#Like I'm sure her character is nice and has her lovely moments throughout the series but. I really don't like how they introduced her :[

[qstarhalo]

Now me being the curious person I am, I decided to sit and watch the first episode(s?) of "Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City". And while I can talk about the intro (like how it surprised me seeing Huck appearing in it and singing because the last time we saw Huck in the 2009 adaptation. Um. Let's just say he would not have that career.) or the fact that Strawberry has pink hair (which you know, looks nice on her design but again, really surprising), I want to briefly talk about Blueberry Muffin.

Who actually decided to write her the way she is? I genuinely want to know because I know they did not make my mystery loving girl like that. Her being spiritual (I think that's the word to describe her?) is lovely and all but I feel like they exaggerated it A LOT. As in, they make it be the joke. And I really don't like it.

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

Alrighty! @number-one-shadisper-shipper and I binged the Knuckles series today, so time for thoughts! SPOILER ALERT.

I'll admit the show wasn't perfect. I've seen the negative reviews, and I kinda get where they come from. BUT! I did enjoy this show greatly! And I'm not here to complain. Time for some happy thoughts, y'all! 💙🤩

I think you need to have a love, not just tolerance, for the SCU in order to properly enjoy this show. I do have such, so I had a lot of fun with it.

There were definitely scenes from every episode that had me either squealing, laughing, crying, or flipping out. But my favorite was likely the first episode, because come on, we saw the Wachowski family! Most of them, anyway! While I missed Tom's presence, I was grateful for that comment from Maddie about him being "out of town," so he wasn't just gone for no reason.

The SECOND it showed our three space babies hanging out together in their room?! I SCREAMED. THE BOYS!!!!

Tails sitting on his bed tinkering with one of his gizmos, Sonic rocking out to music with an air guitar, and Knuckles exercising from one of the ceiling planks. IT'S THEM!!! They're just hanging out, doing their thing, looking oh so much like brothers. And Sonic's narration at the beginning was GOLD. 🤣💙

Even though we didn't get enough of Maddie being a parent, we definitely got a nice chunk for it only lasting part of an episode. Maddie called Knuckles "one of our kids" (that had me SCREECHING). The angry mama vibes were GOLDEN. 🤣 The way she made breakfast for them, the "Boys, breakfast is ready!" I love the normalcy of it! Can't wait to see more in the future! (Her calling to them with "boys" is somehow just the sweetest thing and I'm melting.)

The poor mailman being like "I just wanna go home, man" 🤣

We were right, fellas, Knuckles had no idea what being grounded meant. 🤣 Although the way Sonic piped up with "Oh, I definitely know what it means," has me suspecting that Sonic himself has gotten grounded a decent amount before. 😂

Knuckles trying to talk back, and Maddie going, "ExCUSE ME?!" then just making those tiny, terrifying noises and Sonic being like "Bro don't mess with Mom when she's mad" (okay, he didn't say "mom" and that made me sad, but the mom vibes were 110% there so I'm here for it). 😂 And since Knuckles snuck out and later Wade said, several times, "Aren't you grounded?" seems to confirm that this entire show is basically what Knuckles does when he's grounded. 🤣 Although ... his comment about not being able to be grounded because he had no home made me very sad. 😭

I did not have an issue with so much Wade screentime! Sure, he isn't my favorite SCU character, but I love what this show did with him! I'd already seen his moments in the movies (like nearly shooting Robotnik in the face with an actual handgun). I like how they gave him actual family issues; a dad who abandoned him and his family, a realistic sister, a mom. Bad family memories. Awkward reunions. They could've made it a joke, but they didn't, and I greatly appreciate that. Especially since I've witnessed firsthand how painful family separations can be. 😔

All the emotional talks Wade and Knuckles had caught me off guard in the best way! The way they talked about their different family issues, the way they talked of betrayal from friends, and being left alone, hit way harder than I was prepared for. Especially that talk they had at the burger place in the middle of the night? Oof. Good talk right there.

Also, even though they took a "show don't tell" take with it, I loved how Knuckles relaxed more and more throughout the show. In the beginning, he couldn't rest, he couldn't sit back and have a genuine good time. But the more he hung out with Wade and his family, the more he learned. He learned about music and found "his jam" (that was literally amazing btw). He watched movies with Mrs. Whipple and ate snacks in the hotel room in Reno and watched more movies. He had his teenager moments of rolling his eyes and rebelling, but he was so well portrayed here, I loved it. I felt for him.

Despite the bizarre nature of the episode "Flames of Disaster," (we were cracking up so hard) I'm trying to glean bits of the truth of Knuckles's story from the crazy musical play that Pachacamac put on in Wade's dream. I mean, "Longclaw" and her tribe were there, and ... what the heck was that giant demon thing?! Iblis?! Does our Knuckles Wachowski have an actual history with freaking Iblis?!?! 😱🔥

I was deeply intrigued by the two main antagonists, especially at the implication that G.U.N. did seem to exist before the events of the first movie?! Did it exist, get disbanded after the Maria incident, then get reformed?! My brain is exploding. 🤯 I was even more shocked that they apparently died? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the Wachowski kids don't seem to have much qualms about getting rid of the baddies for good as the game versions do. That was a terrifying phenomenon, what happened with the two rings. 🫣

And then the Buyer getting crushed by the giant glass ball 👀

Although in those last two episodes, I admit I was freaking out and legitimately near tears at Wade's seemingly having to "betray" Knuckles. Before the reveal that all was in good communication, all I could think was how relaxed Knuckles finally seemed, chilling in the hotel room, being excited about whatever Wade wanted to "show" him, questioning whether it was a song, him declaring that he was going to bring his favorite hat, 🥹 all I could think was of their previous discussions about betrayal from friends and family, and when Knuckles called Wade "my friend" right before the elevator doors closed, I just about sobbed. I was like "please, don't let him be betrayed, don't let him have come all this way and relaxed so much only to get 'betrayed' once again by someone he's come to consider a friend." 😭 We heaved a HUGE sigh of relief when it revealed he was aware of the trap the whole time. 😪

Maternal instincts went nuts when he got so badly hurt in that final battle 😭 I literally reached for the screen several times and was right back to almost weeping 🥲 And someone tell me I wasn't the only one noticing the parallel in that scene with Wade standing in front of his unconscious body the way Tom did with Sonic in the first movie. That, PLUS Knuckles's epic comeback, and his retrieval of his own power?!?! EPIC!!!!

The ending was abrupt, sure, but the pure joy on Knuckles's face after everything as he jumped up to high five Wade was just too sweet. 🥹

So yes, even though I would have loved just a little more, a return to Green Hills, a reunion with Maddie, Sonic, and Tails, I adored this show. It was a wild ride, full of laughs, tears, excited screeching, etc. 💙💛❤️ I don't care what anyone says, nothing will make me hate it.

[catabasis]

i've seen a lot of people sharing their wishes and theories about the ending of BBC Ghosts, so i thought i would jump in and share some of my thoughts as well!

starting with how i'd like the show to end: i hope it has an open ending. none of the ghosts gets sucked off, but they reach a point where they are happy in each other's company, even though they quarrel every now and then, fully becoming a (found) family. an open ending would allow us to continue their story in our imagination, and i think it would be nice and fitting to have the show end with an episode where nothing big or important happens; they just have a nice day in Button House, and we know that, after it, they will continue to have more adventures and nice days together.

i don't know if i like the idea of Alison losing her ability to see the ghosts, not after they have become the family she always has wished for, but i would like to see Mike finally being able to see them, even if only momentarily. he deserves to meet them properly. as for the possibility of them having a kid, i'm not against it, but i hope it happens after their economic situation improves and things are going well in Button House.

the Captain coming out, of course! i think we all expect that to happen in the final season, and i'm hoping it happens early on, so we can see the Captain becoming progressively more comfortable with his sexuality as the season goes on. i also hope they don't make a big deal out of it and it just happens naturally, with most of the ghosts showing little reaction to it because they already knew, but overall they are happy for him and show him their support (and even relief, because the Captain repressing his feelings was painful for them to watch most days). i expect a flashback of his death as well (i hope it's silly!) and for him to finally deal with his feelings about the war and his military career, and maybe to let it all go, if only a little bit. as for his name, a part of me wishes they don't ever reveal it. it would hilarious if one of the final scenes of the show were to be a moment where the Captain is about to say his name and then gets interrupted. the mystery is probably better and funnier than whatever they come up with, and it's fun to leave some questions unanswered.

flashback of Kitty's death as well! it would be nice if part of the final season centers around Captain and Kitty, since they are the only ones left to tell their deaths, and because their friendship has evolved so much throughout the seasons and it would be lovely to see their bond growing. a character arc for Thomas in the final season would also be welcomed. he has many issues to deal with.

MORE HUMPHREY! PLEASE! probably the character with less issues to deal with, except for, you know, the feeling of abandonment, and that's why i hope he gets more involved in the storylines during the final season.

and finally, more screentime for the plague ghosts! they had a couple of good episodes (including the christmas special) in the fourth season, but i hope there's at least one storyline centered around them. they deserve to be part of the ending!

unless i have missed something, i think this is pretty much all i wish for in the final season. even if some of these things don't come to happen, or they are different, i trust the six idiots to come up with a fitting ending for the show, and i'm sure i will love it and enjoy it. i'm so proud of them, and i'm eternally grateful for this series, and all the love, care and passion they have put into it <3

[yurisorcerer]

That was really good!

