#I'd say the comparison is apt

[thatrandomartistyoufound]

Star Wars Clone Wars and Final Fantasy XIV

So just either plots as is with minimal alteration?

[terpia]

I'm reading Quicksand by Junichiro Tanizaki and god, it's such an interesting reading experience. I don't know what the censorship laws were like in Japan in the 1920s and how they/the culture of the time shaped the portrayal of certain topics in the novel, but reading a book from the 1920s that openly talks about sex, abortion and sexuality (and in my translation at least, straight up uses words like lesbian, homosexual, heterosexual, etc.) is such a novel experience.

Also, and I feel it's worth mentioning, every single character in this novel is fucking insane.

[espresso-haired-vixen]

Fran lebowitz is a TERF. She said Candy Darling was a man who wanted to be a pop star girl, and that unfortunately Andy Warhol was someone who said she was. When she said something else about trans people it was that she would believe people who said they were one gender but felt like another. Just like she figured she believes people who say they have a headache. All good right? No. This is some classic smarmy side stepping. “I believe you feel that way” is NOT “I believe you really are” and she KNOWS it. She’s a writer. She chose her words.

breaking news: a 72 year old woman doesn't have 100% politically correct opinions on trans people

[funnier-as-a-system]

if a singlet starts using "we" because they picked it up from their friends is that closer to white people using aave (appropriative, should take measures to stop doing that) or to cis people putting pronouns in their bio (actually helpful because it normalizes that action) thank you for answering

Singlets using "we/us" for themselves is not appropriative. It's a common practice for systems to use these pronouns, but singlets using those pronouns for themselves doesn't take anything away from systems, and it isn't offensive at all. Plus, singlets have been using these pronouns for ages anyway with the royal we; the usage isn't something that systems have a specific claim to.

I'd say it's closer to the second example you gave, but I feel here, it's important to remember that using "we/us" to refer to oneself/ves isn't standardized; using "we/us", especially in this manner, is outside the norm. A more apt comparison would be cis people using neopronouns; while yes, this does mean "normalizing" the action for trans folk who use neopronouns, being authentic in one's presentation and pronouns isn't some act of allyship. It's just them living their lives. This goes for all who use pronouns considered outside the norm, even if they reason they started using those pronouns is because they picked them up from friends. So, it's more like being GNC (gender non-conforming) than putting your pronouns in your bio or appropriating a culture/sub-culture. Whoever feels comfortable using "we/us" pronouns for themselves is free to use them; I'm not the pronouns police.

[thehyperfixationcorner]

Phineas and Ferb S1 observations (after rewatching for the every episode review video):

Isabella doesn't appear nearly as much as I thought she would! In fact, she really only has one and a half focus eps (even one good scared not really about her). As an Isabella enjoyer, I was kinda disappointed, but it did improve by the end so I assume S2 does the legwork.

Baljeet and Buford also appeared less, though that definitely improved by the end too!

Phineas was way more likable than I remembered! Not that I disliked him, but I found him boring as a kid. Now I see the appeal. He's such a nice, kind kid! Plus super autistic we love it 🥰

First seasons usually feel like they take time to find their footing, but I'd say the show was pretty good from the getgo! Barely a rough patch! Very impressive!

In fact, there was ONE episode I found kinda mid. Not even bad. Just mid. ONE. ONE! YOU KNOW HOW IMPOSSIBLE THAT IS???

I was surprised by how many specials there were early on! Usually a show like this waiys for a second season, or at least does only one! Phineas and Ferb did 5 (It’s About Time, Dude We're Getting the Band Back Together, One Good Scare, Phineas and Ferb Get Busted and Out to Launch)! To use an apt comparison, Spongebob had 5 specials (Christmas Who, Party Pooper Pants, Ugh, Lost Ep, Have You Seen this Snail) by Season 4! The confidence is astounding (and fair, since every special got a pretty high ranking!)

The A and B plots have yet to intersect like I expected! Good idea, though, sets things up first before breaking

Insane how many iconic songs and eps have already happened, I'm shocked at how many top tier ones there are that will seemingly be ranked low by the iconic eps of future seasons! There could genuinely be episodes at 70th or 80th place that I adore!

Perry got more emotive and interesting as time passed

Only two episodes showed other agents!

Vanessa really doesn't appear that much huh

You can see how Norm was a one episode gag that slowly turned into a brilliant running bit XD

Candace joined in or had a whole different motivation or only got into the busting at the very end way more than I expected too, which I'm happy about but still, wow!

I thought it would take a bit for Candace to be written really well. Scratch that. She's now one of my all time favourite fictional characters and we're only at S1

Stacy. That is all.

[ravengards-rogue]

✧ gender neutral reader, reader has a fucked up life ksdlkflk

wyll tells you he loves you anticlimactically. he waxes poetically about his feelings for you often that there's not really so much of a need to say it to you. you are the orange of his sunset and every shade of vibrancy tucked into the corners of the world.

love is almost juvenile in comparison to the adoration he experiences.

when he does tell you he loves you - he's hoping for reciprocity. for all the other ways you show him your affection, you keep your attentions rapt and your lips sealed tight. you'll touch him softly, or bring him something to eat. you'll show him you love him, but you never say it.

it makes wyll wonder if there is some reason for it. or if its something you struggle to say.

