#I JUST FEEL LIKE THIS NEEDED WAYYYY MORE TIME TO DEVELOP AND WE NEEDED MORE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CONFLICT BEFORE THEY EVEN STARTED REACHIN

[mofsblog]

They really used all of season 1 and season 2 act 1 to hammer in the inherent tragedy of Vi and Jinx's relationship and how, despite the love they had and still partially hold for eachother, several factors out of their control (the majority of which can be seen as the direct and indirect consequences of them and other lower class being actively oppressed and treated like second class citizens by their own government and larger richer society at large) have lead to them both being traumatised repeatedly at an early age and drastically changing as a result and now they're past the breaking point and they've hurt eachother too much to probably ever be sisters again and theres nothing that can be done about it and youre left wondering what could've been.

and then two episodes and a nebulous timeskip after they try to kill eachother again, they reunite and have two scenes of arguing before being like. super chill and a family now. okay 👍

[magicalmanhattanproject]

man im just like. thinking about egg signs and how they've evolved over the course of the qsmp and how the qsmp has evolved over the course of the qsmp and just feeling so much love and affection for every part of the project. i dont have any grand overarching point with this just. like. here's a history of egg comms bc of the kind of person that i am

so wayyyy back ten months ago now at the start of the short and sweet egg event that was planned to last maybe a month at most, the eggs had their own custom, decorated signs!

[ID: Leo with a pink sign with an egg on the bottom corner that reads "hello" in all caps. Her nametag reads Leonardo. End ID]

They were extremely simple, single word signs. There was hello, hola, story, feed, sleep, and maybe one or two more and each was its own separate sign. The eggs could only communicate the most basic needs in words and everything else was through minecraft body language or just hoping their parents guessed right.

But obviously, there was a lot more that parents wanted to hear from their children. I'm not sure who was actually first, but the earliest departure from this system I know about is BadBoyHalo giving Dapper a simple oak sign so he could name his pet slime. (Screenshot from @/lxrd-ren)

[ID: Dapper wearing a diver's helmet standing next to a tiny slime in a boat with an oak sign reading "Bouncy (slmecicle but better)" End ID]

Parents quickly realized how much more convenient this was and pretty soon every single egg had stacks of signs to communicate with.

The next innovation came from Vegetta, who was the resident mod knower at the time. He knew about colored canvas signs and gave Leo signs in her favorite color purple because he loved her and gave her everything she wanted.

[ID: Leo's bed in her room under some Fooligetta fanart with a purple sign reading "<3" End ID]

Colored signs obviously had a lot of advantages. Being able to tell at a glance which egg placed which sign was a huge step forward in eggs being able to have long, complicated conversations as well as leaving obvious marks of their personality everywhere they went. It took a little while for them to be standard for every egg though. Bobby never stopped using oak signs even after Richas and Pomme both showed up with colored signs.

[ID: Two signs reading from right to left a red Pomme sign reading "we already started working on a guillotine factory" and a dark grey Dapper sign reading "thats the most french u have said so far pomme" End ID]

And this was the system for a while! And it worked pretty well for most people! The biggest struggle most people had was egg signs not being translated, but streamers adjusted to that by reading signs out loud so the translators would pick up on them. This also lead to adorable and fascinating dynamics like Richas swearing in signs he wrote for Bad and then warning Bad not to read them out. There was also the genuinely phenomenal development of Leolingo where Leo writes only in Spanish to Foolish because it's easier for her to write and he takes his time to puzzle his way through it and learn in a way that's super cool to watch someone else do onscreen.

Then Tubbo joined the server. And Tubbo himself had no problems at all with the system, but he is dyslexic and he casually mentioned offhand that it was getting kind of annoying to read signs after a ten hour long stream and the admin team Fucking Cooked.

Within 24 hours, they had TTS working on the signs. Within 48 hours, it was working on books too. I can't remember how long it took to get translation working, but it was definitely under a week.

And this opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the entire QSMP. The admin team has been on top of capitalizing on it for story purposes, but also just allowing the egg admins to speak in their native languages to everyone whenever they want has been so enriching for everyone involved. Leolingo is awesome but Foolish has been learning Spanish insanely fast and his process is a lot slower and more frustrating than most people can do in front of an audience of thousands of people without feeling discouraged. That's also one language. We've had everything from Foolish being able to check his work a bit more faster to Phil insisting on his eggs taking a day to speak to him in their native languages to Ramón writing a book for Fit in Cantonese, a language we haven't even seen on the server in any other context!

And all of it is fully understood and fully communicated! Sometimes the translators mess up but no one expects them to be perfect and people ask for clarification if the translator says something that doesn't sound right. It's not only a massive step forward in communication technology, but it's a great demonstration of how to use it and when you can and can't rely on it.

And finally, the most recent innovation! One of BBH's viewers sent him a dono saying they had trouble reading certain signs because they were too low-contrast. Bad, Richas, and Pomme just. Took it upon themselves to fix the problem right there and then. Based on One (1) bringing up their own personal struggle, those three came up with new signs that innovate tremendously on the originals.

[ID: Two separate images of the before and after. The first is the egg signs in their original colors with the corresponding egg's name written on them to demonstrate the font color and the second is in the new, higher contrast colors with the same text. The new signs also have custom decorations for each egg. The second picture also has two signs from Pomme in all caps that read "Send all the love to Richas he spent a whole night making this he's the best <3" End ID]

There are three main innovations visible in the above pictures

1: Obviously, the colors are higher contrast. The signs with white text have darker colors and the signs with black text have lighter colors.

2: The colors themselves are lower saturation. Richas said this made it easier for him personally to read them so he corrected that way, but that's open to change if it causes difficulties for more people than it helps

3: The decorations are for accessibility reasons! People with various different forms of colorblindness will find different sets of colors easier or harder to distinguish, but any of them can look at the decorations and use them to identify whose sign is whose instead.

But! Those innovations are not why I made this post! It's these ones!

[ID: The backs of the new signs when placed on the ground. Most visible are Chayanne's with vines and a hardcore heart, Sunny's with shining sunglasses, and Pomme's with an apple and the Eiffel Tower. End ID]

Richas added distinguishing marks to the backs of the signs too! This is something that Bad brought up specifically as something he wanted because it was hard for him to tell who was talking when he was using TTS from behind signs and couldn't see the colors at all.

We went from custom egg signs (a hotbar or so of words and nothing else to communicate with) through a long journey of expanding communication and expanding who we're bringing along on the communication and how easily they can join in and we've circled all the way back around to custom egg signs (they can say anything they want in any language they want and anyone will know it's them saying it from any angle)

and i guess i have enough feelings abotu that to write All This about it

[brambletakato]

Gunman Joe is most likely a hologram and is probably controlled by one of the inventors to stilt the other's progress (and probably not whoever Eggmuffin is, as it appears on top of their building and would probably dissuade Layton and Luke's efforts to connect to Eggmuffin). The voice is probably a voice changer of sorts. I don't think this is the main antagonist though.

The background art is GORGEOUS. And VERY American. I forgot to mark it down on my bingo sheet. SNAILMOBILE AND OSTRIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

how much are you guys betting that the purple fog is doing some psychological horrors (JOKE)

music bangs as usual RAAAAAAAAAAGH

Ok... I think what was originally making me feel gloomy about the models is solved after seeing the puzzle solved (heh) animation, and I feel a bit more hopeful. The models we see here only have one form of shading as opposed to the NWOS switch teaser or the puzzle solved animation. This game IS early in development so now that makes sense. I mean it looks bad but I think it'll improve. And if not I'll do it myself. Plus the shading in the switch teaser is purple-hued and the shading in-game that we see here is black, which is USUALLY a sign it's still being tweaked around in the background.

The fact that they're STILL aiming for 2025 makes me worried though... The game definitely needs polishing. Realistically delaying it would've been expected at its current stage, but persisting in a 2025 release gives it about a year and a third. Of course Level 5 is known for delaying things all the time so they could just be like "gomen minasama 2026" but... I feel like if they are persisting in a 2025 release... mm... After all of that, the trailer was nice but a bit worrisome. It's obvious now that they're still in development and it's not the final look though! One thing that comes to mind is the crusty Desmond model we saw wayyyy early on in AL's development;

Like. There's still time. I would be especially surprised if the don't at least add a bit of texturing to some of the models (like the texture-baked shaking in luke's hat or desmond's hair). I'm less pessimistic about the 3d model style now especially with its siblings looking as peak as it is (inazuma eleven, decapolice, etc)

That being said, I can't say much about what I'm hoping for until we see the TGS (did you guys forget about TGS /silly), though if it IS coming out in 2025... I hope to god it's like. December or something. I really don't want this to be rushed and with how it looks right now I wouldn't exactly be happy with it. In fact if there is 2d cutscenes I can totally see them saving it up for TGS too just to have something new and exciting rather than the same information we've already seen. Concluding, things are going smoothly, models are still developmental-looking, and I have mixed feelings but it's slowly bouncing back to positive all because of crusty desmond png

[dr-spectre]

Ranting about Splatoon stories and the future of them.

