#I honestly haven't had any issue with the pacing at all

[takamoris]

had to briefly mention you as an example of a new player who likes ARR content in our XIV discord, when the "game only starts at x hours/xpac" meme came up. (mostly because most of us don't know anyone who started so recently though)

did you hear about them increasing the amount of vesper bay aetheryte tickets from msq this patch?

Lmao I diiiid see that! I'm in a few discord servers for the game myself that told me about it, and I was like "NO! How could I miss this by such a small margin aaaa" But then I remembered I never even really used my Vesper Bay tickets, and ended up with 17 left by the end of ARR anyway, so. It didn't affect me all that much. But I'm happy that other new players will have pretty much free unrestrained access to teleports there! I think it's a funny decision, but a good one.

Also I'm really happy to hear that that's the impression I leave, when the subject of "game only starts at x hours" comes up, that people think of me as a counterexample to that. Because I've been loving the game since hour one, and I'm glad that that's clear. 😅 I'm sure that it does get even better! And all that means is that I'm excited to see where it goes, then. Because if "It gets better" from what I'm already going this insane over, then it must be pretty great!

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

I've been seeing a lot of people talk about how Hazel is a boring protagonist(or I guess more like... people complaining about how other people are saying that? Idk I'm not on Twitter), and at first I kind of agreed with those takes because all I had seen were random clips. BUT, now that I've watched the show, I disagree. I don't think Hazel is a boring character, at least not conceptually. I think the issue is that the majority of her RELATIONSHIPS are really boring.

Hazel on her own has a lot of potential. She's caring, she's funny, she has a tendancy to overthink, her design is really good, she has realistic problems most people can relate to... she's just all around a really well built character. The problem is that almost none of the characters she interacts with consistently have any depth, and that causes her relationships with them to fall flat, which causes HER to fall flat because at the end of the day, a character is only as strong as their relationships with other characters. We're TOLD what her relationships with others are like, we're TOLD what the other characters' personality traits are, but we're never SHOWN those things. I think the episode where they deal with Jasmine's fears is probably the biggest offender. Jasmine herself acts as more of a plot device then anything else, with her fears being used as a stepping stone to teach HAZEL a lesson, rather then allowing the episode to focus on Jasmine overcoming those fears. The scene where Jasmine actually FACES those fears ends up being just thrown in at the end as a way to solve the conflict, which tbh wasn't that engaging in the first place because Hazel had no personal attatchment to any of Jasmine's fears... that's just kind of a bad episode overall tbh it's where all of the shows flaws are the most prominent but I DIGRESS-

Another really good example of the poor relationship building is her relationship with her brother, Antony, who we literally don't even get to SEE until well into the second half of the season. I haven't actually gotten to that episode yet, so I can't really judge Antony as a character, but I CAN judge how they've been setting him up so far! Which hasn't been very good! Instead of SHOWING US Hazel's relationship with him through flashbacks or something, the writers just have Hazel TELL US how she feels about her brother and things they used to do together. It just doesn't have the same impact as actually seeing their relationship play out would, y'know? They've been telling us about Hazel's relationships with other characters instead of showing us those relationships, and it's been hurting Hazel as a character.

The only relationships she has that we actually get to watch her BUILD are her relationship with Cosmo & Wanda and her relationship with Dev, which, while the ladder is genuinely really well done and interesting(aside from a couple pacing issues but honestly the show is chock full of those so whatever), the former ALSO falls really flat because Cosmo & Wanda aren't really... characters. They're iconic, sure, and they're really funny, but they're also mostly just plot devices. They're here to grant Hazel's wishes(aka cause the plot of the episode) and be funny. That's it. Which is fine, those kinds of characters obviously have their place, but when they're the only ones your main character consistently interacts with? That causes some problems. It's like if, in the movie Aladdin, instead of focusing mostly on the relationship between Aladdin and Jasmine, they focused entirely on his relationship with the Genie. The Genie is mostly just here to move the plot along and say funny things, so having him be the character Aladdin interacts with the MOST kind of breaks the movie. Having a story where almost all the interactions are between the main character and the comic relief just doesn't work.

Honestly I think the issues with Hazel's relationships are probably why people are more drawn to Dev as a character then they are to Hazel, because while Hazel almost exclusively interacts with characters who could be replaced by cardboard cutouts and nobody would tell the difference, Dev doesn't. Dev's relationships are a lot more engaging because all of the characters he interacts with are SIGNIFICANTLY more fleshed out then the ones Hazel interacts with. His relationship with Hazel is engaging because it's an emotional rollercoaster for both of them. His relationship with Peri is interesting because Peri is much newer to being a fairy godparent then Cosmo & Wanda are, meaning he's more likely to make mistakes. His relationship with his dad is interesting because it's literally the main motivation for his character, and we actually get to SEE WHY THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS THE WAY IT IS. His relationship with Irep is more interesting because Irep is a weird little shit who's mostly just using Dev to take over fairyworld, and he also has an interesting dynamic with Peri! Dev's relationships are all WAY better executed then Hazel's, and honestly I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Dev is an antagonist who mostly interacts with other antagonists. He's at the center of almost every single ongoing conflict in the show, which is often times what makes a character and their relationships interesting: conflict. I also think he benefits from getting expanded on LATER in the show, since by that point all of the writers would've had a much better feel for all of the characters, making it easier for them to actually show what his relationships are like instead of outright telling us skgnvkdmfkekfndn

Now, was the point of all this to say that I think Dev would be a better protagonist then Hazel? No. Absolutely not no- he has a more interesting, better executed story then Hazel does so far, sure, but he just. Wouldn't be able to carry an episodic show like FOP on his own I'm sorry- we've seen the kind of wishes he makes, they're not particularly interesting. Because he's a rich kid who can do basically whatever he wants. Plus, his conflict with Peri just isn't really built to be stretched out over an entire season, which it would HAVE to be if Dev was the protagonist of a Fairly Oddparents, because the entire premise of the show is "this kid gets a Fairy Godparent, what kind of wacky hijinks will they get up to now?" Plus there's the fact that the narrative has been treating his parental neglect with a lot more gravity then Timmy's ever was, meaning if the show was from his perspective they'd have to tone down the things that make him interesting to keep the show from getting outright miserable- Dev is not a good character to make carry that kind of show. Dev should not be the main character. HOWEVER! Do I think the show would be more interesting if we got more episodes featuring him and Hazel hanging out together? Yes absolutely. They bounce off of eachother incredibly well, and once Peri is introduced we also get to see Peri's relationship with his parents and how THEY interact, and it's just. So much more interesting then seeing just Hazel and CosWan. Or Hazel's cardboard cutout friends. Honestly I'd go as far as to say he should've been Hazel's dueteragonist instead of just a recurring character, kinda like a(hopefully) better executed Chloe. It'd give Hazel a more interesting character to bounce off of then Cosmo & Wanda. Either that or I think Peri should've been Hazel's fairy godparent instead of Cosmo & Wanda, because he has more room to grow and develope as a character then they do, making his potential dynamic with Hazel a lot more interesting. Idk just in general I think having Hazel interact almost exclusively with Cosmo & Wanda was a mistake-

Also should be noted; I am saying this as someone who has never seen the original Fairly Oddparents. I don't know if the original show had these issues aswell or not, everything I know about the original comes from random YouTube videos I watched out of curiousity/boredom. Either way if the original DID have issues with Timmy's relationships being really boring then uh. That's not an excuse for A New Wish to do the same, I guess. Idk where I'm going with this... also sorry if this essay is incoherent! I have a lot of thoughts about how Hazel's relationships are really poorly executed and I just needed to get them out skfnvdkdjfndn- if you want me to elaborate on anything feel free to leave a comment or send me an ask :)

[russellsppttemplates]

Breathe for me (Pierre Gasly)

Y/N's anxiety has been building throughout the week and it finally crumbled down

Note: english is not my first language. As you maybe know by now, talking about these subjects is a big responsibility for me, but I always hope that I've represented it well enough. It is different for different people, so what I have here is a possible scenario and not the only scenario.

Tags: @myloverjk-blog

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

my masterlist

Tw: mentions reader's anxiety symptoms which build up to an anxiety attack

You and Pierre had been invited to join his friends for dinner, and while you thought you were better from last night, things were showing otherwise. Walking around with your skirt unzipped, you tapped your tummy in hopes that the nervous feeling would settle once for all.

Things had felt off throughout the wholr day, it just hadn't been feeling right. And, quite honestly, the last thing you wanted to do was to go and sit through a dinner, pretending you were fully composed when, deep down, your mind kept racing and you couldn't shut it off.

It wasn't because of the company, after all, you had known them for a good while and even felt comfortable around them to the point where admitting what was going on wouldn't be an issue, but right now, Pierre seemed to be the only person you could be with and not feel overwhelmed.