"i love you," soft and warm like flame licked embers of a campfire going dull. your expression changes microscopically, you smile. but you still don't say anything. "do you feel the same?"

you're surprised by his asking. "of course,"

wyll isn't offended, he tries to assure through his words. "i've never heard you say it before."

you don't take time to consider it.

"im loyal to you. i'd die for you. those things are more apt than love." you say instead.

you sit next to the campfire and sharpen your daggers in silence.

"i'd much prefer if you lived for my sake." wyll offers back, his knees bumping yours. you don't budge. your expression is unchanging. you turn your head to look towards him, dagger against sheath as you admire its reflection.

"if it was for your sake, ravengard - i'd lay my life down. as your comrade or your lover. if it was my life or yours, i'd pick yours."

wyll does not know at first how to weigh sentiment. he then, briefly, remembers you at the start of your journey. concerned with yourself. only yourelf - isolated like a mutt chained to a post and left for dead. an animal that's gnawed through metal to stay alive.

because of that, violence comes to you naturality wyll should abhor. your instinct is to kill. maim and shred and rip apart until there's nothing that should threaten your life that you regard preciously. since no one else ever would

he should abhor it so deeply.

he doesn't though. there's nothing that wyll could condemn you for now - this late in your journey. should your nose shepherd you to violence, wyll won't ask you to heel. only if he think you're at risk of losing control would he take place in placating you.

only for wyll are you docile.

you had to survive for only yourself for many years. it showed in how you carried yourself. potent paranoia. in the beginning you hardly smiled and did the kind things like you were waiting for them to hurt you. you were always surprised when they did not. now you've melded so far into the pack, wyll forgets what you once were.

the words are not light, wyll thinks. no matter which way you pose them. he feels odd trying to internalize such a thing. you would die for him. a rush of euphoria following by a ticklish sensation abut how much he commandeers you, how he guides you.

he would prefer you to live for yourself. but if you'll give your life for his sake, all he can do is cherish it.

"my life is yours, wyll. should you try you try to give yourself up again, i will take your place. should the world turn its back on you, i will turn my back on it."

your voice does not tremble. there is confidence, conviction in the sentiment that traverses beyond just warmth.

is there a word stronger than undying love? wyll should look for it. you smile softly then add. "i love you too. if you must hear it so much."

wyll reaches for your hands as you put your own weapon away. he grips it firm in his hand. his heart murmurs your name when he sees your face flush in embarrassment.

"i won't take it for granted. i promise."

you chuckle and squeeze his hand tighter. "damn right you won't."

[discordiansamba]

honestly just rambling a bit more about magic within the demon AU, because why not, it's fun.

I think magic is something that all humans can fundamentally learn to use, it's just not commonly spoken of. There's a lot of information control going on to prevent the abuse of magic and demons, to the point where most people just assume they're stuff out of fantasy novels that don't exist in reality. Most magical knowledge is passed through family lines, typically in the hands of exorcists, but people can learn about it elsewhere. It used to be a lot more common in the past, but in the modern era it's definitely a deliberately lost art.

Shiro was trained as an exorcist from a young age, but it was never the right fit for him. He always dreamed of the stars and space instead, so his family let him go. He still knows several basic spells, mostly for protection and defense, and has basic knowledge of how to exorcise a demon and how to summon a familiar. He has never done the latter, since he didn't see any reason to since he wasn't planning on becoming an exorcist.

Ironically, that same knowledge comes in handy during his time in the arena as Champion.

Demons are creatures of pure magic, and in a way, I'd say that their most apt comparison is actually the rift creatures. They are just a more advanced form of them that have evolved alongside the creatures of their planet into what they currently are today. They can take on many forms, though in the modern era most of them prefer to take on a humanoid shape, though not all. More powerful demons can create corporal forms all on their own, others need to 'borrow' theirs from other beings.

Because they're creatures of magic, most demons spawn fully formed. The few who don't are usually half-demons, rare but they do occasionally happen. Half-demons usually have flesh and blood bodies, but their souls are the same composition as a normal demon's. They have a finite (if long) lifespan, and are the only times demons ever serve as a 'parent'.

Which means that to other demons, eighteen year old Keith is literally a baby to them. But since demons have no real concept of 'babies' they don't treat him like one. He's more like a fun novelty.

Keith, despite having a large part of himself be made up of literal magic, is fundamentally bad at it. This is because his magic is a literal blend of demonic and Galran, resulting in him being good at neither. It also nullifies his own demonic energy, making him virtually undetectable and allows him to completely pass as a human aside from an odd allergy to silver.

[theneighborhoodwatch]

Found this welcome theory video that i found interesting: https://youtu.be/9Lz6OcILeSc?si=tcPnCX3QC4JmAyC-

Thoughts :3?

