#I focused on dramas because if I actually had to add characters from other shows this list would have been even more difficult to make

[selenacosmic]

This is just a fun little thing I decided to do because of how much knowledge I have of some characters and I love sharing. Some of these are pretty obvious, not all the characters will be here so if you want to add the facts you know that aren’t here, feel free to do so!

Fun little facts about the warlords.

Oda forces.

Nobunaga Oda.

Whenever he goes out to get Konpeito from the kitchen, he wears a hood on his head to try and disguise himself.

He treats bearsace as a sacred artifact, on one event a kid asks if they can play with bearsace and he just said no because it was important to him.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

Hideyoshi has a group of lady friends with whom he has tea with, they admire him and definitely have a crush, but they are more like friends.

Hideyoshi isn’t fond of sweets, but he doesn’t mind eating them if it’s with someone special.

Ieyasu Tokugawa.

He studies medicine and treats many people, but he is better as a veterinarian as he treats harmed animals, even if he doesn’t admit it.

He likes hot sauce to a dangerous degree, it’s never hot enough for him.

Mitsuhide Akechi.

It has been said that, the reason why he he eats food all mixed up in a weird way is because he can’t taste it.

In one audio drama, mitsuhide purposely competed with Hideyoshi for the right hand man position just so that Hideyoshi realized how much he deserves that position. (He also cooked for Nobunaga and was proud of his monstrosity.

Mitsunari Ishida.

He is the only one who has ever come close to beating Nobunaga in Go, which shows how smart he is.

Even though they have completely different personalities, Mitsunari and Mitsuhide are often studying together, they both are like the Mitsu duo. They also have eating problems. Mitsuhide because of how he mixes food badly and Mitsunari because he just forgets to eat while studying.

Masamune Date.

In one audio drama, Masamune challenges shingen when they see each other at the market in azuchi, but when shingen suggests they eat before fighting, masamune decides to take over the kitchen to cook for them both.

In another audio drama, focusing on the characters “Yandere” characteristics, masamune showed to fit the role surprisingly well.

Ranmaru Mori.

In an audio drama, Ranmaru revealed to be very skilled with acting. More specifically, he knows how to pretend to be a girl very well. His voice actor was able to imitate a feminine voice pretty well.

Uesugi-Takeda alliance.

Kenshin Uesugi.

Kenshin saved three bunnies’ lives by simply saying he didn’t feel like eating rabbit soup, and since then those three bunnies keep following him while multiplying.

There is a version of ikemen sengoku that was only released in Japan, on the PS vita. Only a few selected characters were chosen to have routes on it and kenshin is one of them. On it, there is a piece of story where kenshin goes into the future and manages to control a mafia group. (I don’t know Japanese, so I don’t know how accurate this is, but there are cgs of him in a modern attire from the ps vita game).

Shingen Takeda.

There are many things that could be said about him, but one of my favorites is the fact that shingen is one of the few characters that actually swear in the game.

During an audio drama, he reveals that he likes when a girl ties her hair when entering the hot springs, mostly because he likes seeing the nape of their neck getting flushed.

Just an extra one because I love him, shingen has shown that he likes when people, regardless of them being women or men, compliment him. During the event “the art of seduction” where he teaches the other warlords how to flirt, he seems to appreciate when Mitsunari compliments him as a teacher.

Yukimura Sanada.

Yukimura had a different voice actor the start of the game, but he was changed. You can still see his previous voice actor voicing him in the audio drama he is in with Shingen and Yoshimoto.

He has a hard time finding what to talk about with Yoshimoto, to the point where he starts talking about spears and which ones are his preference, Yoshimoto finds the subject boring.

Yoshimoto Imagawa.

Yoshimoto is part of the few characters that were featured in the Ps vita, meaning he had a route out way before it was released in the original game.

I don’t know Japanese and never managed to find a translation for his route in the ps vita version, but there are cgs of him with Mc in the modern era.

Sasuke.

Sasuke was also featured in the audio drama with kenshin and Masamune about the Yandere concept, and was actually spooked by how good he is at that role.

Lone forces.

Motonari Mouri.

Motonari is fluent in many languages, including Portuguese (my first language is Portuguese, so it’s funny seeing him speak in Portuguese sometimes)

He wasn’t in any audio drama, but was first featured in the ikemen sengoku anime.

Kennyo.

Kennyo naturally attracts wild animals because of the energy he has, they seem to sense that Kennyo is a good person.

Kennyo has acted as a father for Ranmaru since he was a child, which would explain why Ranmaru is so dedicated towards Kennyo.

[tenebraevesper]

Knuckles (My Thoughts)

So, I have watched Knuckles, the 2024 show that basically came out yesterday, and before watching it, I have heard a lot of mixed opinions, ranging from ''the show is great'' to ''the show is awful, I hate it''. I had figured I might as well add my thoughts to the fray.

There will be spoilers in this review, so if you haven't watched the show, you had your warning.

So, for starters... this show is absolutely bonkers, and I definitely enjoyed watching it! X3

Honestly, I feel like there was a pretty good mix of comedy and action, and while there is some over the top acting, it didn't really take away from my enjoyment. It was a pretty wild ride from start to finish, and I kinda want to know what the writers were smoking during some scenes, because there were moments where things just get a bit surreal.

The show is also peppered with a lot of emotional moments, but I'll get to that bit in a moment. So far, I think people were right when they called this Sonic the Hedgehog, but it's Knuckles and Wade instead of Sonic and Tom.

The main crux of the show is that Knuckles has a bit of a crisis. He has found the Master Emerald, he has found friends in Sonic and Tails... and the only reason he's on Earth is because of that promise to them, as he clearly doesn't feel like he is at home... yet. So, how does he deal with that struggle?

Well, Pachacamac tells him what to do. Not gonna lie, even though I had expected him to appear, I was still baffled, because Pachacamac in this show is basically Oogway, Mufasa and Mr. Miyagi rolled into one. Clearly, Knuckles still holds great admiration for him, but let's remember that this was the guy who hunted down Sonic and Longclaw, leading to the mutual massacre. And now, he's a ghost that Knuckles can talk to, a lá Tikal. Kinda weird, but I think this is also the moment the show doesn't give a damn about being grounded.

Pachacamac suggests Knuckles that he should continue the legacy of the Echidnas, with Wade Whipple becoming his new protégé. Knuckles knows Wade is a loser, but he accepts, especially given Wade's determination to show everyone and their mother that he isn't some kind of loser and will become the bowling champion at the tournament in Reno, Nevada. So, he and Knuckles go on a road trip there while also being hunted down by two rogue G.U.N. agents, who want to deliver Knuckles to The Buyer, a guy who formerly worked for Robotnik and wants to use his quills to power his weapons.

Now, I will first start with the negative stuff that I noticed during the plot. Yes, people were correct, the second half of the show does focus a lot on Wade and his family rather than on Knuckles. Should it focus more on the titular character? Absolutely! Am I disappointed with what we got? Ehh... not really. Not gonna lie, I was actually quite invested in Wade's family drama.

Honestly, I can't really think of any complaint aside from the lack of Knuckles' screentime. Maybe it would've been better if the show focused on Knuckles bonding with Sonic and Tails, but it was always advertised as a Knuckles and Wade road trip, so I can't say I was lied to (not to mention, we had a whole movie of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles bonding). I suppose that another thing to add to it is the abrupt ending, although we do get a post-credits scene with Knuckles and Wade going to their next adventure, and the fact that they just don't address some plot points (like we don't know how the Wachowski family reacted to Knuckles' absence).

Well, that's my negative thoughts on the show, what's the positive stuff?

First of all, Knuckles himself - he is absolutely awesome every moment he gets! His character is on point, and he gets a lot of goofy, but also very wholesome moments. He also works very well with Wade, their personalities bouncing off each other and their interactions can turn from hilarious to absolutely heartwarming, especially when bonding over their respective lives.

I think that's a really strong point of this show - Knuckles helping Wade, in his own way, to overcome his insecurities, while just being his Echidna Warrior self. At the same time, he also learns about simple things in life, like ''what his jam is'' (to no one's surprise, it's the show's theme song, The Warrior by Scandal) or about Wade's family's traditions, as well as finally accepting that Earth is his home.

Also, Knuckles and Wade's mother beating up the bounty hunters was one of the best scenes in the show, hands down.

