#also major comic spoilers in case you didn’t know

[spellbook-gayboy]

54? :D

54.

(Also I put this below the cut because it has major spoilers for the end of the comic!)

"...Is that your excuse now?" Ian asked, the look on his face caught somewhere between surprise and incredulity. "You've had almost nine years to come up with a reason for why everybody hates you, for why you're stuck as a fucking brain in a jar, and that's the best you can come up with?! Oh Rudy, you need to get out more."

The vocoder lit up with a fuzzy electronic hum, a sound that Ian had come to recognise as the closest that Robot could get to a growl. "What do you expect me to say?" He asked. The voice was staticky and the words were disjointed, like an old iPhone text-to-speech program. "'sorry'? We both know that's not going to happen, Ian. For better or worse, things are far better than before. Even you know that it worked."

Ian always found it funny that the vocoder still sounded more human than Rudy's actual voice.

He laughed. Ian laughed. It was simply too bizarre of a situation for him not to laugh. Here he was, one of the most powerful people on the planet, arguing with a brain in a jar, that had once been even more powerful, about the societal benefits of mass murder. "By the ancestors, this shit again? How many times do I need to tell you? You didn't fix anything! You could've fixed something, but no, you just papered over the cracks, covered the world in murder drones and called it a utopia.” He scoffed bitterly. “Funny thing about a utopia, Rudy, is that they usually don’t make the people in them afraid to look up!”

No reply, just the bubbling of the thick green fluid helping to keep his brain chugging along. “How is Amanda?”

“Oh, don’t play that fucking card with me!” Ian cut off, so enraged that he struck the strong plexiglass with his hand. “You don’t care about her, Rudy, you don’t. If you cared, you wouldn’t have thrown her into space for daring to question your oh-so glorious plan! That’s not love, Rudy, it’s just you, needing to fix everything, needing to control everything!”

Another hum. “All I wanted was to stop people suffering. Stop the decades of degradation and poverty and violence from going any further. If I have to be the villain in order to fix things, then I can live with that.”

“But you’re just any villain, are you? You’re Robot. The engineer. The genius. The backstabber. You could have fixed things any way you wanted, you might have been the only one that could have done it! But you didn’t, did you? You chose violence, chose to kill everyone that trusted you, and expected those of us you couldn’t kill to be fine with it, to just go ‘well he might’ve blown a hole in Black Samson, but at least the economy’s pretty good now!’. You can put yourself up on a cross, tell the public whatever lie you want, but us? The heroes that called you ‘friend’? To us, you’re just the traitor that got away with it.”

No reply again. The hum came, but nothing followed it. “How is she?”

“She’s well. They put her in charge of the new Teen Team. She’s happy, really happy. Happy, and free.” Ian stated flatly. “But we both know that’s not why I came here today.”

No words in reply. 

“You asked for an update on your health last time. I debated even doing it, but then I thought ‘what could be worse than how he is already is?’, so I pulled it from the director’s office.” Ian continued, producing a small stack of white and manila paper. “Neurologist’s reports, tweaks to the amniotic fluid, psychiatric reports, etcetera etcetera. Basically a lot of stuff I’m not legally allowed to see under HIPAA, but I get the feeling that you don’t care.”

“What do you see?”

“Not much. Everything seems normal, except...”

“Except what?”

Ian turned the papers over, stopping somewhere in the middle. “Report by Dr. Wittman, your neurologist. ‘Scans of the patient reveal damage in the subcortical basal ganglia, specifically in the corpus striatum region, consistent with the early warning signs of a potential...’.” Ian read from the page, slowing when he glimpsed the end of the sentence. “Oh. ‘a potential neurodegenerative disease. Tests will commence at the beginning of next month to determine the extent of the damage and possible avenues of treatment. Research into family medical records will also be required in order to determine a potential genetic component’.”

“...thank you, Ian. I suppose I should have seen this coming. Cloning can be such a dangerous undertaking, even when you take every precaution.”‘

“I... I’m sorry, Rudy.”

“Don’t be. It was my choice. I knew the risks.”

Ian didn’t know what to say. Nothing he could think of felt appropriate for the situation. The boiling anger was still churning in his gut, but now it mixed with a cold shock. He cleared his throat, “I should go.”

“Yes. Yes, you should.”

[laikabu]

re: my thoughts on laios’s sexuality (long post ahead lol)

let me start this post with this. first, this contains a lot of references to the new adventurer’s bible world guide book released last february. i can read japanese, but i’m sure they’re translated somewhere. general spoiler warning in case. also… i am ESL, so sorry for any grammar errors

second, if you’re on the team that insists laios doesn’t care about humans enough to form relationships, either read the manga again or at the very least read this thread.

last, please don’t chime in with your acearo headcanons on this post. there’s already a majority of posts here that insist laios is acearo and that anything else is impossible. i don’t like it the same way i don’t like when someone declares they hc marcille as bisexual to a poster who reads her as lesbian. i already have enough people here who declare he’s ace on my own art. at least people on twitter of all places don’t do this sort of thing to me. nothing in this manga is canon, you can headcanon anything i won’t get mad if you hc him as bi or something. just. don’t be weird on my post.

okay. trust me, i love women, and i love the idea of making my favs women lovers but the idea of laios being gay really appeals to me because of his background. this isn’t fueled by yaoi since i don’t even ship the only m/m relationship i bring up here, i just think it adds a nice layer to his disconnect with his own humanity

i do think laios has a very abstract relationship with his sexuality for a multitude of reasons. he grew up in a very conservative backwater village. he has a hard time recognizing his own feelings towards others just as much as vice versa. i don’t really care for the “laios is a monsterfucker” agenda people are pushing but i do think he’d engage in sexual thoughts in his own weird way, i won’t deny his deviantart fetish shit

as an autistic person myself, i relate to how he’d prioritize his special interest over social interactions. after all, he was fixated on monster food so he’s distracted from dark thoughts. he’s not an actual glutton

he’s shy around women, but i don’t think it’s out of attraction. i just think it’s because he’s awkward and doesn’t want to be seen as a threat. there’s a couple of times when, out of armor, he deliberately tries to make himself look smaller and nonthreatening.

he didn’t show any interest towards ashivia (the hubby hunter girl marcille replaced) and just humored her because she wouldn’t leave him alone. his other party members thought he was giving her special treatment so he had to tell her he “doesnt want to give her special treatment anymore”(even though he never did), so she left

ashivia did her best to butter herself up to laios and he didn’t care, but laios thought shuro was his bestest friend in the whole world because he was too much of a pushover to reject him. ironically… what ashivia did to him parallels what he was doing to shuro

also… yeah sorry i keep bringing up that one comic of laios saying if he were falin he’d marry shuro and then begging him to take him back to his country, or that comic of laios wondering why he doesn’t like him(and then the first two questions he asks the magic mirror was what if he or shuro were women). i don’t even ship them! but it’s not a reach to assume that he likes men because of this, even if it’s kinda played like a joke(after all,a lot of people like chilshi even though their ‘shippy’ interaction was played as a joke)

of course, given the setting, i don’t think knows he’s gay, he wouldn’t have the vocabulary to label himself. i do want to dance around with the idea of him forcibly confronting his own sexuality after years of yaad pressuring him to produce heirs lol. laios might not be cishet but he’s a king so he rdgaf about that right now. i’m open to him having female consorts for political reasons, but i don’t think he’s into women, is all.

before anyone brings up his succubus… god forbid an author makes hetbait. a part of the plot twist was that not-marcille wasn’t the only succubus enticing laios, his other party members were copied too. she was the only one who approached him. also… succubi aren’t always inherently romantic. once it realized marcille didn’t work, it switched to appeal to his desire to be a monster.

[lorem-ipsum-2099]

I feel like it’s been long enough now but here are my unsolicited thoughts about Miguel O’Hara: Spider-Man 2099 Issue #1.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Tw: mentions of past abuse

Alright, I’ll get the bad stuff out of the way first.

Are we seriously trying to redeem Conchata?? You know, the same woman who verbally abused Miguel his entire life, the raging narcissist who killed people in order to escape back to Nueva York solely to fake her death in front of her two sons for sympathy???? HOWEVER, that’s not nearly as bad as how ready Miguel is to receive her???? Like huh????

(I know comparing the newest release to the first cancelled volume is not 100% valid BUT in this case it’s for comparing characterization)

And don’t even get me started about Conchata feeling bad about the horrible things she said to Miguel while zombified.

(Which is such a shame since this page is so pretty).

This seems like it’s gonna be a continuing plot line throughout this volume and I feel like it can go either way. Ideally (as awful as this sounds), Conchata responding negatively to Miguel failing to perform his responsibilities as Spider-Man would not only be most in character but would also allow Miguel a moment of growth. Giving an ab*ser a second chance is a noble but often misguided especially if it’s a parent. This could potentially be a moment of deeper commentary but based off Steve Orlando’s previous writing it’s hard to tell what direction the story will be taken.

Another thing that didn’t sit 100% right with me is some of the remaining Zeros to another planet?? (Especially when it’s heavily implied that Southey targeted disenfranchised non-white communities I may be reading too deep into it but still worth mentioning).

Although I will admit I enjoy the idea of the problem not being 100% solved immediately, sending the infected to another planet is kinda ridiculous even by comic book standards.

NOW the good stuff!!

The art direction was absolutely phenomenal! Each page is a piece of art and the colors are to die for!! And the fight scenes??? INCREDIBLE!! Especially Miguel’s one-on-on with The Zombie, their dialogue and action were incredible not to mention the gore level that is being established for this issue.

I also readily enjoyed the references to Carnage and The Hive throughout, makes me excited for their their reappearance. Honestly, the art and fight scenes are what saved this issue.

If I had to give a score I would say about 3.5/5, writing is questionable so far but I’m curious to see where it goes.