(functional link to video)

i tend to avoid youtube coverage of welcome home because i'm petty, but fuck it, it's a new year and i've never actually heard of this youtuber before. i'll give it a shake. liveblog under the cut:

"y'know if it wasn't for the unsettling mysteries, the feeling that somebody is always watching you, and the mold.... i'd wanna live in the neighborhood" that's exactly why the mold and paranoia's so scary babeyyyy

"update number two" Tch.

i'm less inclined to call the writing in this update character development so much as it is just character establishment. especially since before the july 22nd update (bc that's what this video is about) all we knew about the other neighbors was what the WHRP was willing to tell us. i feel like i'm preaching to the choir though.

ok i laughed at the grindset alpha male howdy joke

"now i wanna move onto eddie bc i wanna make a connection between [eddie and howdy]" :D OH DO YOU NOW.

i do love the energy in this video, very infectious. i too have recommended people welcome home solely on the basis that they would have the hots for eddie and y'know what i haven't been wrong yet.

I WAS GONNA SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HOW LIKE. almost all of the characters have that backstory element of having coming from somewhere else before settling down in home, but i see the point about howdy and eddie specifically dealing with stuff that comes from someplace else as like, an actual job. putting a pin in it.

i'm not Sure how i feel about the idea that the world of home/the world in which home exists is Within our world? pretty much from the beginning i assumed it was running on re:creators/deltarune dark world rules (i.e. it is a world that was born from human thought and its existence is dependent on/influenced by our world, but at the end of the day it does exist on like a separate plane of reality) and i still stand by that. barbieland in barbie 2023 is a more apt comparison though.

"possession route" Tch.

ok actually i can't tch at that because i have talked about it in my own posts. TL;DR: i think possession/haunting theory could work but only if it's anything other than actual literal ghosts. as soon as you try to make it FNAF 2 i sleep.

don't have much to say about Real Poppy Lover Hours except emphatic smiling and nodding. although i will say i have seen people use "oh she's more like a mom/aunt/etc.!" as an excuse to sideline her in fanwork bc for some reason some folks think that her having a motherly personality means that she can't be shipped with anyone? even though all of home's residents are adults who aren't even related to each other? that's a gripe for another post, though.

THE CONCEPT OF SALLY BEING AS BIG AS POPPY IS KILLING ME. I PROMISE SHE'S SMALL SHE JUST HAS A BIGASS HEAD. she would want to be big though wouldn't she.

...actually now i want big sally. note to self to draw that later.

i do like the examination of whether or not sally referring to the audience is meant to mean anything. personally i think it's just a bit of wordplay/red herring action but You Never Know!

i misheard "girlboss bossgirl slay" as "girlboss boygirl slay" for like a split second. still fits tbh.

IT'S FUNNY THAT THEY MENTION THINKING THAT THE WHRP IS A SINGLE PERSON bc i do have an ask about that right after this. i'll save my thoughts for that response though.

it's funny that "was the majority of the gang being some form of queer/disabled/nd/etc. planned in-universe" is a question at all bc at the risk of sounding like an asshole it feels so obvious to me that it very much was not. the interview is definitely playing into those themes though.

"them <3" yeah

again. extremely refreshing to see a welcome home video from someone who actually likes welcome home instead of the clicks that covering it will give them.

BARNABY-SANS COMPARISON IS... DISTRESSINGLY APPROPRIATE.

he always knows when to show up, huh.... huh.... i've been trying to break away from being so self-referential ever since welcome home and consequently this blog blew up but. huh...

do i think he's a service dog? i think to answer that question we would first have to answer the question of whether or not he's even a Dog or just Shaped Like A Dog. the laws of his reality say he is a dog, but we can at least guess that even even those can't be trusted. i think it's possible that he may see himself as in service to wally, that he worries about what will happen if he doesn't butt in, but i don't know if this is an objective truth.

"[wally] being so mysterious i don't think is like, him wanting to be mysterious. [...] there just may not be that much about him." and then relating that to how typically protagonists in puppet shows have more subdued personalities than their co-stars so they can be more relatable to the audience. Teehee. (this is positive)

oh there's something kind of poetic about the idea that each bug video ends bc wally's snapped out of his dissociation by one of his friends calling his name when paired with the idea that he's disassociating in part due to his connection with the audience isn't there. being reminded of one's own personhood through your connections with others, and how that has the potential to become more bittersweet the more wally continues to risk it in the process of regaining a sense of purpose as The Audience Surrogate. oogh. that's just me waxing poetic though.

oooh that whole passage about the idea of remembrance and the pursuit of a "correct" story and tying that back into how welcome home in-universe has been almost universally forgotten and the themes of living as a disabled or mentally ill or queer person. beautiful connection.

"hmmm, how much agency do you have in your life actually" AHEHEHE. HEHEHEHE. HEHE.

conclusion: Good Video. thank you for sending it.

[indigochromatic]

Ok ok, system experiences: weird forms of amnesia edition

Alright, like the alterhuman folks have all been saying today, lemme try to actually write some of this personal experiences stuff instead of only reblogging posts about how it'd be a great thing to do, lol Bit of rambling about one of the few forms of amnesia/(amnesia-adjacent-thing? idk) that we experience, and don't hear other systems describe as much.