As I said previously, I also got quite interested in Wade's family life. I really like his mother, but his sister is a bitch, even if she stands by Wade's side. His father, not gonna lie, Pistol Pete gets the same amount of hate from me as Locke... Huh, maybe they did base Wade's father on one of the most hated characters from the Sonic Archie comics? After all, both abandoned their sons for a ''greater purpose''. In any case, it was satisfying seeing Wade beating his father in the bowling tournament and use what he learned during his journey.

Furthermore, this show is peppered with many lore bits, but the most jaw-dropping is this one:

So, if you guys don't know, this is Iblis, one of the Big Bosses of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), alongside Mephiles, and basically the main reason Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat went back to the past to save the future, with Silver fighting Sonic due to the belief that he was responsible for the apocalyptic wasteland that is Silver's future. Both Iblis and Mephiles are halves of the sun god Solaris, who was defeated by Super Sonic, Super Shadow and Super Silver.

So, in this show, in this story told to us via a rock opera arranged by Pachacamac and starring an... unconscious (dead?) Wade? *shrugs* So, yeah, in this story, apparently, Knuckles defeated Iblis with the Flames of Disaster, aka beating him up with flaming fists.

Not gonna lie, that's metal.

Also, another lore bit that is dropped is how a different alien visited Reno for a bowling tournament in 1974, which tells me either two things:

One possibility is that it was Shadow who appeared at the bowling tournament, which is but funny and pretty awesome, and now I have an image of Shadow, Maria and Gerald Robotnik wearing those bowling T-shirts.

The other possibility is that Black Doom dropped after making his deal with Gerald and decided to sign up the Black Arms for a tournament, which is just plain hilarious.

So, yeah, overall, I liked the show. Is it the best? Not really, but it is something I'd rewatch if I want something fun and wholesome.

#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

[mikuni14]

I think we wouldn't have focused so much on Maya and maybe even been less angry at her if this episode was about Kohei and Taichi, if they had scenes together showing that they are the MLs and Maya is a side character. Unfortunately, this episode was made (intentionally or not) as if Kohei and Maya were MLs, and Taichi had his own experiences somewhere on the side. Like some side character.

Let's add to this those romantic scenes of her and Kohei, the conversation in the cafeteria, when the sounds from the surroundings fade away and it's just them, in their own world, them returning together from dinner and the nice conversation on the bench at night.. why did the show give them these scenes, they should be reserved for the lovers, if the series is still supposed to be a BoysLOVE drama...

Maya completely dominated this episode, pushing Kohei and Taichi to the side, and the show also physically separated them. What also irritated me was that they supposedly miss each other, but in reality they do nothing to be together. Either others have to push them to meet, or others prevent them from meeting. It's like they both don't have any decision-making power in their own relationship, and I won't hide it, it annoys me because I can't stand characters like that in my BL series. Like, I need to feel like the characters actually want to be together and are actively doing everything to make it happen, for me to believe in and root for their relationship. Even if they're still just friends.

As for their shared scenes: I'd rather have anything, even if they were talking about silly things or fighting, than this… nothing.

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

I really liked reading your thoughts on hypmic and gender roles!! I would like to add some things about hypmic & female characters :]

I like the way Otome is meant to have a delicate (?) image, but it doesn't make her weak (I remember when her solo Just do it released and people talked about how before they had this idea that Otome was more like ruler who gives orders to her soldiers in the background, but after the song it was clear that Otome is actually in the front lines, leading her army)

And Ichijiku, who is sometimes cruel, with this strong image, this is framed not as a good thing, but a front she puts up to cope with her suffering (not that it's wrong for a woman to have traits usually associated with masculinity, but it's bad when you are doing it for the sake of looking "stronger", someone is not weaker for being feminine, as it seems to be something she internalized for herself/she doesn't seem to project that into others so it's just an unhealthy coping mechanism that hurts only herself), we can see from the drama tracks that before traumatic events her voice was much more high pitched (her natural one), and now she uses this lower, stronger tone, to not be perceived as weak (which I think kinda parallels Ramuda speaking in a higher pitch when his natural tone is lower). Basically a lot of the times when trying to write strong women, authors will take away their feminity from the idea that "you need to be masculine to be strong", that wouldn't apply to any of our female cast, even to Ichijiku who does put up a front to not be seem as weak, this is not a good thing & she still has hobbies/likes things usually associated with feminity (but as an exemple of masculine women also being treated well, we have Asunaro Bojo, she is a tomboy but that's not bad at all!!! Good for her, and there is also Iris from rhyme anima, that I could say is not particularly fem??? Also good for her and her cool motorbike)

And Honobono, I think it's really interesting that, in a society that demonizes feminity, she uses that on her favor, her feminity being her main weapon. Also I like her existence as a contraposition to Hypmic's main themes about bonds/relying on others, the power of words to resolve conflict as an alternative to violence / she wants to break bonds, uses her words as a way to do that, showing how powerful words can be when used for evil

As for them making bad decisions, I agree there were times when it was for the sake of plot moving, I also think some decisions are due to them being flawed characters, just like the rest of the cast is (Otome is impulsive and has a very "now or never" mindset, but so does Dice, Ichijiku blindly follows Otome even on her worst decisions, but that's because of her trauma and it's something she has to work on changing, etc)

And I do think a shifting is happening btw them being antagonistic side characters to them being integrated as part of the main cast in recent times!! That being said I'm very excited for the upcoming stage play focused on the girls only & with 2 new original women, I will love to see what they have ready for them

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!

I totally agree with your opinion about Otome. Her "coldness" (like, personality-wise) is a good contrast to Ichijiku's hot temper, but neither are in any way weak or frail. And as you point out with Ichijku, this too seems like her way of pushing away her own feelings in order to process them better. (True gender equality is everyone failing to process emotions in a healthy way? lol)

I also get what you mean about Ichijiku and writing strong female characters. (I'm immediately reminded of this comic. In terms of concept art, Ichijiku could fit right in with them lol.) She's an interesting example of a trope I see a lot. In Japanese, it feels like "cute" (可愛い) and "beautiful" (綺麗) exist as two opposite ends of a spectrum, where the latter is associated with maturity and elegance and the former with youth and innocence. Fictional taller girls or girls with more developed bodies often lament that they're pushed into the "beautiful" role even when they identify more strongly with being "cute." On the flipside, shorter girls sometimes wish that they could be taken more seriously if they were closer to the "beautiful" side of the spectrum. Ichijiku is pretty firmly in the "beautiful" camp but seems to desire "cuteness" (see how she reacts to tea parties with Nemu, who is more stereotypically "cute", and cultivates a hairbow collection). Yet she reacts with embarrassment when anything "cute" is brought up, likely because she recognizes she won't be viewed with as much authority if she presents herself in a "cute" fashion. That ties into what you're talking about with the pitch of her voice and her desire to appear strong. It's funny how there are expected societal roles ("cute"/"beautiful") nested within larger expected societal roles (womanhood). If all the female characters were like Ichijku, I'd be a lot more "eh :/" about Hypmic, but as you say, there's a wide variety of presentations, none of which are presented as "weaker" or more invalid. Like Nemu--she's definitely a "cute" character but is written to have an enormous amount of emotional strength following her decision to join Chuuouku. This suggests, then, that Ichijiku is incorrect in thinking she can't be strong and "cute." Likewise, the female characters as a whole can be strong and feminine or strong and more masculine-presenting. It'd be fun to see more female characters who lean into the latter (I'm not going to pretend that Hypmic is bursting with canonical masc female characters) but that seems a bit more progressive than Hypmic is willing to go. If it's still at the stage of "femininity != bad"... I'll take what I can get, haha.

I love everything you said about Honobono!

And I also agree that some flawed decisions Otome and Ichijiku make are due to them being ordinary, flawed individuals. Which is a good, humanizing writing choice! When I said that in the original post, I was referring to the sort of decisions that exist purely to set up the main conceit of Hypmic. The "Hmm yes I think I shall spend our man!tax dollars on constructing a huge, expensive stadium as a trial run for a future government-sponsored sport. Let's kidnap two children in order to convince one of the trial participants to rap against his friend, which is the most effective way to prevent a coup" kind of decisions. Team Rocket-ass decisions. I'm not knocking this concept as a whole, because goofy villainy and contrived plots can be fun. Even in semi-serious works, there can still be a place for contrived plot nonsense; the audience is capable of suspending disbelief when the silliness is not the main object in focus. But when we're later asked to examine some of Otome's decisions and thought processes in a more realistic and sympathetic light, I have trouble reconciling the two concepts in my head. In my opinion, Otome can either be the shadowy figure behind the Team Rocket desk or a real person with complex thoughts and feelings, but asking her to be both is not a great writing choice.