[tofutortoise]

My Experience at The Tempest (少年社中) + Meeting Imata Taira!!

On Monday I saw Shonen Shachu’s 25th anniversary production of The Tempest in Tokyo! Overall, I had an amazing experience, and even got to meet IMATA TAIRA HIMSELF!!! And speak to him, which was unreal. Details below, but also spoilers for the play! 

First off, I got my ticket through the lottery system, and somehow I ended up with a fantastic seat on the first floor! I haven’t had great luck with random seats in the past, but this time I sure did. It was a pretty small theater with excellent acoustics. The set was minimal but well utilized. I was really excited about the costumes after seeing all the glittering visuals on the official website (see here), but for some reason, the actual costumes they wore for the play were completely different and noticeably lower quality. I was particularly disappointed that the women’s costumes had major downgrades. On the bright side, Hiroshi Yazaki (playing Kagura/Prospero) got an even better costume than the one he wears in the official posters. He looked like a prince! 

As for the story, I can’t say I was the biggest fan. However, this is probably on me more than the production lmao. Because it’s called The Tempest, I assumed that this would simply be a production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. However, as I quickly realized while watching the show and growing ever more confused, this is not the case!! It’s actually an original show about a theater group dealing with the loss of one of their members, reckoning with what it means to be an actor and bringing happiness to people, following their love for acting, etc., all while they put on a production of The Tempest. Scenes from Shakespeare’s Tempest are therefore interwoven into the play, and sometimes I admit I had a hard time understanding what was going on (the many time skips/flashbacks didn’t help on this point lol). Honestly I should have read the plot synopsis ahead of time, but because I assumed it was just the basic Tempest I didn’t bother– oops. 

There were points where I was quite invested and moved, but overall I wouldn’t say the flow of the story was particularly great. However, my experience was also limited by my intermediate Japanese, and I’m sure a lot of it went over my head. 

I think all of the actors did an amazing job! Imata Taira was definitely a highlight, and he portrayed a very troubled, grieving, angry character with artfulness and incredible intensity. Seeing him, along with Yazaki and Shogo in person, was absolutely unreal. As a long time Hakuouki fan, going from first seeing them on my computer in Hakumyu 8 years ago to watching them in person in Japan is a dream come true. 

Now, let’s get to the most exciting part– I MET IMATA TAIRA!!! AND SPOKE TO HIM!!!! AHHH! Basically after the show there was a special line where you could go to buy a piece of merch and talk to Taira for a moment. I had no idea they would be doing this so I hadn’t prepared anything to say to him, and I was SO nervous!! Turns out I needn’t have worried though, because Taira is such a lovely person and it was a great interaction. First of all, when the person in front of me moved on and I stepped up, Taira’s eyes went comically wide and he let out a gasp. I was expecting some level of surprise because I was a foreigner (blue eyes, red hair, etc.) at a completely Japanese play, but he was seriously taken aback. I spoke to him entirely in Japanese, of course, and thanked him for a wonderful performance, but he was just kinda scrambling for words and saying stuff like “Ah I’m so sorry I don’t know English!!”. He was so sweet and even bowed and put his head to the table and apologized for not knowing English T-T. I told him that even though my Japanese isn’t great, the power of theater is such that you don’t need to understand the words to be moved, and he thanked me again and even gave me his best “thank you!” in English too! He was so incredibly kind and genuine, and I found his reaction to be hilarious. It seemed like he was just as nervous to speak to me as I was to speak to him! Absolutely amazing experience!!!! The whole thing still feels absolutely unreal to me. I never thought I would have the opportunity to actually speak to one of the actors who has meant so much to me over the years. What a wonderful way to start off 2024 :) 

If anyone wants to chat about the play or has any questions about seeing it, feel free to PM anytime!

[powerfulblob]

Nimona and Fatphobia

OK so for those of you who don’t know, they’re making Nimona significantly thinner in the movie version...

When she’s canonically plus-sized.

The original comic does a pretty good job with this, and avoids many commont ropes.

Still, I have some criticisms about size representation in the series as a whole, and I’ll get to those too.

Spoilers ahead.

Alos, tw for misogyny, fatphobia, racism, ableism, classism, eating disorders,

Before we start, a quick disclaimer:

I’m plus-sized, in the sense that this is the label that I think describes my size the best, and I have to get “oversized” clothes at Garage and my parents tried to get me to diet, so this was a big deal for me.

First...

First and most importantly: Size is not Nimona’s primary character trait.

She’s the main character of the series.

And this is something that’s such a big deal.

ND Stevenson himself said it in his earlier cartoon: The action comic industry is not so big on size representation.

In this comic, Stevenson critiques the way in which merchandise, posters, and the general culture of comics is very much misogynistic and portraying a very universally thin model.

The gendered sizing stereotypes and objectification come hand-in-hand. It’s the idea that women can only be seen as thin, busty objects of men’s consumption.

In any case, it’s the big deal that Nimona’s the main character.

She’s on the front cover of the book, the series is named after her, she’s the main character with arguably the most important role...

In any case, like this is the first thing I wanted to mention. While size representation is getting better, it’s usually a side character or two. But she’s the main character. I can talk about this alone for hours honestly.

2. Food

When I was reading Nimona again, I was worried because of the food tropes. I realized there was a running joke about pizza, and I was about to groan thinking of all the fatphobic comments that could come out of this.

But after actually reading this:

The joke isn’t about Nimona wanting food, it’s about her boss, Ballister, having nothing to eat in his fridge and having trashy taste.

He, dead-pan, says, “There are some genetically altered anchovies” Like what the hell is up with that?!

I actually think this is really awesome, as someone who struggled with eating disorders for a while.

I didn’t want another “The Whale” situation where the fatness was portrayed as a thing to be ashamed of, and directly caused by “junk food.” 

Nimona sips soda without caring for calories, has cravings that’s treated as something to familiarize her with the audience, and it’s overall a good job.

3. Power

This isn’t Shazam, in which thinness is considered synonymous with power.

She’s always portrayed as lively, and strong, regardless of her weight. If she needs to transform, it’s never to do with weight, but to do with form and function. Which is honestly a lot more than I was expecting.

Criticisms:

Amount There really aren’t that any other main characters that are plus-sized. Like, there are a few minor ones with less than 10 speaking lines, but nothing too major. But the one character that is important is treated with respect that I wish more plus-sized characters have in media today.

Still, there are a few worth mentioning. This includes Tabitha, the apple-seller, and Tabitha’s friend (again, extremely minor character but better than nothing). Like, I thought it was nice to see too sorta-thick characters getting together and chatting. You know, just living life. I thought that was nice. Sometimes normalcy is a good way to go when we have trash like The Whale out there.

Also, there was this random person with two speaking lines (not loving the ableist and classist stuff, tbh though)

Of course, there’s also my favorite character in the series, Dr. Blitzmeyer, but I’m still angry that she was menat to be thicker in the sketches so I’m not including her :(

Look at that! She was thicc af before

There were a few more plus-sized folks in the book, but no one who’s actually major.

In all:

I wish there were more plus-sized characters in the original comics, but that doesn’t remove the fact that Nimona was handled extremely well, especially for a comic.

[alto-tenure]

Oh, my time to shine! I have a document full of fic recs that I save for when people need them (and also made it bc a friend of mine on Discord made one and I wanted to participate...). I took out all the AUs from this. It got pretty long, so I'm putting it under a cut.

stormheart by pyr0technic (2.7k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: minor AA3 spoilers, nothing major

Other Ships: Miego

Author’s Summary: Four times Miles catches Phoenix in the rain, and the fifth time he realizes that maybe the heavens are trying to tell him something.

My Notes: A cute little fluff piece.

From the Top by lazynina (13.7k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: no major spoilers?

Other Ships: N/A

Author’s Summary: Miles Edgeworth has trouble focusing on work, thoughts muddled by a certain defense attorney. Phoenix Wright gets in the way of his plans, but Miles will always have time to finish his work tomorrow.Except that tomorrow is... today? Again?

My Notes: A humorous take on the time loop trope.

Dating for a Turnabout by Mikomikono (89.6k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: AAI2

Other Ships: Larry/OFC

Author’s Summary: Investigations into a smuggling operation lead Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth to a hotel on a beautiful resort island. To catch their smuggler they have to stay there undercover ― as a couple?? The close quarters draw ~unnecessary feelings~ to the surface for the both of them, and just as the investigation starts going smoothly, someone gets murdered! What awaits them at the other end of their weekend getaway? Will they be able to accept the truths that are staring them right in the face? And can Larry finally catch a break? Tune in weekly (or binge if it's already out) to this thrilling fanfic to find out!

My Notes: A really fun Investigations-style casefic. I adore all the original components — it’s the sort of thing that can really make or break a casefic, and this is excellently executed.

Heart Sticker, Heart Sticker, Rainbow Sketch by Enisy (1.5k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: AA4 (if you know about the Gap you’re good)

Author’s Summary: Mr. Edgeworth and I ordered apple pie with vanilla ice cream, and even though Mr. Nick said he didn’t want dessert, he was clearly very jealous! In the end Mr. Edgeworth took pity on him and forked up a piece, then held it out for him to eat. They seem to be very good friends.

Pearl Fey’s Correspondence to Maya Fey During August 2020, in Which She Rides the Funicular and Learns About True Love.

My Notes: I’ve always enjoyed outside POV and epistolary, and this combines both of those into one wholesome fic.

Sally Forth by oh_help (2.7k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: AA1

Author’s Summary: High schooler Phoenix pours childhood memories into his viral Signal Samurai fan comics. Miles sends his anonymous support.

My Notes: A really sweet fic where “Nick’s secret fanboy Edgeworth” is very true and real.

Naruplantsu by Cookiegamer (3k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: None?

