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snaccpopstudios · 1 year

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Hi everyone! We're here with the long awaited post on our newest bachelor, Simoun. We know you've all been abuzz with questions about him so we hope to answer some of that in this deep dive into his creation. This post is in lieu of our usual Wednesday devlogs as we've been writing this over the span of several weeks, and was co-authored, edited, and reviewed by Tobias, Jude, ToyboxToonz, Primarvelous, and Sauce. The above image was drawn by @toyboxtoonz.

You can read the full post for free on Patreon, or click the readmore to see it all!

Personally speaking, some of my concerns since Simoun's debut are thoughts like "Do people think I'm making SnaccPop Studios push an agenda?" and "Do people think I'm going through a checklist while making new characters?" It's made it difficult for us to write this quickly because this is quite personal to myself and the rest of the sensitivity consultation team on the DachaBo team.

Concept to Creation

The story of DachaBo begins way before SnaccPop Studios itself was even a concept (that's Sauce's story to tell though). Early Patreon art of Simoun exists from November 2022, back before I was signed on to manage the Patreon and any other projects besides Sunny Day Jack. Sauce had some ideas laying around for several other characters in the DachaBo universe that didn't make it into the proof-of-concept demo:

I dug up an old draft for the DachaBo cat character we teased and it featured a story concept where the cat character was originally a female DachaBo character, referencing the original female design. And overtime he got tired of how he was being treated and decided to change his own self to reflect who he wanted to be, not the sycophants who collected the toys and whatnot ... It was shelved because I didnt have the means to sensitivity check it The designs are half cooked is all but he was supposed to be Indian ethnicity coded for no other reason than I've never seen a character like that

One thing that's important to note is that there definitely are Indian folks who are gender diverse (see Hijra on Wikipedia for a quick primer on one of the traditionally recognized nonbinary genders in South Asia) so it's not a novel concept by any means, but it's also not very common in media whatsoever.

Why The Long Wait?

One of the other contributing reasons as to why Sauce wasn't able to do much with the concept at the time is because we didn't have a VA for him confirmed yet, as I explained in May:

One thing that's rather unique to SnaccPop Studios in all of my experience as a game developer is the fact that all of our series involve coordinating with Voice Actors from the start, which means we need to take the VAs themselves into account when making characters. Adding another layer of complexity in hiring is the fact that SnaccPop Studios is a strictly Erotic Adult brand focusing on masculine love interests, and even if we focus more on the softcore, there's still the unfortunate stigma that any 18+ work has when attached to your name. All of these contributing factors make the potential talent pool that much smaller. This isn't to make excuses: I know SnaccPop Studios can do better on this front. While we can't make changes to some of the existing series' main cast (we don't want to put people out of a role they've been promised), we will do better moving forward to incorporate more diverse characters into our future titles, and that's a pledge

In the field of voice acting, it's best practice to cast actors with similar backgrounds to the character they're voicing, particularly for characters from marginalized populations (ethnicity, culture, gender, etc.), because it's a recurring issue in all professions where marginalized folks are regularly turned down for employment or career opportunities. You don't have to look far for instances where other voice directors failed to cast the proper talent for a character, even in the AAA sphere where they ought to have the resources to be able to find the proper talent; at SnaccPop, we wanted to avoid that situation at all costs.

Finding Simoun's Voice

So we had to confirm a VA first before we could do anything. Sauce, Reece, and I all tried to put private ads out for a trans masc POC (any ethnicity with dark skin) actor for a R18 game, which was largely met with silence at first, then responded to by folks who didn't fit the role in a full capacity (many only hit one or two of the criteria we laid out, some of them none at all). And it's not hard to imagine why: it's common knowledge that the majority of erotic works often fetishize marginalized people who are otherwise underrepresented in mainstream media. Things such as skin color, body type, hair color, age, etc. are treated as traits to be objectified, and on the off chance that queer folks or people of color might see themselves in porn… it's usually not for the most flattering or empowering of reasons. How could we, an exclusively Adults-only studio, convince someone who isn't familiar with us that we wanted to make something for people like them rather than something that turns them into mere masturbating material?

We were almost about to give up on the Catboy until I decided to take a chance on contacting a VA whom I hadn't had any formal and proper interactions with before. I'd been a fan of his work and knew him from an audition he sent in from a previous game I had worked on, but he knew me solely by name at best since we were following each other on Twitter. Still, it was a lead, and after chewing my nails for half a day, I shot off a message to Soren Viloria.

And what do you know? He said he'd give it a shot as his first NSFW role.

Naming the Lad

Soren is a Filipino VA, and despite the fact that I myself seem to be mistaken as Filipino by other Asians quite regularly, I'm actually not as well-versed in that culture as I ought to be.

There's actually a reason why we were so secretive with Simoun's name for a while: he didn't have one yet, so internally we just kept calling him "the Catboy." We wanted to pick a culture-appropriate name for him, something that was meaningful: Soren initially suggested "Siopao" as it was a common cat name (it's a type of Filipino Steamed Bun, so think of how many pets you've seen who have names like Cupcake or Nacho Supreme), but that didn't seem serious enough for a tsundere catboy like him. A few days later, Soren did a little research on a few well-known characters from Philippine media/culture that fit the bill a bit better:

Elías from the Philippine Revolution novel Noli Me Tángere (a required reading in the Philippines). Cat may like his radical tendencies for revolution and his deep, devoted connections.

Simoun from Noli's sequel, El filibusterismo. Holds revolutionary values similar to Elías, but far less noble and more of a loner. Violent at times, and will do what it takes to get his way.