Finally, I can't wait for the stage plays either. I hope I get a chance to check them out! The Hypstages are always super, super fun.

[savethevamps]

Reasons We Love Top Tanin

Earlier today I posted a breakdown of the scenes in which Top was SA, now I wanna give him some love because Top Tanin is a sweetheart damnit!

Also, what I said in my other post applies here too, we can discuss Top as a character, but blatant and random hate is unnecessary.

With that being said, here’s a list of Top’s best qualities:

1. His confidence! The first thing I loved about Top was how confident he was, you can tell just by the way he walks that he knows he’s the hottest guy in the room. Not to mention how sure he was in his pursuit of Mew, he never let himself get discouraged and always had an air of easy confidence no matter what.

2. How slow to anger he is, without being a pushover. We’ve seen Top get berated on more than one occasion, and he’s never been shown as angry in most of these confrontations. Besides looking slightly annoyed, he’s usually seen as being calm and sometimes even amused.

3. His quick remarks and comebacks. As I said, Top is no pushover! He’ll let people go on about whatever they feel, but not for too long, and he especially won’t ever let them think they have the upper hand. I love how he gets when people try and behave as though they’re above him, he always knocks them down a few pegs (as he should).

4. The pride he takes in looking his best. Top is well dressed, well groomed, and he just seems to take the best care of himself. He has a routine that he seems to do religiously, and he always dresses his best which adds to that air of confidence he carries around. Like I said before, he knows he’s the hottest in the room, and that comes from his own knowledge that he takes good care of himself. (I need a Top focused episode so I can watch his everyday routines in detail)

5. His general idgaf-ness. Top is not the type to get involved in drama, or care about what other people are doing. He’s not a gossip, and he stays in his own business until someone drags him into their own. We don’t see him pay attention to rumors spread by others, most likely because he knows how untrue they can be, but also because he doesn’t care enough to pay attention to it.

6. His willingness to grow and be better. Top is not resistant to change, he can evaluate his life, see what’s not working, and actually do something about it. If he’s wrong, he says he’s wrong without any excuses and holds himself accountable. When his boyfriend explained why he wasn’t comfortable with him doing drugs, he listened and decided to stop asap. He never went back on that, even if maybe he’s been tempted. That just shows that he’s always willing to hear genuine criticism and use it as a way to grow. Anyway I can talk for days about this so let’s move on!

7. How artistic he is! Top is a very creative guy it’s amazing, he’s constantly shown to be a talented artist. Every time we saw Top with Mew, he was drawing and being the artist boyfriend everyone begs for. I also love the fact that we were able to see him in his element at the hostel, the scenes were brief but they definitely showed how serious Top takes his artistry as far as his career is concerned.

8. How he cares for his significant other. We all know Top is #1 in the boyfriend department, and I don’t think that’s something that’s new! I’m pretty sure that although his past relationship(s) have been brief, he has taken care of them and met whatever needs they have. A good example of this is the fact he learned about how Mew gets his experiences from books and decided to take him on all these new, and creative adventures/dates to help him have real life experiences. He definitely will adjust to his partners needs in other to make sure they’re always fulfilled and happy.

9. How gentle he is. Top Tanin is a gentle guy okay? He’s definitely someone who would rather use soft touches than rough ones. He rarely raises his voice, he speaks softly but with enough assertiveness to make you listen, and he talks to his boyfriend so sweetly.

10. Him being a blatant sweetheart! I started this post just to talk about this, Top Tanin is the world’s sweetheart. He’s kind to people he doesn’t know without expecting anything in return. The way he would constantly reassure Mew? Sometimes he’d do it subtlety, other times it was obvious. When he gave Nick that advice about staying away from Boston, look he definitely had no reason for doing that, other than him just being a sweetheart. His active listening, he always gives his full attention even when he may not like what’s being said.

So what did we learn? Top Tanin is a Sweetheart, with some pretty likeable (cough loveable cough) qualities! These qualities should be appreciated more in my opinion! More people should see how good this guy is! I’m screaming this from the rooftops constantly, let’s all scream it together until Top hears us.

[theygotbitchesinmedia]

ask dump

i have a couple dozen unanswered asks on this blog, most of which i believe are media recommendations, so i'm going to go through those now in a batch!

if you haven't seen it already We Are Lady Parts would be a fantastic recommendation for this blog. I started it last week and really love it. It's about a struggling punk Muslim girls band who recruit the extremely anxious, goody-two-shoes Amina to be their lead guitarist. It balance its moments of drama really well with the comedy and all of the women in the band get to be deeply weird in different and endlessly charming ways. My favorite is Amina because of her very relatable habit to have elaborate silly daydreams about anything and everything. Good show with some really good women!

I've heard good things about this one! Adding it to the list

I can't remember if you take recs for things in progress or not but the webtoon Katlaya Rising is currently the high point of my week, the art style POPS and it is jam-packed with girls and girls who love girls

I will always read things in progress 👍 I honestly in some ways prefer getting into stuff before it's finished. Like an animal with one of those food bowls that stops you from eating too fast. Added to the list.

Please read Villain Initialization!!!! The female characters are really good!!!!!!!!!

Looking at the cover and description for this one it seems like most of the female cast is gonna be side characters. i'll add it to the list but itll probably be reallllly back burner unless someone wants to go to bat hard for it and sway me

if youre taking recommendations bittersweet con panna is a cute yuri manhwa and hacks is an insane tvshow about millenial comedy writer who got cancelled on twitter and a beautiful old standup comic about to lose her vegas residency.

added both! never heard of bittersweet con panna but my sister has been going really hard for hacks and i feel like i owe it to her to watch that sooner rather than later because of all the media im always trying to force onto her

"Kevin Can F*** Himself" on AMC is fantastic and has some really interesting female protags, I recommend. Might be a similar vibe to On Becoming a God in Central Florida actually!

Already on the list!

i'd like to second the rec for no home, probably one of the greatest webtoons of all time

one moth ago anon i can safely say you were correct about this it is certainly one of the greatest webtoons of all time. i do think its not really About women but i get why you all wanted me to read it enough to push it

@whatasmoothgardener Reccing a short manga I've been reading recently called Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live. Its a manga about twin girls who run a small real estate company in Tokyo from the POV of their clients. It has a unique art style, its female character focused, and it teaches you about the different places in Tokyo. However its kinda episodic.

I don't mind episodic at all. Cool to see female manga protags who arent stick thin! added to the list

@phoenixfangs i got into a webtoon the other day called nevermore and considered recommending it to u, but i second guessed myself like oh what if its not worth recommending and its stupid actually, BUT i had a dream last night that u were talking about it so i think i have to at least put it on ur radar, if it isnt already xD what happens if u take edgar allen poe stories and make it about lesbians? u get the webtoon nevermore ❤️ theres an actual Plot to it too im not trying to sell it based on tropes, i just cant describe it better than the actual synopsis/description on webtoon, so id say its worth a glance!

At first glance i'm not sure how to my personal tastes this owuld be but i feel like i have maybe been unfairly biased against popular webtoons in that front. added to the list !

@counttwinkula listen i know your "media to get around to" list is forever long but i reread the haunting of hill house (the book) for my podcast and eleanor and theodora just. won't stop touching each other. some of the most classic toxic yuri imo. also the 1963 film adaptation (the haunting) is so good

ill always appreciate a horror recommendation from one of my learned Horror Mutuals. added both!

if it changes anything, you can find the main stories of arknights and limbus company here and here respectively without downloading the game: [retcons dot github dot io slash limbus-storylogs] [akgcc dot github dot io slashcc slash story dot html hashtag main] (sorry it wont let me send links) i totally understand if u think its too much trouble, but i do think both games have very good female characters

I'm sorry... i just cant go down this road.... it's a path i'm not willing ot walk. if i was going to read the stories for a gacha game i wasn't playing i would just go read shoujo kageki revue starlight re:LIVE. which i havent been able to make myself do. so its just not gonna end up happening

have you heard of tangle tower… it’s a relatively short murder mystery click and point game about two families & their secrets. the art is gorgeous + the game is fully voiced, and the protagonist + his assistant have a dynamic that reminds me of the classic ace attorney ‘lawyer + weird girl’ duos. the majority of the cast are women, and the game features some of the Girls Of All Time. highly recommend, esp since you’re an ace attorney fan

Added to the list!

if you’re trying to flesh out the book section, i’d like to recommend three parts dead by max gladstone! admittedly it’s been a hot second since I’ve read it so i can’t speak on the quality of the writing itself, but the plot and the worldbuilding had some interesting stuff. the novel follows tara, a necromancer in a world where doing magic is more akin to being a lawyer, who’s hired to resurrect a god. the book is the first in a series, and the books that follow have some other interesting female protagonists + canonical queer women if you enjoy it o7

Sounds neat! Added to the list

ok i still have some more from back in fucking April that i didnt manage to get to. but im getting distracted now

[sirellas]

Left Hand of Destiny (1&2) stream of consciousness review

Overall thoughts: I really liked this book! Or technically 2 books but the second is just the continuation of the first so in my head it was just one long book (~500 pages all in all). This is only the second trek book I've read and also the second written by the actor who played the character in ds9 (shoutout to ASIT, though this one has a non-actor co-writer as well), but even beyond the star trekking of TLHOD, this was a really good read in terms of writing style, pace, emotion. It was very action and character focused which I enjoyed, and especially the characterization of Martok was so great and obviously JG Hertzler had a lot of thoughts about the character he played that translated really well on page.

