direction. It’s sorta like eating little Debbie cakes yknow? Or binging reality tv.

DBDA is better than all that, like it’s a crust above but it’s wrapped in the trappings of really shitty things, and whenever it manages to be a bit better it’ll sink a smidge lower by referencing its ilk or doing exactly what you’d expect of it.

Whenever I see the ‘two skinny whitish boys with obvious sexual tension and an annoying women in the middle’ I stop and ask myself— does this writer have a track record of making the same dynamic.

An obnoxious woman is not a bad thing. She can be a good thing even, but if she’s a mirror image of a million other toxic characters that indicates two things: projection, or a formula. Especially when paired between two male characters that clearly interact in ways that urge the audience to say ‘they should kiss!’

Then she becomes an obstacle. It’s rare for a character in this role to rise above the narrative, and even rarer for authors to try and write one capable of that.

A lot of fans will see people hating on her and cry ‘misogyny!’ Instead of asking why she was written, and why hundreds of other past iterations and future clones of her continue to be written. A similar character is the empty lesbian who stands in both popular media and fanfiction to prove that the author is not just obsessing over gay men and throws a bone to the supposed lesbian audience as well.

And then you have the flat poc or other LBT, sometimes disabled characters who serve to act as a tick mark off a checklist. It’s lazy, it’s annoying. But that’s a whole different can of vaguely related worms

[fishuus]

i guess this is a rec list of stuff i liked in 2024?? no particular order, i just wanted to yak about some things i had a good time with.

bang brave bang bravern: maybe this isn't a legit comparison but i keep thinking of it as "what if samurai flamenco had a significantly tighter story (tomokazu sugita is also there)". if you like giant robots, you might like this. if you like a completely straight-faced commitment to the extremely funny bit of contrasting hard military scifi with the absurdity of classic giant robots, you might like this. if you're interested in sugita playing a robot who's a bottom, and also there's a lot of gay shit and the earnest power of true love, you might like this!

digimon story cyber sleuth & hacker's memory: a really fun set of turn-based jrpgs. cyber sleuth took me a while to warm up to (the localization could be better, to put it generously), but i came to enjoy its slightly offbeat sense of humor. hacker's memory, otoh, i loved from the start. it does a great job showing how cyber sleuth's story beats happened in parallel while still keeping the focus on a fantastic new cast and their own plotlines. the first game is a more standard digimon story about saving the world, while hacker's memory widens the perspective and shows a bit of the systems at play in the background. just a super satisfying game on every level for me.

shin godzilla: personally i love logging off work and my many meetings and watching a movie about a guy who has to go to even more meetings. i'm kidding, this was really fun (on account of all the meetings). i'll get to his kamen rider and ultraman movies too at some point.

gilgamesh (gardner & maier, also the david ferry version): paying my respects to the original yaoi 🫡

judgment: i wanted to try a rgg game without committing to playing 8 of them in order. turns out this is a perfect standalone game. it's such a tightly written story and character study, and it's really fun to play. kimutaku is so good at playing yagami so low-key, so tamped down, that when he explodes you really feel how angry he's been all along. the english cast is also great -- i enjoyed greg chun's take on yagami as well. (i played lost judgment too but wasn't quite so high on it. alas)

siren: watched sgf's excellent lp and loved this horror stealth game. the motion-capture work for the faces is a pretty cool workaround for the rendering limitations at the time while adding to the off-kilter vibe. i'm also a huge sucker for when studios lean into mixed media and use photos of real props (magazines, IDs in wallets, letters, etc) in their games. the story is kinda obtuse – and literally requires you to read extra official content to get some of the answers – but for something with such vague, stilted cutscenes with equally vague and stilted dialogue, especially with the added layer of a classic ps2-era english dub, i became attached to the entire cast stuck in this extremely bleak and scary scenario. i guess the best way i can sum it up is that it's a game that knows exactly how to play you.

digital devil saga 2: finished right before the world is actually set to end in 2025 in the game lol. it's so good!! i'm grateful that even after all this time, i managed to go into this mostly blind, because the way the plot reveal recontexualizes so much about the first game and the absolute rank relationship dynamics between some of the characters just blew me away. probably has some of my favorite character designs of all time, and i also think it's sooo fun to play thanks to my having turn-based long jrpg brain sickness. such an all-timer of a duology.

nine sols: i'm still not done with it on account of it being a parry-focused metroidvania and me sucking shit at both platforming and parrying, but it's great! it feels so confidently produced, kinda wild considering how different it is from their previous two games, devotion and detention (both of which i also highly recommend). the art and design work are beautiful, and i'm really enjoying how bleak the plot is. you can tell they made two horror games before this lol. i also love story mode. thank you, story mode.

風林火山韻雷 -bring it back-: lmao. anyway, it's a super fun song and mv that packs in everything i like about akyr (mixing traditional with modern both in the song and the imagery, high energy, everyone's great ofc but takayuki kondo especially killing it with that bridge, akyr making aggro songs about murdering their enemies).

[seriousfic]

Have watched Twisted Metal, the loose adaptation of Sony's perennial car combat franchise. It's more in the Deadpool Lite cottage industry than (I assume) anything to do with the video games. I've never played them, so I can't speak to accuracy except in a Wikipedia sense (you know, that thing MCU writers look at before they adapt years of storytelling), only I know they're car combat games and this Twisted Metal looks to any excuse to get the characters out of the cars so they can get into fistfights, shoot-em-ups, or just gab. Mainly gab.

Nothing against Anthony Mackie--he's far more convincing as a wisecracking scoundrel here than as a brooding antihero or inspirational patriot in other projects--but the straight-to-video Death Race movies featured big names Luke Goss and Tanit Phoenix and managed some actual death races.

And in the seventies, shows like The A-Team and Dukes of Hazzard managed a few car chases every episode. Twisted Metal looks like a fanfilm in comparison. It's painfully obvious there's no actual pyrotechnics going off, just CGI muzzle flashes and the odd shattered window. The cars look to have not been modified at all and rarely take a scratch, much less any of the hundreds of bullets that are fired at them.

