#THE FAITH TRILOGY IS SO GOOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE IT

[idontknowhowtodoor]

Alright, here's what I've got for "emotional and maybe violent" games. All these are available on steam (or at least, used to be.)

Alan Wake - Play as an analog for Stephen King in a town that may or may not be cursed while you fight possessed townsfolk and search for your missing wife. More focused on the story than the action, but it's a pretty game, at least. Ignore the sequel. Remake coming...Eventually?

Bioshock Infinite - I'm certain you've already played this, I don't even know why I'm putting it on this list.

Carrion - Play as a flesh monster escaping from a secret underground lab. Consume humans for fun and to regain health and grow larger. Consume lab samples to gain new abilities. Metroid-style navigation that blocks off parts of the game until you have the requisite abilities. Light on the story, but big on horror violence. Published by Devolver Digital (so you know it's good).

Cry of Fear - Play as Simon, a student that's just trying to get home and survive the horror his town has turned into. Has a deeper meaning once you beat the game and get the whole story, but I never beat it, and can no longer run it. This game is older than my computer. Also has an additional DLC(?) called Afraid of Monsters, with co-op functionality.

Darkest Dungeon - Acclaimed dungeoncrawler turn-based strategy where you hire and control a team of "heroes" (aka mercenaries) to clear your late ancestor's estate from several different flavors of eldritch horrors leftover from his gruesome experimentation. Stellar voice acting by Wayne June. Make sure to pick up all the DLCs and the soundtrack! I'm annoyed that a bug won't let me play this anymore, but glad I at least got to beat it, first. Sequel available on EPIC Games, to be released on Steam...Eventually...

Dead Space 1 & 2 - You've already heard about it, so I don't need to tell you these games are violent as hell, with a pretty good story, actually. I'm not including the 3rd game or the 2023 remake because I haven't played them.

DEFCON - Real-time strategy inspired by 1980s cold war movies. Take control of one or more nation's nuclear arsenal and lay waste to your enemies before they scour you from existence. Emotional in a meta way - Actual studied have been done on this game and it's effect on people.

Doki Doki Literature Club - Don't let it's saccharine facade fool you, this game is an emotional roller-coaster with themes of existentialism. Still has an active fanbase, apparently, and it's free to play! The ending credits song is pretty good, too. May contain brief moments of poetry.

DUSK - One of the granddaddies of the Boomer Shooter Revival of the 2020s. Play as a nameless protagonist labeled DUSK Dude as you run and gun your way through 30-odd levels of blood-soaked rural Pennsylvania and beyond. Multiplayer is possible, but good luck finding any public games. Published by New Blood.

Duskers - Roomba-powered survival-exploration-real-time-strategy game where you control a number of drones to explore abandoned spaceships. Search the wrecks for resources to keep yourself and your drones alive and uncorrupted data to try and glean some information as to why you seem to be the last person in the universe. Oh...And watch out for the...Anomalies.

FAItH: The Unholy Trinity - Critically-acclaimed Atari-style horror game trilogy finally released in its entirety. Play as a priest in 1987 Connecticut as you set out to finish what you started a year ago, and gradually find yourself drawn into all the evil of the Satanic Panic. Published by New Blood.

Farcry 3 - Play as a college yuppie kidnapped by pirates on an island, rescued by the islanders, and use all the guns and drugs you can find to rescue your friends. Liberate the island one fort at a time, and uncover the secrets that have lain dormant within the jungle - And within yourself.

Gone Home - Relaxing walking simulator where you play as a college student just returned home, searching her parents' abandoned home for your sister. Fill in the story bit by bit through finding old documents and having brief auditory flashbacks. A story about growing up and discovering one's self. I haven't played this in a few years so this summary is just from memory. I intend to play it again soon.

Hotline Miami 1 & 2 - Top-down arcade-style massacre simulator. Play as a nameless person taking orders from mysterious voicemails and murdering buildings full of Russian mobsters while wearing animal masks. Sequel adds more of the same, but this time with an actual story, additional characters, and an included comic book. Amazing soundtrack. Published by Devolver Digital.

Inscryption - Meta card-based strategy game. Uncover the secrets behind a mysterious floppy disk found in the woods. Don't want to spoil anything, but it's about 3x bigger than it initially appears. Created by Daniel Mullens. Great for people who enjoy tabletop games. Fantastic ambiance. Don't google it or you'll spoil the whole game.

Killing Floor 2 - Great game, but I'm bitter that I can't run it on my computer anymore, so I won't spend too much time writing about it. So-op first-person wave-based-shooter. Ruthlessly French, at times.

Lakeview Valley - Serial killer simulator where you try to get away scot-free with murdering a whole goddamn town full of people. I got a bad ending, last time I played, and I was too bitter to go back and try for a better one. Can be pretty thrilling, trying to get away with each and every kill. Alternately, you could not murder anyone and just be a good neighbor. Whatever.

Manhunt - Extremely contentious and often banned stealth-'em-up murder game. Play as an "exonerated" death row inmate and earn your freedom as a snuff film star by murdering every single goddamn person you come across in one of 3 increasingly gruesome ways per weapon. Gunplay is a little...Crap. Personally, I prefer the sequel, but you can only get Manhunt 2 on Wii, and all the executions are "censored." Manhunt 1 on Steam is good to go, though (aside from an easily fixed bug in the first level.) Very violent. Story's alright. Published by Rockstar back when they had some balls.

Mother Russia Bleeds - Krokodil-fueled sidescrolling beat-'em-up that takes place during the Russian Revolution (I don't know which one). Gameplay is...Alright. Probably best played with a controller, and very violent. Co-op multiplayer is couch-style ONLY, so don't expect to get any help from your online friends list. Published by Devolver Digital. Reviewed by Boris.

Omen Exitio: Plague - Text-based visual(?) novel that puts you into the shoes of an 18th(?) century doctor on his adventures as he investigates a mysterious disease cropping up around the world, as well as the cult that seems to be after him. Lovecraftian themes, and surprisingly enjoyable. I recommend you Min/Max whatever stats you pick. There's been a free DLC released, but I haven't played it. Has its emotional parts; I wouldn't mind having this as a regular book.

Postal 2 - Play as a perfectly sane and normal Dude in Paradise, Arizona as he goes about his chores throughout the course of a week. First-person shooter (or not, if you're a tryhard) that never takes itself seriously in the slightest. Peak mid-2000s "deliberately offensive" humor. Includes free "Apocalypse Weekend" DLC. Developers recommend players skip Postal 3 and go straight to Postal 4, for a sequel (neither of which have I played, unfortunately).

Project Zomboid - Arguably the best and more realistic zombie apocalypse game in existence at present. Play as...Well, whoever you want, trying (you will fail) to survive the zombie apocalypse. There is no mystery, there is no story, there is no escape. This is how you die. The only thing that matters is how long that takes and how many Steam Workshop mods you can run at once without breaking the game entirely. Build 42 to be released soon!

Prototype - Play as Alex Mercer, a dude who doesn't remember shit about shit but has woken up with some gnarly shapeshifting superpowers at the beginning of a massive biological outbreak. Use your powers to stealth and murder your way toward understanding the truth as to what's going on and what happened to you. Gain additional tidbits of lore by literally eating people's brains. Fun and tasty! 1 or 2 sequels released, but I haven't played them.

The Forest - Canadian wilderness survival simulator. Survive a plane crash and get repeatedly assaulted by the roving bands of cave-dwelling cannibals and their monstrous allies. Search for your son and uncover the truth as to the horrors that took place on the peninsula. Sequel to be released soon!

The Miskatonic - Cute little visual novel inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Not violent at all, but deals massive emotional damage when you learn that the creator has severed all ties with the project and any hope of a sequel. Contains brief female nudity and some written innuendo. I think I used to follow this developer on DeviantArt?

The Walking Dead Season 1 & 2 - Story-driven game that takes place in the universe of but is separate from the story of the titular show and graphic novel. Face the trials and tribulations that come with the collapse of civilization during the zombie apocalypse, and adopt (and later play as) a kid as you try to keep her and yourself alive. Decisions have lasting effects that extend even between games. Can get very emotional, at times.

ULTRAKILL - Classic blood-soaked boomer shooter that is still being worked on today! Play as a robot designated V1 in a world where humanity is dead, blood is fuel, and Hell is full. Delve through an interpretation of Dante's Inferno on a mission to quench your insatiable thirst for blood from all the sinners residing there. Extremely creative level design, addictive gameplay, and the community is full of femboys? extremely active, even so far as one of the voice actors regularly engaging with streams and memes in character! Story is there, but not super important, if it doesn't matter to you. Max0r has done 2 videos so far reviewing the game, much to the delight of the community. Published by New Blood.

That's all I got, for now. I can make more recommendations, if you're looking for other specific kinda of games, but I'm limited by what I own and can play.

GGRR GRRR BITE BITE YES YES YES

[suzannahnatters]

Many people have asked me why I say THE RINGS OF POWER is far more faithful to the spirit of Tolkien’s work than the Peter Jackson films. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

(Warning: if you deeply love the Jackson movies, feel free not to read this. I’ve been meditating on this for 20+ years. You are not going to argue me out of any of it.)

FIRST – Jackson is, how shall we put it, not sufficiently familiar with Tolkien or his influences. He repeatedly and stubbornly made mistakes both large and small. Tolkien was a master of medieval military tactics. Jackson... is not. Every military decision taken by the characters in Jackson’s TWO TOWERS is pure stupidity. In Jackson’s RETURN OF THE KING, Aragorn casually beheads the Mouth of Sauron, which is a war crime, since the Mouth is Sauron’s ambassador. Jackson’s Eowyn tries to flirt with Aragorn by cooking him stew, even though she is a noblewoman from the warrior class who was raised to act as a civil and military leader in a medieval-coded society where cooking is not intrinsically linked to femininity. Jackson’s Theoden, grieving over the death of his son, utters the words “No parent should have to grieve the death of their child,” which is the kind of sentiment only imaginable in a society where infant mortality and death in battle is a good deal rarer than among the Anglo-Saxon Cossacks during the War of the Rings. Jackson’s Dwarf women are reduced to a punchline; Tolkien’s were miners, craftspeople and adventurers in their own right.

I won’t go on. BUT I COULD.

SECOND – One problem that by itself ought to have disqualified Jackson from adapting Tolkien, is that he is incapable of depicting or even understanding goodness the way Tolkien does. This deeply pervades all Jackson’s films. Jackson’s idea of goodness is ethereal, anaemic, and ineffective before gross and creepy evil. His Elves are not the vivid, passionate, hearty warriors Tolkien wrote: they pluck mistily at harps and feed on spinach. (TROP has Galadriel scaling frozen cliffs and Elrond splitting boulders. That’s FAR more like it).