The memory alpha article on TLHOD says this but I didn't really start to see it until the last half of book 2, but this is very much a King Arthur story (btw don't look at that memory alpha page unless you don't care about major spoilers lol). Down to a lady in the lake handing out mythical swords. That instance was a little heavy handed in my opinion, but I did like all of the prophetic dreams and talk of glorious purpose.

That's something to note though: if you don't like dream sequences, this is not the book for you. There are A LOT of dreams. In fact the opening scene is a dream, but it's now my new favorite opening line in a book because it jumps right in by telling you who this guy is and what his deal is:

I personally am a big fan of overt symbolism like this (even a well done cliché or two), myths and repeating cycles of heroism etc etc. And I think this book melded Arthurian drama with Klingon drama well. The Klingon-ness of this book was great. What better way to get to the heart of Klingon culture in a story but by focusing on the guy chosen to lead his people and getting it ripped out from beneath his feet and having to decide that he actually wants to be chancellor. In a lot of ways this is a story of outcasts finding their way back to where they belong, which isn't always what they expect or want in the beginning. Which leads me to...

The supporting characters really made this book. Without Pharh the Ferengi who got bullied for being as ugly as a Klingon as a child and now runs a landfill on Qo'noS, there would be no book. He's my favorite (little buddy coded to the extreme) but most of the major side characters are really well explored in terms of motivation and actions. Worf, Sirella, Ezri, Darok, Kahless, Alexander, to name a few. Alexander and Kahless were two of my other surprise standouts. And because no one who hasn't read this book knows about my new favorite guy Pharh, I will now include a couple passages I highlighted to spread the word about how great he is:

Wide array of well developed side characters aside, this book is awful for women. Yes the main antagonist is Martok's insane ex, but her character is kind of too outlandish to really have much depth. Ezri shows up at the end of book 1 and plays a big part in book 2 but honestly I'm not sure why she was even there (apart from loyalty etc, but I mean story-wise she didn't add all that much to keep the action moving ((anyone else could have been subbed in for her 9 out of 10 times and it would've made more sense tbh)) except to be another explainer of Klingon things to the reader). Sirella has a few great scenes, but not nearly enough and she wasn't allowed to do much either in terms of agency and impact on plot. Martok's two daughters are barely afterthoughts.

The main plot is that a usurper attacks Qo'noS (and specifically goes after Martok), swaying the Klingon people to their side through a combo of bioengineered charisma and the people's growing resentment toward progressive ideas that Martok (and Worf) represents. That's really only the problem in book 1, while book 2 deals more with Martok accepting the hand fate has dealt and deciding to win so they can save the decaying Klingon heart and so on. But even with the kind of cheesy setup, it rarely felt overwrought or unearned with the emotional beats. The antagonist lady is, yeah, she's a bit over the top. And before 2016 I would've said the quick flip to xenophobia and Make Klingons Great Again (I'm pretty sure they use that phrase almost exactly) in the general public was unrealistic but hey, cycles of destiny and evil constantly shifting and repeating, am I right??

There were... quite a few deaths. I guess I should've expected that, being a Klingon setting and all, but some of them hit me hard. And a few I don't think really needed to happen and kind of weakened the narrative.... maybe I'll put a spoiler section below a cut at the bottom of this to discuss those 🤪

This paragraph will haunt me for a while I think... 😀 sorry for inflicting it on others now but hey that's show business

Even with some hiccups (see spoiler section below), I loved the book pretty much. Shocker: tumblr user girlmartok loves the Martok book, but it was better than I had hoped even. The Martok focus was so good and the side characters just made it even better. Much more of a heroic fantasy than most star trek settings, which fit really well and also was refreshing. It's long! But I would recommend it if you have any interest in Klingons and/or fun little guys who go on adventures and think a lot about death.

SPOILERS ⬇️

Okay ripping the bandaid off. The way Sirella died was not chill. I mean even having her die was not something I would have included, because the story really didn't dive all that deep into her and Martok's relationship. But ramming an enemy ship so Martok could flee near the beginning of book 2... and she doesn't even kill any major bad guys doing it?? It just served no point narratively (the bad guys still outnumbered them, still caught up to them not long after) and it didn't even really affect Martok all that much beyond like one paragraph where he wants to turn around and go on a murder spree in her name... He doesn't even get to go on a murder spree in her name!!!

Bandaid rip #2: PHARH MY LITTLE BABY BOY DIES???? I was glad I had forewarning about this one because I would've been mad otherwise. I am not exaggerating saying he was my second favorite character in this book after Martok. The humor he added, yes, but also just his role as an outsider who's seen as weak by both Ferengi and Klingon, and he befriends the chancellor of the Klingon Empire, HOLDS ONTO THE CHANCELLOR'S RING FOR MOST OF THE BOOK AND BECOMES HIS SQUIRE BASICALLY 🫠💔 I don't know how anyone wouldn't fall in love with him. At least his death was done well, even though I don't think it should have happened. He at least got a murderous rampage in his name 😤 and Martok basically adopted him so he could get into Sto'vo'kor 🥺

Those were my main two criticisms of the book, and really ties into why this wasn't as great a story as ASIT, for example. A lot of things happen to Martok, but some things don't get the resolution they would need to influence him on this character journey he's going on. One of Martok's defining characteristics in ds9 is that he's a wife guy and his wife doesn't take bullshit. But then his wife dies suddenly and he's upset but he's not Upset upset, if you know what I mean. It didn't feel earned and it didn't feel necessary. Literally the first and only time it did feel like a reasonable plot device was at the very end when Worf tells him that people love a tragic victor even more than a victory. The problem is just that Martok doesn't ever explore what that tragedy really means to him.

Justice for Shen and Lazhna, Martok's daughters, who in addition to dying off screen are only brought up to highlight how shitty of a dad Martok has been. He just thinks of them (and his son Drex too but he gets more characterization solely by virtue of appearing in the narrative) in terms of himself and his love for them is more on the side of pity rather than real emotional attachment. Sirella should've been way meaner to him about that tbh.

Non character death related but a big focus of the first book was Martok losing public opinion pretty much immediately. Old friends turn against him and that really shakes him. But then in the second book... that's not really brought up again? The whole second book takes place away from Qo'noS, and yeah they mention that people will probably become less affected by the dumb bioengineered charisma after time, but I cannot stress enough how much the entire planet hated him. So he won the big battle against his foes etc etc, came back to Qo'noS and... just told everyone all that?? That goes along with the lack of fully exploring the consequences of some of these bad things that happen to Martok. It felt like a little too much piled on him and not enough resolution.