(Long post ahead.)

I am PRAYING to the gods that the next hero mode for Splatoon is a lot more story/character focused rather than just doing "oh no!! (insert thing here) has gone missing! Those NASTY UGLY Octarians are up to something!! Oh no! (insert character here) has been kidnapped! GASP! Oh no! A character we know has been b-b-b-b-b-bRaiNwAsHEDDD!!!!! woahhhhh!!! We gotta save them!!"

And that's all you get for the story.

Can we just drop that for the next game? Please?

The issue with Splatoon story modes is that the interesting lore and character building is hidden away or it's hard to find. AND SOME OF ISN'T TRANSLATED THAT WELL! OR EVEN TRANSLATED AT ALL!!! Octo Expansion's art book is forever stuck in Japanese and had to be fan translated!!

The fact that in order to better enjoy Splatoon 2's mid hero mode, you need to read through a prequel web series, look at a relationship chart and read through optional sunken scrolls that are in HARD TO FIND IN THE LEVELS, pisses me off to no end.

Because of the differences between the Japanese and NOA and EU English versions, and the optional lore, it has created some of the most bullshit and annoying misconceptions about the characters featured in that story mode. And if you know me and my blog then you know EXACTLY what misconceptions I'm talking about.

I think that the only story modes to do something interesting and character focused are Octo Expansion and Side Order and even then the memcakes, chat logs and dev diaries are fully optional and it's up to you if you wanna view them or not. Sure they are easier to see than the sunken scrolls so it's more likely you'll actually read them but... It's still just optional story content at the end of the day.

If you want to learn more about Marina and her journey before Side Order, you have to 100% complete the lockers which is LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE to do before you face the final boss for the first time, making Marina's speech at the end of the DLC WAYYYY less satisfying than it could have been.

Agent 8 and Captain 3 are the most popular agents for a reason, they have actual CHARACTER to them. They have stuff to chew on that you can see ON SCREEN!! Without any outside material. (for the most part...)

Eight has this whole thing with their memory loss and their thoughts and feelings on stuff in the world are explored further with the optional memcakes, they ALSO develop a strong family like bond with Off the Hook by the end of Side Order, it's really sweet honestly. A character who starts off alone and has memory loss, to then finding a group of people who cares about them, tugs at the heart strings a little. It's not the most INSANE character growth ever, but, it's still nice that there is something there, you know?

Captain 3 has gone through the most on screen pain and challenges out of any character in the series.

They start off as this kid with a smile on their face who gets dragged into fighting against the Octarians, ending up having to battle their leader DJ Octavio who has a giant ass mech at the age of 13. Years later they have to save Eight and Captain Cuttlefish from dying by slamming themselves into a blender, causing permanent scars on their tentacles and knocking themselves unconscious. Which resulted in their body getting hijacked and they were most likely completely unaware of that even happening as they wake up confused and dazed by the end of Octo Expansion.

After going through all of these experiences, they end up becoming so shy and so battle hardened that they need Callie and Marie to help them speak to others.

It's kinda sad to me that this once young kid who had lots of energy and a smile on their face, transformed into a shy and trauma ridden young adult. (I might be looking far too deep into it but i really don't care.)

Neo Agent 3 could have been the change i was looking for as they have this background of being a scavenger and an interesting relationship with Smallfry, an Inkling befriending a Salmonid is so interesting to me and there could have been some more interesting lore to come out of the Salmonids... But they didn't do that...

Splatoon 3 ROTM was somewhat disappointing in the character department as all of the optional lore was focused on Alterna and Splatsville, which is great for those who love that kind of shit and trust me, i love it too, however there was barely ANYTHING for Captain 3 and the Squid Sisters. Aside from some cute photos and a sunken scroll entry talking about Captain 3 becoming the new leader of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. There was some stuff for Deep Cut too but it was just single entries about their families and that's all.

I think that it's time for Splatoon hero modes to drop the same old format of a self insert protagonist meeting a mentor character and the protagonist trying to save something or someone, and that's all you get for story without looking at optional and hard to find content. We need to stop this tired old format that has been run into the ground. Do more story modes like Octo Expansion and Side Order but actually have character growth and development in the forefront instead of shoving it on the side somewhere, PLEASE!!!

Because of this wack ass format, the payoff to the Callie vs. Marie Splatfest was ultimately muffled and completely ruined. Because all the set up and important details were hidden away, it fucking DAMAGED Callie's character and created vile and icky misconceptions about her and especially the Octarians in the community for over 7 fucking years!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A character that i love was treated like shit by everyone for so many years man... It ruined my enjoyment of this franchise for a long time I'm not even kidding dude. I would get chest pain and feel so sad when anyone mentioned Hypno Callie in any capacity. Until i had to dig around for information and stop believing in the common and untrue narrative, then that pain almost went away.

Like... Callie did go through an arc that had agency in it, loneliness, the pressures of fame, etc., but do the loudest people in the community and outside of it know about that? Do youtubers, casual fans, reviewers know that? Most of the time? NOPE! AND IT'S NOT EVEN THEIR FAULT!!! ugh......

I do hope when Deep Cut get their inevitable second appearance in a story mode, we actually get to see character growth and lore as the main focus rather than VITAL AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION being cast away on the side.

And don't tell me "oh but Splatoon is a series made for families and kids! They hide that stuff because they don't want to expose kids to serious and more nuanced stuff they may not understand!"

I can name you several dozen children's media that actually has good writing in it if you want, just ask and i can name you so many bro. Stop treating kids like they have zero brains ffs. Good kids media also targets adults you know? Kids can enjoy the comedy, colourful characters and action while adults can enjoy the nuanced and interesting character writing. Splatoon can do that, why do you think people are so passionate about the timeline huh?

Anyways, I'm done ranting and rambling about Splatoon stories, i am going to remain optimistic for the future of this series and the stories that will come out of it. Being negative sucks and i would rather gush about something rather than rant. I'm hopeful that the next story mode is gonna be something really good...

Or they will make Frye evil via... uh... "evil Wii remote wrist strap" or some shit and claim she's brainwashed and I'll have to go through the same old song and dance AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! /j

[opinated-user]

out of curiosity, I searched "violate" on the comic blog again...

nothing showed up.

https://archive.li/h70Nb , tooootally unrelated link pay ab-so-lutley nooo attention in any wayyyy

it's officially gone.

i searched for it from the start of the comic and the entire arc has been scrapped. but you know what is still there? the aftermath when CLO asks G to explain why she metaphorically raped her and CLO tells her that she'd (as 14 year old, mind you) would have consented to mental sex with an adult if that adult had just asked her.

this is the comic right before the entry i just mentioned. if you're a first time reader who never heard about Violate before, you'd have no idea what G did that needed any explaining. next there's a comic of CLO and CMO talking about the situation. followed up G, the child rapist, feeling sad about being a child rapist to her then girlfriend Butterfree, CLO still putting the lock on her room, CMO talking to G and CMO using Lizzy's real name to convince CLO to forgive the creature that raped her as a child.

the comic of CLO asking forgiveness to G is still there and i still hate it just as much as the first day i saw it.

the part in red are there to remark this: this is the dialogue of a survivor of CSA towards her own rapist. in the context of this story, CLO, as the victim, doesn't have a right to be cold or mean to G because "she" (the child rapist, if you forgot) "deserves better".

this story is still asking me to forgive a child rapist and thinks she deserves better. i want to scream. it gets worse when you add the context of everything Courtney talked about and it really sounds like what LO wishes her sister had said to her after Courtney was finally able to stop the molestation at her hands. we also still have the comic of CLO assuring G "i could never hate you" and telling that they're are okay. because that's something you want to read between a child rapist and her victim.

she deleted G actually talking to CLO about the mating bond, but she still left the mess behind how the other characters reacted to this behind. she deleted the confrontation and left the abuse apologia anyway. what is even the point then? now she just made a confusing mess. the Violate arc page is still in the wiki and now i just found out that not only was only two months that passed for CLO to completely forgive G for what she did, but also G apparently was killing people for discovering about the mating bond.

either killing them or taking away their ability to speak somehow, both horrific actions that make G even less sympathetic that she was after violating a child. just imagine that somewhere off screen, there's a ditch where G kept dumping bodies because they could have told CLO about how she was basically raped as a child.

but she "deserved better". she just does. because she's actually what LO wishes she could be, a sympathetic child molester that is a badass that can kill with one look and also got unconditional love from the people she abused even when she doesn't actually deserve it.

that's not all, anon. that's not all at all.

in the section of "character development" of the wiki for this arc, the one that had all the trauma and stress was G.