Tolkien insisted on the concept of Faerie as being foundational to his work. This is a difficult concept to explain. It meant the beauty and glory of Valinor, yes. But it also meant an element of otherworldly, yet immanent, beauty and glory in Middle Earth itself. This is a good summary:

“Faerie may be roughly translated as Magic, but not the vulgar magic of the magician; it is rather magic "of a particular mood and power," and it does not have its end in itself but in its operations. Among these operations are "the satisfaction of certain primordial human desires" such as the desire "to survey the depths of space and time" and the desire "to hold communion with other living things."” (Source: https://www.ewtn.com/.../tolkien-and-the-fairy-story-4094)

When Lewis said of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, “here are beauties that pierce like swords”, that’s that he meant. Peter Jackson had no sense of Faerie. When, at the end of his trilogy, he has his characters get on a ship to go to the Undying Lands, he makes it a metaphor for death. Death! Tollkien’s Valinor isn’t the afterlife; it’s the earthly paradise of his world. Jackson cannot imagine an earthly or material locus of goodness.

This affects many of his narrative decisions. In the book Faramir resists the temptation of the Ring handily. Jackson’s Faramir succumbs to the power of the Ring and has to be scared straight. Jackson justified this by saying that Faramir needed to fall to the Ring’s temptation so that it remained an effective narrative threat. Basically, having failed to grasp the importance of Tolkien’s vision of powerful and present goodness and beauty in the first place, Jackson believed he needed to further degrade it for the sake of the story.

Obviously, THE RINGS OF POWER isn’t perfect, and still has plenty of time to betray its early promise. However, so far its showrunners appear to have a far better grasp of Faerie, beauty, and goodness than Jackson ever did. Its vision of Valinor is ineffably beautiful while still home to flawed living people. Its Elves are noble, ceremonious, dignified, warm, and grave. It is also actively pursuing Tolkien’s original themes. Elanor has a discussion of Providence that contains intentional echoes of “The Shadow of the Past” in LOTR, but there are also meditations on art and mortality that show an attempt to engage with themes Tolkien himself said were foundational to his entire work (Letter #131). These themes may yet be mishandled: but THE RINGS OF POWER has clearly at least READ the assignment. (Jackson’s films, by comparison, did dumb stuff like having Theoden, who in the books is simply dealing with depression, be literally possessed by Saruman and in need of exorcism “because exorcism is a Catholic thing and Tolkien was a Catholic, lol!”)

Jackson didn’t completely obscure the beauty and goodness of Tolkien, and I’m aware that THE RINGS OF POWER could not have happened without his pioneering and often sacrificial work in adapting the story to screen. I don’t want to discount the things that are good about his intentions, his work, and his love for the source material. But watching THE RINGS OF POWER was the moment when 20 years of frustration boiled over as I realised that, contrary to what I’d always told myself, it WAS possible to do Tolkien more justice than this. So far, I’m very pleased, and I’ll be waiting for future seasons with bated breath.

[romanarose]

Supportive Logan Thoughts: Writer GF

Logan Howlett x fem!writer!gf

Join my taglist : Masterlist

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Summary: You're an aspiring writer, but having trouble finding time to write. Logan shows his complete faith in you, no matter what your family thinks.

Warnings: Not a lot, unsupportive/mean family. My massive daddy issues

A/n: I wanted to write this for myself because Im feeling massively unsupported by my family and several friends, and I with I had a partner with this much faith in me. I have another one I wanna do with supportive logan and reader who wants to continue education. If you have any self indulgant ideas you wanna hear, send em! It'll probs be short but I can have Logan say things i think you'd want to hear in a way that makes sense for him. Trans and lgbt themes encouraged.PS: catch the bobs burgers reference?

Dinner had been going pretty well, comparatively. Logan hadn't snapped at your dad for his passive aggression, and your mom hadn't commented on how you'd gained weight. It wasn't your fault your beloved boyfriend seemed to be fattening you up!

All in all, a peaceful dinner.

Until your brother, Mark, had to be a dick.

"You still writing on Wattpad?" He asked, an innocent enough question but you knew that tone. Logan stiffened, so you put a hand on his thigh. He chewed hard on the broccoli.

You brace yourself a bit. "Yeah, I got the fanfictions. But I'll have you know, it's a fun hobby and I do pretty well for myself-"

"Writing men kissing on tumblr isn't a hobby any more than making a porno is."

Logan speaks, through a full mouth. "I bet you're the porn expert, considering you're not getting any from anyone else."

"Except your mom."

You raise to hands at both Logan and Mark "Knock if off you two!"

Your mom is glaring at Mark for mentioning porn at the table, but he's pretending to be very interested in his chicken Alfredo.

Still, your dad always has something to say. "It's a shame you can't make money off that. I don't really understand why you do it."

"For fun?" You didn't know what not to get. Your grandma made terrible janky blankets and you all gushed over them. You loved them of course, because it was grandma. Why couldn't you have a hobby weather or not you were good?

But Logan wouldn't let the silence be filled with your families assumptions. "Well, she's writing a book, actually. And it's good, really fu- I mean, it's really good." Logan abides by your moms no swearing rule, but she pays no mind to the always f word as she somehow finds a reason to embarrass you.

"Oh she's always talking about some book or whatever. As a kid it was mystery because she was into the boxcar children. As a teen she was going to write the next big dystopian trilogy." She covers her mouth as she laughs about it.

Logans hand flexes and tightens under the table, trying to remain calm. "And what did you say when she told you about these?"

"Well, I told her she should be more realistic. I mean, I read some of her writing-"

"Because you snooped through my notebooks!"

"And it wasn't exactly Hunger Games."

Logan set down his plate. "So let me get this straight, Diane."

"Lo..." You warn.

"You snooped through notebooks that your daughter wrote by hand on notebooks, at what, 14, 15? Told her that this first draft, which I cannot stress enough, was written on a notebook, wasn't good enough to be published, then you're shocked she didn't finish it?"

When you're moms mouth gapped, your dad stepped in. "She doesn't finish anything, I'm sure you picked up on that. I mean, how many half started art projects are in your house right now?"

An embaressing amount. The other day, you found three different blankets with the same color scheem started. Three! Thrice, you had the same idea and never followed through.

Your boyfriend was not deterred. "Well, maybe, she needs someone whose going to support her, encourage her. Didn't seem like she had a lot of that before."

"WHELP!" You slap your knees, then stand up. "This has been great, but as usual we passed the 15 minute mark, and right on cue, it's time to go."

Your dad was as stubborn as Logan was and stood too. "Oh yeah, and just what are you gonna do to support her, to magically fixed years of fail-"

As you pulled Logan toward the door, Logan counts off on his fingers. "One, tell her that she can actually do it, because she CAN, two, check in on her and let her brainstorm with me. Have you ever actually asked about her plot? No?"

You're giggling to yourself now. Dinner was ruined, but you liked that Logan didn't stand for people talking bad about you.

"And three, she's gonna quit her job so she can focus on writing!"

Well. That one was new. Logan always encouraged your novel in progress, he listened about the characters and offered ideas, gave you a sounding board that wasn't judgmental. Yes, you've complained about no time for writing when you work so much but... No matter, you show a united front in front of your dad.

"Yeah! Because he believes in me." And you were out the door.

*

The drive back was quiet. Espresso was on the radio, and you knew he must be distracted because he didn't change the station, so you spoke first.

"I don't have to quit my-"

"I was gonna talk to you about-"

You both start at the same time. Then you laugh. "You first, Lo."

His body language relaxes for the first time tonight. "I didn't mean to spring that on yuh." I don't wancha to think I'm like. Trying to tell you what to do or make you financially dependent."

"I don't." You assure him. "So... you thought about this?"

He nods. "Yeah I um... I really think you got something good here, baby. I think if you took leave for a while ad really could just focus on the book, it could be something great. I mean, I don't know much about books but even I like it, so... you know... it's gotta be good."

Warmth fills your body as a blush festers under your skin. Logan really believed in you. He believed in your book enough that he was willing to take this risk on you.

"Can we... afford that?"

"Well I thought..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I can always take overtime at work. If I pick up another day or two-"

"Logan! I can't ask your to do that!"

"You're not." He turns to you briefly, smiling, then back to the road. "I'm asking to do this for you, if you'll let me. Then, when you're a high falutin writer, I can be your sugar baby." He pokes yoru side, making you giggle

Still, seed of doubt were deeply entrenched. "But what if I don't do good? It doesn't sell?"

Logan shrugs. "Well, I guess... then you'll try again. Or you don't, an you'll know you finished it and you tried."

A pause. "You're really willing to do this for me?"

"Baby..." He places a hand on yours, eyes once again drifting only briefly from the road to you, then back. "I'd get the moon right now if you asked. Let me do this for us."

For us.

***********

Okay thats it im done im sorry, that was my own daddy issues, mommy issues, brother issues- lort help lmfao

anyway if you like this, check out my other stuff on my masterlist! if you like dark content, most of my logan is being written over at @romana-after-dark

the bobs burgers referece was the 15 min rule. at exactly 15 min, big bobs says something mean to bob asdfghjkl

my middle brother hosted a surprise party for my parents anniversary and we decided to have me an the ret of my siblings be surprise one, have my oldest brother hiding bc he lives the furthest away for surprise 2, then downstairs my extended family for three. My dad walks in, sees me and my youngest brother who he was't expecting, and before he even says hi he says "where's *oldest brother*" so that felt cool. And we got into a bit of an arguement where he was discrediting my feelings about the move when i was a teenager, and then my brothers and sister were assholes- and i just kept thinking i want logan or santi or joel here to protect me and defend me even against little stuff.

enough about me!

send your requests! give me chubby read, black reader, trans reader, native reader, bi reader, male reader- literally whatever tf you want. I cant say it'll be as long as this one but i got you. you desver to feel supported.

[nyaagolor]

What are your thoughts on Apollo Justice (the character)?

OH BOY. OHHHHHH BOY. I have a fever and some free time lfg.

So honestly, I think part of the reason I love Apollo so much is because he runs parallel to Phoenix but also counter to him at the same time. I always saw Simon and Athena as the successors-- in terms of ideology and job and all that other stuff-- to the Phoenix-Edgeworth dynamic and status rather than Apollo and Klavier. Athena and Simon, to me, feel like extensions of the arcs of Phoenix and Edgeworth + the vibes of the original trilogy. Apollo and Klavier ( who I will not talk about bc we will be here all day)? They're the antithesis.