[beevean]

I guess my main issue is that I get different fundemental vibes from them

Other M is written like absolute dog shit, but it feels to me like it was mostly due to Sakamoto going on an ego trip believing he was writing cinema while not thinking well enough about the implications of his writing. I feel genuine, honest to god incompetence from the writing, but one that at least comes from a "good place". Because the idea of showing a more vulnerable side to Samus is not bad, in fact plenty of Metroid games deal with Samus being placed in vulnerable positions, it's just that the story utterly fails at showing us why Adam is so special, focusing way too much on his gruff military persona and not at all on his more supposedly caring side, while also focusing far too much on Samus' weakness and completely forgetting to build her back up again. Add to this the phenomenally awful gameplay/story integration of the authorization mechanic which makes it look like Adam had no qualms watching Samus suffer without her upgrades with her being perfectly fine with being put through hell for senpai's desires,and the laughably rushed ending that prevents her from accomplishing abything, and you have a relationship that comes off as incredibly abusive, which is awful and incredibly demeaning to Samus

But with NFCV I don't have this feeling. Hector's treatment is very deliberate, you can FEEL Ellis stroking his dick with every line, there's actual spite and venom coming from the script, and while the end result may be vile on both accounts I take more issue with the story that was purposefully written to be disgusting for the wrong reasons, than with the one that that ended up like this out of sheer ineptitude. With the latter it feels like the result of several very bad writing mistakes culminating in something that is abhorrent, while with the former it's abhorrent at the very roots and idea

Oh and you know, Other M was eventually followed up by the likes of Dread, so Samus' characterization was implicitly recognized as a bad move in the long run, prompting the character to get rerailed

Hector's character drama was followed up in S4 with Lenector, and this is pretty much what the character will amount to in the eyes of many fans, so in the end only one of the two stories dealt truly permanent damage

Again not defending OM here, I'm just saying thst on a scale of shit I can't bring myself to put it higher than most stuff from NFCV

This we can agree with. Again, I was not defending NFCV by any means lol, and I certainly would not put OM higher on a shit scale, just pointing out how similarly and uncomfortably the two characters got fucked over. But you're right that Sakamoto at least did it out of genuine passion, albeit very much misplaced: his intention was to flesh out Samus, and he did want the fans to like her, he just... grossly misunderstood everything. Ellis more or less admitted that he wrote out of ego and spite, making clear at every line that he wanted the viewers to laugh at a victim of abuse and torture because as a stupid manchild he deserved it (and I'm still sure Lenector in its "tragically wholesome" version was the product of executive meddling), and that makes his work reprehensible and indefensible.

I can still say that the scene where Samus flops on the floor like a fish after getting shot and Hector getting stepped on after being beaten and flashing his dick give me similar vibes of "you didn't need to do that" :P but yes, from this angle I see your point better.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Ludwig (1973)

I went through so much trouble to watch this stupid film and it took me so long to watch it because its four hours long and I kept getting headaches while watching and had to keep taking breaks, but it was all worth it because this film was so unbearably unbelievably good, its my favorite thing in this whole marathon so far by a long shot

Its so good Im actually having trouble talking about it because I truly have no complaints, but I cant just talk about what I liked either because its basically everything. The pacing was great, it could get slow at times but it was never unengaging and if it werent for my headaches I wouldve definitely been able to watch the whole film in one sitting, which is high praise coming from my low attention span-ass. I feel like I never really mention the cinematography in these posts because its usually just fine in a very unremarkable way, but it was absolutely amazing in this one, the framing and composition of every scene felt so deliberate, its like every shot was a painting.

The acting was incredible, I was a little unsure about some of the performances initially because this is an english-language film mostly starring actors who are very noticeably not native english-speakers and I thought it would interfere with their acting because idk, some of the early line-deliveries had that kind of stilted kid-having-to-read-something-outloud-in-english-class quality to them, but that ended up not being the case at all. Helmut Berger as Ludwig was especially great, he did such a good job capturing him, both in the very beginning when he's this naive romantic/idealist and later in the film when he becomes more disillusioned and unhinged. He was also very babygirl, similar to the actor who played him in Ludwig — Glanz und Ende eines Königs (1955), so I liked that. Romy Schneider of the Sissi-trilogy played Elisabeth here as well and I really liked her too, she's still very charismatic and I think she did a great job with this more flawed and less romanticised portrayal.

To be honest, I was really expecting Elisabeth to play a bigger role in this film, I think the synopsis that I read gave me the impression that it would show both of their lives and sortof parallel them or something, but that wasnt the case, it was really just Ludwig's life, from his coronation to his death, and Elisabeth was in it sometimes because theyre important to each other and like to spend time together. They have some romantic tension and they even kiss each other on the lips in one scene, which suprised me, but it wasnt really elaborated on, it causes some drama between her and Sophie when she's engaged, but after they break it off the film mostly focuses on Ludwig's relationships with men while focusing less on Elisabeth as he starts to isolate himself. Also, speaking of his relationships with men, I am very disappointed to tell you that there was not nearly as much sexual tension between him and and Richard Wagner as in the other film. for shame.

Anyway, I cant really think of a way to organically transition into the next section, and theres really only one last thing that I wanted to talk about, so Im just gonna talk about it. I said earlier that this was an english-language film but it also has a lot of sections in italian and bits in german. Now, the german bits are like, theres a scene where Sophie sings a song from a german opera and whenever theres large crowds shouting stuff theyre shouting in german (like at the very end when theyre all looking for Ludwig after he went outside with his doctor), which I like because I feel like it adds a certain authenticity to those scenes, but the italian parts are just kinda confusing to me. The film has these little talking heads segments where its characters from the film, usually right before they take an active role in the story, talking about like, Ludwig's downfall is how I'd describe it (except for Richard Hornig, hes just like "Ive been his confidant for 10 years and thats all Im gonna say" which is cool), and the first few of those segments are in italian while the rest of the film is in english, so I initially assumed that those would be the only italian parts, but then we get a scene of Ludwig and Elisabeth talking that starts in english but then in the middle of it, theyre just suddenly speaking italian. And thats something that keeps happening throughout, sometimes theres just random italian scenes or scenes that randomly switch into italian, and some of those talking heads segments are inexplicably english, its very strange and honestly pretty jarring, I had to keep switching between the raw film and a version with english subtitles to properly keep up. So I guess that would be my one complaint for this film, but honestly Im not even sure if it was meant to be viewed that way ?? Like, the wikipedia page doesnt mention the fact that this movie was filmed in two languages even though I feel like that would be worth mentioning, and the italian parts all have this dubbed-in quality to them, like the audio quality is a bit different and Ludwig's voice sounds completely different when he's speaking italian vs when he's speaking english, its weird. But I mean, it didnt disturb my experience watching this, its basically just giving me an excuse to make my very own subtitles which Im looking forward to because itll give me the chance to rewatch it

So yeah, that's it. In conclusion, this film is really great and you should definitely watch it if you have four hours to spare and no headache

[sorcerous-caress]

RIGHT ON THE MONEY.

My npc introduced himself as Liandalon (which I fully bullshitted bc I forgot to name him) but I kinda wanna come up with a less traditionally elven name that's more basic to add to the idea that he's playing up all the elf stereotypes.

So like the first thing I had my players see with him was him following the party around and then slicking his hair back in a shop window and giving his reflection finger guns for confidence. Then, with the swagger of a much more respected man, he showed up in front of the party and very suggestively offered them lodgings at the local tavern under the guise of "meeting the locals". Party immediately decided he was a goofball and kept him around, so now he's basically just this one guy puffing his chest out and acting like he's a super cool magic elf (he knows like 2 spells and it's shape water and control flames). He's totally lying to him bc he screams and freaks out at tiny things before remembering he's supposed to be protecting them. They have yet to go to his house, but when they get there, all his walls are gonna be covered in really stereotypical human pin-up posters and he's got a bunch of strange books on human customs shoved under his bed.

I'm so excited to expand on this concept because my party doesn't know that it's totally a gag, but soon enough I'll introduce them to some non-loser elves and let them make the connections lmao

I'll protect Liandalon with my life

This is hilarious and endearing, I love him so much omfg. It's such an honour to inspire a character like that AAA <333

Okay okay so full speculations ahead but what if you take a Michael Scott from the office turn with him? Like the reason he bullshited a very stereotypical elf name bc his actual name is known as an important figure in a company and he holds a high position or something. Which is why he can just afford to offer the entire party rooms at a tavern and why he had a whole big room filled with human posters, relics and very weird books.

Basically, most of his salary goes into fueling his human obsession and to human site subscriptions. He is such a loser irl and very bad at magic which is why he moved to the city and took an office position, which he weirdly turned out good at bc people saw a seemingly respectful elf and continued to promote him.

And huh, maybe he actually had a good talent in sales management or something. But he doesn't care about it at all, he just focuses on the humans around him.

Or maybe, his bullshited elf name is actually his human forums handler? And he got so used to associating that name with humans that he panicked and spat it out in front of the human party by accident.

And god when the gag is broken, it has some potential for drama or some angst.

The party is finally faced with the harsh reality of elves, how much they look down on humanity. How condcending they are while pretending to be nice and sweet. Underestimating the party or completely ignoring them.

Maybe they mention their elf companion to the other elves as a way to get them to approve of the party too, but the other elves just laugh and say they don't consider that human-lover as a real elf.

Like they finally see how much this goffball lovable character sacrificed just to be with the humans and help them, how a lot of elves scorn him because of the party and they blame him for allowing these humans to think they can have any potential as adventurers.