"Amour, do you need- hey, are you feeling okay?", Pierre asked, noticing your nervous stance as you paced around the bedroom, "hey, talk to me, please", he asked, stopping you on your tracks and holding you in place as softly as he could.

"I don't know if I can go. I'm not feeling very well, so I think it's best if you go and I stay", you said, genuinely wanting him to go and have a good time, knowing you wouldn't be the best company right now and that this particular group of friends hadn't been together at the same place in quite some time.

Pushing you to sit on the bed and sitting next to you, Pierre laced his fingers in yours while making sure you were looking at him and taking in every word he said, "hey, we don't need to go. I can call them and tell them we can't make it, they'll understand", he offered, "I want you to be okay, no matter what", he said, "but you can go, I'll just stay here. You haven't seen them in a while and you don't need when you will all have the opportunity to get together again", you said. Finding today to be the date where everyone was available had been enough of a struggle.

"I'm not leaving you feeling like this. I'm staying", Pierre said, grabbing comfier clothes from the wardrobe and helping you undress, "we are going to have a cosy night in, how does that sound?", he asked.

After changing into comfortable clothes, you and Pierre stayed tucked in bed after he texted his friends, his arms protectively around you as you managed to relax a little bit, happy to stay in his embrace while he read a book with you.

.

"Do you think we can get that done until Friday?", one of your colleagues asked, "the client needs it for their meeting, apparently he's having dinner with the investors", she rolled her eyes.

"I think I can, but they should really stop and think about doing these things in such a rushed way, I mean, it's not the first time we're almost running against the clock", you reasoned back, booking another meeting with her to sort out the last final details before handing the project in.

The uneasiness feeling that had been with you since you woke up was not sitting right, so when you logged off your laptop, you decided that working out would be a good distraction and allow you to forget about it.

"Are you heading for a run?", Pierre asked you as he walked inside the bedroom, seeing you put on your sports bra, "I was planning on doing some yoga, maybe go for a walk after", you said, watching him walk over to the drawer where he kept his workout clothes, "do you mind if I joing you? I promise I won't utter a word", he smirked, kissing your cheek and changing from his day clothes.

You and Pierre arranged the room so you could lay the mats, pressing play on the video and doing your best to mimick the moves and positions the young woman was going on the screen. You weren't an expert by all means, but exercise had always been a good escape when you felt overwhelmed, and having Pierre with you, even if you weren't talking or touching, made you feel his support and attentiveness.

"Still up for that walk?", he asked as he handed you your bottle of water, "yes, I think so", you smiled.

Walking on that park had become a common thing for you, being almost able to walk with your eyes closed from how many times you had been there, "are you feeling better now?", Pierre asked.

By now, he had noticed your patterns and preferences, so it wasn't too hard for him to notice that your day hadn't been the best, "yes, thank you for joining me. I know you know you don't need to, but I'm happy you did", you sighed, "my deadline just became a lot more real, so I need to hurry. But I'm also aware I can't do much if I'm worried, so here I am, trying to shush the worry away, at least for a bit", you explained, feeling your boyfriend squeeze your hand in his, "you did well, amour".

.

Work was finally over, you had handed in your project and you thought it would make you feel at ease, that it would allow you to finally feel a little bit lighter, but it didn't. Your thoughts were still spiralling, and they didn't seem like they were on the way to settling down. Your legs started to feel tingly, and you didn't trust them to stay up, so you sat on the living room floor with your back against the sofa, letting your body feel the softness of the rug while your lungs felt like they couldn't get enough air inside them.

You closed your eyes, trying to regulate your breathing as best as you could when you heard a noise far away, approaching quickly as you could make out your name in what the person was saying.

"Amour, Y/N, hey...! Breathe for me, yeah?", said as you tried your best to follow his voice and block out everything else, feeling Pierre's hand coming to hold your own, the feel of his fingers very faint as you struggled in regulating your unsteady breathing, "Y/N, hey, hey, you're okay, amour. Everything is fine, okay?", he urged you to follow his voice, something you had mentioned before that always calmed you.

Encouraging you to breathe with him, you finally got up to his rhythm, looking up to his eyes and despite the worry in them, you also saw the calm that comes after the storm has passed. How it all seems too much, it bursts, and then you're just left with the aftermath.

"There you go, that's good, good, just like that", he said, sitting on the floor and sitting on your side so he could pull your body against his, seeing you were struggling to hold yourself upright.

You stood there a couple of minutes, your eyes closing for a little bit before you croaked a few words out, "can we go to the sofa, please?", feeling his arms go around your back and under your knees, swiftly pulling you against him and getting up from his spot, walking to the sofa and cuddling there with you, brushing your hair with his fingers.

"Do you want some water? A snack perhaps", he advised, "I'm just a little tired, but thanks", you smiled weakly, "you're alright, ma belle, take all the time you need".

You must have fallen asleep on your boyfriend's chest, because when you woke up he was still there, but the window was no longer letting sunlight in and rather moonlight, the TV was on what looked like the evening news and you could feel a blanket covering you and Pierre.

"Hey, you", he whispered, kissing your forehead as he helped you sit up straight, "are you feeling better? A little more rested?", he asked, brushing the hairs away from your eyes, "yes, I am", you smiled, "thank you".

"Those hadn't happened in a while", he pointed out, "yes, it had been a while. I've been able to manage it, but it just crumbled today, before I could get it together, it's just crumbled", you explained

"That's okay, it happens, amour. You're still very strong to have managed ti well, I'm proud of you", he said honestly. Pierre always made you feel safe and never once judged you, instead always wanting to learn how to help you when you needed him and how he could make things better for you. So he wasn't lying when he said he was proud of you and how far you had come.

"My throat is a bit dry", you said, getting up and being followed by Pierre to the kitchen, sipping on the water as he grabbed something to snack on, "do you want some food?", he asked, "no, I'm good", you stated.

"What happened that got you to have the attack?", he wondered, "I handed in my project today. It had been building the last few days, and I was so sure they would be gone by the time I submitted it", you shrugged your shoulders, "now I know what to expect", you smiled, wanting to comfort Pierre and erase the crease between his eyebrows.

"Do you want to go and watch a movie? There's a new Disney one I haven't seen yet", he changed the subject, having gotten the information he needed and looking for a distraction, "Lead the way, handsome".

[useless19]

Do you think Bowser has hinted at marriage once in awhile randomly or do you think he's chilled out about rushing things finally. Sure he was pretty dead set on marrying the Princess not only from his own interests and political benefits but prehaps abandonment issues caused him to see marriage as mostly a way to insure himself they wont leave him since it a final say writen on papers? (divorce exist but if you got unspoken issues the smaller details are usually ignored)

Honestly I've always been fascinated by peoples take on Bowsers possible attachment or abandonment issues

He absolutely has.

"Or I could just lock you in the dungeon when it's time for you to go back," Bowser said. He laughed when Luigi started to protest. "I know, I know. No kidnapping. It was a joke." -Bowser, in the middle of planning Luigi's kidnapping.

I imagine a lot of the earlier proposals got passed off with a similar 'I'm joking' sort of thing. But because Luigi's still got fairly low self-esteem, he takes Bowser's word when he brushes off Luigi's bemusement with a 'I'm not being serious' or the like whenever Luigi comments on a pretty place and Bowser hints that it might be a good place to have a wedding.

Ultimately, Days!Bowser had a (at his best) distant dad, a mum who died when he was barely old enough to remember her but not young enough to have not remembered her at all, and some relatives who couldn't be around very often for their own safety. And then he only reinforced that by kidnapping people. So yes, he sort of thinks that marriage will make someone stick around (and it did during the main plot!).

(I considered going for a Bowser who lost both his parents at a terribly young age (playing into the fact that some of the Yoshi games refer to him as King Bowser, even though he's a pretty young kid), but a Bowser who has literally never been accountable to anyone is going to be different to the Bowser I was putting together for Day 7/9.)

Anyway, this means it comes as a shock the first time Bowser goes all out on a proposal. Luigi is not a fan of surprises or being the center of attention, and Bowser's not going to half-arse something as important as a proposal. It'll be loud, there'll be a crowd, and Luigi's going to have the frightful time of figuring out how to say 'no' without Bowser assuming that's the end of the relationship. (He doesn't do great).

Luigi escapes the resulting fiery chaos and retreats to his room. He feels awful and has some miserable thoughts on whether or not this relationship is viable if they keep having stuff like this happen. (It's not been that much that often, Luigi's just spiralling here). He gets ready for bed automatically, but doesn't get any sleep.

And trying to figure this out turned into just writing fic... It's first draft, but here you go.