Panday/Flavio, a very popular hero. Part of his charm is that he doesn't have special powers, but took matters into his own hands and forged a magical blade. Has been portrayed in both 'cool' and comedic ways.

Ricardo "Cardo" from the Philippines' longest-running TV drama Ang Probinsyano. Just a cool action hero dude who cares about family, but is also very ambitious and angy.

Seeing as how we already had an Elias Gallagher, Simoun seemed to be the perfect fit, and the name stuck pretty easily.

Simoun's Boundaries

Now that Simoun had a name, we were able to talk about him more seriously beyond the simple "tsundere cat" tropes. You've all already met Gil Finnegan, who we originally brought into SnaccPop Studios to handle the narrative design for DachaBo but was then onboarded to help with Sunny Day Jack, and those of you in the Patreon Discord server are familiar with our mods Tobias and Jude; along with me and Soren Viloria, that brought the grand total of openly trans masculine members on the team.

We all talked about our personal experiences as trans masc/AFAB people, what things we rarely saw reflected in both mainstream and indie media, things we wanted to see more of. Something we all agreed that was difficult to find was trans masculine folks in sexually dominant roles in erotic media, whether that was live video, audio, writing, art, or a combination thereof; there was only a handful of series we could count on our fingers as far as sexually explicit content that featured trans masculine people in roles that weren't exclusively submissive/bottoms, and the majority of us had already seen those or at least heard of them before (ie. Gummy and the Doctor and Sasha From The Gym were prominent ones). Either discovering this content was difficult due to Search Engine Optimization favoring depictions of trans feminine folks, or it simply didn't exist.

All of this, along with the backstory that Sauce had for Simoun, led us to determine that Simoun would be adverse to submissive roles in intimate situations. Simoun isn't the type to want to be penetrated either due to previous trauma surrounding his gender. Bear in mind that this isn't meant to imply or suggest that there is only one "acceptable" sexual preference for trans masculine folks, nor is Simoun meant to represent all of trans masculinity; he may be our first trans masculine character but certainly isn't the last, as we hope to feature more types of characters at SnaccPop Studios.

As an aside, it should be noted that the trend of erotic trans feminine content being more readily available doesn't necessarily mean that trans women have more positive representation per se; for every kinky piece of art created by trans feminine folks out there, there could be ten more works that fetishize and objectify their bodies. We probably don't need to tell you about the common derogatory slurs that have been used to refer to them; trans feminine and trans masculine people deal with varying levels and types of transphobia as well as situations that oversexualize (or even undersexualize) them, and it's important to focus on content that doesn't strip them of their autonomy.

There actually was a period of time between the release of his concept art after Soren was onboarded where the team observed comments both on Patreon and in the Discord regarding Simoun, and we discussed how we could avoid having people try to ship Bo and Simoun together; because Simoun hasn't had bottom surgery of any kind, we wanted to ensure that tokophobia (fear of pregnancy) or dysphoria wouldn't become a thing for any of us involved in the team or for our trans masculine Patrons. It was a bit of a chicken or the egg situation, trying to keep up with the evolving comments about Simoun to try and anticipate what people might accidentally say.

Debut Day Thoughts, & Moving Forward

We were quite happy with the general reception everyone had with Simoun, and we're excited to see so many people taking a liking to Simoun after his reveal. SnaccPop Studios has always strived to provide inclusive and diverse stories for those who don't often get represented in media, much less NSFW media, and the team was quite elated to see folks who were just as happy to see Simoun.

We hope that the love and care we put into building Simoun has shone through in this post and will continue to shine as we write more of him for DachaBo, because we're just getting started.

#dachabo #character design #trans masc #transmasculine #transgender #minors dni #gamedev

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cripplecharacters · 27 days

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Feel free not to answer this question as it's more a research-type question, I'm just not sure how to go about finding what I need: do you happen to know any fiction books with portrayals of medium to high support autistic people that are considered realistic and positive? All I can find is rep of low support autistic ppl (unless it's in semi-educational children's books) and it's making it harder to figure out how to write medium to high support autistic ppl myself.

Hello!

When I was diagnosed, it was before the levels were used (Or at least before they were used where I lived). I suspect that I would be considered 'level one autistic' today but would likely have been 'level two', bridging into 'level three' as a child. This is all just to explain my perspective with this.

That being said, here are some of my recommendations:

A Step Toward Falling by Cammie McGovern

I just finished this book earlier today and while it isn't specifically about autistic characters, it does feature several autistic characters with high support needs as well as other disabled characters. The book is written from the perspective of two characters, one of which is developmentally disabled (Belinda). Although her disability is never specified, I do see a lot of autistic traits in Belinda. The premise of this book is a bit heavy. It's about two characters (Who are not disabled) who end up volunteering at a centre for adults with developmental disabilities. One of the things I appreciated about this book was how well rounded the characters are. Each of them has their own stories, interests, and ideas. I also like how it discussed sex and relationships in the context of people with developmental disabilities. Something to note is that this does have some sensitive topics such as ableism, sexual assault, and bullying. It is also written by a parent of an autistic child but, as far as I'm aware, the author herself is abled. I did have some conflicted feelings about specific parts of it but I'll leave that for you to make your own decisions about. Target Audience: Young Adult