The writing, as you'd expect from Deadpool Lite, is fitfully amusing banter and 'emotional' scenes swiped from other, fairly recent media. There's a character who seems mute until she bursts out into verbiage, like Laura in Logan. There's one episode that pauses the narrative to focus on a gay romance, like in The Last Of Us.

Weirdly, Mackie himself plays a fast-talking rogue--sort of like Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop and 48 Hours--but he never actually manages to fast-talk anyone. According to the show, he's such a good 'milkman' (is that such a widely known term in 2002 that it'd become future slang after an apocalypse? I guess they can't spend eight episodes calling a black man "Pizzaboy.") that he's recruited for an important mission, but his attempts to actually con people either fail--in which case his obligatory modern-day Hypercompetent Sidekick Who Is The Real Badass actually does the conning--or he tries to con someone who maybe half-buys it and Hypercompetent Sidekick ruins his persuasion check by going aggro. He also can't tell when he's being flim-flammed by Neve Campbell. Dude, you're a conman and you're getting conned? What are you, the bad guy in an episode of Leverage?

Why is this guy our protagonist if his specialty is talking people into doing things and he's no good at it? Yeah, Fast-Talker and Real Badass is a time-tested buddy-movie dynamic... look at Rush Hour or Shanghai Noon... but the Fast-Talker has to be good at fast-talk and the Real Badass has to be a Real Badass. What they do here is have him and his sidekick Stephanie Beatriz both be kinda okay at fast-talking and kinda okay at fighting.

So they don't really have different strengths and weaknesses, they're just banter delivery vehicles and stuff happens and they make quips. It's weak writing, basically.

On the bright side, it keeps its episodes to thirty-odd minutes instead of straining to be an hour-long, which is a relief in this day and age. The Twisted Metal games have been rebooted so many times that every character has multiple iterations, so I'll cut it some slack on the 'adaptation,' although it feels a lot like the modern IP sin of coming up with a bunch of characters, then thinking up canon characters they vaguely fit to and giving them that name. Agent Stone, for instance, goes from a heroic black man trying to undo an accidental shooting to white mall cop who becomes a fascist warlord. Okay...? I guess they're both law enforcement themed so... great adaptation, guys.

I'd give them more credit if this iteration of the cast didn't align so neatly with "white men bad, browns and women good."

And it Surf Draculas hard.

Points for the "crazed religious faction" being a bunch of hedonistic atheists who have used the Apocalypse as an excuse to chimp out. That's novel, at least. We should encourage post-apocalyptic media to go beyond the usual neo-Nazi, biker gang, radfem factions.

[chenyuvale]

Least favorite ships + why? Idk I like to see what people think😼

(Genshin ships btw lololol)

genshintwt hates me for this

basically every popular mlm ship ,,,

the most popular mlm ship i enjoy is cytham and compared to like. The tall man x tall man ones its not that popular!! agony!

more specifics here so be warned: if i mention a fave ship of yours here, its not a personal attack and im not gonna hold it against you for shipping differently than i do. that being said heres my take on my least fave ships

ok lets talk abt kavetham.. i think they're exes. i enjoy them as a duo but not as a romantic pair; they literally fight in every scene they're in so im convinced kaveh had a crush and they tried dating for a week or even just 5 days so not even a week and kaveh got so frustrated that he broke it off but is salty abt it and haitham only agreed bc "why not, if it works it works and if it doesnt it doesnt" he had no expectations whereas kaveh had every expectation but haitham didn't live up to that so now kavehs just constantly annoyed and angry w haitham bc he doesn't know hoe to move on

i dont like zhongchi or neuvithesley very much simply because i dont. see it. its another case of they dont really like each other? and i think its hypocritical of certain fans to go against ships like zhongxiao bc "they're father/son" when. zhongchi is so much more (by their own standards) problematic than zhongxiao.. like stay? in your lane? and neuvithesley feels to me like ppl just want an excuse to have sigewinne as thier child when. sigewinne is more like wrios mom or grandma considering her actual age ejfhehfhd hes the youngest of the three and fanon loves to ignore it! i wont tolerate that :)

i have a Very hot take on kae/luc that both the antis and the pros dont like; they're not brothers but they aren't lovers either.. i also think they're exes

mostly because thats the vibe i got when i first saw thier interactions in game, it felt similar to asra/julian from the arcana and bc i was into the arcana right before getting into genshin asrian was on my mind, i started looking into them as one does and encountered the Discourse; knowing the cn stereotype though and that it is used to hide gay relationships in cn media; i further took that as proof that they're exes (and Both are bitter about it i enjoy the dynamic a lot. and genuinely they cant live w/o each other) im not going to attack ragbros believers tho, neither am i going to attack the shippers i like the content regardless bc both sides can agree that they cant live w/o each other and it torments the both of them

i could go more in depth bc they mean a lot to me but alas i shall hold off for now

other than that theres some ships i just dont fully understand? like yantao, ittogorou, thomato and eulamber, i get the premise behind eulamber but i cant help but think amber deserves better 😔 yantao i dont? get it and i dont know that i want to at this point it's just confused me bc as soon as yanfei was released ppl jumped on the yantao trainwagon and im confused where it came from? im also a bit more of a yanfei/kuki person myself but before that i didn't have any real yanfei ship; ittogorou feels like ppl just want itto with any guy they want and it bugs me, thomato is toxic. point blank; ayato is constantly bullying thoma and thoma is not the type of guy to fight back but like irs very. family bullying and not romantic partner bullying. and ayato knows how to bully a romantic partner hes very sadistic. but thoma is vanilla as fuck he doesn't want to be bullied so give ayato to diluc who Is a masochist and will accept ayatos bullying :D in that news i also like kaeya x thoma

those are all the ones that come to mind and again if i mention a ship you like dont take it personally!! at all!! its just my view on things and im not gonna shame you for having different takes. i love others interpretations so much im incredibly open minded, id be such a hypocrite if i wasnt

[literaphobe]

I’ve seen a lot of gender swapped mlb stuff where either one or both of their genders are swapped. How do you think any of those variations would change the love square dynamic or the characters in general, if they would change it all?