So, as a system, we don't (as far as we know) have a lot of amnesia, especially not amnesia around events or blackouts between switches. We do have different emotions and perspectives about stuff, and different degrees of emotional attachment to different memories and concepts, but most of the time we have access to the same memories, and can tell who's front-POV any individual memory was from when either of us recalls it.

We did get a bit of a reminder today that we do actually experience some form of narrative/episodic amnesia...kind of? We don't hear it talked about a lot, so hey, I'll talk about it, and I'd love to know if anyone reading this recognizes it (either from their own experiences, or if they happen to know some kind of official term for it or something). Essentially, it's like...temporary, stress-induced memory shutdowns? Kind of like how when we're having a really out-of-it day, we can just mentally afk and miss 50%-80% of what someone says when they're trying to have a conversation with us, except it'll extend beyond just immediate short-term recall and make it hard to access practically anything from the whole week/month/etc. A key thing about the experience for us is that it doesn't feel like...a "blackout", and (as far as we've been able to tell from getting better memory access back later) it's not centered around specific extra-upsetting events or anything, it's more like...really, really bad internet connection while trying to search our brain for answers to stuff. "What did we do this past week? idk, it was normal stuff, though. How are we feeling, I know intellectually it was kind of a rough week? idk pretty chill probably :)"

Also, we can kinda start getting recall back if we're prompted about specific details and stuff, but too much trying-to-remember effort (especially in situations where we're being called on to do emotional work, like therapy sessions) can also turn into a headache--like, oh yeah, here's the memory, but if we get more than "a sentence or two into the first paragraph" of recalling it, we'll get a nice little dissociation headache and suddenly something else seems way more interesting to think about.

Anyways, thought that might be a useful experience for other folks to compare notes on? It doesn't feel from the inside like amnesia in the "traditional" sense, really, not only because it's in transient episodes but also because we still have the strong sense that the memories are actually there and that there's no lost time or anything Really Bad that's been redacted. It's also it's pretty overtly obvious that it's protective mechanism due to stress/mental overload, even though it's not deliberate, and not under conscious control. In that way, it feels like a pretty apt comparison to say that it's like we're having a speech shutdown episode, except for about memory instead of talking out loud--we didn't lose the memories, the mental filing cabinet drawer just got stuck; we didn't lose our verbal processing, we just can't get the words to happen out loud right now.

If we had to guess, just from how it feels body-wise, the mechanism is probably similar to what happens in catatonia? Also--forgot to mention this earlier, but if we keep getting pressed about stuff, either externally or from pushing ourselves internally, it'll almost always end up triggering a switch (usually to me, which is exactly what happened earlier today in family therapy, lmao). Do I remember the week better than L does, when that happens? Hm. Kinda? The catatonia-like "mentally underwater" feeling goes away for sure, and it's more like...I can get to the bare minimum content information more easily, (like the bullet points info awareness), without getting lost in the fog about it--but I still don't have really any better recall of the narrative stuff. That's my current theory, idk, could be wrong. Anyone else know what I'm describing? Lmk!

[glassmarcus]

The Scadu of Power Creep

I've anguished at the size of Elden Ring in the past, so it's nice that the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is in its own little corner that's still extremely large. It's not gargantuan enough to run into a lot of the same issues I had with the base game though. It doesn’t run out of unique content and the path forward is very legible. I'd say this DLC honestly has ideal world design for a souls game. The main path is clear and easy to focus on, but the side content is something you need to really earn. Half of the content in this DLC is side content, and unlike the side stuff in the base game, it's just as good as the required stuff.

Remember Ash Lake in Dark Souls? That hidden area that was hidden behind another hidden area? The one that didn’t really need to be in the game at all? Well, Shadow of the Erdtree has like 5 Ash Lakes and I love it. I love high quality content not just being optional, but something you have to investigate to access. It's fucking insane from a production stand point, but does so much for the magic the world building. This might be the best map From Software has made. It's interconnected in such a way that gives Dark Souls a run for its money, and even having a map doesn't make drawing the mental map in your brain obsolete due to how 3D dimensional everything is.

I'd love the next souls game to be of this size and using the same philosophy as this DLC. The only thing I’d add is a few disconnected areas. Shadow of the Erdtree is great, but it's also not accessible til the end of the base game. I want to see how a game like this lands without having to account for 80 hours of gameplay before starting it. Shadow of the Erdtree has its own level scaling system that powers up your stats through collectibles. This is great for encouraging exploration, as most crafting materials you find at this point in the game are useless. It was a great band aid solution, but I hope they don't have to resort to it again as it does limit the ways you can progress by restricting these materials to certain areas.

The world design is probably the most impressed I was with this DLC, but it doesn't end there. The story is surprisingly easy to follow. Characters are not being cryptic at all here. They are straight forward in letting you know what the deal is. I'm too anxious about the size of these games to stop and appreciate the plot, so this is a welcome approach. The weapons they add to the game are also incredible and made me change up my play style quite a bit. I forever need Martial Arts and Light Great Swords in these games. It’s gonna be hard to go back after playing with them.