How to Speak Dolphin by Ginny Rorby

I also read this book recently and I personally really disliked it. There were several scenes that made me feel very gross and I found that the autistic character was dehumanized very often. One line that stuck with me was another character about a blind character, essentially saying, "I thought she was going to drown herself. If I was blind, that's what I would do." Although the character does get to know the blind character and changes her mind, it really felt awful to read and seemed so unnecessary -- especially given the target audience. The way it talks about blindness in general bugs me. That being said, I have seen several autistic people recommending the book (Which was why I read it in the first place) so I'll include it here anyways since my opinion seems to be in the minority around this book. Target Audience: Elementary/Middle Schoolers This is a brief review from another autistic person. [Link]

Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos

This book centers around Nova, a young autistic girl with high support needs. Nova is a foster child who is missing her older sister and the story is told through a mix of narrative, letters to Nova's sister, and flashbacks. It's been a while since I've read this book but I remember really enjoying it (And maybe crying a little bit too). The author is autistic herself and also consulted many other autistic people with a variety of experiences, which I appreciated. Target Audience: Middle Schoolers This is a more in-depth review on the book from a reader who (I believe) is also autistic. [Link]

These are also a couple books that I've seen recommended but can't personally recommend as I haven't read them myself yet:

Real by Carol Cujec

Remember Dippy by Shirley Reva Vernick

I know it's not very much but hopefully it's enough to get you started! If anyone has any recommendations for anon, feel free to mention them in the notes.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

#mod icarus #anonymous #not writing advice #autistic representation

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megamuscle885-blog · 3 months

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Severed - Worm Fanfiction Review

CW: Suicide and canon typical gore.

I don't think I've so eagerly anticipated an imaginary and, likely unwritten at the time of this post, scene in fanfiction than @heyitschartic's Severed. I've been following this series since it was posted three years ago. I'll avoid spoilers and the scene I'm imagining in question will be under the cut, but the basic premise is that Jack Slash chooses Skitter as his nominee during the Slaughterhouse 9 arc, rather than Oni Lee, who was disappointing, and Golem, who he later contrived the entire S9k arc for.

I will say that this work is a beautiful plunge into What Ifs which look all the more horrifying if you compare them against canon. You get flashback snippets of the S9 arc retold from a few perspectives before being thrust into post-GM, maybe pre-Ward? era with modern Skitter. I can certainly say that Severed blows all other S9!Taylors out of the water, Taylor is authentic in ways I haven't seen with anyone else. 10/10, each chapter is at it's absolute peak and it has 11 chapters as of this post. Each gut-punch has me anticipating the next chapter, only for the next chapter to explain why Taylor's friends and enemies hate her so much. I gasped when Tattletale said that to her. I strongly recommend Severed to anyone and everyone who hasn't already read it yet. Here's the link:

Oh wait does this count as the first of my Worm fanfic reviews--

So, I've read chapter 11 and I've been having Taylor and her clone rotating in my head endlessly, but the scene I'm anticipating is the one hinted at in Chapter where Defiant wants Taylor to go under the knife with Bonesaw again so Riley can fix all of Taylor's everything that is physically wrong with her, because her body is practically bio-tinkertech, even after they ripped almost everything else out.

I can only imagine Taylor reiterating that she refuses to be put under for the procedure, and using every moment to vent her anger and frustration on a Riley that is likely seeing marked improvement in her therapy (maybe). But Taylor keeps hitting her with blow after blow. "They'll never let you work on anyone else ever again, so you had better not kill me." and "Nobody will ever let you willingly touch them, I'm the only one who you can use your tinker abilities on, and that can change if I don't need you anymore." "If you ever find someone you can trick into letting you touch them, hold them, or even work on them, I'll kill them. It'd be better than the fate worse than death that letting you touch someone inflicts, and I should know, I'm living through it."

Maybe Chartic has something else planned, but I would like to see this Bonesaw cry. An unshakable, unmoved Taylor just heaps on the abuse through her own tears of pain, holding Riley hostage even as she roots through her guts to put her back together. It's very Taylor to fight through pain to force people to help her. The last time they saw each-other, Riley was doing well. I don't think she'll be doing very well after they meet again.

Maybe an overseeing team of surgeons and Capes become increasingly uncomfortable as Riley is tormented. They find themselves defending Bonesaw of all people, from one of her former victims too.

I'm sorry if this is unsolicited Chartic, but I can't wait to see their reunion, whatever form it takes. Severed's way of making Taylor suffer the consequences of her own actions, while invoking sympathy simultaneously with disgust at Taylor's betrayals; the depths she's sunken to, and then to finally wrap it up with shame and admonishment of her friends, turned victims, is masterful. How dare either they or I judge her for what she had to do to survive. Each chapter reveals that it got worse and worse. At some point, I suspect that (one of) the reasons that Taylor is being given such little leeway by the rest of the cast and remains constantly under the threat of harsh re-imprisonment or execution by vengeful kill-teams is because she somehow became the worst member of the Slaughterhouse Nine or even surpassed them in notoriety.

Tattletale telling Skitter to kill herself was such an insane scene that I stood up and covered my mouth. I was in disbelief. But knowing now that Skitter had betrayed the Undersiders to a slaughter by Mannequin (after having sacrificed her own father and, essentially, her own pre-cape life and innocence with him. The Taylor that she did not want to be, embracing the Skitter she chose to become) and then at some point caused the remainder of the Livsey family to kill themselves the same way Reggie did, with gunshot wounds, really clarifies that Taylor did something unforgivable. She exploited her friendship with Lisa to injure her in a way that can never be repaired. Lisa in canon never really had much to do with her parents ever again, but she probably didn't want them dead for neglecting Reggie.

I may edit this later, or reblog it, as new thoughts on the work come to me.

