#also I don't care what you think of the scream sequels I love these terrible terrible films

[lovelaceisntdead]

Going to see Scream VI next week :)

[madam-o]

Omg awesome! The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer is out now! It looks GREAT. Love the practical effects. Keaton stepped right back into that role like no time has passed at all! Adore the rest of the cast and the costumes. Burton always has to have a sexy goth dream woman in his movies, and Monica Belluci looks Uh. May. Zing.

Oooh, Beej is working as an "Afterlife Care Manager". Looks like he may have taken over Juno's job. Oh look, he's got a pic on his desk of Lydia as a 16 year-old. Looks like it's time for more pro vs anti ship wars. Hooray.

Oh wow, would I love to not talk about this again, but I just gotta. I'm a big mouth every now and then. I dislike angry fandom discourse that much.

First off, to the pro-shippers, I'd like to remind you that Movie Beej's emotional interest in Lydia has always been portrayed as creepy and weird. Also I think we have to remember his primary motivation for marrying her is likely to escape the Afterlife and his (likely many) enemies, such as his first wife. Lydia is rightfully scared about him being released based on how he terrorized her family in the original movie, so I doubt she's into it.

To the antis, I'll just point out that Beetlejuice has always been portrayed as a "lovable" antagonist. He's threatening, but he's a big goofy doofus at the same time. He wants to make people like him, but he's terrible at doing it. Also, his lies are very transparent. He's a cartoonish, sleazy con-man. When he's wooing Lydia it comes off as insincere and humorous. I think we're supposed to find him inappropriate for her, but not truly predatory. His motivations are for selfish gain and not seriously romantic in nature. And if he IS serious about her, I don't think WE'RE supposed to take his crush seriously.

Basically what I'm saying is, Beetlejuice has never taken itself seriously, so we shouldn't expect it to give us any solid shipping proof or disproof. This property has always been cartoonish in nature. Getting up in arms and screaming about how certain ships are only for pedophiles is as ridiculous as expecting the sequel to give us real Beetlebabes content instead of, say, Beej ending up flat on his face or in Dead Jail again.

Personally I think he'll escape any danger to leave the door open for more movies, but I'll be genuinely surprised if he and Lydia are paired up romantically in the movie canon. But this hardly matters as canon has very little to do with shipping.

[salty-dracon]

Day 2 of Id:Invaded.

I realize I'm only like 2 episodes in and I have a less than stellar opinion so far (i mean i felt the same about B:TB sooooo) but I can't stop thinking about how my other ocs' mindscapes, or id wells, would look in this setting. Like the only "mindscapes" you really find in my work are the ones I wrote for my Somnium Files AU and whatever Tawny goes through in Lostgods.

Tawny's id well would be incredibly hard for anyone diving in though. Even though he's killed the least number of people out of any of my characters (the number of people his actions killed was a grand total of THREE including himself, disregarding the number of people he thought would die with him) his would be basically an enclosed room filled with flashing colors and light and change literally every second. One minute you might be chased by a laughing monster, the second there might be a crying child hiding under the bed. He's just really emotional like that and has suppressed a lot of traumatic memories. A good amount of his art is about death and suicide too.

Lyra's (in Lostgods he killed millions!) which I wrote in the Somnium Files AU Quantum Ghost was a completely white version of his office with colorful flowerpots on the floor. Messing with things in the room opened up secret rooms all over. It was also the source for the story's biggest theme, "What Lies Behind Death? Time."

I actually did write a dreamscape for Angel (has killed over a thousand people) once in the scrapped SECRET Agents sequel, where he deludes himself into believing that he was a single father to Nick and Bridget and raised them both happily. Even though in practice he's a pretty terrible father and he didn't actually meet Bridget until she was in high school, he really did love them both and he wanted them both to be happy.

Anyway, Day 2, begin.

HE HAS A WIFE?! HE HAS A KID?! Man this guy doesn't even give "divorced" vibes, he gives "unmarried, single forever" vibes.

that is, blatantly, one of the most horrible ways you could kill a literal child. i should know! you really don't want to know about the horrible ways the children in my work have died!

danganronpa 2 fireworks scene.mov

this npc looks like elon musk

see, if this were america, you'd have people clapping and cheering for no reason other than "there were fireworks and explosions".

I don't think I ever brought up Inception before, but the whole "dive into your own unconsciousness and you'll be forced to wander it forever" and "you could actually get stuck in the mental world" are very Inceptiony.

"Narihisago" is Sakaido's actual human self, I guess.

All right, the second Id Well helps out on figuring out what's going on. Narihisago is the pilot. When he dives in, his consciousness manifests as "Sakaido", who looks like a younger version. A bit like a Psyncer and an AI-Ball from AI The Somnium Files, so you could compare Narihisago and Sakaido to Date and Aiba for instance. You don't remember anything when you hop in, so Kaeru's presence is what helps Sakaido remember that he's a dream detective and he's here to go clue hunting.

Like B:TB, this is one of those anime where you'll probably be wrong if you try to run deductions too fast. That being said, I do find it interesting how unlike the Perforator, this person's cognitive humans all beg for help. I don't think he really cares about who or what they are, just that they're people and just that they're screaming.

Anyone reading this is going to think I'm a future serial killer by the end. I'm literally just a guy who likes to write about serial killers. But yeah, this is basically Lyra from Lost Gods. His victims are all in his cage, because his reach is practically omnipotent. The joy comes in watching them scream for help, do ridiculous things for the slim chance they might be saved, and then die horribly, over and over and over.

oh my god. that's funny. I knew what it was the moment they said "it's midday"- the sniper isn't running around at the speed of sound in the waterfall, it's that the pillar they're on is rotating. You'd be able to tell if the pillar was rotating based on how the shadows of each person fell and if that changed over time. But not if it's noon and the sun is directly overhead.

there's a very funny parallel between the guy with the giant art deco style black and white photograph on his wall, and the guy with the Do It For Her wall.

roast his ass! roast his ass! roast his ass!

narihisago: *roasts the pyrotechnician so hard that he hangs himself*

perforator: well, none of my business

the next day...

police guy: how do you know about the method we use to hunt down serial killers?!

perforator: so uh do you remember how i had one of your associates strapped to a table and i was planning to shove a drill through her skull? did that not occur to you at all?

hot take: anaido serves less cunt than the perforator

and that means kaeru is what, the impressed cognition of the, uh, (shit what did they call it) unknown factors within the psync machine onto the victim of a given case? which is also a concept i worked with in quantum ghost. call it "i hate the secretly-a-twin trope so i made triplets instead like in genshin impact".

are all of the serial killers really going to form some kind of serial killer avengers team? that would be hilarious if it weren't for the fact that everyone in the office is just roasting him for dying too much

That's Fucked! That's Supremely Fucked!

... you know, if a video like this is getting 30k views easy, it would probably discourage the gravedigger a lot to just. exercise moderator powers and *pop* kill the stream

small bunker-like area, and kaeru is burnt to death. i guess that means that surviving in small, enclosed spaces means something to the killer.

and fire, an implement that is basically a chemical reaction that consumes oxygen. could have something to do with the suffocation, since running out of oxygen means you die.

"why didn't any cognition particles appear at the sites of the other five streams?" easy. the original gravedigger wanted everyone to escape somehow, and to him that didn't register as the drive to kill. the gravedigger actually wants this person dead. and we already know that this girl watches the snuff films herself, because she knew the time that the longest gravedigger victim lasted.

JAMMING

oh. or a copycat crime.

shoutout to this absolutely fucking furious police guy for making possibly one of the funniest "people who havent watched this anime, what's going on here?" frames ever

"i keep driving people to suicide" is a hell of a problem. "i keep driving serial killers to suicide" is like a whole new dimension to his problem.

WH- ? WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT RANDOM KISS

i mean yeah thats pretty obvious (at least in a police drama), why would you check out the crime scene of a copycat and then run away? because you're the real one! and why would you kiss someone who tracked you down? to silence them.

or....you get horny when you want to kill someone. the opposite of kaname date who gets good at killing when he's horny

SEND IN THE TWINK!

*points furiously* THE ORIGINAL MINECRAFT SKYBLOCK REFERENCE!