There is one thing I’d call a disappointment and that’s the boss design. My complaints aren’t even relevant for most of them. A lot of the DLC bosses are a step up from the base game and are how I'd prefer the boss design to go down in the future. But there were about 4 or so that were kinda ass. Mostly the final boss and the first boss that actually gate keeps you. I just hate how they attack forever. It's not fun for me to play a boss fight where you don't get any openings and trading hits isn't worth it. I basically always had to use summons because I have a job and want to play more than 5 games this year. I've gone through this before in my previous Elden Ring review and it still applies, but this campaign proves that it doesn't have to be this way. 3 of my favorite bosses in the franchise are in this DLC because they don't constantly attack. They find a way to raise the stakes without giving every boss legendary actions.

I think likening the combat to Dungeons and Dragons mechanics is an apt comparison. Not a lot of people know this, but Dark Souls 1 is secretly turn based. Enemies and bosses attack and then take a moment to catch their breath and then you attack and you catch your breath. It sounds boring when you put it that way. But because you always have a turn, you can always do something on that turn. In Elden Ring it's never really your turn when you are fighting these overtuned bosses. And when it is, it's not your turn for long. Thus you have less options to counter attack with because not every attack in this game is quick. This is why I need summons to take aggro off, so I can experiment with other options that aren't a jumping R2 as a counter attack and then dodging 12 times. The average Dark Souls fight I prefer over Elden Ring because there are infinite ways to beat a boss that are valid and effective. And honestly I think Dark Souls 3 is the perfect balance between twitch reflexes and decision making that makes these boss fights great.

I remember spending 3 hours fighting Sister Frieda in the Dark Souls 3 DLC and feeling elated upon victory. It's still one of my favorite boss fights. Because while it's a gauntlet, there's a sober way to deal with everything the boss throws at you and you had time to form a strategy. I understood the boss and that's why I won. I don't think I understood a lot Elden Ring bosses. Not just because I don't have a moment to catch my breath, but also because I can't comprehend what they are doing. This is why I had little fun with the Final Boss. Yea he's hard and aggressive, but also his attacks were literally blinding. I beat him. I liked formulating a strategy to negate the more ridiculous aspects of the fight. But it felt like I didn't completely understand phase 2. So I felt nothing. I spent 3 hours on the fight, just to feel nothing. And if I spent 7 hours doing it without a busted weapon, I might have felt great, but I don’t think it would be worth the payout. This DLC really just hammered how much I like Lies of P fights and how well tuned they are difficulty wise.

I think we have reached Kaizo territory. Bosses are so roided up that instead of feeling triumph I feel like I survived some sick prank. And if people want that, that's fine. Play a mod. This isn't me being snarky. I think the power creep of bosses and trying to make each one harder has gotten out of hand and needs to be dialed back. But for the freaks who still want that, I really think official mod support needs to be in the next souls game so they can be satisfied. Because I don't want the franchise to out grow anyone, not just me. But...I also want the games to be fun to finish, so this seems to be the happy medium. Because Fromsoft won't be able to cater to the freaks for much longer.

[sunlightandsuffering]

Free space to tell us your recent brainrottings about Size Queen Mikasa:

Ooooh my dear sweet anon bless u for giving me this space 😈😈Firstly, it will be named 'Need To Know' bc that doja song is my fucking ANTHEM!!! SUCH A BANGER! That song got me through the smut of bite me 😂😂 and I think it's a VERY apt name for size queen AU, 'baby i need to know??' PERFECT!! but I was writing this and I was like omg maybe I'll give her overdramatic trauma for why she doesn't want Eren lol. BUT ALSO this is cheesy and cliche and very unrefined lol, I just wrote it for the memes!!

"So," Sasha murmurs nervously, "Historia's best friend is hot huh?" Mikasa feigns innocence, maintaining her ignorance, "You mean Ymir, yeah I guess, but they're lesbians you know, not just friends. Get with it Sasha." Sasha smacks her on the arm with her pencil case, "Not Ymir idiot, I'm talking about Eren." "He's fine I guess," Mikasa lies through he teeth, because no he's not fine, and she's not fine, he's otherworldly handsome and he keeps touching her and she can't NOT think about him. Especially when he keeps cropping up everywhere she fucking goes, she can't escape him. "There's something wrong with you," Sasha tells her, as she doodles some stray bear on the edge of her textbook, "He's beautiful." Mikasa says nothing, pretending to be engrossed in her textbook. "And you know what else, I heard he's absolutely fucking packing from Hisu herself."

"He has equipment," Sasha tells her, a wide smile stretching across her face at her own awful joke. "Please stop."

"I can't, aren't you curious Mika? I'd love to know just how much he's packing, the stuff of porn, what is the truth!" Mikasa presses her lips together in an attempt to restrain herself from spilling her guts because she is prim and proper, she's not like Sasha. She's Mikasa, she prefers men with average sized equipment as Sasha so eloquently put it, likes sex mediocre and average, nothing too scary, nothing too life-changing. Likes her life nice and mundane, wants to find a nice average boyfriend, because average men don't leave, average men won't fuck her over like she's seen so many boys before do to her friends. An average man will make a nice, sweet, cookie cutter husband and that's exactly what she needs. A cookie-cutter husband for her cookie cutter life, perfectly average and mundane, no divorce like her parents, no cheating like what happened to her uncle, none of that, just blissful mediocrity.