Other Ships: Klapollo, Franmaya, Junithena

Author’s Summary: Plants are very sexy, especially when they look like your husband in plant form.

Or: Phoenix and Miles play matchmaker with their office plants and it spirals out of control and all of the WAA plus prosecutors get involved.

My Notes: Absolutely hilarious.

but not for me (all i think about is karma) by clumsycrow (2.7k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: AA1

Author’s Summary: “skye v. state was a pretty heavy case,” phoenix says softly, eyes expectant.

miles feels himself stiffen. “yes, well- justice was served, i suppose.” it wasn't, part of him cries.

(because miles believed for years that the world was good, if not good then it was just, that it upheld the same values that his father always held to such high acclaim. he believed for years that the court system did the same, and it feels a little like losing his religion to realize that maybe he was wrong on both counts.)

My Notes: Author said Gregworth/Lana Skye parallels and I was immediately intrigued.

In the Bleak Midwinter by Inkblot0blue (3.1k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: AAI, trilogy

Other Ships: past Langworth

Author’s Summary: “You know, Miles Edgeworth, you’re not half the fool you seem.”

Far away from anywhere and anyone they know, Miles and Franziska have a long-awaited and much-needed introspective discussion.

My Notes: More a Franziska & Miles sibling fic than anything.

Dialogue between the then and the now by vaguely_concerned (2k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: AA1

Author’s Summary: Edgeworth revisits an old nightmare, only to find that something has changed.   (That is ever the trouble with Phoenix Wright. He shines like the sun — warm, illuminating, necessary, stubbornly returning sprouts and living things to spring even after the longest, most desolate winter — and, like the sun, trying to look directly at him for too long only ever ends in profound physical pain. Miles still can’t quite bear it, most days. In some ways it’s getting easier with time, and in other ways it just keeps getting worse.)

My Notes: Cathartic is the best word I have to describe this fic.

On the Sidelines by Door (1.7k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: AA6

Author’s Summary: Trucy was determined not to be left out, but she didn't realize how excruciating being in the gallery during a trial could be.

(aka, the end of Turnabout Revolution destroyed me so I filled in all the Miles-and-Trucy gaps)

My Notes: Miles and Trucy my beloved <3

Deep Dark Secrets by theacegrace (31.9k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: AA3, AA4

Other Ships: one-sided/past Feenris

Author’s Summary: "Mr. Edgeworth… is it just possible that maybe… you yourself have a deep, dark secret in your heart?"

(...!) "Why do you say that…!?"

"As they say, it takes one to know one."

(How could she have known about that…? Is she peering into my soul!?)

-

Miles Edgeworth, Iris of Hazakura Temple, and their secrets about Phoenix Wright.

My Notes: One BTTT era chapter, one post-canon chapter. Good for the people who like Miles and Iris friendship.

If you’re the third wheel and I’m the third wheel, then who’s flying the plane? by cold_flame (8.3k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: AA3

Other Ships: one-sided/past Feenris

Author’s Summary: PWKM Fill:

I've read few fics where Edgeworth (in love with Phoenix) very self-sacrificingly tries to help Phoenix and Iris hook up.

And every time, I keep thinking they're going to go in the direction of people (possibly even Phoenix and/or Iris) thinking that it's Iris that Edgeworth's hung up on.

And they never did, even though it would make for great drama/comedy/irony/stuff.

So, that's what I am prompting.

My Notes: Funny but with heart. Your Honor they’re all idiots (affectionate)

Thrown Through a Loop by savitarandsigh (21.7k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: AA4

Author’s Summary: Phoenix finds himself reliving the same day. (Just his luck that it's a day he has court and not any day he can just laze around.) Whatever the case, it would be a waste to not abuse- err- use this new anomaly to solve his current problem.Join Phoenix as he interrogates murderers, investigates brick walls, and provides many a heart attack to the chief prosecutor of LA. Aka: Phoenix solves a murder case with the help of his lovely assistant, the time loop.

My Notes: A fun casefic!

miles to go by pheenick (10.5k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: AA4, AA5

Other Ships: Klapollo

Author’s Summary: It’s not his first instinct. Some things require a more unconventional approach and, well, it’s them. They’re practically the poster boys for unconventional approaches. Run away to Europe, dedicate yourself to a career wearing the skin of a nine-year old boy’s conviction and—

stay.

That’s right. That’s the most unconventional thing of all.

Or, Miles Edgeworth comes home.

My Notes: Meditative, introspective, and very good at setting a mood.

Out of Order by canolacrush (25.6k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: Trilogy, AA4

Author’s Summary: It took a moment for Phoenix to process what he was seeing. Later, he’d be convinced he’d gone temporarily blind.

Miles gets a haircut.

My Notes: Established relationship. In which Phoenix has the hots for the man he is in love with.

Yours, Mine, and Maybe Ours by estelraca (13.3k) | Rated G

Spoilers For: AA4, Investigations duology

Author’s Summary: Phoenix convinces Miles to bring Trucy in with him for Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, despite Miles' misgivings. Everything becomes even more complicated when Kay Faraday and Shi-Long Lang call on him for assistance. Set between the original trilogy and Apollo Justice; mild spoilers for both Investigations games.

My Notes: Case combined with baby!Trucy!

Category: General; Unrequited Feelings, Unresolved Sexual Tension; 1/? by ItsyRoyal (7.7k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: AA1

Author’s Summary: There's this one writer in Steel Samurai fandom who over-identifies with the Evil Magistrate and writes amazing fic about him. It's a shame he doesn't ship Steel Samurai/Evil Magistrate, though.

A love letter to fandom, told through author's notes, comments, AO3 stats, and discord enthusiasm.

My Notes: Though Phoenix doesn’t really make an appearance in this, it’s very much about Narumitsu — and Miles’s grappling with his own feelings.

one step at a time by OuterWilde (ProneToRelapse) (22.6k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: Trilogy, AA4

Author’s Summary: Phoenix harbours no illusions that getting his badge back is going to be an easy task, even if the hardest part of clearing his name is technically over. He's fully aware that his reinstatement is going to be a bit more complicated than just passing the bar and is going to be more of a case of:

Step 1: Save money to retake bar exam

Step 2: Study frantically to pass said bar exam

Step 3: Pass bar exam

Step 4: Hope and pray that he'll somehow be able to still pull in clients after his reputation got burned to the ground

Step 5: Haircut

Step 6: New suit

Step 7: Finally, finally confess his passionate love for Edgeworth that has been eating him up inside for the past 25 years

Step 8: ???? Lawyer???

Thankfully he has a pretty solid support network of people willing to help him out. And if Edgeworth has anything to say about it, they'll probably be able to cut out a few of those steps along the way.

Which is why Phoenix promises himself one thing. If he passes the bar again, he is absolutely going to kiss the Chief Prosecutor square on the lips. Whatever happens after that, they'll just have to wait and see.

My Notes: A sweet fic in which Phoenix works up the nerve to confess to Miles.

Cherries In The Peach Garden by shinigami_yumi (3.5k) | Rated T

Spoilers For: AA2

Author’s Summary: In the aftermath of the cases that brought them back together, Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright recall a promise of solidarity from long ago as they rethink their lives' direction.

My Notes: Apparently, one of the first AA fics I’ve ever read. Coming back to it ~3 years later and it’s still good.

actually does anyone have wrightworth fic recs.... i will consume anything except for AUs at this point (i really don't know why i dislike them, but i just do). give me your most horrible chatfic and stupidest case fic, i'm here for it all

[ordinaryschmuck]

Hamilton "Worst" to Best

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And happy 4th of July, a day that celebrates the birth of a country built on racism, sexism, and possibly even homophobia! But, hey…at least we have a kickass musical.

I think it’s safe to say that Hamilton will go down as one of the greatest musicals of all time. Why do I say that? Well, as far as I can tell, there’s not really a person who says they hate it. Even people who can’t get into Hamilton respectfully say that it’s not for them while still accepting that it’s ok for others to like it. And how can you blame them when you listen to Hamilton’s soundtrack? Every song is well-performed, well-orchestrated, and even well-choreographed if you’ve seen the show. The music makes the musical stand out, and trust me when I say ranking the soundtrack from worst to best–Sorry–”worst” to best is a difficult job.

Yet I did it anyway. Because I’m a f**king lunatic, apparently.

Something to consider before we get started, though: I am not a music major. I’ve never really studied the art of music as I have the art of animation, and my expertise doesn’t go further than “this sounds good.” So, my ranking of these songs won’t go farther than what I like more in terms of how good they sound and how they work in the story. If you take issue of where I placed which song, you’re more than justified. Just know that I did my best when it came to a musical where even the “worst” of the soundtrack isn’t even bad, it’s just not good as others.

I’m also going to keep things brief. This musical is nothing but songs, and it’s a three hour long with forty-seven, meaning there’s a lot to talk about so bear with me.

With that said, let’s dive on in, shall we?

Spoilers for the musical ahead. But, like, just listen to the soundtrack. You’re only missing the choreography if you do.

#47. “Schuyler Defeated”-This is just filler. It sounds great, but I always forget its existence and, odds are, you do too. Case in point, you probably didn’t even know what song this was until you looked it up and gave it a listen. Not bad, but not exactly memorable.

#46. “The Adams Administration”-This is also filler, but it’s added with the humor of King George dancing in the background and Hamilton swearing out President Adams. Now that’s how you make filler memorable.

#45. “Farmer Refuted”-It’s just fun seeing Hamilton mess with the messenger.

#44. “A Winter’s Ball”-Not much to it, but it is pretty cool how smoothly it transitions to “Helpless.”

#42. “Story of Tonight”-This is just singing the same lyrics over and over. They’re sung beautifully, mind you, but it always bothers me that they just sang the same thing.