GONNA TALK ABOUT WLW LOVE SQUARE. other variations will be elaborated on if u come back and ask my sweet anonie <3

adrienette: i feel like fem adrien would give marinette so many more demons. i could go more in depth about my visions but ifl it would be really funny to see alya try and convince marinette that girl adrien TOTALLY likes her like its SO obvious and marinette is like IT DOESNT MEAN ANYTHING ALYA SHES NICE TO EVERYONE!! plus we dont even know if adrien likes girls!! and adrien walks by only overhearing the last sentence and is like oh! i do like girls :) and then after marinette’s recovered from her heart attack the new meta becomes OKAY BUT WE DONT KNOW IF SHES ATTRACTED TO GIRLS. MAYBE SHE JUST THINKS GIRLS R REALLY FUCKING COOL!! the next day the papers announce that girl adrien is in love w ladybug

ladynoir: chat noir has got the biggest crush on ladybug like she is so seriously gay like if she didnt already know she was gay if she was the most repressed gay girlie in this gay girlie world she would know what she was with ONE look at ladybug. ladybug has no fucking idea chat noir is in love with her. she thinks they are best friends. no one understands this life other than Her. one time some sleazy guy hit on chat and ladybug beat the shit out of him. he just so happened to be akumatized but she was so pissed off and violent about it. the dating rumors and the media are the same about it. aka incredibly invasive and ladybug is just as pissed off that they think they are dating. she gets so aggressive about it to the point where chat noir asks her what she thinks about the lgbt+ community. and chat is like im sorry like im a wlw and if u dont like gay ppl thats okay i just– and then ladybug like kisses her and is like im gay too u idiot its just weird of the media to speculate so harshly and then chat is just like FROZEN and ladybug freaks out shes like IM SO SORRY I SHOULDNT HAVE LIKE I MEAN I SHOULDVE ASKED and chat is like NO ITS OK UVE KISSED ME BEFORE ANYWAY and ladybug is like THATS DIFFERENT I HAD NO CHOICE BUT HERE– and then chat kisses her to calm her down (and shut her up) and pretty much just even the scales in terms of initiated kisses. when news about girl adrien x ladybug breaks out ladybug is like ???!!!!!!!! and chat is like um do u hate that she likes u i mean the news probably waaaayyyy exaggerated what they interrogated out of her and like um so overstretched it probably haha what do u think of blonde models and um adrien i guess like do u hate her do u think shes cool do u think you could fall madly in love with her and spend all your days together

ladrien: ladybug saves girl adriens life and shes like oh thank you ladybug… ur so wonderful 😍 like so clearly into her but ladybug is dense af and also nervous af she doesnt even believe the rumors!! shes like ur welcome girl adrien haha um yeah so um i saw the news but dont worry!!!! i know how the news exaggerates all the time like they always call me and girl chat noir a couple even tho we are not!! and adrien is like oh so like… ud never date chat noir? and ladybug is like uh… we are… friends and partners. do you.. want me to date chat noir? So the news really got it all wrong and you dont like me at all? and adrien is like I DO LIKE YOU… UM WHO WOULDN’T LIKE YOU? <- she has no idea how to save this bc she wants to date ladybug but doesnt know which identity to chase her with best and she thinks ladybug might not like EITHER of her identities so shes like confused at shit but also she very easily gets her hopes up and shes like maybe i should tell her???

marichat: ifl the events of glaciator will always be so inevitable for marichat. like marinette will always look so inviting on that balcony of hers staring off wistfully into the evening air and chat noir will always feel drawn to it when ladybug is nowhere to be found… what would be fun about wlw marichat guys

[kidflashimpulse]

Finally got to read the new chapter and oh my goodness. So many moments that just made me go ‘awwww.’

I love the way you write Barry and Bart’s dynamic. Obviously we’ve seen a bit of the tension the two of them can have with one another, but this time we got to see some of that sweetness (and humor). Bart trying not to grin when Barry tells him he did good was so sweet. Then there was that part of them talking with the kid, and the mention of Bart helping out at Barry’s job (and bringing donuts! I love when people bring donuts to work… best coworkers for the day).

Then there’s a bit of Bart and Ed. Poor Bart- he should’ve just woken Ed up, he’s about to go a long while without him and his maaaaasive… heart :) (Barry’s borderline horrified reaction hahaha). Also the bit about Bart saying he can’t quit Ed- that’s so sweet dude omg. HELP AND BART SPREADING GAY RUMORS ABOUT HIMSELF? Who would’ve thought the public took him for a straight man… poor Bart.

Lastly the mentions of Jay. God, if Bart doesn’t see him before he leaves that’s gonna make it even more soul crushing. And man, you really laid it on thick this chapter. The but about him tucking Bart in sometimes- I don’t even have words that’s just the sweetest thing I may have ever read.