Odnsofjskd man I love angst. Gag characters have potential to go beyond their single gag if done right. Even when the party eventually leaves that city and their elf friend stays behind, he sends them letters every now and then.

Because they were his only friends, even most elves didn't like him because of his human infatuation so he was mostly lonely before they came.

[pandasmagorica]

First watch: 10 Years Ticket episodes 13-16 (finale)

Episode 1-4 notes

Whew! That was a wild ride. Great twists, great flashback reveals, great performances all around. I highly recommend this show. Content warning for violence - it is a crime drama after all, one that focuses more on the criminal's families, with the criminals more as side characters who wreak havoc.

The only complaint I have about the writing is that a significant character does something very stupid which does not end well.

We do get more about the QL subplot between two middle-aged women, neither of whom dies.

Lots of other people die.

I learn more about Thai Buddhist funeral customs than I ever learned before.

I haven't mentioned that a lot of the story revolves around characters' love of film. I used to be very much into film, not so much in my later years, but I can tell it means a lot to them and adds to the texture of the story.

One more thing I thought about is that this is Ohm Pawat's at least second series as a son of a family that is warring with another family that used to be friends. Of course, Bad Buddy was a comedy with some drama, and 10 Years Ticket is hard drama with sparse comic moments, but the parallels are interesting.

Spoilers follow

No, the two women don't end up together again, but they end up on good terms. I have mixed feelings about this. I think it's justified dramatically, but my lesbian bestie tells me lesbian stories rarely end well. It's too much to ask one series to carry that weight, but I hope among the lesbian series we'll be getting this coming year and - if we support them - beyond that happy endings will be abundant.

We've known since episode 4 that Luk didn't do it. We learn why she confessed, and that she didn't know who actually killed her lover/Phukao's (Ohm's) step-brother Mai. We see the killing in a flashback, that, as we saw in 9-12 with the police lieutenant, the big boss took Piak's gun and shot Mai, then returned the gun to Piak.

We learn that, despite treating Kongkwan and her family as enemies, Phukao loves Kongkwan (and vice versa) and we watch their relationship soften and develop further. We didn't get the Bad Buddy parents to openly accept their children's relationship. We do get the 10 Years Ticket parents, at least the surviving ones - Phukao's parents Santi and Sai and Kongkwan's father Somkiat - to accept the relationship.

Yes, I said surviving ones. Kongkwan's mother Veena makes the mistake of filming the aftermath of a killing at the big boss's home, then showing it to the police inspector - who was there at the time - after he arrests her husband when they plant drugs in his truck. The inspector frees the husband, but later ransacks their home when Veena returns home alone. The next thing we know, the police are showing up at Somkiat, Veena, and KongKwan's home to let them know about Veena's death. I know this was needed plot-wise, but I wish they had written it some other way.

Phukao wrongly blames himself for Veena's death, and says that if he hadn't brought Kongkwan home late, Veena would still be alive. Actually, it's more likely that Somkiat and Kongkwan would also be dead and, depending on the timing, possibly Phukao. But because they didn't know what happened when Veena came home or why, they had no way to know that.

In a confrontation in the theater, Piak kills the police inspector and his assistant, then Piak and the big boss kill each other. I'm not an expert on gun violence but it strained my credulity that Sor and Plu weren't injured or killed during the standoff. It's bizarre to watch Pin (Sai's old flame) and Sor walk through the bloody theater aisle - aren't they afraid of leaving shoeprints?

At this point, everyone who was a witness to who actually shot Mai is now dead. Fortunately, Chalee, one of the drug dealers, turns himself in and talks, resulting in Luk's release from prison five months later. I guess he didn't mention Sor (Gunsmile's character) and Plu (Off's character) as they are still free to attend the film screening the characters stage as a memorial to Veena.

The end

[eggbertith]

Season 4 wasn't great. I've LOVED every other season but for this one the characters were off, the jokes fell flat (if I hear one more fart joke I stg) and the huge time skip wasn't great either.

The whole season feels like they could have condensed it down to 2 episodes but they decided to add a million characters and plot lines that didn't matter.

Idk. It looks like they overworked the batter and the fluffy pancake we were promised is now flatter than a witch's tit.

I mean, still technically a pancake. So I'm not mad, just disappointed.

disclaimer: i LOVE the dragon prince, i loved seasons 1-3 and i enjoyed season 4. here's the deal, season 4 is a fun season and i enjoyed watching it. i do think, however, that the writing got a mediocre a little too often for it to be worth the 3-year wait. if you disagree with me, i am more than open to hear thoughts and counterarguments. seriously. i think discussion is healthy and it's something i actually really enjoy because i like talking. also, i'm way too tired to have people yelling at me/to yell at other people with a different opinion than me...i am a college student and i am already dying so please, be respectful. i am not trying to actively insult anyone who liked season 4 and i am also not vehemently hating on the show [criticisim != hate] i'm more than happy for the people who enjoyed the season and i really do like to hear thoughts. with that out of the way, hello anon, here's a wall of unorganized text that attempts to convey my feelings overall

since i am an actual child, i laughed at the jokes but that's beside the point. i get where people are coming from when they say they were poorly timed and/or didn't land well

but on the topic of jokes, season 4 had me laughing at a lot of things i....shouldn't have been laughing at. and honestly, it makes me feel like an asshole lol but i'm sorry some of the more emotional or intense scenes are just really goofy with the way they were executed and yes, if someone wants me to, i can go in depth with this, but for the purpose of this ask (especially since it wasn't focused on the humor in the first place) i won't give my thoughts here

i'm going to be very blunt: tdp has kind of backed itself into a corner if there isn't a twist or some sort of major consequence for rayla leaving. if rayla leaves for 2 years and nothing comes from it other than relationship drama, that's a bit yikes. i'm not saying that everything should have been resolved this season, but the show doesn't even try to tell the audience that something bigger may be happening. if there IS a bigger consequence, the show doesn't properly hint at it/set it up, and THATS where the issue is. when it gives us nearly nothing to speculate off of, we have no idea where her character or the story is going. <- this is not a catalyst for mystery, it's frustrating because everyone (especially rayla) feels out of character and for what

also, this is a nitpick, but callum letting rayla go after viren in episode 9 was not earned.

anyways, the season had to reintroduce us to the characters that we haven't seen for 3 years, and it has to inform everyone about the 2-year time skip. the time skip, in my opinion, was not done well. time skips are used to grow up the characters and introduce new characters, environments, and potential plot points for the rest of the story that is being told. the dragon prince does not do this very well. yes, there are new characters, but they aren't even necessarily relevant for the rest of the story, so it feels like wasted time. the candle woman and the n'than dude show up and then drop off of the face of the earth never to be seen again. terry is fine, but i do think it's a bit odd to give claudia, someone who has gone off the deep end, a really goofy and lighthearted boyfriend (he's just there to keep her morality in check a little bit, i.e. giving rayla the coins). i think overall, a lot of things happen in season 4, but it feels like a very small portion of said things actually set up for the future.

i've been avoiding bringing this up, mostly because i'm lazy and i don't want to find exact quotes from the show, but i'll bite. the writing for seasons 1-3 felt authentic and natural. the writing in season 4 felt so on-the-nose, shallow, and almost preachy.

"i was impressed with your vision for using the dragon queen's visit as a catalyst for growing trust and peace across the continent"

"they might be at first. but it will change when they meet her"

^ ezran says this and yup, that's enough on that topic, no need to explore it further. i think the writing overall was just so lackluster and forced compared to previous seasons. again, i could elaborate on this but i've gone on for long enough in this post so if someone wants me to just ask...might take a really long time for me to respond though getting my thoughts in order takes forever.

[theflyindutchwoman]

I'm not sure if Tim and Lopez are "besties". I believe they are good friends and co-workes, but not the super best friends like the fandom thinks they are.

A recent exemple is in ep. 5x07 when Lopez and Grey got served on roll call about the Elijah Stone case. At no point we see Tim support Lopez through that. The one who supported her was Harper and that's the friendship I see being set up.

And Lopez teasing Tim about Lucy in episodes 5x01 and 5x02 seemed just that, teasing for a comedic bit. We never saw Lopez actually helping Tim navigate his situation with Lucy post Vegas.

Of course it all can change in the next episodes, but so far Tim and Lopez don't seem super close, and seem to interact only when convenient for the story.