#43. “Story of Tonight (Reprise)”-The reprise gets bonus points for having more lyrics and having Laurens, Lafayette, and “Hercules” Mulligan screwing around.

#41. “Laurens Interlude”-The one song that’s not on the soundtrack and it’s a real tragedy. It’s a send off to a character using lyrics from what one could say was his and his friends’ song of comradery, thus adding more to the sadness of his death. Hm. Maybe that’s why the lyrics kept getting repeated. All to hammer in the importance of this interlude…Eh. Still keeping it where it is, though.

#40. “Aaron Burr, Sir”-A fun way to introduce more of our characters, starting with Aaron Burr and his mentality then following it up with Laurens, Lafayette, and “Hercules” Mulligan’s bombastic personalities. All well-done.

#39. “Best of Wives and Best of Women”-A slow, quiet, and sweet final moment between Hamilton and Eliza. Possibly the intention given what happens next.

#38. “Meet Me Inside”-The intensity of Washington chewing out Hamilton is top notch, especially as it slowly but surely builds to Hamilton’s outburst. Really gets the blood pressure going.

#37. “Stay Alive”-It’s awesome and it shows both the intensity and exhaustion that war brings to people, but, I don’t know. I just feel like the reprise might actually be a lot better than the original.

#36. “Ten Duel Commandments”-Did you ever want to learn what a duel is like? Well, this will teach you. And it’s a good thing too, as it helps us understand how future duels work while being a catchy song to boot.

#35. “History Has Its Eyes on You”-A well sung, well orchestrated number that shows us the pressure that Washington has and why he didn’t want Hamilton to be overcome by that same pressure. My only complaint is that it feels too short.

#34. “Blow Us All Away”-A (mostly) fun jingle that shows us how much Philip is like his father for better and worse. Mostly worse.

#33. “Obedient Servant”-This song is equally tense and fun, watching Hamilton and Burr dance around the subject of the final solution they both know is inevitable.

#32. “What’d I Miss?”-A solid introduction to Jefferson, perfectly encapsulating the cocky showboat that he is.

#31. “Cabinet Battle #1”-This is an idea that either sells you or puts you off. Turning a Cabinet meeting into a rap battle is funny and unique, but it could turn people away if rap battles aren’t their thing…which makes me question why they bother watching the show.

#30. “Cabinet Battle #2”-Slightly better because of how layered Jefferson is in this, what with his anger at no one seeming to want to help the French.

#29. “The Election of 1800”-Meanwhile, this song shows us the bastard he truly is, turning his back on Burr and willing to change the rules of the Vice Presidency just as payback for running against him. While also rubbing more salt in the wound of knowing that Hamilton would rather endorse someone he hates over an old friend with no beliefs.

#28. “Alexander Hamilton”-An OUTSTANDING opening number, summarizing Alexander Hamilton’s life before immigrating to America while hinting at what’s to come in the future.

#27. “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)”-An epic song that shows the grandness of victory in war.

#26. “Guns and Ships”-One word: LAFAYETTE!

Admit it. The second I said that, you immediately started humming the words. That’s how much power that name and this song has.

#25. “Right Hand Man”-This song does a lot. It introduces George Washington, furthers the conflict between Burr and Hamilton, and establishes the strength Hamilton has as Washington’s right hand man. All while being a powerful and kick-ass number.

#24. “What Comes Next”-King George has three great songs, each of them holding a special place in my heart due to the insanity this character has. “What Comes Next” shows his petty side as he’s mad that America won and refuses to accept that they’ll do alright without him.

#23. “I Know Him”-This is him being petty too, but it’s much more fun seeing George get excited over John Adams’ failure. So good.

#22. “You’ll Be Back”-But nothing can top the masterpiece that was his first number. It’s over the top and crazy, while also sucking me in with how catchy it is.

#21. “Washington On Your Side”-A solid song of Hamilton’s enemies realizing that if they band together, they can keep Hamilton and his smart mouth out of office. It’s pretty devious and catchy at the same time.

#20. “One Last Time”-A great and emotional send off to our first president…who may or may not have tricked slaves with freedom so they can fight in the war.

Americans: *Cocks guns*

I mean, what? No he didn’t! Haha…look, next song!

#19. “Wait For It”-A powerful number that illustrates perfectly why Burr is the way that he is.

#18. “The Room Where It Happens”-While this one shows us what he wants so desperately, to the point where he begins to doubt if his way of thinking is the right course of action.

#17. “Hurricane”-On stage, this song is a spectacle, as everything flies around Hamilton like a literal hurricane. As for the song itself, it’s pretty good, explaining why he has this “write like you’re running out of time” mentality and why he thinks he can trust it again in this time of need.

#16. “Dear Theodosia”-It’s here that we see that Burr and Hamilton are two sides of the same coin, going through so much at such a young age and not wanting their kids to go through the same thing. The differences lie in how they go about this and how they “succeeded.”

#15. “Stay Alive (Reprise)”-Turns out that Hamilton didn’t do that great of a job with his kid (Too soon?)

Ok, jokes aside, this song is devastating, aided in the performances of the actors as Hamilton and Eliza panic over their son’s safety while Philip tries to keep them calm, trying to do the best thing despite being in the worst situation. It all really hits you where it hurts.

#14. “That Would Be Enough”-A lovely song that shows Eliza’s dedication to Hamilton and how being his wife is enough for her, regardless of his accomplishments or lack thereof.

#13. “It’s Quiet Uptown”-And this is a heartbreaking song as Hamilton tries to convey his own dedication to Eliza and make up for past sins. Whether you believe he deserves forgiveness or not is up to you. But you cannot deny the strong emotions radiating off this song.

#12 “The Schuyler Sisters”-A great way to introduce the Schuyler sisters and their personalities. Angelica is quick to state what she believes and matches wits with Burr, Eliza is wide eyed with wonder at everything around her, and Peggy…is so insignificant that she doesn’t even sing her own name.

Poor Peggy. Somewhere in the multiverse there’s a musical where you’ve done something.

#11 and #10. “Helpless”/”Satisfied”-Yeah, you really got to lump these two together. “Helpless” and “Satisfied” are songs that showcase the love both Eliza and Angelica have for Hamilton, albeit in different ways. “Helpless” is a bop that shows how upbeat Eliza’s feelings for Hamilton are while “Satisfied” focuses more on showing the tragedy of Angelica handing him off to Eliza. Both are great in their own right, and to pick one over the other seems redundant due to how well they complement one another.

#9. “Take A Break”-This song also shows their love, but this time there’s tragedy as Hamilton is too driven on his work to pay any attention to either, despite how desperately they plead.

#8. “Non Stop”-Just a solid finale to Act One. Nothing more.

#7. “Say No to This”-THIS is why I love Hamilton. It may have romanized one of our founding fathers, but it still acknowledges that he’s a scumbag who cheated on his wife multiple times, in their own house, and blamed the other woman for being dishonest about how “helpless” she is. And the fallout that comes from it only furthers the point that he’s a piece of s**t.

#6. “We Know”-When backed into a corner, thinking that it’d ruin his legacy, Hamilton tries to explain that he wasn’t a s**ty person who used government funds selfishly. He was just a guy who cheated on his wife.

Yeah, you see the issue in his logic here?

#5. “The Reynolds Pamphlet”-And when Hamilton publishes what he’s done to the public, the reactions people have are perfect. Burr, Jefferson, and Madison are obviously ecstatic, rubbing it in people’s faces. Meanwhile, everyone else is either betrayed, disgusted, and even downright angry at Hamilton for what he’s done, with Angelica being a good mix of the three as she verbally slaps him for his stupidity.

#4. “Burn”-Then there’s Eliza. The woman who was dedicated to loving Hamilton only to have her heart broken and decides to burn all the letters that he wrote to her, now seeing them as lies for how much he loved her. The mix of heartbreak and anger is phenomenal, selling how much of an awful deed Hamilton did in cheating on her.

#3. “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”-Yet, despite the heartbreak, Eliza is still the one who carried on Hamilton’s legacy, bringing the message home that the ones who love us carry our story onwards for years to come, despite the things we’ve done. It makes for a good finale…but…

#2. “The World Was Wide Enough”-I just feel like this is a stronger song to end on. The buildup to Burr killing Hamilton is great, Hamilton’s monologue delivers the message and implies what “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” shows, and Burr’s final words would have been chilling and tragic words to end on. It would have been a perfect end to a perfect musical.

But, let’s be honest, as perfect as “The World Was Wide Enough” is, there’s one song we all know is #1.

#1. “My Shot”-This. This is the song that gets you hooked into Hamilton. The high energy is contagious, making it the one musical number on the soundtrack that I can see the audience singing along to. Heck, I feel like, at a specific point, it’s encouraged that you sing along to it. “My Shot” is early on, but it is the moment where you realize that you are hooked into Hamilton. That no matter what happens next, you are in for the whole shebang, just as long as everything else can be as strong as this moment. The good news is, it was.

Hamilton’s soundtrack really is like no other. Take note that it doesn’t take long before I’m saying more positives than negatives when talking about the songs in this list. That’s because every song, even at its “worst,” still is amazing in many ways even if some are just a little better. If you haven’t listened to the soundtrack or even watched the stage recording on Disney+, I highly recommend you give it a shot. It’s just too good to miss.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Dr. Strange 2: Witness the power of this fully armed and operational Disney VFX budget!

I liked the movie. The multiverse/magic stuff looks great, and if you watch Strange 1, then Far From Home, then this, you can see a pretty clear progression.

As someone whose knowledge of Sam Raimi is literally just "Saw all 3 Spider-Man movies and Darkman," I appreciate his directorial flourishes. You can tell he's flexing here, especially with the bigger budget.

I like Wanda and Strange’s arcs.

I do have some issues with America, though.