Apollo Justice The Game directly foils the original trilogy in so many ways, but I think even on a more base thematic level it runs counter to a lot of the ideas that we take for granted about the original trilogy, and because Apollo sits at the center of this, the things I love about the game are encapsulated in why I like him. There are a ton of themes in the ace attorney trilogy-- support networks, faith, trust, the truth-- and Apollo is defined by their limits, their failures, and their absence. He is let down, kicked around, defined by abandonment and betrayal and distrust. Apollo is defined by everything that Phoenix is not, and bc of how the timeline goes we don't really get any retribution for that, just a steady march forward, and I think that gives me a lot to think about with his character

Phoenix's arc right from Turnabout Sisters is about the building of a support network, and the ways that developing this support is integral for when things go wrong. We contrast Phoenix with Godot, Maya with Dahlia, and see how people left to stew in their resentment can chase vengeance to dark places (wow I wonder who also does this after the death of a dear friend leading to a crusade of misplaced revenge that almost leads someone they care about being killed.). With Apollo we get to stand on the precipice of resolution, but the important part is we don't get it. Apollo's life falls off the rails, and he's the one left to pick up the pieces.

We see through him how our trust can be betrayed by people of good and bad intentions, and the lingering consequences that has on one's ability to not only trust the people around them but themselves. And yeah!! That's why I adore him so much-- he's tested not by the possibility of failure like Phoenix often is, but climbing up from the reality of it. It's less "how do we make our way out of this mess before it goes nuclear" and more "things are already destroyed-- where do we go from here?". It has more of an element of recovery than prevention to me, and I think that's a fascinating avenue to explore in stories like these. Apollo pushes the envelope of the themes of the narrative and the characters-- he is the epitome of what it looks like when things fall apart, and it gives him and the trilogy characters something to reconcile

A lot of people have complained that Apollo barely feels like the protagonist in his own game, but that's honestly a huge part of the reason why I love him so much. He's defined by the spaces between, the limits and failures of things we had up to this point taken to be true, and left with a pretty limited degree of autonomy through it all. He's pushed around and puppeteered by people who mean well and those who don't, and I feel like a major theme of AA4 that I love but don't often see talked about is "what does it mean to have autonomy-- and by extension, control? What does it mean to take it back? What does it mean to lose it, and what does it mean when you'd do anything to keep it." Most of what I said is only partially resolved bc AA4 is... a game. A technically finished game. but!! Because it eviscerates our expectations of the franchise so thoroughly AND leaves open so many avenues, it makes Apollo and the rest of his crew some of my favorite characters because there's so much you can think about and do with them!!

also he's like. An insect to me. <3

[jumpywhumpywriter]

A list of some of my favorite quotes and short scenes from my OC named Shadow, a morally gray anti-hero who is the snarkiest, whittiest, most sarcastic and badass person in my in-progress fantasy trilogy. I just love her brutal personality so much!

Let me know what all of your favorites are! 😁

1. "Nice try, but that stuff doesn't work on me, you useless white crayon."

2. "Come on, leave the poor guy alone," Tanner sighed heavily.

Shadow rolled her eyes with an exasperated groan. "He's the kind of stupid, that if I left him alone, he'd probably set water on fire."

3. "I'm gonna kill him," Shadow snarled angrily.

Thomas quickly stepped in front of her. "Shadow, no, you are not murdering anyone on my watch."

"Then look away."

4. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere you aren't."

5. Shadow: "Open says me." *kicks door down*

Thomas: "Actually, it's open sesame."

Shadow: "Nope, other way around kid. You'll catch on eventually."

6. "Are you always this sarcastic?"

"My level of sarcasm has gotten to the point where I don't even know if I'm kidding or not."

7. "What brings you here?"

"A series of bad choices."

8. "Half of the human city wants you dead," Thomas tried to emphasize.

"Wow, a month ago it was the whole city, things are looking up," Shadow drawled sarcastically.

9. "I am nice until you give me a reason not to be." Shadow's voice was icy and gruff.

"Since when are you ever nice?" Thomas groaned.

"...Eh, fair point."

10. "You give my migrane a headache."

11. "Touch my daggers and I will punch you so hard even Google won't be able to find you."

12. "Guys, we have a problem!" Thomas panted for breath, bursting into the room.

"And it's another Tuesday, what's your point?" Shadow rolled her eyes.

13. "So, what do ya think? Good idea right?" Thomas gestured at the blueprints laid our on the table.

"Whatever floats your titanic." Shadow shrugged.

"...But the titanic sank."

"Yeah, just like your IQ did when you came up with that idea."

14. "If I go to war -- risk my life -- it's going to be because the odds are in my favor. Not otherwise," Shadow rumbled.

"So... it's not because you miraculously feel compelled to be noble and good for once?"

"...You have far too much faith in my moral compass, kid. It's almost scary how naive you are."

15. "Shadow, you have to help me! I had an accident."

"Had an accident? Kid, you are an accident.

16. "Ugh. How do people stand you?"

"They sit."

"You're insufferable."

"No more than you are."

"Would you stop coming up with comebacks and making me look like an idiot?"

"But you are an idiot."

"Ugh-"

17. "Interrupt me again and I'll interrupt your breathing."

18. "Is two a lot?"

"Depends on the context. Corpses? No. Living humans? Yes."

19. Shadow glared at Thomas. "You know, you probably shouldn't think too hard. Wouldn't want that poor overworked brain cell to have a panic attack."

20. "Yeesh, guess he's not the brightest light bulb," Tanner said with a wince, watching on the security feed as the Jackal guard tried for the fifteenth time to pick the lock on the door to the room Shadow had trapped him in earlier.

"You kidding me? The light bulb isn't even screwed in!" Shadow snarked.

21. Thomas: disagrees with Shadow

Shadow: "You've officially been promoted to victim." *Punches Thomas*

22. "I may be mad, or I may be less mad, but my mood will never be in your favor."

23. "Is that blood?" Thomas paled as he stared at the red smears staining Shadow's leather hero suit.

"No?"

"That's not a question you're supposed to answer with another question."

"Okay fine, yes -- but don't worry, it's not mine!" Shadow blurted.

"Is that supposed to be reassuring?!?"

24. "We have five people trying to kill us right now, what are we supposed to do?" Thomas squealed.

"Actually, it's more like eight," Shadow corrected.

"Oh, sorry I wasn't specific enough!!"

25. "That's not a happy story," Thomas muttered sympathetically.

"Well I don't live a happy life," Shadow growled in answer.

26. "What are you so afraid of?" Shadow challenged.

"You."

"Oh... That's fair."

27. "If your crazy plan gets me killed, kid, I am going to come back and haunt you so hard."

28. Shadow pinched the bridge of her nose with an inward groan. "I am way too sober for this."

29. "Okay, what did I do?" Thomas threw his hands up in defeat.

"What do you mean?" Shadow frowned.

"You look like you want to rip my head off."

"Sorry, that's just how my face works."

30. "Ugh, people don't understand that I literally don't know how not to walk around like I own every place I go to. I'm a walking war machine. How else am I supposed to act?!"

31. "So, uh, there's some bread in the cabinets if you're hungry," Thomas awkwardly offered.

"I don't eat bread, it's usually poisoned." Shadow wrinkled her nose.

"If this is some gluten-free nonsense--"

"No, actual poison."

32. "Come on, Shadow. The city needs our help. You're the strongest of us all -- imagine all the people you'll help save!" Thomas badgered.

"Correction, it needs your help," Shadow said through gritted teeth. "Leave me out of it. Humans can save themselves for once."

"...Please?"

"...Do I get wine after dealing with all the horrors of evil?"

"All the wine you want."

"Fine. But doing this is going to give me all the good karma points I'm going to need for the rest of my life."

33. "I'm not human. Remember that next time you want to punch me in the face."

34. "I guess I'll just have to be subtle about it," Thomas said.

Shadow snorted in amusement. "You are the least subtle person I know. Your "I have a secret" vibe is literally visible from mars."

35. "So, you're innocent?" Tanner raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Innocent as a young child... the kind they use as pickpockets," Shadow said with a dead-serious face.

36. "It costs you absolutely nothing to keep those rude comments to yourself," Tanner snapped angrily.

"It also costs me absolutely nothing to say them, so I think I'm good," Shadow retorted with a smirk.

37. "Can I bother you for a second?"

"You always bother me, but go ahead."

38. "I've met toddlers with more spine than you."

39. "Use your brain, idiot! You do have one, right?"

40. "Come on, it can't hurt to shake things up a bit, don't you think?" Thomas wheedled.

"I'm not anti-change, I'm just pro keeping things the way they are," Shadow growled.

41. "I've seen more formidable foes in temper tantrums."

42. "I'm not shy. I'm just examining my potential target and enemy. Determining friend or foe, you know?"

43. "Look, he's smiling. He's totally fine," Shadow smirked.

"He's smiling because he's terrified," Tanner said dryly.

"...I'm off-duty right now. Your turn to save the idiot."

44. "Wow, somebody needs a Happy Meal," Thomas grimaced.

Shadow glared daggers at him. "If you give me a 'Happy Meal', I will shove it down your throat to kill you and that is what will make me 'happy'."

45. "Shadow... did you have something to do with this?" Thomas cast her an accusing glance, and she bristled.

"Why is it that whenever something bad happens in the city, I'm always the first one you look at?!" She snapped indignantly.

"Because you're like... always sketchy and suspicious... and stuff..."

Shadow seemed to think about it for a second, before relaxing with a shrug. "Ouch. Valid, but ouch."

46. "This place hold a lot of memories for me. Some bad, some... No. No, no, all bad."

47. "Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably."

48. "I don't know what your problem is, but I'm guessing it's hard to pronounce.

49. "Remember when I asked for your opinion? That's right, I didn't."

50. "Thomas, if you had half a brain cell you'd be dangerous."

51. "If you pull out my earphones, I will pull out your lungs."

52. "I'm trying to tell about--are you even listening?!" Thomas huffed a frustrated breath of air.

Shadow merely raised an unconcerned eyebrow, yawning dramatically. "Don't worry, I'm listening to you. I'm just not paying attention."

53. "I'm on vacation. Only call if the world is about to end."

54. "Hmph. Mangy feather duster..." Thomas grumbled under his breath as he stalked off, forgetting that his ally had superhearing.

"What did you just call me?" Shadow snarled after him.

"You clearly heard me."

"And you clearly don't want to take the risk of saying it again."

55. "Sharp as a marble, that kid," Shadow sighed before coming to Thomas's aid. The blasted human never stopped getting himself in trouble, to her dismay.