Hi Anon,

Well, technically, since they are all characters, they will interact only when the writer thinks it's convenient ;)

Seriously though, since it has never been made canon, that is up to your interpretation. I personally just love their friendship and see them as best friends, who will tease and call lovingly the other dumb but will fight for each other. But that's just that, an opinion. Or a headcanon.

You underlined the problem with TV shows that have a huge ensemble cast. You have so many characters to fit in 42 minutes/episode. And at least 1/3 is going to be focused on the main character, Nolan. That means that as a writer, you have to streamline and pair up the characters in a way that makes sense for your story. Right now, the writers need Angela with either Wesley (her husband) or Nyla (partner at work). Hence them having more scenes together.

Now that's just season 05. The idea of Tim and Angela being besties far predates that. We did have important moments that highlighted their friendship throughout the serie. Admittedly, not as much recently. But that doesn't diminish the previous moments. Angela was there during the whole Isabel ordeal, to pick him up at the hospital after his gunshot injury, to be with him when Isabel was a CI… He was the one who always defended her when her career was in jeopardy after Jackson froze during a shooting or after he barely passed his 6 months exam. She was the first person he consulted on whether he should try to take the sergeant's exam. Or the first person he called for help when Lucy was missing. He's also the only one who picked on the fact Wesley was not fully OK when he showed up to help. He was there for her when everybody was trying to hijack her wedding and nobody was listening to her. He made sure she got the wedding she wanted and so she made him her man of honor. He didn't hesitate to go to Guatemala to rescue her (along with Nyla). Now all these elements were made possible because they were still working directly together (both being TOs). Once he got promoted to sergeant and she came back from maternity leave, their storylines diverged and that made any potential scenes harder to include. But she was still the one he confided after kissing Lucy. And she made sure to tease him for it. As best friends tend to do.

The reason we haven't seen Tim in the Elijah Stone case is because he was never involved in it to begin with : when Angela was made aware of the threat he posed to her family, Tim was on his day-off dealing with his own family drama. Since the 5x07 plot is a direct result of that, there was no reason to add him. On the other hand, Harper was part of the surveillance team and she had made a promise to Angela to make sure nothing happened to Wesley. So that made more sense to have her present and have Tim focused on the other plot. Now, yes, the show could have included a scene at the beginning / end with Tim comforting Angela (and not gonna lie, I wish they had)… But we're back at the original issue : too many stories for too little time.

Do I wish we'd see more of them? Yes! 100%. And hopefully we will. I also agree that they have started developing the Angela x Nyla friendship since mid-season 04. They are both working together, their husbands worked together for a while, they're both mothers… They just have more in common, but that doesn't necessarily make them besties either. Unless you see it that way.

I can't speak for the whole fandom. Like I said, I love Tim and Angela's friendship. And I'm sure a lot of people just started developing their own headcanons to fill the (many) gaps. However you can absolutely see them as just friends or co-workers. At the end of the day, those are just interpretations, there's no right or wrong answer.

I hope that helps.

[mdhwrites]

You mentioned knight Boscha once and it got me into shipping mood for real, I thought a fic idea in milliseconds. Royal Amity having Boscha as knight who's trying to get her attention so hard, add childhood friends to that and it gets even better! And Luz getting into the picture later on, making Boscha jealous for drama points ☕

Luz could be a merchant? Or from a different kingdom.

.

Also I'm so into the trope of Boscha having a secret crush on Amity even if it's just fanon sadly. Me being a BoschaxAmity shipper just getting excited for little content that I can find with them that's not toxic bs or another mock at Boscha for being a mEan bUlly for the hundredth time 🙄

Seriously people can't see more into a character beyond canon establishment and it's gets boring and lazy, and Boscha has all that potential still intact somehow sitting there not taken advantage of by the fandom. In a perfect world I can imagine L/mity not being rushed and have my bochamity moments beforehand so I can get good fanship content at least. (I don't really ship l/mity, not as much anymore, sucks that Amity doesn't get content beyond that tho)

.

Well I just felt like rambling about ships 😅 I got no asks about the show rn

As I posted last night, this was the post that for whatever reason made my brain buzz and make a brief AU one off about a Blighted princess, Bosched Knight and Luckless Luzer. If you think this is all the Amischa content I have... Well, I focus a lot on Rich Witch and Power of Love for what I promote here because they're the easiest and tie directly back into themes of TOH because they are the ones that took TOH's ideas and ran with them the furthest. The ones started when TOH was full of possibility and such an open space that I feel it COULD inspire a billion stories, while honestly I feel like each special actually shrinks the potential of it and S2 had already done plenty of damage to the world and characters. Got a bit sidetracked but the point is that I do have a LOT more out there (I have literally 43 different TOH stories and 18 of them feature Amity and Boscha in them) so I thought I'd use this post to share some positivity towards Amischa because I think the ship is great. I think the two's relationship in general is fascinating. Though I actually want to say first that I don't think it was ever something the show really should have explored. Not once the first season came out. Hell, I commonly argued between S1 and S2 that the show had so many other things going on, and Winging it Like Witches felt like such a good climax to Hexide elements, that if we never saw Boscha again I wouldn't be surprised. The show was simply past dealing with bullies at that point as it turned its attention towards bigger threats so now that Amity was a friend... Why not move on? BOY WAS I PROVEN WRONG! *eye twitches at the first half of S2 which just kicks its feet as it focuses on not moving the plot at all* Anyways, let's ignore all that and let me flood your timeline with story pitches, hmm? Oh, I will be linking the Lumischa stuff too because I've also done lots of that because... I mean, when I write Lumity, I'm effectively writing S1 Lumity rather than S2 and I still love those two together. They fundamentally changed what I wrote going forward. Boscha just later kicked down the door, took a seat and demanded she was staying. XD Joro Rigged Pets: The barely fanfiction Lumischa story I really need to keep working on since I actually have the cover already commissioned for when I convert it to original fiction. This one features a non-binary Luz who inherits a pair of spiders who aren't spiders but actually the Jorogumo Boscha and the spider she has been incubating for a thousand years, Amity. And that time of transformation is quite close at hand and with it will come complications, love, fears and hungers the sort that no human can understand. Also has LOTS of identity themes in general.

The Crow House: I won't do a hard sell on this one because it died far earlier than I wish it had. A Swap AU is going to feel more like a fix it fic if you're not happy with the source material and that's not what I want to write. As for who was swapped? So many people. Amity and Luz, Lilith and Eda, Kiki and King, etc. Boscha's swap was with Willow where she actually had so much corrupted physical strength as to not be able to safely TOUCH PEOPLE. She literally couldn't control it so a light tap might accidentally come out as a hard jab. She literally shatters multiple of Hunter's bones in her first appearance while trying to apply only a little pressure back. Not that Amity gives a damn. She'll still grab the demon because while Boscha won't touch her, Amity can still touch her hero, regardless of Boscha's protests. A Player, A Scout and a Lich Walk Into An Evil Resident: Technically a future AU with adult Amity and Boscha already in a relationship doing a mission for the Emperor's Coven that ends up not going the way either expected. Fraught With Emotions: Not an AU! Finally. This one has me having Amity, Boscha and Luz go to the Emotionarium, a place where you can have your emotions soothed, twisted, enhanced or even removed. Now why might two old friends want to be in a place like that?

Amity? is Your Baby Tonight: Inspired by a very good Whitney Houston song in my opinion, it's time for Amity, while still having green hair, to serenade and seduce the girl she loves. Where did she get such confidence though?

Amity's Many Misspellings: First just Amischa story with a coffee shop AU! And Amity of all people for some reason being unable to ever get Boscha's name right. Amity's Private Penstagram: Luz and Amity go on a trip down memory lane to pictures Amity had never shared with anyone else before. Especially the one who's picture she took most. Boscha's Best Bedside Manner: A bad night gets worse? when Boscha shows up out of the blue. How could someone as rough and blunt as Boscha ever help with a problem after all? Let alone one that seemed so entirely insurmountable to Amity? (This might easily be the best one off I have for showing why I think Boscha helps complete Lumity as a note). Under a Tree of Love: Two links on this one. This first one features a very short story about Amity growing up under a suspiciously alive tree while finding love with her best friend Boscha under its same branches. If you like it though, I actually expanded it into a full length novella, with a similar but more thorough structure, called Under the Boughs of Love that you can check out through the link on this paragraph. Chapters Left Behind: Amity and Luz sure did abandon their club stand in Sport in a Storm, didn't they? What happened to those books that were left behind? Discarded like Amity had once thrown away a large chapter of her life before? And was there still room for both in her life? I left out a couple AUs that hadn't ever gotten very far and two stories stories that I wrote for a friend that are more sad than anything else rather than hopeful like all of these. I do hope this shows JUST how much I've done with these characters though, especially when I remind you that The Power of Love is still over 300k words, The Eyes Beneath the Water (which has barely had the Amity and Boscha inspired characters even talk to each other, hence why it wasn't linked) is over 80k minimum (haven't done a word count check in a while for it) and Rich Witch is also over 80k words. And most of that writing was done back in 2021 when something about TOH and its community opened up my brain and just let me type. Type so much that in the span of 8 months, I wrote over five hundred THOUSAND words. And boy would I love to return to even a fraction of that strength again. *sigh*

[geekcat]

I posted 2,031 times in 2022

That's 1,935 more posts than 2021!