#worm #wormblr #parahumans #worm spoilers #taylor hebert #wildbow #worm fanfiction #skitter #worm web serial #slaughterhouse 9 #worm fanfiction review

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torpedopickle · 1 month

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I finally watched Transformers Earthspark Season 2 today. I have a lot of thoughts and I wrote some paragraphs for every episode. As you can see I wrote a LOT, enjoy my way too long cartoon analysis:

Episode 1: the cracks are showing but it hasn't crumbled yet

The animation feels less alive than in season 1 even if strong storyboarding still carries some scenes, as I know several of the season 1 storyboarders did work on this episode. It has a couple good sequences, a couple incredibly stilted ones. The overreliance on slowmo feels weird, and the animation struggles to properly convey things, like how we're supposed to take Hashtag's injury very seriously, but it just looked like she got bumped lightly.

the Decepticons are butchered and watered down into "evil because they're Decepticons". Chaos Terrans is an interesting concept and the way they're executing Aftermath would provide a foundation for exploring topics such as delinquent youth, but knowing how the series will go on to treat them in later episodes, I'm not hopeful.

the Maltos feel like they're sleepwalking. They have a lot of screentime but for some reason they don't feel present at all, it's like I'm watching their shadows move around on screen without the things that made them feel alive shining through.

If I didn't know beforehand what this season would eventually stagnate into, I could see myself being fooled into thinking the gripes I have with this episode are just growing pains, however i'm not so hopeful.

Episode 2: Improved in some ways but not in others. The episode premise is decent, and the narrower focus compared to episode 1 does help make the focus characters feel a bit more like themselves again. Unfortunately i just don't think the premise was utilized well at all. Introducing quintessons to the conflict is kind of a big development, but it doesn't flesh them out well IMO. They treat them like wild animals with no characterization for a majority of it, and then hint at some deeper conflicts at the very 3nd before promptly disposingof them. So ultimately it feels unsatisfying (although we do get some expositon in episode 9, but it doesn't add up to much).

And once again i must comment on the character acting on the humans especially being severely lacking.

Robbie and Mo having helmets for like half their screentime definitely feels like a cut corner not to animate their faces

Episode 3 review: some well animated sequences this time around, i'd seen the storyboards for them on twitter and they're really well done, but then there's some others that really werent as decent, so big ups and down in animation quality. Most of the episode did feel like a slight return to formula for Earthspark tho, with how it felt like it was actually making a point about something for once, which so far has been rare in season 2, although the conclusion wasn't the most satisfying with the whole "you can't have everything" message but then hashtag kinda gets most of what she wanted anyway.

Episode 4 is like.... baffling.

Like the fact that they swapped to a wholly different and much cheaper animation studio was so far just somewhat shining through, but now it's impossible to unsee. The animation here feels BEYOND stilted, in every way. Like not even the 2D FX animation looked convincing this time. That clip of Robbie dropping a cake is the weirdest animated thing i've ever seen. It's like it gets sucked out of his hands by a magnet.

The Faire Maestro is a type of character I feel like would have been handled really well in Transformers Animated but was just kinda nothing here, super ugly design too and very odd voice direction. Lots of just bizarre and mindboggling things in this episode, like them seeing faire maestro having an emberstone shard, and then deciding to steal it right in front of his face for absolutely no reason even though they think he's a normal guy and not a villain. And tiny inconsistencies like Mo knowing his name even though he never said it. Bizarre episode all around, Weird Al cameo is cute but then he's gone.

Episode 5 review: Finally Jawbreaker gets to be in it. Except now he feels like a baby. Just a big stomping juvenile baby.

And speaking of big stomping babies, Aftermath is one too. He feels like he's supposed to be a representation of troubled/delinquent youth who don't get along with their peers and who don't have positive role models or a support network, but he really comes off as being just... chaotic, no real sense of interiority to him other than "I'm mean and I enjoy being mean and I can't help it". He's entertaining on a surface level vibes basis, but it doesn't feel like any attempts are being made at making a point. He's barely been in the show so pretty much anything that could make his character interesting is completely missing. Like there's no development of how the decepticons are raising him other than the basic assumption of "bad role models", and the decepticons barely get to be characters this season either. Aftermath feels like an Afterthought, as Chaos Terrans have basically been less than a footnote, and the series has attempted to do no form of storytelling with them beyond surface level observations that honestly feel insulting to the other characters like how the decepticons are just evil now, and the autobots/terrans have lost all nuanced expressions of empathy and solidarity in favor of just "they're generally friendly"

oh and also the evil mushrooms are boring.

Episode 6 review: Man this episode just *feels* wrong, like viscerally.

The show's handling of the chaos terrans just keeps getting worse. There's absolutely NOTHING about spitfire that compels any form of empathy. Like there's not even a mote of her being a troubled and misguided youth, she's just straight up ontologically cruel, like nothing about the conflict in this episode regards a failure to understand, communicate, or empathise with each other, it's just a straight up rejection of those things on both sides. For this chaos terran delinquent analogy thing to work you NEED there to be a sense of humanity or waywardness to them. You NEED to be able to conceive of them as being capable of more than just anger. This just feels meanspirited, especially the way the Maltos have no desire for Spitfire to be better. They just wholeheartedly accept that she's ontologically evil, and honestly, the way she's presented in this episode you'd think they were right, but they're not SUPPOSED to be right.

It sucks too cuz chaos terrans are a great idea

season 1's terrans were all representations of good natured minority kids, particularly third culture kids, who despite their best intentions and kindness end up having to fight for acceptance.

The chaos terrans are a natural progression of that, with depicting kids who end up on the fringe of society because they're inherently different from others and have a harder time being understood, and who don't have a support network to set them straight.