Gosh, I have many thoughts, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to articulate them given that I'm kind of tired at the moment.

So, my main love here is for the characters. I think people tend to sell Dungeon Meshi on its worldbuilding and I do get that (it's very complex and is quite well thought-out), but the characters are what really grabbed me. I don't think there was a single member of the main cast I didn't love. Laios is such a delightfully weird monster manual fanboy and I 100% agree with the people who say he feels neurodivergent and that this feels intentional. Senshi is awesome and it's very funny how the manga is extremely horny for him. Chilchuk brings a profound Divorced Dad energy to the cast that I think is great for bouncing off of the other characters. Izutsumi is interesting by how she contrasts with the earlier party members, I want to think about her role in the story more. I think she was kind of meant to give us an "outcast's perspective" of sorts? I think she's good at being that, but I feel like having blown through most of the manga in a few days may have hampered my appreciation of some of the more subtle aspects of her character.

Marcille, though, is my favorite; as someone who is also a really fussy eater and just kind of tightly-wound in general I found her really relatable. She's also super, super, super pretty and cute but we don't need to get into that right now. I cannot be the first person to point out how, when she becomes the dungeon lord, her behavior starts feeling extremely manic, right? I suffer from delusional episodes that include very difficult to ignore intrusive thoughts, and I thought the whole bit she went into about how being the dungeon lord feels felt very familiar in that respect, and it really hit home for me.

(On the flip side, having your desires eaten by the demon seems similar to depression. I've been there, too.)

Other stuff! I like the whole overarching theme of eating both in the literal sense and as a general metaphor for going through one's life. In the very last chapter Marcille says something to the effect of, perhaps this journey was to teach us to accept death, and I don't think that's necessarily the entirety of what the series is going for, but that's part of it definitely. There's a whole circle of life thing going on here. The manga is very....sensory? Lots of focus on taste of course but also scent and feeling. Lots of really strong imagery along those lines throughout the entirety of it.

I set the worldbuilding aside earlier but it is super neat actually, also. I still don't love the general conceits of a western-style fantasy setup, but I think this is honestly about as well as it's possible to do this material. Everyone has a motivation for their actions that feels inspired by experience and history rather than just Dwarves Do X and Elves Do Y and so on. There's a LITTLE of that, but not nearly as much as is typical for this kind of thing. In particular, I liked the orcs. Their usage as a symbol is perhaps somewhat fraught (I'm not the person to make that call either way), but it felt like it was coming from a good place and they're just treated so much better here than comparable people in other media, idk. It felt nice to me.

The art! The art is fucking gorgeous, like, if I wanted to get someone to read this manga this is one of the things I'd mention. The entire dungeon feels so wonderfully lived-in and ancient. You can practically feel the stonework in some panels. (Sidebar here! The anime is really good at capturing this, do watch the anime it's fantastic.)

Some other random stray thoughts:

-The circumstances she gets it in obviously suck, but Marcille's dungeon lord outfit honestly serves hard and everyone should get off her case about it.

-I ended up liking the captain of the Canaries a lot more than I thought I would. He's just an interesting character all around.

-I also really love Sissel / Thistle / apparently how you romanize this is a source of some contention. I feel sooooo bad for the guy. He just wanted to keep everyone safe! It's not his fault that his idea of keeping everyone safe ended up being influenced by a lion-headed demon from outside of reality and corrupted into a suffocating hellscape for those same people! OK maybe it's a little his fault

-I like the diversity in appearances across the characters. This is a thing I wish more manga did this well.

-Laios' kingly titles in the final chapter, RANKED from MOST to LEAST badass: 1. Laios of the Three Heads (based as fuck, makes people ask questions when they hear about you in a history book several centuries down the line), 2. The Demon-Eater (badass and very specific) 3. The Vegetable-Armored (basically gets the same reaction as #1, but with a more comedic lean) 4. Demon King Laios (this honestly seems pretty disingenuous but it is dope) 5. The Dragon-Slayer (very generic, also not even the most impressive part of what he did) 6. The Lord of the Dungeon (Crusader Kings 2 auto-generated-ass name) 7. Pervy Tallman (this sounds like a bad comedian)

-I want to kiss Marcille on the lips

-who said that

-haha I wouldn't mind the Canaries coming to arrest me am I right fellow lesbians

-who said that (part 2)

anyway yeah really good manga highly recommended. I'm not sure if it's a (get out the scare quotes folks) "Personal Favorite" per se, but it might become one over time. Usually such things take a bit to settle with me. The fact that I have any interest in reading it again is a good sign, though. 90% of the time when I'm done with media I'm fine with never revisiting it again. Dungeon Meshi I would very much like to revisit, both in the form of the anime that's airing right now and also I think I'd like to re-read the manga in a few years when I'm at a different place in my life to see what I think of it a little farther down the line. I liked it a lot, and I think it will stick with me.

[shraqsmuses]

Top ten fictional crushes?

#10.

I've always found Aigis's design to be really appealing to me with how robotic her body is combined with how adorable and round her face is. What I found to be more appealing than that is her personality. Before she becomes human, I found her adherence to her principles at the confusion of others to be amusing as well as the emotionless tone she uses to say sentences that are occasionally absurd.

However, as she grows to become more sentient through attempting to process her failure to keep the protagonist safe and the emotions she feels for them, her love for life and the people who supported her despite her "odd" traits becomes really apparent. That could be the part about her I love the most. She evolves to become a really caring and patient person who maintains her composure when other people would've expressed how they feel at the moment. However, she doesn't let that prevent her from expressing her emotions when she's particularly distressed. All of that makes me appreciate exactly how she developed a conscience more.

#9.

Serena is possibly my favorite Dragon Quest character in the series. She's really kind and laid-back, rarely feeling perturbed by minor annoyances that would disturb others. I'm also fond of her optimism and how she's able to endure a lot of pain and sorrow with it. When she finds herself feeling the worst she has felt in her life, she chooses to accept the pain she feels and allow it to strengthen her mind and abilities. I find that to be really admirable. She's a character I admittedly aspired to be at a certain time. I still feel like she's a good person to aspire to be. When I'm in a bad mood, I've thought about how she would handle it.

#8.

The earliest history I have with Alice is a bit personal so I'm not sure if I feel comfortable about sharing it with anyone. With that said, Alice felt like a good fit for me by the time I started looking deeper into Touhou for the first time. She's blonde, is heavily associated with dolls, and her outfit looks similar to the Doll's. Her theme is pretty good too. I find it interesting that she's one of the few magician yokai in Touhou, which occurred as a result of her learning magic that eliminates her need to consume food. I also like the concept of her being a social recluse, living in an isolated shack within a magical forest and choosing to spend her time crafting enough dolls to obscure all of its walls with them and studying magic. I think it would be really nice to visit her shack and see what she's doing. It sounds like a pleasant lifestyle to live and I want to see all of the dolls she created, although I imagine she would think it's odd that someone traveled to her shack just to see them.

#7.

I played as Lola Pop in an ARMS demo at a kiosk once and the cold I had when I went to the store that had it suddenly went away when I left it. That aside, ARMS in general has a terrific roster with a lot of creative designs. Lola stood out the most to me because I love the concept of a Italian clown who sells confectioneries and entered the tournament just so she can attract more customers to it. I also like her abilities the most out of any ARMS character. It makes her a surprisingly agile fighter and really fun to control. I also like cheerful, playful women like her.

#6.

My love for women in formal outfits culminated in me discovering King. I love how her voice sounds throughout the games and her playstyle makes her perfect character for me to play as since she's mostly been a zoner in most of the games she's playable in. Her animations and taunts are great, as well, displaying her confident, elegant personality.

#5.

While I haven't figured out what my ideal hero would be like, Kat is pretty close to it. Gravity Rush does a fantastic job at endearing you to her from the start. Her scarf is a really clever aspect of her design. It not only reinforces how her abilities are focused on gliding her through the air but it also serves as a way for the player to tell which direction they're standing on based on how gravity is dragging it down. Also, I just realised she's themed after a cat because she always lands on her feet. That alone is enough to solidify her spot in the list. She's an optimistic character who finds herself getting into unfortunate situations despite how good her intentions are. Because of that, I found myself relating to her a lot. She also isn't afraid to help anyone she comes across who asks for her help, regardless of how much they annoy her, although most of the people she helps don't annoy her.

#4.

Before I watched Monogatari, I was wondering what my favorite vampire was. I once considered Alcina Dimitrescu as a muse in my muse list for Halloween last year but I couldn't dedicate myself to do so. As much as I wanted to add a vampire to my muse list, she didn't feel like the best choice at the time. She had traits I really liked but I didn't find her to be a vampire I would want to write: she somehow lacked the overwhelming presence and viciousness I would expect from one despite the fact that she clearly did. I suppose her being the first of the Four Lords you kill in Resident Evil Village made me think that. I wanted a vampire that would take a monumental amount of effort to eradicate from the world: one that could truly be called a queen of the supernatural.

