#Go arc v enjoyers go!!!!

[tubbytarchia]

Don't be weighed down by the hate, you're allowed to love what you love!!! Use this opportunity as an excuse to make a post to gush about ARC-V and answer me this:

What do you like about ARC-V? ✨✨

[cyberdragoninfinity]

keep forgetting to post all this art from the Arc-V Fallout AU that's been nibbling at the back of my brain sinceeeee april or so 🥴

[dr-spectre]

Hey guys! I wanna share something REALLYYYYYY important with you all!!!

So, I was having a nice conversation with an editor from Inkipedia. Really friendly individual, we had a nice civil discussion and it was great to hear out their points and wiki related things. I learnt some cool things and how Nintendo operates in certain areas.

I asked them about some stuff relating to Callie and localisations, and they told me that the "Hypnoshades" are actually just called "sunglasses," in the original Japanese version of Splatoon 2 and theres no mention of brainwashing OR hypnosis. All of the events in the original japanese version of Splatoon 2 seemed to be a lot more vague and up for interpretation which i found to be very interesting!!

However.... the editor told me that the English localisation line from DJ Octavio, "I remixed Callie's brain!" is actually different in the original japanese version.

GUESS WHAT DJ OCTAVIO SAID...

"Aori-Chan is so simple minded! I was able to brainwash her with ease."

Nintendo JP.... WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?! I WAS YOUR BIGGEST DEFENDER!! WHAT IS THIS?!?!?! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT IN THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE VERSION... CALLIE WAS STILL BRAINWASHED?!?!

Oh I'm gonna be sick....

You know, this ultimately just proves something to me.

Splatoon 2's writing... just fucking sucks. Straight up, it's ass. And not the good kind. It's poorly written and you wanna know why? It's set up is REALLY GOOD!!!! but it's pay off is the most uninteresting, vile, disrespectful, childish, lazy, DISGUSTING THING THEY COULD HAVE POSSIBLY DONE!!!

All this interesting set up with Callie and having this arc where she's so lonely and busy that she ultimately runs away to the Octarians, joins them willingly and ends up getting hypnotised, resulting in her becoming more emotional and seeping into the darkness in her heart... Marie, having to come and remind her of the good times they had together... to reignite the positivity in Callie's heart... to repair what they have broken... to have a fresh start...

But did this setup get paid off in a satisfying and emotionally deep way? No.... they choose to TREAT CALLIE LIKE A FUCKING MORON AND FOR WHAT REASON?!?!?! ARE NINTENDO JUST SCARED OF DEPTH?!?! WHATS THEIR FUCKING ISSUE?!?!?!

ITS SO DISRESPECTFUL!!! SHE LOST THE FINAL SPLATFEST AND YOU CONTINUE TO BEAT HER DOWN?!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?! WHAT WERE THE WRITERS COOKING?!?!?! GET THEM OUT OF THE KITCHEN DAMN IT!!!!

They literally picked the most uninteresting and disgusting fucking outcome possible and I genuinely don't know why. There's SOOOO much concept art and multiple sunken scroll entries that showcase this depth for Callie, AND THEY THREW IT AWAY!!!

But you know what? Im gonna continue to hold my stance about the events of splatoon 2 because I would rather like to look at the story in a more interesting and narratively fulfilling way than what Nintendo is trying to push. Sure, it might not be what Nintendo said happened, but I would rather look at the events in a different, more character rich way for my own fucking sanity and enjoyment. I am going to continue to say fuck you to the notion that "Callie was brainwashed and kidnapped" because I like stories where characters go through character arcs and growth!!!! I hate it when that depth and agency for my favourite character in this franchise IS TAKEN AWAY!!!!

I would rather live in a world where Fresh Start ACTAULLY MAKES SENSE AS A SONG!! I would rather live in a world where OCTAVIO ISNT A FUCKING UNREDEEMABLE EVIL MONSTER THAT CUTTLEFISH WOULD NEVER WANNA SEE AGAIN AFTER HEARING WHAT HE DID TO CALLIE!!!!

I would rather live in a world where Splatoon 3 feels more satisfying to me and the Squid Sisters get proper send offs and pay offs to their arcs from the start of Splatoon 1.

I would rather live in a world where Tidal Rush is more emotional and personal, THAN SOME BULLSHIT "oh we gotta save callie because she's a dumb idiot and she's an object to grab because it's a video game!!! Ha ha!!!"

I would rather live in a world where Callie is given a proper character arc, INSTEAD OF GETTING KIDNAPPED AND THESE AWFUL AND DISGUSTING THINGS DONE TO HER! ONLY FOR IT TO GET REVERSED SO EASILY WITH NO MENTION OF THESE EVENTS EVER AGAIN!!!!!

UGH.... I'm actually so angry. I hate this so much.

When Splatoon 4 comes out, I'm not gonna hold back on my criticisms. I want change out of these writers because the current format we have for Splatoon stories is actual dogshit and I'm so tired of it. Everyone in the community is tired of the cool and interesting character details being pushed to the side and hidden away because Nintendo fucking hates narratives and only saves it for RPGS for some ungodly reason.

Im tired of important character details giving shoved off in optional and hard to find content. I'm tired of these awful implications and events being spread like wildfire in the community because daddy Nintendo said so.

Im done.

[tvok]

the biggest structural flaw with arc v imo is the absolute failure to engage with yuya's professed "make everyone smile" motivation on anything more than a glancing surface level. Ray tells zarc that yuya is the part of him that wants to make people smile, and yuya has that revelation himself in the finale (that zarc wanted to make people smile just like him) but doesn't manage to extract any takeaway from it other than "I guess we weren't so different" or "I guess zarc wasn't all bad" Which Like, Huh? guys, zarc wanting to make people smile was, like, the whole fucking issue. zarc felt pressured to conform to an audience's expectation of him (wanted to make them happy) and it made him hate humanity because what he wanted no longer mattered. It made him do things that disgusted him and it was never enough. He couldn't fill the hole in himself with other people's smiles. yuya is trying desperately to please everybody right up until the credits roll and he's miserable the entire time, he's still that part of zarc that desperately wants approval from others, without even the aspects of zarc that made dueling enjoyable to him (yuri's sadism, yugo's competitiveness, yuto's vindictiveness). I'd go so far as to wager that it's because Yuya is that aspect of zarc that he struggles so much more with zarc's influence compared to the others, BECAUSE HE'S EXPERIENCING THE EXACT SAME THING. it's not about entertainment or smiling or fun, it's conformity and it's going to break him. and they never address it. EVER.

[miki-kaname]

Anime I've Seen in 2024 (New and Old)

New

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training arc - 5/10: Too short and over too quickly, really wished they could’ve added more.

My Hero Academia season 7 - 6/10: Tiring at this point, I actually don't care anymore.

Date a Live V - 7/10: It didn't shocked me like everyone else, I've seen heavier shit then this. Still, it's an appropriate finale. I've heard there's like two light novels left in the series. Maybe one day for season 6.

Sand Land - 7/10: The main story is fantastic and a great stand alone series. The second arc is okay. It's good but completely unnecessary.

Bocchi the Rock! movie - 8/10: Cramming a whole season into a two part movie is surprisingly good. Saw it in theaters and I had a good time. So... when season 2?

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Conflict - 8/10: So far, it's still great. It's very intense.

Dragon Ball Daima - 8/10: Great story, great characters, great world building, and great animation. The pacing though... cocktease.

Old

Dragon Ball - 10/10: Revisited as myself paying tribute to the late Akira Toriyama, who pass away this year. This series is still amazing and charming. Please watch it and ignore the fandom who hated it for no reason. Your life will change forever.

Dragon Ball Z - 9/10: This was the first time I watched it in the original Japanese version. A completely different experience. I had a ton of fun going through the whole thing again.