Overall, 100/10 as usual. Incredible work; thank you for sharing your art with us. I know you mentioned a new story about Bart being missing in space, but nonetheless I don’t know what I will do with myself when this one finishes. New chapters have been something I look forward to for… goodness, over a year now? Anyways, thank you again. I hope you have a good day/night whenever you’re reading this <33

u would not believe how hungry i was for donuts when writing that in like i’m still craving them as we speak when will i get my goddamn donuts damnit

it’s so important to me to try to remember to flesh out the good moments between bart and barry, especially since i’m such a fan of them beefing and having tension/discord, i feel like if anything it contributes to the “stakes” of their relationship so i’m really glad to hear that from u :) <33

this is probably way too serious of an answer to smn that doesn’t warrant it lol but hey, what the heck 😂 so of course ppl perceive queerness in all sorts of different ways considering it’s such a spectrum but to me bart’s appeal as a gay guy (in both the comics and the show) is that he’s just such a guy (i have no other way of expressing this 😭) but then he can also so easily slip into having more neutral traits and insights that r just really refreshing in gender expression (not necessarily wrt to his identity, just his overall sense of being), i don’t know, obviously a massive chunk of my interpretation lies in my subjectivity, but the way i see him, i could see “media” perceiving him superficially as straight + combining that with what i feel like is a “speedster reputation” (atleast in YJA) just results in a bunch of moments that allude to those things, that scene included, whether it be for laughs or a very low-key social commentary 😂 but ultimately i just enjoyed writing those scenes cause they cracked me up so i’m glad u enjoyed them too 😂😂

can u imagine bart jetting off into space without resolving anything with jay? that would actually be so funny, don’t tempt me 🫡

regarding that new story of bart in space, yes it largely revolves around the time of his disappearance during YJ phantoms because i’ve been kind of dying to write that (it’s been 84 years and i still can’t believe the episodes ended up like that) but it’s my least developed drafted story so even though “chronologically” its a Part 2 in the series of fics that AAIT is a part of, Retrocausality is the current sequel to AAIT, that hopefully, once AAIT is finished, you might be able to look forward to <3

it’s actually so bizarre that it’s been over a year now with AAIT (possibly even two at this point ??? i have no idea lol), i never imagined it to turn out the way it has and i have to say, it exceeded my expectations (just purely based on the writing journey and experience) by so much, and that’s 100% because of the feedback i managed to get from it. I know i say this time and time again but it’s just so true, i really mean it so much, the response to the fic has really added so much life to it ! and honestly i probably wouldn’t have been anywhere close to finishing it if it weren’t for all the support throughout it. Truly incredible stuff that I will never forget !!

so THANK YOU for ur continued support and joining the journey, i can’t put to words how much i appreciate it truly ! Thank you again for reading and I really hope I continue to write stuff that u can enjoy 💛💛

[wonderousmonarch]

Definitive Thoughts on the Kamen Rider series I've watched (part 2)

POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR KAMEN RIDER DOUBLE, FOURZE, AND WIZARD

Reminder that this is just my opinion and also all the numbers are arbitrary, don't take them seriously. Although the tier list rankings are official, you can find them on the tier list I made :3

Double

Basically? Yes. This series had me from the second the opening rolled. I fucking love Double and pretty much everything about it.

Plot/Concept: 9/10

oh yeah baby. fusion is always such a cool concept in media and the idea of a Kamen Rider made up of two guys is so fun. also it's gay as hell. gay people are really strong

Execution: 10/10

all the little cases they had to solve were super neat, not too complicated and they got a little bit predictable after a bit but still nice. the two episode arc structure was perfect, allowing the show to fully develop the ideas in an arc and set the groundwork for what comes next. I looooved it. only one instance of "should've watched the movie" at the very end, but it went over smooth anyway.

Characters: 10/10

I don't think there was a single character I really disliked. all the antagonists were really cool, I loved the Museum and later Foundation X. I love Shotaro and Philip's dynamic, and I really don't think there's anything more gay than what those two got going on. I liked Ryu alot as well. Not really a lot to say about this other than I do love them so much.

Suit/Character Design: 8/10

I think the monster designs are where this show thrives. Double's design was a bit bland at first, but after a while I heavily vibed with it especially in contrast to the monsters. each monster is so varied and different and all the suits seem so unique, it's so cool. outside of the suits, the character design is on POINT. Ryu falls into the same category as Makoto from Ghost where he looks like a car seat but he still makes it work.

Music: 10/10

Same as ghost. I love this soundtrack with all my heart. it had me hooked from the opening, which I did not expect. I love each of the vocal tracks with my entire soul, especially Nobody's Perfect and Leave All Behind. Accel had a very good musical theme all together.

Overall: 10/10, S Tier

Fourze

the power of autism strikes again

Plot/Concept: 7/10

I'll admit, I didn't know how to feel about the highschool setting at first, but I vibed with the space themes. the astral switches were cool but I don't think there needed to be that many oh my god.

Execution: 9/10

ITS SPACE TIME!!!

this show went so hard. I don't think there was a single time I was disinterested in what was going on. they managed to keep things going throughout the whole show, it never really felt like everything happened for a reason and there wasn't any filler. it also helped that I watched alot of the movie content as I went, so I understood all the smaller references to the movies as I went. also all the movies were so fucking cool. I should review the movies at some point.

it was also neat how they kept the upper classmen as real characters after they graduated school, it made the whole show a lot more real to me.

Characters: 8/10

I love the Autism Brigade. there is not a single person in the Kamen Rider Club who doesn't have the slightest touch of the 'tism. I loved meeting each member of the KRC and following Gentaro's quest to make friends with everyone in school. Miu's little "oops!" has made it into my vocal stims. Not much more I can say.

Character Designs: 9/10

me likey :)

that's all I really have. Fourze's design was so full of whimsy and meteor was full of really cool. also, I don't usually talk about the movies in these, but the Movie where they go to space and fight evil robots had the sauciest designs of all time.

Music: 8/10

once again, I was locked in from the Opening. I fucking love Switch On. additionally, both belt's little jingles went so hard, I found myself hitting the 3...2...1.... pretty much every time Fourze transformed. I also adored Meteor's theme. idk this sound design in general fucks

Overall: 9/10, S tier

Wizard

John Sweetflips himself

Plot/Concept: 8/10

it seemed pretty cool to start out, very Persona 5 vibes which I liked.

Execution: 6/10

tbh I wasn't really digging the wizard vibes at first.

It just wasn't for me until Beast got introduced, after that things just got better and better. I've talked about it before but the ending arc was just so incredible, and honestly was probably my favorite finale to any of the Kamen Rider series this far.