HE SOLVED IT INSTANTLY LMAOOOOOO

hello THIS MAN.

i know this genre. those barrels are filled with bombs. those wires are bomb cables.

wHAT did i just FUCKING TELL YOU

that woman is an accomplice and she enjoys watching people die.

two people fishing information out of each other. this is death note

wHAT did i just FUCKING TELL YOU

i actually did catch the knives, i was like "is that a knife holder?" and then i realized that the lack of knives in the knife holder was more suspicious.

i know how they're typecasting hondomachi. he's going to get horny again and try something again with her that she tried to kill his not-girlfriend

wHAT did i just- okay, it's not funny anymore

they're spending time questioning who john walker is but not who kaeru is. there's a lot here that suggests the existence of a collective unconscious, so couldn't he just be some guy walking through the collective subconscious? i actually don't know what the plot of the THIS MAN movie was supposed to be, but john walker seems like a pretty overt reference to it

another ai the somnium files parallel. there's secretly a second psync machine mizuhanome.

oh. oh my god. if the aptitude to kill makes you a worthy mizuhanome using candidate, that would mean that hondomachi, who just murdered someone, would be a good candidate!

*cheesy singer voice* he took the midnight train, goin' anywhere....*

i can't tell if it's just the camera angle but kaeru looks so sad this time

i like the atmosphere of this id well specifically, it feels like taking the train from new jersey back to new york city in the dead of night. it feels sad and lonely and warm at the same time.

i wonder if all of the injected avatars have this instinctual desire to protect kaeru. we never really saw with anaido, and i hope we see it with who hondomachi's avatar is

hondomachi really went "thanks for giving me a better position" and her boss really turned back at her and said "this is a performance improvement plan" like OUCH

oh SHIT, the case is connected back to the serial killer that killed narihisago's daughter!

serial killers be loving their weird shit. like applause noises that definitely didn't exist to cover up a different noise

i feel a bit bad comparing hondomachi to lily from b:tb, but they've both got very similar roles with them being "the newfound second best" compared to the male lead and also just having random weird romantic tension moments. but also being pretty badass in their own rights

time to dive into the brain of the psyncer himself- AWW SHES WEARING A LITTLE DETECTIVE OUTFIT THATS SO CUTEEEEE

his id well is an infinite puzzle field! that's not great! looks like stepping on the wrong numbers gets you exploded. which, ironically, would hilariously match keith flick from b: the beginning to a tee, since mathematics was his whole thing. honestly if you put keith to task here, he'd probably solve the whole thing within five minutes

fukuda: fuck yeah we love holes

inami: i am personally ambivalent towards holes. my not boyfriend had a hole and it connected us. and then a cop with a hole murdered my not boyfriend.

fukuda: hey i know that cop! FUCK YEAH WE LOVE HOLES!

now while mathematics is an important part of a lot of my work, secretagents and tmx being big ones,

"why is miyo hijiriido the only one with a full name?" *does not get an answer*

hijiriido: i'm trapped in scrabble with numbers!

narihisago: GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD

the chairman is giving me red flags somehow. like i know he's good friends with narihisago but he knew his daughter well enough to consider her courageous?

oh my god. are they actually going to do the dream-within-a-dream thing from inception???

i didn't point it out but i thought it was a little weird that when they listed the challenger's victims, there was one more portrait after the little girl muku's picture. "the surviving victim is the killer" was how it went in one of my favorite episodes of criminal minds.

WHAT??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT IT WAS THE CHAIRMAN

Like, let's talk about this. It makes sense if John Walker is a subconscious criminal, that he'd want to eliminate evidence of anyone seeing him or any of his actions. Why not use the guy who chills with serial killers? Who has a weird quirk of talking killers into suicide? Who would know about that except for his closest friends? Now what doesn't make sense is how Momoki was able to walk into the Id wells when he was being a pilot.

Yeah, the pi thing and the day of the murder is the sort of thing Keith Flick would be able to figure out if you gave him five minutes and a whiteboard.

and the award for the world's worst brain detective goes to....

how do 13 people suddenly fall into comas? does any of it have to do with like, infectious cognition particles or something?

TRIPLE PSYNC TRIPLE PSYNC TRIPLE PSYNC

i am extremely tempted to spoil quantum ghost but it's one of my favorite twists i've written so i'm gonna stay quiet

aw shit they trapped these kids in the middle of old america (reference to my own work)

presidential alert the boys are fighting

togo, smashing the podium with her fists: OH MY GOD STOP FIGHTING YOU'RE BOTH SERIAL KILLER BRILLIANT DETECTIVES

togo is going to hit them with the league of legends sett w if they don't stop doing weird shit

presidential alert the detectives are fighting

that is actually apparently how you escape quicksand.

time's stopped in a desert world with nothing in it except for a dead body where the strange part is that she's missing a watch, two detectives, a hawk, the unmoving sun, and footprints. hmmmm.

does momoki believe john walker's in his head? or does momoki have some information that needs to be kept top secret in his head?

episodes that make you realize that someone has put sakaido and anaido as "red oni blue oni" on tvtropes. even though they're really just two guys and one's friendlier than the other

i love how everyone in the command room is just so sick of their shit

what is within the well within the well? the answer is probably a third well.

i'm going to stop here for today. the plot's picked up significantly, and i'm really enjoying it. we'll probably finish tomorrow.

I'm watching ID:Invaded, a murder mystery anime about jumping into the mindscapes of killers and using it to track them down.

So far it's a lot like the AI: The Somnium Files series, with many similar things like an overly long psync animation, crazy dream worlds that follow very specific rules, a giant circular room with someone who does nothing but bark orders and a computer technician (more than one actually), and serial killer hunting.

Ep1 started out strong but animation was like a 5/10, dub cast is fantastic. I'm sort of switching between both to see how they handle certain scenes.

The MC is a little bit silly, though I hope his apparent amnesia is just a side effect of him hopping into a cognitive world (like how you forget things when you're dreaming). I also really like Hondomachi so I hope she doesn't become a damsel in distress archetype who only shines when none of the male characters can a la Lily from B: The Beginning.

[qqueenofhades]

Since when does fandom seem to think Han Solo is dumb? Is it the Solo movie? Backlash? The special edition not having him shoot first??? I always found him resourceful and good at thinking on his feet, just uneducated.

Couldn't tell you, as I have neither watched Solo nor am I actively involved in the (often batshit insane) Star Wars fandom. I just sit in my corner and reblog pretty pictures and have my feelings, but since Han was one of my Original Blorbos back from lo many years ago, I obviously have Opinions on him. And frankly, the "Han is dumb har har har!" seems like it comes in the vein of the other popular fanon about Han: that he is some suave, ultra-smooth, love-'em-and-leave-'em ladies' man who has left a trail of broken hearts across the galaxy. And like, yes, '80s Harrison Ford is indeed very hot, but Han Solo is a walking disaster of a human being who can barely talk to his crush without insulting her, runs screaming at an entire squad of stormtroopers in the Death Star and then promptly runs the other way ALSO screaming, and his best friend is the shaggy weird guy with whom he smuggles pot in their broken-down old VW bus. This man is a loser, is what I am saying. Zero suave detected anywhere. Just see how terribly he fails at playing it cool when Lando is flirting with Leia in ESB. There is practically smoke pouring out his ears. HAN SOLO NO LIKEY!!

Likewise, that is why Han Solo in the sequel trilogy is just bad fanon Han Solo, and nothing else. In the sequel trilogy's zeitgeistian haste to make the whole thing as avant-garde grimdark Dark Sci Fi as possible, they forgot a) the goofy, playful element of SW, and b) how deeply the original trilogy main characters were motivated by love, NOT cynicism. Han is a wisecracking, sarcastic smartass whose idea of flirting with Leia is arguments in the middle of the corridor on Hoth while the rebels just go around them like "welp, Han and Leia bickering again, must be Tuesday." But he is also the guy who says, "I know," trying to comfort Leia as he is about to be frozen in carbonite and quite possibly die, and tells Chewie to stop fighting, giving up any chance to save himself, so that Chewie can protect Leia. Then in ROTJ, he is ready to step aside if Leia loves Luke, only to be totally shocked to find out that they're siblings. (Han's face journey in that whole scene is one of my favorite things.) Like. That is not some suave galactic Don Juan unparalleled in his wooage skills and confident that his crush would pick him. Han Solo is a dork. The end.