Masterlist

Masterlist #2

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump @otterfrost @sausages-things

[utenthy]

i found you through your ace attorney art originally i am so so glad to see you posting it again.... would you mind expanding on your reasons why aa4 is (presumably) your favourite? i feel like we have similar thoughts and feelings on it and id love to hear you talk about it

HII ok so here’s the scoop on this yes aa4 is 100% my favorite aa game and i think mostly it all comes down to phoenix. his character feels incomplete without the context and dimension that ajaa gives him and because phoenix is the heart and soul of the series it also recontextualizes the rest of aa with the idea that actual justice is incongruent with the legal system as it exists. so politically speaking i feel like it has more bite and is really enlightening on phoenix’s true character - not as a purely faithful hero but as a flawed and conflicted person. like phoenix’s work as a lawyer in the original trilogy if taken at face value makes him seem really moral but you have to zoom out and see that 1) he went straight from a relationship where he changed everything about himself for dahlia directly to devoting himself to changing everything about himself in search of edgeworth: his own identity is always somewhat secondary and unknown, 2) as a lawyer he fundamentally disagrees with the corruption in the legal system and his failures and eventual disbarment come down to the problems he was unable to change as just another cog in the system. he has to escape it and break it (mason system!) and by his disbarment at the hands of kristoph he is given no other choice. and i think a lot of people think the change in phoenix’s character is random and disappointing but for me it really drew me to the game: it is a more logical and realistic conclusion that the person who cheats and lies to save people and buries himself continues to cheat and lie to save people and becomes more and more alone. that he was removed from everything that was his life before and still took in and cared for trucy and built a scam they could play together to both survive is important. as he became a lawyer for edgeworth he became a trickster for trucy.

i also love apollo’s character and how he is a vessel for the audience who feels grief at phoenix’s changing and idolizes and insists against it all. apollo justice is still fantasizing that their law system is a salvageable thing and he only has to slot in and become the “good guy” - and phoenix challenges him to see it differently, specifically by exposing and condemning the high-powered career lawyer mentor he had in kristoph. he shows that though his reputation is destroyed and he gambles and cheats, he is still more honest and moral than someone who has a clean image and causes harm in secret. i LOVE love love how much ajaa deals with illusions and secrets.

everything about trucy and the gramaryes obviously ties in with illusion but also brings up another one of my favorite parts of ajaa in general which is family and the damage associated - gavins are so awesome. i love the parallel of trucy’s puppet, her being used as a puppet by her dad, klavier being used as a puppet by kristoph, apollo being used as a puppet by phoenix. there is so much thematic richness i could literally go on forever and ever and ever but i’ll wrap it up. basically justice lies and illusions and we just don’t even have time tonight for the families and puppets and the class issues with trucy and phoenix starving living in an office versus kristophs lavish prison cell the bad are rewarded the good are punished and good is something different than you would think - FUNDAMENTALLY - and all people can be saved from continuing the cycle of secrecy and corruption and fear

[batsyheere]

Hello..If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 7 (or top 10) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc) and your top 10 favorite (fictional) characters from any media? Why do you love them all? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Oh, that's a fun question because it's constantly in flux. I get a hyperfixation binge and usually bounce around whatever I like because otherwise I get bored. But there are quite a few I go back to, and I always have a favorite character whether I like the media or not. So.

Top ten media? This is definitely not in order and I might ramble-

Danny Phantom

I come back to this one a little too often because of how the fandom has managed to make it so much more than the show- I love lore and worldbuilding and the way people have built off this show is fascinating to observe.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation // The Untamed

This is another I return to a lot. It's a story of how everything goes wrong, and while there is a villain at the end, ultimately the blame is on the collective characters. It's also neat to see so many adaptations of the original material. I also like to remember that I had no idea this was a novel about guys pining after each other because I was just looking for something interesting to read and it got recommended by a friend. Who said nothing. And then mentioned I was equally as dense as some characters.

Homestuck

This one will always have a place in my heart for being incredibly weird and weirdly influential. Despite the fact I haven't read it again in years, I recall so much about it and enjoy engaging with my fellows- I volunteered at a con once and saw the most gorgeous Karkat cosplayer, we had a nice conversation while I tried to get the system to read their ticket. The community of this fandom is a nice thing, especially since at least once or twice a year we can see who is still in the world.

Percy Jackson

Where most people get into mythology thanks to Rick Riordan, Greek mythology got me into Percy Jackson. Modern day interpretations of myths are so intriguing, even if some interpretations could be argued with. It's also funny that I got my first Percy Jackson book at a summer camp. (It is not a surprise that I now have an EPIC the Musical fixation.)

Lord of the Rings // The Hobbit

I'm a huge classic fantasy nerd and this was a way I bonded with my grandfather over the years before he passed. It's influenced a lot of how I interpret other takes on fantasy and sets such a high bar. I also like that it's an encouragement of hope and faith in the little things of life that make it worth the fight. I wrote a lot of high-school papers on Tolkien.

Batman / DC Comics

While I do love comics, I do have a returning fancy in the Gotham Knights and their allies. Especially since in a world filled with corruption, an unjust system and too many broken pasts, it shows a person can make something of themselves to help others rather than just hurt. And that it is never too late to turn onto a better path. Also, just like LOTR, I wrote a couple of papers on Batman in college.

Star Wars

I grew up on Star Wars. Even with this weird output to the franchise Disney is trying to put out, I feel there are parts of it that are great to come back to. If I had to pick specifics I would mention the Mandalorian, but I favor the era around the prequel trilogy- both before and after.

Critical Role / Dimension 20 / TAZ

If I could just say DND I would but I had to list the top three for me. As I mentioned before I'm a hug fan of worldbuilding and lore. I also really like complex characters who are neither good nor evil, just trying to go about their lives. Found family is also one of my favorite tropes, and these three pull that off effortlessly.

Howl's Moving Castle

Both the book and movie are fantastic, I enjoyed both forms of this story in a way that I only ever enjoyed the vast differences between the How To Train Your Dragon movies and books. I like how it's a good example of adapting a book without being entirely off-putting.

Arcane

Just barely making this list because the second season just came out. But honestly? Arcane is so good. It takes such an artistic approach to its animation and gives vibrancy to its characters you don't typically see outside video games or movies. The story writing and dialogue are excellent- I could rant all day about it.

And now, Top Ten Characters from media...

Shang Qinghua from SVSSS

So many reasons. Top three? Such an unreliable narrator, understandably a sell out and holds a better romance than the technically main character of the novel.

Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars

He's on the sidelines of a lot of the main story as a mentor, brother, friend- despite being one of the most tragic characters in the entire timeline.

Stiles Stilinski from Teen Wolf

My friend dragged me into watching the show because she didn't want to watch alone and he was the most redeeming quality of it. The sarcasm, the wit, the untapped potential.

Dick Grayson // Nightwing from DC Comics

A complex character with an even more complex series of issues in his life that never let him have a moment to breath half the time. He has so much repressed rage it's funny he's considered the happy one.

Kim Dokja from Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

This one is basically me being way to empathetic with a character and another reason for therapy. He needs a hug.

Aizawa Shouta from My Hero Academia

As weird and "way too much" the fandom can be, Aizawa is worth it. Crazy and a mentor figure.

Taako from The Adventure Zone

Again, love complex characters. I also like convoluted pasts and people with intimacy issues who are also huge flirts.

Fai Fluorite from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

This poor guy was my first "wow what a character" for way too many reasons to list. Probably the crippled sense of self worth.

Ruby Rose from RWBY

She has such a good character set up and had such a strong sense of self. That plot did NOT help, but she's coming out stronger for it.

Yor Forger from Spy X Family

This one is purely because I love pure of heart dumbasses with too much badass and not enough sense.

As much as I like certain pieces of media a lot it's not a guarantee that I like the characters, and vice versa. Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble! This is what is currently on my mind when it comes to immediate favorites, though I definitely love far too many pieces of media- a lot of anime, and a lot of fantasy.

[therowdymagpie]

The Main 6 as AJR songs(pt.2): The Neotheater

A/N: Continuing this series with "The Neotheater", my favouite album AJR has released so far. I have to be honest, this round was a bit more difficult in regards to finding good songs for everyone but nonetheless here it goes:(spoilers for all routes of course)

Asra: Turning Out ii

At this point I could honestly match Asra with the entire Turning out trilogy. With all the underlying messages about love that you can pinpoint from how they act in every route, can you blame me? Turning out's themes really match tragically with Asra's story, how they handled being there to help MC and how that affected them.

One of Pt. ii's main messages is about attaching yourself to the idea of loving someone so much that by the end you have no idea if you actually love them for who they are or just the feelings that come with that.

And if you think about Asra's connection to the lyrics and the Mc it makes a lot of sense:

Now in absolutely no shape, way or form am I saying that Asra doesn't love the Apprentice. He moved LITERAL REALMS and struck one of the sketchiest of deals to bring the person he cared about the most back, giving HALF.HIS.HEART as exchange for them. Then, even when he realised that person couldn't even remember him anymore, even then, he stayed by their side and practically taught them how to be a human being from scratch just to give them a second chance to live again.

Asra ,before the events of the game, was always worried about whether the Apprentice would remember and secretly hoped that they could go back to how they were before the Plague, all the while having to lie to protect MC's feelings and mind. They clung into that hope so much, but that hope was the idea of a love that they can never really get back to and that will never be the same.

I think it's a very interesting concept to wonder about : Asra loving who the Apprentice used to be and that just reinforcing loving who they are now, but in the beginning just, like the lyrics suggest, loving "the idea of them"(especially if Asra has also considered this and thought about it).

Break your heart (ha)In the end all Asra can do now that the Apprentice is back is watch and, despite how sorry they are for all that's happened, try to love the way they "turn out" and grow now that they can make desicions for themselves and experience the world again (even if they won't "love it much at all" in Lucio's route XD).

Nadia: Finale (Can't Wait to see What you do Next)

The Finale is one of the most soul-clenching and melodically complex songs this band has released for me personally, so it's not surprising that it represents Nadia so much. I feel like all the lyrics fit with the different aspects of her life and story incredibly well.

One of the biggest worries in Nadia's mind are her capabilities as a leader and how her actions will affect her citizens and paint her to the eyes of everyone else. Ever since she left her home in Prakra she wanted to prove to her family and to herself that she is capable of doing great things without the help of anyone else.

And when she got that opportunity, she was stifled during the Plague by Lucio, her independence and ideas bottled up. She went to Vesuvia and married the Count, setting the goal of helping the city and in the end standing in the sidelines while he was reducing it to ruin, justyfying her fears and inhibitions.

That is apparent, especially if you imagine the people of Vesuvia as the chorus that's in the background of the song(and at the back of her head), claiming how they need her. There is so much expectation in Nadia's mind in how people are always watching and believe in her and it becomes a driving force to keep her going since she thinks she has to earn that faith everyday.