Characters: 5/10

could've been better tbh. the main cast was relatively fine, outside of haruto being kinda boring to me as a character. Its the same reason I didn’t like Ace/Geats all that much, he’s kinda “the guy who shows up and fixes things” for the first like half of the show. I did like all the supporting characters, although i think they could’ve made Rinko a bit more of a threat. they set up in the first episode that silver bullets (from Haruto's gun) hurt phantoms, and haruto never thinks to like, make sure Rinko (who stays strapped 24/7 from what I could tell) had silver bullets on her, even to just deal with the ghouls? like come on

I also felt like they kinda gave up on the phantoms partway through the show. they went from being all cunning and stalking their prey in order to tell how to make them despair, which was thrilling and interesting to watch.... and then they just like, stop? they're all like "raah despair cause I'm going to kill you" like man no wonder Wizard keeps stopping you. Phoenix and Gremlin had the best development out of any of the phantoms, and their arcs were genuinely my favorite parts of the show and it made me like the characters alot more. then they tried to do the same thing with Medusa but then decide that this arc is not about Medusa and is just her being an asshole for two episodes

The Bugsters do what the Phantoms do but like better IMO

Character Designs: 8/10

Most of the monsters and Rider forms were sick. I wish they made unique Mage outfits for the three who came later though, that drip is kinda not the best imo. Thats all i have to say other than Koyomi and Sora/Gremlin have the best fits in the entire show and no one can compare

Music: 7/10

kinda banger, but repetitive. the themes are good, but some parts of them just drag on for too long and that's always the worst. Beast’s theme is amazing though i never got sick of that one

Overall: 8.5/10, A Tier

Overall some pretty banger series. I'm now working my way through the 2000s/Phase 1 Heisei era riders, so thoughts on them soon :)

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

They Should Have Never Given You the Word “Queerbait”

It’s been 5 years and I’m still thinking about this, so now I am going to vent a bit. I hate when there is a Black female protagonist who is queer coded and seemingly in a slow burn setting, and the viewers flag it as queerbait and disengage.

I feel like I have seen so many shows where people can take a character who is never even suggestively queer and nit pick even the smallest glimmers to validate reading them as such and they will be able to ship and create and support all of the ways this is a queer character and trust the writers to possibly give more. 

But, when there are Black women in these areas, it falls down as soon as they aren’t given overt displays of wlw actions. I said its been 5 years, because I’m specifically thinking about Kiss Me First, but I also want to hit on Crazyhead, while I’m here because I feel like it got paid the same treatment in this regard. And both of those shows had such good writing, and as a Black queer woman WITH mental illness, both of these characters spoke to me and seeing them have potential for love stories for wlw stories was so rewarding, only to see the journey get bashed and the shows get cancelled. 

So. Let me talk a minute. Starting with Kiss Me First.  If you haven’t already watched it, you probably aren’t going to, so I’m not sparing potential “spoilers,” as I’ve said, its been 5 years.

Kiss Me First centers around this dynamic of an orphan, Leila, who recently lost her mom and is getting attached to a woman, Tess, that she met in this computer universe, who she also has befriended irl. Leila and Tess start off with some mystery, as you can’t tell what Tess’ intentions are for this woman, but you see very early on that Leila doesn’t necessarily trust people that are in Tess’ life. When Leila realizes that the person who Tess seems to care about the most is a dangerous and manipulative person, she does everything that she can to protect her.

The criticisms of the show were that people were “queerbaited” with the relationship between them because of the romantic and sexual relationships that these characters had with men and not with each other...

This is what is frustrating to me: So much of this series is realistic, INCLUDING the story arcs where these women are in relationships with men that don’t really serve them best. Real life queer people frequently have relationships with partners that they don’t really belong with before finding the love that they had been seeking. But, the moment it happens in media, especially with a Black woman, it is unbearable for audiences. They gotta see her eating box, or it ain’t real.

And it’s aggravating, because there is this fairy tale happening in which Leila literally is on a quest to save Tess. She knows that this guy is dangerous and her entire goal becomes making sure she rescues Tess from him. He lifts Tess on a pedestal and makes her feel like she is the most important person, but he is actually an abuser and preying upon this group that idolizes him, so Leila spends episodes working to get Tess out of his grasp.

In the end, they aren’t IN a queer relationship, but she has absolutely freed Tess and Tess is helping her to escape being framed by the enemy. They are “friends,” but if you have a queer eye, and are not racist, you’d be able to see that this is and was the entire time a fucking love story between these two women! If anything, they tossed in some dudes for the straights to pay attention. I’m livid every time somebody suggests that Kiss Me First is queerbait. To you, but not my Black, gay, bipolar ass. I loved it. I wanted to see them flourish. I wanted to be given the payoff, yes. But, I loved being able to see a beautiful love story between two fucked up people who were side by side at the end.

This happened in Crazyhead, as well.

Raquel is a target for an apocalypse and do you know how Amy saved her and the world? By telling her she loved her and giving her a kiss that brought her back from the brink of destruction...

Now... I will admit, the writers did a “no homo” type thing at the end... but the homo in me seen the homo in thee, so I wasn’t bothered by that. 

I just think that it is an unfair measurement, to expect everything to be served up for you in order to support representation, and not being able to detect subtext or to envision the potential coding shows a huge amount of privilege. I adore the fact that so much queer content as of late gets spoonfed to you, but I also enjoy a slow burn, and it’s not right that Black queer women rarely get one because you give up if there’s not an automatic tonguing and huge declarations. And in the cases of these two shows, there were very clear expressions of love and several moments of intimacy, but I guess they needed to trib for true love. 

Anyways, I love Kiss Me First and Crazyhead, and I consider them representation FOR ME. 

[gotham-is-the-best-worst-show]

Talking About The Isabella Arc part 1

CW: Helluvaboss discussion

I hate for one of my first posts on here to be negative, but I feel so mad that we were pitted against Ed in the whole Isabella situation.

I really wish that we would have got to see Ed's side of the story. I felt like the whole time, we were so disproportionately seeing it from Oswald's perspective, that it really was unfair to Ed as a character.