When I watched Kizumonogatari, I realized that I found a vampire I could call my favorite. Shinobu Oshino, formerly known as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade, surpassed any expectations I had for vampires. She was supremely confident about her position in the world and the power she possesses over everyone around her. Despite that, she can ocassionally be crude because of the fact she believes herself to be above everyone. She didn't think anyone would be capable of restraining her. She's completely willing to demonstrate her power to other people, which often comes in the form of her engaging in achievements barely anyone in her world is capable of: creating an entire shrine dedicated to her, excessively slaughtering the supposed "strongest" vampire hunter she knew, traveling the world with jumps that across an incredible amount of distance, etc.

Despite all of that, it doesn't take a while to learn what her largest weakness is: her humanity. She wasn't born as a vampire. She was made into one. As much as she claims to be superior to everyone, her fondness for humans drew her close to them to the point she was willing to accept having them treat her as a goddess. That was a mistake that culminated in her creating a memory that would scare her away from them: the sight of her servant intetionally burning himself in sunlight after he blamed her for the deaths of the people who chose to treat her like a goddess despite the fact she was actually a vampire. She has since spent the entirety of her life attempting to find a way to die so she could "re-unite" with him. However, her true emotions betray what she believed she wanted, leading to her begging a human to come closer to her so she can stay alive for a bit longer. That's when it's revealed that she's an emotional monster, blatantly expressing how she feels and letting them control her actions more than she wants to. Regardless of everything she wants to believe and who she has become, she still wishes to interact with humans in a way that doesn't involve constantly frightening them away from her and hiding away from them.

That's what made me realize she was my absolute favorite vampire.

#3.

Charlotte is the first character in this list who really tapped into my depraved desires. She's such a perversion of the kind of people I usually love that it enamored me in a way I've never felt until I saw her. I tend to like characters that are kind and gentle like my top 2 fictional crushes because I find them to be comforting to think about and I think they're good examples to aspire to be. However, when I first saw Bad Girl, I experienced a kind of love that I didn't know how to comprehend because of the fact that I never found myself liking characters like her before.

After a while, I realized why I loved someone as cruel and violent as she is: I find it cathartic to see a woman relentlessly indulge in what they love. The way Bad Girl shamelessly reveled in her killing and fondness for beer enthralled me since I've never seen a character as degenerate and somehow adorable as she is before I played No More Heroes. It felt like seeing a sweet woman being corrupted to give into what she truly desired: what makes the happiest out of anything that she has ever experienced. That thought would've not appealed to me before but it's something I've come to appreciate when it comes to fictional characters. I want to see people engage in what they love the most without anyone interrupting them and the sight of seeing a cruel character doing that with immoral acts such as killing, torture, cannibalism, etc. fulfills that desire in an unorthodox way. I would say more but I'm not sure if I should say what I want to in a public setting. I just want to clarify that I purely enjoy seeing that in fiction, not in reality.

I love the concept of one of the strongest assassins in No More Heroes being a young woman who loves killing so much that she's become incredibly effecient at doing so. I find her voice to be adorable with how raspy yet bubbly it is. Her disheveled appearance combined with her effeminate outfit made her really appealing to me, especially with how ragged her hair is.

#2.

Peach is my first ever fictional crush. Peach fostered my love for kind, compassionate women, blonde hair (which I believe is just a coincidence), and the color pink. I also like how joyous and loving she sounds and how she's associated with hearts often. Her immense kindness and gentle mannerisms always appealed to me since I was a child. They drew me toward her during a time where I haven't really thought about which female characters I liked. Since I explored the reasons I liked Peach, I became more open-minded toward female characters and find myself loving them as much as I like male ones. I think it's really cool that a character as kind as Peach exists in video games along with a lot of other ones that share that trait with her.

#1.

Whereas Peach pushed me to open-minded about the kind of characters I might love, the Doll was the first one I formed a bond with. She taught me that stoic people are also capable of expressing love during a time where I tried to emulate them, which pushed me into being more emotional. The ethereal aura that surrounded her combined with her genuine, loving personality awed me the first time I saw her. I love how brown her outfit is and how warm and nurturing it makes her look with her thick cloak. The way her face appears to be forlorn with weary eyes and a dour frown managed to compliment her inviting appearance combined with her delicate, soothing voice. It made me find her to be one of the most beautiful fictional characters I've seen.

A part of me didn't register that she was merely an animated doll when I realized that I love her. The fact that she was a doll only made me love her more. I love the thought of an artifical being capable of compassion and kindness as much as an organic one. The Doll made me love dolls because of how fond I was of her. I still love her as much as I did in the past. She'll always be the fictional character I love the most out of anyone I've ever known.

______________________________________________________________

This was really fun to answer. Thank you for sending that question to me~

[basmathgirl]

Hello again Basmathgirl !

No socks related question-anon here. Thanks for replying so quickly.

Sorry for this long message, but I kinda have the urge to explain my “Doctor Who-situation” first, especially because I fear I have a controversial opinion on a well liked character. But I’m very new to the DW fandom, hence I can’t assess how common my opinion is. So you see, it is not just fanfiction recommendations I’m after.

I started watching the series about two months ago and I just finished “Midnight”. Even before I started the show, I already knew a few DW facts just from being on the internet, but other story elements took me completely by surprise.

Due to the large amount of DW content, I was rather intimidated at first. So I watched a DW guide over on YT, which recommended where to start with the show. In that guide it was explicitly stated that the Doctor has many different companions during the course of the series, but the relationships will only ever be platonic. Consequently I was a bit surprised that there was quite a lot of romantic tension/ undertones throughout the series anyway.

And then there is Donna Noble. 😍 I loved Donna from the moment she appeared, even though I knew beforehand she will only be part of the series for a short time, and that her season four ending won’t be very happy (At least I think that’s what will happen. Like I said, I’m not there yet). I just love the friendship dynamic between the Doctor & Donna. It was a breath of fresh air after Rose and Martha’s frequent yearning for the Doctor.

Admittedly, knowing that there won’t be any romantic developments between Donna & the Doctor, didn’t keep me away from reading Donna/ Doctor fanfics anyway.

...

So here comes my probably controversial opinion into play, which is related to my request for ff recommendations. (I didn’t search through your blog btw, so I don’t know what your opinion is on my upcoming jabbering. Sorry in advance.)😓

Okay, here it is: I really don’t like the character River Song. I loved the concept of the library planet, the Vashta Nerada and Donna’s adventure with her made-up family (Catherine's acting was amazing!). However the moment River Song showed up, I disliked the character for some reason, or more specifically the concept of her in canon (Because for me it is a great concept for ffs). 🫣

Anyway I’m not even sure where my irrational aversion against her is coming from. I guess I don’t like the fact that one of the companions is singled out like this, is so extremely special and put on a pedestal. (And I know now there is even more to her backstory...)

Considering my feelings concerning the library episode, I was desperately looking for a fix-it fic for this particular episode or even ffs where Donna is this special person (his future wife, who knows his real name...) for the Doctor. Sadly I wasn’t able to find anything. So I’ve got the impression that there are not many people who shared my experience watching this episode. Am I indeed in the minority in my absurd dislike for River Song?

Did you ever came across Donna/Doctor stories, that include the from me desired aspects? Or perhaps you can think of other blogs that share my silly opinion and are more likely to know any ffs like I described?

Sorry again for the long message and sorry if you’re a fan of River Song. I hope I didn’t upset you or your followers. But please keep in mind I only watched until season 4 episode 11, and maybe I will change my mind in the future. But I really needed to talk to someone who watched Doctor Who, and likes Donna and Donna/ Doctor respectively.

Plus I'm still very surprised that I wasn't able to find fix-it fics for the library episode. I guess nobody thought of it being in need of fixing.🤷‍♀️

Thanks for replying and I hope you have a nice day.

(PS English is not my first language. Therefore I hope my message wasn’t too convoluted.)

Sorry for the delay in replying, kind Anon

The migraines have been biting hard lately so I haven't got very far with my fic quest for you.

What, no socks? Shame. 😂 We could start a whole trend...

You'll be pleased to know that among Doctor/Donna shippers your opinion isn't that unusual. For fanfic writers you have to dodge the whole "luuuuurve" where Rose is concerned, and Moffat inserting his own love interest: River. The ones I'm friends with tend to do this quite well.

I love Alex Kingston as an actor but River as a character was completely wasted, in my opinion. Apart from the whole "keep away, he's Donna's" attitude I'd developed by the time I first watched Silence In The Library, I had high hopes for the return of River. All I was left with was the desire to own those red shoes she wore in S5, otherwise the someone of someone who rose through academic ranks purely to find a specific man/alien goes against everything I have ever been encouraged to feel. But I won't rant about Moffat anymore than that here. *kicks him*

I totally understand you not liking a companion being put on a pedestal, because the system in Doctor Who used to be each one got their own limelight. Then RTD came along... And yes, I did count how many photos of each companion apeared on the official website to back up my claim of biasedness. I can be very pedantic like that.

Also, I ship Ten/Donna so ardently purely out of spite because loads of Rose shippers told me I couldn't and shouldn't ship them. Plus I read some wonderful fics that persuaded me to go from bropt to OTP.

But you were asking for fics. The one I imediately thought of is Best Laid Schemes, where you'll particularly like the epilogue.

An author to generally consider is TkelParis as she has written loads of stories that ditch River (she detests both River and Rose, btw). I would have also recommended our friend tardis-mole, but they are no longer on AO3 and you have to gain permission to 'friend' them on LiveJournal to read anything (let's just say they aren't accepting new friends these days).