Small pause to just mention that these lyrics perfectly describe how Nadia may have felt waking up from her coma, realising that she has to step into the role of Countess. Even down to the memory loss part and her not being able to "remember how she got here".

The song has a lot nods to the theme of finally reaching a certain point of achievement which comes with the fear of not being able to maintain it. This really reflects Nadia's attitude to her role and responsibilities, while the final musical swell gives an optimistic outlook on the future: Her people will believe in her no matter what she does next...

Julian: Karma

I love Karma for Julian for several reasons. The song is all about the disappointing reality that sometimes no matter the amount of effort you put in being good and doing your best, life just won't repay you for it, there's no Karma to be found for all your good actions, just this empty feeling of melancholy.

For all the Martyr syndrome Julian possesses and as much as he tries to convince people that he's a bad person, there is more to it that just trying to punish himself. There's always the hidden frustration that ties into not being enough. He can't understand why all the good he does never comes back to him. Why no matter how hard he tries, the amount of people he helps and all the burdens he keeps shouldering for everyone else, he's still alone and stressed out and just can't seem to shed off all the negative stuff in his life.

This especially ties back to when he was a doctor during the Red Plague. He tried and tried and spent so much time in that lab underneath the Palace, slaving away with Valdemar over his shoulder trying to figure out a cure. And even when he did, he came back and got condemned for trying to save everyone.

Yet he still tries to protect everyone despite all the toll it's taking on him, "lamenting the load while he carries it" as Portia puts it. The whole song has this really frantic energy, bouncing from one sentence to another, it feels like a spiral, completely matching the back and forth he does with wanting to be free, ask for help and be loved or going back to thinking he actually is guilty and sacrificing himself for everyone else.

These lyrics could also refer to Julian's relationship with the Apprentice during his route. The MC is this person he feels such a profound connection with, someone he wants to keep close and express discontent to but knows has to keep away, even when the MC tries to convince him that he's enough and can do better.

At the same time, there's this irony in the song about referring to and venting all these frustrations to a "Doctor" or therapist to give you answers on when you will finally receive something good in your life, which is also a great parallel.

In the end, Julian wonders if it's actually worth keeping up what in his mind is this "persona" of the good person everyone knows he is or just succumb into the role of the villain he's been led to believe he is by his thoughts and his own self-doubt.

…Is it actually worth being good, if it doesn't even matter in the end? If he's just doomed by design to be stuck in the same place over and over again?

Muriel: Break My Face

Choosing for Muriel, "Break your face" seemed the most appropriate to connect him with. A thematic of overcoming adversity and accepting all the ways life has roughened you up, seeing the worth and strength in all the times you've been hurt? It's literally perfect.

(Maybe not that much lyric-ways but the main message is very relative)

Muriel, you can tell, has so much self-confidence and self-love issues that stem from all the trauma he had to indure in his younger years, both living at the docks and later on in the Colussium. All this time having to act like an executioner for Lucio's entertainment, have messed up so much of his psyche in regards to how he views himself and how others see him.

And even after all that he went through he even made sure people forgot about him entirely, he didn't want to be remembered for that part of his life that hurt him so badly, essentially sealing his face from everyone else.

He spent so much time chastizing his scars, his build, hating everything that possibly could make him look threatening to someone, tying it into the whole "monster" narrative everyone formed around him(you are beautiful Muri don't do to yourself).

It's the whole reason he's willing to take, at this point, anything life gives him yet still thinks he's undeserving of it.

It's only after he meets the Apprentice that he finds out, there's a lot of beauty within him unrelated to how he looks and that there's so much to be proud of in the ways you have survived. He finally accepts that it's worth the risk to get hurt sometimes, it's always you in the end...it's still you and you aren't defined by your scars.

This man has been torn down by the world around him and has gotten through a lot of rough times, but no matter what, in the end of his story he can make sure that the face he stares at the mirror is just a face, his face and he's loved for it.

Sidenote: As for this, it's just 100% Muriel behaviour. This gentle giant takes no fibbin' from anyone and doesn't care for your fancy words and condecending attitude, no matter who you are, he will give you a death glare if you annoy him enough, which....fair.

I also want to make a small mention to "100 bad Days" for including coming to terms with all the rough times in your life and accepting them.

Portia: Next Up Forever

Honestly Next-up Forever is such a good fit for Portia and the entirety of her character development on her route. All it's lyrics refer to something in your life holding you back from taking that final step and move on from what everyone expects of you which is honestly all you can see from her in the duration of trying to solve the Mystery of the Count's death at first.

At the start of hers and other's routes, Portia is constanly overshadowed and her actions are more commonly the result of who she is to someone else. Everyone goes around her, barely giving any mind to what she wants and making her desicions for her.

Also the lines "My God, are you growing without me?" for Julian and "Somebody help me, (somebody, help me)" for the Apprentice are just so tragic and perfect.

There are all these things keeping her back from everything she wants to experience: Being a handmaiden to Nadia, helping free and clear her brother's name, constanly making sure the Palace is running smoothly and wearing that happy mask on her face at all times, leave her restricted to live vicariously through her adventure books in second place.

It's only when the Apprentice convinces her that she is more than everything she does for others, listens to her and acknowledges what she wants out of life, standing by her side, that she recognises she has to put herself first and sets out to find out what she actually wants and who she is.

I especially love this verse connecting the beginning and the end of her journey. In the beginning Portia first sailed from Nevivon trying to find her brother and make it somewhere else for once and in the end after all she's gone through sailing again in a much more encouraging note finally buying the ship of her dreams and setting forward to actually have all the adventure she's always craved.

Portia's story is one of self-discovery and defining youself in spite of everyone else, shining though and proving that no matter all the things that hold you back you can stop standing by and delaying going the next step forward, in the end making it damn bigger than you thought you ever could for everyone to see.

Lucio: The Entertainment's Here

If I could associate every song on the album with the Goatman I would…The Neotheater is all in all very Lucio in character, having to do with the themes of fame, the fear of getting forgotten and not wanting to grow up just to name a few, but "The Entertainment's Here" just fitted the best.

Hmmm…hates being bored, doesn't make plans, not using your head, blatantly avoiding the task at hand, any guesses folks?

Lucio genuinely believed that by constantly hosting Masquerades and parties he made Vesuvia better and that everyone should focus on all the fun that was going around when he was Count. I can honestly see him saying these lyrics unironically, it fits so much with him trying to cover up with the illusion of just another event.

There's this constant mention of Entertainment and distraction all throughout: The first, middle and end verses all include it and grasp your attention and move it away from the problematic confessions being said at the same time. Specifically, every time a confession about the fear of thinking for too long is mentioned.

Like I’ve stated before Lucio is a complex written character and he's not as dense as people make him out to be: The man knows he's done mistakes, he just can't come to accept them or acknowledge them because he has this image of greatness he needs to keep up. So "he can't be bored" because that way he has to get back in his head and he hates that.

Lucio doesn't do the things he does just to distract everyone else, he also does them to distract himself from his past mistakes and insecurities. He parades and hypes up his life with that notion of constant Entertainment, movement and fun because he can't afford to stop for a second and let all his thoughts catch up to him.

He NEEDS theEntertainment, the distractions the adoration, the reassurances or else his mind stays still for too long and the thoughts of inadequacy, faults, abandonment all resurface and they are terrifying.... So again, he reverts to what he knows how to do best and doesn't deal with any of it since no one’s ever taught him to.

______________________________________________________________

[sotwk]

I’m a bit late to the party, but thank you SO much for answering me super fast! I so appreciate your ultra-in-depth response about Mirion and Arvellas’s fates. Although I still weep on weekends, it’s helped me so much with my own story! And all the supplemental headcanon info on Mirkwood as a society has been invaluable to me as well! (Also thank you so much for your update on my Lindir fic! Please don’t worry about the length of time! When I submitted the request I shot for maybe having it as a Christmas present or New Year’s treat! But any time I receive it l’ll savor it all the same!)

I wanted to ask though, are there any writing exercises or prompts that you do to train your writing muscles? I find that I have a tougher time placing dialogue intentionally where it needs to be, and I struggle with showing, not telling. I plan my stories and chapters, which helps me a TON, but I still have issues. I’m coming back to writing after abandoning it in about 2018 because of uni and life. But now I wanna come back, which is why I’m writing my story, but I feel so rusty. Any tips/suggestions on how/what to write to improve on these skills?

Thank you so much for all your help. I really appreciate you. Your account’s richer than the mines of Moria for great writing content!

- Mithril

Hello Mirthril my friend!

Boy, am I glad I was able to answer your Ask quickly last time, because this one is laaaaate. I hope you'll forgive me that, but I have been pondering over your question since I received it.

My impostor syndrome tends to rear its ugly head whenever someone asks me for writing advice. I am against false modesty and all for giving oneself due credit, so I will say that I am a pretty damn good writer. (And I certainly hope so; I suck at math and most left-brain skills, so this is all I've got, haha!) However, I wouldn't call myself top-tier in the fanfic writer's world. Even though I have been doing this for many years, I still struggle with any aspects of my writing--in the same ways you described!

But you asked so kindly and I want to be able to offer you something, so here are the few tips I could think of that personally work for me, in addressing the challenges you described:

SotWK's Writing Strategies and Tips

Writing exercises or prompts

I actually suffer from having too many ideas, so I don't seek or invite new prompts often. I lean on the endless stream of wackadoo ideas in my brain, or the lovely suggestions and requests that come into my (always open) Ask Box.

I exercise things that I'm weakest at, and right now that's my speed and focus. I currently write at an abysmal 6-7 wpm (about 200 words every 30 minutes). Embarrassingly slow! I very recently discovered sprinting on Discord servers, and so far it's been effective in training me to focus on just getting words down as quickly as I can. I highly recommend it! I think with time it will gradually bump up my wpm.

If you really would like prompts to get you going, there are plenty of prompt games floating around the Tolkien fandom. You can also source them from writing groups, such as @fellowshipofthefics, the one I currently belong to. Their January Trope Roulette, for example, is so much fun! Amazing support group for Tolkien writers, and more importantly--very chill, no pressure.

Dialogue

This is tricky for everyone, and definitely exposes a writer's style and ability to speak in the voice of different characters (I think that's why writers stress about it). You gotta do it with accuracy and range, so it IS a challenge!

If you want to get as close to the characters' voices as Tolkien wrote them, then the obvious strategy seems to be to immerse yourself in the source material. Read the books. Watch the movies (which are pretty faithful, tone/dialogue wise).