"willing to attack a child". a normal, healthy and more than that, understandable reaction to your victim potentially finding out that she was molested. feel sorry for G, anon. she felt bad about raping a child, which is even worse than being raped as a child by someone you thought was a friend if you think about it! /s at least according to LO it is! also G won't even attempt to improve as a person in any sort of way after she went through the trauma of raping a child as a fully mature adult. because the trauma of raping a child doesn't make you stronger, anon. it just wounds you.

putting aside my feelings for this horrible idea, you all know what to do: keep the archives of violate and share them up as much as possible, including the wiki page. it's only a matter of time before LO starts denying the arc was ever there and start saying that we wrote Violate or something.

[kboo1999]

yeah, I forgot how much Dante pissed me off last episode

torres is he’s acting

lord. oh lord. cook, you can’t get all big and mad about this now, you’re here like wayyyy after the fact,  and this is partially on Voight and Kim. 

Torres should have never been in that deep and that dark from the rest of the unit when it had little to no true exposure and experience AS A COP 

fuck this. this is going to be a ride

the way that Hank is like cut the bullshit, get to the facts

I don’t think Torres is trying to save himself, I do think as a catholic though he surely is feeling that strong as hell Catholic Guilt

damn it Kim 

the way that Adam was starring down Torres, like what the hell did you get my girl into

OH SNAP!!

“She could go to prison Dante” — I know, especially at that moment, all that Adam is thinking about is she is the mother to his child 

I do love the way that Torres says his name though

god, poor Dante, he can’t deal with some things of this nature still — he truly was scarred from his history

I’m actually kind of hating Kiana right now

I feel like Kim is going to be the person that’s the thread that is going to help save Torres

awww, Dante bringing Kim her cup of I’m assuming coffee

I love and hate all the love and compassion Torres can still have, no matter how someone has wronged him, or what he’s been through

Oh, Lord. the amount of shots being fired here is wild

Dante

I will say, I do love this trio of 

Hell fucking yes Kim with that shot. 

I also loveeee the fact that Kim is really and truly able to give out orders — like yassss Detective Burgess with Intelligence 

lol. 

yes dante. yes. he said he will cuff you to his damn car if he needs to

damn. Gloria. you have pissed off this man. it takes a lot to do that. 

he really gave Gloria the damn hand. 

when you start getting shot at 

easy?? bitch what? Torres is dying emotionally, and the fact that she doesn’t see that kills me

Fr though, I have been thinking this since we first saw Gloria was back, I don’t understand why she didn’t take the out, and start something different. Like, she’s not a dumb or uneducated, inexperienced, or skillless woman, sooooo. I just don’t get it. 

the way that Kevin looks when he’s posted up — i love how he’s developed over the seasons + you’ve got kim & adam over on the other car working together you are wasting his time currently though. 

ahhhh. That’s what this is. Gloria is a power whore. 

he tried to warn you Gloria

yeah. He definitely is one of them. He’s a cop. 

Torres, don’t let her get in your head.

damn, that gate was loud as hell

Kevin pushed that man down with no regard like he was a damn feather

damn. I’ve always loved it, but it’s just gotten better this season, the team up with burgess + adam + kevin, the way they clear, and cover. it shouldn’t be so hot, but it is!

oh hell nah. yeahhhh, Adam’s not with the shits baby. you shot in the vicinity of his woman, he’s never not going to be okay. 

Torres tried to warn you idiot. — at this point, she’s more than made her bed, she doesn’t deserve to “still have a life”, she got out, she was out, Dante risked everything, did her right, and YET, she still purposely and intentionally dragged herself back into the life

Kim doesn’t have the time to play — nor will she play with Gloria. she’s over that shit 

Kim’s “I don’t think about you” — the fact that this is really probably more than true

Kim mentioning Chief Deputy Reid

okay….the way they are all analyzing and watching him

lol. adam. he’s never trusted people who renege on their word

it seems like Cook is riding her tail way too close

um…uhhm, what the hell is Gloria doing. or maybe she thinks she’s being set up 

Gloria is wildin’ bruh

but she really just saved Dante. so holy shit. 

damnnn. the unit shut these mf down!!

hot damn. Something told me this was going to happen, but I wasn’t expecting it to go down quite like that…

Now Kiana sees it, right in front of her eyes.

well damn. now they all see it. Not only do I think Torres really loved her, but also i believe his catholic guilt  is deep 

I don’t think it was a cover up per se, I think it was damage control more so. 

Yeahhhh. Hank doesn’t trust people like that. 

lol. why does everyone always wanna “be friends” with Hank. he doesn’t like y’all 😂

[quackle]

So what’s your opinion of this season’s ships?

the short version: rajbow is still peak, ripaxel is funny, and priyaleb is meh. more rambling details under cut:

rajbow: i feel like i say this a lot but i loveddddddd the cheating plot (i never ever thought i'd say these words, even though they have a different meaning than world tour lol). bowie's one of my fav reboot characters, and the way we got to see his character development through his internal battle with morality was so interesting. raj really makes him want to be a better person. that's what a relationship should be like! and to see a queer couple show that lesson is so huge for me as a queer person. rajbow will always have a special place in my heart. also they are so cute like LOOK AT THEM AHHHH!!!!!

ripaxel: i know people were mad about this one, some for valid reasons. ripper was so focused on getting axel's attention and somehow breezed through half of this competition while doing some of the most ridiculous things. and once ripper finally scored, a lot of axel's remaining scenes were with ripper just making out, so we didn't get a ton of an individual arc for her either. however. i am unable to take this ship 100% seriously. (i've tried! i just can't! personally!) and because i can't take it 100% seriously, that's what makes it so hilarious to me. they're both weirdos. and that somehow works, even with their negative tension from first season. it's like that one teenage couple from high school. there's a 99% chance they won't last, but they're gonna kiss as if they're gonna last lifetimes together. idk. they were funny. to me. so i enjoyed it. (poor ripper tho... i wonder how they'll be in the finale if they get a scene together.)

priyaleb: this one is... ok. i don't outright hate it. personally, though, i find it just a littleeeee bit boring and not needed. i won't lie: there are some tiny points where i'm like, "oh they are so cute actually!" because we get to see priya with this teenage crush, something she probably never got to have due to her upbringing. and her and caleb have these moments of banter that i enjoy. like these specific scenes from eps 6 + 8 had me all smiley:

but overall, i could've lived without this plot. not because priya lasted a long time last season already (i like priya! i'll be sad when she goes!), but because i feel like there's wayyyy more to priya than some miscommunication within a romance plot. like, why are we acting like priya's upbringing was anything healthy? where is the attention on that??? and most of caleb's character is tied to priya at this point. i feel as if i made a caleb compilation of his scenes from this season, most would have him going "ah, gotta make sure i'm in this alliance with priya," or "ah, i have a crush on priya now." this is the farthest a returning first boot has made it—which is huge!—but we're getting a miscommunication plot with him. sigh 💔 maybe we'll get more individual caleb if priya goes home before him, but it still sucks we didn't get to see him as an individual as much.

[ms-all-sunday]

Hi!! <3 I'm @beanghostprincess (this is just my main acc) and I think you're one of the few people I've seen who don't like OPLA and honestly? Props to you for saying it out loud because I think people are just so protective over the live-action I never feel like I can talk freely and honestly about my real opinion on the show. So, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna drop here the biggest fucking text ever about it. You don't need to reply if you don't feel like it, but I'm so glad to have found people who probably feel the same way as me about OPLA.

I liked the live-action as in a "the cast is amazing and it was enjoyable to watch" way, but aside from that? The whole thing is just weird to me. I hate the direction, first and foremost. Most of the scenes lack emotion and proper stage indications and the shots are just... Not it. They use too many close-ups (for some reason I do not understand yet when the backgrounds they use are stunning and they could've used that to their advantage a lot) and insisted on referencing the "comic/manga style" the anime does when putting different shots of people on the screen when it doesn't look that good in a live-action if you don't do it properly (it could've been nice if the shots weren't always fucking close-ups. I'm a hater. I'm sorry). Besides, what's with the fisheye lens shots with blurry edges? It bothers me so much. And if I keep complaining about the direction and producing I might probably never finish, but I think a lot of scenes needed way more emotion and it's not only about the actors. They're great and they did a good job, but you can't expect them to carry everything on their backs and I think OPLA needed more indications in some scenes.