Luigi yelped when his bedroom door slammed open. Bowser stomped in, only to stop short when he noticed Luigi.

"Knock, please," Luigi said.

"You haven't escaped yet?" Bowser said.

Luigi clutched the heavy book he'd been trying to use to send him off to sleep. "Do I have to escape?" he asked carefully.

"Not yet," Bowser said. He began to pace around Luigi's room.

Luigi put the book aside and laced his fingers together. It was hard to even know where to start. How were you supposed to tell your partner that you weren't ready for marriage when they so obviously were?

"I'm sorry I messed things up," Luigi said.

"You should be," Bowser snapped.

Luigi flinched. Bowser stopped pacing and took a deep breath.

"I'm furious," Bowser said on the out breath.

"I'm sorry, I -"

"You said you wouldn't leave without telling me why," Bowser said, looming over Luigi.

"Do you want me to leave?" Luigi asked.

"What? No!"

Luigi patted the bed next to him. Bowser huffed. Instead of sitting next to Luigi on the mattress as Luigi had intended, Bowser slumped to the floor and leant his head on his folded arms on the bed.

"I don't want to leave," Luigi said.

"Then why didn't you say yes?" Bowser asked, a note of hurt in his voice.

"Because I don't want to get married yet," Luigi said. "It's a lot to say yes to. It's a huge decision."

"Figures I managed to bag the one mushroom person afraid of commitment," Bowser grumbled. "What do you think a relationship is except a precursor to marriage?"

Luigi hadn't considered it like that. "I don't know. There's still a lot we haven't talked about with... us and everything it entails."

"The proposal can be a surprise but the engagement shouldn't be," Bowser said.

Luigi blinked in surprise. "Exactly. Where did you hear that?"

"Can't remember." Bowser shrugged, knocking Luigi off balance.

Luigi lifted his hand to put it on Bowser's arm then hesitated. Would his touch even be welcome right now? When he dropped his arm, he caught sight of Bowser's red eye watching him.

"Hate me so much you can't stand the thought of touching me?"

"No." Luigi braced himself. "Do you hate me?"

Bowser closed his eyes. "I asked you to marry me a few hours ago, what do you think?"

"I think a lot of people would hate someone for saying no."

Bowser huffed and reached out to pat Luigi's leg. If he wanted to hurt Luigi, it would have been so easy, but he didn't. Luigi reached forward and threaded his fingers through Bowser's coarse hair. Something he hadn't realised was tense relaxed as Bowser gave a rumble of contentment.

"Was it just a no?" Bowser asked. "Or was it a not now? Because it felt like the former, but you waffled a lot before you got there."

"That's it exactly," Luigi said, relieved beyond measure at finally getting the right words. "I don't want to get married now, but I might change my mind in the future."

The lateness of the hour hit Luigi and he was unable to stifle his yawn. It must have been gone midnight by now. Tomorrow was looking better than it had been, but too little sleep wouldn't help anyone.

"We should probably try to get some sleep," Luigi said, untangling his fingers from Bowser's hair with a pang of disappointment. "Would you stay with me, tonight?" he blurted out before he could wimp out of asking for what he wanted again.

"In here?" Bowser waved at Luigi's quite-big-for-Luigi-but-small-for-Bowser bed.

"If that's okay?"

Bowser crawled onto the bed. There really wasn't much room for Luigi, but he'd spent enough time in too-narrow or too-short beds on adventures that he could probably doze off. Bowser curled his hand around Luigi's body. Luigi put his hand over Bowser's finger.

Heavy, absurdly long breaths were becoming a welcome sound to drift off to. Luigi snuggle down, enjoying the extra warmth a fire-breathing Koopa added.

"How long will it take before you're ready?" Bowser asked in a tone that he'd probably meant to be casual but missed by miles.

How long did it usually take before people were comfortable taking the next step in a relationship like this? Luigi had known people with whirlwind engagements who would have had a kid already on the way at this point, and others who had been together more than five years before they even hinted at marriage.

And it didn't matter how other people did it, Luigi had to figure out what worked for Luigi.

"I don't know," Luigi said. He clutched Bowser's fingers. "If I try to pick a date, then I don't know if I'll be ready by then and the extra anxiety over whether or not I'll be ready by then will probably just make it take longer. And I don't think you'll do very well with a specific date to get your hopes up for."

Bowser grumbled unhappily, but didn't disagree. Luigi rubbed Bowser's claw with his thumb and was relieved when Bowser gave him a gentle squeeze in return.

"I can promise that when I'm ready, you'll be the second person to know," Luigi said.

"After Mario?" Bowser said, disgruntled.

"After me," said Luigi.

Bowser laughed sleepily.

[sonicasura]

Let's be honest with ourselves that Transformers Earthspark has its issues. It isn't uncommon for the series to have a few messy iterations throughout the years. However those at least have something going for them.

Bayverse is a junk pile yet there's a lot of material you can build off on and some pretty interesting concepts. RiD15 is an awful sequel to Prime but does decently well as a standalone although there are much needed changes to be had. Earthspark... Well, it's just there.

I can be lenient with the plot holes and poor pacing as Nickelodeon is notorious for interfering with any show that isn't SpongeBob to the point of cancellation. The issues truly land on the characters themselves. I'm gonna try to simplify it without devolving into a rant like the previous draft.

Edit: Gonna add some further edits as I wrote this in the middle of the night. Plus my simplified version skipped some key details.

Robby. Somehow they made a human character I actually dislike instead of be neutral about. In the official Transformers wiki, he's labeled as a big brother who cares for his siblings but his actions so far say otherwise. Robby literally ran away in the first episode because they moved then decided to try and hide the Terrans from his parents.

Yet he rarely gets enough consequences for his actions. I think we don't just need less Emberstone saves not just because of plot armor but force actual character growth on him. Like a life changing to one of his siblings as consequences for his actions and strained relationship until he gets his head outta his ass.

Edit: Yes, I know Robby is a teenager but that isn't a decent enough excuse for his behavior. Seen the trope about big brothers who do act closed off or at some points rude but they haven't done shit that put their family in serious danger. No, I didn't try to purposely forget the times he was injured badly.

There honestly needs to be less of those and his consequences be adjusted to it affects someone else badly. *

Next issue is lacking confrontation with Optimus choices alongside the obvious misplaced trust in the 13 Primes. Quintus Prime literally emotionally manipulated and scarred Mo through a fake bad ending reality because she doubted herself. No good person would do that, much less an actual ally. Even moreso on a child.

I seen this shit in Trollhunters but at least Jim, the main character, was a teenager. (It still was wrong though.) We also got remember that Liege Maximo and Megatronus/The Fallen are Primes. Yet somehow it is best to trust them.

Don't get me started with some of Optimus' choices when it comes to GHOST. He probably did it to protect his Autobots but what about the Decepticons who are locked away? Why are there so little of his companions with him especially since Bumblebee had fucking went into hiding before the show began.

There needs to be tension between Optimus with his Autobots. Someone is bound to snap and Bumblebee would have the biggest impact. The man clearly isn't okay as he's doing things that even Megatron admits ain't like him.

Mandroid needs to be written differently. He has the making of a sympathetic villain but oh boy. First off it is clear that his depiction is ableist aligned since the reason he doesn't like Cybertronians is because he lost his arm. Major thing to change right there.

Give him a narrative where his interest been genuine but slowly declines as the Autobot/Decepticon war increases the number of destroyed lives. Let him become a victim to this than just 'I lost my arm so death alongside experimentation to all Cybertronians'. Also don't make Mandroid ignore the obvious fact that the Transformers parts he puts into his body is slowly poisoning and instead come up with ways to fight the infection. Kinda like in Ironman 2 where Tony's arc reactor began to do the same thing.

Edit: Mandroid's negative views on Cybertronians are about the war and he's aware of the Energon poisoning. It is just that it is poorly portrayed to the point you rarely see it over his Arachnamechs/his ruined life.

Have the man present various evidence of destruction the war caused by both sides at the Malto children or anonymously spread such info around town to sew discontent with the townsfolk. 'These are the people who you consider heroes. Who you see as family and friends. Or should these tragedies be forgotten?'

Do a Baxter Stockman where you frequently see him try to fix the Energon poisoning than just simple dialogue. Even have testing on organic subjects to see how they react and find ways to counter it. Don't keep these key points as simple dialogue. *

I don't think Karen needs much changes either. 'But her taking over Cybertron doesn't make sense!' It actually does for one reason: hubris. Have you ever seen what happens when you give a control freak power? Their behavior becomes more erratic as they begin to think they deserve more. She is xenophobic in nature so imprisoning Decepticons and ordering around the Autobots is a drug to her.

