#I miss characters with a lot of depth!

[shorthaltsjester]

i contain multitudes and can say that i am a little :( about vex and percy being teammates with benefits because i think there’s something particularly heartbreaking about the dynamic that was neither of them ever said a thing even though they both were aware of it and it took losing percy for vex to finally admit it and Even Then, she couldn’t say it to percy’s face when they got him back, percy was the one who had to make the first move (that they were both alive for at least) and he was only able to do that because he’d heard her confession, because he never would’ve thought otherwise. to be clear, i also very much enjoy the story being told, i think i just wish they’d maybe committed more significantly to This Is A Campaign-Inspired Story Rather Than A Retelling sooner in the show so that maybe there would be a bit more grounding or set-up for the storylines the narrative is focusing on (and i understand why they wouldn’t), because i think they’re doing very well with percy’s arc for example, because they started with focusing on his and keeping his beats mostly the same and that seems to be much the same case as some of his second wave of meaty character stuff has arrived. but with vex they’ve aimed for the same character beats but it doesn’t always feel as earned or really feel like much character at all; i think saundor particularly was a bit of an :/, since in the campaign it was really a catalyst for vex interrogating her role in the party and her morality and something she struggled to get over and that haunted her far beyond the walls of that tree, but in the show it hasn’t really had a clear impact on vex beyond the scope of the episode itself — syldor certainly has, but the challenge that saundor presented didn’t really have much weight beyond its moment. and obviously a large part of that’s also probably just, 7 protagonists and wanting to expand the perspectives to antagonists and give more room for side characters is a lot of things to cover. and, i say with love, perhaps a bit too ambitious for a 12 episode per season, ~22 minute runtime show if they want their characters to have the kind of depth that really makes campaign 1 shine the way it does.

[itsafternoonpast5]

thinking about their friendship so hard

[lancerious]

thank you for being #1 lancer fan the world needs more lancer fans

Ho ho ho, of course!! Lancer is CRIMINALLY underrated I tell you, kid deserves WAY more attention than he currently gets

Glad to see another Lancer fan pop in <3!

[razzledazzletrassh]

no major fic updates just yet guys TAKE MY WOY OC I MADE LIKE. April of last year IM PLUGGING SOME INFO ABOUT THIS GUY IN THE TAGS.

I may also redesign her soon or something. Make her more bug-like with some stuff. I can cook guys let me cook !!!

[quantumshade]

gomez!master is by far the best one of nuwho and I will NOT hear otherwise. she feels so much like delgado!master in that her motivations are not exclusively world domination. even before her redemption arc in s10, she has a complex agenda of her own and sometimes that means her goals align with those of the doctor’s. i love seeing the master team up with companions it’s my absolute favorite thing. her dynamic with clara is absolutely fascinating and i find the “i want my friend back” motivation to be five million times more interesting than the “i want to Destroy You Forever” motivation or whatever it was that dhawan!master had going on

[eff-plays]

Honestly a lot of the romance pipeline joaks just aren't relatable to me at all.

Zevran > Fenris > Solas > Astarion? What is the man of mid Solas doing among those kings? He's nice like they're not, powerful like they're not, and doesn't play into the trope of being mean/"evil" and sexy. He also has so much power over Lavellan, which the others do not have over their love interests. Get him out of there. Yes they're all sad elves but that's it. Surface level reading.

Also I don't think Cullenites who are now obsessed with Astarion like Astarion for the same reasons I do. That is all I will say on the matter because I am seeing a large gathering of people outside my window and they seem to be chanting wishes of my death and gripping pitchforks.

[acerikus]

It's always so funny to me when I see people say things like 'uty will never be undertale!' and list all the things they think it did wrong/inaccurately to the og game. Don't get me wrong I think it's completely valid to not enjoy it for those reasons, but at the same time it's a non-toby fox game that I never felt tried too hard to PRETEND to be a toby fox game, y'know?

There's quite a few things I think it misses the mark on when it comes to canon compliance with undertale, but I don't really mind that tbh (especially when it gave us such a fun fanon take on flowey, which is pretty damn accurate to undertale even if it doesn't make sense with the timeline and even if itd makes him a little too developed by the time frisk falls to make sense). To me, uty is a game that takes place in a world SIMILAR to undertale, by different people, that isn't quite trying to do the same thing. It doesn't have the same soul as undertale sure, but it doesn't need to. Different games serve different purposes and especially w the context of yellow being a completely free project done in fans' time as a labour of love to a game that they enjoyed, I think they did a pretty damn good job.