38 posts created (2%)

1,993 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@smartzelda

@determinators

@zozzlez

@taterforlife

@reynaruina

I tagged 1,567 of my posts in 2022

Only 23% of my posts had no tags

#invader zim - 447 posts

#zim - 392 posts

#dib - 340 posts

#zadr - 276 posts

#deltarune - 207 posts

#mlp - 163 posts

#my little pony - 162 posts

#discord - 146 posts

#fluttershy - 141 posts

#fluttercord - 137 posts

Longest Tag: 40 characters

#domestic drabbles of discord's dimension

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Discord: Shy... you've been cuddling with me for over an hour now. Fluttershy: *muffled* mm hmmm :) Discord: Ugh. I should be annoyed but you're adorable.

***

Fluttershy: Damn, the power went out. Discord: Don’t worry, I got this. Discord: *shakes rapidly and starts to light up* Fluttershy: What-? Discord: I swallowed a glow stick! Fluttershy, on the verge of tears: WHY WOULD YOU-

***

Discord: *Pulls a glass a water from out of nowhere* Fluttershy: Where did you get that? Discord: My pocket. Fluttershy: How do you keep a glass of water in your pocket? Discord: Skills.

***

Discord: Since we're in a relationship now, your clothes are my clothes too. Don't ask me why I have your shirt on, this is our shirt. Fluttershy: Fine, but when I come strutting in with your fuzzy socks I don't want to hear anything.

***

Discord: Yeah, I don’t like ponies. Fluttershy: Oh, well now that’s not fair, Discord. Have you met all of them? Discord: I’ve met enough of them. Ponies. What a bunch of jerks!

106 notes - Posted May 24, 2022

#4

So, the Encanto fandom has collectively agreed that Dolores is very invested in Bruno’s rat telenovelas. 

And I have something I’d like to add: Dolores enjoys listening to said telenovelas to help her fall asleep. By focusing on a story of drama and impossible romance, she’s able to block out every other sound that she can hear in the town, and is able to peacefully nod off.

Bruno eventually notices that his niece seems to fall asleep faster and rest better on nights that he “plays” an episode. So he shifts his schedule a bit, always waiting until Dolores is in bed before starting a show, and choosing one of her favorite arcs to focus on if he notices that a day has been particularly rough on her.

When he finally leaves the walls, he puts on the shows in-person for her for a few nights before bed, or in his room so that she can at least listen. He probably even gives hints to Mariano, who starts to quietly recite his poetry before bed so that Dolores has something calming to listen to if her tío couldn’t make an episode that night.

122 notes - Posted January 20, 2022

#3

Discord: When have I ever done anything rash or irresponsible? Fluttershy: I keep a list. It's alphabetized.

***

Discord: People treat me like a god. Fluttershy: What? How? Discord: They ignore my existence until they need something from me

***

Fluttershy: *eating a cinnamon roll* Discord: Cannibalism. Fluttershy: *confused chewing noises*

***

Fluttershy: You have no idea what I'm capable of. Discord: Do not take this personally, but I feel like I'm being threatened by a cupcake.

***

Discord: Hey, is this seat taken? Fluttershy: Yes, this seat is for my best friend only. Discord: *starts looking away, sad* Fluttershy: You know I mean you, right? Discord: *beams happily*

145 notes - Posted June 20, 2022

#2

Zim: Your existence is confusing. Dib: How so? Zim: Your presence is incredibly annoying but the thought of anything bad happening to you upsets me.

***

Dib: Welp, time to move on to Plan 2. Zim: Don't you mean Plan B? Dib: That would insinuate that I only have 26 plans.

***

Zim: I invited you all here today because I crave the deadliest game. Dib, nodding: Knife monopoly. Zim: ... I was actually planning on hunting you for sport but now I'm really interested in whatever Knife Monopoly is

***

Dib: Alright, any questions? Zim: Why aren't there uppercase and lower case numbers? Dib: Dib: What? Zim: I WANT TO WRITE LOUD NUMBERS

***

Zim: You played me like a fiddle!! Dib: Oh no, fiddles are hard to play. I played you like the cheap kazoo you are.

171 notes - Posted June 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Fluttershy: Do you take constructive criticism? Discord: I only take cash or credit.

***

Fluttershy: Please, I'm begging you go to a doctor. Discord: I'm sorry is this OUR stab wound? Stay out of it.

***

Discord: You're the love of my life and my best friend, I would do anything for you. Fluttershy: I want you to eat three meals a day and have a decent sleep schedule. Discord: Absolutely not.

***

Fluttershy: Discord, stop! This isn't you, you've gone mad with power! Discord: Well of course I have. Discord: Have you ever tried going mad without power? Discord: It's boring.

***

Fluttershy: Stop buying plastic skeletons for Halloween! It's terrible for the environment! Discord: Yeah! Locally sourced, all natural skeletons are much more environmentally friendly!

221 notes - Posted June 2, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[abri-chan]

Going to try to make this quick; inspired by a video analysis on the differences between "All of Us Are Dead" webcomic versus drama.

The division is as follows: the comic is about survival, that is, heavier on plot points; and the drama is more about character interaction, chemistry, and emotions, diving longer into each relationship to the point of adding new ones (hambie girl had no romance subplot in the original comic). Now the question is why? There are many reasons, one of which may have to be with drama having to be extra dramatic as the name suggests, thus focusing more on the relationships, and it could also have to be with perhaps drama branching out of soap operas, and retaining in its "DNA" something of its origin, even when elevated to more "serious" hybrids.

I do hold one theory, that to my knowledge hasn't been talked about elsewhere, about the reason why dramas will always focus on character relationships independent of the source material, and that has to do with drama being a special medium when translating from comic or manga form. Think about this, "what the cost" is for a mangaka or a comic artist to introduce a big cast and kill half of them in the very first chapters? Sure, there is the cost of bad storytelling or upsetting the fans, but I'm talking about financial costs or material costs: there are no extra costs that aren't already included in the medium (paper, ink, etc) for a mangaka to kill a character they created and introduced. Similarly, when a manga gets translated into anime, there are no costs to, as the original plotline demands, kill early on any character that was introduced: In fact, it saves costs for animators because there are less characters they need to animate, and if you want to keep a character around, there better be a good reason for that, to justify the extra work of animation cells or extra scenes that aren't even in the original story.

Now drama is different because you have to cast real people; for every character that has relevance you need to open auditions, interview, go through a selection process, spend a lot of time worrying about the perfect cast for your vision. These are not drawn characters but real people, and while one can argue the counterexample of "wouldn't you the actor less if their character dies early?", the sunk cost is actually in selecting the cast, and the time you won't get back is the biggest factor. So you better get the most bang for the buck you "spent" on getting this cast on board for the show.

Now, what does that mean in terms of storytelling? It means the characters aren't expandable the way they are in manga or anime. You want to keep characters around as long as you can, and delay that plot point where they die (characters in the AOURD died later than they did in the comic), and that is a double win bc the longer you keep a character around, the more chemistry they form with other characters, the more viewers care about, the more devastated they are when this character dies. Two, because you keep them around longer, the higher the chance of romance, and because again you want to utilize as much as possible the actors you hired, you will add layers of romance, even though it wasn't needed or didn't appear in the source material. Because romance, much to exposing people that claim are above it, is what makes everyone give a shit--I guarantee it. If you are into romance stories, or care about the ship, you want to know more of it. But even if you don't care much about romance stories, upon hearing of love, even in real life, you will be interested to know. You will ask: so who and who got together, did they even get together, did they end up together? Our curiosity in this topic is so ingrained, that we can't escape our need to peek and gossip.

To conclude, drama is special because it involves real people cast in character roles. This very thing will shift the focus to character interactions and relationships, and it won't matter what the source material was. Horror, science fiction, thriller, romance, it doesn't matter.