So it starts out in a place where they'd easily be able to build on it, but it's squandered imo. And for several reasons:

1. the Decepticons are 1 dimensional bad guys this season so they fail to capitalize on any potential storytelling they could have done with how their generational resentment might be passed down to the younger generation. They also fail to build any sort of relationship between the Chaos Terrans and the decepticons, so any obligation to stay or debt of gratitude that they might feel is just not there. You get no sense of why they'd want to be decepticons other than wanting to be enabled and encouraged for cruel behavior. They could have given breakdown an actual father son dynamic with aftermath but instead undercut it and play it for laughs.

2. Because the malto's solidarity have been completely watered down into just being "good guys", and never really get to articulate any sort of deeper point in their attempt to appeal to the chaos terrans, so you don't get a sense of how they might help them if they were allowed.

and 3. because the chaos terrans themselves don't really feel like they have much of an inner struggle, interiority, or conflict, it doesn't really feel like there's much of a foothold for

Anyone to latch onto to get through to them. Which makes them feel unredeemable.

so to reiterate and summarize these 3 points; 1. there's no sense of how the chaos terrans are being given negative reinforcement, 2. there's no sense of how the Maltos might help undo this, and 3. there's no sense of how the chaos terrans might want to be helped or not helped.

I understand that like part of the point is that they don't understand the chaos terrans, which supposedly makes them feel more alienated and further pushed towards anger, but there's no nuance or attempt at solidarity to the way these misunderstandings occur. Like there's no hint of Twitch and the Maltos trying their best to reach out to spitfire in meaningful ways. There's no sense of there being some fundamental difference in perspective or circumstance that make them able to understand eachother's point of view, it's just straight up "i tried to be nice but you were mean so now i won't be nice anymore" and it never goes beyond that. It's insulting how easily the Maltos give up on them.

Episode 7: serving as a direct followup to the last, it continues a lot of the same flaws. It squanders any chance of giving Spitfire some depth, like they could have spun her obsessive competitiveness into a deep-seated need for approval or validation or something, but no, she's as one dimensional as her behavior would suggest. Her behavior just becomes more and more destructive to a cartoonish degree where it no longer becomes possible to feel empathy for her.

the whole freaky friday misunderstanding thing too also feels super forced, which isn't helped by the animation failing to convey a lot of ideas.

Comparing this season to season 1 so far, man it just really sucks at juggling the characters. We've had practically 0 focus or development for any of the autobots and decepticons, and the maltos for that matter, despite their overwhelming screentime.

This is likely a casting budget thing. Which is why bumblebee has been demoted from main cast member to a guy who maybe says 2 lines every 3 episodes.

The quality of season 1's writing would go up and down quite drastically between episodes, but so far season 2 has consistently been on par with some of season 1's worse entries. It's juvenile and it has next to nothing to say about anything. Barely even any basic surface level messages, just mostly meaningless antics with next to no focus on exploring characters.

Episode 8 review: it's fine. No notes. It's a competent comedy episode. Fun premise with the whole "thing getting continuously stolen by different people" trope. Basing an episode around optimus's trailer is funny. Animation isn't stellar. Overall it's just an ok episode. I have nothing to say about it other than it's well executed even if it's not very ambitious.

Episode 9/10: okay! End of the season. The finale's mixed for me. In a different universe, this would have been an OK finale for the most part, but the fact that the season has tarnished every single character and plotline from season 1 and made no successful attempt at building anything new of value makes it lack any impact it could have had.

Interesting angle to flip the quintesson creator race narrative that transformers fans are used to. Although they too were an afterthought for this season. Aftermath and Spitfire getting killed really was the rotten cherry on top of their miserable cake. First they're treated like dirt by the story and handled as poorly as they could possibly be, squandering the excellent potential they had, but then they just kill them. Just so starscream's heelturn is even more evil. It honestly feels sad to me that they even bothered to acknowledge the fact that starscream was redeemble in season 1. Just makes it feel even more annoying that they conciously gave up trying to make him nuanced. Some of the animation was good. The shots of terratronus rising were very well composited and communicated the scale extremely well. As for the actual climax, it felt pretty lacking.

Overall a dissapointing season. A shadow of what earthspark was. Most of the characters are completely sidelined (likely for lack of a casting budget), and the few who aren't don't get a single story that feels reminiscent of that immensely strong sense of confident identity that season 1 had.

Hasbro cannot help themselves can they

#transformers #earthspark #tf earthspark #media analysis #talking about cartoons for too long #cartoon #mecha #robot #review #tf #fuck hasbro #essay

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vulpinmusings · 4 months

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My speculations on Indigo Park

I'm putting this post under a read-more in case it finds someone who hasn't played Indigo Park yet and wants to experience it blind.

(BTW, it's free and takes about an hour to finish so just go play it. The horror value's kinda tame overall, but trigger warning for blood splatter at the end.)

Why Rambley doesn't recognize Ed/the Player: The collectables notes make it obvious that our Character, Ed, used to be a regular guest at Indigo Park as a kid. Yet, when Rambley goes to register them at the beginning he says he doesn't recognize Ed's face. I've seen speculation that this might be due either to Ed's age or the facial data database being wiped or corrupted after the park's closure. However, I think there's another possibility.

The Rambley AI Guide was a relatively new addition to the Park. Indigo Park is essentially Disneyland; it's been around for a long time and I rather doubt that the technology for a sentient AI park guide was available on opening day. Rambley mostly appears on modern-looking flat-screens, but in the queue for the railroad he pops up on small CRTS, so technology has advanced over the park's life time. I suspect that Rambley as an AI was implemented a short time before whatever caused the park to be shut down, and the reason that Ed's face isn't already in the system is because Ed just never went to the Park during the time between Rambley's implementation and the closure.