Anyway, I suggest giving Altered History, Shakespearean Cupids, and The Belted Doctor a read; and I'll try to find some more for you to consider later.

(There is absolutely nothing wrong with your English, nor do I think your message is convoluted, let alone too convoluted!)

[lightningfilledsaber]

i have a quastion. what is dungeon meshi like i’ve considered watching the anime since it looks amusing…. i trust you as an authority on this hence why i’m in your asks :3c

Dungeon Meshi is so good!!!

So Ryoko Kui (the author of the manga) is a super super great artist and writer in general, and her knowledge of intimate and expansive worldbuilding, including the cultures of different fantasy races is VERY apparent in dunmesh without being super in your face. It strikes a perfect balance between showing and implying and telling; giving you information when you need it but not holding your hand throughout the process. Ecology and biology of creatures and the places (mostly dungeons but yk) is SUPER important and expanded upon in the story. It scratches my Creature autism SOOO well. And all of the characters are VERY distinct and fun AND THE DESIGNS FUCK SOOO HARD. Dungeon Meshi has become one of my favorite series of all time, because it's so. so fucking profound. There are a LOT of funny moments and gags but there's an equal amount of genuinely serious and emotional moments. The character dynamics. GOD. Cannot recommend it enough.

Also. Dungeon Meshi is super fucking horny. LMAO. Not in a "fanservice-y" way (in fact, there is only ONE character that ever gets upskirt/panty shots and it is Senshi, the bearded dwarf man. He's my fave btw <3). But dunmeshi uses consumption (and to a lesser/technical extent cannibalism as well) as a... metaphor for love and obsession, and frequently eroticizes it. I hesitate to say metaphor because it's honestly VERY obvious lmao. Especially with how genuinely autistic Laios is about monsters and eating them. Then there's also transformation and change that's also VERY eroticized. A lot of the focus of Dungeon Meshi is desire. How people experience it, and just how far people will go for it. Which, again, is super eroticized a LOT. All done in a tasteful(? not sure if this is the right word but yk) way and not in a surface level "LOOK, SEX!!!!!!!!!" way. Not that there's anything inherently WRONG with being horny and not being like profound about it but I'm just trying to make a point lol

Now to specifically talk about the anime since that's what you mentioned wanting to watch (though I REALLY reccommend the manga, it is fucking GORGEOUS and there are so many hilarious panels that haven't been brought over to the anime, despite how well it's been doing with that so far. It just happens with turning a manga into an anime yk?)! It's doing a really good job so far!! The only issues I have are relatively nitpicky (I've gone into detail abt it if you wanna see here) and more of an issue with modern anime overall so! They're doing a really great job of translating over from the page to the screen and the voice acting work (both the original japanese and english dub) is really fucking good. And I don't typically like modern english dubs. The layout of the episodes is really nice so far too, centering around the "dish/es of the day" without feeling too constrictively like your typical "monster of the week" type episodes. It helps that Dungeon Meshi as a media itself strikes a really good balance between that and its storytelling. Though again. Laios is genuinely SO fucking autistic about monsters and eating them lmao and the series focuses on him/his party so! There's so much good in depth discussion about monsters, both their biology (especially in relation to their taste hehe) as well as their natures, and ecology!

I'm also really a fan of netflix releasing the episodes weekly instead of dropping them all at once. It's refreshing coming from netflix specifically considering their... track record.

But anyway yeah! TYSM Marty for coming to me about this and letting me go on an autistic talk about it!! I only apologize for not being more specific, but a lot of my dunmesh posting (reblogs anyway since I'm pretty sure the posts I've MADE about it have been relatively vague??) is already pretty spoilery and I'm a firm believer in a first watch/read being as spoiler free as possible!! It makes subsequent rewatches/rereads all the more fun to me personally <3 Though that's obviously up to you lol

[rosekillerismylife]

Elite (Season 7, I guess)

I'm done watching Elite. Literally done. How can every single character be fucked up? I mean, I have my favourites and then they get fucked up too?! Why, man, why? I need to ramble a little.

Look, I favoured Omar since the beginning. I rooted for him and he was the best when he was with Ander to he honest but why must the one gay relationship be such a dramatic situation? Sure, Saraúl wasn't better and even Dídac and Isadora had there drama scenes but the gay couples? Ouf, man, don't get me started.

Throughout the series we had OmarxAnder, AnderxPatrick, AnderxAlexis, PatrickxIván, PatrickxCruz, OmarxAnderxPatrick, OmarxJoel, JoelxIván and even some lesbian couples like MencíaxRebe (very grateful for that one, by the way, even though it didn't work out and went to nothing). My personal favourites out of those are AnderxOmar and IvánxPatrick. I so hoped that Patrick would make a comeback in season 7...

Iván is so confusing. Like, please, he didn't know what he wants with Patrick and he treated him like shit. No, correction, they both treated each other like shit. But they fit so well together. And now, in the new season, he's so forward with everything, I think Patrick damaged something. But I really like that Iván is doing the exchange because he has probably more space and time to think and process everything that has been going on. I kinda am extremely proud of him but also somehow sad that Patrick didn't come back.

Joel and Omar are/were a different thing than Patrick and Iván. They found each other at a time where both of them needed support. That way, their relationship was basically built on mental support which means that they had to be dependant on each other. Joel got kicked out by his parents because he's gay and Omar just lost his best friend. I still believe that they loved each other and I refuse to believe that their whole relationship was built on patching up open wounds for each other. But parting was still the best choice they could make. Nevertheless, the way they did it was very Elite and not very clear.

I think my favourite character in the seventh season is Dalmar. Like, this dude does basically all the work to pay the rent so that Omar and Joel can still live there and on top of that he has to deal with all their shit. He's so fed up and so, so done. Like, everytime he opens the door he has to fear to witness them having sex again. My man was so done with them, he really didn't understood what they wanted from each other (me neither, by the way). But, as every other character, he wasn't left unharmed, no, he has to be involved somehow. So that's how he ends up in the ending scene...

My other favourite character in season 7 is probably Sonia. She is so nice and also extremely wise and sympathetic. She didn't deserve the drama with Nico and I also didn't get why Nico hooked up with Chloe when he was in love with Sonia. I enjoyed the way she was involved but like, on the sidelines. She helped Omar with the app, had a crush on Nico, a few bonding moments with Chloe and eso es. Sonia was probably the one character Chloe could have been friends with because Sonia cared about her and tried to make her realize that she could be different. It was a real bitch move to hook up with Nico to spite Sonia, even though Chloe did it with good intentions.

Chloe was a really difficult character. I loved her confidence and I liked how her character had a deeper meaning. But I was furious at her for believing Raúl. I mean, Raúl? Come on, he's ugly, on the outside as well as the inside. Yeah, sure, what Sara did was not fair and incredibly bitchy but couldn't Chloe just blackmail Sara or burn down her car or something instead of hooking up with Raúl?! It was stupid and I hope the comments on the Internet just affected her too much and led to this decision. Without the harassement, she would've hopefully been smarter.

The whole (love) triangle of Chloe, Iván and Carmen (Chloe's mother) was a whole rolercoaster of emotions. It started with annoying, went to funny, to disgusting, to confusing and then to incredibly sad and murderous. What the fuck?! I mean, I get it, they couldn't just ignore Cruz' death as well as they couldn't just ignore the hit and run and Samu's death but damn, it did nothing.

And then the Romeo and Juliet thing with Dídac and Isadora. I still don't fully understand what was going on with that and how Rocío's mom was exactly involved in it but it was really confusing. I never knew when they were together and when they weren't. Like, are they pretending to fight or not? I mean, it was the right decision in the end but I don't exactly know what the purpose of it was.

Somehow, the series has lost its meaning. It all started with Marina's death and for several seasons, it stayed that way, always related to the death and to cover up some traces but then, new characters showed up (not that I complain) and the focus of the show drifted which is not necessarily bad. The last two or three seasons were kinda random, if I remember it right. The characters always were connected with each other and they always did bad things but the whole point was missing. There was not the same goal or the same reason, so it all just became random.

I don't know. The original cast will always be iconic to me but the new cast expanded the gayness which I highly support. Some things will never change though:

1. Samuel has always annoyed me. I mean, come on man, quit being the sad nerd playboy. You cannot fuck Marina, Carla and Rebeka and believe that you have nothing to do with the outcome of everything.

2. Ander and Omar for life! They were so real with each other even though Ander was sometimes a gay dude in denial with his cheating eras.

3. Mencía and Rebe will forever be a power couple. Two rebellious people thrown into a relationship? Yes, please. I wished it had worked out for them.

4. Iván and Patrick are the couple with the most drama. Like, please. They are so wolfstar coded and also so melodramatic, I can't. I love both of them so much.

5. Lu is the character with the most developement and my all time favourite (with Christian, Dalmar and Sonia). At the beginning, I kinda hated her but somehow, she became the most unbothered character and I started to like her.

6. The friendships in the series are sometimes so random. Samuel and Guzmán, Ander and Patrick (well, more friends with benefits) or Lu and Nadia. Do I have to say more?

EDIT: I just realized that Raúl looks like Luke Skywalker from Star Wars! Wow, this is so funny to me.