Leaving that behind, a lot of people keep saying that the changes they made in the plot are good because an adaptation doesn't have to be exactly like in the anime, because then it would be the same and the cool thing about adaptations is choosing the best parts to make people interested in the story and make them watch the original. And even though I sort of agree with this statement, the changes they made were utterly stupid even for a stand-alone show. I have different complaints about the characters (not Buggy, though, OPLA Buggy my beloved. And also Sanji, because I think they did it great with Taz and Zeff. Nothing to say there) but to summarize:

They ruined Nami's story and character. And it's not even because of the differences between OPLA and the manga, it's because it doesn't make any sense within the show itself. She grows too attached to the crew way too fast despite her personality and resilience to make friends. For some reason, she has a ton of scenes with Zoro that could've been used for a lot of character development and friendship within the crew as a whole or just between Nami and Luffy (which are the main focus in Arlong Park). Her decisions are rushed and don't make any sense with her character most of the time. The fact that she was the one to approach Arlong first but then she's seen as a prisoner instead of an ally is just stupid as a whole. The fact that Nojiko hates her only to make more drama happen seems irrational and unnecessary to me, honestly. And the fact that Luffy hears her story? When the whole point is that he doesn't want to hear it? It drives me insane in the worst way.

That being said, now that I mention Luffy: He's wayyyy too vocal here, I think. Like, I'm glad we can see more of his POV but I think the fun about Luffy's character is that you can read between the lines of his character and just get what he wants to say with actions instead of just words. I get that he's very direct and blunt most of the time in canon too, but when it comes to Nami? They don't need words. So the whole "Nami getting mad at him for letting Zoro be hurt and saying verbally that not everyone gets to achieve their dreams" (which, again, doesn't make sense for her character and it's unnecessary) and "Luffy telling her explicitly to rely on them" (when, for Luffy's empathetic personality that adapts to what other people need, doesn't make sense because he'd choose a subtler and active approach instead of a verbal one). And in general, I think Luffy (even though I love Iñaki. Iñaki my beloved- This is a script thing and has nothing to do with him) needed more action and less talking. More physical communication. Less close-up shots for God's sake-

Usopp is only used as a comedy relief character and literally does nothing in his own fucking arc. So. Yeah. Whatever. I keep saying I'm not mad but as an Usopp fan I am indeed very mad.

Sanji is perfect. Mwah, mwah. My only complaint is that they could have used better takes when he talks about the All Blue to Luffy and do it in a place where he can look at the sea instead of being in the kitchen. But well, perhaps you can use it as a metaphor about him feeling trapped or whatever. I honestly think it would've looked better with more beautiful shots but meh, it's just a lil thing and I don't mind.

Then Zoro. A lot of people have complained about Mackenyu not giving the same silly energy Zoro has pre-time skip. And even though I agree wholeheartedly, I think he has the capacity to be like that and the main issue here is the lack of indications. I think that, if they had worked on his scenes a bit more, it would have been more in character. I have a lot of issues about the staging in the scene where he promises Luffy to never lose again, but perhaps that's just me and my silly little complaints.

I know they used the marines to make the show more interesting and have a main villain but it literally led them NOWHERE in the end. Not complaining about Kobymeppo because I enjoyed their scenes an insane amount and they're definitely a highlight of the live-action, however, most of the scenes they use for the marines could've been used to make the crew grow closer and make their personalities more accurate.

And etc, etc, etc. I have more things to say but damn this is long af and I don't want you to spend an hour reading my opinion on OPLA. I'm just glad to see I'm not the only one who didn't like the show much. It's good for the vibes and the actors but the show itself has a weird pacing and the characters are portrayed in a very rushed and artificial way, if you know what I mean. Idk.

Sorry for the long text </3

No I want this I want to spend an hour reading your opla opinions. I MADE this blog specifically for people to infodump back and forth with me. this is my intent.

you articulated almost exactly why i dont like opla too, i pride myself in being a pleasant person to interact with even if youre an opla fan but you know as an opla hater you're seen as That Guy and want to avoid being That Guy? Despite my smoke and mirrors, I am that guy.

if you mention to me that you enjoy any aspect of namis writing in opla i... try to be understanding? its really hard for me because namis writing in opla sends me into a rage filled fugue state. i also never ever just personally would ever want to interact with someone who thought that legitimately, it sounds like a nightmare.

i also have similar feelings on usopp (i think the way they treated him was weirdly racially charged? im white so i cant speak on this fully but the way he was adapted was certainly imo to the same level of bad as nami)

nami is just also a character who i hold really fucking close to my heart for a lot of reasons because i share a lot of experiences with her i feel i can articulate fully why her treatment in OPLA is so bad.

i say this all with the sentiment that i love all of the actors because i feel like they were playing deliberately to make up for the bad writing

(minus emily rudd who i will not sugarcoat this has the worst performance out of all of them which i dont think is her fault- inaki doesnt do as well at luffy as id like him to but when the luffy writing is in character in episode 6 only he does actually do very well. i just think the script is never ever on her side ever.)

So zoro and nami scenes. a friend of mine had a similar question to yours and i responded with "they didnt have the suicide-attempt flirting scene in this version and they felt they had to make up for it" but ill elaborate a little more here. in arlong park, that scene (and also scenes in previous arcs with zoro and nami bickering) and also sanjis scenes with nami in the baratie set up both zoro and sanji as people who like and respect nami.

ideologically, within the context of op itself the way they treat nami post her lashing out is affected by this, zoro respects her enough to see her as a threat (its more complicated than that but to simplify) and sanji views her as a complicated human being because of his own experiences and assumes the best of her. we all know this why am i repeating it? well OPLA fucks it up. it sets up zoro and namis relationship fine, which ultimately doesnt pay off in the end with this conflict because its essentially nonexistent within opla and is seen as "nami was OUR friend first" which is ... the fact matt owens thinks this is how this should go tells you a lot.

deep breathe in

speaking of which.

so i didnt notice this first time around to the degree i notice it now so i dont blame you but the sanji writing in opla is . quite bad (it just looks very pretty coming out of taz' mouth and also next to the absolute dogshit way the other characters were treated in comparison). the worst of it i think is his relationship with other characters specifically nami oh god christ they butchered that relationship so much.

i dont need to tell you why OPLAs sexual harassment joke played for feminism is bad. you know why its bad. but i think the way i previously thought of it as "namis writing being bad" is somewhat incorrect.

if you write sanji as unambiguously part of a sexual harassment joke thats bad sanji writing. (if you think the original jokes in op proper were sexual harassment jokes you can at least admit to them mostly being ambiguous and if they were it was never directed at nami, who fully was in control of sanji)

but it was confirmed in an interview that one of the showrunners of opla itself did an interview pre release to say that quote "sanji is going to be less of a simp" (simp has an entire history of sexist usage i do not think he was just using it because its popular slang now) which means at least one of the directors thought the issue with sanji is that he was being emasculated by nami.

and because he didn't want sanji to be emasculated, within the context of opla sanji does not treat nami preferably due to his views on women but because he explicitly has romantic feelings for her, which then does two things: 1. ruins his entire conflict with zoro and why its interesting in the first place. 2. makes him more of a creep.

it also spoils sanjis character, sanji is not a masculine person who is trying to fit into masculinity, and because of how the show views him as inherently all of these things he claims to be, the struggle with him and gender is not articulated on enough because the again. at least one of the directors thought that was emasculating and appearently that's all he gleaned from sanji and namis interactions.

i will say taz skylar is an amazing actor and can fucking act the living shit out of sanji to the degree where i do not blame literally anybody for thinking the sanji writing is good. its not good. its just comparably a bit less evil all of the time than everybody else is. (which makes him the best written OPLA character. but that's not a feat.)

before i get into my big point which ties into basically all of my criticisms with opla. inaki godoy is good at luffy when hes given a script that actually is in character for luffy and writes him fully as autistic. OPLA luffy is allistic but still adhd to me. also i will literally never forgive them for the comment zoro makes towards the beginning of the baratie it really felt like they were avoiding saying the r slur. okay. that out of the way

...

so i bring a "OPLA was politically censored" vibe to the party that nobody likes, like to me its just obvious and i cant believe more people dont talk about the fact a lot of changes made within the story that were bad were to accommodate political censorship?

like nobodys mentioned directly any political censorship from netflix publicly, but i dont know how to else to describe the changes within OPLA

luffy literally says "be a good cop" in this version of the story and koby is no longer treated like a guy who is annoying and ultimately wrong but well intentioned and is instead The Neoliberal Mouthpiece who luffy (despite in canon literally forgetting he exists) loves for some reason? also buggy is done well i agree but i cannot not factor in the fact they made him way worse in this version.