Honestly, I don't care if Harrison wanted Han to get killed off. Who on earth was like "oh yeah Han would totally abandon Leia and their son and go back to being a Broody Loner because we think this is very sophisticated and postmodern storytelling?" If they absolutely had to do the Kyle plot, since it involved likewise butchering Luke's character, Han would charge out there, grab Kyle, be like APOLOGIZE TO YOUR MOTHER!!! and then ground him from using the Falcon for two weeks while trying desperately to stay mad at him. Either that or he and Leia would be the ultimate bantering-but-still-crazy-about-each-other middle-aged power couple fixing it TOGETHER, and that is (and remains) the only canon I will ever accept.

[its-tie-kir-ra]

As someone who is a full-time inukag shipper, I totally get where your coming from w/ the inukag scenes where Moroha just "accepts" her parents.

I think though that most inukag shippers are no longer watching YH (myself included), and that we have collectively decided to ignore the context behind the inukag scenes and just focus on those individual scenes as a whole. That's why we haven't really questioned why Moroha just goes w/ the flow, because:

1) we actually want to relish the few inukagmor crumbs we get even if it is a little pathetic

2) we take certain aspects about those scenes, like InuKag being loving parents and Moroha being a happy daughter, as actual canon because it fits with how we always imagined an inukag family to be in post-canon, even before YH.

And 3) we know Sunrise, especially Sumisawa, are not smart enough to write about a rational, emotional struggle as big as coming to terms w/ finding your birth parents and what that might realistically do to a person. We've accepted the fact that the writing is shit and that a realistic portrayal of such an emotional struggle is too good a concept to be written into such a shitshow like YH, so why make a fuss about it anymore?😪

That's just my theory at least. I know I'm taking InuKag being loving and doting parents, with Moroha being a happy daughter as one of the only actual canon things from YH.

I've seen some YH fanfics that dive into that particular struggle tho, if you ever wanna look them up on FF.Net or Ao3.

This is a response to this post. It's about how the show doesn't handle adoption/child abandonement well, and I used the example of how Inukag are going to handle this going forward and how the scenes feel really hollow to me as an adopted kid. I'm not trying to crack on Inukag shippers for liking it. Like what you like.

Anyway.

You realize that making a fuss over those scenes is sending the message that this show has an audience and it will keep going, right? Like you're allowed to do it, but don't pretend that it's ultimately not sending the message that you're ready to spend money.

I don't understand this. Fandoms scream and cry and beg for shows to be brought back. When they're brought back, the fandom usually hates it, except for a few parts which they get excited over (which I have a whole theory over how eventually you just run out of story to tell). Then they beg for more. And the cycle continues. Like read fanfic if you want to get that Inukag hit so badly. Like fandom prides itself on being very "Canon, who cares" and then as soon as the creators announce more is coming they turn into Oliver Twist. Is the validation that important to you?

It's like the live action thing. Everyone is out here getting so excited over the ATLA live action, but I'm dreading it, because when has there ever been an anime to live action that's good? Mulan, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Beauty and the Beast, THE LION KING, all were adaptations that were pretty freaking terrible, both in adapting their works and making a new story, but that hasn't stopped like 6 more being announced this past year and them bringing in billions of dollars and every time people are like "IT'S GOING TO BE GREAT!" So I don't get it.

Watch another damn show. Those sequels and live action adaptations are not about making you happy or bringing the fandom together. It's about making money.

I'm not trying to be an asshole but Jesus Christ sometimes I feel like I'm losing it watching this, because like, my favourite anime is FMAB, and everybody wants a sequel, and I don't. Because the ending was perfect. Why would you want to mess it up? It's way more fun for me to imagine what happened in my head or read a fanfic than pay someone to tell me what happened that will ultimately be treated as "more official" (which isn't a bad thing because I also believe that we should be respectful of original creators because they're fucking human and they're eventually going to run out of ideas and it's potentially going to be bad). All a sequel will do is disturb the tranquility and ruin whatever better ideas that the fandom came up with. (Because there is no way in hell they'd let Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, be the house husband he was destined to be.)

(LOOK AT THEM 😭)

Adds "talk about sequels" and "talk about adaptations" to list of video ideas because I have way too many opinions

(I don't doubt that Inukag would've been great parents. Y'all can fight me on that. But when I see comics about Ayame and Koga raising Moroha as "Aunt Ayame and Uncle Koga" (which is BS in itself, Koga and Ayame are her parents in that situation and I bitched about how much I hated Koga raising Moroha for 10 minutes in my video because I don't care what y'all say he wouldn't be a good parent to a quarter demon but ULTIMATELY HE IS HER DAD) and everybody going aweeeee that's exactly how it happened, like, you're treating it like it's canon. Stop pretending you're not. You're not ignoring the context.)

(I feel like an overinvested crazy person right now.)

[sonicasura]

Top 5 Game Series That Need The N.Sane Treatment

Crash Bandicoot was a series that hadn't been seen for years until the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy was revealed to the world. Thanks to this trilogy, not only was the franchise revitalized but we also got a sequel for Crash Warped in the form of Crash 4: It's About Time.

This is a recipe that could potentially bring games lost in obscurity back into the limelight but even a chance for new games to come. Here are some of my picks!

1. Jak and Daxter

One of the games that seriously needs the N.Sane Trilogy treatment. Jak and Daxter was a game series made by Naughty Dog that would inspire many platforms after. It stars the Demolition Duo, Jak and his partner ottsel, Daxter, on incredible adventures that change in tone over each game. You begin with a goofy island adventure to a dark futuristic playground as new mechanics get introduced.

Out of the main trio which consists of Jak, Sly, and Ratchet, Jak was actually the first game I played amongst them. A series that needs a comeback especially with the Easter Eggs often seen in Ratchet and Clank games throughout the years.

Touch up the graphics into a different style depending on the game, the Precursor Legacy be a bit more cartoony in appearance like Crash 4, and then switch to a style similar to the N.Sane Trilogy for the darker games like Jak 2 and 3.

Adjust the controls to run smoother, change difficulty of certain games like lower the difficulty of Jak 2 a smidge and place an optional mode to play with the original difficulty.

This would lay down the groundwork for an actual proper sequel, Jak X feels more like a side game while Lost Frontier is a snore fest.

If Naughty Dog doesn't take this route and continues pushing out flavorless games, I suggest any decent company that can do should buy the rights to Jak and Daxter. This is a gold mine covered in dust that needs to come back!

2. Sly Cooper

Yep! We're going to the other member of this once legendary trio, Sly Cooper. Sly Cooper was the second game series from Sucker Punch that I played, the first being Infamous series.

This game revolves around a group of thieves who steal from criminals and tend to get wrapped up in saving the world a few times or battling enemies out to end the bloodline of the main character, Sly Cooper, who comes from a legendary family of thieves.

Before the series disappeared into discontinuity, we had a total of 3 main games alongside one made by Sanzaru. Sanzaru's Thieves of Time was decent but midway World 3, the quality seriously declined and left fans with a very unsatisfied ending. Perfect for crossovers but terrible for the franchise.

Giving this game the N.Sane Trilogy treatment would not only give a more successful chance than attempts to make a movie, but it could to more proper sequel than Sanzaru's version. Use a design similar to Sanzaru's or go for a more rounded one like N.Sane Trilogy.

Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart even had an Easter Egg with Sly in it too! Insomniac acknowledges that these game series still exist by dropping these little nuggets of nostalgia, take the hint and bring back the Legendary Playstation Trio!

3. Spectrobes

Nintendo's alternate version of Pokemon. Spectrobes is a trilogy game series that debuted on the DS and last game was made for the Wii.

This series revolves around Rallen and Jeena, two members of the Nanairo Patrol, as they search for the fossils of creatures of light known as Spectrobes to find the planet devouring darkness known as Krawl.

You travel through various planets to uncover different kinds of fossils and some very interesting or whacky but loveable characters. It has elements similar to Fossil Fighters where you have to dig up fossils before awakening them. Care for your Spectrobes to battle the Krawl.

The evolving battle system, new mechanics, various locales and the unique design of each Spectrobe were something I loved but pretty sure many would like too. It even had a book and a mini series on YouTube! The game's graphics could take a route similar to Rayman Legends or Dragonball FighterZ.

Don't go for Jump Force please. We need actual expression than stiff faces and aggravating screams.

This is game series worth bringing back even if it just gets a remake.

4. Golden Sun

Another Nintendo franchise that needs return from obscurity. Golden Sun was a JRPG that came along systems like the Gameboy Advance during a severe lack of games for it. It revolves around different groups of people who use Psynergy, their version of alchemy, to battle evil as they travel the realm of Weyward.