[condemnhim]

(mutant mayhem spoilers)

OHMIGOSH so i saw mutant mayhem two days ago, on its official opening here in the US

it was really really good and i loved it so much and ugh i could rant about it for ages. so here's a nearly 2000 word rant about it. sorry for any spelling and grammar errors

(more under the cut)

so first of all, lemme talk about the characters real quick. my favorite character continues to be donnie but all of them were really likeable in this one, and the dynamic the turtles had is amazing.

mm!leo was a very very good version of leo, staying relatively close to older versions of leo but having some of the more fun traits that leo has had recently in tmnt media (for example, he was willing to do some things with his brothers, even if they went against splinter. even if he felt bad about it.) he was funny and cool, really bringing it all together. nicolas cantu (that how you spell his name? idk) did a great job as his voice as well, he pretty much perfectly illustrated all the emotions he needed to for leo throughout the whole movie. the only thing i didn't like about leo was the fact that he had a crush on april, but that's mostly a me thing because i've never been a fan of the turtle x april ships, they're just uncomfortable for me. they played it off pretty well though.

mm!mikey was really enjoyable for a character who is generally a little bit hit-or-miss for his moments. it was really a hit for all of the times he was on screen or talked which i'm very glad about. i a little wish that the movie focused even more on mikey, but maybe the series/sequel will. he was funny and not nearly as gross as some previous iterations were (ahem 2012) and it was just a really fun time with him. he was pretty much the best parts of all of my favorite versions of mikey all put in one. shamon brown jr also did an amazing job with him!!!!! he's a really good voice actor and he was pretty much perfect for mikey. and yeah, one thing i think they could've done better is just giving him more screen time and focus i think?

mm!raph was really great. you could tell that he was definitely raph but he wasn't super aggressive or hard to talk to. he was funny and there were plenty of moments that made me laugh with him. even though the movie didn't go terribly far into all the characters, you could tell that he definitely has a soft spot for his brothers and for splinter as well. seeing him as a turtle tot was amazing as well by the way, he looked like a cinderblock. and yeah, you bet i gotta bring up brady noon, who was amazing for raph. (really, casting all teenagers for the teenage mutant ninja turtles was a great casting choice on all levels.) even though he was this kinda aggressive guy, you can tell that he has dreams and he has people he cares about. it was really great to see for raph.

and of course i gotta talk about my favorite little guy. mm!donnie was SOO GOOd and like my favorite from the whole movie, he was really fussing great. his design is so good just because they really incorporated the tech stuff into his design, and the stickers on his bō were a nice touch. one thing i wish they would've shown more of is stuff that donnie made himself, y'know? donnie's original tech is usually kinda pushed to the front in tmnt which is great, i love seeing donnie tech. but the main thing donnie did in this movie is fight with his regular bō and use his phone and drive a car or something? i hope we get to see his tech in the future. also, micah abbey did such an amazing job at him@!!1 i mean i really enjoyed how he had a higher voice which is NORMAL for teenage boys, like people's voices change at different rates. he sounded great!! i am sad we didn't get to see more scooter action with him though

april i sure have thoughts about. i mean the thoughts are all positive. she was such a good april and an amazing addition to the cast. first of all, i am strong supporter in her design. sure am a big fan of the non-white aprils. a lot of fans didn't like her design for whatever reason?? some of them didn't like that she's not white and others had issues with her body shape, which is stupid. she's a teenage human, there's no reason to give her the "perfect" adult woman's body (in their eyes anyway) when she's meant to just kinda be this a little average but nonetheless badass ally to the turtles. her personality was great, she felt like a real teenager. her arc of getting (mostly) over her camera sensitivity was really nice, and i appreciate that she wasn't totally over it by the end. ayo edebiri was a really great cast for her as well. (also, i'm glad that even though she agreed to go to prom with leo, it seems like she still sees him purely platonically. i will NOT stand for another 2012 donnie and april situation.)

anyway, splinter, amiright? it's interesting how they went with the route that he was originally a rat. he was a really good character and one of my favorite versions of splinter now. he really was just trying to be a good father to these turtles in this weird little family situation, and i can't blame him for being so overprotective of them when he was made to be a monster in times square by mrbeast. jackie chan was a great choice to play him. (i don't support what jackie chan did to his daughter though btw.) the fact that he learned martial arts through old tapes, new movies and fussing youtube (a video of a channel i watch was in it by the way????) is amazing.

okay now all the other characters were really cool too. all the mutants that baxter stockman created were really interesting and it's great how they brought back so many existing characters while adding new ones. bebop and rocksteady were actually funny which i don't really expect from bebop and rocksteady most of the time to be honest. superfly was actually really scary for being this kids movie villain, which i guess isn't very surprising for tmnt. he got away with kinda a surprising amount of swearing for it though, a whole lot of instances of "damn" and stuff. mondo gecko was very fun and i was actually a bit scared when mikey found his tail. cynthia utrom didn't play as big a part in this movie as i expected her to but she will definitely be a bigger part in the future, especially considering that she's obviously meant to be an utrom. (and oh my god that end scene??? but i'll get into that later) i sure was a big fan of superfly's family turning on him for the benefit of humanity (and the chance of living with the turtles and splinter.) the voice cast was great for all the side characters. i think it's really cool that the main cast (as in the turtles and april) were all voiced by younger, less well-known actors while the side cast and villains were all played by the much better-known actors.

anyway onto the art, IT WAS AMAZING AAAAHHH as an artist this was on fussing spider-verse levels of art and animation. it looked like teenagers helped design it, which is what they were going for. the movement looked great and SOO natural, aahh!! the fight choreo was amazing too, there was that one scene where they were trying to find info about superfly was so well put together. there really were a few stand-out moments but all of it was so good. i love it when the ninja turtles actually use their weapons as they should be, which has happened in the past but it was so clear that they did their research here. also i'm glad that jeff rowe and seth rogen said that they ensured that the animators weren't being mistreated or overworked.

anywho, the music amiright? the soundtrack being based on NYC-based rap and hip hop was a really great choice. that one song that goes "can i kick it, yes you can" was a great choice for the main title-y thing of that movie. it hit all the places it needed to.

some other notes i wanna bring up:

the stakes were real my guys. at multiple points, i felt such genuine fear for these fictional mutant turtles in my heart i thought i would have a stroke or something. for example, when cynthia just kept shocking them??? are they not aware of the damage that like father like son did to ninja turtles fans???? also when superfly just had them in his hands and you could HEAR their shells crunching a little bit. UGH that hurt me fr. it felt so so real and it was so so good.

the fact that the cardboard cutouts that splinter acquired were chris hemsworth, chris pine and chris pratt lmao

are any of the characters autistic? i was thinking about this and to be honest i think yes, some of them probably are autistic. but it's not as clear as it is in rise, especially with donnie, y'know?

about the pop culture references and memes that they used didn't actually feel dated or cringe to me. i've heard others complaining about that but it didn't bother me much, it felt how teenagers actually talk. (i'm a teenager btw, i'm pretty used to how we talk.)

making leo have a crush on a girl after rise!leo lmao

but speaking of leo having a crush on april, there is more i wanna say. so i do not ship them, i've never shipped any of the turtles with april. it just don't sit right with me. but i think they still have the opportunity to play it off with elegance and grace, by having april straight up refuse him when he's honest with her about how he feels. hoping that will happen at some point. i've been asked to dances and stuff by friends, i hope that's why april said yes to him asking her to prom at the end. i will find seth rogen if they put leo and april together in the end. (for legal reasons this is a joke.) but yeah.

and the end scene???? oh god what do you guys gonna think shredder's gonna be like in mm???? because as much as i like the pretty goofy side of shredder that we've seen in the past (like '87 shredder was so silly compared to 2012 or god forbid rise shredder), i would love to see a really just horrifying version of shredder that they would actually maybe kill off in the end? and then there's another sequel where leo has to grapple with his own conflicted feelings about killing shredder or something. that would be so real lmao

i'm really looking forward to the future of mutant mayhem, even though i still want more rise!! and also we must keep showing support for the wga/sag-aftra strike, even though it's gonna delay production on the next parts of the series.

it was a great movie though and a great use of one hour and thirty nine minutes.

[tylrgalpins]

so thoughts on the ted lasso finale since you reblogged to say you enjoyed it.

i'm going to put them undercut just cause it will contain spoilers!! but yes, i did like and enjoy the finale.

so my thoughts on the ted lasso finale, why I enjoyed it and why I felt the majority of the characters ended up where they should be.

so first let's address ted because so many people didn't like the fact he went back to kansas and left his found family just for henry. I saw loads of people say it was very out of character for ted but I got to disagree.

in s2 we found out that a lot of ted's issues and struggles stemed from the fact his father committed suicide when he was only 16 and that resulted in him feeling like his father abandoned him.

with ted having carried that all his life I understand why he felt he needed to go home to be with his son and be more active in his life. he never wanted henry to feel like he had abandoned him and so he went home to be with him even if it meant sacrificing his life in richmond. ted put his son first. and yes, it's nice to think 'well Henry could come to England' but realistically, to uproot his life like that and take him away from everyone in his life would be a lot for a teenager to go through.

Now let's talk about Rebecca.

I know loads of people are angry about tedbecca, which personally I don't ship so maybe that changes my opinion but I generally don't think the fact them two not getting together spoilt her story or her arc.

To me, the entire arc of Rebecca was for her to finally stop caring about Rupert and what he thinks, to get out of his hold and actually realise how much she loves and care for the club.