Rambley needs Ed just to move around. Rambley claims he'd been stuck in the entrance area since the closure. That might imply that as an AI guide he's not permitted to move around inside the Park unless he's attached to a guest, and he has to stick close to them. He's probably linked to the Critter Cuff we wear, which would explain why he insists we get it and doesn't just override the turnstile or something. He still needs cameras to see us and TVs to communicate, but it's the Critter Cuff that determines which devices he's able to use at a given moment.

There are other AI Guides. Rambley's limitations in where in the park he can be seems inconvenient for an AI that's meant to assist all the park's guests. Perhaps during normal operations he was less limited because every guest had a Critter Cuff on, but that might have put too much strain on his processing if he was the only AI avatar. Ergo, some or all of the other Indigo characters could have been used as AI guides as well; either a guest would be assigned to one character through the whole park or the others would take over for Rambley in their themed areas while the raccoon managed the main street. Due to the sudden closure, the other AIs may be stuck in certain sections of the Park like Rambley was stuck at the entrance, and we'll interact with them and/or free them as part of the efforts to fix the place up.

The "mascots" are unrelated to the AI. But Rambley believes they are linked. The official music video for Rambely Review has garnered a lot of speculation for how different Rambley's perception of how the Mollie Macaw chase ended is to what we saw in the game. I'm not 100% sold on the idea that Rambley flat out doesn't know that the Mollie mascot got killed. His decision to drop his act and acknowledge the park's decayed state is because he sees how freaked out Ed is by the Mollie chase, and he seems to glance down toward Mollie's severed head when he trails off without describing the mascots. HOWEVER, I don't think he sees Mollie as being truly dead. He's possibly come to the conclusion (or rationalization) that the AI guides, based on the actual characters, are stuck inside the feral fleshy mascots and the mascot's death has led to Mollie's AI being liberated. This idea will stick with him until such time as we encounter an AI character before dealing with the associated mascot (likely Lloyd).

Salem is central to the park's closure. All we really know about Salem the Skunk is what we see in the Rambley's Rush arcade game, where Salem uses a potion to turn Mollie into a boss for us to fight. This reflects real world events, although whether Salem instigated the disaster due to over-committing to their characterization or was merely a catalyst that unwittingly turned the already dubious new mascots into outright dangers remains to be seen.

Rambley's disdain for Lloyd is unwarranted. Collectables commentary indicates that Lloyd's popularity may have been eclipsing Rambley's, and that ticks Rambley off. That's not the fault of the Lloyd(s) we're going to interact with, however. That's on Indigo's marketing for emphasizing Lloyd so much. And who knows, maybe there were plans for other retro-style plushies, but the Park got shut down before those could come out. Either way, while Lloydford L. Lion may be a bit of an arrogant overdramatic actor, the AI Guide version of him isn't going to come across as deserving Rambley's vitriol, and that's going to be the cause of one chapter's main conflict.

#indigo park #rambley the raccoon #mollie macaw #finley #lloyd the lion

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imakemywings · 1 year

Text

How to Kink Meme 101

I think that for fans who never used Dreamwidth and didn't grow up on LiveJournal, kink memes can be a little intimidating (I know I was intimidated initially). But I've also never seen a format that works better for hosting one that Dreamwidth. So here is a quick guide to get you reading and posting on kink memes (and YES, there ARE still active kink memes on DW--and if your fandom's isn't, make a new one!)

And just to cover upfront: Despite the name, requests and fills generally do not have to be sexual in nature (a kink meme will state in the rules if requests are required to be sexual). You can usually request anything on the kink meme, from the smuttiest smut to the fluffiest fluff and everything in between.

The first step is always to review that kink meme's rules. Most of them will be common sense--don't bash, don't out another poster, stay on topic, etc. But it's always good to check in case there's something you didn't expect (ex: some kink memes require you to put certain trigger warnings in the title of a request).

TO REQUEST:

Find the active prompt post. Many kink memes for larger fandoms will have multiple prompt posts. When one gets too long, mods will close it to new requests and start a new one. They will usually try to make it very clear which is the active one. Here's an example from the Dragon Age kink meme:

Part 8 is where you go to prompt. Other parts may still be open for fills, but are closed for new prompts. Here's another example from the Mass Effect kink meme:

Here, the current post is stickied to the top of the page, and is tagged "current part" to let you know it's the active prompt post.

2. Once you select the right prompt post, make sure you're replying to the prompt post itself, not to someone else's comment. DW pages vary in style, but that reply button can reliably be found at the bottom of the page. Here's another example from the DAO page:

The "reply" option WITHIN that bottom request will respond directly to that comment. The "reply" option in the bar at the bottom will reply to the entire thread. That's the one you want to hit.

Here's another example from The Silmarillion kink meme:

And one more from Middle-earth kink:

3. Okay so you've hit reply and you're ready to type out your idea. The one most important requirement of all kink memes is anonymity. Anonymity in requests, and in posting. Even if you feel comfortable posting with your username attached, you need to post anonymously. You can de-anon somewhere else and even link to that, but the post on the kink meme should be anonymous. That's where this button comes in:

"More options." You hit that, and you'll get the option to make an anonymous post:

And now you're really ready to go. Put something short and descriptive in the title (Ex: "Kirk/Spock Coffee Shop AU" or "Iron Bull get pegged") and give a longer description (as needed) in the body. Requests can be as short as a sentence or as long as several paragraphs--whatever you feel like is necessary.