A great game series enriched by its many characters, lore, growing battle system such as Djnn and Summons to turn the tide in battles, unique story and all sorts of areas to explore.

The biggest dent to the franchise was Dark Dawn because of its questionable ending that left many players confused or dissatisfied despite the incredible graphics, plot and character interactions. After that no one has heard a single word about any sequel.

The N.Sane Treatment would not only bring the franchise back for fans both new and old but can actually fix the questionable ending for Dark Dawn. Graphic style, um, I guess something similar to Dragon Quest or maybe Persona. Persona would be the better option considering how you choose how the main character responds to certain situations.

This series has been done dirty and deserves a second chance like this.

5. Kid Icarus

A Nintendo franchise that shows bringing back old games can revitalize a lost series.

This game series is at the bottom for a decent reason actually. Masahiro Sakurai has been hearing requests about porting one of the games, Uprising, to the Switch. Something that he sounds like he wants to do but there is a problem as he admits it would be difficult.

How Uprising is made for the 3DS such as the dual screens, and specific use of the touch screen for combat. Something that can't easily be translated to something like the Switch without decent changes.

The game revolves around the angel Pit, who fights the evil forces of the Underworld with assistance from his Goddess Palutena. Each game changes the rules of battle with the greatest being Uprising as you combat various creatures and even bosses revolve mostly around Greek mythology.

I think the N. Sane Trilogy can work with this. The first Kid Icarus and the second Of Myth and Monsters might be what could provide the missing pieces for the Uprising Switch Port Situation.

Both games could be completely restyled in a format that could be similar to Zelda since in these games, your options of weapons are limited and you have to think smart for particular puzzles.

They can be used to lay down a format that can built on for an Uprising Remake since Land Battles are one half of the essential gameplay. The graphics can be Uprising since it's already a perfect that just needs to be brushed up a bit.

When it comes to Super Smash Brothers, Sakurai worked hard to make characters like Minecraft Steve or Fighting Game fighters such as Ryu and Kazuya fit into the gameplay even if it meant changing about every hitbox and aspect of the stages. A little help can go a long way.

That's what I've got for now. If I find anymore games that need the N. Sane Trilogy then I'll put em in a new list. Until next time folks!

[mothervvoid]

hey sexy! just stopping by to tell you that reading your feedback on "I'm At Home" the other day literally had me melted, all over the FLOOR. 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡 I can't tell you how hard I was cackling from happiness while reading it. I don't deserve youuuuuuuuuuu

anyway, just wanted to give you a huge THANK YOU. I ended up re-reading the whole fic myself over the last few days, and then i just now finished adding 5x more drama and angst and goodass soap opera shit to the sequel I'm writing for it, and honestly, thank you so much for kick-starting my motivation to write. I am not by any means done with "Abandon," but it's at a quiet spot for a second, and the next chapter is just a long beast of a thing (mostly because it shifts through everyone's pov at least once - kakashi's, rin's, obito's, and minato's, plus a new character, for one hot second, and it's taking me forever to make it sit right and be consistent). So anyway the revisions over there have been slow, and I didn't know I needed a break but I really needed a break, and I loved having a good reason to revisit "At Home" and write more for that one. i'll post the first chapter of the sequel pretty soon, i think. I've already finished most of the fic, at least all/most of the crying scenes, and the yelling-at-each-other scenes, and the talking-it-out scenes, and the lighthearted-banter scenes. Now I just have to finish writing the screaming-and-writhing-in-awful-terrible-pain scenes, which oughtta be fun!! (i almost always save those for last, like they're the writing dessert, omfg send help). plus the follow-up/aftercare scenes, where hopefully everybody gets bandaids who needs them, hopefully with disinfectant this timme rip, rin, i love you, but it's a lot more fun to write ShittyMedic!Obito

anyway, because it's me, you know there's gonna be a whole lot more angst, whump, and fleshwounds than is strictly necessary, but just fyi thanks to you and one particular small thing you mentioned in your comment, a lightbulb went off in my head earlier and so now there's also just one more extra notch of all that good stuff than is strictly necessary. after re-reading your comment, i wrote a new line into the sequel draft, re-read the line, and was just like: "yikes." poor kakashi rip haha.

ANYWAY! i love you very much for getting back to me within 5-7 business days! no promises but I will try to do the same with the next fic update 🥰😊

heyyyy!! once again i'm really glad to hear my comment made you so happy, it was such an insanely good read i couldn't resist. did you know i almost copied the whole thing into google docs? i thought i was going to exceed the comment character limit and i would have to post two comments instead of one, but honestly if i had you would've deserved both comments bc 'I'm At Home' is fucking stellar. 100/10. gonna be rereading this one.

dude im SOO excited for the sequel. i can't wait :D i can't wait for the update to Abandon either, i love to sit back after the day is over and see you've updated Abandon so i've got another chapter to read before bed. its like a bedtime story shittymedic!obito my BELOVED. honestly the scene in I'm At Home where he stitched kakashi's wounds and gagged and squealed the whole time was one of my favorites, partially just because of how over-the-top disgust was but also because even though he was so grossed out he still took care of kakashi's wounds. I love hearing these updates for both Abandon and I'm At Home!

"thanks to you and one particular small thing you mentioned in your comment, a lightbulb went off in my head earlier and so now there's also just one more extra notch of all that good stuff than is strictly necessary." < oh this pleases me greatly. this pleases me VERY MUCH. evil laughing rn

"i wrote a new line into the sequel draft, re-read the line, and was just like: "yikes."" < i CANNOT wait to find out what it is because my reaction will most likely also be 'yikes' and also *evil laughter*

don't push yourself too hard!! i can always wait for an update <3 but i am also looking forward to it!

[mistwraiths]

3 stars

This is going to be REALLY FULL OF SPOILERS so read at your own risk.

House of Sky and Breath is the sequel to House of Earth and Blood, better known as Crescent City as everyone calls it. This book picks up a few months after the events of the first one, with Bryce and Hunt together but not together, and laying low because of the Asteri's threat.

I am such a fan of Sarah J. Maas's books so it does pain me to admit that I think Crescent City series is my LEAST favorite of hers. Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that I was honest to god BORED reading this at times. Looking back on to my review of the first one, I actually said the same thing as I'm about to say here. I was bored up until the last 100 pages when everything becomes a wild rush to the end. Having to slog mostly through 700 pages to get to the good part doesn't make a book good in my opinion.

Her writing is perfectly enjoyable and SJM has a way with side characters snagging my attention and heart. I enjoyed learning more of Tharion in this book, he's one of my favorites and I hope he manages to gain his freedom back and get happiness he deserves. Ruhn is my other favorite and I loved whenever he was on the page. While the whole mind-link, spy connection thing was a bit insta-lovey, I do like the predicament and tension it causes. Flynn and Declan are always a treat, as well as Juniper and Fury (although we know nothing about her still). Cormac was an absolute delight of a character and honestly I stand by the fact that he was constantly wronged and treated pretty terribly by the group when he seemed to be the only one who cared about a better world enough to do something. And don't come at me about Hunt's tragic past, I'm aware and honestly he's the only one I give a pass to when it comes down to that.

This whole book actually is a giant sausage fest which is also disappointing. Other than the prolouge, was there a single POV that was a woman besides Bryce?? I can't remember. There's Fury and Juniper and Hypaxia mentioned, but I don't think anyone other female has a POV. Also, I wish SJM would stop with titles and give us names. Autumn King, River Queen, the River Queen's daughter (in Tharion's own POV lol), Viper Queen, etc. Titles are fine but I'd like to know names too.

My issue is that it takes far too long for anything to really happen. The whole find Emile and the rebel cause didn't really seem to matter in the long run of this book. It was about more secret information that was linked to surprise, Danika, and information regarding the Asteri. Danika has to be the BUSIEST, MOST SECRETIVE, BUSYBODY on the planet, my god. This girl had time for partying, secret sleuthing, mingling with the rebels, having a secret mate, secret keeping, working for the Aux, uncovering Synth, and tattooing some ancient thing on her friend, hang out, and keep everything straight and not tip anyone off. It's a bit ridiculous. If I learn one more thing Danika did secretly, I might scream.

