#almost an interesting character arc

[the-mpreg-guy]

Idk it's just exhausting to watch a show reward the fascist cop, punish the suicidal mentally ill "terrorist," and then watch an entire fandom go "you're stupid and media illiterate for being annoyed with this choice and also you hate sapphics you stupid sapphic."

I support womens wrongs but Aracane was soooo copaganda it was honestly embarrassing for them.

[tommygotwrittenoff]

i literally do not care about big emergencies on abc's 911. i want to see my characters talk to each other and have stories that are parallels to small, everyday (everyday for first responders) emergencies

[royaltea000]

YO! Being a drawing, what’s there to be afraid of!

[aroaceleovaldez]

tbh my latest biggest theory for why HoO and onwards is such a dramatic drop in quality and consistency is just. Rick stopped making teaching guides.

Like, the Lightning Thief teacher's guide is SUPER in-depth with even stuff like sources about middle grade child psychology and exact specifications of where he's applying that, explaining what different character's goals/motivations are, their dynamics with each other and their environments, etc etc. Even specifying which specific myths certain plot elements are supposed to reference or be about.

That stuff just doesn't exist for later books. There's activity guides and smaller, significantly more simple teacher guides for later books but they don't go into anywhere NEAR the same level of depth. The TLT one is a full lesson plan that breaks down the book at every level and explains what's going on and more or less why Rick did that. The others are all basically just glossaries of terminology and some simple question guides.

And they didn't even use the TLT teacher's guide for the Disney+ show because they clearly aren't adhering to any of what's discussed in that breakdown of the book.

By creating a teaching guide alongside writing the actual book, that's forcing you to document what you're doing, why, your sources, and information about your characters and the story they're in. It's like an even more in-depth version of a series bible. But that's lacking for later books (and etc) and it shows because that level of thought and depth and attention just isn't there anymore.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

The big problem with Rauru Tears of the Kingdom 2023's writing is that he acts as if he's owed everything and owns everyone --even when he cloaks it with the veneer of care, selflessness, or tragedy.

And if only this had been a conscious writing choice, explored and unearthed through the course of the game, he could have been the most interesting and layered Legend of Zelda character of all time. 😔

[beedreamscape]

This has to be the last thing I say on C3 finale because otherwise, I will not stop, it simply baffles me in its mediocrity. And obviously, this will be negative, if you loved it, good for you, this is my takeaway as someone who loved this campaign and was severely let down.

This finale changes everything that came before and not for good, better yet, it emphasizes all the faults in the structure of what c3 tried to be, it made most of the campaign feel like a true exercise in futility — How far can we go in a campaign that is meandering and unsatisfying? How long can we have the same discussion over and over and over again despite everyone knowing how this will end? How long can we drag out characters that don't change without anyone noticing? (spoiler everyone noticed)

Can't say I was emotionally invested in the finale because I tapped out back in the 70s, came back for Aeor/Downfall shenanigans, and left again. But in experiencing the finale something became clear to me:

THIS STORY NEEDED TO BE SHORTER.

WITH ANOTHER PARTY AT THE HELM.

If the objective from the very conception of C3 was to wipe out the gods, that had to be clear from the very start. And it wasn't clear, at all — not in the characters, not in the starting city, not in theme. This was a completely different campaign at the start! That clarity was what made Calamity so great, it was short and precise, and every pc SERVICED THE THEME, filled with hubris and contempt, not to mention the setting.

Even Ludinus went in circles for convenience of the campaign length and became a weaker opponent for it, more of a nuisance than a villain. The threat he posed at episode 50 was much stronger than now at 120 something. The battle against Otohan was more nail-biting and emotionally engaging than fighting Ludinus and Predathos, a god eater!!!!

This campaign would've benefited from three to four acts instead of one overarching objective like the past campaigns because urgency is the name of the game and we can't carry urgency for 70 episodes straight (and they didn't).

The constant inclusion of the other parties made it clear how easy it was to detach BH from the story, how easy and fun it was for them to tell it through another party's eyes (one of the main reasons why I walked away back when I did, but that's more of a personal preference).

Which is not to say Bells Hell's didn't deserve a long story! They could very well have existed in a more intimate campaign which these characters were clearly built for! Their premises begged for closer looks in slow moments, something tragicomical, exploration of the inner world while developing MARQUET and its microcosm of injustice and politics which was left in the dust mid-campaign (pun intended).