SPOILERS

There's an LP channel called Spoiler Warning. They once MST3K'd Mass Effect 3, and mocked the halibut out of the blatant attempt at pathos in the first level. "But Shamus," Josh would snark, "a kid died!"

In case you aren't familiar with the game, Shepard tries to save a random little kid hiding in a vent. The kid refuses to come out. Then later, as Shep leaves, they look down and see the kid, hopping on the last shuttle out of Vancouver.

The big bad space squid enemies laser it, and then Shepard has bad dreams for the rest of the game. Because a generic kid died.

And that's what America is. She's A Kid. Extruded teen product. Servicable. She the meat and potatoes of characters.

The movie examines Strange's pride. In the first movie, he was an egotist who thought it was All About Him. In this movie, he doesn't, but he still thinks it's on him to fix the problems-

Sorry, I just had to take a moment to make sure they didn't mix up a few script pages from Iron Man 2.

Kid sidekicks are supposed to bring out new character traits in the main protagonist. Robin contrasts Batman's dark grittiness (Well, except for Damien and Dick, where Damien was the dark one and Dick was the lighter one.). Jimmy Olsen contrasts Superman by just being A Guy who keeps getting caught up in super-shenanigans.

America can't use her powers on command-

Sorry, I just had to take a moment to make sure they didn't mix up a few script pages from Into the Spider-Verse.

And the climax of her arc is to learn how awesome and powerful she actually is-

Sorry, I just had to take a moment to make sure they didn't mix up a few script pages from Captain Marvel.

Jokes aside, "believe in the me who believes in you!" is a perfectly...functional plot here. It works. She works. It’s...kind of a contrast with Strange’s arc? But she's a pretty flat character. Maybe if the movie started with her trusting only in herself. I don’t mean the weaksauce stuff we got, I mean straight up paranoia. She only trusts herself, which is a dark mirror of Strange’s arc. And Wanda’s too! She’s only going with Strange because she’s out of options.

Now, the cynical part of me says this is because of woke shenanigans. The optimist says it might be because they want to give her a full arc of her own in some other series or movie. Or because they already had two major character arcs in the film.

Incidentally, it turns out America’s power has been taking her to the ‘correct’ universes all along. Which includes universes where good things happen to her. Which explains why she’s so relatively-well-adjusted.

Incidentally, America is gay in the comics. I hoped they wouldn't try to include a subplot about a 15 year old's sexuality. And they didn't.

They did something...else.

So, in this film (and maybe the comics) America is apparently from an idyllic, peaceful lesbian(?) commune-

Sorry, I just had to take a moment to make sure they didn't mix up a few script pages from Wonder Woman.

-and accidentally knocked her moms into some unknown other dimension when her powers kicked in-

Sorry, I just had to take a moment to make sure they didn't mix up a few script pages from Inhumans.

Oh, right, Inhumans. Black Bolt is on the Illuminati. I was hoping for the Tom Cruise as Superior Iron Man. John Krasinski as Reed Richards was

They also finally gave Professor X the iconic yellow wheelchair. Maria Rambeau is Captain Marvel, like her daughter was in the comics for a while.

(Aside: I loved Monica in Nextwave as Kermit to the team's Muppets, and know nothing else about her regular appearances.)

And they bought back Anson Mount as Black Bolt, which was

Was it fanservice? Yes. Was it fun? Yes. Was Reed Richard useless? Yes.

Oh, and it bugged me how many shots seemed framed specifically to show off America’s Pride pin. Which I could ignore if it wasn’t that new racialized version I dislike*. Maybe it’s in honor of her moms, idk. She is also, quite possibly, the most special person in the multiverse, because there is apparently only one of her, likely for plot reasons.

These minor things aside, yeah, worth a few bucks.

* Ironic how a flag about bringing people together is now implying some LGBT people are more important than others.

[synonymroll648]

if you don’t know shit about the sonic franchise i am so sorry in advance for this word vomit because it is going to make very little sense

ok so. first things first the soundtrack for this game is FUCKING GORGEOUS. sonic games always have good background music but GODDAMN did this game deliver. every song in this game that i’ve heard from watching my brother play it or listening to the ost is <3333333 so far my favs that i know the names of are “Kronos Island: 2nd Mvt.”, “Kronos Island: 3rd Mvt.”, and “Cutscene: Mystery Girl”. mystery girl would be great to write action scenes to and the other two are pretty versatile for mood :) also the songs for when you go into cyberspace sections of the game slap. very fun edm. also there’s a lot of rock in this game for boss battles!! kellin quinn is on all of the boss battle songs in this game and it sounds SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO delicious. “Cutscene: Sonic on the move” just came on and i must say even if it’s 40 seconds long if you put that on loop it would be a nice vibe for the atmosphere of wherever you’re at :) 

[edit: there are many, many more good songs in this ost holy shit]

anyway!! forcing myself to shut up about the music. (as i get further in the ost i will probably ramble more tbh.) the storyline and characterization for this sonic game is the best i’ve seen in a long time!! which makes sense since they got at least one guy from the archie sonic comics to be a head writer for this game. but i’m just super super happy w/ the way the characters are written here!! 

typically amy and tails’ characters get butchered but this game redeemed them so hard man. tails is my fucking baby and i am OVER THE MOON that this boy got some depth to him. i also found out through one of my fav cutscenes w/ tails and sonic that tails is 8? and sonic is 15? they both seem so so so much older in this game and other games. esp tails. since tails is a fucking genius. also the introduction of sage is super cool!! i thought she was gonna be an annoying new antagonist but she actually turned about to be quite cool!! as w/ all the other characters, there’s a lot of depth that i have to love about her. she surprised me at times! in a good way! also eggman’s relationship w/ sage was like. i didn’t expect that but i’m SO here for it. i would love to go into specifics but i don’t want to give big spoilers in case you do decide to check this game out. 

also sonic!! the main man!! LOVE the way his dialogue is written. he’s sassy but he’s also quite empathetic! overall he just feels so much more...real than in most games. i don’t really delve into sonic often but like. i’ve delved in enough to know that his character before was mostly “gotta save everybody + be funny”. but in this game he fails and he gets up again and he does it over and over and over until he succeeds. and sometimes he fails so hard that he has to have other people help him, which he usually tends to avoid since he thinks that’s his job! and it’s so awesome to see! also sonic being able to run underwater but not swim is extremely funny to me. running underwater makes no sense. but him being able to swim doesn’t either because it’s been a thing FOREVER that this boy Cannot Swim. so it’s just goofy as hell and i fucking love it 

one last thing on the character front - THE LORE OF THE KOKO??? OUGH. won’t go into specifics because spoilers but. highly approve of what they did there man. i didn’t even play the game the koko are from but. some of the cutscenes centered around them made me feel things man

alright!! uhhhhhhh what else do i wanna scream about...i’ve already talked about characters and music...oh! i guess i can muse about the islands. i won’t give major spoilers there but basically the way they’re named really intrigues me. all of the names are drawn from greek mythology and have interesting implications about the islands themselves. especially when you consider the main quest missions that are on each island. i will refrain from spoilers but just how well the island names fit w/ characters and the storylines that occur on those islands is just *chef’s kiss*

the gameplay is also interesting! it’s one of the biggest things that set it apart from most sonic games tbh. most sonic games have fairly linear gameplay, right? but frontiers goes ‘hey here’s all these things you can do. for the most part, do it whenever the hell you want’. that’s because it’s open world. like. breath of the wild levels of open world. which is a rather big step for sonic games in my opinion. and while i do have questions and opinions about just having floating rails and springs everywhere - which are essential because you simply cannot have a sonic game without those - it’s interesting! also the environments are cool :) 

ohhhhhh yeah also the bosses have cool designs!!! and the juxtaposition of how you fight them versus how they fight you is cool. attempting to refrain from spoilers even though that’s probably pointless now 

OH GOD. i forgot. ok. so. sonic frontiers is great. BUT. i have grievances with the intro and the STUPID FUCKING FISHING GAMES. 

the intro i watched w/ my brother since it’s his first playthrough and he was excited to share the experience w/ me and i was excited to be included. but like. sega. the fuck do you mean the characters are standing on a plane’s wings w/o straps and not getting blown straight off immediately. it’s been a while since i’ve watched the intro but like. i remember nitpicking ten million little things because it just didn’t make sense. so. beware of that. just push through it 

and then. and THEN. the STUPID. FUCKING. FISHING GAMES. ok so here’s the thing. you go find this character named big the cat that’s been around for a while now in previous games. i’m fine with that. and big the cat’s like hey bro do you wanna fish w/ me. and i’m fine w/ that too. what i’m NOT fine with is WHAT YOU PULL OUT OF THE WATER. these are all PONDS. PONDS. so like. i can excuse an old tire. i can excuse treasure chests. (though i will nitpick how all the fish look the same and then you go fish it out and sometimes it’s not even a fucking fish.) i can be more than ok w/ catching a bass! but. BUT. i CANNOT with the sheer amount of saltwater creatures you catch in these ponds!!!! like. my brother’s caught crabs before. big ass saltwater crabs. and SUNFISH. and. AND. I KID YOU NOT. A FUCKING ANGLERFISH. IN A POND. why. why. SEGA. PLEASE. ANSWER ME

anyway!! sonic frontiers has its flaws but overall it is an excellent game!! very fun to dive into, even just for the music and story :) done screaming about it now

my good sir have you heard of and/or watched a playthrough of and/or played sonic frontiers

I have not but I would love to hear about it

[quetzalpapalotl]

Heya, I saw a post that said you’re well-versed in IDW lore, so I wanted to ask if you could possibly help me with my confusion. I recently finished MTMTE and LL, and there are a few things that didn’t seem finished to me, I guess. I’ll list them

- are the 13 primes not a thing in IDW1? I can’t remember them ever being mentioned

- what happened to the hybrid baby/foetus? It seemed like a huge plot hole to me

- what are the omega guardians, and did Primus make them? How could an omega guardian also be part of Primus/the guiding hand?