Anyways, Bryce and company don't like how the rebels do things which is understandable, but they kind of just dump them all in a group. Killing innocents and people who are helping you isn't good and won't help in the long run for the rebels. But all that happened was they destroyed a bunch of weapons the rebels had and then used them to cover their own mission, and yell at Cormac for being involved in the rebel cause. The twist on Emile was a pleasant surprise but again, other than being another new character out of the new bunch we're given, there's really nothing else except him being the reason everyone comes together because everyone is searching for him. I think it was majorly shitty to keep Cormac from knowing until the very end. Sophie clearly trusted him enough to keep him safe and I think it's insulting to her memory in a way. Not once does anyone give Cormac an actual chance, if he learned from Emile what he was well he probably would have kept him safe still due to the love of Sophie. Also, Bryce somehow sneaking around everyone with this nearly Aelin level plot and secrecy was a bit far-fetched in my opinion, especially since she had no idea that the deadly and dangerous Viper Queen would actually kill people when Bryce said "find him by any means necessary". Please.

What really matters at the end is Danika's secrets and the Asteri, the truth of them and everything. The truth is not quite as shocking since the Under-King practically hinted at it since he was born similarly. The Asteri DO remind me a bit of the Valg in a way and I think they're an interesting villain group. I really would like to learn more about them. I also really liked learning about Hel and find it interesting that they might be actual good guys this time. So I definitely want to learn more there.

Another few problems I had with this book was I don't connect or particularly like Bryce or Hunt, and especially them together as mates. I feel personally like I can't ever make sense of Bryce's reactions or actions to her personality and mood shifts. She's SO hot and cold, and then she's super selfless and then she's bitching someone out and acting selfish, and then she's like we're a team he gets me we get each other and then she's like keeping secrets because they wouldn't understand then demanding to know everything and mad when other people keep things from her, and etc. I have whiplash trying to keep up. On top of that, you think if you wanted to stay away from your father and the position that would give him access to you, you would arm yourself with knowledge on how to avoid it. I just struggle trying to connect with her.

Hunt is absolutely boring to me. I'm sorry, I said it. I love a tortured boy but my god, he's not the least bit interesting to me and mostly because it feels like he doesn't have a personality. Maybe it because he's finally free and he needs to figure himself out. But take Bryce away from Hunt and take away what we know about his past and slavery, and what's left????? Lightning and um.... he watches Sunball?? He doesn't seem be funny or grouchy or clever or sad or depressed. Like.. there's just nothing there that isn't there because of Bryce in my opinion.

Because I don't like them individually, I don't really care about them being together and I don't like that their mates. But, romances are interesting when there is tension and a will-they-get-together question surrounding them. Complications and struggle and feelings make romances fun reading. Characters already being together forever lose my attention fast. I'm fine if SJM wants to make the first relationship actually be the one that lasts but at least make it worth the reading and waiting. Honestly, even though at the end of the book, Hunt is probably back in servitude and who knows maybe lost all his memory or something because it isn't quite clear what happens, I'm not worried about them not getting together if they're "mates". Also, I'm gonna talk about that gym sex scene. I was so grossed out. Like "her leggings and panties were soaked with sweat". Hunt is mentioned that he's dripping with sweat multiple times. As Bryce is. GO HAVE SEX IN THE SHOWER not an accessible gym in an apartment complex that probably isn't cleaned. Imagine the body odor. I JUST WANTED TO BARF. Also, why are they having sex in public so fucking much???

Something that REALLY bothered me was the rape situation in this book. I know Pollux is a bad awful character. There is so many awful things you could come up with to show us as readers. So why was this chosen??? It's 2022! YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE IT IN YOUR BOOK! I don't care if Baxian stopped it before it went too far or if he only stopped it in the middle or only fought Pollux after the fact. It's unnecessary. And how is it handled? Pollux gets AWAY with it with a very light slap on the wrist, but BUT!!!!!!!! Because it's embarrassing to the Asteri, one of the very few actual black characters is FORCED into a mating situation with another archangel. EXCUSE ME???? For a distraction????? To be a reason to bring the Hind and the Harpy and the dreadwolves to the city? I just found the ENTIRE situation distasteful. It doesn't get any better either because Celestina loves a woman that she clearly is not allowed to be with. So, on top of all that, we're making the lesbians be forced into mating and marriage bonds with men. It just makes me really disappointed.

Lastly, the moment we met the Astronomer and starting mentioning planets, I had a feeling that we might get a jump from a gate on one! I was excited for Bryce to jump to Hel. So imagine my shock when instead Bryce lands in ACOTAR land. Like, I really am deeply unsure how I feel about this. Rhys and Feyre deserve a fucking break. They also are busy dealing with their own stuff like whatever that Koschei or whatever his name is?????? I'm just STARTLED. BUT, maybe Amren will actually have a use now????

All in all, this book really just felt really stuffed with filler information about characters and more world information. It wasn't necessarily bad despite all my complaining above but it was ultimately boring until the end. I do think perhaps the next book will be better. Maybe things will be far faster paced and just interesting now.

If you made it this far, my apologies for reading this HUGE whine fest.

[mrs-fairchild]

Kitty In the shower Confessing feelings (I don't care if it sounds dumb why are they in the shower together randomly They'd be cute :)

Okay, this turned out to be a bit longer than I expected, I’m sorry! Ah, and I ended up making it a sequel to this short fic I had written before. Enjoy!

“...Right?” Kit heard Abby asking for confirmation. He hadn’t listened to a word she said.

See, when he thought about making mundane friends, it seemed like a good idea. They were really the only friends he could make there - at least of the people his age (a requirement which Jem and Tessa definitely did not fill) - and it would be a nice way to escape the shadowhunter world sometimes.

What he hadn’t thought about was what to do when a Ravener demon showed up in his friend’s college campus.

“Huh?” he muttered to himself as he watched the scorpion-like creature move, green saliva dripping everywhere.

“I just said that I know your friend is in town, and things are complicated between you two but you obviously like him! You can’t use hanging out with me as an excuse to avoid him forever!”

This caught his attention. Kit’s blue eyes flashed between his friend and the demon, his attention split for a second. He was opening his mouth to answer when he saw the creature crawl into one of the labs.

“Gottago!Talklater!” his words jumbled together as he darted past her, towards the Ravener. Behind him he heard the girl screaming: YOU CAN’T AVOID HIM FOREVER!

Kit jumped over a table in the patio - running past the college kids who now stared at him - with supernatural speed. He wasn’t sure what the mundanes were seeing at the moment but it certainly wasn’t him  - Seraph blade drawn from his belt, chasing after a slimy scorpion-like monster into a chem lab.

Cassiel, he whispered and the blade came alive, radiating blue light.

The lab was empty - thank the angel. So he wouldn’t have to deal with kids getting in the way. At the same time, though, the question remained: what is it doing here? It clearly wasn’t going after Kit. Who was it looking for? Or what was he looking for?

He had no time to meditate on this right now. The demon jumped at him and Kit only had time to avoid the poison-dripping teeth before it crashed its tail into the shelves above them. He heard the sound of glass breaking and liquid rained down on them. Kit felt the slight burning sensation on his back and noticed it probably hadn’t been water. He took his arm to his forehead, wiping it clean in order to stop whatever it was from running into his eyes.

The demon seemed to have a little trouble too, as he backed away a couple of steps, his tail flailing from side to side. Kit didn’t think the creature’s multiple eyes could look angrier than usual, but there it was. The shadowhunter stepped on a chair, and used it as leverage to jump above the creature, his blade shining blue, ready to decapitate the demon in a second and...

...He missed it. His arm, now burning from when he wiped the liquid off his forehead, failed to stab precisely at the last minute, barely scratching the demon, and now Kit was the one on the ground. His heart raced as he stared at the creature looming over him. If Kit didn’t know better, he would have said the Ravenor demon looked amused as he went for the kill.

And then a sharp metallic object went through the creature’s neck. The Ravener fell sideways, dissolving into dust and goo as it did so.

Kit looked up to see Tiberius Blackthorn across the room, another knife on his hand, ready to throw again if necessary.

The blond boy opened his mouth to say something, but Ty was quicker.

“You need to get into the shower.” he said.

“Huh?” To Kit, those words made no sense.

“There is acid all over you. You need to take off your clothes and get into the safety shower station RIGHT NOW. Then we can make an Iratze.” Ty pointed at the yellow shower in the corner of the room.

Kit opened his mouth and closed it again. Of all the the things he thought Ty might say to him, this definitely isn't one of them. Hoped? Maybe. But certainly not in this situation.

“By the Angel, Kit, just do it!” Ty pushed him towards the shower, concern and frustration mixing in his voice. “I won’t look” he promised, bushing a little as he pushed the other boy under the water pressure and immediately turned away.