it wouldnt be a bad decision on its own but that compounded with like... garp getting all the credit for restructuring the marine base and the everything with him in syrup village (i literally have not finished opla syrup village because of the beginning. my fucking god) like it just reads to me open as a book that netflix did NOT like that cops were getting punched. its the little things, too?

like bellamere actually scolding nami in front of genzo for stealing the book and making her pay it back instead of letting her keep it? nobody would change that if they weren't going at it from a "i need to change this because politics"

this brings me back to sanji again and also what i feel ultimately factors into a lack of acknowledgement of the queer themes in op. i feel that even at its best points, the baratie (OPLA), refuses to fully engage with the material its given in a well intentioned manner? (this is a sidenote but the fact fullbody in OPLA is made to fight with a pirate instead of just. be fullbody)

I do not think sanjis struggle with masculinity was conveyed enough. its less that his shit is actively bad like the rest of them (except in scenes with nami) and more just. passively bad? which is frustrating. which then brings me into um so every single acknowledgement of any kind of bigotry that one piece does is not mentioned within OPLA at all or is really toned down. like khaladore. DO not get me started.

summarization on the thoughts on khaladore (because this post is already too long): they made him "not bigoted" and also not an abusive paternal figure towards kaya and yet somehow at the same time refused to handle any of the sensitive subject matter he tackles with any kind of tact whatsoever? speaking as a khaladore fan who enjoys his protrayal of abuse within op itself and its one of the reasons i was first endeared towards one piece...

maybe OPLAs showrunners shouldnt be adapting a story with a lot of sensitive subjects if going by how theyve historically handled them theyre dogshit at it. just a thought. acting cannot save everything.

EDIT: source for oplas showrunner calling sanji a simp

[baltears]

thots on finishing my second full rewatch of crazy ex girlfriend

god if only my identity issues and lack of career goals could be miraculously resolved by just noticing an intense passion ive always had bubbling under the surface but that it just never occurred to me to pursue for some reason. sarah marshall voice MUST BE NICE.

this is an amazing and incredible show for a lot of reasons one of which is its very firm adherence to thesis but there are also times where it feels like the writing cant get out of its own way because of this. e.g. actively sabotaging nathaniel as a love interest in ways that dont totally make sense given his past characterization because its important for story reasons that he not outpace greg or josh in terms of personal growth or attachment/importance to rebecca. like as early as mid-season 3 hes clearly already undergoing a lot of the changes that would make him a more kindhearted and respectful person but then in season 4 he just kind of. forgets them temporarily so that rebecca will break up with him and make him learn a lesson that he appeared to have halfway already learned. idk it feels like a bit of a nitpicky problem because there really is no easy fix for this writing-wise but i did notice it

valencia being team greg does not make sense to me. it just does not. valencia and greg never really had a dynamic that differentiated itself from her dynamic with the rest of josh's friends, and she had no response to greg and rebecca being together when that happened because her character wasnt relevant to that plotline at the time so her rooting for them to get back together just seems to be based totally on secondhand knowledge of what their relationship was like that we don't even see her get. i understand that heather picked nathaniel because they had their little bonding moment in 4x06 and paula picked josh because she was og team josh and likewise because they also bonded a bit in the same episode but i personally feel valencia-josh heather-greg paula-nathaniel would have made more sense. valencia really cooled on josh after their breakup (to a degree i honestly found to be a bit much, she basically treats him like hector whom she actively disliked until 4x10 and its like. hello???) but she did sincerely love him at one point and tbh i think they should have had a little reconciliation arc and she should have been rooting for joshbecca, heather likewise dated greg and knows him really well and saw firsthand how much he loves rebecca, and paula is close to nathaniel because they work together and she saw his personal growth from collaborating with him on the pro bono cases. idk. i like 4x06 but i also feel like there wasnt really a need for heather to learn to like nathaniel because they werent clearly shown in the past to have a negative dynamic based on dislike or disrespect and likewise with paula and josh. it made sense kind of but it could have made more sense.

season 4 in general is a total mess and i think it just comes down to the season having way too many episodes and not enough to fill them. all the greg and rebecca stuff is good, the nathaniel dream sequence episode is great use of filler, i love the development of josh and rebecca becoming friends again and then catching feelings, and i love the denouement for paula in particular as well as heather and valencia although i think the latter two dont have as much substance and some of the conflict in them feels contrived. but in general everything is stretched out wayyyy too much, the songs feel sparser and weaker (theres like four or five that i would consider really great and would happily listen to on a regular basis but that's out of an entire season's worth of songs after three seasons of almost nonstop bangers) and multiple episodes that just feel like the show spinning its wheels. 4x09 in particular is a weak point and might actually be my least favorite episode, i cant believe they thought anyone was going to get excited about the prospect of rebecca fucking the random tinder dude from 1x04 plus the cats parody songs are such a slog. tbh most of the back half of my personal episode ranking is filled out by episodes from s4. there are some memorable high points here and there but it really takes some endurance to get through the rest of the season

skylar astin greg. what is there left to say about skylar astin greg. hes just a different guy. i already made a post about him so i wont repeat myself too much. idk. hes okay, he does produce a greg-like impression, he has good chemistry with rachel. hes like greg flavored la croix. i definitely dont hate him in the role and in a lot of ways i think he was a great choice for the show (to be honest i think santinos charisma is so intense that it would have just been a bit much to put his greg in a horse race with josh and nathaniel, plus his dynamic with rebecca would have felt completely different and would have lacked that sense of 'hello, nice to meet you' that i do think was necessary for them at that point) but ill always be wistfully wondering what could have been if santino had been able to come back to reprise the character

honestly despite all its flaws in a way almost any criticism of this show feels like nitpicking to me because it's just so fucking great

[whentherewerebicycles]

NOT to pile onto the pessimism of the day but I'm an advisor at a CC and we just collapsed academic advising and career advising into one category...and while I understand the need to have a single point of contact for those services, it also has created this dynamic where I Have to bring up career readiness at Every Meeting and it's like....some of these kids short out at being asked to choose an elective! We Have to be able to start with the small questions and not make them dive into the big questions before they're ready.

Relatedly, we're supposed to be on a caseload model so that we CAN track along with our students from start to finish and we DO have the opportunity to build genuine relationships with them. But in practice our leadership has shuffled our caseloads three times in the past three months and the students get an automated email every single time and it has created SO much chaos and confusion and discomfort for them. It's so tiring.

oof!!!! my college is culturally + demographically much closer to a CC than anywhere I’ve studied at or worked before and I have been wondering if the intense focus on career readiness is part of those baked-in quasi-vocational school norms. not sure how to articulate that exactly except to say that at yale you are implicitly encouraged to explore your passions and expected to pursue a well-rounded liberal arts education (like everyone took art history or shakespeare or political theory or whatever because those are markers of an Educated Person in that sphere). whereas at my current school the language is all about career tracks, professional pathways, professional skill development… idk I’m certainly not saying you have to be immersed in The Great Works of the Western Canon to receive a good education!!!! I just think there’s much less value placed on taking a wide range of classes and exploring different fields and wayyyy more of a sense of, like, get your shit sorted early so you can get out of here fast and into the workforce.

and again I GET that this is not all coming from the institution itself—it’s also like, the time you spend in college is time you are shelling out $$ on credits while also cutting back on hours you could be working at a job, so of course there is more pressure to make that time “pay” in some more tangible way. that’s a shitty reality of living in a country with no social safety net. but also idk!! I just feel like yeah collapsing academic and career advising into one category at CC or CC-adjacent public institutions is such a perfect encapsulation of this frustration lol. is higher education’s highest purpose to funnel people into the workforce?? but also isn’t this just the age-old debate about the value of a liberal arts education etc etc. and then idk you’re right that students very often aren’t ready to make those decisions so early because they are typically coming to us from underfunded and understaffed public schools where there likely wasn’t a lot of space or resources dedicated to exploring one’s interests. so they pick the career or major that they have heard of, and then we put them on a career track and that’s the kind of advising they get forever. idk!!! feels a little bleh!!!!

[storiesbyrhi]

I just re-watched season 3 of Stranger Things (a.k.a. nobody checks on the children for four days straight) and here's the takeaway for me - whoever I was when I watched it in 2019 is not the girl you see before you. I have a wayyyy different interpretation of the characters and the show.

(Season 1 thoughts here. Season 2 thoughts here.)

Sorry to go all My Favorite Murder on you, but here's Correction Corner:

I should have mentioned Sam Owens in my S2 thoughts; I was suss of him in 2017. Still suss in the rewatch.

It was cool meeting Sinclair and Henderson families. Obviously, Erica was iconic from the get-go.

Needed more Scott Clarke.

Alright, it's Scoops Ahoy season, baby!

I'll never be as funny as Erica. I'm so glad someone realised that Priah Ferguson has impeccable comedic timing and tone. She makes the show better.