If that’s too much, or you don’t know the answer to any of those questions, that’s okay :)

IDW1 lore can be confusing because IDW1 is made up of like 13 years of comics and Mtmte/LL is only one part of the whole thing, it's more or less self-contained but it does reference other parts of the continuity.

-The 13th Primes are a thing in IDW, they get expanded upon in Mtmte sister series, what we call exRID, and the Optimus Prime comic by John Barber. But they are also often mentioned in the Windable series written by Mairghread Scott and other places. I won't say what's the deal with them in case you want to read more, but for now let's say they are part of the Cybertronian mythology (if you want to know more and don't care for spoilers, let me know).

-After dealing with Scorponok, Grimlock puts the firstborn in his chest and then later leaves her at the care of The Curator/Agonizer/That dude who sells antiques in Troja Major before reuniting with the rest of the cast. In LL #25 after the party is over, the Scavengers head to Troja Major, so I assume they're gonna pick the firstborn and raise her. Also JRo said in twitter that her name is Connie.

-The Omega Guardians are another race of aliens altogether first mentioned in Spotlight: Hot Rod (no relation to Omega Supreme despite the name). At some point they ascended to a higher plane of existence, and they are behind many of the things the guys encounter, they also orchestrated some of the events of the comic because they want to return to this plane and consume it(?) This is never explained in detail because it seems like part of the things JRo ran out of time to explore with the cancelation of the continuity.

-I assume that by "How could an omega guardian also be part of Primus/the guiding hand?" you're talking about the Magnificence. The Magnificence is not an Omega Guardian, but rather Epistemus who came into contact with the Omega Guardians and stayed with them to continue his quest for knowledge and eventually, somehow became the object known as the Magnificence, which is an orb capable of answering any question you ask (I don't know if the Magnificence retains enough self awareness to still identify as Epistemus). In his Spotlight, Hot Rod goes to look for the Magnificence after the Guardians have left this plane and later has it hidden. In the climax of LL the Omega Guardians use the Magnificence and a conduct to speak to the cast and Nickel breaks it when she gets tired of the Guardian's bs.

I hope that clears up your questions, but if I'm speaking too disorganized for you to understand do tell me, I do that sometimes.

[cto10121]

Harry Potter Clown Takes Part 3

Featuring yet even more conservative pearl clutching, problematic whinging about problematic elements, and a wild attack on Harry for *checks notes* not letting a man abandon his wife and unborn child. Really cannot make any of this up. Spoilers, as usual

You mean those same films that turned Ron into dumb comic relief, Hermione into Wonder Woman, Harry actually enjoying his fame, Dumbledore rude and downright violent, toned Snape’s nastiness, eliminated the house elves and Hermione’s activism, made McGonagall lock the Slytherins in the dungeons (against canon!) and dehumanized the Death Eaters by having Bellatrix and Voldemort dissolve into evil flakes? Okay, OP.

It’s a case of Truth in Television, OP. Even in the most violent and radical of real-life revolutions some aspects of society do not change (actually they may even become worse!). In my view, the problem really isn’t with Slytherin House per se, but the fact that it was overrun by Death Eater children (Malfoy and his gang) and wizarding supremacy. Rowling’s conflation of real-life academic social clubs for the elite and HP’s four Houses as a structural basis of the school itself didn’t help matters either.

…The same way the majority people IRL who went to school, had all their formative relationships at school, had role models as teachers, and still don’t become teachers, OP! Wtf?

Honestly, I don’t get this fandom’s whinging over Harry’s Auror career vs. a teaching career at Hogwarts. There is no reason he can’t work as an Auror and then go and teach at Hogwarts or vice versa. Besides, his children would eventually go to Hogwarts, so it would be very awkward to have to teach them during their whole student career. A conflict of interest, to be sure; for Harry’s kids especially it’d be a literal nightmare.

That was the film adaptation, OP, not the books. And not even in the films is Seamus portrayed as a drunk.

Meaningful character names (especially punny ones!) have always been a strength of great writers, OP. Shakespeare borrowed a lot of his names, but the names he came up with are unforgettable and fitting: Beatrice, Benedick, Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Jessica. Dickens was also one for good names: Sydney Carton, Madame Defarge, Lucie Manette. On the contrary, it shows Rowling’s excellence at names and her willingness to think outside the (Anglo-Saxon) box. Most of her names sound like plausible fantasy names without them being too outlandish for modern readers. Dolores Umbridge is definitely not lazy.

Harry is 11-14. A literal child. What action does OP want Harry to take to help Ron or the Weasleys out of their poverty???? Harry shares his food with him on the train in Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone and buys Ron some Omnioculars for the Quidditch World Cup. And even then Ron says Harry is not allowed to buy him anything for Christmas because of that. Even if Harry did want to help the Weasleys out of their poverty, he knows they would point-blank refuse it or would in some way return the money as a loan. He literally had to threaten to hex Fred and George, the most unscrupulous Weasleys in hustling, to accept his Triwizard earnings as a gift.

And I find it odd that you would defend Lupin planning to abandon his own wife and child to go camping with Harry and co. Harry was too harsh, even violent, but it does fit with his character and his values—he would never countenance a man willingly abandoning his family. Lupin is able to fight against Voldemort just fine without having to abandon Tonks or his kid. He is also canonically grateful to Harry for forcefully coming to his senses.

Ah, the love-potion-as-an-allegory-for-rape thing. How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.

So a lot of portrayals of love potions stem from Shakespeare’s in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where the fairies use the juice of a flower to make other people fall in love with the right people—and end up creating more chaos instead. Love potions in fiction tend to externalize the real phenomenon of people falling in and out of love with the “wrong” people—or the “right” people for the “wrong reasons”—and the freewheeling messiness (fluidity?) of human sexuality in general.

With regards to HP, we’re not given much information on love potions and how they operate that differs from the classic love-potions-as-just-being-horny template. We know that the Imperius Curse can be fought off even if the victim has been under it for years (the Crouches) and Harry himself could do it on the spot; can a love potion be fought off or shaken? Ron was becoming even more aggressive under the influence of several love potions, so it may be that most (cheap, regular) love potions grow weaker, not stronger, as time goes by, and lift quickly. According to Fred and George, their love potions work up only to 24 hours, depending on “the weight of a boy in question” and the “attractiveness” of the girl. Sounds like an aphrodisiac to me. It might explain why even Hermione doesn’t consider love potions Dark or dangerous. If not, then what is exactly the difference between the effects of a love potion and normal human relationships?

In any case, Rowling is definitely going for that metaphorical take in Ron’s love-potion infatuation with Romilda Vane, forming a parallel to his infatuation with Lavender. I also suspect that was happening in the case of Merope Gaunt giving Tom Riddle Snr. a love potion. Dumbledore believes she simply stopped giving him the potion, but that is part of his guesswork. If love potions can be resisted, Riddle himself could have snapped out of it and left. It would at least justify Voldemort’s claim “My father left my mother when he found out she was a witch. He didn’t like magic, my father” (How would he know? Did he just assume?) in GoF.

In any case, real-life drugs used for rape don’t work the same way—they knock people out unconscious, period. Even alcohol doesn’t take away a person’s will entirely.

[yyh4ever]

Yu Yu Hakusho Stage Play - Part 2 Premiere (December 5th, 2020)

After the December 4th performances were canceled due to a COVID-19 case with actor Ken Tanabe, the stage curtains were successfully raised this past Saturday. Both afternoon and evening performances were conducted without problems. Live streams by Niconico are also being held! I’ll make a summary about the play without giving major spoilers.

The play started with Botan talking about protective measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission (wearing masks, clean and disinfect frequently...). The cast wore transparent masks throughout the performance. You can actually notice them on the photos.

The actors were introduced to the sound of “Smiling Bomb”, anime opening theme, and Koenma worked as the narrator again, like in the first stage. Last year, it ended with the 4 guys standing in front of the Maze Castle and, as expected, “Genkai Tournament” was left out from the play. But, a very upset Genkai appeared and did a comic digest, recapping what had happened during the disciple selection trials to find her successor.

Finally, the "Four Saint Beasts” began with Botan informing Yusuke and Kuwabara about the situation, the story we all know about.

Here follows a promotional video from Suzako’s Arc (first half of the play):

Genbu was portrayed by members of the cast carrying parts of his body, similar to Yatsude last year. Kurama was fierce! 🥰 I won’t give spoilers about Byakko, but Kuwabara shone the entire play. Hiei’s fight with Seiryuu was impressive, the high speed of his moves was mesmerizing!

Botan and Keiko had a lot of interaction this time, just like in the series. I love Botan-chan in school uniform. 😍

Yusuke VS Suzako: the “Prism of Seven” was something else. 😉

↓  Photo belongs to @enokitomokazu

This arc ends with the famous scene from the series (volume 5) in which Keiko wants Yusuke to promise her that she will be informed whenever he has a mission.

After the intermission, the second leg of the play began: “Rescue Yukina”. Everyone was waiting for the Toguro Brothers who carried out an incredible performance. Elder Toguro made wonderful movements and twisted his body several times, looked like a ballet. Genkai’s actress played other roles again, guess which character these nails belong to? (edit: people guessing Miyuki, it’s not her! Miyuki was played by another beautiful actor ;-) Btw, most of the actors played more than one role this time, including some of the main cast.