When writing Tolkien fanfic, I am constantly browsing through my books (having ebook copies helps), playing the trilogies in the background, or listening to the audiobooks (I have the Andy Serkis versions). It's a little bit like method acting. If you drown yourself in the character's voices enough, you'll actually start talking like them in your head. You'll pick up on the language, the word choices, the pace of the dialogue within the story.

This is the reason I personally don't hop around fandoms (Tolkien only), and I stay away from modern AUs or crack fics. I prefer to preserve that Middle-earth tone and voice and keep it consistent in my writings.

You can also draw inspiration from other period/medieval/fantasy works! My frequent go-to's are ASOIAF/Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon, Pride and Prejudice, and even Downtown Abbey works!

This last one might be extra weird, but I am a writer who leans heavily on fancasts/actors for inspiration. I like seeing a clear face and hearing a distinct voice for the character I am writing. It truly helps me write dialogue. For this reason, I fancast every major character that appears in my fics, and I usually pick big-name actors. Why? Because they have more movies/tv shows I can watch and listen to!

Fun fact: While writing my Éomer fic (which was VERY dialogue heavy), I listened to the first 7 minutes of Dredd SO MANY TIMES over and over just to imbibe Karl Urban's voice--I'm surprised the Netflix app didn't crash.

Showing, not telling

Here's one thing to try: Use "said" or "said + adverb" more often than you think you should, instead of trying to force a substitute. Or don't use a speech verb at all. This will force you to get a bit more descriptive about the characters' specific condition or actions. (Example from my fic: “Anywhere. Far enough to take you away from all this--” Éomer swung out his free arm in a gesture as wild as the fervor in his eyes. “Away from everything that is confusing you.”)

Visualizing a clear picture in my head helps me with the showing, and writing descriptions. Besides daydreaming and staring off into space, watch cinematic masterpieces, and train yourself to use words to describe what you are seeing.

But personally, I think purple prose and lack of brevity is the bigger issue in many fanfics (including my own). We need to remember there's nothing wrong with being straightforward in our storytelling and descriptions, because it speeds up the story pace or at least gives it more variety.

Shaking off Rust

Nothing else to do but just do it, my friend! :)

Whenever I feel rusty or blah about my current projects, I just shuffle over to a different WIP, or if it's really bad--start a new one!

As long as you're getting words down and you're happy and satisfied, you're doing it right.

Lean on writing friends for help and inspiration. We are a community here, regardless of the whisperings that "fandom is dying". It will stay alive and thriving if we keep it so!

Anyway, that's my non-professional, semi-bogus advice regarding things that work for me! Hopefully you can find something in there that works for you too.

Thank you as always for your kind words, and I wish you the best of luck--and LOTS OF FUN--in your writing!

[sebastianshaw]

TL;DR I don’t write Shaw as taking sexual advantage of unequal power dynamics and I have a pretty solid canon basis for that. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Sage is undercover in the Hellfire Club as Shaw’s trusted assistant Tessa. She’s constantly clad in lingerie like all the other women, and is shown as totally faithful to him and always at his side, but never ever shown or even hinted to be romantically or sexually involved with him in anything that I’ve read of them. And Shaw is a guy who was shown to be, well, sexually active. And if I were the writers, I feel like it would have just been natural to think “hey what’s a good way to play up he’s evil and sexual? Have him be sexually evil! How about to his sexy subordinate, Tessa?” But that never happens. I have not found even the barest hint of that in canon except for this one miniseries where she’s written as weirdly super-flirty and OOC and doesn’t even LOOK like Tessa tbh so I don’t really count that. And like...Claremont was writing most of the stuff where she’s his assistant AND the stuff after her reveal as Sage. Claremont LOVED sexually predatory villains. So I think if Shaw was ever meant to be taking advantage of their power dynamic, Claremont would have played that up to the MAX, instead of never even hinting at such a thing. As I discussed with my mutual @emmatriarchy who writes Sage, her being in lingerie as “Tessa” probably had more to do with horny artists than anything, and it would make SENSE for her as a SPY to blend in with the other women as much as possible (also, if men there think she’s Shaw’s “property” they’re less likely to bother her) There’s also the scene in The Legacy Quest trilogy I’ve mentioned many time when, despite his attraction to Storm, he flees the room when she offers herself to him sexually because she’s not in her right mind. And for all his horny, he’s NEVER been creepy to a female opponent, never done anything Like That to a captive or even hinted he’d like to, etc. Dude keeps villainy and sex separate. So that’s why I don’t think he would attempt to sexually exploit the power dynamics her has with @the-blackened-dove (who is in a similar role to Sage as Tessa, just with magical binding to boot) or demand it of @hraunwyf because he bought her in marriage from Odin. It’s clearly a line he finds distasteful and beneath him as a gentleman, however horrible he may be in MANY other regards. I realize writing an entire thing on “my character is not a rapist” is not normally a thing you need to do, but the idea Shaw’s pervery crosses over this line is pretty common in fandom + there were some hints dropped in Th 2010s Retcon We Don’t Acknowledge Here that he might have been sexually abusive to Emma on top of everything else (you know, just to make it even more OOC why not)

[ma-lark-ey]

So I did this with Harry Potter, I’m working on doing it with Mortal Instruments. Only fair I do it with Grishaverse trilogy as well.

Will I read the novellas? Lol no probably not. Am I having a bopping time with the main series? Yeah. It’s good distraction of being a trans high schooler in America right now.

Here’s what I knew going in:

Nothing! I knew it was connected to Six of Crows and set up the fantasy better so I was recommended to read it first so I DID. i had no idea about ANY of this plot.

Spoilers for all of Shadow & Bone trilogy. I have thoughts <<3

1.) Shadow & Bone ( 24/3/23-27/3/23 )

(8/10)

I really liked this first book !! I wasn’t particularly. Attached to any one character but I will say that I fell for the Darkling hook line and sinker.

Alina is. Alina? I don’t hate her. I don’t love her. I think she’s a pretty basic main character, she’s definitely not my favourite mc ever. I think she’s certainly the right fit here, I know some books I read and go “this main character is NOT for this” but Alina !! She works.

I think this book could’ve been more interesting if Alina, rather than being like “the chosen one” was the kind of person who decided to make themself the chosen one. Does that make sense?

All this critique makes it sound like I hated this book, I think it’s genuinely really wonderful and totally worth it’s hype. I made playlists for this book. Like not just my standard “title - author” playlist. I’ve got playlists for Alina and the Darkling and Nikolai (WE’LL GET TO HIM.)

2.) Siege & Storm (27/3/23-30/3/23)

(7/10)

This book IS GOOD. im going to say that because I did enjoy. Almost all of this.

I think Mal and Nikolai’s little. Whatever that was. Was so funny and I think that so many problems could be avoided if they just had a little kiss. Throuple it up baby. Alina has two hands. Also Mal you’re DOWN BAD for the prince and we can ALL tell.

I LOOOOVED the pirate arc. Obsessed with it. Gobbled it down. It was SOO good. Love pirates. Love Sturmhond not taking the Darklings shit. Love the fact that none of these people take any of the grishas shit.

LOVED ALINA PUNCHING HIM.

i think Alina and Nikolai and Alina and Mal are both equally good endgames honestly. I wouldnt be mad with either. But IDEALLY they’re all holding hands and making out. I am PUSHING the Nikolai/Mal agenda. I am FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE.

The ending was mid. I didnt like it very much. I think the Darkling STILL SURVIVING was BULL.

And if NIKOLAI IS DEAD I WILL NOT FINISH RUINS AND RISING. I WONT

especially if we get a Darkling redemption arc like I think we might be.

I literally. Nikolai and the twins? I’d die for them. Alina and Mal can die and I wouldn’t mourn but if ANYTHING HAPPENS TO MY PIRATES I’M RUINED.

Be back when I finish R&R.

3.) Ruins & Rising (30/3/23–5/4/23)

8/10

My vow going into this book was that I’d be happy is Nikolai lived. I had so much faith. SO MUCH FAITH!! For 240 pages!! I was a FOOL!!! I was a stupid optimist who thought my lovely little princeling would get to live a happy life!! I was rooting for them !!

I WAS WRONG !!! Death is too good for our Nikolai even though he’s literally never done anything wromg EVER !!

Hi guys. This man ^^ up there?? In those paragraphs ^^ he was in the agonies.

Me? ME NOW? Me who just finished Ruins & Rising and is living my best life holding my babygirl? I’m thriving.

I. Literally. Texted my mate who had read this series and said “Does Nikolai get a happy ending yes or mo I’m dnfing if he doesnt. I cant do this.” And GUYS!!

He’s KING!!! KOROL REZNI!!!! My BOY!!

He is baby girl.

You know I COULD talk about how Alina’s relationship with the Darkling is very good portrayal of grooming victims/codependent relationships and I could go into how Mal’s whole deal was batshit in the best way or how Tamar is the love of my life. But this isn’t a book review.

This is Lark. Being gay. For the bastard pirate harpy prince boy. On main. I will NEVER be normal about him. I’m holding him like a soaked cat after a bath. Dont you love him.

Anyways yeah not doing a post mortum on every book like I did with HP bc I have no further tjoughts on any of the other books.

Stan Nikolai Lantsov, haters be SILENCED. I’ve heard that he has his own book and I??? Society isnt ready for me when I read that.

I would’ve liked to know what Alina and Mal changed their names to. Thats all I can think of in my hazy mess of Nikolai thoughts.

Also in my perfect world they’re in a throuple. Maybe Tolya is in there and its a polycule but its MUCH funnier if he’s acearo and covers for their stupid asses all the time and is SO annoyed by his king and his kings girlfriend and his kings boyfriend.

Thank you. That is all.

Time to go start Six of Crows so my little sister can get off my back about Kaz <<3

[thekingofwinterblog]

Thoughts on C. S. Lewis / Chronicles of Narnia? (or other stuff like Screwtapes letters, space trilogy, etc)

havent read most of them.

That said i never thought there was anything wrong with Narinia, i just don't have great love and admiration for the series like i do Tolkien's legendarium.

I also happen to agree with tolkien that Allegory heavy stories tend to be rubbish, and generally pidgeonholes it into one, single kind of reading, and thats that.

Which is why its kinda hilarious that the best part of the series is the biggest allegory of the entire series, Aslan, who is a very blatant stand in for christ.

alsan is frankly speaking, a great portrayal of how to write an all around good godlike character, withouth making him boring, or being frustrated by his actions. I might not like allegory, but tropes themselves are not bad. It all depends on how you use them.