And she did that, she stopped caring about beating rupert and cared about the team instead. she realised how much good she had done with the club and how important it was to her and how important she was to the club.

That was her story arc done, and to me it was satisfying.

I know tedbecca shippers are upset and yes it sucks when your ship doesn't happen but to me there was no way they could have worked. ted needed to go back to henry, and rebecca needed to stay. imagine how angry everyone would have been if rebecca gave it all up to be with ted. just look how much everyone hates ross & rachel for the exact same reason.

So the roy/jamie/keeley part.

So this was maybe the part i was least happy about but also I don't think it was that bad.

I loved roy & keeley and it sucked so much that they didn't end up together but I do feel that was best for the characters at this moment.

they broke up because roy didn't feel worthy and then he did nothing to help change that mindset. we finally saw him making strides in the last few minutes and i do feel he needs to sort himself out before him & keeley give it another go because at the moment nothing has changed.

I also kinda liked that Keeley ended up single, for the entire series she's pretty much always had a partner. I like that she's decided to focus on her career for a while.

Sure it would've been nice if they had done the previous two bullets throughout season 3 but they didn't, and I think they are important for the relationship to work.

Now jamie, i do largely want to ignore the comment he made about keeley because he's made the best character progress of the season and I love him. at the same time, while the comment was out of line, i do sort of think it's on brand. a lot of the roy/jamie friendship is based on trying to out do each other and I just don't think jamie thought before he spoke which I also thought was on brand for jamie. that said I don't agree with the stuff he said.

I still love jamie and i don't think that one comment ruins his entire redemption.

other stuff.

I was really happy colin got to kiss his fella even if we all saw it coming. i've really enjoyed his storyline and I thought it was done well.

I am really pleased with where the team ended up at the end of the season.

I loved that sam got to play for nigeria.

i've seen a few people say they hated that nate didn't really move forward, especially as he came back to richmond as a kitman. but i felt this was the whole point of his story. he reached the top and it sucked for him, he lost everything but then realised that actually, that didn't matter anyway.

YES for roy kent as manager.

a little gutted they didn't end up winning the whole fucking thing.

happy with where trent crimm ended up.

loved that beard stayed but not so much that he married jane.

i think that covers everything but come talk to me about anything you want regarding the final.

[vennylavey]

Sorting out my Thoughts regarding Tolya and Inej

A few days ago, I finished watshing Shadow and Bone Season 2 and

what.

The.

FUCK.

Some background before you quote me on this!

I first fell in love with the crows on Season 1 of S&B. They, along with the sheer insanity of the fandom that I resonated with, encouraged me to buy the duology and read the hecc out of it. Out of all the grishaverse books, I've only ever read the six of crows duology, so I only know show!Tolya from S&B Season 2.

I am an avid Kanej shipper. I love Kaz. I'm in love with Inej. Love them together and as individual characters. (recently started rereading, and since mentally separating the show and the books, i've been really seeing them in a new lights from both angles! and both endear me.) I hold this ship sacred and very close to my heart, and nothing will ever change that.

-

Some spoilers from here on out!

-

Like any other fellow fan who followed the series primarily because of kanej, who learned to peck for crumbs in the briefest (longest) of gazes and the subtlest of interactions, I was on the edge of my seat anticipating every smidge of development between my favourite pair.

It wasn't a steady rise in progression, but it was the Kaz and Inej way, and I loved it. Ot's nice that they kept that sense of angsty realism from the books. (Can't say the impact and heaviness of Kaz's trauma and backstory was fully communicated, but Freddy did SO GREAT.) The sort-of push and pull kept me positively on my toes throughout the whole series, so I became laser-focused on their relationship the whole time.

Then came rolling Episode 8.

GLORIOUS 'and how would you have me?' MOMENT. the tension, the looking at each other, the miniscule changes in expression, the way you could see the monologue in the pause between responses - yes, im talking about kaz 'you, inej. you.' brekker (bless u freddy carter) - and the sheer fragility of the moment. it's everything i could have asked for in an adaptation of that scene

AND I WAS ABSOLUTELY FLOORED.

(and devastated. angst symptom, really. but mostly floored.)

Then we got a little moment with Nikolai and Mal, and damn, even after a break-up-but-not-really-a-break-up, INEJ LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL I SKDJFKDJ

She looked hopeful, which makes sense. For her, its a new beginning. Its a half equivalent of the ending she got in crooked kingdom. The best thing about it is that she just doesn't look like she has any regret. (Not that she doesn't care about Kaz, but that she doesn't regret not settling for less than she deserves.) AND INEJ - inej deserves that kind of weightless freedom.

AND THEN AND THEN

THAT SCENE

THAT SCENEEEEEE

TOLYA OFFERED A HAND FOR THE BAG. LIKE, NOT EVEN TO HELP HER UP YET, SPECIFICALLY FOR THE BAG, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY. Inej is a bit estranged by the gesture (She's so used to mannerless crows lol) but gives it, anyway. Tolya offers his other hand. Inej, endeared, but confused, accepts the help, AND YOOO

THE HEAT.

THE HEAT IN TOLYA'S GAZE AS INEJ WALKS FURTHER ONTO THE SHIP.

THE LITTLE SMALL SMIRK AS HE LOOKED AT HER.

THAT. BROKE ME.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

The tension was there. It's so obvious. THEY (production) MADE SURE IT WAS FELT. I'm balling because I got totally played by the pacing.

Most of what I felt throughout the scene mirrored Inej's. Did not consider AT ALL that Tolya was holding any interest for her, so the quiet and the emphasis in the nonverbal cues in the scene really built up the realization, and that expression Tolya had after Inej turns away hit me in the face like it was Kaz's cane.

Looked for images online, showed it to my friends, and REALLY had to ask their opinion if said expression was a look of interest or I'm just overthinking it. IT COULD VERH WELL BE HIM PLAYFULLY TEASING HER BEING UNUSED TO GENTLE FRIENDLINESS, RIGHT? Friends said that look is their exact look when looking at their love interest, and mhm. Admittedly, I was in denial.

Saw a reddit thread about it! I WAS SO GLAD I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO SAW IT. THEY EVEN LISTED SOME OTHER SCENES FROM OTHER EPISODES THAT POINTED TO TOLYA'S INTEREST, and oh, they were so right.

Having rewatched it, it was really obvious. The tension was there when I really looked at them. I EVEN MISSED HOW TOLYA WAS TELLING OVHAL TO TAKE HIM INSTEAD OF INEJ.

I felt like, from that, I really should have seen it coming.

But I understand that it was easy to get distracted by the other narratives! Such as wesper troubles in paradise, hyperfixated on the way tolya meditated(?) to withstand the poison longer, INEJ'S DELUSION????, Jesper's heartwarming and simultaneously heartbreaking dream, KAZ DENYING HOW MUCH INEJ MEANS TO HIM, Ohval's badassery (i did not think she could get any more badass, but she did), and that wonderful fight scene??? Oh, yeah. So much was happening.

After that scene in episodr 8, it was hard not to try following where his gaze led for the rest of the episode, and definitely found it briefly landing on the part of the boat that Inej was a few seconds later revealed to be hanging from.

Did I already love Tolya before the scene that dropped the bomb? Yes. Do I still love Tolya? Yes, I do. Do I love him so much more for it, regardless? Yes, yes, yes.

Tolya alone with his passion for poetry, family, adventhre, and his superstions was loveable enough. But anyone who treats Inej with the respect she so rightfully deserves also gets a great in my book.

BUT DID I IMMEDIATELY FEEL GUILTY FOR NOT REALLY BEING ADVERSE TO THE IDEA OF TOLYA BEING INTERESTED IN INEJ?

Honestly, a little bit.

But Kanej would always be endgame. And I do not see Tolya as a threat to that.

-

It's a little unnerving how I didn't see these details and made the connrctions in the series as I watched, but Inej and Tolya are plenty alike.

Both are passionately religious, both know their superstitions, both have an occupation or a way of life that somehow go against some principles of their beliefs, and they SUCKED AT FIGHTING OHVAL LMAO but their movements and actions in episode 6 were really in sync. Could probably inflict more damage together with more practice, but it's a nice detail that they didn't accidentally hit each other even once despite fighting side by side for the first time. (Or I may be overthinking it, and it's just all the characters' innate experiences in fighting because there also wasn't any problems when Inej fought alongside Zoya, someone she also met only recently.) Other than the fighting, it should also be noted that when the door closed, they kinda moved at the same time. could be for cinematic effect. but it can also be interpreted as both of them being right hands mans of a sort, inej to kaz, and tolya to nikolai, leading them to develop similar habits.

These similarities give them something to bond over. Gives Inej someone to learn from. And I don't know Tolya's story yet, but these common traits and interest is part of the main reason I like their dynamic. Doesn't need to be romantic. I feel they can be great friends and close allies, and if they get flirty, that would also be amusing.

I would love to see their on screen interactions in general.

-

Regarding Inej's trauma and Tolya's Aro-ace representation

If you think about it, these two facts kind of make them compatible. Self-explanatory. If you see this as a ship, Inej not wanting to be touched and Tolya's minimal need/no need for touch is the simplest way to go about things, I feel. Wouldn't fault you for taking that route.