I know that Oswald is an extremely important character to the show, and Ed's character is usually an accessory to Oswald, but . . . As a Riddler kinnie, it’s so unfair.

The thing about me is I love fictional relationships in which both characters are equally bad people, doing equally selfish things to each other. It’s like candy to me, it’s so interesting to explore and write about, and it’s always exciting.

And that is one of my favorite parts about Oswald and Ed's dynamic, that they are equals. When one of them has the upperhand, the other will eventually come out on top.

I think that their power dynamic is very compelling. Oswald helped to begin Ed's criminal career, and Ed seems lost without his guidance. But also Oswald is hopelessly in love with Ed and will always be waiting for the day Ed reciprocates.

I feel that they both love each other so much for reasons that are selfish. Oswald loves Ed for the same reason Fish Mooney loved Oswald: she 'made' him. Ed loves Oswald because he gives him a sense of identity he can’t have on his own.

I really hate the way that gay men who are in unrequited love are sometimes so infantilized by the framing of the narrative. I’m thinking about the character of Stolas in Hellavaboss (I despise that I have to mention that show).

In the beginning of Helluvaboss, the show is a lot more honest about Stolas' morality and selfishness as a character than it gets as it goes on.

In the beginning, we see Stolas as an entitled noble who cheats on his wife with an imp, using Blitzo for his own shallow sexual gratification while being belittling to Blitzo, uncaring about the effect this has on his daughter until she brings to his attention the way it damages their relationship.

Blitzo, too, is shown to be cold and callous to Stolas for reasons that are understandable, but also it is clear he is using Stolas too, for Stolas' grimoire.

I think that this was a good set up.

I was really hoping for Stella to be a somewhat sympathetic character who is lashing out because she is being betrayed by her husband who she loved, because I am very much not into the way that (often) queer-created media or queer fanon likes to demonize women who get in the way of the gay ships. (Examples: hatred for and abuse of Harley Quinn because she gets in the way of BatJokes, hatred for and abuse of Lizzie Midford because she gets in the way of SebaCiel)

This sort of thing happens with any ship, that people hate certain characters for getting in the way of their ship, but it’s just annoying to me the misogynist undertones when it comes to women characters. (Saying Lizzie deserves to die because she has an annoyingly high voice . . . Um . . . She’s a preteen girl . . . Of course she has a high voice . . . It’s okay to not like her voice, but most people who say that obviously hate her more for being a ship cockblock)

It’s so much more interesting to be able to have sympathy for all sides.

And also, I was hoping to watch a show that is honest about its own character's immorality, and lets us feel for them anyway. No moralizing bullshit to only make us feel for the 'good guys' and hate the 'bad guys'. Just a show about horrible people all around that we can nonetheless relate to and enjoy.

But as it goes on . . . Things fall apart.

The show started to frame Stolas in an infantilizing light, making Blitzo out to be the villain only because Stolas is in love with him, which is so fucked up, because Blitzo doesn’t have to love Stolas, or anyone at all. That’s just kind of true of anyone. Nobody has to be in love with anyone, even with people who they are in a sexual relationship with, and that’s a fact of life.

Even though Blitzo obviously has romantic feelings for Stolas, that’s also not an excuse. He doesn’t owe Stolas anything. This whole relationship was based off of mutual selfish gain, and so, it’s really not Blitzo's responsibility that Stolas caught feelings.

It seems to me a very easy way to manipulate the audience. Because the majority of the fanbase of Helluvaboss are queer people and they know very well what it feels like to be in unrequited love (often with a straight person, or else someone who is struggling to be honest about their identity), they are more likely to sympathize with Stolas.

And Stella is demonized completely, so she’s just a bitch who abuses Stolas because she’s a bitch and does the bitchiest things the writers can think of to make you hate her.

All this would be fine if the show stopped doing this weird thing where it tries to retcon its own characters' morality and manipulate the audience into thinking characters who are horrible people are worthy of sympathy and love and other characters who are also horrible people aren’t deserving of sympathy and love because of the manipulative framing which screws with the plot and makes the characters uninteresting pity-bait or hate-bait.

This is something that Gotham does sometimes, but it’s not such a glaring issue, I feel.

[byfurries4furries]

Arches (Horror Visual Novel)

Here's an elevator pitch. What if you had a gay couple where one guy, Devon, is a paranormal investigator and the other guy, Cameron, has psychosis, but Devon thinks it might actually be psychic powers? It sounds like a really terrible horror movie. The twist though is that unlike most horror media, Cameron is kind of the main and most prominent point of view character, so the story is told in massive part from his perspective and deals heavily with the ramifications of its own premise.

Cameron is a very rich character and far more than just "the psychic". He's a former drug addict and had a mom who was similarly addicted to drugs. Both suffered from psychosis that caused hallucinations, but his mother's caused her to believe that arches were gates to either heaven or hell and if she went under the right one, she'd be able to go to heaven, thus she became obsessed with the shape. She died from drowning in a lake next to a bridge with an archway below it. Cameron pushed himself to quit drugs then as he blames his addiction for leading him away from protecting her. Soon though, he entered a relationship with a horribly abusive boyfriend. He eventually broke up with him and tried to pursue music, but labels felt like a guy with his unique vocal style just didn't have a place in modern music, so he pushed himself, blaming his anti-psychotics for ruining his creative process. Since then, he's felt useless, stuck at a soul-crushing call center job. But when he finds out his psychosis might actually be psychic powers, it gives him hope that he might be able to do something useful.

Devon is not as rich of a character, but he's very three-dimensional still. He had a comparatively much healthier upbringing, but he lost his aunt at a young age and that got him interested in the paranormal not just as a hobby, but as a way to figure out what happened after she died. He's considerably much better off financially too and could support his boyfriend fully if he needed to. He however struggles to listen to Cameron and in fact learns about most of his past during the events of the game, despite having dated him for years. Learning about it though makes him far more hesitant and scared to utilize his partner's powers in fear that he's in far too fragile of a mental space for something this serious. So in a way, by the time of the events of the story, the roles have switched in their typical dynamic and it's bringing up a lot of problems that had been bubbling under the surface.