And I'm not suggesting this just for our enjoyment, I know it's them playing and their enjoyment comes first blah blah, though this is a multi-million company therefore their jobs but this would contribute to their enjoyment! You could see several moments in the campaign how tapped out they felt and acted. I doubt it was "fun" discussing the gods situation ad naseaum, trudging through landscapes they barely cared about, with empty arcs.

I could nitpick every fault I see in the finale but it would be pointless, these issues have been dragged from ages ago and poor character matching, and now this is a culmination of everything and it barely fazes me anymore.

(And yeah it's their game and it's "free", but that doesn't undermine its weight as a story, stories were made be analyzed, and it was a poorly structured one no matter how much I still like and admire them as people.)

WHICH is not to say I had no fun at all ever, I did! several times! and that's what makes me upset, it could've been great instead is just meh.

[vic-does-battlecats]

I drew all my warriors protagonist designs in 5* minutes from memory for the funsies

*some had a few extra minutes cause I knew how to do them perfect and I couldn’t leave them Wrong

[maxlovespigeons]

Genuinely hoping Peri's blowup will convince people to give A New Wish a chance honestly it's such a good show

[bookshelfpassageway]

i'm gonna be the one insufferable bastard on this earth that liked everhood 2, huh

[the-mpreg-guy]

also the people who are like "if you can't handle cait/vi, you would have never been strong enough for catradora" ARE INSANE bc the entire narrative of shepop was constantly saying that catra was WRONG for the shit she pulled and made her go through multiple episodes where she had to win adora's trust again AND she actually apologized. CAITLYN COULD NEVER

[1000sunnygo]

Do you ship lawbin?

I don't exactly ship them but I don't hate the ship either.. Just neutral, I guess? It's such a harmless ship but massively hated for no reason lmao.

I discovered it was a thing only after Sawyer7mage talked about them in a chapter review (good reviewer btw! some sarcasms he made here reminded me that he's a professional therapist pfff) Initially I didn't like the idea but some valid points have been raised in favor of the ship by him and others. Law/Robin don't have a lot going together so far, but public opinion can be easily swayed if Oda lets them interact more. Given the recent developments in late Wano, the chance is quite high.

Only problem is that these two seem to be drawn towards the type of people that are opposite of each other. Robin had flirted with larger and older men who aren't "conventionally attractive", and Law's buddies are all silly little fellows with little pride who like to pamper him all the time. But fanarts like this by @/takara_op did a great job convincing me that they'd be pretty fun to follow as a duo 👍🏼

Oda's depiction of Law and love and his character dynamic with women is an entirely different topic and I have a year old draft meta on this,,,,maybe I should post it some day 🫠 doesn't have much Lawbin in it though

[frosti-moon]

You just know these two are having crazy hot hate-sex. Those tongues will be battling for dominance.

[amaranthdahlia]

god i will never stop fawning over how absolutely SPECTACULAR afo vs bakugou was. genuinely one of the best fights in the entire manga in terms of art, the themes, the pararells, the gayness, the fight itself, and just. everything about it makes me wanna scream into my pillow and chew on it

[rawliverandgoronspice]

anyway to end the series on ganondorf tp's writing, my take (which isn't canon but arguable as a valid "death of the author" read imo) is that he is at his most iredeemable AND that's because he has zero things left to lose and no community left and his goal doesn't even make sense anymore he is parasitic and a ghost and pathologically obsessed by his own godlike legitimacy because that is the only thing he still has and it has prolonged his life in a horrible diminished state in a nightmare dimension so SURELY it must mean something right right RIGHT

[calico-kiwi]

WE’RE SO BACK (<- finally re-found the spark that fuels them from a creative/serotonin perspective after months of it fleetingly flickering in and out)

[shsl-hubris-guy]

Okay it is actually insane how much this game hammers it into your head that every good thing that happens can be attributed to Kaito. Shuichi's growing confidence? Kaito. Maki being nice to people? Kaito. The endgame cast banding together? Kaito. Kaito Kaito Kaito, and the amount they do it for Maki's arc specifically almost feels like they're allergic to giving Maki any credit for her own actions

'wow, Maki, you're being so dedicated.... This is all Kaito's influence, isn't it?' like can we not take the only female character we care about in this game and make it all about the man in her life

I believe my friend said it best with "Kaito is called the Luminary of the Stars because he is the sun which every other character's confidence revolves around" tbh

Like don't get me wrong I quite like Kaito but I do wish they didn't lay it on so thick yk? He's really not the shining beacon of influence Shuichi is making him out to be