Make sure to include any "do not wants" here! If you aren't sure what that means, check below.

NB: Generally, it's considered polite to keep a reasonable ratio of requests::fills. That is, if you're making a lot of requests, you should be trying to fill some from others. It doesn't have to be only fic either--if you're better at drawing than writing, a fanart fill most often works too!

TO FILL:

Okay, so there's requests...but say you find an idea you really like and you want to give OP a fill. It's going to be the same deal as before, except in the body of your post you'll put the fic rather than a request. DW has a character limit per comment, so it's not unusual to break even a relatively short fill into multiple posts. Nor do you have to post the whole fill at once--updating as you do with a fic elsewhere is totally fine. Here's what it will look like when multiple fill posts nest:

And that's really all there is to the basics! DW is an older, more barebones site, so if you're accustomed to the newer web, it may seem clunky and hard to navigate, but once you've posted a time or two it will seem very simple and the kink meme community is a lot of fun!

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

"Do not derail" - Generally it's common courtesy on the kink meme not to derail a request. That is, if someone wants "A/B outdoor temple sex" it's considered rude to comment "Would love to see this with A/C!" If you like the idea but want something changed, it's better to just post your own request, even if it's very similar.

Asking for clarification - It's totally fine if you want to ask OP for clarification on a point before making a fill. Keeping it anonymous, you can just respond to the original prompt to see if they meant X or Y, or if they would be okay with Z thing in the fic.

"Bonus" requests - It's pretty common to see "bonus" requests in a prompt. That is, things OP would like to see, but are fine not receiving. You can put as many of these as you like in your requests, and as a filler, can choose to include or not include as many of them as you want. Here's what that might look like:

5. DNW - "Do not wants." This is where you put anything that would be a deal-breaker for you: something that would cause you to not read the fic at all, or not to enjoy it. Again, you can put as many as you want, or none. Here are some examples of that:

6. Commenting!! - If someone fills your prompt, you should make sure to thank them! Even if the fill wasn't exactly what you wanted, it's nice to find something kind to say about it, since someone spent the time to write something for you. And of course, feel free to comment even if the prompt wasn't yours!

7. Multiple fills - There is absolutely no problem with doing multiple fills on a prompt! If the prompt inspires you, go for it! I've definitely written fills for prompts that already had two or three fills. Usually, OP is delighted to have more than one fill ^.^ I think it's really interesting to see where different authors take the same prompt, and some prompts are open to a variety of characters.

8. Fill posts - Some kink memes also have a separate "fill post," somewhere you drop links to fills. This is just a neat way of collecting them, so if you fill a prompt, try to drop a link there, just to get more eyes on it!

9. De-anoning - So you've written a fill anonymously, but you want to share on your AO3/tumblr/Twitter/wtv. Feel free! You can out yourself as the author of a fill wherever else you want, and "de-anon from the kink meme" was a pretty common author's note to see back in the day. You can even comment on the original kink meme fill with a link to other places you've posted it. Personally, I usually come back and drop an AO3 link to any fills I crosspost.

10. Timing - Some kink memes are quite old, with requests going back 10+ years. The OP of that prompt may no longer be checking it, but that shouldn't stop you from filling the prompt if you like it--you're almost sure to find another audience owo

11. Alerts - DW is pretty limited in the "notifications" you can receive from it, but if you have or make a DW account and want to get notified of updates on a kink meme, you'll want to first subscribe to that page.

(I'm already subscribed here, but that little journal will show a green checkmark if you aren't yet subscribed, and you just hit that so that any new posts on the meme will go into your DW feed.)

However, because kink memes operate more on comments than posts, you'll also want to get alerts for any new comments from the active prompt post. Find the active prompt post, and hit this bell button:

You'll get this pop-up:

And you can go ahead with the email notif, or if you're like me and want DW notifications to stay on DW and out of my email, hit "More Options" and uncheck the email notif. This way, any new comments will only show up in your DW inbox as an unread message.

And that's everything! Or at least everything I can think of. If you have another question please feel free to comment. I think kink memes are a lot of fun and I hate to think of anyone unable to participate because they're not familiar with the format.

Enjoy!

Kink memes in this post (+ some others):

Dragon Age main page (Origins, II, Inquisition)

Middle-earth kink

Silm kink meme

Arcane kink meme

Mass Effect kink

Skyrim kink meme

#mine #idk if anyone was looking for this lol #but I was fretting about people being left out so

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serpercival · 4 months

Note

🙈 can I request charhawk idk any number that inspires u if ‘against a wall’ isn’t it 💜

Waagh charhawk - I've never tried my hand at them before so hopefully this is to your tastes! <3

charhawk + a kiss against a wall

Charles is on his usual bullshit when Hawkeye walks into Radar’s office to check on the mail. Something about a record that Honoria was shipping to him that’s been delayed for five agonizing days, and he would simply like to ensure that it hasn’t been stolen by a sticky-fingered Midwestern bandit.

“What’s so important it can’t wait a few days?” Hawkeye asks, sifting through Radar’s outbox for something to do with his hands. “Chopin put out a new release?”

Charles grits his teeth and Radar snatches away his papers. “My dear sister Honoria is reviewing an opera, if you must know,” he says. “She has sent me a copy of several of the songs to request my opinions. And this little– thief! Has likely stolen a gift, one of few earthly pleasures from home, and I simply cannot–”

“Love songs?” Hawkeye asks, moving on to flipping through the papers in the inbox. “You ever been to The Love for Three Oranges?”