Karen wants to treat them like slaves so the next step in her mind is Cybertron. Her death is well deserved and well played. Just like Icarus, the bitch flew too close to the sun.

I think the last major issue, other than out of character racist Shockwave, is the Terrans. No offense but they need a bit less screentime so the rest of the cast can shine. We barely see Alex and there's unclarified issues involving Bumblebee with Arcee if he's uncomfortable around her.

I also want their flaws to be at the forefront. Thrash is the only one who gotten such character development from his encounter with Swindle. We need more of that! Like Hashtag's overreliance on the Internet biting her back as she is forced to use real world skills.

Edit: I accidentally put in Terrans when I really meant Twitch. The screentime for everyone needs to be balanced mainly for the Malto family. Alex alongside the three younger Terrans rarely get involved or their characters further build upon. Twitch needs to get benched more.

Also the Dad Number 2 should really be addressed. Wheeljack was clearly uncomfortable when it been brought up. Plus it is way too fast to even consider such ideas unless you plan to have it addressed properly. Like 'Kid. We barely know each other yet somehow I became a father figure in an instant? It's best not to do that until you truly certain "Dad Number 2" doesn't mean harm or feels comfortable with it.' *

Earthspark clearly has potential but these problems need to be handled better. Addong the deleted scenes help add some clarification but canon needs to present it. We are supposed to get a second season so hopefully some of these are addressed.

[thankskenpenders]

How do you feel on the whole Misadventures arc of IDW? You touched upon it briefly, but I'm still curious. I myself found it frustrating since I despise "everyone trusts the newbie first" plotlines, and TBH "Silver and Whisper just stake out Duo and then attack him once confronted" felt like a frustratingly stupid way to resolve things. The pacing of the four issues, with how it felt like little happened, honestly made it feel like a collection of stories meant for an Annual that never came out.

I disagree. For one, I've found the pacing really refreshing. Even though this is a "breather" arc after all the stuff with Surge and Kit and the Eggperial City, it feels like we've had a lot of meaningful developments for the supporting cast in a short amount of time. Instead of spending 4+ months exclusively on one idea and one set of characters, we're hopping all around and getting these shorter stories from a wider variety of characters. But they all feel connected, primarily due to the background plot of Clutch and Mimic trying to undermine the Restoration. It feels like a whole lot of pieces are being moved into place for whatever's in store, whether it's getting Knuckles off of Angel Island more, having Silver and Blaze finally become a team, or establishing new threats for the Restoration.

And, yes, I'm even here for the silly backup story about Rough and Tumble messing up Cream's house. That stuff's fun! I've never been a person who thinks that everything has to be plot, plot, plot all the time. I love heavily episodic series. I like seeing what happens when you mash together random characters who haven't interacted before.

I kind of see why this might feel like the sort of material that's usually saved for the Annuals, but his was the norm during the Archie days. We didn't have Annuals, we'd just have backup stories about the supporting cast, or one-off issues that weren't necessarily part of a four-issue arc. That's something people have been interested in seeing from IDW from the very start, and folks like me were excited to see them finally give it a shot.

As for the stuff with Mimic/Duo: that's actually been my favorite part of all of this. I think it's made for some extremely juicy drama. Yes, it's a story about a suspicious new character showing up and people immediately trusting him, but, like... forget about the trope for a second and step back. This is just how the Restoration works. They aren't an exclusive club, they're a humanitarian volunteer group that's constantly welcoming in any help they can get. Every new character who decides to join the Restoration has immediately been welcomed in. The HQ is constantly full of randos. Amy put Jewel in charge of the whole operation after one conversation. Lanolin in particular has barely known Tangle, Whisper, or Silver any longer than she's known "Duo." She went on literally one mission with Tangle and Whisper before all this. The villains are observing the way the heroes work and taking advantage of it.

I also disagree with the claim that Whisper and Silver were being stupid in trying to confront Mimic. Well, okay, they kind of were being stupid, but it feels completely in character for them. Silver's always been a little too eager to act without thinking first. This is one of his defining character traits going back to '06. The irony here is that for once he was RIGHT, but the villain he accused of being a villain made him think it was just another case of Silver starting a fight for no good reason. And Whisper's acting rash because she ALWAYS acts rash when Mimic is involved. Any time Mimic has been a threat, Whisper has decided to go all lone wolf out of a fear that Mimic will kill Tangle like he killed the old Diamond Cutters. It's a constant struggle for her due to how deep that trauma is. It was the whole premise of the Tangle and Whisper miniseries!

But really, I just think it's so deliciously evil for Mimic to be playing the Restoration like this for so long. To me, it'd be a crime NOT to do something like this with Mimic. It's such a perfect use of his nature as a deceitful master of disguise. Whisper IMMEDIATELY figuring him out, only for Mimic to pit Whisper's allies against her, gaslighting her into trusting him and thinking that she fucked up? That's great! Well, I mean, it's terrible for her, but I'm here for the drama.

This is all a ticking time bomb that's going to impact so many characters when it goes off, and I can't wait to see how that plays out. How much damage will Mimic and Clutch be able to do to the Restoration as an organization? How will Lanolin react upon realizing her grave mistake? How will Whisper, a character who already has massive trust issues, respond to having some of her worst fears come true? She already left Restoration HQ once out of a fear that Mimic would target her friends, and then almost immediately after coming back THIS happens? How will Tangle respond to being caught in the middle of all this? And now Surge and Kit are apparently getting thrown into the mix as unexpected wild cards next issue??? This is the kind of drama I really eat up with these characters!

(If I have ONE small nitpick, though... it's that I initially misread the issue with the confrontation, and thought that Mimic really did break his own arm in his fight with Silver to help maintain his cover. I was like, holy shit! That's messed up! Mimic's messed up! But then I realized he was faking his injury. I kinda like my initial read better, but it's, you know. A kid's comic. That probably would have been a bridge too far lmao)

[bibibbon]

What ending do you think is worse, BNHA or JJK? Why?

Now that 2 shounen series that I followed for years have ended, it feels kinda weird. And I can't believe that overall, I dislike both endings (but for me, JJK is worse than BNHA, sorry).

Now, from all shounen series, that I love the endings are :

Haikyuu, Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, Death Note, Attack on Titan, The Morose Mononokean, Pandora Hearts, Bloom into You, Blue Flag, and Smile Down the Runway...

Have you read any of my top 10 fav shounen?

From the above, I think you'll love FMA & Pandora hearts the most.

Oh, FYI, Bloom into You & Blue Flag are LGBT themed and have canon f/f & m/m couples....

I will be honest I was pretty disappointed by both the mha and jjk endings however, I was expecting it for mha but not for jjk.

Ultimately, if this is based on my feelings then I will say I disliked JJK's ending more because I expected more but if this was based on what happend in the last chapter of both jjk and mha I would say that JJK had a better last chapter.

However, in the end both jjk and mha suffer from very similar weaknesses within their writing like:

Pacing

The rushed conclusions

Lack of development for the protagonists

Issues within the world building

The way female characters are written

This is just to list a few problems.

Yes I have actually read a few of your top shonen for example attack on titan and honestly I loved it and thought that the ending was incredible and fit the series really well. Iam currently reading full metal alchemist so far and I absolutely love the comedy within it. Finally, I also just started reading Pandora heart i haven't read beyond the first chapter so I can't really give a huge input.

My friend is currently watching soul eater and recommended it to me so I will check it out soon (whenever I have the time because exams are a pain and finding out what you wanna do for university is also a pain) and Iam like halfway through with death note.

Thank you for the recommendations anon!!

[cod-dump]

Chilling with my twin brother and now all I can think of is Gaz having a twin sister, or even Price, maybe Nik, but definitely Gaz.

Just whichever one it was still being super close with her. They've been best friends their whole lives despite being very different people. Being able to have silent conversations with each other, totally freaking the others out. Whoever it is getting a random moment of "I need to call my sister" or "hey, I haven't spoken to her in a little while, something tells me I should let her know I miss her and love her and that everything's okay" only for her to tell them that she was having a bad day and really needed it.

If it's Gaz to have a twin sister (which seems the most likely tbh), everyone is a little shocked when one day Gaz is pacing in Price's office in a panic (I see Gaz as being pretty empathetic). Price looks somewhat concerned, but also tired at this point, and Gaz is clearly struggling to get in contact with someone. He's practically in tears by the time his twin sister answers, all confused and sounding sick. He tearfully explains he had what they call a "twin-tuition" moment and thought something was very wrong. She has to assure him that she was indeed sick, but that she's fine and it's just pneumonia, she just went to the doctor and has medication, she's fine. He ends up just having a moment over the phone with her, partly because he was anxious, partly the sleep-deprivation, and another part being homesick (ie mostly missing his sister). That's how they all learn about his twin sister, and then they never hear the end of it from him.