But part of the reason why Kanej works so well is that they encourage and motivate each other to heal from their trauma.

And unless Inej comes out as Ace/Aro/Aro-Ace, it's healthy for book!inej to desire to touch another person in spite of her trauma. No matter how slow the progress.

In the show, Inej's trauma is never discussed at all. It even seems non existent. I could handle them not confronting it directly. It's possible they may be saving it for the spinoff. But the show of physical casual physical contact kind of negates that a bit, such as Jesper coming up to hug Inej and spin her around. But to fit in the narrative, I think Tolyacan help with that. More on that in a bit, but first

The headcanon that Tolya is Aro-Ace

This is really the only source I found regarding any book statements about the origins of Tolya being Aro-Ace. And I've read the fact that Tolya is the only one eith no clear partner through the books have been brought up!

And while I first interpreted this quote from the book as something like, he just doesn't particularly think about it or desire it, and is completely fine with taking his time,

I am also very much in love with the Aro-Ace representation. It's rare, and it feels right on Tolya, to be honest.

Like I said, I don't particularly want him and Inej to be a certain way. (TRYING SO HARD NOT TO PROJECT ON INEJ CAUSE IM ATTRACTED TO HIM) But i do want to see some semblance of closeness between them!

So Queer platonic relationships do exist. I think it's a valid path or ending fanfiction-wise for those who want them 'together' together! I think the exposure to it, and how such a relationship would work, still validates the representation. but I'm not Aro-Ace myself, so do correct me if I'm wrong, and my sincerest apologies if I've offended anyone.

Part of why I still find hope for the Aro-Ace HC is because Tolya doesn't seem to be operating on his interest for Inej based on physical attraction or emotional connection. His intetest truly started from the life debt, then gratitude, thst he'd developed concern for her. I also think Tolya could just be a bit reverent of Inej (hence the look in e08), or appreciate her as a person or someone he could resonate with, but that's my own headcanon.

-

For how whatever is between tolya and inej could be a significant narrative, please refer to this BCOS THEY SAID IT PERFECTLY AND THATS RLLY THE ONLY WAY I CAN ENVISION IT HAPPENING ROMANTICALLY, AND REALLY ITS SO TRUEEE, AND DOES WONDERS FOR THE KANEJ DEVELOPMENT, would make endgame kanej all the more gratifying. its a bit inej-centered tho, and we also need to talk about how its important to tolya

this one explains how it would be narratively significant for tolya, too. tolya's realization of identity happening in the show also kind of matches the kind of subtle changes the adaptation makes to characters (like how in the show, we are shown inej's first kill, but inej has long resorted to murder in the start of soc), so personally, i agree, and think it would fit.

-

Friendly reminder that I wrote this with consideration to the separation of the show and the book!

Just had to get this out so I can finally focus on my exams!

Remember to keep rewatching season 2 <3 WE NEED THAT SIX OF CROWS SPIN OFF. dont even think abt cancelling, netflix

[acacia-may]

Your thoughts on Jacquelyn Scieszka?

Hello Anon-friend! Thank you so much for the ask and for playing my Penny for Your Thoughts ask game! 💖

(Warnings: Some spoilers for ASOUE Netflix ahead)

I'm always so excited to get asked about ASOUE, and Jacquelyn is my girl! I just love her! She's honestly one of my favorite additions made by ASOUE Netflix! I really loved her immediately. She's such a strong character, and it was nice to see that there was someone remotely competent at Mulctuary Money Management. (Honestly would've never expected that 😅). I enjoyed her snark so much and her sub-plotlines were always so much fun! (The "For Secretary's Day!!" sequence is one of my favorite moments in the Netflix series).

She had some really wonderful friendships with some of the other characters too. I especially loved her interactions with Gustav and Larry and how she got to bond a little with Netflix Olivia! I wish her storyline/character arc had gotten a little better wrap up since she just sort of disappeared without a lot of explanation, but it's my understanding that that was due to production issues rather than a narrative choice still...they could've offered a little more explanation, I think.

I have a long wip about her that I started but never finished years ago before season 3 came out. It takes place in the aftermath of Gustav and that pond... (trying to avoid spoilers here 😅) and focused on her dealing with that and also on this friendship she had with Kit--based on this headcanon (AU?) I had at the time that she had spent some time as Kit Snicket's apprentice. Season 3 hadn't come out yet so it was this strange combination of Netflix canon up to that point with book canon for all the rest. It never got finished... Maybe it would be worth looking back at again but I'm not sure how I'd explain it besides calling it an AU at this point... 😅

For a Jacquelyn song, I have picked "Afterlife" by Ingrid Michaelson because I think it speaks to her determination, dedication, and resilience. Throughout the story despite the trials and tribulations she has to endure, Jacquelyn continues to believe in and fighting for a better future, and she definitely has that kind of "never give up" up attitude that underpins this song despite also being practical enough to realize that there is a lot of bad out there. I really think that, to Jacquelyn, the best act of defiance to the all the misfortune in the world is choosing to keep trying and keep living, and I think this song really captures that sentiment.

Living like you're dying Isn't living at all Give me your cold hands Put them on my heart Raise a glass to everyone Who thinks they'll never make it through this life To live a brand new start

Ingrid Michaelson - Afterlife Official Lyric Video - YouTube

[uncl3badtouch]

The Final Girl Support Group: Read it 📚 7/10⭐️

I just finished reading The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix 📚 I loved it! So I just recently discovered Mr.Hendrix in the last year. The first book of his that I had read was My Best Friend's Exorcism. I just coud NOT put it down and finished it in one night. From that moment, I was hooked and bought two more books of his the next day. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and How to Sell a Haunted House. Both of which I finished pretty quickly and happily. So in The Final Girl Support Group, we have, obviously a group of 'real life final girls' all grown women now with terrible histories. Each have a story of being young and carefree until they become the sole survivors in attacks against them and their friends from murderers and serial killers. All of these incidents taking place in roughly the 80s and 90s (maybe one in 79) but around the time that our favorite classic slashers had come out. One girl had survived 'The Ghost' a masked killer that went on a killing Spree with a single knife, and had created the "Stab" series in the book. (Get what I'm saying?) All of the girls have had movies made revolving around the incidents they each had. And it was interesting to see how each of them had handled the limelight. Some embracing it, some using it to rehabilitate, some shrinking away from it and barricading themselves in a small cage connected to their front door. Everyone was so different and unique in character and story. There was enough diversity in the group to make for compelling story and to give you characters you loved and hated, but each one having a special part. Throughout the story, there were sprinkled excerpts from aspects in each characters past that help to get you to understand their present. At one point there is testimony and dialogue between one of the girls and their lawyer as she tells details in her case, another is a journal entry. They were well placed and very useful in rounding everyone out. To be completely honest, Hendrix doesn't have deep writings. They are still adult writing, for sure, but they aren't like Dracula or Frankenstein with symbolism and extra thinking. They are stories with some profoundness that are extremely entertaining and can be enjoyed with your brain turned off to a point. Personally, I feel like it's a brain sitcom type deal, where it's just a story played out in front of me and I don't need to be super educated or paying a ton of attention go still love it and understand the entirety of the book. And I'm not trying to say that he's a dumbed down writer. It's not books that would be considered literature to me. But they are still really good and have lessons in them as well. In Final Girl, Hendrix had written a lot about women and men when it comes to horror. How the monsters are men and that's why there aren't any final boys. That the final girls exist because there has to be balance. The good always has to outweigh the bad. Women create, men destroy. And that's the cycle of why women are always checking behind them. Now that's just kind of what I got out of it and not exactly what was said, you'll have to read it to find out (or listen. Audiobooks are still books!) But he did have a nice amount of insight that made me think Hendrix is a decent guy with decent understanding of the differences in those two groups of people. He's observant and explains easily. I'd love to have a class with him on writing! I think he'd be an excellent teacher. Anyway, the book is about trusting your gut and your support group. About sisterhood and unspoken social rules. About greedy men in positions of power manipulating victims for their own personal gain and what to look for in the people you surround yourself with. It was truly an action packed story that kept me guessing until the end. There was a twist I didn't see coming and a pleasantly surprising ending that honestly left me wanting more, and I hope I was able to persuade you to read his works

[xoteajays]

If it was not bad enough that the boys were outnumbered by a dozen men, they had to use weapons to attack them before Ju got herself in to help them from being beaten to death. Even if they're really able to defense themselves against these people though. They're pussies.

I'm desensitized to violence. But I can say that was completely happy, they deserved it. They tried kidnapping Gun's mother. And maybe the guys might have killed her too, if Choi's friends didn't save her. So it is so obvious that they've deserved everything that happened to them.

But I think it was funny Yang stabbed the guy in the back. Literally.

I'm a vindictive person.

Well.. Slight spoiler. Yang's implied to be from the mafia, I don't know what the Korean term is for mafia (or yakuza). Because the tattoos he has indicate criminal syndicate tattoos to my knowledge anyway. But he turned his life around when he met Choi. And.. I am not sure about Lee though. I know he's skilled with blades in the same way as Yang.

~

That's my problem. There are so many shows and movies I've actually been trying to watch but I'm so distracted in wanting to see the other roles of celebrities I'm attached to at the moment. What the fuck.