In fact i'd say that Tolkien could have learned a thing or two from Lewis in this regard, because with the execption of the ever lovable Valar of the waters, and Aule and his wife, pretty much all the valar who opposes Morgoth are a pretty bland bunch of characters, and this stems from the fact that Tolkien originally intended for them to be way more grey(which makes sense as in universe they would have been the original inspiration for ALL mythologies of present day that isn't the one true faith of Tolkien's christianity), which makes sense when you realise these guys would later down the line be remembered in the form of myths like Zeus and Odin, two very much not good top gods.

However Tolkien later decided to make them way more like Biblical angels, and scrubbed away the more by their nature chaotic valar and maiar, who in the original plans did not join Morgoth, but werent against him either.

Not necessarily a bad idea, but it's clear that other than Eru himself(Who is pretty on brand for the judeo-christian god), Tolkien was not good at writing such characters, which made a lot of moments very frustrating as The valar make terrible, or foolish actions(like not just going over and kicking Morgoth's ass immediatly after the silmarills business) but rather than have this be because of character flaws, and thus very easy to critique, he retroactively had to defend their more foolish choices with various levels of success.

So to summarize, narnia is a pretty good story, if not amazing, But aslan is a stand out character.

[faithisforthetranspeople]

Hex's Media Thread 2021 Archive (Part 1)

Said a day or two ago I'd archive this stuff in case Twitter truly goes under because it's sadly become something I've actually rather enjoyed to do and be somewhat more open about my opinions on things. Funny how on paper I resigned myself to all data on the internet being temporary but when confronted with the idea of losing some personal things I scuttled to preserve them ^^;.

Anyways this post is gonna be rather small in comparison to the others cause I wasn't doing it until halfway through the year. Also in the future expect to see me make individual posts for just an entry or two whenever I'm caught up :). Also before you ask, the reason Scott is here is because I made it originally as a Media Thread joke image but then ended up actually making one.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was a very fun way to start off the year and I would frequently chip away at it a couple hours before bed every night before deciding near the end to just binge through it all. I really liked how the story presented itself and that was a big hook that kept me going along even when some of the characters weren't nearly as interesting as others. The gameplay is simple and you can easily become overpowered with no real effort just by buying a few moves and that's fine, in my experience the VN with 10% sRPG gameplay is usually not very difficult anyways. I haven't played this studio's other games before but I've been made aware the ending of this is decently similar to another of their works but seeing as I don't know of it I'm instead choosing to live in ignorant bliss and say it comes together pretty great! It isn't mind-bending but the journey that leads there is very fun and filled with a lot of interesting moments and wondering what's going on.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 3rd is maybe still my favorite entry in the franchise but I'm a bit torn on the decision after playing a few others. I know it's a somewhat controversial game since there's no real sidequesting and reused overworld (mostly) like the other games have but at the same time it means I don't have to follow a spoiler-free sidequest guide playing the game and not have to miss everything ^^;. The reason I loved this one so much is I just generally like Kevin and Ries more as characters than Estelle and Joshua because their adopted family to lovers dynamic is just something I can never fully in good conscious really get behind, and while there is a tragically small amount of that in Kevin/Ries as well (with a few other weird issues in his life growing up as well) it's just easier to swallow for me. But enough about the negatives, one thing I love about the format of this game is the Door system allows for every character to get some moments of backstory or further development to bridge the gap between Sky games and what the series has eventually moved onto and become that I really like!

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1! I watched her! To be honest I don't have many thoughts on this series that probably haven't been expressed everywhere else. It looks great and it inspired me to continue on and read the manga which was really great as well but I've just kinda fallen off on it recently. Nobara so cool

Blaster Master Zero and Blaster Master Zero 2 were played in such a close succession to each other that I just added both at the same time. I've always loved the Megaman Zero games ever since a friend introduced me to them about ~6 years ago and eventually have gone on to play even more of Inticreates works because they just make such fun games. The first game definitely has some rough parts to get around such as the moments of backtracking and some archaic level design due to trying to be a mostly-faithful remake of the original Blaster Master as well as having the most effort to get the true ending of the trilogy, which isn't that much of an issue for me since I love 100%ing metroid-styled games anyways but is still worth mentioning. The story doesn't do anything crazy but it does enough to endear you to the cast imo.

The sequel takes a lot of notes on where to improve where the original was lacking and it does it wonderfully. There's a lot more character banter and optional dialogue you can trigger compared to the small amount in the 1st game and coupled with a way more interesting story it made it very easy to get engaged quicker. There's so much Quality of Life changes like being able to warp back to Sophia instantly using fred both on the world map and when finishing a dungeon, or the change to have energy recharge and work differently making it so energy-consuming weapons don't suck as much ass to use as they did in 1. The planet hopping system is also wonderful because it cuts down on backtracking almost fully and every single system has a very unique atmosphere in the main planet and some fun side-planets for upgrades. If you're observant enough on the collection overview screen it's also very easy to tell what the true ending requirements are in this game, and that entire section + the final boss might be my favorite part of this series barring some specific moments in 3.

Monster Hunter Rise basegame was very fun and I loved it. My favorite Monster Hunter game is Generations which got me into the series back in 2016 and this one was a close contender with very fast and fun movement fighting aggressive monsters that somewhat compensate for all these new tools. The serpent themes are some of my fav music I've heard in Monhun and I'm just glad this game didn't fall off in enjoyment for me like World did. Rampage is a slightly penis gameplay mechanic I will say but it didn't take too much of the playtime up sooo whatever. I'll give more thoughts in a later post when Sunbreak came out but fwiw my new favorite monster they added in the basegame was Goss Harag :).

Final Fantasy XIV: Eden's Promise (Savage) was a grind for my static at the time but it ended up being my favorite Savage tier... which didn't mean much at the time since I started raiding during Eden's Verse lmao. But even after the next two raid tiers (my group disbanded after scheduling issues for p8s) it's still my favorite and I'll always think that e11s is one of the coolest interpretations of a character ever.

Yakuza 0 is a game I took forever to finally sink my teeth into and god damn was I missing out. Between all the side-missions and modes (which I had done all of except Majima's Amon fight because I didn't feel like grinding for a broken weapon) and the actual story I sunk a good amount of time in this world and I really need to get back in there with Yakuza Kiwami. It will happen before 2024 ends mark my words.

No Straight Roads was a strong GOTY contender for me back in 2021 cause I loved its presentation due to it reminding me of some games I grew up with like Psychonauts for example, and the boss fights were super creative and the music gimmick was so cool and also just had some bangers. I don't even feel like I've given this game the time it deserves to cook because I skipped a lot of the lore files you get throughout the game and I definitely want to go back to it sometime to see them but I also feel like the game was just good enough that I don't feel like I've fucked up by skipping all that cause the normal story was already really fun to me and even a bit emotional at times.

Chainsaw Man. You can read it and it's pretty cool but it hasn't stuck with me strongly as a whole (I haven't been reading much of part 2) and I prefer Fujimoto's one-shots a lot more but still liked my time with this one!

And finally for the end of this part, Rhythm Heaven Fever! Yes I somehow took all until 2021 to play this game despite having played Megamix years ago and loving other Rhythm games like Project Diva and Theatrhytm (and also having a best friend who talked about this game all the time and we'd even Talk About The Series Together). The gameplay is so fun despite only being a few buttons and each minigame really stands out with the remixes being fun and having some banger songs thrown in. I think the monkey's from Monkey Watch can all go burn in hell.

There should be two more updates to 2021 before I get to move on to 2022 but I hope you've enjoyed these little thought capsules :). When we catch up and I get to post more things individually the posts should be a bit more focused and interesting but thanks if you've read it all anyways!

[fledermaus-factotum]

Dude like... I'm sympathetic to these critiques about internet hatred toward Rings of Power and I think they make a lot of very important points about the way the show was received. But unfortunately, they make a lot of these points at the cost of completely disregarding all the legitimate critiques of the show and filing them under "you just hate the diverse casting" or "you're obsessed with the idea of fidelity" when, no... that's not it at all. Many of us have no problem at all with the basic fact that the show changed a ton of shit. Like, some of us do understand what an adaptation is lol

Like for example, I'm obviously a big Vampire Chronicles fan and the recent IWTV adaptation changed SO MUCH in order to create something new. But the difference is that IWTV, unlike RoP, took these adaptational changes seriously as intentional shifts in perspective which illuminate the themes and conflicts within the story and characters in a new way. The issue is not that RoP made changes at all but that many of us feel that these specific changes undermine character and theme rather than support them or even reinterpret them. I think it's disingenuous to say that these takes on Elrond or Galadriel are reinterpretations given the effort that the show has taken to signal continuity with Jackson's trilogy which, while making some affective changes to both characters, much more closely aligns to their roles in the novel.

Like the specific changes to Elrond and Galadriel aren't just cringe, they undermine the characters' actual arcs and roles in the story. And I think it's fine to disagree with that criticism, but I think you should take it seriously rather than dismissing it as a bad faith argument.

I'm also skeptical of the total dismissal of fans' discomfort with the fact that Amazon made the show. Like, yes, the question of boycotting is a complicated one but to totally dismiss the fact that megacorporation has produced what feels to many of us like a cynical cash grab is just... weird to me.

Moreover, I think it was just.... not a good show? The tone and pacing felt disjointed and odd, the character development was mostly non-existent, the larger character beats all fell flat and felt unearned, the plot either dragged or raced too quickly. Visually, it felt too cheap to have been the large-scale production it was and it brought nothing new or artistically/cinematically interesting to the table. If you disagree or if these things aren't issues for you, that's totally fine and valid! But acting like the only criticism of the show is down to bad faith arguments about fidelity is nonsense.

To be clear, I think it had its fair share of redeeming qualities. I think the entire cast brought banger performances to what I consider to be really weak material and that's applaudable. Even though I hated how the part was written, for example, Robert Aramayo gave a great performance and because of his love and attention to the role, I did feel like I was watching Elrond despite the nonsense choices he was making. The idea for the Mordor plot was a GREAT one even though I think they flubbed it in execution. Despite its general air of plastic-ness, the show is occasionally beautiful. I think the diverse casting is a no-brainer huge positive and an obvious necessity if Middle Earth is going to have any future visual media at all and the fact that it's a controversial issue at all is fucking stupid. I liked the stuff with Gandalf even though it drags and I don't mind at all that it contradicts the written narrative. Cynthia Addai-Robinson gave, for me, a totally stand-out performance as Miriel and they should have given her more screen time and hopefully they will do just that if they're smart.

But there are other issues too like the fairly offensive depictions of the Harfoots and Dwarves as filthy simpletons with shitty Irish accents and backwards violent drunkards with Scottish accents, respectively. These are legitimate critiques of the show and demonstrate how bizarre the idea is that the simple base-level presence of diverse casting somehow makes a production beyond reproach??