"I need to know," Sasha asserts confidently and Mikasa struggles to keep quiet. "C'mon Mik aren't you curious, you think he's girthy." He is, she knows he's girthy, because there's no way he isn't, he's thick everywhere else, why wouldn't his dick be thick too? Her brain supplies her an image, unbidden of the corded muscles of his arms, how he'd caught her from falling down the stairs earlier, how much wider he is than her, towering over her much smaller form, how sleight she feels in comparison.

She shivers and Sasha catches her, whooping in delight, "I knew you were into it!" "I'm not! I like regular dicks Sasha, not big ones!"

"Sure," Sasha goads and Mikasa explodes, more at herself than Sasha if she's being real, because who is she really trying to convince.

"I do NOT like Eren Yeager or his monstrously-sized dick!"

It is at that very moment that she feels a large hand on her shoulder and a looming presence at her back and before she can turn to look, feel the deep baritone of his voice roll over her, she knows exactly who it is. "Too bad," he rumbles at her back as he takes the seat next to her, "I'm sure him and his monster sized dick like you."

She wants to die.

[cringefailcabitha]

Hope you don't mind if I brain dump about Cabby into your inbox, I don't really post about II on my own blog and also I know you always have good Cabby thoughts.

First off: man!!! poor girl was beating herself the hell up the whole episode. her personal final boss is her own internalized ableism! and like, on the one hand, after a few infamous disability related writing fumbles on AE's part it was refreshing to see something so similar to my own neurodivergent experience reflected onscreen, on the other...good god it hit close to home in a painful way.

on a related note to that, every time bot, yin-yang and clover came to her defense it warmed my little heart. like you go! make that sad file cabinet feel good about herself!

also...the only interaction test tube and cabby had was test tube thanking cabby for apologizing, which is...kinda positive? and I mean, then test tube immediately listed all the contestants except cabby to vote for, but it's...a little progress, maybe?

and FAN??? he was the last person I was expecting to be in cabby's corner! the joy it brought me when he said he wanted test tube to make up with cabby was indescribable. wingman of all time.

I do wish the episode had more cabby in it, but then I wish every episode had more cabby in it.

anyways, if you have thoughts I'd love to hear them! no pressure though

I certainly don't mind.

The lack of anything between Test Tube and Cabby is killing me like... the last time Test Tube revealed anything about what she thinks of Cabby now was all the way in Blue Buried (where she was mad for no reason despite her exit interview suggesting she would not be that angry about it. I have so many reservations about her behaviour in Blue Buried... but that's a post I almost certainly made already). And now as you stated, the only interaction Cabby and Test Tube have in this part of the finale is her saying she thinks it's right for Cabby to apologise (hasn't she apologised enough.. but whatever). And whenever Cabby comes up, Test Tube either has a thoughtful expression, or a blank unreadable one. And then when everyone is fighting about who deserves to win the most,,, Test Tube considers the merits of both Balloon and Silver as winners, but says nothing about Cabby. And then when Fan straight up says hey I thought you two would have worked it out, she says nothing about it, and then the scene has to transition to the meeting between Fan and Bot which went about how I expected.

It really feels like the writers are intentionally keeping what Test Tube thinks a secret, for the sake of something that will happen in the second part of the finale. I really hope it has something to do with Test Tube realising how much she hurt Cabby because I honestly don't think it's occurred to her. I actually think she's generally bad at noticing that stuff (the dark side of social ineptitude... rip). I don't know how apt it is to draw a comparison between how she made Fan feel in the last 2 most recent episodes of season 2 and how she made Cabby feel in episode 7 since she was closer to Fan at that point than she was to Cabby, but they're both arguably instances of Test Tube accidentally hurting someone without realising it because she was focused on doing what she thought was right. And if the resolution is in any way similar to what happened in Hatching the Plan, someone is probably going to have to point it out to her for her to realise it.

[scorpionyx9621]

I've seen a few people compare Isaac Clarke and Nicole Brennan from Dead Space to Ethan and Mia Winters from Resident Evil and while I think the comparison is pretty apt, I do have some interesting things to point out. I'd say Isaac Clarke and Mia Winters have more in common with each other the same way I think Nicole Brennan and Ethan Winters have more in common.

While yes both Ethan and Isaac are badass action/survival horror men with sharp tongues and are shockingly witty and quippy, Ethan is driven out of love not only for his missing wife in RE 7 but for his wife and daughter in RE 8. Ethan is much more good-natured and genuinely wants to do everything he can to help the people around him even if his loved ones are his first priority. Ethan goes into the Baker Mansion because he's trying to find his missing wife. Ethan genuinely did not know what happened to Mia after her last call with him. So he goes through hell in Resident Evil flavor and has himself get killed by an infected redneck. Only to be re-animated by a super fungus that also co-ops his personality perfectly and Ethan has to go through hell twice to save his family. (I don't want to go into the moral/ethical argument of whether or not Ethan Winters is actually Ethan Winters or he's just a fragment of the Megamycede empowered by Ethan's drive to save his loved ones. It's too existential.) But every action Ethan took throughout the stories of Resident Evil 7 & 8 were for the betterment of his family and for his family's safety.