(again this isn't me throwing shade at people who don't like it, more an excuse for me to get some of my own thoughts out about the game lol)

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Greta & Valdin

contemporary fiction following two gay siblings who live together in central auckland

Greta, in her 20s, getting her masters and living on a shitty academic salary, getting over an unrequited crush, and exploring a new relationship

Valdin, in his 30s, who quit science for a tourism show, whose ex (he still isn’t over) is in his orbit again when work sends him to Argentina, and has to confront what he wants for his future

navigating adulthood, OCD, a messy eccentric Māori/Russian family

[izumaki-naruto]

tsunade's arc

When we're introduced to Tsunade, she's at rock bottom. She's a medical ninja who's afraid of blood. She's broke and constantly on the run from loan sharks. She hasn't been back to the village in years—in fact, she's completely uninvolved with the shinobi world. She's rude and she engages in self-destructive behavior by gambling and drinking all the time. It's easy to dismiss her, like Naruto does, as a shallow, unlikeable old woman.

But then we learn that all this is because she's running from her past. Her brother and partner are both dead, and the reason she's so callous towards Naruto in particular is because he reminds her of them to the point that's it's painful.

(chapter 159)

Tsunade's most prized possession is her necklace: in particular, it's the necklace that's brought bad luck to the only other people who have worn it, her brother and her partner.

(chapter 160) (He died the literal day after she gave it to him? Jesus Christ.)

Obviously, the necklace represents the dream to be Hokage—to love and protect the village. She first gave it to Nawaki as an acknowledgement of his dream, and to prove her belief in him. She reclaimed the necklace after he died, then met Dan sometime afterward.

(chapter 160)

Nawaki's death was initially what drove her to, if not become a medical ninja, then push for greater medical access. She knew what loss felt like and wanted to prevent anyone else from experiencing that tragedy. And she wanted Nawaki's death to mean something; even if she couldn't be Hokage, she could bring a small piece of his dream to fruition by protecting the people of Konoha via healing.

Though the Hokage disagreed with her proposal, she met Dan, another person who knew the loss of a younger sibling and agreed with her ideals. He, like Nawaki, hoped to protect the village, and he envisioned a brighter future without the heavy spectre of violent, premature death.

(chapter 160)

Tsunade saw herself in Dan because of their similar trauma and the desire they both had to improve the village. But more importantly, she saw Nawaki in Dan—his kindness, his drive, his optimism. Her belief in Dan was so strong that she, once again, gave away her necklace, entrusting him with the protection of the village and its future...

... but, once again, to tragic results.

This was the moment she truly lost everything. Her loved ones, both current and the echoes of the one long gone. Her hope for a brighter future. Her belief in the village. And, most importantly, her belief in herself. If even she, the greatest medical ninja alive, couldn't save the one she loved most, then what was the point anymore? Significant change was impossible. She was destined to fail from the start.

And that's what led her to her situation at the beginning of the arc. She was consumed by grief, blaming herself and running away, burying Nawaki and Dan's (and her!) dreams along with their memory.

Then Naruto comes along and inspires her with his endless determination, as he does.

(chapter 163)

(chapter 166) (what a cool panel)

(chapter 167) (it's always the left hand!)

(chapter 167)

She sees history replay: another young man risks his life for the title "Hokage," but this time he manages two impossible achievements. Not only does he block the fatal attack, he counterattacks with the justsu she bet he couldn't master. Naruto lives, and it's like Nawaki and Dan live on through him. By saving him, she is saving them. And thus, a third impossible thing happens. Tsunade feels hope for the first time in years.

(chapter 168)

Naruto proves that the ideal Hokage that Nawaki and Dan wanted to achieve—the Hokage that protects and improves the village—is possible. Tsunade entrusts her necklace to him with the belief that he can fulfill that role, having defied all the cards stacked against him through sheer determination.