This is the greatest strength of the game. Writers are typically REALLY bad at writing relationships. They almost always focus on the buildup to the relationship or decades after the fact where the characters are so used to each other that even they can't fathom each other apart. However, Cameron and Devon are in the throws of a relationship just long enough that they could propose to each other, but plausibly short enough that their biggest commitment is simply moving in together. And everything is messy, but it's not the fun kinda messy where they're on-again-off-again. They really want to be with each other and work through their issues. It's incredibly well-done, especially for a gay male relationship. And this is just the very tip of the iceberg. I didn't even need to sell you on the supernatural stuff, the part where they get kidnapped, or the extent and nature of Cameron's powers. The relationship between Cameron and Devon is the heart of the whole thing and if I can sell you on that, I don't even need to think about spoiling much else. Also, this is a sequel to another game called Echo, which I highly recommend and I did recommend before I basically rebooted this blog. You don't need to play Echo though. You can enjoy it just fine on its own. Echo however provides additional context for a character named Brian who doesn't really become a large presence until at least halfway into Arches. I'll talk more about Echo some other time though.

Links

Itch.io

[sarahnasoni]

Roundtable Presentation: Red, White & Royal Blue

Red, White and Royal Blue (2023), is directed by Matthew Lopez and is placed in the romantic-comedy genre. The movie is based on the novel that was published in 2019 by Casey McQuiston.

The narrative of this film centers around Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the U.S. President, and his antagonistic dynamic with England's young prince, Henry. Following a disruptive incident at the prince's brother's wedding, they must fake a close friendship to prevent a potential national scandal. What begins as a forced camaraderie gradually evolves into a deeper connection, complicated by the need to conceal their relationship amidst the spotlight of Alex's mother's re-election campaign as the first female President.

In the film the Alex Claremont-Diaz transcends otherness by not letting his defining characteristic be his racial and ethnic background and instead focusing more on his sexuality. This being said Alex's mom is the first black woman president and talks about the criticism she faces both because of her race and gender. By having this film center on a biracial gay couple it makes it a lot more approachable than most movies in this genre as it reaches a wider audience with its diversity. The film examines situations that aren't typical of romcoms by having two queer main characters. Also having a main guy character be bisexual is also not expected as there is not much media in general on bisexual men. Most romcoms are about heterosexual white couples and there are very few romcoms that focus on two men or have men as the main character. The fact the film centers around a gay biracial couple itself subverts gender roles that are normally typical in romcoms.

I think there is some unrealistic aspects of this film, including the fact that Henry seems to receive and face more backlash than Alex. The film managed to make Henry, the white guy the victim which is unfortunate and they could have portrayed the intersectionality of racism and homophobia better. I think they could have also mentioned more about race and ethnicity as although at some points it was briefly mentioned it was never really delved into.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Ive been thinkin about Herbert a lot because I like him even though hes in like 1 and 1/2 scenes in total and most of his characterization comes from my own headcanons and godddddd his dynamic with his dad is so fucking weird and Im so mad theyre just never going to elaborate on it. I mean unless they wanted to do some Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies type shit but I dont think thats happening anytime soon

And to be clear, im talking about the musical bc in the movie its just like, Herbert has his little gay moment with Alfred when he kinda corners him against the wall when they first get to the castle and then he has his big gay moment with Alfred with the flirting advice book, and then later the count is talking to Abronsius on the roof like "we'll have eternity to spend together, just like little Alfred and my son >:)" and its like, okay if things had gone according to their plan we wouldve had regular yaoi (that is to say two twinks) and old man yaoi (that is to say two old men) happening parallel to each other in this fucked up castle, and also Sarah wouldve been around and Im sure she wouldve been in a really weird position between Alfred and Count Krolock, although tbh I feel like she wouldnt have stuck around for too long if she didnt have to, like her whole thing was she wanted to be free from her shitty dad who never let her go outside I think she wouldve started traveling the world at the first opportunity but whatever

But in the musical its like, Herbert and Krolock are both clearly interested in Alfred and theyre both clearly aware of each others interest where Krolock is like "hey boy Im interested in, go be boyfriends with my son youre exactly his type" and Herbert is like "oh, father is so begeistert by you" like oh yeah? Whats he begeistert by? his submissive breedableness? And once again, Sarah is also there as part of this weird love formation, except this time its like a little more requited on all sides because Krolock is interested in both Alfred and Sarah and Sarah is interested in both Krolock and Alfred and Alfred is interested in Sarah and hes like scared of Krolock bc hes a vampire but you can easily interpret that as him being scared of his own homosexuality if you want, really Herberts the only odd one out in that dynamic by virtue of being the only non-bisexual in that castle

Before I continue with the actual point of this post, I just wanted to say that it just occured to me that that mess is basically the only non-monogamous portrayal of vampires I can think of in fiction, which tells me that I either need to seek out better vampire media or that our society is so hetero- and amatonormative and obsessed with the idea of Only One True Love Forever to the detriment of actually telling interesting stories about immortals who would naturally have very different opinions on love, which iiiiiiiis a lil bit frustrating ngl

Anyway, the fact that they Herbert and his dad barely interact is insane to me, Krolock is just like "this guy here is my son, everyone say hello to my son" when they get to the castle and then they never speak again like bro youre a VAMPIRE if you have a son youre gonna need to explain that a little

[ariapmdeol]

8:11 anon here again. Wow. W o w. Brain empty but just. Wow.

Went through all the endings and then had to go back to Arrival Point S to cope with all the other ones. And, as expected, the first ending and S destroyed me. Cried at least two times. My god. It's been a while since media made me cry, and I certainly didn't expect to get so emotionally invested in CoE.