“Okay, okay…” Kit finally managed to force words out of his mouth and took off his acid-doused shirt, as he felt the water wash over him. He didn’t think the acid had fallen over his pants as well so he decided to keep those. The fact that he didn’t have another pair, that Ty was there, and that he didn’t want to walk around a college campus in his underwear, were also a compelling factor in this decision.

“Ty…” Kit said, after a moment. “What were you doing here?”

Kit didn’t see his face, but could see the back of the boy tense up with the question.

“Don’t get me wrong” Kit added quickly “I’m glad you were here, I mean, saving my life and everything but… Why?”

“Tessa said you might be here.” He started to say and then blurted out the rest in an extremely fast-paced explanation. “I thought you were avoiding me, because of what happened the other day and I wanted to apologise. I didn’t mean to pry. I know your powers are none of my business… And I shouldn’t have said that about you not saying goodbye. After what I did, I had no right to expect you to want to talk to me ever again and I understand if you don’t, now. I just had to say I’m sorry.”

He stopped for a moment and then continued as if unable to stop the words from leaving his mouth “...Then I saw you with your girlfriend and I didn’t want to interrupt anything, but you ran to chase some demon and I just had to see if you were okay.”

“She’s not my girlfriend” was the only thing Kit managed to say.

“Oh…” Ty said, and the room went quiet for a second.

“I’m the one who should be apologising.” Kit answered finally. Somehow it was easier letting out the truth when Ty wasn’t looking at him “I shouldn’t have reacted like that the other day. I also shouldn’t have been avoiding you or have left you without saying goodbye… I just…” he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and let the truth pour out of him “I don’t know how to deal with the way I feel about you… And I didn’t think you should have to deal with it either. You had enough on your plate.”

There was another brief moment of silence and then an “ouch” from Kit, who tried to reach his back with his hands. While clean, it still felt sore, like he had just had a terrible sunburn.

Try drew his steele. “Is it okay, if I…?”

Kit replied a weak “yeah” as Ty turned and stepped into the shower as well. None of them stopped to think  about turning the water off before Ty started carefully drawing the healing rune on Kit’s chest, over his heart.

Kit was sure the mere feeling of Ty’s hand on his chest made his heart beat a million times faster and there was no way for Ty not to have noticed.

“How did you?” Ty said in a low voice. “...Feel… About me?”

Kit smiled sadly as he gazed into the boy’s grey eyes. Ty, like Kit, was completely soaked. His dark hair glued to his forehead, his lips were wet. Kit still did not understand how a person could in every occasion look so unimaginably beautiful. “I told you once...” he said - and the memory of Kit’s desperate confession while Ty tried to resurrect his sister felt tangible between them.

“I…” Ty began, but Kit interrupted him.

“You don’t have to say it. Really. I get it. I was just a lost kid that you guys were helping, and when Livvy…” he paused for a second “I had no right to hope that you would care about me... I was just a stupid kid.”

Ty looked absolutely shocked.

“You thought I didn’t care about you?” he finished the Iratze, his hands were still on Kit’s chest, his eyes wide with shock. “How could you… How could I not care about you? When… When she died you were the only person I wanted to be around, the only person I trusted with my plans, the only one I needed to have by my side.” he paused, and Kit saw in him the same despair he must have had in his own eyes that day “Kit- how could you not know I loved you?”

At that Kit couldn’t think anymore. He couldn’t think about how is it that he was so wrong for so many years. He couldn’t think about how Ty must have felt when he left without so much as saying goodbye. He couldn’t think about how he had based so much of the last years on premise that was never true. He barely even noticed the water that still fell over their heads. All he could think about is that Ty had loved him. And he was here, his hand on his heart, as if he knew it would always belong to him…

So Kit didn’t think about anything else when he pulled Ty into a kiss. And for just one moment, nothing else mattered.

[ptw30]

as someone who's only been watching this sh-t show from a distance (and don't actively follow the twitter/social media besides what I see cross-posted here, so who knows maybe they actually /did/ already) can I say how at this point it's completely plausible to me for a fan to say how harmful it is to constantly yell how you hate and want to (and HAVE) kill the single canonically queer character in the entire canon, and have the lovely duo of VLD snap back (1/2)

how not only are they exempt from the Bury Your Gays trope and completely immune to any effects or consequences of it, but that “we’re actually TOTALLY EVEN MORE SUPER PROGRESSIVE becuz gay kuron being totally 120% evil shows that gays can be villains too uwu u just dont understand it duh get on our level sweetie!” (2/2)

I had the privilege to attend the “The Future is LGBTQ” panel at NYCC.*  Marguerite Bennett, a queer comic book writer, spoke about issues she had when writing DC Bombshells. She was accused of having written harmful queer tropes by a few fans, to which she replied, “The majority of the cast was queer. Angst is going to happen to queer characters with a queer cast.” (I’m paraphrasing.)

Contrarily, the majority of Voltron: Legendary Defender’s characters is not queer. And many of the terrible events in the script were reserved for the queer characters. 

Below the cut, an exploration into the BYG trope and how Kuron being evil feeds into it. 

Canonically - there are four queer characters. Shiro is the only main cast queer character, but Zethrid, Ezor, and Adam are also queer. If you listen to the EP interviews, then you also know Blatyz is queer. 

Every canonical queer character has been killed. 

Out of all the deaths in VLD, Adam’s was truly horrific. He screamed out in pain as he was killed, compared to Thace, who closed his eyes and surrendered to the blast; compared to Antok who accepted a blast, groaned, and fell to the side; compared to the Druid, who received a sword in the chest, muttered, and disappeared; compared to Zarkon, the Evil Emperor of the Universe, whose labored breathing ended and his bayard stopped glowing; compared to Trugg and Ladnok, whom we actually didn’t see die; compared to Keith’s dad, whose tombstone symbolized his death.  

Adam’s death deserved a trigger warning. While I do not agree with Hypable’s most recent season review, I am grateful to Donya for spoiling his death. On August 10th, I was anxious about Adam’s impeding demise, but even knowing - I was horrified when it came. 

The EPs are not exempt from the BYG trope or the consequences of its use. 

The issue with VLD is its treatment of its gay characters. All Lotor’s disabled and queer generals were killed. The only general to survive and turn “good”? The straight, non-disabled one. The only paladin to return home to absolutely no family? The queer paladin. Keith found his family in space. Hunk, Lance and Pidge had family. Even Allura is shown with Romelle and Coran. 

Shiro? Absolutely no family. 

I don’t even believe Adam and Shiro should be together - 

(Tangent - as a former caretaker of someone with degenerative disease, I can tell you that most people who say they will stick around to the end, don’t, and if Adam wasn’t willing to wait for Shiro to return, then he wouldn’t have stuck around to take care of Shiro. Furthermore, Adam and Shiro made the decisions that was best for them, which is mature and thoughtful. Even if we disagree with Adam, he broke up with Shiro, and Shiro, by choosing to go to Kerberos, broke up with Adam. But that doesn’t mean Adam deserved to die.)

- but I’m not going to argue whether Shiro and Adam fulfilled the BYG trope. Each person can decide for himself/herself how they feel about Adam’s demise - but Zethrid and Ezor are unequivocally the BYG trope. A touching moment, a promise for them to be together, and then they die. 

There’s no way for the EPs to escape that, technicality or not. (Another point - I don’t care for technicalities. The spirit of Adam and Shiro’s relationship wasn’t written in good faith, especially since the EPs wanted to kill Shiro - so they don’t win any points here.)

Now, I will give the EPs credit that Kuron is not your traditional “queer-coded” villain, but Kuron being evil doesn’t make them or the story progressive. In fact, it makes them either woefully ignorant or actively offensive. 

In “The Strange, Difficult History of Queer-Coding,” Tricia Ennis writes how during the 1950s and ‘60s, conservative groups in America discouraged queer characters in films. These characters were still written but in subtext, and actors were told to play these characters as gay. 

Even dangerous LGBTQ tropes rose out of this time period as the depictions of pulp noir femme fatales and other deadly women rose in popularity. These women were usually written as promiscuous and sexually devious, both with men and sometimes with women. They were also evil and usually met their end as a result of their sins. While depictions of LGBTQ characters were frowned upon, depictions of them in this specifically negative light were not. You were not endorsing an “alternative lifestyle” if your gay characters always met an untimely demise. Instead, they were merely paying for their poor choices. This trope would eventually give way to what we now refer to as “Bury Your Gays.”