↓ Photo belongs to @liz_marry1126

↓ Photo belongs to @aminoMASAvital

More official photos and videos from the press:

↓ A promotional video for the entire play (dress rehearsal), if you don’t want spoilers about Genbu and Byakko or other kind of spoilers, please don't watch it ;-)

I didn’t write too much as the photos and videos speak for themselves. At the end, there was cue to the “Dark Tournament”. Hopefully, there will be a “Yu Yu Hakusho Stage Play - Part 3″ in a near future.

[oodlyenough]

life is strange true colours review

the non spoilery part: i LOVED this game, my personal fave game this year and the first franchise entry since the original that has really resonated with or moved me.

it's a life is strange game through and through, so if you don't like slice of life episodes or bonding with NPCs, it's not gonna be for you. but if you like the franchise, or even if you liked the first game but haven't been interested in/liked the other two instalments, i recommend giving this one a chance. i think it got closer to figuring out the formula while still doing something new and interesting.

more detailed spoilers and opinions:

alex

holy shit i love alex? bisexual chad... my darling... i'm gonna be real, a lot of the trailers and promo for this game made me worried she'd be kind of a dull wallflower Soft Girl character, but she's not! she's so funny, and even parts of her characterization i initially thought were maybe a bit of a stretch ended up making sense as i learned more about her. she stole the show. i straight up forgot how much loving the protag helps enjoyment of these kinds of games lmao ... finally a reason to click on everything in the room: to hear what alex will say about it.

i thought her backstory exploration in ep 5 especially was wonderful and emotive and great. broke my heart and explained so much about her :( baby girl

plot/choices

i loved the mystery. i don't think it was quite as Mysterious as the mystery in lis1, but that was okay, i was still invested in solving it. i also got invested enough in the NPCs around the town to make all the exploration bits really fun. i loved eavesdropping on the sagas of the random NPCs like bald man and ice cream couple... just fun little touches and narratives to follow that i enjoyed.

i really appreciated this script not being afraid to shy away from some messier emotions, even if in some cases i wish we spent more time on them. for example: alex feeling a bit jealous of the other people in town that got to know gabe better than her/spend more time with him than she did. or charlotte hating ethan!!! my jaw dropped, i thought that was so good, what a messy but realistic response.

I'm not entirely sure what all the ramifications of different choices are at this point, fresh off my first play. i ended up getting only part of the council to stand with me (eleanor & duckie) while losing pike and charlotte.

i do wish we saw a bit more fallout or exploration of what taking away emotion DOES. i took charlotte's anger, and obviously it meant she didn't stand up for me in the council meeting, but where does she go from there? does she like... ever return to feeling emotions lmao... I also think we probably should've had the opportunity to do that another time, instead of just 2 isolated events -- I think Diane would've been a good candidate.

the romance

i romanced steph, ofc, but i was surprised during the game how drawn i was to ryan too -- i really liked that Drama of him being the one who cut Gabe free, as well as later the drama of him being Jed's son. UNTIL HE DIDN'T BELIEVE ME... that made me mad lmfao, i have to learn what to do to make him believe me before i play a Ryan route bc i'll kill him lmfao.

the steph/alex romance was sweet... it didn't really, like, Consume Me as a ship, but by the end of the game I was still "aww"ing at their moments in the flashforward. steph was more rounded and flawed than i thought she might be, which i really appreciated! i was worried they'd just make her perfect idealized gf, but she has a bit of a temper and is kind of tempestuous and stuff... liked it. loved her standing up for alex so fiercely and immediately at the council meeting <3 and my main reservation about her in ep 4 was that i wanted alex to stay in haven, so when she offered to stay i was thrilled LOL

one semi-complaint i had was that something i loved so much about lis1 was how max and chloe's relationship was central to the entire game and story, it wasn't some extra thing on the side, it WAS the game... whereas here, the romance routes, especially steph's, felt like sidequests. I wish they'd found a way to incorporate those relationships a bit more into the main goings-on. I also wanted to spend more time with either romance option to feel like I knew them better -- splitting the time between Steph and Ryan means that I came away feeling like I didn't get quite as much of either of them as I would've liked, vs spending almost the entire game with Chloe lol.

however, this ended up not really bothering me too much because I DID really like the core mystery and themes, the exploration of grief and Emotion, etc.

other characters

considering everyone knew going into the game that gabe was going to die, i was impressed with how they did it, and how they managed to get me attached to gabe in a mere single episode. it's a tall order to introduce a character designed to die, who your audience KNOWS is going to die, and still make them work.

i thought this supporting cast was ... maybe the strongest in the franchise? or at least, they created scenarios where i felt invested in multiple people in the town, and was genuinely trying to build decent relationships with most of them. duckie cracked me tf up, i liked eleanor and riley, even diane and jeb were good for their roles. (fuck pike. i signed ur stupid thing and left your emotions alone and you still won't do shit? ACAB!!!) the choice to stay in haven or leave was a little harder than i expected honestly, considering how quickly i let arcadia bay burn to the ground lmfao.

gameplay/etc

also i know the whole internet has been dunking on "empathy" as a super power since the game was announced, and i get that it sounds corny and looks corny in the trailers, but i thought how they did it was really cool. i wish they'd branded it "Mindreading" more than empathy tbh because a lot of the cooler elements of it are more along those lines... using her power to manipulate people, potentially taking people's emotions away and what that does to them... very interesting imo!

i really liked the memory feature!!! cool way to give us character exposition and inform the story while encouraging exploration. finally a collectible that like, expands the story, instead of chloe drawing butts on the wall and sean taking 10 years to draw something.

it's definitely the most evolved-feeling LIS game, which it should be, given it's the newest. graphics looked really nice, loved getting to see the characters actually emote, even if there are still some scenes that were a lil comically blank-faced -- usually NPCs. i actually noticed this with Jed the most, which in retrospect maybe was somewhat intentional?

i had a number of visual glitches, nothing major but a little silly, like T-posing Alex, npcs t-posing in the windows, etc. i'm sure they'll get patched out soon.

anyway... i rly liked this game, i'm excited for the steph dlc and finally feel like i have reason to be optimistic about future LIS instalments. hooray!

[mysterious-prophetess]

Review: The Batman

So, I FINALLY watched The Batman (2022) starring Robert Pattinson, Zoey Kravitz, Andy Serkis, and others whose names I really don’t remember. I think the guy who was Beetee in Hunger Games was Gordon?

Anyway. First I’ll give my spoiler free review.

Then I’ll go into more spoilery bits.

So. Spoiler Free: It was fine. Not groundbreaking but not trying too hard either like I feared it would. I mean, parts could be EXTRA but it’s a Batman movie; that is to be expected.

No one gave a bad performance, which was great. I was surprised at how much I liked Andy Serkis’s interpretation of Alfred. He should get more roles like that. He’s good at them.

I was also impressed by the Battinson. Keaton’s still my #1 Live Action Bat, but Battinson ranks above Batfleck in my books. I also prefer his Batman voice to Bale and Afleck’s by a MILE.

There are still some issues I have with it but, like I said, it was fine.

I’m about to head to the spoilers now, so don’t click if you don’t want spoiled for a movie’s that’s been out on bluray for a bit.

Final conclusion: Rent or Buy? Since I already bought it, I’d have to say Buy but if Batman’s not a hero you care much for, then just rent this. Now be warned, because not only are spoilers ahead but so are personal opinions. You’re free to disagree, but keep in mind this is what I think.

So, parts in particular I wanted to give this movie credit:

Not flashing back to the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Every other movie that introduces Batman seems to need to show the Wayne murders but this one didn’t and I applaud it for it.

Instead, it kept things in a small window of time and used video as the way of looking into the past instead of flashbacks.

That’s another thing I have to applaud it for: keeping the timeline compressed and consistent. They had a story they wanted to tell and a case they wanted to set up.

Though, here is my biggest gripe: They sort of fused Riddler with Hush. The mask reminded me far more of Hush than it did the Riddler. The reporter murdered by that mob boss had the last name “Elliot.”

Hush’s real identity was Thomas “Tommy” Elliot.

I know Hush and Riddler worked together in the comics, but here they just mushed them into one and it made for an unpleasant combination.The actor did what he could here but overall, I didn’t like this Hushiddler the writers created for this film, period.

They also had the cops make some rookie mistakes at times. With Hushiddler’s base found, shouldn’t the cops have torn up everything looking for evidence? Meaning, shouldn’t the carpet have been rolled up to make sure there wasn’t evidence there or checking for blood stains?

This is a second year Batman, so I’ll excuse him not being as quick on the uptake as he could be.

ALSO: Hushiddler’s targeting of Bruce makes no sense.

Bruce was EIGHT when his dad died. He’d have been in no position to do anything to help the orphans Hushiddler grew up with until he was older and it’s shown he isn’t in a good headspace just yet.

Though, gotta wonder why Alfred didn’t continue doing good works in the name of Thomas Wayne....

I saw the “Falcone is Selina’s dad thing” coming the moment after they interacted.

While Kravitz did well with her performance, there were times I wondered what the writers were thinking with her arc.

Side Tangent: I also HATED the scoring. Did the composer not have access to more than two notes at a time or Ave Maria? It grew annoying to hear that “da-dada-dum-da” very damn fast and hearing Ave Maria in major and minor over and over also began to piss me off. Also, it felt like the “Imperial March” should have started playing over that two note repetition after a while.

And did they have to have the actor sing OFF KEY? Some of us have perfect pitch and that HURTS to hear.

I’m a semi-professional musician, I have opinions on music, ok?

Ok, side tangent over.

There were decisions made with the plotting that did remind me more of the comics than most Batman films—the rampant corruption of the government for example—and something about the plot overall seemed like it could have been an arc from the comics.

The chase scene with Penguin: Extra, so so Extra.

The fact that the Hushiddler had a sorta parasocial relationship with The Batman was an interesting angle but, I still really don’t care much for Hushiddler overall. The moment his neighbor started talking, I was like “...The Joker?”