He's always telling them about everything she's doing. How he's so incredibly proud of her; she followed her dreams and became a schoolteacher and is beloved by her students. She's still single, and Gaz is heartbroken for her. He truly sees all the good in his sister, how amazing she is, and he's borderline distraught she doesn't believe anyone could ever love her. He's her number one supporter in everything she does, and she supports him. She may randomly call him in a panic similar to Gaz's earlier one because she somehow knew he got injured during their last mission. She had such a severe panic attack when he was dangling out of the helicopter in that one scene despite having no clue what was happening. She had a feeling it had to do with Kyle, but didn't get a chance to call him until several days later. She tried several times to call him over the span of those days, and both were in tears by the time he was able to answer/call her back.

When they finally meet her, she's clearly his sister (they look like siblings, but no one would ever guess twins). She's a lot shorter, lot more reserved and much more soft spoken. She's not very sarcastic, mostly just an absolute sweetheart. But then, they spend more time together and they're all shocked by how 'mean' she can be to him. They'll bicker and insult each other like there's no tomorrow, but then immediately ask the other what they want for lunch or how is momma doing? Sometimes, Price will get verbal whiplash from listening to their conversations with how back and forth they can be, but there's never any malice, they each seem to know where the limit is without ever having said anything about it.

This is 100% a self-insert, but it's so personal to me, and I just wish to see one of these guys have a good, healthy relationship with a sister, and based on personal experience, having a twin is one of the best ways to have that. Price is like the only other one that I would die if I read something where he had a twin sister, and the idea of Nik having a twin sister is hilarious, but honestly? Gaz with a twin sister makes me want to cry, it's perfect.

Being home and spending time with my twin has made me really emotionally about this whole concept. He's not able to work right now due to health issues and so we're the only ones at home during the day. Him having health issues has made me really emotional (I'm the empath in this duo) so this idea is just brain-rotting me worse

Like I am so fucking close to writing a short story where Gaz has a twin sister because holy fuck I am close to tears

You should definitely write a story if you're up to it!! I really like this!

I had written awhile ago about Gaz having a sister because he just seems like the type to have a sister (I don't know how to explain it). Him being a protective brother, willing fight anyone for his sister, very protective when she's dating someone but he's not overbearing about it because he trusts her judgement. Can imagine Soap flirting with her in a joking manner and Gaz almost beats the shit out of him because he knows Soap, he knows this man is a heart breaker and there's no way in hell he's letting him around his sister.

Like, 141 really adores Gaz's sister after things settle and they get to know her. Soap flirts but it's playful and Gaz isn't trying to kill him for it because he knows Soap won't try anything. Gaz's sister actually really gets along with Ghost because she's a teacher and Ghost's reminds her of a troubled kid so she really gets him and they bond quickly. Like, she of course loves Gaz and spends 80% of her time with him while with 141, but she also spends time with Ghost and Gaz doesn't like to be the jealous type but he is jealous watching his sister bond with Ghost. But he also is happy to see Ghost open up to someone and he can see Ghost light up when she walks over to him.

[lunod]

I have somehow already finished the update despite not playing that long or rushing through it (I actually played a couple parts twice already) and I just don't feel good about it at all, from honestly any angle.

Gameplay wise, a bunch of the story is having you to basic exploring that I feel like players outgrow by the end of the PS. Not as in "go to new location for story" but as in "view these 3 vistas to proceed with story, no there is literally nothing there" and it just feels dull and like they needed to make you do menial tasks to stretch out the game content. Why do I need to be wrangled into map comp when I have presumably played core and the other expacs by this point? The enemies including the boss are reskins with nothing new to them.

Story-wise it's a mess. There's some interesting stuff, don't get me wrong, but it all feels like you won't get to find out much about it, because most of the interesting tidbits are delivered through random unnamed NPCs you overhear. The pacing is all over the place. It honestly feels like YouTube content for children where they just toss a bunch of new stuff your way every 2 seconds without elaborating on anything in an attempt to keep you entertained. You don't get to figure out the people you're with at the beginning, because you get introduced to new people from within the Wizard's Tower and you don't get to figure them out either because you get new people from Inner Nayos, and throughout all this you have characters introduced to you and you're going "okay cool let me remember this person" and by the time you turn around they're dead. And the thing is their deaths don't impact me at all because I have not formed any feelings about them! I don't know them! I don't get to feel sad or angry or bittersweet or relieved about their deaths because I have spent all of 30 seconds around them.

And to be frank we know SO LITTLE about any of the people we're around that it's shocking we aren't getting any sort of feedback at all from Anyone about trust. Nobody's asked why we, the player, want to get involved in this at all. We, the player, have not questioned the wizards or their motives, we didn't question Zojja's decision (honestly Zojja's whole Thing is a writing AND a marketing issue), we have not questioned Peitha or her motives, we have not questioned whether we should be putting Peitha in power at all especially when we know nothing about Kryptis culture or politics (and let's be real we know SO little that we don't know if the issue is even as black and white as needing to choose between Peitha or Eparch), we haven't questioned whether Nephus is going to be reliable given he has openly stated he was forced into this, we know nothing about anyone we're putting not just our own life but Everyone's lives on the line for. Especially when a lot of the dialogue should give us pause, like the way Nephus makes it clear Peitha has no real experience with what she's doing and that what she IS good at is manipulating people and coming up with speeches on the fly. Or the Wizard's Court in general and as a whole honestly.

I honestly haven't felt this flat about any of the GW2 story besides IBS, and IBS still had some parts I didn't feel flat about.

[ravenlexis]

2.3 spoiler alert!

if you haven't done the story mission and don't wanna be spoiled, scroll away!

okay, i'm gonna start off with what i like about this update:

the relationship between stellaron hunters! it's a small glimpse of their dynamics, but what little we got is cute.

topaz pov came as a surprise and the tension between her and jade? whew...

speaking of, jade is the femme fatale fr fr. the adam and eve theme, snake imageries, i honestly look forward to see her combat gameplay.

siobhan, enough said.

seeing how unhinged the trailblazer is [i chose caelus, so he/him pronouns going forward] from outsiders' perspective is honestly hilarious.

firefly apologising for lying about her identity is def welcome, tho so very late into the story.

the groupchat during sparkle's scavenger hunt! that was a wild group of ppl to put into interaction together.

paying respects to the deceased nameless trio, micah, and gallagher. that made me soft, especially with how pompom reacted to it.

acheron T^T

the scene with sunday at the end... penacony's not over yet?

now my complaints:

this update feels lacking, especially after the crazy roller coaster ride we got from 2.0 to 2.2.

aventurine's convo with boothill was omitted and i am genuinely upset about this. i wanna know how they come to an agreement dang it!

no reunion between ratio and aventurine, which is not just purely from a shipper standpoint. i think it's definitely a logical choice to have aventurine abstain from boarding along topaz, ratio, and jade, but seeing how ratio is exasperated yet willing to stay [well, for maybe a minute] in a room with boothill despite never knowing him makes me think that maybe ratio found them in the room together plotting the downfall of oswaldo and man, that mental image is funny to me.

argenti's voice is missing! again! why is his EN voice not there? this is the second time this happened and it's quite jarring bcs he's the only one with no voice throughout the whole thing.

firefly is so pessimistic about the bomb incident that i suspected she was sparkle for a moment. every single thing that she said was building panic without any real solution until the very end where she proposed to take care of the bomb herself. also, she said to hurry and was panicking but she sure took a while to deliver a monologue. [not an offense to the VA, mind you, this just feels like a writing/pacing issue?]

caelus panicking after being thrown off the ship, lmao. he came into penacony like a shooting star and that's the only thing on my mind as he fell. if i had chosen stelle, that moment with firefly would be brushed off as platonic by the homophobes, which is not cool. trailblazer/firefly ship is literally dependent on who you chose as your mc. [not that i ship them with firefly, but i've seen ppl saying cae/firefly canon while denying stelle/firefly, which is like... no? the only difference is the gender of the mc, their scenes with firefly are literally the same.]

there are still so many loose ends, tho maybe it's bcs we are only given closure on what we should be aware of as the trailblazer. but after the whole thing with aventurine's background, Ena's dream, the galaxy rangers, robin and sunday, boothill confronting aventurine especially [bcs there's topaz there but he chose to find aventurine?]

after all of that and we got nothing else? hopefully everything will be revealed and resolved in the near future.