This is totally my personal feeling and definitely relates to the trauma I have experienced IRL, but I am so uncomfortable and scared of Hopper this season. I understand why he is so protective of El, but for me it crosses the line. The drinking. The way he reacts to Joyce not showing up at Enzo's. How he talks to her after. Gives me the ick. He's chilled out by the end but season 3 Hopper is not my fav.

Oh, hey, just another season of Joyce being absolutely fucking right from the get-go. When will people just believe her? As always, she's so great. Also, Joyce looking out for Alexei is so in character.

Alright, we're back on the Billy discourse. I saw someone write a post about how he wasn't the best choice for the Mind Flayer host because he was already an asshole so there wasn't enough contrast (I'm summarising, also if I can find the post I'll tag and link here). They're totally right. We don't get much character development for Billy because he's flayed by the end of episode 1, so I guess my opinion of him from season 2 stands? We get the backstory, but it still doesn't justify shit imo. This is probably a controversial opinion, but his death was less like 'I'm going to try to save these kids' or whatever, and more 'I'm awake and pissed I was mind controlled, so fuck you monster!' PSA: Adults shouldn't perv on teenagers. The Billy fan club by the pool makes me so uncomfy. Even if this is a thing lmao. Can't one single adult treat this kid right?!

I love Steve this season. He's totally himself for the first time. He's romantic, unhinged, smarter than people give him credit for, and a really shitty babysitter! He was always a great character, but Robin really makes him shine. Steve is so babygirl this season.

Karen Wheeler is a star. Not a perfect woman, but a brilliant character.

I forgot how smart Robin is? Why did they dumb her down in season 4? She is multi-lingual, a musical genius, generates a lot of the plot-driving ideas in the season, and is a charming mix of "hyper" (as Steve puts it) and warm empathy. She is also brave as hell; the way she spits at the Russian? I never really understood people's issues with season 4 Robin, but I get it now. She should have been more than just comedic relief - this season proves that.

Needs more Scott Clarke.

Will is so sidelined this season and I fucking hate it. He is the heart of this show. I know Mike is their star and by this point everyone was frothing Finn Wolfhard but man, they didn't need to bench Will. I understand that we're watching the boys grow up while Will feels different* and left behind, but surely there could have been more for Will to do? (*I'm not even gonna go into the queer subtext because it's way too much for this post.) Also, it's a goddamn shame that Will never gets to be in Hellfire and have Eddie as a DM. He'd have loved Eddie so fucking much.

I know how Nancy is treated at the newspaper is period accurate or whatever, but it sucks. She's such a hard worker, always out there researching and writing, and caring so, so deeply. I love her. She is constantly MVP. Glad they keep giving her guns.

Jonathan has lost some of his likeability, but I think there are a lot of interesting interplays between him, socioeconomic/class status, and Nancy. I totally get where he's coming from, and I think it says a lot about his character that he can admit when he's wrong.

Hive Mind Army isn't as creepy as anything we've seen before in the show because it's just like like... super cliche idk? I forgot they all turn to sludge to form the Flayer. The scene at the end of episode 6 where they just... melt... is kind of fucking horrifying though. Love that.

Mike gets more lackluster each season?

Lucas is funny and smart. I love him and Erica. I love him and Max. He's great.

Part of me wishes Dustin wasn't separated from the others, but Scoops Troop was so unexpected and works so well that I can't be mad.

It's kind of a joy to watch El come into herself more. I still would have liked more El/Will bonding but ya can't win them all. At least she gets Max, who also gets her own multifaceted personality this season too.

Murray last season was a non-event to me. Could take him or leave him. I vibe him this time around.

I remember loving Alexei. I was right to. God, his death sucked. It's almost like... hmm... no... almost... surely not... they... keep... they wouldn't... writing good goddamn characters and then kill them off instead of giving any real-life stakes to their plot-armored main cast?!?

I don't vibe Jopper as a ship this season.

Suzie demanding The NeverEnding Story in the middle of an emergency is the same energy as Eddie deciding the only way to distract the demobats was to play Master of Puppets on the trailer roof.

Every season ends with a time skip forward. I had forgotten that. Makes the season 4 one less weird.

Speaking of season 4... That's next, baby! I have re-watched it so many times but I'm doing it again, now armed with my brand new updated opinions and feelings! Yewwwwww. Here we go!

This has been a Stranger Things Rhi-Watch.

[leximitchells]

Ben needed therapy last year. He literally hit rock bottom. He’s isolated himself from his friends and family, had become a stranger to Lexi, was taking drugs, completely not taking care of himself or caring what happened to himself, all leading up to a cardiac arrest and literally dying and having to be brought back to life.

That there was the time to finally have him try something different and go to therapy. Putting it on pause and then revisiting it 6 months later by having him use another unhealthy coping mechanism rather than actually communicating with the people who love him and getting help a different way, just seems like history repeating and Ben never being allowed to move on.

It’s like they want to keep him in this permanent state of hiding how he is really feeling, and never being allowed to be happy or feel settled. Along with the fact that he is forever taking two steps forward and then 20 steps back in his relationship with Phil, it’s like they don’t ever want him to develop past the stage where he is hiding his problems, masking the fact he isn’t coping, and searching for validation from his Dad.

It can be really unrewarding as a fan of a character to watch them not develop and just continue the rinse/repeat they have been on. I know it is a realistic depiction of how some people cope in real life. But since when have soaps been bothered about realism?

As for where it leaves his relationship with Callum, who knows? What does it say about them as a couple that yet again Callum seems to think they are in a good place individually and as a couple, only for it all to come out that Ben was struggling and Callum was oblivious? Or that Ben still didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell Callum he isn’t coping? Especially as it has been established (and acknowledged by the characters themselves) a few times now that their main issues lie with not communicating or miscommunication. Again it feels a little like they are stuck in the same rut.

Sorry for going off in your inbox. I know it sounds like I’m being negative. I try hard not to be, but if this goes where we all think it is going, it just feels kind of disappointing tbh.

I know it’s a soap and I expect wayyyy too much. I know. But it’s just frustrating.

i’m still not convinced they’re actually gonna go down the alcoholism route BUT i think the fact that callum has acknowledged ben’s drinking not once but TWICE in the past week is actually a good sign. for him to notice that something is off with ben, something he was unable to do for some reason for most of last year, is progress! i completely agree with you about everything else though. it really does feel like we go around in circles with ben and the misery never ends. ben and whitney are truly more alike than most people would like to admit

[the-lark-ascending69]

Just finished reading Rebel Robin. I liked it for the most part, it has a lot of cool Robin Lore, but I feel it can be a bit inconsistent with other Robin Lore from the podcast and the show (both of which I feel are a lot more syncronized with each other than the book is). I feel like it ends on a way too optimistic note, in which Robin is happy as a rebellious loner, fully honest with herself and the world and knowing it's just a matter of time until she finds her people, while show Robin talks about secretly wanting to be normal and accepted, and believing no one would want to be close to her if they knew her secret. Podcast Robin, while still in a far earlier stage of teenage Robin angst, says the universe is telling her she's not supposed to have friends and that there's something rotten inside of her. Even by the end of the podcast, her conclussion is that she needs to do everything in her power to survive inside the system, even if that includes lying and cheating. Podcast Robin reaches the conclussion that blackmail is a valid way to fight for survival, which I think can be fitting with Show Robin, who was never pushed to that extreme but who was still clearly cynical about people. Book Robin is just too at peace, as if she got everything figured out. She's confident in ways show Robin and Podcast Robin aren't. I can see 15 years old Podcast Robin growing into 17 years old Show Robin, but I can't see Book Robin growing into Show Robin. Otherwise it would be like she went two years backwards in the span of two days because... she was kidnapped by russian soldiers? I don't know if that's the kind of thing that makes you want to be "normal and accepted".

I feel like book Robin wasn't lonely enough. She had like two best friends, danced with a girl at prom in front of everyone else... of course she's going to be confident. Of course she's not going to feel the need to be "normal and accepted". Book Robin abandons the idea of "camouflage" by the end in a way that podcast Robin doesn't, which is more consistent with show Robin. Show Robin isn't all that confident. She doesn't genuinely "not care", she just tells herself she doesn't.

Compare to:

Does this sound like Robin "my whole life has been one big error" Buckley? It sounds like she should be wayyyy past that! It sounds like the order of these events should be switched.