Thus, Shiro/Kuron being the only queer paladin, the only paladin to have his bond with his lion broken, the only paladin to turn “evil” and to be killed twice - Shiro’s body and Kuron’s soul - the EPs are not progressive. In fact, they fed the trope they so adamantly denied using. 

Coupled with Shiro being announced as no longer being a paladin in the same season that he was revealed to be queer, in the same season it’s revealed he has/had a degenerative disease, in the same season his one-time partner was killed - one can even make the assumption all this happened to Shiro because the EPs and DreamWorks do not support LGBTQIA+ rights.  

Rounding back - the EPs aren’t exempt from repercussions. 

Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery came from DC Comics as directors, became showrunners at DreamWorks, and went onto Marvel, back to the director chair. That is a demotion. DreamWorks cleaned house - even before Season 8 premiered - and though I think the messages were offensively underwhelming, JDS apologized on Twitter the Monday after Season 7 was released, and LM expanded upon that apology at NYCC. 

The damage is done, though, as many people found Season 7 so harmful that they will not watch more DreamWorks’ show and definitely not projects with JDS and LM. The best thing DreamWorks can do is to apologize (an exec this time), admit there were issues with Season 7 - including the BYG trope, plus the racist, sexist, and ableist themes, as well - and promise to do better in a Voltron sequel and in all their shows by creating diverse teams and an inclusive environment in which to create inclusive shows. 

DreamWorks hasn’t completed that final step yet, but the fact that the EPs are no longer a part of DreamWorks and are not working on a VLD sequel, despite the show being “popular” and what I would say, an overall “success,” says DreamWorks did take notice. Now it’s up to us, as fans, to continue the conversation and not to stop discussing. We need to keep telling DreamWorks and others content creators to create inclusive stories until we get shows with true and empowering representation. 

* I highly recommend any fan of any fandom to attend a few educational panels at each con. They’re included in the price, and they are welcoming and informative for writing true representation in your stories. 

[the-princess-with-pancakes]

Emma Roberts Movie Week

It’s actually a bit unexpected. I didn’t plan this, I just watched Scream IV and her character made me love her even more, then I did after Chanel. So I thought, why not, no matter that I planned Brendan Fraser Movie Week.

 Day 1: Scream IV (2011)

It’s not the movie I want to talk about (because I plan to make a post about the whole franchise, after watching the TV Series), but about he character. I mean, how awesome is watching Emma Roberts as psycho killer. Especially a very convincing psycho killer, trying to kill Sidney. After watching Scream Queens and knowing how well she plays bitchy characters, so it was very entertaining. The third act of course. Watching her as a side character was just okay. That’s really all I can say. So yeah, there you go folks. Also the villain monologue was fun. Just read for yourself:

Favorite Jill quote:

Jill Roberts: My friends? What world are you living in? I don't need friends. I need fans. Don't you get it? This has never been about killing you? It's about becoming you. I mean, for fuck's sake, my own mother had to die, no great loss there, so I could stay true to the original. That's sick, right? Well, sick is the new sane. You had your 15 minutes, now I want mine! I mean, what am I supposed to do? Go to college? Grad school? Work? Look around. We all live in public now, we're all on the Internet. How do you think people become famous any more? You don't have to achieve anything. You just gotta have fucked up shit happen to you. So you have to die, Sid. Those are the rules. New movie, new franchise. There's only room for one lead, and let's face it, your ingenue days, they're over. A bit long, yeah, but how great. Isn’t that weird, that her monologue is longer then my text about her character?

Day 2: Wild Child (2008)

A very linear teen drama, but in England. Why would I pick that? The real question is: Why not? I mean, yes, it’s stupid, and yes, I’m an adult, but I’m still a kid inside, and I know it’s a bad movie, but it was still entertaining sometimes. Again, watching Emma playing a bitch is fun, for 20 minutes, but it was still fun. If we got through the best part, let’s get to business. Her character growth was okay, her friends were okay, their relation was okay. The school bitch was awfully stereotypical, no matter that her first appearance said otherwise. I hoped at least that from that movie, but it didn’t even give me that, so...

The fun part tho was just turning my brain off for an hour and half, and just watch Emma hanging out with some teenagers with British accent. It’s still one of my favorite female celebrities. Also her name was Poppy! It could belike the flower, but hearing “Poppy” made me think about That Poppy. Which is always a little plus. Wow, that paragraph about the things I liked is too short. Hey, Nick Frost! 

The montage was awful... it broke me from the movie every 30 seconds, which was hard to watch. Also the scene quick before the end was so cringe. At least for me. They were losing, then made a dance, and magically they won! (The dance was cringe, if someone were wondering)

Well that’s all, it was between average and okay.

Favorite quote:

Poppy: I didn't start it, it wasn't my fault, and if this were America, I would sue.

That’s true, OMC. America is beautiful, I love it, I want to visit it someday.

 Day 3: The Art of Getting By (2011) 

There is a thin line between being a good movie, and being pretentious. This movie sadly is on the wrong side of the line. 

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed watching this movie, it got to me, I love the main character, George, I can see myself in him, somehow. I always wanted to be that weird guy on the side, or I just want it, because these guys (like in this movie) alwayse ended up happy at the end, and I want the same thing for myself. But that’s a theme for different post. I liked seeing the world through his eyes. The scene showing how he wanted to get over Sally was great. Or when she broke him with the weird sex questions, during their “date”. Freddie’s acting was very convincing, and I didn’t saw the actor, I saw a boy with problems. The relations between him and the other characters and the way he reacten to every rational thing, he should do, but just couldn’t. I can also say a good thing about the side characters. I really liked them. The way they were created, even if some of theme didn’t have a lot of screen time, I had still fun spendind time with them. Like when Sallys’s mother told her, that she should be with George or when the painter struggled to be with Sally. I could also say about how I liked the montage and directing, but who cares? Also I liked the “development” of Freddie’s character, like in the first and second part who was becomind worse and worse...

Sadly the thing I was most anticipating in this movie was Emma Roberts and... well, Sally totally blows. I disliked her after 5 or so minutes. I’m not really sure if she’s such a bad actress, or it was just like her character was written, but Sally was so wooden. She was pretty, yes, but that’s just one of two things, that I think George could see in her (the second is, that she really cared about him and liked him, for example the scene, when they were sleeping next to each other, or when she called him every 5 minutes, whe he left her). I also really, really disliked her, when she broke my precious George! I mean, who does she think she is? (that’s not a blame on the movie, just another reason to not like her character, which isn’t a bad thing) Sally was the second most important character, but she dind’t develop at all. It was painfull to watch her in some scenes, beacause I knew that she would hurt George, because he wanted to go forwrd in some way, but she was staying the same all the time. Another thing I didn’t like was most of the third act. How George suddenly (I know it was because of his mother, he didn’t to upset her any more) change his attitude to life and so quickly straightened everything. It just wasn’t convincing for me. Also it was very predictable. Him, getting the diploma, her, going back to him, the painting, being Sally. Sad. Sadly. They could work on that a little more.

Favorite qoute:

Sally Howe: What were you like as a child?

George Zinavoy: I was such a better person than I am now.

Sally Howe: Come on.

George Zinavoy: I'm serious. I was happy. I was open. I was curious. But I'll tell you this: I knew when it was ending. I was overwhelmed with sadness when I realized that I was going to change, and that it was all most likely going to get worse, like a nostalgia for the present. I couldn't shake it... 

And it’s sad to say, that I dind’t like her creation. It really is. I hope it’s not her acting and I can see her again in a small movie, but with more. More to play and that she actually does it well. For now I like her justas the bitchy/psycho type.

 Day 4: Nancy Drew (2007)

Hey I’m actually keeping up! Only three das/movies left.

So I just looked up (on Wikipedia, I’m not a detective) that, as I thought, the movie is based on a book series for teenagers, with the same name. 

I start with the things I liked. And don’t let it fool you, there were’nt as many. The start was quite fine and fun to watch. The city and the charachters living in it. Just the world created around Nancy in her home town was adorable, just to be fine for a few minutes. I also liked Nancy at some point. I guess Emma can play charismatic characters, not just bitches. Which is good, but it wasn’t very good acting, since it also wasn’t a role that needed a good actress, just because the writting was so doll. Ahh, I wanted to say, what I liked first. So I also liked the side characters from her home town, like her father and Ned, or some of the LA characters: just Jane and Leshing. And the styling. I think the setting around our main characters was cute. Her dressing style, the style of that “hounted” house or her home town (I didn’t remember it, I’m really not familiar with the book series). Hey, Bruce Willis!