~

Yeah. Gambling is illegal throughout Korean, they're only allowed any foreign casinos. Like... I understand the concept? If local people go to a casino, they could all become addictive gamblers. And I guess if the non-locals gamble, they wouldn't become addicted? I don't know. I'm finding that confusing to me. Because I already know many gambling addicts in my life. And they always find ways to gamble money away.

Same with Rocky. He's father was abusive, an alcoholic and gambler.

That whole concept is confusing to me.

I wish they we had more Takeru. Like.. I already knew they were going to kill off his character for the plot though, but I still wish we had a lot more for his character too. Another character who deserved better.

Yeah.. That would help flesh out your character. And, if she does have a relationship and friendship with those characters in any way, that is a way to have them meet. Bartender, waitress, any jobs like that.

Mouth! Which reminds me. Since we were already talking about a lot of sexual headcanons for Rocky.. So I'm adding on to this. But I might have said this before though. Obviously the man has this oral fixation, so besides oral, I can see him being a good kisser and him kissing any chance he can with his partner (including during sex). I see that too.

I don't know if it makes you feel any better, and you may have already noticed by now.. But I'm a bit of a repetitive speaker. Which annoys a lot of people. I don't really know if that makes you feel any better.

So let me know if that annoys you.

I don't know how Rocky can trust Kizzy to do anything. Koo is not the one who owns these businesses, but he knows that's a horrible idea.

And Kizzy, she's only contact Rocky for legitimate emergencies when he's on vacation. Like there are any fights, wars, between any gangs.

~

Yeah.. The new season for Squid Games was announced today, so the new season will start November 22. If you missed the announcement.

And I don't know if you're a fan of the series Sweet Home. But in case you are a fan, the new season starts between December 15 and 20. In around that time frame. So those are some shows coming out soon.

i loved them running in to help each other when they saw the other was in trouble. and you finally get to see that gun woo rage at the end of the episode when he’s fighting beom after he almost kills woo jin and then jin has to pull gun woo back. good scene. that was for me.

gun’s mother deserves better. just leave her alone! she’s just a sweet old lady. her lil interaction with ju was just so nice, i don’t think ju’s had many female figures in her life and su yeon is so motherly to all three of them. meanwhile gun and jin are just gobbling up food.

i don’t think korea has a specific term like yakuza, i think it might just be mafia and then there’s separate names for specific groups of organised crime. i’m not too sure, i just did a quick googling.

i don’t know if i’ll actually write anything, i’m just playing around with the oc in my head. playing with characters like they’re dolls in my imagination.

~

it just seems weird. like why not just … not have casinos? if it’s illegal, why have them, even if just for foreigners? like is there nothing better tourists could be doing? why would you go all the way to korea and then waste time gambling? if you’re that addicted to gambling, are you really going to waste money on a holiday? is it not obvious it’s going to be a cover for crime? idk. it’s weird. it’s like dangling something in front of people and then going ‘nuh-uh, it’s illegal’. like why?

there was not nearly enough takeru. he was so cool. and very hot. i wish he’d been able to come back with his brothers, but i figured they’d probably kill him off. sucks tho. i think he had potential.

shizuka is more responsible than yui, even if she is still a part-timer and doing dumb stuff. so i could see her having a night job, since her days would be spent at ojou. i haven’t decided on if she’d be a waitress or bartender tho.

it’s probably a lil inappropriate to be flirting with patrons while working but shizuka’s doing it anyway. hiroto’s too pretty.

i’m also pretty repetitive when i talk. like i don’t mean to but i end up repeating stuff ive already said, even if in the same conversation just minutes later. i notice i’m doing it but can’t stop myself until i get the full thought out. brain is bad.

kizzy calling rocky while he’s on vacation just undoes all the de-stressing he just did. kaito calling is usually fine, he’s just checking in or telling him how things are going at the club or asking about something he’s not sure about. but kizzy is only calling if there’s some big problem happening and rocky is stressed all over again.

~

i watched sweet home. i wasn’t massively into it, but i did watch it and i’ll likely watch the next season because i liked go min si and song kang.

[ashitomarisu]

I'm Standing on a Million Lives (Final Thoughts)

Remind me again what the hell was supposed to be the main plot?

Listen. I thought it would take longer to do this post but after watching the last three episodes, my mind has been made up: COVID AFFECTED THE SERIES PRODUCTION SO FAR UP ITS ASS THE WRITING AND DIRECTION AWKWARDLY STRUGGLED TO STAY ON TRACK.

This conclusion came to be after a few things:

The concept sounded interesting but the Game Master felt vague in almost every episode

Adding in new characters out of nowhere without much context or expansive backstory/lore

obvious production hell under a pandemic and such

the last few episodes of the second season just...IDK what the hell happened but it seems rushed or certain key plot points were axed at the last minute due to time restraint

Now, let me take a moment to address something else. Despite the music being actually pretty good, I feel like incorporating music talents from a label like Lantis was a risky/dick move.

How so? Sure, the staff thought it would be nice to give Kinchan an opportunity to have her songs be used for anime OP/ED since her solo artist debut was in the fall of 2020. However, I REALLY REALLY don't think the music fits well to this series. (Heck, Liyuu could have been better off with her music in another anime tbh).

Anti world may sound fitting lyrically and arrangement-wise but the quality of the song is TOO GOOD to be in an anime with questionable writing and direction. Same goes for Subversive, which I LOVE to pieces; the ending sequence...I just don't get why they hyped such a character when she is barely in the anime.

For once, I actually want to question Anime News Network about the rating for this because both seasons had pretty decent to high ranks for it.

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Although, if there's one idea that had me begging for its own anime spinoff, YOU BETTER BELIEVE I'D LIKE TO SEE MAJIHA SISTERS.

YOU WENT AND MADE AN HOMAGE TO PRECURE IN EPISODE 11 AND LITERALLY GONE FULL THROTTLE WITH THE IDEA ONLY TO NOT MENTION IT AGAIN THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE.

What a tease, but such an opportunity if they gave a damn. It's too bad the cast in the first season didn't return for S2.

(Unfortunately, this may never happen since A) supposedly, the second season did so poorly to not garner another season and B) Game Master teased the "Majiha Purple Murder Case" in a preview during the end of one of the episodes.)

(BTW, the ISML fandom apparently hates Yuka but she was the only character (other than Glenda or even the Majiha Sisters) to pique my interest, which obviously tells you something)).

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Overall, this suffered the same ordeal as Healin Good Precure with the direction and writing being heavily affected due to the crisis; had this been delayed to late 2021 or last year, MAYBE the quality could have improved? To recommend it would be a bold faced lie, but if you're REALLY curious, read the manga first before tackling the anime adaptation. (I made that mistake...btw).

Not even the four Aqours seiyuus could save this...

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With that, thank you for being patient. My job hasn't been so damn kind lately and not an opportunity has come yet to leave this hellhole of a skeleton crew. The WHEEL OF WATCHES really decided to pull such a trap on me, but this also means better choices are ahead. What will this contraption choose for me in April?? Stay tuned in three weeks to find out. Until then, here's hoping you don't end up being summoned by its star crotch to become a farmer.

[icegoddessrukia]

The big ones: IchiHime and SasuSaku

S*suSaku

The scene you started to dislike them in

From the moment the characters were introduced. She was just fawning over him because of his popularity and it was so superficial. I instantly got the worst impression of them. They got worse the first time he called her annoying (I think that may have been episode 3 if I'm not mistaken when she was talking about parents). Bad vibes

The worst scene of them

Him stabbing her in the genjutsu

Something about them that just makes you annoyed

The way her self-esteem is terrible around him and she just lets him treat her like garbage because she thinks that's what she deserves. The writer romanticizes that.

Which one is the worse in the relationship

They're both really really bad for each other in different ways but Sasuke is worse because he's more violent and has done worse things to her.

If you can see any appeal to why others ship them

Not really. Literally the only thing I can think of that's remotely appealing is the blue/pink aesthetic but that's entirely superficial

If there is any scene of them that you actually think is ok

I can't think of any off the top of my head but any of their semi "decent" scenes were in the context of Team 7 acting like a family unit in part 1. They were the most civil to each other during that time but I still think it was more like a family relationship

Ich*Hime

The scene you started to dislike them in

Like SS, from the moment they first interacted I disliked them because I hated how Ori acted like this idiotic fangirl around him and their interactions were just uncomfortable the first arc

The worst scene of them

Orihime begging IchiThing to save her during The Lust Arc. That was the moment that proved without a doubt how terrible they are for each other.

Something about them that just makes you annoyed

I hate how Ichigo just never ever showed any evidence of liking her romantically throughout the series and yet we're supposed to buy that he loves her and would want to marry her out of nowhere.

Which one is the worse in the relationship

Orihime for sure. Ichigo isn't all that kind to her and doesn't put any effort into understanding her emotionally but she is downright obsessive and absolutely refused to let go of her infatuation

If you can see any appeal to why others ship them

Nope. There's just nothing. They don't look good together. They aren't entertaining. It's just a ship for people who want to project themselves onto Ichigo so they can get the submissive moe chick or project themselves onto the "nice girl" so they can get the hero. It's extremely creepy just like SasuS*ku is.

If there is any scene of them that you actually think is ok

Not off the top of my head. They had a few good friendship scenes but usually in the context of the entire friend group. They were okay to each other most of the time as friends. They didn't have much friendship development overall though so it's difficult to even remember their good moments