However! I have questions!! Spoiler-y ones? If you don't mind, of course. Sorry if it's a lot?? I'm definitely going to re-watch everything again to connect whatever is left.

First off: is there a "canon" ending? Surely S is what everyone wishes to be canon (although E is pretty good too, in its own way, definitely wouldn't want it to be canon, though) but is there a defined one by the developers? Actually, what even is the first ending gotten before S?

Second: what triggers change the endings? I figure that for deaths it's mostly a matter of wasting time, which is really neat and genuinely puts urgency into the situation.

Connected to that, what's the blue-colored person speaking at the end of most endings? The one who "guides" the player on what they missed to try again?

Third: honestly what (and who) the hell is Kanou. Man shows up as quickly as he dies, reappears in like two endings, commits suicide in both. Is he just the local cryptid? A doll? There's something going on with him, between the Told You So death, the text about murdering coworkers at a previous lab, and his corpse disappearing (and, in specific endings, showing up as...human? Dialogue specifies that)

Fourth: you mention the DLC, but also Hermits Room and Interlude, however I don't see them in the playlist? Do they have to be played specifically as there's no uploads?

Fifth: wow Utsugi is so incredibly fruity. My god that guy is gay, good for him, good for him. That's not a question just need to state it. Also Sanemitsu being emotionally not there ever and Atou threatening him every five seconds. Peak dynamic, love them all so much. Shinano being happy. S ending my beloved

Sixth: I heard something about a...cipher? An art book cipher? Or an ARG? Idk but if you're willing to explain.

That's...it? Surely I have more questions but these are the main ones I can think of now. Again, sorry if this is a lot???

And!! Enjoy 8:11 whenever you get the time for it!! It was so fun to play and mind-boggling.

CONGRATS ON FINISHING AAAA!! i'll answer all these in order!! let me know if you need clarification on anything <3

Yes, there is a 'Canon' Ending'. S+ is considered the canonical ending! This actually answers the other part of this question: the Ch 8 Arrival point S goes through S (Future), which directly leads into S+ (Empyrean Point). The two endings are connected, and S needs to happen in order to achieve S+! OH ALSO. THERE ARE POST-S CHANGES, which i will put under the cut bc I have collected them <3 These technically happen in S+, but we don't see them bc we only check back in when Atou is in ch 8 already. The DLC (Records of Sanemitsu Isoi) takes place almost exactly 3 years after S+. (These are shown in the playlist after the Ch 4, 6, and 7 extras <3).

ENDING FLAGS: Fun bonus fact: the purple text will tell you what you missed, and this changes based on what you did wrong! S Root: get all the info, don't let anyone die. A Root: keep everyone alive but don't get all the info. Ensure that you have charged Shinano's Phone B Root: everyone alive but Shinano's phone was not charged or unlocked. C Root: Succeed in saving Yanagi. Fail in Saving Karen D Root: Succeed in Saving Karen. Fail in saving Yanagi E Root: EVERYONE DIES!! YIPPEEE Mx. Purple Text is something that you'll learn about in the DLC, so I'll RAFO you for now (Read and find out). It is purple specifically! (though i also made that interpeted it as blue at first sdajkldsjkal)

Kanou Flag: in Chapter Four, you can read Yuusuke Aiba's Journal without Kanou (this is shown in the extras for chapter 4). This starts the kanou flag. This is what triggers a couple of small changes surrounding Kanou (the quick flash of him in ch 6 comes to mind) and grants access to the kanou elevator scene. TLDR Kanou was infected with cells, which let him live a little longer, but not enough to grant abilities. They talk about dying as a 'human' because if he lives longer, his cells will morb and he'll become a doll or a creature. He also gives us a Note that says something like 'live for me'. This note gives us a buff during the origin beta boss fight (his "curse" protects atou <3)

The first Five records of the DLC (+ the intro) are in the playlist! for anything beyond that point, contact me here, on discord (@ ariapmdeol), or on twitter (@ AriaPMDEoL ) and I'll help you!

UTSUGI FOREVERRR HE'S SO. he makes me so emotional i love you noriyuki utsugi. Sanemitsu my darling my beloved he is trying but he also sucks so much <333 i love him. The Reiji-Sanemitsu-Haruki family means so much to me. they make me emotional UEEEE. S and S+ make me explode,,

YES there are ciphers!! there's an official artbook for COE (which unfortunately isn't being sold right now orz orz) Which has a few ciphers in it! The one that i was looking at is HORRIFICALLY warped (i genuinely don't think we were actually meant to solve it LMAO) but I solved it and a friend was kind enough to translate it for us! There is also a Cipher in DLC, and a few others in the DLC 2020 credits! I have solutions to all of those as well. It's less 'ARG' and more "here's some information hidden behind a cipher." They're not REQUIRED reading but they help a lot with theorizing, and I've been finding it to be a lot of fun :D

I CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY 8:11 I AM VERY EXCITED HEHEHE

OK POST S CHANGES ( you'll have seen one of these before). These are sorted by chapter. DON'T WORRY IF THESE DON'T MAKE SENSE TO YOU YET.

CHAPTER 1.

"You want to forget the rat without a head" has been changed from Red to Purple.

CHAPTER 4.

There is an Item on the floor in chapter 4 (the room that you have to walk through in order to get to Aiba's journal) which reads "Zero Does not Exist".

Chapter 6:

This document has been replaced, the first time you look at it, by a document by CODE:DANTE. This one is a little long so you can DM me and I'll grab it for you!

Chapter 7:

ok so. this is shown in A root but it's not an A root thing, it's a Post S root thing (it's because of how the YT translator got their endings, dw abt it). All mentions of Seodore Riddle have been removed

This text has changed (both in normal vision and in Vision shift. it reads:[normal vision text] 'This is not the start of a nightmare but the end of a peaceful dream' and 'but what will you see when you wake' is added post S. [purple text] 'Aare you enjoying this divine comedy?' with 'i'm glad, you've enjoyed the love of god' added post S.

^this section was translated by tumblr user hermitroom!