That’s sadly all, not many good things, that I could talk about. The writting tho. Ugh! It was so, so bad. Mished with that acting was just terrible to watch. Just because I liked some charachters, does not mean, I think they well written well, or that they were acted well. They weren’t. None of them. Maybe Nancy and her father a little, but that’s all. The story... Just meh. After half an hour I wasn’t feeling any mistery. And talk about tension, there was none of it. Even the scene when they were just about to kill Nancy, I was felling nothing. Oh wait, I was annoyed. Because the side characters from her new school had appeared on my screen! I hated them. Especially Corcky. uhh... I just felt like a story written by a teenager, and I think not a teenager has written it (no, it were two adult people). I mean, do they know, they can make a movie for children (and this, BTW, felt like a movie for 3-6 years old), that’s also entertaining for adults? Look at Teen Titans GO: To the Movies! (2018). That’s a good example.

Favorite quote:

Carson Drew: Phone call. Long distance from Scotland. Something about the Loch Ness Monster and some missing diamonds. Nancy Drew: Another case!

Well, despite how I disliked ths movie, I would definietly watch a sequel with Nessi. But it didn’t gross much, which I’m not suprised with.

 Day 5:

Got distracted, by discovering “The Pitch” from ScreenRant. Totally got me. Binge watched like 20 episodes.

 Actual Day 5: Paradise Hills (2019)

What a weirdly boring movie. Maybe I didn’t pay to much attention as I should, but it didn’t get me at all.

I wanted to watch something new, to see how her acting “grow” with her, but... Again, she didn’t get much to play. Which is very dissapointing. 

To start with the good things. The movie is extreamly beautiful. It looks so magical. The movie has just a 6 million budget, but it was still enough to hire Emma Roberts, Milla Jovovich, Awkwafina and to build a gorgeous set. The CGI was very visible, but only in two scenes (like the car on the beginning for example). And... That’s all? The acting of most main cast fine, I guess. 

OMC, where to start even? Idea for the story: very, very unoriginal. It’s actually felt much like The Island (2005) and a little like Sucker Punch (2011) (although I don’t remember it very well), maybe a mix of bouth. It’s not bad, it’s just made not so well. The script: dull, slow and predictible. I don’t like saying this, because I mostly shut of my brain, try to have fun and don’t predict anything, but it was hard. The ending tho. Seriously, to predictable. And no, I didn’t predict, that Jovovich is playing a fucking rose witch/vampire. That actually suprised me. The characters: they we’re okay, but mostly still to stereotypical, like for eample Milla’s witch, Emma’s main and the sidecharacter singer. Again just complaining on the same things I complained the last three movies.

Favorite quote:

Duchess: *screams, while changing into a bush*

I still have one critycally acclaimed drama (to see her acting on a good script) and a good movie to end the marathon happy :3

Day 6: Palo Alto (2013)

I can’t say. I liked this movie. Not a lot, but it was still enjoyable for me.

I thought Emma will play the main character, which she has and hasn’t in a way. She was one of the main characters with Teddy i think. Yeah, okay, I’m almost sure. I know I was supposed to watch a critically aclaimed movie, and this isn’t one, but, eh, it has 69% on RottenTomatoes, so not so bad. Also! It’s stars James Franco. I liked the acting. I’m still dissapointed, that Emma stil does not have much to play. I’m not sure if she’s just okay at acting, or she takes parts of empty blonds. I still love her, it’s just... it’s getting harder and harder to watch her as not charismatic characters. Anyway, I liked the acting, even much. I’m not sure if the actor playing Teddy (Val Kilmer’s son! and Val KIlmer played April’s father xD) was playing him self, but I’m happy with what I got. The same goes for Fred, the coach and April’s father. Finally after these few dissapointing movies, I got something, that dind’t speak to me much, but at least I liked the characters and had fun watching them get better, or worse, or not changing, or having a quick cameo. 

The story was... okay. But connected to this characters, I don’t really have much to complain. The tempo was a bit slow with April’s story, and a bit to fast with Teddy’s. Like The Art of Getting By (2011), this movie crossed a bit the thin line, of being too pretencional. But this doesn’t botter me that much.

Favorite quote:

April: I'm not depressed, why do you always think I'm depressed? I'm just tired.

Day 7: It’s kind of a funny story (2010)

I absolutely loved this movie! It took me from teh beginning with that scene on the bridge. Totally my kind of humor. The main character was easy to equate with, at least for me, like, being a bit assholish on the beginnig, and then turning in a fully good and  empathetic person. The perfect character arc for a feel good movie, like this one. It hit me by suprise, how good it was. The movie has average ratings and is rotten on RottenTomatoes. I know why, but the things, that for others were a flaw, for me was a good quality. I dind’t read the reviews, but I saw flaws in the movie, and in the story. I know, I know, it’s a basic story, a bit (maybe a lot) predictable even. But I turned my brain off for one and a half hour and had a lot of fun. The charachters where, no, seamed 3-dimensional. Everyone, at some point even. I totally believed, these are not actors, these are people. Especially the main trio, obviosly. I dind’t know  Zach Galifianakis can play something more then a stupid fat guy, by playing a not so stupid fat guy with problems. And Emma, still not what I’m expecting from her, but a lot better, then the other movies I guess (with exceptions of course). Even Craigs parents felt so real, and his friend and his love interest in the beginning. The main advantage of the movie is, that, as I pointed out earlier, it makes you feel better. It made me thing, that there is something more for me, that I don’t have to be this sad, fat guy, working and sitting by the computer all the time. Also the acting, OMC. It was great. How thought, to bring Viola Davis to this project? Great idea, even for these few minutes. But, yeah, I also pointed that out already. And, I liked, how the movie was directed. The scene, where they sang together, fabulous.

So what’s the flaws? It was predictable, if you just try to think a little. I dind’t realise that, till after the movie. Also, some characters, from being fine written, turned to flat characters, to drive the plot. Yes, I mean Nia, that was so unnecessary. It was just so Noelle would get mad at Craig. And will winning Noelle back be hard? It’s gonna be (quoting the screenwriter from Pitch Meeting) “super easy! Barely an inconvenience.” Which is dissapointing. 

Favorite quote:

Craig: Do you like music?

Noelle: Do you like breathing?

Bonus: A few words about Channel and whole Scream Qeens (2015-2016)

This series also took me by suprise, a bit. I loved Ariana Grande at that time, but since she quitted acting, and got mostly into music, I started to watch this show. And, as dissapointing as it was at that time, Chanel #2 was killed in the first episode. But since this was a slasher, and I do love those, I stayed. Who am I kidding. It dind’t stay because of the killing, but because of the story, characters and humor mostly. Jamie Lee Curtis is a wonderful actress and watching her going “against” bitchy Emma Roberts, was like watching a unicorn... I don’t a good compare, but you get it. It was extreamly entertaining. The world building, so caricature, it was so fun. Chanel killing a random lady? Yes please. These show was filled with mains driving the series with just themselfs and the sideones adding to it a lot. Even if they get killed eventually. Obviously the first season was way better, then the second. But the second was even more bizzare, which recompensed a bit the flaws of it. Do I like the decisions, who got the be the killers in both seasons? Yes, of course! For example, the chemistry between Dr. Cassidy and Chanel #3 was great in the second half of the second season. Just awesome.

Oh, yeah, a few more about Chanel. Wonderful, stole every scene she was in. Not a character, you could lift a show on, but the definietly good to be one of the mains.

Favorite quote:

Chanel: Good morning, sluts.

Chanel #2, #3 and #5: Good morning, Chanel

Like I could pick any other, than this.

--

So what do I think about Emma in the end?

She’s not a great, but a good actress, she could lift the whole movie, if she get’s a good character to play, like in Wild Child (2008), which was not much, but she was still a teenager then, and made it. 

Do I see her in drama roles?

Yes, actually. I love her, when she plays bitchy, charismatic, or even psycho characters, because she’s great at it, but I still want to see her other side. A hard part to play, in which she can shock everyone in how good of an actress she is. She didn’t have the chance yet.

I hope she gets more lucky and popular at some time. She’s still under 30 (28 years old), so she has most of her live before her, and already an impressive filmography. I wish her all the best.