Lucky Star - 7/10: At first, I really love how these girls just sit around and talk endlessly. But then... it kept going. Then it got super annoying. And then it got to be not fun anymore. By the time I got to ep. 12, I remember saying to myself," WE GOT 12 MORE EPISODES OF THIS SHIT?" The ending was cringing, I'm sorry, I did not like it. I give it some time and... it wasn't that bad in retrospect, I was just not in the right mood. I'll give it another chance one day.

K-ON! - 10/10: I read the manga a year ago and I greatly enjoy it, so I was looking forward for the adaptation. Unfortunately, an unexpected moment occurred in my life that made me delayed my binge watch. Once I felt better, I finally watched it and... it was what I desperately want: comfort. The characters were great, the music is pretty catchy, and the overall experience was enjoyable. When it was over, I felt sad, sad that it was over. But it did heal my soul.

The Melancholy of Haruchi Suzumiya - 4/10: Surprised I didn't receive hate mail from my opinion of this anime. Why did I really hated it? Haruchi Suzumiya herself. Fuck! That! BITCH! I hated everything about her, she gave me flasbacks to Asuka from Evangalion, who is also GODAWFUL! This anime reminded me why I hated tsunderes, I never felt so much anger in my life. If there's any silver lining, it gave me Yuki Nagato, and Mikuru Asahina is cute. I know there's a movie, but I refuse to watch it.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan - 7/10: I got nothing to say about this spin-off, but I like this better then the main one.

Berserk (1997) - 8/10: Finally started watching this classic and, wow, this was not what I expect it to be. I was really into the story and the battle scenes were gory. The ending? Still haven’t recover from that dramatic experience.

Hidamari Sketch - 10/10: You know why I started watching this? I watch the second presidential debate, and it was a total shit show. To get away from politics, I put this on, not expecting what I was going to get. And what did I get? Possibly one of the cutest, comforting, fun shows I've seen in awhile. The girls were great, the animation was abstract, and it was pretty relaxing. I was a bit bother by the ecchi scenes, glad Madoka didn't had that treatment. By the end, you feel like you made friends with them. Or better yet, you became family with them. This is another show that heal my soul.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid - 8/10: This one has been on my watch list for awhile, but I'm glad I saw it. Another relaxing show that just happens to have plenty of scenes that goes TOO HARD! Like whole, was not expecting them to throw at me. Everything else is great too.

Yuru Yuri - 8/10: I thought I wasn't going to like this because of how mean spirited it can be. But... not only was this shit funny, but it's also heartwarming. This was a lot a fun.

What to expect next year?

[scholarinbookland]

Media Literacy 101

One important fact that consumers of media should all be aware of: everyone and every piece of content, no matter of what medium the content consists, has bias and some level of narrative. Humans, however, are not naturally good at distinguishing actors from their preferred or most famous roles, especially when it comes to genres like reality TV.

I got into Jimin of BTS first for his music (thanks, Spotify recommended!), and then for his dance. So I’m not discounting his or any of BTS’s artistic gifts when I say that the ratio of music output to non-music output makes their primary job reality TV stars (or as they’ve called themselves, “entertainers”).

As someone who only ever watches reality TV in social settings (except for Great British Bake Off), I’ve always been skeptical of those who view it as “not acting”. Reality TV is one of the more difficult forms of improvisational acting that makes a profit. Sure, producers, editors and camera crews give the actors a cushion in providing usable material, but most paid actors have a script, not a rough path to follow. I know reality TV does retakes like normal acting, and sometimes lines are scripted or fed to the actors, but they still are encouraged to improv and play off of each other’s reactions. Therefore, even poor reality TV acting is more difficult than the role of your average daytime soap opera actor.

Which is why I am skeptical of anyone who insists that shows like Run BTS are all natural and proof BTS can’t act. BTS, on average, are fairly passable actors, but the point of the show isn’t to succeed at the tasks, it’s to entertain the viewers. All of Run BTS’s running gags, like how team Kim Seokjin always wins and JK is good at everything he tries, are included to entertain, and to push a narrative.

I’d like to go down a list and analyze every member’s acting skills judging by what roles they have been assigned for Run BTS and how similar it is to what we know of their off-camera personalities, but I’m too hopelessly Jimin-focused to complete that task. When he’s on screen, I’m paying attention to him alone. So I’ll just analyze his acting in the Run BTS Village episode arc.

In these episodes, Jimin is one of three spies, alongside V and Suga. However, V and Suga have minimal screen time in the final cut compared to Jimin. The production crew also have Jimin reveal to the camera that he is being disingenuous at the close of part 1.

Call me utterly whipped for Park Jimin or too trusting, but I audibly gasped when he was revealed to be the spy. Not just due to the fact that I didn’t suspect him until he gave an evil grin to the camera, but also because the way he chose to do it was so funny and brought the audience into his enjoyment of the task. Rewatching the way he manipulated the others in part 1 after the reveal made it so obvious how often the editor captions downplay every trait of his that isn’t being cute. I was fully on his side in Part 2, mostly due to the way he included the camera in his conspiracy.

Judging solely by the spy skills in this episode, I would say the acting levels of the spies are Jimin, Suga, and V in order, with me judging their ability to deceive based on screen time where they are actively deceiving the other members. I personally believe that less screen time means that their footage was seen by the editors as more obviously suspicious, especially when they show the spy reveals at the conclusion of the storyline.

The way the locker clue in the episode basically spelled out that Jimin was the spy confirmed it for me: Jimin is a good enough actor that they’re actively trying to make him look like a bad actor. I suspect they are doing this to solidify fan’s impression of him as a sweet, adorable, hardworking goofball when that’s more likely less than half his personality. To be clear, I’m not saying that he’s an actor on level with most famous or even trained actors, but his comic timing, body control, and tendencies for treating Run BTS like an episode of The Office (insert Jimin Halpert meme) make the show much more enjoyable than if he didn’t decide (or agree with the production crew) to sacrifice his dignity for the sake of entertainment a good 70% of the time.

I think I come at this issue differently than a fan who knew him through BTS first, because I saw the Who music video, then SGMB, then SMF Pt 2, and then Like Crazy, so I saw a lot of range in his ability to portray various emotions immediately without encountering the Run BTS subtitles until after I’d already see him be able to inhabit various characters much more convincingly than your average musician in their videos.

I saw him lovesick and longing, then cheerful and goofy, then acting out a deep internal struggle through dance, and then switching between drunkenness and despair before ever finding out he wasn’t considered even a decent actor. I’ve seen worse actors in Hollywood blockbusters, to be honest. Then when I watched the behind the scenes for each music video I was shocked by how instantaneous the switch into character was and how fast he hopped out of it to hype up his exhausted dancers in SMF Pt 2, for example. It left me the impression that, like most people, he has different masks for different purposes or interactions, and the fan-directed mask is to emphasize being goofy, sweet, and adorable over recognizing the brain that clearly has artistic depth.

My sources of this impression are almost entirely original content and not fan-made content. The two exceptions are Rise of Bangtan, which I watched and thoroughly disagreed with in its choice of cherry-picking clips for a narrative, and TheJiminVideos on YouTube, who source their clips and I’ve spot-checked for misinformation. I’d honestly recommend even die-hard, long-standing Jimin fans check out their videos, because they take a comprehensive look at Jimin even before debut and try to debunk a lot of misinformation without shading any other members. The only thing I’m not 100% sure of in their claims is Jimin having a 128 IQ, because I have seen the clip where he said that and A) he said it jokingly, B) he was matching JK’s answer, and C) I’m 131 as of second grade IQ tests and that man is definitely smarter than I am.

I’ll edit this post if I get any further information that supports or disproves my understanding of this topic, but I hope anyone who reads it understands that I am not calling Jimin or BTS fake or disingenuous, but rather entertainers who maintain their own safety and personal boundaries by establishing a separate persona for with fans can engage.

Lack of media literacy leads to a world where acknowledging that people can see different things in the same media and still be valid is anathema somehow, so if you disagree with any of my assertions in this post, let’s have a calm discussion without ad-hominem attacks.

[speedierthanasubmarine]

I decided to watch helluva boss and imma do 2 separate posts for seasons 1 and two (why did I write it like that…?)