I have some thinking to do about this book. I thought it was fine, I liked the Robin Lore that didn't contradict itself, which is most of it tbh. Robin will quote Nietzche off the top of her head and I'll think "yeah, that makes sense". She knows from memory the etymology of random words and will talk about that during a discussion as if it were an actual argument. Robin also seems prone, in both the book and the podcast, to project her own feelings on other people (namely Barb and Tammy), which isn't something we see in the show (she IS older and more mature there), but it's not contradictory either. I liked her family, though I wish we'd got a bit more development about them. Near the beginning of the book, Robin asks her mom how come their family ended up in Hawkins, and her mom changed the topic, so I assumed there was some kind of emotional mother-daughter talk later in the book about how they wanted a safe and stable place to raise their daughter or something, but the talk never came. I liked Milton and Kate, especially Milton. Dash is a piece of shit. Mr. Hauser is good but he's better in the podcast.

I can't help to go back to the podcast, agh! It just feels so much more inspired. If i had to name the one piece of media that I think treated Robin's character with the most love and passion, it would be the podcast, no questions asked. It treats her with more love than the show, even, and I love show Robin, but the podcast is just... special. Podcast Robin got a better development in 6 episodes than book Robin did in 300 pages imo.

I know the book and podcast are both like semi-canon, but I will choose to consider the podcast to be above the book in terms of canon density. I wouldn't want to ignore the book because it provides interesting information on Robin's family, her plans to go to Europe, her friends and her feelings for Tammy Thompson, and if you want to write some very canon-accurate fanfic depiction of Robin, the book will certainly be helpful. Plus, it's just a good read, a good coming of age story. I do recommend it. But in areas where it contradicts the podcast, I would priorize the podcast as more strictly canon, not only because I think it's of higher quality (which I do), but because it's more aligned with show canon Robin.

Anyway, go listen to Surviving Hawkins, it's free on YouTube and Spotify I think, and it's amazing.

[babubabibambam]

hi sorry to pester you again, but I was thinking how bsd guys would react if their s/o was fukuzawa's kid? like biologically related. (we have wayyyy too many orphans in the goddamn show ngl 😅)

There’s no need to apologize!! And NO YOU’RE NOT PESTERING ME AT ALL DKDKWMAKS love love love this idea. I’m only gonna do the ADA peeps and the port mafia peeps^^ will not be adding Mori cuz well— yeah… that age gap is slightly a tad bit too creepy for me.

ADA

Ranpo:

To him, you were probably an interesting human, being the daughter of such an amazing man. He was curious on how you would be, would you be a spoiled brat? Or would you be just as amazing as your father? At first he simply wished to observe you, but the more he learns about you, the more he began to fall. He had basically remembered all the details surrounding you, how you like your tea(which was ironically the same way that Fukuzawa liked it), what your favorite food was, what you don’t like to eat, and etc. At first he thought that it was normal to know the small details such as these. After a long while of denial he finally manages to confess. When the two of you started dating, your father was… well uneasy. Ranpo was uneasy too, but as we all know, if Fukuzawa were to have a favorite, it’d be Ranpo. So after a few awkward dinners, Ranpo had managed to sneak his way into the family.

Kunikida:

He holds a lot of respect and admiration towards your father, so naturally that was also extended to you. When you began to work at the agency Kunikida offered to help you out, you worked with him on many of the cases, that’s probably why he developed feelings for you. Watching you work, learning more and more about you at every new case, seeing you interacting with others, or just simply seeing you had made him craved for the next cases to come quickly so he could spend time with you. Once he realizes that his feelings were more of a romantic one rather than a platonic one. The man went into panic mode. Thoughts saying his feelings and his yearning for you were wrong filled his head. He kept his distance from you, started acting cold to close his heart. Yet somehow you managed to break in. Once you two began dating, Kunikida would pick you up from your house, causing him to meet your father. Everytime the two of you would go on a date or if your relationship was mentioned in front of your father, Kunikida would apologize with a bow. It’s funny to you and Fukuzawa, but just so you know, the poor baby means it. Even after several years or even if you married, he still does it.

Yosano:

The moment she laid her eyes on you she was captivated and curious. You seemed so soft and sheltered, she doubted you would last long. Sure you were Fukuzawa’s daughter, but what exactly can you do? Perhaps those thoughts stemmed from the jealousy she had towards you. She yearned to be loved too afterall. She bet you had a perfect 11 yearold party, a perfect childhood with a loving and amazing father like Fukuzawa. She kept observing you, but unlike Ranpo, she wanted to find faults. Sure there were a few flaws here and there, but she can’t help but notice the striking mindset and personality you had. Sure it wasn’t like Fukuzawa, but darn did that man raise a good daughter. A kindness that extends even to strangers or even enemies. Her obsession with your flaws quickly turned into an obsession with you. Once she realizes her feelings she quickly dealt with it. Once you two started dating it was natural your father was guarded. He knew Yosano and her past, he knew very well of what Mori did to her. But seeing the two of you so happy, he couldn’t help but smile.

Dazai:

This man probably had similar intentions like Ranpo. (ti-fe do be hot— if any of yall want an mbti post PLS tell me) ahem back to topic. He wanted to know more and more about you. Your behavior, your mindset, your moral code or ethics. And like the rest, curiosity killed the cat and by that I mean bam, he fell in love. Which at first he denies it. Him? Love? Really? Him? We all know he’s a mess, and he knows it too. He was probably in denial even longer than Kunikida, acted more cold and dramatic. He would probably have done that forever if you hadn’t dealt with it first. Yes, if you wanted a relationship with this dramatic bitch, you must make the move first. For a serious one at least. After multiple attempts of trying to make him tell you why he was treating you so oddly, he gave in and told you the truth. His past, who he really was, why he wore those bandages, this would probably make you yearn for him less right? After all, who would want a pathetic mess like him? Instead the response he got was a simple thankyou. “Thank you? For what?” He remembers asking. “For trusting me and being this vulnerable.” You laughed softly caressing his soft brown locks. After that you acted like nothing happened, treated him the same way as you had always did and patiently waited for him. Sure it was a long and tiring process. But in the end, you got your hands of the drama-queen and to your father’s surprise Dazai was actually decent. Till now Dazai thinks that if not for Fukuzawa raising such an angel, he would probably be in pain forever. So similar to Kunikida who apologizes everytime, he thanks the man instead.

Port Mafia

Chuuya:

He did not know the girl he dated was Fukuzawa’s daughter. The two of you met at a wine tasting event, hitting it off right away you two started as friends. Chuuya on the other hand had always wanted to be more than that, but that would be selfish of him. Though somehow after one night of drinking everything changed and now he’s at your house jaw dropping when he sees your father. Fukuzawa’s eyes widened as you sat cluelessly at the dinner table. Chatting and eating happily seeing the two of the men you loved the most in the same room. After dinner after you were drunk and dozing off on the couch the two men had a conversation. Not wanting to hurt you, or the other person who you loved they decided it was best to keep you like this, until they were ready to tell you everything. So now Chuuya tells you he works as a loan shark, not the port mafia. He didn’t want to say his job wasn’t something shady, but he also agreed to not tell you who he really worked for until the time was right. Let’s just say the moment the two fessed up, you immediately realized what you had done and that’ll always be the joke and memory the three of you share.

Akutagawa:

You met him on the quietly street alley. Bleeding and slowly dying on the streets on a cold rainy day. You took him to your apartment as you began to nurse him back to health. To you, he was like a stray cat, wary and anxious. To him, you were the stranger that was probably going to ask him for something in return. To his surprise once he was all patched up and healthy you left a note on the breakfast tray next to him, saying he could leave anytime he wanted. Despite being in the same apartment for a while you never asked him anything, not for his name, past, or what had happened to him. Only asking about his conditions and if he was okay. Strangely after he left, he found himself constantly coming back to check in on you. He would secretly drop by during the night to see if you were alright. He wasn’t sure why he was doing it but yet here he was. After multiple nights of pretending not to notice the intense gaze you finally left a note on the window, saying he was welcomed to come in at anytime. You guess that was where your strange relationship began. Now there you were, behind your father’s back as he shields you from Akutagawa. The stray cat you had picked up stared at the man and you in confusion. You stepped in, sitting them both down and slowly defused the situation. It’s a mess, but after a very very long while the two seemed to have accept the reality of the situation. “No wonder you’re weird.” Was his chuckle to you after realizing who your father was.

[literaryfic]

hiii let's talk about that airport scene bc that's about to live in my head rent free the entire week. it's practially a confession, vinny knows 100% what cha young is trying to tell him with that quote, but she's once again making the smallest step possible to encourage him to go to her in his own time. i fucking love them

heyyy thank you so much for prompting this post i love you.  

“friends are like two souls in one body.” 

what i find interesting in that quote is that usually, we tend to associate love/friendship to the opposite : one soul in two bodies. 

i’ve done some research  yes i have exams next week that i’ve not revised for but instead look at me doing research for a kdrama , and from what i’ve gathered, the original quote is from Aristotle : “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

now, let’s look at what Aristotle has to say on friendship. According to him, there are three types of friendships. 