(chapter 169)

But Nawaki and Dan weren't the only ones who imagined a better future for the village. Tsunade had her own dreams once: a world where children don't have to pointlessly die. When Tsunade saves Naruto's life, first with medical jutsu and then by blocking Orochimaru with her own body, she remembers her aspirations and regains the confidence that she can make a difference. She loses her fear of blood along with her self-blame and defeatism. And thus, Konoha's fifth Hokage is born.

(chapter 169)

Bonus:

Tsunade also has the superior thematic forehead-related gesture of affection

[trouvaille12]

These deleted scenes from SAB just prove why we need two shows now (probably before now but now especially). There is so much more they could show if each set of characters got room to breathe and expand.

[masonscig]

I understand nearly everyone hates Rebecca (which is fair) but I wish she had a more solid role and an actual plotline. I feel like up until this point she's just been there as a mostly peripheral character for the Detective to have whatever feelings about and occasionally have repetitive, stilted convos with. Anytime the game asks how the Detective feels about something Rebecca does I just sigh bc, whether it's positive or negative, it just doesn't feel like it really matters to the story. I can't even hate her tbh, like she has the same value as, say, the Captain or Unit Alpha to me…. IDK maybe this is dumb or maybe she'll actually be firmly involved in the other books but, yeah..

i totally agree !!! it's very easy to hate rebecca, but that's bc what m*shka has given us in canon doesn't really do much for me and plenty of others – like we know she wasn't the best mom. we know she wants to atone for her mistakes. but why does everything she says feel so empty – and not in the "empty promises" kind of way.

it just reads so weird because she'll take a haggard breath or whatever and get upset about rook and then be a bit aloof with mc and then. we're supposed to what? pick a choice that repairs or damages the mc's relationship with her further? she's very one-note and two dimensional to me unfortunately. and like you said, i think that she doesn't matter to the story – not that she actually doesn't, it just doesn't feel like she has as much weight on the story as we're told – but she could and that's a huge opportunity missed

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

OH MY GOD I COMPLETELY FORGOT MIU EXISTED. You're right she is most likely to roll her eyes out of the V3 cast. And even then I'm like squinting to make it happen. Like I said, I don't really think the V3 cast is that calloused - maybe if they were having a bad day? But honestly they're pretty nice people. Kirumi would have to have a very stressful day of being overworked to do so I feel, and like I said, even then I feel she'd be too polite. Tbh I would love to see Maki cheering up a child now though.... we know how much she cares for kids & how much they supposedly love her so I think more content with her cheering some up would be fun to see! I can't believe I totally forgot Miu existed for a second there though. Wow

HAUGHDSJHGJSDKFKSF

To be fair to you I literally sat there and ran through all the characters in death order to try and remember them all. I have to do that every single time or I always end up forgetting somebody (and its usually Tsumugi even though she's one of my favourite characters... girl is too plain for her own good)

I feel like even though Maki says she doesn't like kids she obviously really cares about everyone in her orphanage. Its kind of unfortunate that we don't see a lot of fanworks explore her relationship with kids/the orphanage but I kind of this maki is a bit underrated as a character

[caninedragons]

You know who's underrated? Reed. Clay's brother who was their Bigwings.

Everytime I reread the first arc im surprised he has an actually defined characters unlike Clay's other siblings. He's only in like one chapter and a prolouge but Sutherland was able to make him a character with depth, which is just really impressive. Reed has a small arc where he gets over his insecurity of being his family's bigwings when it should of been Clay and it so sweet how his siblings comfort him.

In short Reed deserves more discussion and attention. ESPECIALLY explorations between him and Clay.

[lanaevyssmoved]

i’m really enjoying my dwarf commoner playthrough

[vagueiish]

genuine question: how do i know if my oc is actually good or not?

or, maybe, 'well-developed and well-designed' rather than 'good'?

esp without feedback from others, lol, because it's hard enough putting snippets out there for funsies, im hesitant to put more out there if i'm just gonna be bringing a shitty stick figure glued to a popsicle stick to show and tell while everyone else is bringing like....meticulously crafted ball-joint dolls and lovingly made amigurumi and so on (/end crappy metaphor)

[apollos-boyfriend]

everyone once in a while i’ll go “hm. am i woobifying cpurpled too much by drawing him with these things (hair clips, mlp plushes, etc)” and then i’ll remember cbench mains do the exact same thing and are regarded as popular and really good/canon designs and i feel a lot better