Season one

God I love this show. The writing is way more my speed than Hazbin hotel on Amazon, I enjoyed the writing in the pilot, but once Amazon took over the humor just didn’t really land for me, and tbh the plot took over and I started focusing more on that, and in general I’m more partial to the rapid fire YouTube dry comedy and this sentence is a friggin mess- I found HB SO FREAKIN FUNNY

Dude when he goes “FUCK, a new hole” I lost it

“Just try and sue us”

“We’re rich and we’re hot”

“I can just buy all the things!”

“You should commit die”

“Hehe, Trumpet!”

These are just my kinda lines, I don’t know how to explain it, I was wheezing all throughout the season

The music OH LORD when I say I’ve listened to stolas’s lullabye, lulu land, cotton candy, and house of ozmodius like 100000 times I’m… exaggerating but like you get the point the music here is friggin fantastic I also really like how a lot of the music is diegetic, I think that’s a fun touch. I don’t remember whether this is the case in Hazbin, but in this one it was like… I don’t know, it made sense that they were singing when they were singing… am I articulating myself well? I don’t care, iykyk if not, no prob

The animation is great, Viv loves them spinny shots and I am here for it. The amount of genuinely amazing action scenes is super impressive, and even the chill scenes have a ton of personality

The voice acting might be what steals the show for me, idrk anyone’s names cept Alex Brightman but BLITZS VA NEEDS AN AWARD, also slight tangent but I don’t know what it is with stolas’s va but he sounds a lot like a bird in the same sense that Gary Oldman sounded a lot like a bird in Kung Fu Panda 2, what is it that casting directors recognize in actors that screams bird?! Because both of these men are just SO BIRD DOES ANYONE GET WHAT I MEAN moving on, Ozzie’s voice was also effing PERFECT it slid silkily over me like… silk butter or smtg it was the perfect lust voice, I loved it. Everyone else was also great, but they were extra great.

It was also just so fun? Like in hazbin there’s very little just… shenanigans to enjoy, nothing wrong with that because it’s not that type of show, whereas this season is jam packed with them. Like I’ve heard that everyone hated episode 4, but like I don’t know I loved it😆 I just found it to be good old fashioned chicanery, and I liked the chaos and stupidity of it, made for some entertaining TV. This story engine is just mad entertaining for me.

I also enjoyed the writing of most of the characters (Millie, Moxxie, Loona, and Octavia still leave a bit to be desired imo, but whatever, they can’t all be winners and there’s nothing wrong with them) Blitz kinda reminds me of a Barney Stinson type character, which I really enjoy, and I also really like how his boss persona kinda infects everything he does while simultaneously being what’s screwing him over, his nature is kinda like a snake swallowing its own tail, which is tragic and beautiful, and Stolas compliments him well by being, not an enabler, but… I don’t know a clever way to say this… Stolas is a wreck in the best way and he just works. He’s short sighted, like extremely so, like how he thinks sleeping with Blitz will fill his emotional void so he does it but it just drives them further apart so it’s like he’s in a hole and in order to get out he’s gonna dig to pile up dirt so he can climb out but he’s an idiot and that’s a stupid idea and I loved his whole arc. Very enjoyable stuff drama.

Kinda random but whoever Viv’s foli artist is also deserves an award, the sound effects in this show are pristine and it’s incredible (yes I’ve seen the scene where the gun sounds go off a few seconds too late, and yeah, mistakes happen, but every bone crunch sounds and other stuff like that being so enunciated in an indie show is extremely impressive)

Anyhoo, very fun, very emotional, nice to look at, very funny, yada yada- altogether great season 1.

[mythomaniia]

making some good progress on @batmanisagatewaydrug’s book bingo! this round we got

2025 debut author: blob: a love story by maggie su. this book was pretty much okay. it wasn’t horrible to read but it wasn’t super enjoyable either. i was expecting a lot more wackiness and craziness considering it’s about a girl who turns a gelatinous blob into a boyfriend, but it was actually somewhat…boring? i can see it having its audience, but it was unfortunately not for me!

set in a country you have never visited: taiwan travelogue by yang shuang-zi. i’m going to confidently state right now that this is my book of the year. unbelievably incredible. every good thing i heard about this book was true, and then some. the meta fictional layering commenting on the act of translation as a translated book itself (i read the recent english translation by lin king), the depictions of food and community, the subtle and razor sharp exploration of relationships between colonizer and colonized—my god it’s just so good. cannot recommend it enough.

manga/graphic novel/comic book: gachiakuta v 4. i am reading this as it comes out in english and it’s really fun! the creator worked on soul eater (one of my long time favs) and you can tell in the best way.

sequel: we love you, bunny by mona awad. read this as an arc. maybe the last thing i was expecting in 2025 was a bunny sequel. as somewhat of an og enjoyer of bunny, obviously i had to read this. and it was okay. bunny is a very self enclosed novel that leaves not a lot wanting and so this sequel/prequel mashup definitely comes across as not really necessary. it was still enjoyable and wild, with a fantastic new character, and i love love love the precision and acumen of mona awad’s narrative voice. a mixed bag for sure. it’s not out until september, so i’m curious if there will be many differences from the copy i read to the final version.

historical fiction: the buffalo hunter hunter by stephen graham jones. another arc (we’re getting into arc city with these last few). i was so so excited for this. and it fucking rocks. a big novel that mixes horror with historical fiction, a genre that jones’ has never done before! and it’s amazing!!!! except for some rockiness in pacing with the ending, this novel blew me away. a story within a story set in the late 1800s in the american midwest, about a lutheran priest, a horrific massacre, and a native american vampire, this is a not to miss next installment in stephen graham jones’ already stunning career. seriously cannot wait for this book to come out so more people can read it. comes out in mid march!

romance novel: behooved by m stevenson. so this is another arc. last week my friend said “hey have you seen that there’s a new romantasy book where the guy is a horse by day?” and i, famously not a reader of romance nor romantasy, was like okay so obviously i’m reading that. and here we are. and i have to say, it was pretty enjoyable. you get what you’re expecting by reading this book, and i respect books that stick to their guns like that. comes out in may!

[twst-beam]

I see you are in need of prompts, then I shall humbly bestow upon thee some a prompt.

Hmm, what about going to a farmer's market with *insert YOUR favourite character here*? I believe in shameless self-enjoyment when it comes to writing; be self-indulgent. Don't you want to go apeshit?

Also do give your hands a well deserved rest every so often ^v^

ohohohoho you're giving me a lot of power with the YOUR favorite character there dove dear, but alright let's go >:D

Gifts

??? words, featuring my THREE favorite boyos because self-indulgence ftw <3

Deuce Spade

Going to the farmer's market was his idea; the two of you needed groceries, and it just so happened that the farmer's market was convenient for you.

Early morning, it was decided, it would double as a date, and both of you were early risers anyway. It'd also boost the morale of the farmers, Deuce had reasoned, and you fell all over again.

A wicker basket, two, so that you could carry your purchases home, although Deuce insisted he'd carry all of them for you, and you laughed and told him no.

The morning sun shone brightly as you walked towards the farmer's market, feeding a few ducks along the way as you walked by the lake and watching as Deuce's expressions softened every time, it was cute, and he grinned sheepishly when he caught you staring.

The entrance to the farmer's market was marked by a decorated arc, and it was peaceful and fun as the two of you walked around, buying produce and chatting with the stall owners, at one point Deuce was given a comically large round of cheese to carry home when he fought off a bunch of menaces from an old lady's stall.

But the real highlight of that morning was when Deuce found the chicks.

One, two, three, more chicks than he could count properly waddled around in a pen, and with a joke, an exclamation of wonder, and a hopeful confirmation, the two of you brought home two very full wicker baskets and a baby chick that rested on Deuce's head.

Jade Leech

Though he thought foraging in the mountains would have been a better decision for both your budget and experience, he relented when he saw the eagerness in your eyes.