While I wouldn't say Isaac is a bad person anywhere near to the degree that Mia Winters is, Isaac is definitely the antagonist in terms of the relationship between him and Nicole. In the remake we see that Isaac's last conversation with Nicole he lashed out on her and accused her of indirectly causing the deaths of his parents. When Nicole tries to express her shock and explain herself Isaac shuts her down and barely lets her get a word in. The whole reason why we have the game of Dead Space to begin with is that Isaac is trying to get aboard the Ishimura for some reason even though he knows full-well that Nicole is dead. Isaac is trying to process an incredible amount of grief in that his mother killed his father and then herself, the last time Isaac spoke to Nicole he accused her of letting his mom kill his father and herself, and in Nicole's final transmission Isaac watched Nicole kill herself. The Marker on Aegis 7 that caused the Necromorph outbreak aboard the Ishimura and caused Isaac to see Elizabeth Cross as Nicole was because the Marker just capitalized on Isaac's immense trauma and guilt and used that to manipulate Isaac into doing what it wanted. Also it must be said that Isaac also has killed hundreds of people of his own volition. He killed at least 200 EarthGov soldiers on The Sprawl when they shot at him. Isaac hid and unleashed a whole swarm of Necromorphs on the soldiers and while I'm not certain Isaac was fully in his right mind when he did that. Isaac still did kill around 200 people.

When we compare this to Nicole Brennan, while the games depict her in a variety of ways (loving and supporting but deeply wrong in Dead Space 1 and the most demonic ex-girlfriend ever in Dead Space 2) Nicole is not in the wrong when it comes to hers and Isaac's relationship. Yes Nicole gave Octavia Clarke the go-ahead to be released from her inpatient facility, but there's literally no way that Nicole could have predicted that Octavia would have had another mental break and would have killed Poul and herself. Nicole is a medical professional who made the best choice given the information she had at the time. Isaac blaming Nicole for the death of his parents very much a heat of the moment thing, as Isaac admits that it was easy for him to say the wrong thing. Isaac was deeply in shock and in grief and lashing out at Nicole was his response when he felt he had little control. It fully was the Church of Unitology's fault but Isaac had no real way to take his emotions out on them so he took them out on Nicole. When Nicole realized that the Unitologists had taken over the Ishimura she actively did everything she could to stand against them and when the Necromorph outbreak started she did everything she could to try to help as many people with the best of her knowledge and abilities. Yet she was doomed, and in her final moments she apologized to Isaac. Even though she told Isaac to go to hell as her last words to him. Nicole deeply regretted her words and the fact that Octavia Clarke did what she did because of Nicole's judgement. Her final moments were filled with fear, grief and regret for all things that were completely out of her control.

And finally we get to Mia Winters. Not a single one of these three characters come even remotely close to the level of just being an awful person like Mia Winters. From the moment Mia met Ethan she lied about her identity and career, she worked as a researcher for a bioterrorist organization, committed actual atrocities against children in her experiments, showed little to no remorse for her actions while working in The Connections, continued to hide information about the severity of her husband's mold infection to her husband and actively caused the events of RE 8 to occur by standing around and just letting Mother Miranda find her when Mia KNEW Miranda was in Romania with them and knew full well just what kind of crazed monster Miranda was and did NOTHING. Yes Mia herself also committed atrocities and murdered people while being under the influence of the mold much in the same way Isaac did similar while under the effects of the marker, but Isaac was driven and manipulated by his own intense sense of grief and guilt. Isaac knew Nicole was dead when he volunteered to go fix the Ishimura but his psyche had become so damaged from losing both his parents and his girlfriend in such a short timeframe that Isaac literally was doing the Marker's bidding for it. I theorized that Mia didn't act on her knowledge of Mother Miranda because she didn't know what would happen if Ethan found out that he was still infected, whether he would have left her or if he would have mutated. Yet that doesn't dismiss that she actively lied and manipulated Ethan for three years after she was saved and it's because of this it directly led to Ethan's death as well as the deaths of hundreds in Romania.

These four characters all relate to each other but not in the way that you would think. Ethan Winters has much more to relate to Nicole Brennan in that they were both ultimately in the wrong place at the wrong time and both died because of it. Both of them tried to save people they either directly loved or directly served given the best information they had at the time and both of them ended up taking the brunt from their partners. Whereas Isaac and Mia relate closer to each other. Both have committed atrocities while under the influence of a power greater than their own and have lashed out against their partners (to varying degrees of severity) and have committed atrocities against people (TO VARYING DEGREES OF SEVERITY GOOD GOD) Both are the antagonistic factors of their relationships and again, while Isaac was lashing out because of an extreme trauma he was facing. Mia was actively committing crimes against humanity willingly while being an abusive girlfriend/wife after the fact. I feel so bad comparing Isaac to Mia because overall Isaac is nowhere even remotely close to being as evil of a character as Mia but he does have more in common with her than he does with Ethan unfortunately. (Please don't crucify me I love Isaac I really really do.)

[gorogues]

Where do you think the Rogues are on the DC Morality Scale? Are they Like Red Hood, John Constantine or Starfire? Could you elaborate?