The point I want to make is that the total reduction to Thing Good or Thing Bad in internet discourse helps nobody. There's lots of nuance to this conversation and I think that it IS a conversation which matters. I get that this show has been really divisive for Tolkien fans but jesus christ guys can we just use an ounce of critical thinking and actually speak to one another and critically engage with this material instead of uncritically celebrating a massive corporate cash grab? Like you're ALLOWED to enjoy said massive corporate cash grab, it doesn't make you evil but the zealousness and lack of nuance with which you defend it is kind of disturbing.

Likewise, those critics of the show who DO only hate it on grounds of fidelity to Tolkien's written work without any care for adaptation and how it works are also reproducing thoughtless and uncritical arguments which fail to engage with either the original text or the adaptation. You're allowed to hate the show but appealing to your idea of Tolkien's imaginary response to it is weak and lame and irrelevant.

[david-talks-sw]

What Lucas says & what Filoni says...

... on Luke confronting Vader in Return of the Jedi:

George says: Yoda and Ben tell Luke that he needs to confront Vader. They hope he can save him, but if it comes to it, he needs to be ready to kill him because Vader likely won't stop trying to end Luke's life.

Dave says: Obi-Wan and Yoda tell him to destroy Vader, they don't show interest in saving him.

In Dave's defense, he admits he didn't talk to George about it (and does so again in this interview) and is only basing this off of what the Original Trilogy shows... then again, just as we're never shown Ben and Yoda tell Luke to give Vader a compassionate speech, they're also never shown telling Luke to destroy Vader, so...

... on Anakin's fall to the Dark Side:

George Lucas says: It was entirely on Anakin. He loveth too much, too possessively. Anakin's inability to let go of his attachment for Padmé, of his greed, of his need for power are what made him go from being a good man to a bad one.

Dave says: Anakin's inability to let go caused his downfall... but is his way of loving really that wrong or bad? Maybe the reason he fell is because the Jedi were so dispassionate that they didn't give him the support he needed.

... on the Jedi's compassion:

George Lucas says: All Jedi are compassionate. Period. They all know the difference between loving possessively and loving selflessly, it's standard Jedi philosophy.

Also, in general, he barely ever makes a distinction between the Jedi seen in the Prequels and those in the Original Trilogy except when talking about lightsaber fights.

Dave Filoni says: The Prequel Jedi should be compassionate but they're not because they've lost their way, except for Qui-Gon who is the only one that knows you can love someone without getting possessive.

... on the Jedi's involvement in the Clone War:

Lucas says: By being drafted/forced/used to join the war by the Senate/Palpatine, the Jedi lose their way and become corrupted. But the thing is, it's a conundrum. Sometimes you need to stand up for what is right and fight.

Filoni says: By joining the war, the corrupt Jedi lose their way. Their involvement in the war resulted in nothing but violence.

Worth noting that, in a couple of other quotes, Dave also acknowledges Palpatine is in the background, orchestrating a lot of this stuff and he acknowledges that the Jedi aren't particularly happy with their role in the War... but he never says that Palpatine and the Senate drafted them. Which, ultimately, shifts the blame for their involvement. As such, the message goes from - the Jedi being "victims who were forced to choose between letting everybody die or compromising on their morals" to - them being "arrogant morons who joined the war thinking they'd win and brought about their own destruction".

... on the state of the Republic, in the Prequels:

George says: During the Prequels, the Republic is dying and Palpatine is killing it by orchestrating a war and taking over the Senate. People like Padmé and the Jedi have faith it can be saved, if they can just get everyone to stop fighting and listen. When Palpatine becomes Emperor, that's when it dies: with thunderous applause.

Dave says: Once again, doesn't disagree with the facts... but says the Republic is pretty much already dead, it has already fallen and the Jedi and Padmé just don't see it because Sidious is deceiving them.

Dooku and Maul have the right idea, apparently:

Just a few differences here and there I think we all noticed, y'know?

Like, overall, I feel like Filoni gets the plot. Hell, something I didn't post here (because there's just so many examples it'd double the length of this post) is how similar his commentary on how the Force works is to George's.

So he gets the story and the themes and the lore, he acknowledges the intent... but then has an altered takeaway, one that doesn't hold the Jedi in the Prequels in very high regard. It feels like he doesn't miss an opportunity to take a stab at 'em in favor of Qui-Gon or Ahsoka.

My guess is that there's gotta be some bias against the Prequel Jedi, who, for many, come across as "holier than thou" and unlikeable. And if that's the case, Filoni would not be the only one who has this bias. It's a very popular read of the Prequels, just take a look at comment threads on Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

For years after the OT, the Jedi were thought to be these wandering Knights of the Round Table who go on swashbuckling adventures like Luke, and were instead revealed to be diplomat space monks who sit in a circle.

Those who didn't like it could either add this to the list of reasons to hate the Prequels or try to see the Prequels through a prism that justified it the audience's new dislike for the Jedi and the midi-chlorians etc.

“[Jedi "measuring the Force" with midi-chlorians] is meant to be a plot point. The Jedi have their temple in a major metropolis, and care more about the inner political machinations than their own spiritual growth—they’re measuring things on science, and kidnapping children at the age of two to be Jedi—this dogmatic approach to spirituality is something Lucas wanted to highlight, because he’s saying the Jedi are flawed. This isn’t Good Guys versus Bad Guys—again, this is meant to be Vietnam in space, and we’re seeing the seeds of that highlighted here, to be explored later.” - Peter Holmstrom, cohost, The Rebel & the Rogue podcast

But the fact is, if you read everything George Lucas was saying... it's clear the Jedi weren't meant to be criticized by the Prequel's narrative. They - and Padmé and Bail and the concept of midi-chlorians - embody the themes George was trying to get across and Anakin and the Separatists embody the anti-theme.

Every principle that George believes in (being selfless, helping others, loving without getting attached, living on compassion, fighting for what is right, living in symbiosis with other living beings) is personified by the Jedi. If they were intentionally written as flawed and corrupt, it wouldn't make sense.

[dresshistorynerd]

My Favorite Costuming

I, the arbiter of good taste, will now present to you the undisputedly best costuming in film and TV. (I'm joking please don't kill me)

I just want to gush about some good costuming, okay. So in no particular order:

Lord of the Rings

The whole film trilogy is just perfect, including costuming. The clothes do so much world and character building, it's imo just a perfect example of fantasy costuming. Every culture has their own distinct styles, the costumes are beautifully made, they feel real and ground the fantasy into a believable world, the fabrics choices are consistently impeccable.

Pride and Prejudice 1995

The 1995 miniseries is imo the best historical costuming, where history is the priority, I have seen. It perfectly creates 1810s world with the costuming. Everything is beautifully made down to the minute details. The costuming doesn't have a strong stylistic feel, but it fits the miniseries as a whole, which takes a very grounded and faithful take on the novel.

Emma 2020

Emma has a much more stylized take on the costuming and it works just as well. They are less trying to recreate history, but a heightened feeling of it. I love how take take all the 1820s defining oddities and exaggerate them. It's a very successful compromise between style and reality.

Moulin Rouge!

Mouling Rouge! is on the other hand from the complete opposite end of style and reality than P&P. It's extremely stylized and very modernized too, but it works perfectly with the rest of the movie that is absolute style madness. If Emma is heightened reality, Moulin Rouge! is everything cranked up into eleven. There's more references to history than actual historical costuming, but they do the referencing very well and very successfully convert some ideas from history to modern audience.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

The costumes are beautifully made and fairly historically faithful to late 1920s. The best part about it is how well it reflect characters. Phryne (the titular Miss Fisher) is the embodiment of 20s free spirited upper class woman, with her sometimes even scandalous fashion forward outfits, but other characters show the more mainstream and grounded side of 20s fashion. It's a wonderful contrast and shows so much of each character.

Downton Abbey

The costuming is consistently beautiful and very well made. It's mostly faithful to history, though not always to the current year, which is a shame, since it could have even better shown the passage of time and progression of fashion, which is already one of my favorite things about the costuming. Another favorite thing of mine, which they do much better, is the adherence to social rules of clothing and how the rules evolved during and after WW1. Even P&P 1995 doesn't consistently have the etiquette of clothing right, but Downton Abbey has (or at least I don't remember any instance like that, except when it's part of the plot).

Gentleman Jack

Gentleman Jack has P&P 1995 level attention to detail when it comes to history. The clothes are absolutely on point and well made. And it never shies away from the absolutely campy madness that is 1830s fashion. And what really elevates it is how they costumed Anne Lister herself, using the only portrait of the real Lister. She wears the basic foundational layers for women and then a lot of riding habbits, that were always very masculine, and generally dark colors. She sometimes wears the appropriate clothing for an occasion, but mostly she dresses unconventionally, which she actually did in real life. She is also extremely hot so -

Crimson Peak

This movie just has the perfect *chef's kiss* Gothic horror aesthetics. The costuming is more concerned about aesthetics than historical accuracy, which fits the Gothic horror/romance movie, but I really love how they use the historical silhouettes to a great affect with sometimes exaggerating. It's the 1890s (I know the irony when the pictured costume has Natural Form Era silhouette, but the movie is set in 1890s, most costumes reflect it and this is a stylistic choice), which is the perfect fashion decade - I take no criticism on this -, and they lean heavily on the dramatic sleeve and collar proportions and trails. The details and fabrics are less based on history but they are never out of place and are embedded with heavy symbolism as are the settings, tying everything visually so perfectly together.

Birds Of Pray

I don't really get invested usually with the costuming of contemporary settings, I'm usually just not that interested in contemporary fashion, but this movie really did it for me. The movie is framed from Harley's POV, and everything, including aesthetics, reflect her chaotic and whimsical personality. It's not very grounded in reality, and neither is the costuming. Everyone is wearing more or less weird, not everyday clothing, which gives the setting a somewhat timeless vibe - it's not clearly 2020s. I'd describe the costuming as costumy. And it works perfectly in the movie. Everyone has a very distinct visual look, but they are all exaggerated in a way that makes the overall costuming visually cohesive.

Game of Thrones

I don't love everything about GoT's costuming (especially in the last couple of seasons), it's not as perfect fantasy costuming as LOTR, but it's really good, especially for a tv-show that's so huge, has such a massive cast and always a lot of extras to costume too. I don't know the numbers but I bet they made massive amounts of costumes. So taking practice in account they did an amazing job. I do really enjoy how they took inspiration from a lot of weird things from late medieval fashion that never seems to get their fair share on screen, especially for the fashion on Kingslanding. They do a really good job for distinguishing different cultural areas from each other, while also building the characters with costuming. The armors are also rad, though I'm a little disappointed they are not as rad as in the books (my girl Brianne deserves her bright blue armor).