By midmorning, you were dragging him to the farmer's market, chattering about the crafts and produce that could be found, and he smiled despite himself.

He watched as you conversed eagerly with the merchants, calmly observing how you skilfully picked the best produce, and how you looked at the crafts with admiration.

You had just purchased a new scarf, wrapping it around your neck and grinning as you waved at him to come over.

"Jade, Jade, look at this one"

He leans over as you took a scarf from the layed out pile on the table, and widened his eyes slightly as he saw what made you wave him over.

"Mushroom print," you smiled as you showed it to him, "and with the coloration and teal ruffles it reminded me of you"

He took it gently from your hands, noticing how the fabric was smooth but thick enough to warm, and kissed your forehead.

"Thank you, my pearl"

You muttered a "you're welcome", dazed by the sudden display of affection as he thanked the stall owner and payed for the scarf, bringing you out of your reverie.

"Hey, wait a minute, I was the one supposed to pay for that, not you"

Jade grinned, displaying his sharp teeth, eyes glinting with mischief as he feigned innocence.

"You were?"

You huffed, "it was supposed to be my gift for you, for bringing me here."

He leaned closer, scarf now hanging from his neck as he tapped his lips in thought, smirk giving away his intentions.

"Then what about a different gift?"

Rook Hunt

Your expedition to the farmer's market was on a whim, a fancy, a spur of the moment thing, but who were you to complain? the moment his hand held yours you couldn't help but go anywhere he wanted.

So there you were, between the rows of stalls and booths, illuminated by the fairy lights as Rook marveled at each product, generously purchasing trinkets and produce and whatever caught his eye.

You couldn't help but smile as Rook's exclamations of fascination and wonder brought smiles to the farmers' faces, and as you sat he waxed poetic about all the beauties the market provided, and you looked at the moon, content to hear him speak amidst the chatter and bustle of the bazaars.

"...but you know what the most amazing thing is in this place, mon amour?"

You closed your eyes, tilting your head as you emitted a curious "hmm?"

He held your hand, looking into your eyes as he smiled in adoration.

"You."

[hxrpooner]

things in arcane s2 that pissed me offfff

in no particular order

warwick not going full wolf????? why!!!!

pussies wouldn't commit to jayvik kiss... ok.... what EVER

killing off characters just for shock value (jinx and heimer mainly)

cait losing her eye also felt like it was just for shock value

what is the message of jinx's death supposed to be? "there's no way for her to make up for the things she did, the only way for her to atone is to die"??? ok.

that "i'm always with you" line from jinx was FORCED holy shit

i absolutely do not believe that the hooded figure from jayce's childhood was viktor. i fully believe that they originally intended it to be ryze and then changed course last minute

sevika got shafted. she's super important for a while, then she just isn't. she barely shows up after "Paint the Town Blue"

the scene with mel using the black rose amulet on ambessa, and then going inside the vision...??? to kill leblanc or... something??? i just kinda.... huh??? what??? okay

a moment of silence for all the viktor enjoyers. they completely shafted his lore and changed his ENTIRE vibe as a character. and then they killed him off. and he's getting an ASU about it.

mel has an interesting thing going on in season 1. she's ambitious and kind of manipulative and it's clear that she's using jayce to her own ends, but the story was obviously building up some interesting motives behind it and i was curious to see where her arc was going to go. by comparison she felt very flat in season 2. the back half of her arc felt very rushed.

the anomaly is a stupid mcguffin. it came out of nowhere and was only brought in because they needed some existential threat for the characters to fight

ekko also got shafted imo. the whole point of his original lore is that he's an idealist and a boy genius, and that he cobbles together the z-drive all on his own from scrap in his dinky little lab. but in arcane he only invents it because he's stuck in an alternate timeline, and he can't figure it out without the help of a white woman and a yordle. fuck you actually.

too much of ekko's development was centered around his feelings for jinx.

unclear how characters like camille, ziggs, blitzcrank, zeri are supposed to fit in with this lore. renata especially pissed me off because we spent so much time on that stupid yordle chem baron, while the actual canon chem baron failed to make an appearance

the piltover/zaun v. noxus war would have been a GREAT opportunity to bring in urgot, considering his lore, but, nope.

hextech found dead in a ditch???

you can't just say "we're making arcane canon" and then proceed to fuck up the canon so profoundly!!!

i don't care for viktor's new aesthetic. the weird gold-and-porcelain thing doesn't suit him.

vander-warwick looks so fucking stupidddddd

sevika's fuck ass haircut

jinx's fuck ass haircut

isha's entire existence is a cheap sympathy-grab. introduce a cute child character, have her get close to the protagonist, then kill her off. egregiously lazy. what a complete non-character

it felt like isha was shoehorning in on the vi/jinx/vander reunion

the alternate universe ekko gets stuck in is basically "wow everything is so much better if vi dies!!!" which is a little crazy

alternate universe jinx was a bit too manic pixie dream girl for my taste. when she showed up in the leather jacket i was like. ok ramona flowers. (i have not seen scott pilgrim)

thematically/character-wise it seems like it would have made more sense for heimerdinger to stay in the alternate universe and live out his life happy and in peace, i don't understand why they had to kill him off instead. either way he's out of the story so what's the point?

having every episode open with an artsy music video... i felt like they saw that people liked the bridge scene from season 1 and went "okay let's just do that 9 more times then." no guys

there's a tweet that goes something like "arcane character: assaults someone and takes their money // arcane background music: i love assaulting people and taking their money". if i made a drinking game out of how many times that tweet became relevant while watching s2 i would die from alcohol poisoning

s2 does not have a silco. jinx went protagonist-mode and they were too wishy-washy with trying to make ambessa and viktor ambiguous. silco was such a larger-than-life figure in s1, i think they should have used that and had him haunt the narrative way more than he did. as it is s2 lacks a good villain and a compelling conflict and the story suffers for it

fucking jayce

a lot of the dialogue is SUPER on-the-nose or corny or is just like... people don't talk like that

too much of characters just explaining what is going on or saying the themes of the story out loud

lack of thematic cohesion

s1 sets up this really cool nuanced conflict between piltover and zaun, but s2 completely fails to properly address it, especially towards the end where out of the blue all the focus suddenly shifts away to the anomaly.

"hey guys i know we locked you all in a ghetto but can you pretty please come up topside to help us fight noxus? <3 thanks"

AND THAT WORKED?!?!! SOMEHOW

so many completely irrelevant characters (mostly caitlyn's squad, whose names i can't remember except for maddy)

i didn't feel that maddy's betrayal was properly built up to, but my friends disagree with me so. idk.

i'm getting a little tired of watching people get non-lethally stabbed in the abdomen

finale was mostly brainless epic battle fight epic fight battle fight. like girl... ok.

unclear on how sevika manages to get invited to these topside political get-togethers? shouldn't she be like public enemy number 2?

sevika dgaf about jinx at all after episode 4. it's crazy

there is no fucking way we got piltover councilor sevika. there is simply no fucking way. there are so many things wrong with this i don't even know where to begin.

i felt like a couple of things could be true: 1) they got a little too big for their britches, critiquing the evils of capitalism and the police state in s1, and somebody got nervous that they were going to be accused of being too Woke, so they had to dial it back. (less likely) 2) they found out about halfway through outlining the plot that they were only getting 2 seasons and had to drastically change course to wrap things up before then (more likely)

[just-jae]

Eyo- So this is why I love OG Naruto

CW: Cursing.

Random projectile vomiting what I love about the first part of Naruto. Mostly from memory (so like, a decade+ ago) I decided to play the the Chunin Exams Arc while writing this to refresh my memory bc honestly, even though I dipped after tasting Shippuden and don't even care to aknowledge Boruto (even if it's good, i don't care) the fact that Part 1 is still so enjoyable shows how it's virtues were in that it actually executed, not just in what it promised. I'll probably be editing this as I rewatch-- like, apparently Choji and Neji also have arm wraps :,V

The theme around hard work. It wasn't a "Work hard to earn a comfy life/ those at the top deserve it" theme it was a "Go after what you love, be passionate, be persistent, build upon yourself to overcome obstacles," kind of hard-work theme. It encouraged chasing your passions and applying yourself to challenges. There was value in just doing that, even if you failed. The meaning and value in your life was tied to your own efforts and decisions, not your status or position in a heirarchy or social conscience.