Then there was a glimpse of a messed up face that looked like it was a perma grin and the laugh clinched it. That actor nailed the laugh.

So, if WB isn’t ashes, will The Batman 2 follow The Dark Knight’s footsteps and have the Joker headline the second movie as the main antagonist?

Well, who knows!

Either way, it was a very solid Batman film and, for the most part, I was able to follow along with the plot and I’ve managed to (somehow) avoid all spoilers for the last five months.

I do not regret buying this film, and also don’t regret not watching it in theaters.

[ins0mnia-an0nym0us-au]

my thoughts on The Eternals - spoilers will be marked

first off - this film will not be for everyone. it’s a thinker film compared to other marvel movies. so younger kids? they’re gonna get bored. anyone who wants a fast-paced film? bored.

there was a sex scene in the first bit of the movie. i wanna say first 30-45m. it wasn’t explicit but it was obvious what was happening. it also wasn’t long. it was more on the romantic side than erotic side. you could tell both members were nude but no bits were showing. also sand? why would you do it on sand? or otherwise grainy textures? bad bad idea.

the way the overall timeline of the Eternals was explored made complete sense. they did not pull a witcher and forget to explain when things were. it also was very obvious due to clothing & locations. when they jumped backward in time for flashbacks was never jarring either. 

personally i was able to tell what the “major” plot-twist was right from the beginning but it didn’t ruin the film for me. it was a gorgeous film. filled with stunning visuals. some of the CGI could’ve been a bit better (especially in the after-credit scenes) and it makes me wish for more practical effects tbh in the marvel universe. 

alright that’s the end of the non-spoiler bit. below will be full of spoilers. 

lemme just be clear. i am enjoying the hell out of Phase Four of the mcu purely because it feels like they are letting the directors & writers take risks. they are letting them stray from the mcu format. as much as i enjoyed the first Three Phases of the mcu - they were formulaic. occasionally we’d get a movie with a little splash of something flavorful in it (CA:WS, Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok) but they were still strictly within that marvel genre of “mcu movie”

do i think that this film is for everyone? no. because the mcu formula is basically a formula of “for everyone” & this is a film that has bits of that formula but is a large chunk of it’s own thing. which for me? big happy dance. i want more of this. 

it was easy to tell from the beginning that Ikarus was the one who killed Ajak - at least in my opinion. if you didn’t figure that out - no shame in that. the way my brain works just put it all together. from the trailers having shown Ikarus talking with Ajak & then the way he acted when they found her body. i saw it coming.

this was a long movie & it had to be. they had a lot of stuff to introduce - explain - explore - move away from. which didn’t work well in some cases. for most of it though it was fine. i know that a lot of people are gonna be disappointed in how little of the movie Kit Harrington is in but they are for sure setting him up for greatness. 

the Deviants were... rough. a very rough adaption that were honestly unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. in the comics the Celestials take the ancestors of the humans (Homo erectus) & mess around with their DNA. creating the Deviants but also the Eternals. the biggest problem for me with the Deviants aren’t that they weren’t made from humans (the Eternals weren’t either in the film). but rather that they decided for some reason to make them beast-like instead of humanoid like in the comics.

correction: they are creatures in the comics. they are deformed. ugly. some have no intelligence at all. some have higher intelligence. the point of the Deviants is that there is very little control over the outcome of the experiments that The Celestials did. thus they were deemed failed results. but they are very similar to the randomness of Mutants but with the added factor of randomized appearance that can be very unsettling to look at. the important bit is that they are all sentient. some much duller than others but all with thought.

the Deviants in the film seem to have evolved to suck the Eternals powers out & with it the ‘alpha’ continues to take form into a human-esque shape. but still. it’s the biggest failure of this film - adaption-wise anyway. 

because they had to cover so much within such a short time there were things that i personally wish could’ve been touched on more. but weren’t able to be kept at the forefront or got pushed aside to keep things moving. 

Ikarus being one of them. what his thoughts & feelings were like. because the actor played it well. his inner turmoil. his love for Sersi. but overall it’s not like I was rooting for him and Sersi to get back together? even if I hadn’t guessed the fact he killed Ajack - the fact he never explained why he left or apologized for it. etc. little things that kept me from rooting for him.

Sprite’s eternal youth. it gets hinted at here & there. we see it briefly in places. it isn’t until the finale that we see the actual effect it has on her though. which is cut short by a comedic brush to keep the end going. but how do you confront that topic in a marvel movie that needs to be family friendly? 

Thena’s entire trauma??? there just wasn’t enough of confronting that??? 

again. i am not saying this was a bad movie. no. Phase Four? off to a great start. these are just critiques. the things i loved in this movie far outweigh the things i disliked.

visuals? stunning. this film just felt like art. marvel movies don’t do that. they feel like marvel movies. this movie? nah. it felt like art. 

diversity - we actually got a diverse marvel cast. not all white. not all black. not all asian. no actually diverse? there was white, black, indian, asian, fuckin all over the world diversity! it was great. they spoke different languages too. including sign language because there was a deaf actress playing a deaf character. 

lgbtq+ rep in my marvel (disney) movie??? *le gasp* and it wasn’t even implied but confirmed later. it was full on kissed on the lips gay men with a son!

if a celestial ever popped into the fucking sky like they did at the end of this movie. i would just die. i’m not putting up with that shit. that shit was terrifying. or if a celestial starts birthing itself from the core of our earth??? those fucking giant fingers breaking through the CRUST OF THE EARTH??? i wanted scream in the theater at the site of that. it was so badass. they really were like “y’all. here’s the cosmic threat level but... physically”

overall. i’m happy that marvel is experimenting. i’m happy with this film. 

but i still liked Shang-Chi better. 

[mantis-lizbian]

hey yes so um, i just binged two whole comic series in as many days, i think (it was a blur, i have no idea), and now i want everyone i know to read them too?

so, Princeless is the story of a princess who lives in a fantasy land where it is tradition for kings to lock their daughters in towers awaiting a prince to rescue them, thereby proving that they’re worthy of the princess’s hand in marriage and to rule the kingdom. obviously, our protagonist Adrienne, the second youngest of seven sisters, is not down for this bullshit. after being locked up in her own tower, Adrienne eventually escapes with the help of her guardian dragon Sparky, and sets out on a quest to free the rest of her sisters from their own towers in order to prove that princesses don’t need a prince or knight to save them.

what ensues is a delightful little all-ages comedy action-adventure comic about feminism, finding yourself and your purpose, with plenty of wonderfully heartwarming moments along the way. and plenty of clever and interesting subversions even around that initial premise! (but i’ll talk more about that under the cut)

then there’s its spin-off series Raven: The Pirate Princess, aimed at a slightly older audience, about a “princess” (that isn’t her sister) that Adrienne saves along the way. Raven is latest in a long line of pirate “royalty” who began their legacy by rebelling against the tyrannical kings of the mainland. unfortunately, her brothers convinced her father that, since he is the “Pirate King” he should also lock his daughter in a tower to await rescue (so that they can steal command of the fleet from her when she was in line to inherit it).

this story begins shortly after Adrienne frees her (Princeless, Vol. 3 if you wanna just get the backstory and dive straight in to this series; Princeless is great, but lesbian pirates, i get it if you just wanna dive straight in), and she sets about putting together a crew to hunt down her brothers. this one’s got it all: fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles! ...okay, so there aren’t any giants (unless you count the absolutely gorgeous Katie Kling) or torture, but... it has got lots of lesbian pirates! and birates, and a couple of adorable ace pirates who just love science and blowing things up (i love Cid, and if anything happens to her, i will kill everyone in the world and then myself). and a demisexual pirate. and they’re almost all adorkable nerds who, before joining a pirate ship were all part of a boardgaming group/book club(/fencing club/survival scouts).

okay, so a bit more spoilers for Princeless beneath the cut, just in case you haven’t been convinced to read it yet:

okay, so i didn’t really know how to explain this without giving major plot stuff away (last chance to turn back from spoilers), but the series is actually so much more inventive and clever than that summary lays out. first off, i didn’t even mention Devin, Adrienne’s brother who is an utter disappointment to King Toxic Masculinity (not his real name, but you get the idea) because he likes to sew more than swordfight. or the fact that Adrienne’s escape made it look like she’d been killed, and then when she arrives at the castle, disguised in armor, everyone thinks this dragon-riding knight is the one who killed her, and so she winds up with a bounty on her head for killing herself... anyway.

Devin finds out it’s actually her while she’s at the castle, and tells their mother after she leaves who then sets out to do something, but her carriage is later found in the woods also burnt to a crisp with her nowhere in sight. now, as soon as this mystery gets presented, pretty much anyone who has read anything will figure out what’s going on, and i’m not entirely sure it was ever even intended to be a real mystery, but it is an all-ages comic, and i can imagine some kids, at least, not being able to figure it out so quickly, but moving on...

Devin then sets out to solve the case of what happened to his mother, and along the way forges new allies, and discovers new threats to the kingdom, and it’s all great and wonderful, and helps build some background tension behind Adrienne’s escapades that she remains totally unaware of.

speaking of Adrienne, this is the bit i really wanted to talk about down here which is that... remember that premise? she’s going around saving her sisters to prove that princesses don’t need a prince to save them? well... turns out all of her sisters basically save themselves. that’s not to say Adrienne doesn’t help, or have agency in her own or her sisters’ stories, but like... when i realized that subversion and how it perfectly reinforces that “princesses don’t need saving” thesis... i was just so giddy. it’s so good. also, Adrienne learns a lesson that “freedom” doesn’t look the same or mean the same thing to everyone else as it does to her. this theme gets introduced and played with very early on, built upon, and then explicitly called out with her last two sisters, and the whole progression is just... [chef’s kiss] have i mentioned how much i love this series?