1) the first one is based on based on utility

2) the second one is based on pleasure or delight, 

3) the third one goes beyond those self-serving forms of friendships, and is based on virtue, it’s a self-less relationship. 

here’s an extract of this article i found on the subject : https://associatesmind.com/2013/11/04/the-great-conversation-aristotle-on-friendship/

“In contrast to the self-centered relationships described above, Aristotle delineates a third type, those grounded in virtue: τελια φιλια, fully-developed friendship. This type completes the intended design or purpose of Friendship. This entity is the final cause of friendship. Its participants necessarily share a set of values and principles of an irreducibly moral nature: A wants for B what is good for B for the sake of B. This is an essentially selfless relationship. Moreover, it is a constructive relationship. Each friend, by his own qualities, helps to fully realize what is not only potentially in the other but also realized in the other. He reveres and honors and, therefore, sustains, encourages, nurtures, supports, and celebrates what the other is and can become. Temporally, these relationships are not bound by maintenance of utility or pleasure but are sustainable over a lifetime.”

this quote refers to this third type of friendship, the only type of true friendship, one where they both want the best for each other. 

of course, this quote is undeniably about soulmates just as much as it is about friends. when aristotle talks about true friendship, contemporary minds would associate it with the concept of ‘soulmates’. the sharing of souls, the most intimate, self-less state of love, understanding & caring. 

this is what vincenzo and cha-young are to each other. their relationship transcends utility or pleasure. at first, their relationship might have been one based on utility, they both needed each other’s skills to win against a common enemy but not anymore. 

however, the exact quote here refers to two souls in one body, not one soul split in two. that makes it even better imo : 

cha-young and vincenzo are the same yet they complete each other. what vincenzo lacks, cha-young has and vice-versa. what cha-young needs, vincenzo provides and vice-versa. 

what hurts vincenzo hurts cha-young, what hurts cha-young hurts vincenzo. they want the best for each other, and they grow thanks to each other. cha-young has realised in vincenzo a darkness that echoes in her soul, while vincenzo has find in cha-young a light he’s been longing for. 

chayenzo’s partnership is true friendship, they are soulmates. the strength of their relationship lies in their likemindedness, they are two equals who recognised each other. 

it reminds me of that shot of them sleeping after they drank together, the parallels and the ‘yin & yang’ symbolism. their souls mirror each other. even their storyline is similar. the death of a parent that had hurt them, them working for an immoral institution (wusang/babel & the mafia), their resourcefulness and grey morals, their quest for justice and revenge. 

they’re two sides of the same coin, different yet the same, one indivisible whole. 

here, cha-young confesses her feelings for vincenzo. it’s undeniable, she’s telling him that they’re unseparable. she speaks italian, his language, which is arguably the most intimate way to communicate her feelings as well. 

if you speak in a language other than your mother tongue with your significant other, you know that it feels wayyyy more intimate to speak about your feelings in your first language. at least for me. 

arguably, korean is vincenzo’s first language but italian is the language he expresses his feelings in the most, he swears, he speaks to himself in italian, etc... it’s also the language he embraced because of his adoption, the country who welcomed him when no one else did. he’s very attached to his italian-ness, he loves opera, misses the food, the clothes... before he begins to form a relationship with cha-young/the tenants, he’s unwilling to let go of his italian lifestyle. 

i think it shows that cha-young understands vincenzo better than anyone else, knows his fears and most intimates anxieties. they speak the same language, always. he’s let her in completely, allowed her to see him vulnerable, see his true ‘evil’ self, the parts of himself he wishes to bury and hide from the world. 

vincenzo had planned to get the gold and leave for malta, because he wants “a life away from others”. after leaving the mafia, he wanted to hide from the world, isolate himself forever. 

but by staying in south korea instead of leaving for italy, vincenzo replies to cha-young’s confession. he will stay by her side, because they are two souls sharing one body and nothing will separate them.

[newsies-of-corona]

Weakness vs Strength

ALRIGHT, WE’RE BACK IN THE GAME!

It’s been wayyyy too long since I’ve done one of these but I was rambling about Varian again and this kinda happened 😂

I’ve kind of touched on this before, but I haven’t fleshed it all out so NOW’S THE TIME!

So without any further adieu-

“Well, shall we get started?”

Before the Storm

One of Varian’s biggest desires in life is helping others. He sees a problem, he comes up with a solution...and it usually doesn’t go as planned. It’s not always his fault, but he tends to harm people through his attempts to help. This only makes him more eager to assist, but it continues in a cycle.

He wants to help, he fails, people get hurt, and he tries again.

He’s so intelligent that he’s able to build these highly dangerous machines, but he doesn’t immediately see the problems before they go haywire.

So, what does he do? He tries to make up for it by building another invention.

And they just keep blowing up in his face every time.

It’s gotta be exhausting.

So when the amber happens and things still go horribly wrong, even though this time he was sure he was finally going to get something right, it takes a huge toll. Especially now that it involves his only living parent.

Villain Arc

Instead of giving up or shutting down, Varian tries harder, giving it everything he has to save his father and losing himself along the way. This also means (as I covered in another analysis way back when) his motives changed. Saving Corona is the farthest thing from his mind, so caring about the people who live there is also not a priority. He even says it:

“Do you honestly expect me to be concerned about the welfare of Corona?”

His willingness to help and fix his mistakes all became focused on Quirin once he decided on a path of revenge, and with nothing tying him down to the people anymore, they were now at his disposal.

He’s seen the damage he can do, and in a different light, he was winning that entire time. All it took was simply switching his mindset to:

“All I’ve been good at is hurting others, so why not use that to my advantage?”

With his vendetta against Corona under his belt, he’s automatically one of the biggest threats of the kingdom (or at least his village) because technically he already was on accident.

In a way, he sped up his own “development” in his skills, simply by twisting his own motives. It was basically just cheating the system. His inventions were already hurting people, but now that he wants them to hurt people, he’s finally winning.

His initial problem with himself became his “solution.” He changed his weakness into his strength.

I’ve seen the question around the fandom “why is Varian so good on the side of evil, but seems to mess up the minute he gets redeemed?”

Or more like the very second-

(I love you bud, but why did you even have a bath bomb on you???)

But I digress-

I believe the reason Varian was so “smart” when he was on the opposite side, is because he could let his “mistakes” run wild since, well, they weren’t mistakes anymore!

He could hurt all the people he wanted and feel accomplished because that’s what he designed his inventions (and genetically engineered monster raccoons) to do!

Redemption

So what does this mean for his turn around? His jump back onto the side of good?

Well, his “redemption” truly started when the compassion he felt before started to return. He saw all the destruction he’d caused in the same light as he did before the amber. He realized he hurt people which was what he didn’t want to do initially before the storm.

And he feels really bad about it because that’s not who he is. He doesn’t want to be known as someone who harms people, even though he initially let himself fall into that stereotype. He wanted to be a change. A defining factor for helping others and improving the world around him, and instead he had done the exact opposite.

During his time with Saporians, his compassion became his weakness.

The Quirinian was the last straw. He had been known for destruction all of his life, either purposeful or accidental, and it was going to change right then.

By opening himself up to others and once again caring about giving Corona a brighter future, he flips it around once again, and those destructive “weaknesses” come back. How does he deal with this? Well it certainly takes some trial and error, but eventually he finds more healthy ways to solve this problem by being more careful and conscious about what he’s doing, and enlisting the help of others instead of going it alone (even though those “others” might press certain buttons and meddle with things they shouldn’t...I’m looking at you Lance-)

Conclusion

Being the villain may have been easiest for Varian considering his situation and given set of skills, but it wasn’t beneficial or lasting.

His true strength lies in his compassion, not his destruction. And through this he’s able to accomplish so many things for Corona. His Season 1 mishaps still occur from time to time, but in the end it’s worth it because he finally was able to do something to help.

Destroying the red rocks, helping stop Cass and Zhan Tiri, and accomplishing his goal of the hot water machines were his crowning moments of achievement because he worked through his mistakes even though it was tough. He also had people in his life to pick him back up and encourage him when something went wrong.

Even though he basically had to start all over again, this time he was stronger than ever before with his friends by his side. (See what I did there? No that was not planned...😂)

So instead of the cycle before the storm, it becomes-

He wants to help, people reassure him, it’s either successful or a failure, but he has friends backing him up either way.

He took hold of his weaknesses in a positive light with the assistance of others, and ended up in a position to help the entire kingdom through his talents.

(And he didn’t need to “cheat” the system this time. He earned his title through sheer determination and drive.)

(I’m so proud of this boy- I just aGh 💙)