Positive Father Figures: Forget that Naruto punches his dad in Shippuden. In the first episode, Iruka emotionally adopts Naruto after opening up to him and allowing himself to relate to Naruto as a fellow human being who was suffering and responding to that suffering in similar ways to himself. Before, he pretended not to understand Naruto for the sake of "evil demon kid" narratives and ignoring his own grief. Iruka scraggling Naruto's hair like a big bro/dad wasn't just a bonding moment; it was a found family moment. When Naruto hugs Iruka in the Forest of death, you can tell he adores that kid and is ready to sign the adoption papers.

One of Naruto's icon characters is Ichiraku, the ramen guy who basically serves as Naruto's Grandad. He fills this kid with soup ramen near-every damn day. He's probably why Naruto loves ramen so much.

The spooky, nature-y understones and setting: Giant dark forests, thematic, nature-inspired ninja techniques, the spooky music, the semi-traditional japanese instruments in the sound track (flutes, drums, lutes, etc.) It's got electric guitar too but the traditional texture of the music made it earthy and cultrally touching in the same way that Avatar: The last Air Bender's natural and spiritual eastern inspiration colored it's visual and audial aesthetic. The "HUH"s and "HUAH"' in the background music added so much bomastic, earthy energy, I LOVED hearing them. I'm telling you there's a healthy reason why I like screaming/yelling/hollering. I haven't articulated it yet, but Naruto's soundtrack scratch that itch well.

Horror: Naruto is one of the few anime I've seen with undertones of horror, without being a horror genre show especially for an action-oriented shonen inspired by feudal-age folklore hybrid with modern aesthetics like military vests and tvs. The realistic visual tone that Naruto leans toward compared to modern anime only helps this and makes how dark it gets believable when you consider how culturally and morally grey the base populations are. Sometimes the cultural vices are the main drive in a character's backstory, like Gaara, who's village was crumbling after betrayal and unreliable leadership reinforced the trust and connection issues that left him alone on a raft in hostile waters with the boogie man as his raftmate to where he couldn't even fathom caring for someone else. Bc of this, him being fucking insane, while Naruto wasn't made sense. It felt like the worlds they were in naturally led to the horrors.

Smarts and thoughtfulness being used to win battles. Earlier in the show, things weren't so flashy, not even elite ninjas were shown doing anything nearly as wild as what happens in the second and following parts. The limits of these abilities left room for the characters to use their heads to not only work around their limits but use them to their advantage to bamboozle and have some kind of chance even against physically stronger opponents.

The significance of jutsu also felt more thematic and narrative in nature. The First Hokage's super power was growing giant trees with his chakra.

Which not only suggests he created the very forest Konoha resides in, but also pointed to his approach to leadership, which was giving himself and his clan to stegnthen and lift everyone else up, not just through mixing blood with other clans but through building stregnth and resikience through connections and mutual care.

Much better than the brightest, fastest, most destructive energy bomb or powerup.

Look at the reaper death seal justsu and tell me that wasn't more terrifying than the tentails. Imagine how scared someone is using that jutsu. A demon ghost lady is gonna use your soul as a glove to grab someone else's soul, eat it, and then take you with her... him? It/they-- qhost.

Which leads me to another thing- vulnerability coupled with power. The imagery of the reaper death seal, reainforced a sense of vulnerability that is necessary for the power the user gains.

Gaara's insomnia and dangerously narrow buffer between him and Shukaku lead to him spazzing out in pain whenever something triggers an episode of whatever-the-fuck. Leaving him in a a state of disarray and uselessness.

He was supposed to be the nuke that destroyed Konoha but was too busy chasing after anyone who had a chance of beating him up. And then freaking out over hugs. His invulnerable body came with a trade off of a vulnerable and volitile psyche.

Even Zabuza only survived Kakashi because Haku incapacitated him with needles to his neck and then took care of him afterward.

The conversation between the 1st 2nd and 4th Hokage's was like. "Yo it's my bros!" "Hey bro. Sorry bro." "Bro i don't wanna fight you. But this is so cool. I miss you bro." "me too bro."

Now more character-specific stuff:

Rock Lee is my all-time favorite character. Not only is he the embodiment of part 1's major theme, but I just loved his design and voice acting (the green bodysuit could be awkward at times, but everything else is just pure "That's my son look at him go" vibes).

It's a simplistic, agile, adorable character. Pure serotonin. The way his hair flipped around when he fought was great, the (OMO) face, the scrawly, lanky body that moved a little too sharp bc he was legit always ready to explode-- just great. Rock Lee is so pasionate and just loves living. I got the sense that he isn't training just to prove ppl wrong. He loves the ninja arts, and learns to love taijutsu for its own sake not just for the sake of other's approval or besting someone in combat.

Kakashi Hatake was like the reassuring character. His calm and focused approach to conflicts and danger were a nice balance to everyone else's bamboozlement and dramatic/passionate personalities. Kakashi also comes off as a reality check sort of character. He's the one who makes team seven realize the mortality of ninjas via a monument echoing real-life monuments dedicated to fallen soldiers and victims of war/terrorism. You can tell that he cares about ninja as people despite his laid-back demeanor, and expects his team to understand the importance of respect for fellow ninja. His experiance with the inner workings of Konoha also make him more realistic and aware of the world's greyness. He knows how politically corrupt things are and wants his students to hold on to their morality instead of tossing it away to follow orders.

Zabuza- was not just eye candy-- okay Zabuza was 99% eye candy for me (looked a bit starved but-- damn Kishimoto knew what he was doing with that one)

Zabuza's situation of being emotionally dishonest with himself ties back to the whole vulberability associated with power thing. His cold world veiw ablut using and being used made it more obvious that he and Haku genuinely cared for eachother bc they acted in ways that didn't fit that narrative. This big, sharktoothed "Demon of the mist" having a soft spot that also had a soft spot for him was like 🥺

Tenten's affinity for weapon-weilding was legitimately cool and gave me mechanic vibes. They could have been so creative with that. But for now it's just sitting on its hands. I also just love her character design. She got those BUNS.

The Sand Siblings were my favorite team. They were scary as hell. Gaara was just danger personified. He was bloodthisty with a power that enabled it. Carrying around a gourd that reeked of blood-- like-- Garra was one of the horrors of the forest of death and the way he act and the way his siblings talk about him suggested he was chaotic and couldn't nessecarily be trust to keep to the plan. And I loved that he was this tiny scrawny thing with no eyebrows and eyeliner panda/racoon eyes. Some of his expressions were like- EXPRESSIONS dude.

He used have more expressions than 😐 and 😑. He was unintentionally adorable-- you can tell he was meant to look creepy and otherly but came out a little critter. His hair wasn't even meant to be red, that was an animation error. Like, a character even calls him a runt, Kiba's like "Oh no he's too small to be picking fights, run little dude" so he's canonically a little guy. Littler than normal.

Let me tell you, when I was scrubbing through the episodes (bc they spend so much time wasting time on nothing) my eyes would hook on a thumbnail of Gaara, and it'd be 2 seconds of him not reacting to something, and it'd be worth it everytime. Instant serotonin.

Seeing the smallest, most baby-faced member of the group, who looks even tinier with a giant gourd go:

Is just wild. At least for Naruto. And the fear in the other characters is just- a lot. He's not animated in a cuetsey way either. Like, he's not a loli character. He's a little eldritch horror. And I love that he's not infantilized or cutyfied by the creator for being tiny.

Kankuro was also pretty spooky. Not only did his technique look painful as a papercut, but his main puppet (Crow?) somehow managed to give off body-horror vibes.