[thesharktanksdriver]

Heya there! I'm the anon that talked about the evolution of stars (but now off anon! because i hate referring to myself as "[Insert identifiable thingy here] anon" if i ever come back to ask something on anon again) and as you've read my. extensive yapping and speculation about a singular mentioned thing you said related to Determination! i have come back to yap and speculate to you once more (Because i may be, waaaay to fixated on this cuz it's my favorite kind of story!)

but you mentioned that 1. y/n doesn't dream often and 2. that they heard in a dream the voices of the long departed cheering them on in and then a star exploding into a supernova. and that made me think about whatever dreamspace they see when they finally have a dream and the entire "Something might emerge from inside of them" thing and i kept thinking and thinking and it kind of gave me a similar vibe to one Chapter of Houseki No Kuni (Really great manga by the way, i recommend it if you haven't read it) specifically chapter 46, Where Phos falls asleep and talks to Lapis in their dream (from page 17 to page 24) and they're in Phos' mind.

now that got my brain running and it's just speculation based on little things but, what if that "something" inside of them has somewhat of some amount of disconnect between itself and y/n? that they can, though in some time limited capacity, talk to them?

And another thing that is related to that train of thought is, how exactly would their "mind space" look, because you mentioned that their memory has issues due to how long they've lived. Maybe it has gaps or holes in it? (In a similar manner to how Phos' mind looks in the previous mention of Houseki No Kuni) or maybe it has blank places in it? or is it just a void? Honestly I've given this, waay to much thought than it should have for throwaway lines.

but with the entire black hole and neutron star thing in mind, would that something alternate between a detachment of everything around them (In a similar way to Kyubey from Madoka) or an unnerving calm monotone depending on what it presents itself while speaking to them before emerging? if it's a different entity from y/n all together that just lives inside of them, that is.

anyways uh if you've read all of this, thanks for tolerating my yapping.

Don’t worry about yapping! I personally love hearing y’all’s input and theories! It’s really fun and motivation on my end! Especially after a shity day lol. Your asks are very much welcome in my inbox!

Btw I fucking adore houseki no kuni, chefs kiss!

And you’re definitely right about that something in y/n eventually being able to talk to them! Y/n and them are “separate” entities but also the same (if that makes any sense). Like, when a character in a show reincarnates. They’re technically the same person but there are differences in their circumstances that change them ever so slightly. Both go by different names and some if the small details are changed but in the overall they are fundamentally the same soul. But back to the topic!

Yes! Eventually y/n will talk with them!

And that becomes important with Marineford.

As for y/n’s mind pace I’d say it’s something akin to floating in space (me and the space themes lol). Bleak darkness that they float through representing their lost memories they waft through, the stars being the lucky few memories glowing in that darkness but so far out, so spaced apart within the sea of darkness that is the gaps in their mind of what had happened and what came first.

Y/n forgets a lot (which they know about but don’t remember what they forgot) and they space out a lot without noticing it at all. Both of these facts kinda make them their own unreliable narrator lol

Teehee now for the most interesting part black hole and neutron star forms.

When in either of these forms it’s y/n that’s in control. The thing in them kinda gives y/n the steering wheel and they watch from the passenger seat cause they’re just there for the ride. But when entering these different states y/n is very fundamentally different.

Both forms have their upsides and downsides, both are extremely powerful but are either self destructive or externally destructive. But most importantly they awaken and depend on y/n in a mental way.

Both are made of stars collapsing, but as one burns on the other decides to take everything with it.

Y/n will collapse but their choice in that mental collapse will determine the outcome of if they awaken either form.

I probably spoiled my own story quite a bit but screw it! I’m writing this shit at a snails pace and I wanna give yall food to eat since I’ve starved you all of content lol

[salemoleander]

Btw idk if I've already shilled for it before, but the Steam Deck absolutely rules and I cannot recommend it enough if you play a lot of games.

To speak to what was definitely my top concern: I can play Hades 2 for several hours without having any battery issues. I can play Balatro or Slay the Spire or other games without a lot of heavy graphics/cpu use for like. 8+ hours? All day? Without charging. The fans are surprisingly quiet even when I'm putting it through its paces.

Especially as someone who works from home and thus spends a lot of time working on my computer, I fucking love being able to go lounge on the couch and play "PC" games. Take a break from Medium Screen to play Small Screen while youtube plays on Large Screen ^.^

Also the extra buttons (there's the normal LB/RB, LT/RT, but then also 2 back buttons on the left side and 3 on the right side where your fingers rest. Also left and right joysticks, arrows/buttons, and touchpads) let you get some efficient-as-hell keybinds set up. And it's a touchscreen!!

I know some people have complained about the weight but honestly it's so much more ergonomic to hold than things like the Switch that I haven't had much issue. The only exception was after a multiple days of playing Hades 2 nonstop, at which point I just started using a knitting/gaming pillow from this awesome Etsy to support my irritated wrists.

I mostly bring all this up bc I know word of mouth is important, and especially for expensive tech I tend to rely on what I've heard from people I know. So I figured if I like this thing so much, I should be vocal about that :D

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #36

Batgirl (2000) #16 - July 2001 Writer: Puckett Pencils: Scott Inks: Campanella Colors: Wright

Another solo one shot, another resonant and memorable stand alone story that Cass fans from back in the day will remember clearly. Got a bit more time to work with, gonna try and pull some more images this time, because the art in this one is just really good. Honestly, this issue is peak early days Batgirl - the kind of story she was literally made to tell, and it's really well executed. If I had to pick a single issue of Cass's entire Batgirl run as sort of a 'this is what she's all about' encapsulation for someone completely new to Cass and her book, this would be on the short list. If you've never read her ongoing before, i strongly recommend you actually read the issue for yourself before the summary here.

The issue opens on a bunch of kids playing a mean game where they throw a rat in the air and get points if it lands in a circle they drew on the ground. The nerd in my has to point out that it's kind of unrealistic. Rats aren't quite as fall resistant as, say, cats, but while they could be hurt or maybe even killed by a fall from only as high as a grade school kid could throw them, most are going to scamper away and none are going to land so badly that they splatter like a water balloon.

Anyway, it's gross and its cruel but also kind of cute as the kids argue about the rules and 'nuh uh' each other, and Scott draws their faces really expressively, and the whole scene starts with a rat silhouetted in front of the moon mid toss in an image that's as aesthetically compelling as it is disturbing in context before plummeting back down

I could talk about how Cass is flying high through the city as Batgirl while her mental state is hurtling towards a painful crash, but that's probably reading too much into it.

Anyway, after the first splat there's this kind of cool sequence where the next kid throws the rat up and they all run back and look down at the circle...

Only the rat never comes down, and when they look up like 'where did it go?' there's Cass

The image of Cass swooping down from above with the kids all looking up is pretty cool, and the way the panels create a pacing for the scene is really good. Effective storytelling through sequential art.

Cass drops down, and the kids scatter. Not a situation that needs any more intervention then that, and we get a nice panel showing just her hands and feet as she crouches down to gently let the rat go. A pretty standard inverse kick-the-dog moment to establish Cass as the good guy by having her be nice to an animal, but for those who have been reading along from the first issues of her book it also reminds us of how Bruce once praised her for being 'gentle', and how despite everything that's happened that part of her is still in there.

As the other kids scatter, one stays behind to kick off the main plot for the issue. I like how awkward Cass is here, towering over this kid when she's used to being around allies and enemies taller than herself, not knowing how to talk to him.

Also, I haven't talked about it in a bit, but I just really love the way Scott draws Cass as Batgirl? Her proportions with her big head emphasizing her youth. The way you can make out her expressions despite the full face mask - and the way he gives her the same expressions that he gives Bruce. Her prominent jaw line making her feel tough and defiant and stubborn. The way you can make out her expression through the mask, the sleek lines of how her cape drapes from her neck to the point shoulders and then down, or the way the cape flows when he draws her in motion, all with an oil-slick feel that likely owes as much to Campanella's inking as to Scott's pencil work.

There are aspects of how others draw Cass in her batgirl suit that I like - most recently I love how Leonardo Romero draws the pointy ears on her cowl in the recent Birds of Prey run, it gives Cass a retro feel that really fits his vintage newspaper comic aesthetic. But Scott's version of Cass-as-Batgirl is always how I'll see the character in my mind.

The kid, Tim, takes Cass back to his home, a messy apartment with a mattress just dropped on the floor. You can feel the poverty, and start to form an image of this kid's dad in your head as, like, a decent man pushed into crime by desperation to provide for his kid.

An impression that Tim then explicitly reinforces.

The scene cuts to the bank mid robbery, and we meet someone who seems to fit the mold - Jake. The way Scott draws Jake's expressions, you can tell he doesn't want to be there, and when asked what he's going to do with the money they steal, he just says he's going to pay some bills. But when a security guard surprises them, Jake is startled and shoots him, almost by accident....

The boss, Chaco, compliments Jake on the kill, rubbing in how this isn't a guy who would normally do something like that with the 'didn't think you had it in you' line, and as they walk away you can see how horrified Jake is at what he's done.