Unfortunately the Rogues run the gamut of morality, so this is a challenging question to answer! We've got Hartley, who grew so much over time that he even became a hero, people like Mick and James who've gone through periods of reform and genuine goodness but also moments of being a real bastard at times, guys like Len who have a strong moral code but no interest in regularly doing good…and guys who are deeply selfish and mean and would only do a good deed if there was something in it for them. Mark was planning to cut open his son to discover the secrets of his powers, although at least he eventually thought better of it and developed ambivalent feelings about the kid (he claimed he didn't care about Josh, and yet clearly did when the baby was killed by Inertia). But that's not a man with much of a moral code. Marco -- the version of him since the New 52 began -- seems to have a stronger moral centre, but he's been so loosely developed that it's hard to know what he thinks about most things.

The question is also complicated by the fact that some have really changed over time: as we discussed the other day, Evan started out with firm moral principles but has become steadily worse under different writers, and Roscoe has basically been two different people pre-death and post-death. I'm not going to say he was an amazing person before death because he had a moment of weapons-grade assholery once he realized he was dying, but generally he was easy-going and not cruel. That definitely changed after he died. And as also discussed recently, Lisa was regularly a spiteful asshole back in the day but since the New 52 began has become the 'nice' Rogue with a strong moral centre (though she does get pushed into rage occasionally). So this is very much a period-specific question.

If you're talking about the Rogues as a group -- let's say the Johns-era Rogues -- they're probably similar to Constantine in the sense that they're often deeply selfish but at least some of them will do the right thing when necessary. And the thing about that era is that Johns gave them an extremely strong leader who rarely brooked dissent, so even if Mark or Evan didn't give a shit about a particular good deed, they'd still go along with it because the boss thought it was necessary. This effect doesn't necessarily happen in eras when the Rogues are more loosely organized, so one guy might really care about an injustice but the others don't and thus they don't help out. I'm sure that's a big reason Hartley and James left and Mick would periodically strike out on his own; they probably felt that the jerks were dragging them down. But even during loosely organized eras the Rogues didn't always act like monsters, because for the most part they aren't monsters. Literally all of them, including the 'nice' Rogues, have done at least one truly heinous thing in their ~60-year history, but for the most part that isn't who they are.

So overall, I'd compare them to Constantine, but some of them are more like his benevolent moments and some are more like his dick moments. And some in the modern era are notably more malevolent than he. Modern Hartley has some similarities to Starfire's unerring sense of good, though in the distant past he could be a huge jerk sometimes. None have ever been all-good or all-bad, so it can be difficult to compare them to other characters who aren't similarly morally grey…that's what makes your comparison to Constantine very apt.

[thinkatoryprocess]

Have you seen challengers?

It's been mentioned to me before, but I'd forgotten to check it out, so once you mentioned it in this ask I went ahead and watched it.

Great film, first of all. Sexy, twisty character study is kind of my jam. The comparison of the act of playing tennis to the act of being in a relationship really strikes home to me how - no matter how fraught it got - Patrick and Art could always instantly connect in that way. I want to say there was a missed opportunity to play up the queerness here (since I truly doubt either of them are straight) but I think they gave about as much queerness as the movie's premise could handle. Any more and you've got a different movie.

Tashi's been compared to Shiv Roy to me, and that comparison is really fucking apt: women who really don't know what to do with love when it's handed to them, and prefer something detached and dirty. I don't think anyone else is a pure analogue the way the two of them are - Nate is too much of a jerk to be Art, and Tom a little too mature to be Patrick. The juggling of the two is definitely comparable, though.

The aftermath of the match is an interesting idea to me, because of the revelation there that would drastically change how Art saw Tashi, and the movie ended before either of them had to look each other in the face, or even Patrick. It's easy to guess at what could've happened, but I don't think it's as obvious as it might seem.

[duskydrawings]

Sooo is Lurien like, the Batman of the capital but with none of the martial arts/weaponry and all of the top-notch spying? He even has an Alfred™. Maybe, a more apt comparison would be Soundwave — whom is fiercely loyal to his leader and reconnaissance-focused.

I wonder what the job entails. Is it solely just about looking out of a telescope and alerting someone else when shit looks mad sussy? Say, if some rando is being shanked out in the streets, would he notice that? What would he do? The thought of a highly prestigious job that's mostly about sitting on your ass is something I can appreciate from a comedic viewpoint, but is otherwise a bit underwhelming.

Also, do you think the role of Watcher is something relatively new?Like, is it something uniquely created for Lurien, or is it more of an old position that's since gone through a number of watchers prior to cyclops boy? I'd like to imagine the latter. Like, imagine being hyped to get such a position ordained, presumably, by the King himself* and it turns out to be suuuper boring. That'd be funny. Many thoughts rn.

*in my head it's the first time he laid eyes on PK as well, so like, emotional double whammy of entering a prestigious position AND meeting the cryptic, barely-existent god slash ruler of the kingdom? Nuts. Bonkers. Also turns out the dude is pretty short and cute even though most of his statues are big and imposing. Like ummm please report for misleading advertising...