They really milked it's spookyness by emphasizing the mechanical side of it (the clicking and the way it jerked) and its use of poisoned everything to make even the tiniest nicks a big deal.

Temari was the power house, aesthetically. Like, it's not even a girl-power thing. She just has shoulder-snapper posture. Her eyes , are this dark blue that I've rarely seen in a character design. She's got big sis vibes (bc she IS the big sis). Like, she's gorgeous.

And her explosive hair went well with her chaotic wind specialty. She just fucks the entire landscape up with the goddamned air dude.

The GODDAMNED AIR.

AND THEN LATER WITH THE FERRET-- LIKE DUDE.

Anyways...

Orochimaru as himself is a creep, at least later on-- mostly bc so much of his character is spent obsessing over a little boy's body- obv. this was meant to be creepy, but it's like, pedo creepy, not spider on the wall/ posessed doll creepy. His introduction as the Grass lady, and this slippery immoral scientist who wanted to catalyze a war was a great time He felt like a force of nature.

I dont have Grass Lady photos yet but this is the next best thing lmao. As the mysterious grass village lady, he was HORRIFIC. I really wish she and her team had been real characters instead of just a skin for Orochimaru to hide in. The way she's introduced is exactly the reason why ninja are traditionally thought of as practicing dark, evil arts. Bc they did dark, evil, spooky shit like pulling at their eyelids and being gross with their tongues. The organs and spooky singing in the background, the predator/prey theme, knowing about Naruto's seal when (at this point) so few others did. On top of that, ya'll gotta know that I'm a sucker for those conical sedge/ coolie hats. The fact that Grass LAdy had a long face and droopy eyes made it all the better. Like, how many other feminine characters have those features? All the character designs of the Grass Village team and the relation of grass to snakes and big hats was pretty neat imo.

Kiba Inuzuka honestly seems like he was inspired by Princess Monoke, which is pretty neat on its own, but i honestly don't feel like Kiba really fits into a ninja village. He's loud and bombastic and rarely uses clever or sneaky tricks. It's just brute strength and prey drive. Which isn't to say he shouldn't be in Naruto, but that maybe he could have been from a different village? Or just not necesarily a ninja. Idk. I love that he's this wild-child who's entire theme is dog.

If a dog were a dude.

If only they were good at drawing dogs though.

Hinata was one of those characters I didn't realize I identified with. A LOT. If Rock Lee is who I aspired to be, Hinata was who I actually was. Not just in demeanor (I too skalked around in a jacket no matter the weather) but also in circumstance. Struggling with comparing yourself to others, or others resenting you for the way you're treated (I was the baby of the family) or constantly dealing with people who think they're better or scold you for poor performance, being pushed into something you didn't even really care for. It was all very relatable, and I didn't even realize it at the time.

The fact that they were willing to give her those "ugly" veins left an impression on me too. Bc, that was her kickass look. It wasn't cute, and she didn't have a delicate, pretty style of fighting. Even though she got beat up she really threw hands in a way that felt realistic. Homegirl was just tryna get by despite being surrounded by assholes, and the moment she stood up to Neji, who was in the middle of phsychologically manipulating her into an anxiety attack (not a literal attack but same energy) was like 🥳. I can respect that. Even though she lost, it really felt like Neji learned there'll at least be trouble if he tries that shit again.

Shino was another favorite (I'm gonna end up going through every character at this rate). Especially with his english dub actor. For much the same reasons as Kakashi. Shino was reliable and cool headed. He didn't strut power or look to intimidate anyone, he just paid attention and tended to his bugs-- which, the fact that he cares for and works with a bunch of bugs is oddly endearing. It's like meeting a cat person who's just really good with cats but doesn't gush over them. He comes off as sensitive, but not obsessive.

His angry-neutral design is pretty neat too. Big Soundwave vibes.

Sakura's wake-up call is honestly pretty iconic. She was a bratty character who realized her flaws on her own instead of being told "Hey, be better you goof", She reflected on how she's been up until the moment when it was all on her and she was eating dirt. Sakura getting serious and learning to be proactive, now that she didn't have anyone as a crutch or a scapegoat, was a pretty awesome moment. And even though The show could have done more with her in that regard, I still appreciate that they went there. Watching Sakura with empathy (especially now that we as a society aren't starving for strong female characters like we used to be) makes me notice how realistic her nievety and dependance is. And also how funny she is at times. Even Ino realizing having that wakeup call like "Bro I'm being stupid, I can't let this girl die over a crush". It even feels like their feud isn't just about a crush but just social insecurity. Sakura used to be shy until she met Ino. Ino enouraged her to be proud up until attention started to be drawn away from her toward Sakura. This also suggested that Ino actually did look down on Sakura and was using her to feel better about herself. Sakura outgrowing Ino put her in a position of facing her own flaws or reframing Sakura as an enemy who didn't deserve to be loved.

And when the reason they were enemies (Sasuke) no longer justified being a dickhead (letting Sakura fucking die) Ino not only had to face her own inadequacy but allow herself to care for Sakura again, from a more genuine place.

I wish they had done more with that, but the fact that they did that in the first place was iconic. There's nothing like having to learn that the world you were raised in is not reality. Breaking out of a sheltered and shallow worlveiw is its own struggle. Its a learning curve, and it leaves you emotionally and socially unprepared when you thought you finally had everything figured out. Sometimes people hold on to bratty behavior bc they think their only other option is getting bullied and hating themselves. Sakura's snootiness comes off just makeshift confidence she learned from assholes. She didn't look down on Naruto bc she interacted with Naruto, she looked down on him bc that's what she's been taught to do about people like Naruto. The whole village was like that. Which is realistic. We just aren't told nearly as much of her perspective as other characters, but her learning how her words impact people, and how dishonest she is about her own competence is worth exploring.

The themes in Naruto were pretty nuanced-- even if the character's dialogue was exposition hell (they spend so much time verbally explaining things that dont need to be explained in such a longwinded manner), they were human condition themes, not just a power fantasy or a romance, or a black and white, good and evil conflict. Ninjas are already pretty shady, with Naruto being the most overtly good character in the show. Everyone else's morality (beside's Lee) is questionable at one point or another-- in fact I think even Lee was introduced as an intimidating upperclassmen. It feels true to life that regular people are actually pretty mean and flawed, which makes Naruto's themes hit harder bc you know it's not just one special character going through a special time, making friends with other 100% good people. Its life. Its people dealing with life. Like, these assholes love and hate eachother at the same time all the time. Some of Naruto's friends did some morally questionable shit. Like Shikamaru pretending to be asleep during the attack on Konoha. We still love the guy, but, get the fuck up dude.

Looking back, this just makes me realize that I've always had an interest in thematic/psychological horror and character realism. I can't stand gore/torture, but spooky grass women that infect you with curses, cursed puppets that spazz and split their faces open, and tiny murderous gremlins who nearly give people heart attacks just bc they thought he was gonna do something, being my favorite characters of Naruto is pretty telling.

Add the inky, Hidden Rain water Clones to the list too.

Iruka needs to get a pen. Reaper needs more soul spagetti and Naruto needs to give back SOME of Garra's personality. Just a little. Let him be a little bit of a little bitch.

[elemental-daddy-neos]

Oh oh I've got an idea for a poll, here's one for the dub enjoyers

If you are going to be mean about the dubs in general just simply don't do that

[aingeal98]

So, I have read pretty much all of Cass' Pre-Flashpoint appearances. As a Cassandra Cain connoisseur do you have any recs for her Post-Flashpoint content? Spirit World, Batgirls, Ram V.'s Tec and BoP (2023) are already on my reading list!