In contrast, Chaco shows just how comfortable he is with killing by shooting one of his own guys point blank when he realizes the guy was stealing traceable jewelry from the vault, the way the panel suddenly goes red, and Chaco's calm expression just the panel before, emphasizing how sharp and sudden the violence is.

Chaco's a professional. Ruthless and dispassionate, about the job, about killing, even with his allies. He clearly didn't even feel any malice towards the guy he shot - he was downright friendly with all of his crew, even Jake, just a few panels ago, and that friendliness was probably even genuine. But this guy became a liability, and Chaco doesn't have any time or pity for liabilities.

It's around this time that they notice Jake is missing. More liabilities.

A couple of the crew find Jake in an alley, overwhelmed by guilt over killing that security guard, and again, I just have to say, the art in this issue is really good. The perspective in that first panel looking down, with the shadows stretching forward guns first, the expressions on Jake and the guy who has a gun drawn on him, the detail on the background cobblestones & brickwork. All really good.

Anyway, this is when Cass shows up, in terrifying shadow form, knocking out the two goons with the guns in as many panels.

Cass sees Jake, like us assumes he's Tim's dad, and takes pity on him. For Tim's sake.

But Jake is overwhelmed by guilt.

Guilt is one thing Cass understands.

Tim wanted Cass to stop his dad before he did something bad, something he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for, something Tim wouldn't be able to forgive him for. But Cass was too late. Once again, she's failed.

Only, Tim isn't Jake's son.

He's Chaco's son.

Chaco the remorseless killer. Chaco who can be friendly one moment and commit murder the next. Cass wasn't too late to stop Tim's dad from doing something bad, Tim's dad had been bad the whole time.

And bad dads are also something Cass understands.

I need to take a step out of the story for a moment here though to talk again about how Scott draws Cass, and in particular the bit about conveying her facial expressions through the mask. Scroll up a bit and look at the downcast resignation on her face when Jake says he has to pay for what he's done, then the surprise when he says he isn't Tim's father, and then the absolute fury here.

The expressions are so vivid, and carry so much of the load when it comes to conveying Cass's thoughts and emotions and personality.

Bringing back another old chestnut of this blog, Cass can speak now, and think in words and sentences, but there are no thought bubbles or narration blocks in the entire issue. The book just doesn't need them, not when Scott's Art is able to put everything going on in these characters heads right on their faces.

Cass lays into Chaco, stopping only when she realizes he's already unconscious, and you can feel the sharp snap of her attacks in how the panels are layed out.

Bringing back another old chestnut, the action panels are practically perfunctory. They're there, and they're good, but there's no back and forth, there's never any question of the bank robbers so much as landing a hit on Cass. Who will win in a physical fight was never where the story's tension was. It was all about the emotional stakes.

Tim arrives on scene just in time to see his dad carted off on a stretcher to the hospital, and as Cass takes him home he looks back, through the spikes on her gauntlet, as through through the prison bars that are going to separate him from his father for the rest of his life.

And the last page is this somber, heartbreaking moment of Cass trying to console Tim that just because his father is a bad person, doesn't mean he is too, and it's obvious that Cass is thinking about herself and David Cain here, but while I might be reading too much into the panel, the way Cass's shadow forms Bruce's symbol to me draws attention to the fact that Cass has two fathers, and just because one of them isn't a murderer doesn't mean he isn't also bad.

...

So yeah, this really is more or less the archetypal Cass Cain Batgirl (2000) issue. A somber, contemplative tone. Street level / no super-villains or over the top scenarios. A focus on the individual humanity of the minor characters, including criminals who would be faceless mooks in any other bat book. Story and characterization conveyed through expressive artwork and deliberate panel use rather than blunt narration, taking advantage of the specific strengths of the comic medium. Violence and action scenes sharp, short and snappy rather than heavily drawn out, with the main conflict grounded in personal and emotional stakes. Narrative themes - guilt, parenthood - that tie directly back to Cassandra's core themes, history, and character motivations. All concisely contained within a single issue episode that works as a stand alone story.

Although there might be a bit too much emphasis on the stand alone part. Sometimes Cass's stories do come back to be referenced again later, we'll have an example of that next week, but we never see Tim again, we never see Cass following up or checking on him which is kind of a shame.

[generic-sonic-fan]

Hullo there ! I love your " a father’s embrace " fanfic it got me into metal sonic more so i was wondering if u knew any other fanfics i could read that includes him , I would be very gratful for it ☆

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Be sure to also give a look to (shameful self-plug here, apologies) I Can't Take All This and a prompt fill I did for him a while back! Also keep an eager eye out for my Metal Sonic longfic that I'll post. . . eventually.

Without further ado, here's my rec list! I'll sort my recs into four categories: non-ship, Metamy, Metadow and Metonic.

Non-Ship:

The first thing I'll put in this category is actually not a fic, but an official piece of Sonic media. You are now legally obligated to watch the Sonic OVA!! This movie fundamentally changed the way I characterize Metal Sonic forever, and is the basis for at least one fic I'm recommending on this list. 2D animated Sonic is genuinely one of my favorite things on the great green earth, and the OVA has it in spades. If you love the Sonic CD intro, you're gonna love this one. The only drawback is that you have to deal with 90s sexism in some parts, but that's pretty minor.

Now, with that out of the way, let me get on to my actual fic recommendations:

and so I transformed myself with my own hands - by @couch-house. This is THE transfemme Metal Sonic bible right here. But not only that, it features a terrifyingly well-written Eggdad and a great take on Sage. Every scene where Eggman and Metal verbally spar in this one had me on the edge of my seat. The tension and pacing of this one is absolutely fan-fucking-tastic. So don't just read it for trans girl Metal- read it for everything else as well.

Situation: Optimal - by ModOrbot. Metal Sonic battles Sonic and pushes himself to the breaking point- and Eggman gets concerned. Featuring good dad Eggdad and some interesting angst from Metal.

Honorary mention to METACOGNITION - by Chaos Theory (Lizardmind). This one's still ongoing, but I really like this author's narration for Metal so far, and the alternate universe premise they're building is fascinating to watch as it unfolds.

Metamy:

Carbon Cafe - by @metallix-mixin. A post-redemption Metal waxes poetic about the bakery he now runs, and the lovely guest who visits him there. A short and sweet story with a charmingly verbose and romantic narration style for Metal that I haven't found anywhere else. I think about this fic whenever I pass a bakery.

Bird Calls - by Fumiku. Metal stumbles across Amy while she's bird-watching. This one's simply the best Metamy I've ever read. Period. GOD I love this one. Most of the time, I simply tolerate Metamy to get more content with Metal Sonic in it, but this fic makes me believe in love. The emotions that both Metal and Amy go through in this one are just so in-character, and are so, so good.

Beauty is in the Beholder - by Fumiku. This is the only fic I've ever found that's about Metamy after the introduction to their relationship. In this one, they've been dating for a while now, but Metal's been having some issues with mental health and body image. Good thing Amy's there to help :)

Metadow:

Mutually Beneficial, Whatever It Takes, and A Form Chosen By Himself, But Not For Himself - by @south-sea here on tumblr. In fact, you really should just check out everything Sea has ever written for their Second Chance AU that they have starring Shadow and Metal. They write Shadow and Metal in a queer-platonic relationship and their writing is honestly what sold me on the relationship in the first place. Everything they touch with these two characters is solid gold. The narration style they use for Metal is brutally effective. I can't recommend those fics highly enough.

Metonic:

Halves of the Same Coin - by @sunnimint. OVA Universe. This fic is MANDATORY READING once you've seen the OVA. This fic dragged me from the highest fluffy happiness to the most gut-wrenching of angst. This fic destroyed me. This fic remade me. And this fic just got its concluding chapter. It's the perfect time to read it.

Iron Oxide - by TheEnigmaMachine. This is the other mandatory reading for Metonic, this time set roughly in gameverse. This fic is fascinating because it's actually a high-concept science fiction novel neatly disguised as a ship fic. This one's a pleasure to read because Metal actually narrates in and utilizes actual computer and science terms (the tags for "quantum mechanics" and "physics" aren't kidding!) It genuinely blew my mind when I first read it. Don't let the weird premise scare you- roll with the angst, bunker down for the enemies-to-lovers slow burn, and give it a shot.

Beginnings of an End - by @sunnimint. If any of you were crying because you don't want to watch the OVA but still wanted to read Sunnimint's absolutely phenomenal prose, look no further- she's got one in gameverse too. This one, opposite of her other one, features a Metal raised by a good dad Eggman, and all of the baggage that comes with it going into a Metonic relationship. It's a fascinating read. The only problem is that it's unfinished, but what's there is solid gold.