Oooh you have a solid reading list there! I know her technical reintroduction is in Batman and Robin Eternal and it is a story focused on her but to go from pre flashpoint to this... It's a massive downgrade imo. If you survived her initial character assassination post One Year Later you could probably handle this easy but I think I only enjoyed it as much because it was Cass's return to comics after YEARS. I will say Tynion's Rebirth Tec run has a few nice little moments with her in them, echoes of Pre Flashpoint that if you're looking for more content I'd recommend even though she's Orphan in them. She appears from 934 onward if I'm remembering correctly, and has a story arc focused on her from 950 to 956, and appears in the next few arcs as well. Issue 980 is when she and Steph get to see their past lives which is cool, although it is part of a silly evil future Tim arc that I can never take seriously. After that Bryan Hill takes over Tec and clearly likes her character, as she's featured from 983 to 987 and then used in his Batman and the Outsiders run. I'd recommend Batman and the Outsiders too as it shows her bond with Duke and has a different Shiva than the boring super evil one commonly used, although Hill doesn't get Cass's voice completely right I still found it enjoyable.

I'm probably forgetting a lot as this is just the few I've memorized lmao. If you want a list of every single appearance I have that up to the start of Batgirls, but this is a more general list of issues I can actually recommend for Cass content.

Thanks for the ask!

[gizkasparadise]

2023 wrapped: kdrama edition!

taking a page from @dangermousie, here's a list of all the kdramas ive watched this year, in order from least liked to most liked! because i dont have a spotify wrap-up to share :'D

cdrama one here!

and i'll do a webtoon one too /o/

overall i didnt watch too many kdramas this year, and finished less. kind of a "meh" kdrama year for me overall (with 1-2 exceptions). with that in mind, full disclosure that i didnt love a ton of what i watched this year in kdramaland:

we barely knew ye: ones i dropped only a few eps in

sweet home 2. dropped after ep 2. direction it went in is v much not my thing, my fave surviving characters were either killed off or put on the bench, and im not that motivated to see what happens next. might jump back into the franchise if word-of-mouth on s3 is good, we'll see

moon in the day. first ep was actually great and i enjoyed it a lot!! but im not doing cancer storylines rn so that killed momentum. may try this one again later

king the land. watched the first ep. simply did not vibe.

death's game. ditto ^

black knight. i LOVE a good dystopian scifi. this was not that. i was really bored after the first ep and didnt bother with the rest

my dearest. i watched the first ep and liked it, but just wasnt in the mood/wasn't immediately hooked. i'm going to give this one another try when i hit the Angsty Sageuk craving again

dramas i watched at least half of

6. twinkling watermelon.

it's pretty wild to put what i believe is the current #1 show on mydramalist as my bottom pick for the year, especially since it's written by my favorite screenwriter, but here we are. this one is far from objectively the worst drama but it's here because it made me the most mad!! the female lead and second male leads were both off-putting and selfish to me, and the whole drama i was actively rooting for ryeoun's earnest and endearing male lead and shin eun soo's underwritten second female lead to escape and have mother/son adventures on their own away from the rest of everyone else

5. arthdal chronicles: sword of aramun.

sigh. i was a big believer/supporter of this season, even with all of the recasts. but despite a few moments of brilliance, it was overall a slog to watch and just kind of joyless. too much time spent on the ago tribe, too many nonsensical victories and deus ex machina coincidences, and the bag was very much fumbled with some of the characters (particularly saya, who was to me the most interesting character in s1 and you KNOW ljk could have rocked that ruthlessness). positive standouts were kim ok bin flawlessly scene-chewing as taealha and lee joon ki working what he was dealt

4. worst of evil.

adored this drama for the first 2/3rds! it was gritty, neo-noir that reminded me a lot of the old school hong kong crime films like infernal affairs. lots of style, great acting, messy and flawed characters. but the last arc/ending was a boring dud for me. still very much enjoyed the ride up to that point though!

3. perfect marriage revenge.

so! much!! fun!!! just. full commitment to making a show as gloriously makjang/soap operay as it could get and it was a blast watching because of it. made on pocket lint for a budget but it rocked what it had and a special shoutout to lee min young's absolutely fantastically camp evil stepmother. the excitement died down a little toward the end, but still a good time overall

2. the glory, part 2.

a satisfying ending to a really excellent first half. love that the female lead just got to execute revenge and there was no moral or sanctimonious hangups about it. enjoyed the way the ending was set up as "the adventure continues," and all in all this was a really solid and enjoyable dark drama! only thing that was kind of a bummer is that the time split between airing the first and second halves killed the momentum a little, but that's entirely netflix fuckery and not the fault of the show

moving

hands-down the best kdrama i watched this year, and possibly my favorite kdrama ever. i didnt plan to watch this one because im sick of superhero everything, but the cast got me wanting to at least try it and omg im glad i did. great acting from literally everyone, wild action scenes, and just beautiful characters and dynamics across every level. the family narratives are so, so good and the whole show is expertly grounded in the concept of planting seeds so your children can see flowers. please give this one a try if you're on the fence about it!

2023 kdramas that i plan to watch (but didnt get to yet!)

my lovely liar

a good day to be a dog

my perfect stranger

revenant

mask girl

bloodhounds

my demon

AWARDS

Favorite ship: juwon and jihee from moving absolutely destroyed me in the like 3 eps they were in, so they win this one. he's a gangster who gets the shit kicked out of him for a living and loves stories with happy endings. she's a weary but always brave sex worker (coded, but still) who decides to trust a lonely man crying in the street. i never thought a motion-sensor light could wreck me the way theirs did. "you have worth to me, and i have worth to you."

Favorite FL: song hye kyo's dong eun in the glory just barely edges out han hyo joo's mihyun in moving. song hye kyo needs to play, like, all the villains and anti-heroes ASAP because that's been the most fun ive had watching her. she took on a dark character and rocked it

Favorite ML: juwon from moving, definitely. to quote my older post:

Moving really said hi this is Juwon. he has scars from gunshots all down his arm. he opened a chicken restaurant. he’s a gangster. he loves pro wrestling because the good guys win. he tried to rip out his own galbladder to prove a point. he’s a proud girl dad. he is unkillable. he stands in the street and cries.

Favorite 2FL: lee min young's incredible, over the top, villainous camp queen lee jung hye from perfect marriage revenge was just so much fun to watch and she ate every single scene she was in. 10/10 would watch her throw lawn chairs in a ballgown all day

Favorite 2ML: i would die for bongseok from moving. precious sunshine child who deserves only the best

Best Cast: im a broken record, but moving. so many characters with such great depth given to them and this was truly an ensemble show A+++

Best WTF: yura eating her paternity results in perfect marriage revenge!!

[aeskanera]

Exile: Lexie Angerell

Lexie Angerell • Zeltron • haunted by...thousands • compassionate, steadfast, fun-loving •

Age: 30 as of KotOR II

Backstory, Personality, Story Themes/Character Arc/Motivations and Fears, Looks

BACKSTORY

Lexie's a Zeltron who is several years younger than Revan. Her Jedi training was slightly rushed, and she was never considered to be a particularly powerful Jedi. In fact, there was concern about needing to send her to the Service Corps due to her difficulty with the attachment part of the Jedi code.

It's in her late teens that Revan goes off to fight in the Mandalorian Wars, and as a padawan she doesn't initially join. In fact, the loss of many of the Order's strongest Jedi works in her favour, as now her training is prioritised and her trials pushed up, even a padawan is selected for her once she passes the trials.

It's also in her late teens that she has her first sexual and romantic relationship, with Atris - at a point where Lexie is old enough that certain people could possibly argue that she consented, but young enough and with enough of a power imbalance that Atris should definitely be side-eyed for it at the very least. Apologies if you’re one of the rare people who like Atris but this story is not very Atris-friendly. She does have actual motivations and like emotional depth around this relationship, it’s not just Atris-bashing, but given the circumstances of it and that this is from Lexie’s point of view, Atris doesn’t come out of this story looking particularly great.

The timeline is somewhat hazy as to Lexie passing her trials and becoming a Revanchist, but it goes something like this (with anywhere between days and months occurring between each of these events) - she turns eighteen, passes her trials, is recruited by Malak, has her knighting ceremony, leaves Dantooine to join Revan, turns nineteen, is appointed as a general.

The events of Malachor V are already well known, as is her exile from the Order, don’t need to go into detail there. After her exile, she returned to her home planet of Zeltros in order to lose herself and pretend the war never existed. She worked briefly as a waitress, as a hologram technician, and once she begins to feel comfortable enough to begin going off-world again, as a contract merc.

PERSONALITY

compassionate, steadfast, fun-loving

generous, kind, compassionate, understanding - her "bleeding heart", expanded on more in a bit

a natural leader, fun-loving, relatable - she manages to walk the fine line of being a good leader, someone that people want to follow and respect without putting herself above them, while being able to maintain a sense of being equals. It helps that, while not a stereotypical “party girl”, she does like to prioritize just having fun, socializing, dedicating time to doing things that are enjoyable

defiant, emotional, avoidant - despite choosing not to face difficult emotions, she still feels very strongly, and doesn't shy away from confrontation or conflict with others

Best quality: her compassion, her bleeding heart for all the people around her, how firm she is in her belief that the only thing worth doing is making a difference in others' lives, that if you have the ability to help then there is no good reason not to

Worst quality: avoiding her problems and not acknowledging internal conflicts, preferring not to have to face uncomfortable feelings

STORY THEMES/CHARACTER ARC/ MOTIVATIONS AND FEARS

Avoidance of our emotions, healing through connections with others, individual free will

So an incredibly central part of her story is about dealing with emotions, handling them in healthy ways, effectively communicating them to others, accepting that they can be contradictory and irrational a lot of the time. Hence why I wanted to make her a species which can naturally sense and project emotions. And then I have to figure out how to write all that in without resorting to therapy speech.

There's also the general themes of the story based around free will, especially in regards to the Force, but that's less of a personal character theme. Although, part of her avoiding her emotions is directly related to fearing loss of control. A story theme that does tie in more directly to Lexie is connections with others, and moving past isolating to avoid facing your pain towards healing through the bonds and relationships we form with other people. Helping people and places heal can also help you heal.

A big thing for her is the balance of the Force. She's deeply embedded in the Light side, yet she is very aware of the corruption and inaction of the Jedi. A lot of her motivations derive from, well firstly from just learning to cope, but also from her attempts to maintain a balance between being a devoted servant of the Light while also attempting to completely dismantle the entire Jedi Order in an attempt to rebuild from the ground up.

LOOKS

As a Zeltron, she is humanoid in appearance, but her colouring is different. Her skin is a dark pink shade and her hair is a dark royal blue (which can look navy or purple in certain lighting). Her eyes are a pale grey-pink, which stand out against very dark eyelashes.

She has a square jaw, hooded upturned eyes, and full lips. She keeps her hair very long (think hip length) and wavy, often keeping it in dual braids across the top of her head. She is likely to let fashion and style take precedence over practicality. She always has at least some makeup on.

Her style is generally quite revealing, as Zeltron culture has differing views on modesty compared to humans (a fact which is often unfairly sexualised by outsiders). She favours extremely bright colours and wild patterns. She always accessorizes well, though her hairstyles and jewelry tend to be more natural than the rest of her style.

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Top Ten Arc V Characters (Updated)

I was doing another Yugioh tier list and noticed that my opinions on this changed drastically since I first watched Arc V. So here's an updated top ten Arc V characters. Some of these picks may be partially motivated by spite. Also, I'm definitely gonna go back and forth between sub and dub names. Arc V is about even in dub and sub for me and some of the dub names are easier for me so just bear with me.

10 Dennis Mackfield

Dennis is kind of just funny to me but he does also have a complete character arc that isn't botched or cut off in some way, which is more than I can say for some other Arc V characters. He's a naughty bad guy but an enjoyable one who was kind of just a brainwashed kid with a redemption I can accept.

9 Yuto

The only Yu boy I can comfortably say I still like. He's got a sympathetic backstory that realistically shaped his current personality and while he appears scarcely, I enjoy the times he does. I like his dynamics with Yuya, Ruri, and Shun.

8 Shingo Sawatari

He's a cringe fail boy. I like the cringe fail funny characters that exist to be laughed at. I do wish Sawatari had more of an arc or development but at the end of the day, he's entertaining and that's all a character needs to be sometimes.

7 Sora Shiunin

Rushed as shit redemption arc aside, I find Sora's energetic hyper personality of season 1 entertaining and Sora vs Shun genuinely felt like a huge betrayal. On paper, the reasons for his redemption work and are sympathetic, I just wish more time was dedicated to fleshing it out. Still, wanting more of a character is generally a good thing.

6 Shinji Weber

I like villains/antagonists who have valid reasons for being upset. If anything, they actually made Shinji too valid up until they pulled the "he wants to oppress the rich" thing out of their asses but that's a can of worms on its own. I think Shinji's motivation is understandable, even if, for the writers' intentions' sake he "went too far", and those are the kinds of antagonists I like most. Also, he's canonically good with kids like Crow is and I just really like that. It shows he's got a sweet centre beneath all the gruffness and anger he displays. I like that.

5 Riley Akaba

Talk about wasted potential jesus christ. "This character has known nothing but being a vessel for other people's desires. So let's end the series by forcing her to once again be someone's vessel!"

Horrific treatment aside though, I still enjoyed Riley as a character. I relate to her anxiety, I liked her arc while it lasted, she and Declan have such a great sibling bond, she's still a good character. But yeah... the way the narrative botched her did drag her down a few slots I'll admit.

4 Zarc

One of the only saving graces of the fusion arc as far as I'm concerned. His escalation of wanting more and more violence in his duels as the audience pressured him into harsher duels was interesting and felt narratively cohesive with the better parts of Yuya's arc. And the way he's eventually stopped, not by defeating him but by Yuya understanding him and reminding him why he was duelling in the first place, that's really touching. One of my favourite Arc V moments for sure.

3 Serena

Yeah, I like Serena more than Yuzu. Even putting aside the fact that I loved her Duel Links event and her fusion based deck, Serena stayed a good character. The narrative treated her as badly as it treated Yuzu but her personality, when she was in her right mind, remained the same: headstrong, stubborn, and fierce. Plus she was the first to defect from Duel Academia and she did it best in my opinion.

2 Shun Kurosaki

I like Shun for all the same reasons I like Yuto: his genuinely tragic backstory that damaged him and turned him into the edgelord we know and love him as. He's also just way more badass and has more character development than Yuto. The way he's able to regain some form of happiness and stability over the course of the series despite all the horrors he endured, thanks to his new bonds with characters like Crow and Yuya, was really endearing to me. I'm probably the only person on earth with this opinion but as dumb as the bracelet girls and yu boys fusing together was, I think the one good thing that came out of it was that Shun had to just accept that Yuto and Ruri were gone. I get why people found it unsatisfying, but I think the fact that he was able to move on showed a lot of strength that I have to admire him for.

1 Declan Akaba

Declan is my favourite because I relate to his family situation and I refuse to explain myself further.

....Okay fine. I'll admit, Declan isn't the most well implemented character in terms of Arc V's narrative. I think we can all agree his change in character was out of nowhere and Sawatari made for a better rival to Yuya. But dammit I don't care I like him anyways. I think his moral ambiguity is fascinating. He's fighting on the "right" side and has good intentions and goals but some of the things he does to accomplish that goal range from morally ambiguous to just straight up evil at times and I love that. It's one of the best examples of one of Arc V's core themes: "war corrupts both sides." And while his switch to being a better person is sudden, I can accept it to a degree because in my mind, he always wanted to do the right thing and genuinely cared deep down. It doesn't excuse his early actions but it does help me understand and identify with him.

Also, no, I wasn't joking or exaggerating about relating to Declan's family situation. Without giving away too much, I have an intimidating father who's not around much, a manipulative mother who's around but in all the wrong ways, and a younger sibling who I've had to watch be treated poorly by my mother for years. Declan's situation is more extreme but the similarities are... they're hard not to notice. Declan is number 1 on this list because of how much I relate to and look up to who he is by the end of the series. He'd probably still be on this list either way but he's at number 1 because of how much he personally means to me.