[unseasoned-brain-worms]

Baldur's Gate 3 Fic- Feelings, or something.

“I heard you found a new lover.”

Dirk can only assume she looks like she's been caught in the middle of nabbing a wallet when he says that.

“What?”

~~~~~~~~

Baldur's Gate 3 Made me kiss Wyll, and my poor Druid had some feelings about his feelings. Enough that I've caved and Started writing Fanfic.

So, have an alternate version of that bit where Astarion asks you to pick someone. Which Dirk did not get, because she just went straight to break up with Wyll the next morning, how dare he attempt emotional sincerity.

“I heard you found a new lover.”

Dirk can only assume she looks like she's been caught in the middle of nabbing a wallet when he says that.

“What?”

“Don't be be coy darling, camp's really not that big, I know all about you and Wyll's little get together last night, I'm sure it was charming.  Probably very sweet.”  

Astarion makes those last two things sound extraordinarily insulting.  

“Well- sort of.”  She admits, watching Astarion make a great show of not being interested. 

She's not sure she views charming and sweet with the same open derision, but, honestly she's not especially comfortable with either.  

“He started talking about fairytale romances and courting me,”  She continues, her Brows furrowing as she does, she expects she looks a bit queasy, standing there chewing on her lower lip till it bleeds. 

Of course Astarion looks delighted by her discomfort.  He's trying to his credit to hide it.  She thinks she might see something else there.  Behind the laugh he's trying to hold back.  A flicker of concern that's being quickly washed away

“Wait, were you jealous?” 

“What, no!” He denies it like it's An absurd notion, pauses a moment and then continues.  A little reluctantly.

 “Maybe a little worried this would mean an end to our late night trysts, but not jealous.”  

No, no, he was definitely jealous, and he's Embarrassed about it, which is making it very hard for Dirk not to laugh.  But it's also not actually important, so she doesn't press the issue.

“Oh, well.  It doesn't.  We can keep doing that.”  She says, with the same awkwardness that always sneaks in when she's thinking about what passes for their relationship.  

Even if they haven't actually had a late night tryst in a while.  

The last two times he's asked she's ended up dragging him into help preparing more healing potions.  

“I told him I'm not interested in- uh, anything like that.” 

Somehow thinking about Wyll, and his painfully earnest affection is worse,  Astarion's flirtations feel insincere and baffling most of the time, but Wyll, thinking about being swept off her feet to ride off into the sunset, she thinks she's going to be sick.

“Really?”  He seems a bit stunned.  

“Yeah, I don't want to be courted-” Dirk blurts, it's out like a crossbow bolt.  And now she can't stop talking.

 “I don't even- he just started having all these feelings at me! And talking about how I was the sun in the sky and the church and the stars when I asked him about it this morning, and we’ve only known each other for a tenday and change! And all I did was let him kiss me and, and I don't know where any of that was coming from!”  

She's pacing back and forth as she talks, scratching a hole in the back of her hand as she does.  Glancing nervously at Astarion for some sign of agreement or encouragement, mostly he looks a little concerned.

“Well, I can hardly blame him for being a bit smitten, you are charming.”

Apparently this wasn't what Dirk wanted to hear.  

“No I'm not!”

He's laughing now, which does nothing to make her feel better.  But at least it distracts her enough that she's not clawing at herself anymore.

“Well,” he says, considering how to respond to that.  Dirk's inability to take a compliment at face value is equal parts insufferable and endearing.  If he just insists she is, she'll find a list of reasons to disagree.

“Maybe not at first, but you uh- grow on people.” 

He doesn't sound quite as flippant in that admission as he would like.

She just stares for a moment. 

“Is it the tadpole?”  She asks 

“Do you think it makes me more likable, or is it just making all of you horny,” she gestured vaguely at Astarion, who is back to trying not to laugh at how distressed she is by the concept of people liking her.

“Because I've never had anyone do this before and now it's like, once every two days, it's going to be Karlach next isn't it!  She can touch people now and she's going to ask me to fuck!”

And he's laughing again.   

She'd love to be mad about that, but this is an objectively stupid thing to be stressed by.

“Darling you're being ridiculous, if Karlach was going to make a move she would have by now, she's not exactly subtle.” 

“Fair point.”  Dirk says, and it is a little reassuring to hear, Karlach is so nice, but also she's intimidatingly tall.  

Dirk takes a deep breath, blowing some stringy hair out of her face as she does.  

“Thanks,” she says, pauses, realizes she isn't quite sure what she's thanking him for.  Which means he definitely doesn't know, so she should explain.  “For being normal.  About the sex I mean.”

She thinks from his face he's still not following.  It's probably a bad compliment.  

“Wyll and me locked lips for all of two seconds and he's acting like we're engaged is all, and I really appreciate you not doing that.  And not being any different at all about it now that we fucked and you know, not feeling a way or being weird about it.  So, uh, thank you for not doing that.  I think feelings are gross.”  

She's not quite sure she got the point across and the prickly undertone when Astarion speaks again makes her sure she hasn't. 

“Oh yes, pesky things, glad neither of us are burdened with them.”  He's trying very hard to be dismissive and is suddenly quite preoccupied with examining his nails.  

She curses in her head, picking at the frayed edges of her coat sleeves.  “Yeah, okay.”  She's definitely done something wrong.  

“I'm gonna help with breakfast.”  

She'll figure out what her latest social blunder is later.  She's gonna run away for now.   

She just turns and high tales it back towards her tent before things can get worse.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think that the issues with Imogen and Laudna ties into the campaign being more railroaded (compared to C2 specifically) and with less campfire conversations, shopping episodes etc. where more organic character development can happen? While I do find all C3 character's interesting on their own, I feel like most of their relationships with one another are more shallow compared to C2 (that had the Empire Siblings, Veth and Caleb, The Detectives etc.). Do you have any thoughts on this?

I don't actually think so!

I agree that we haven't had as much downtime - and that more downtime would help flesh out all the relationships - but Imogen and Laudna have talked frequently, and all of these things would have helped and wouldn't have taken up significantly more time.

They still don't really feel like they've known each other two years. I bring up that they have because I feel like that fact should be informing their relationship and that they should have the security to disagree with each other, but the fact remains that Caleb and Veth, Fjord and Jester, and Yasha and Molly felt like they'd known each other before the campaign and Imogen and Laudna...really don't. Like, we know they met in Gelvaan, people were doing something to Laudna, Imogen used her powers, they ran off, and they arrived in Jrusar a few months prior to the campaign, but that leaves the entire middle year-plus as a big empty blank. (For what it's worth, I'm also still like, yes, Laudna, I get that you were in the woods for 30 years doing crafts and making Pate, but like, make me feel it; why were you in a point of stasis? Ironically, I feel like Ashton has more sense of history even though the whole point is that they don't feel like that. Fearne was just bopping around at her Grandmas for 90 years and she feels like it. This is a whole separate post but like...this came up with Patia too; I feel like Marisha has a good sense of her characters in the present, but I don't always get a sense that she fills in the backstory in the same depth as much of the rest of the cast; and Laura also tends to work from something a bit more solid in terms of ambiance and vibes but often doesn't have a ton of intricate plot beats. Anyway, point being that Marisha and Laura fleshing out those two years would have done tons of work for the relationship, and that was pre-campaign and totally unaffected by the pace of the campaign.

Any one of these existing conversations could have been a turning point - ie, this is no more extra time. They could have leaned into the gnarlrock fight being a betrayal; when they spoke in the Calloway Getaway they could have talked more; Imogen could have actually asked Laudna to come back (or even said "it's your choice" rather than "I can't ask you"); Imogen could have actually asked Laudna how she felt and what would have been upsetting to her after she was resurrected instead of making assumptions and just telling Vex; last episode, as I said, Laudna could have quite literally just said "I want you to be happy but if you side with Otohan I can't come with you."

I think this is brushing up against something I really try to avoid, which is removing the agency that the women in the cast have. If Marisha and Laura wanted Imogen and Laudna to kiss last episode? they could have. They chose not to. As I mentioned before, Marisha decided to have Laudna have a drink with Ashton. On the airship to Yios, for example, the two of them could, in fact, have said "I go seek out (the other)," and they didn't. There is less organic time to do this the way there was in the Nein campaign, but that does not mean there haven't been opportunities. They've chosen not to take them.

Which means I also think we need to ask ourselves: how do we know that this isn't how Marisha and Laura want to play it? Like, it is, actually, a very interesting dynamic, and the gaps in the backstory honestly work in favor of it if you see this as a codependence that came because both were so trapped in their own loneliness they became stuck rather than a fluffy cottagecore romance. Why assume these actors are aiming for something and falling short, rather than achieving precisely what they want?