Charles manages to grit his teeth even harder. “The art should not be debased with comedy so low as that.”

Hawkeye shoots up, dropping the papers all over the floor. “Debased.”

“Yes,” Charles says. He crosses his arms, uncrosses them, and won’t make eye contact.

“With comedy.”

“Indeed.”

Hawkeye takes a step forward.

Charles takes a step back.

They do it again.

“Now, Pierce, given your vaudvillian ways–”

Hawkeye takes one final step forward, and Charles lands flush with the wall. He puts a hand on Charles’ chest to keep him there.

“Charles,” he says, warmly. “I’m going to debase you with comedy right here, right now, right in front of Radar.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Hawkeye comes up on his tiptoes, just for a laugh, and kisses Charles right on the mouth.

He doesn’t expect him to melt. Or to part his lips. Or to groan like he’s been waiting for it for months. Hawkeye presses more firmly against his chest and deepens the kiss, testing Charles’ soft lips with his tongue for the briefest moment before pulling away.

Charles is flushed, wide-eyed, and slightly damp with spit. He raises a hand to his lips with an expression that Hawkeye has never seen on his face before and can’t readily identify.

Then he smooths it over, wipes the spit from his lips, and shoves Hawkeye away. “Find my record, O’Reilly,” he snaps.

Charles shoots one final, confused and frightened glance over his shoulder as he storms out of the office.

Hawkeye turns to Radar. “I should try that again.”

Radar shrugs. “Good luck with that, sir.”

#serpercival writes #ask games #kiss ask meme #charhawk

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butmakeitgayblog · 2 months

Note

Hey! I’m on my like 5th rewatch of The 100 and I’ve only just now seen this review on IMDb. I’ve been following your blog for a while now and keeping up with ADC. I was wondering if you know anything about this? I tried looking it up but nothing popped up. Granted I didn’t search too hard lol. But I just thought these claims were so wild. Did they mix her up with another actor? I’m just so ??????

Lol no

Not even once 😂

I do remember after the accusations from Bob's ex came out you had a few accounts accusing E&B of diva behavior - including one in which it said that Bob got physical with a crew member and that was why he was ultimately written off - but emotions were high at the time so no one ever really knes if that was fact or just bs smearing. But Alycia? Nope, not once.

No tbh this whole thing reads very oddly to me because all I've ever heard is that she's quite pleasent to work with actually. First of all, Alycia didn't "start in Vancouver and switch to LA". She was LA based since she moved to the US. So idek what this person is trying for there, but it doesn't even make sense. Second, if this person has such a wealth of insider knowledge, then they'd know this wasn't her first project in North America. Two seconds of research would show that (they said they "found out" it was her first acting job, so according to their own words they looked into it??? And still got it wrong???) She'd done a several things before the1oo, including tv work in Australia, a whole ass studio produced movie, and an indie movie over here.

Third? I mean if you follow her, you see she is often in pics with crew members and even follows a few on IG, as well as fellow cast members talking pretty regularly about how sweet she is and about times when they hang out outside of filming. Also iirc when she was directing her her episode of FTWD didn't she even get a... was it shaved iced, or like a coconut water thing? Some kind of frozen treat stand thing, for the entire cast and crew.

That doesn't exactly sound like a tendency toward tyrant, diva behavior.

But truthfully, the thing that jumps out at me the most tho is the Zionist comment. This comment was supposedly left back in 2021, right? Except... Zionist was not a widely known or used term at that time. For clarity, I'm not saying Zionism or the term Zionist didn't exist in 2021, I'm saying it wasn't a term the general public at large really knew or used often, nor was it something that ever readily came up in any sort of criticisms of actors, much less IMDB reviews 🤨.

So like... how and why would that have even come up at that time of leaving this review? In 2021?

Unless, of course, this person went back and edited an old review they'd left. Now that would make a lot more sense. Almost as if maybe possibly perhaps, they became angry with her for something else, and came back and changed their review to a scathing bomb. It's just a theory, I have no way of knowing if that's true or not, but it makes a bit more sense considering I've never heard such a thing about her - not on the 1oo nor any other projects.

#grandma-juice #also the whole stitches thing... I'm like 89% this is a Bob stan #because iirc that was an accusation leveled against him #but I can't remember exactly #but it almost reads like someone copy/pasted allegations against him onto her page lol

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echoweaver · 9 months

Text

Like a bunch of others have said, I have been nervous about making a simblr gratitude post because I'll almost certainly leave someone out, and that hurts. I guess I'll start with the disclaimer:

I read everyone I follow. I can't read every post, but I don't keep anyone on my dash who I haven't made a conscious decision to put there. If you've seen a like or a comment from me, I'm reading you, and I'm doing it because I like what you post.

And I appreciate a lot of simblrs I don't follow too. I've had to choose not to follow several who I'd like to follow, simply because of the above -- I read the folks I follow, and I can't let my follow list get too big for me to handle.

I also have a long list of story tags I follow specifically for stories that have a chronology that matters. I use XKit Rewritten on my browser to keep a list of unread posts by tag so that I don't miss posts from long-running stories.

OK, that said, and in no particular order...

@anamoon63 I have enjoyed the heck out of Alan Wilson's wild life. You're one of the reasons I'm poking at TS4 now. I also have gotten attached to Dale Cho and Kelly. They have so much personality.

@treason-and-plot I was intimidated by the complexity of your story for quite a while before I really started to dig in, but I couldn't stay away. You have so many characters! And so many plot threads! And they all weave together into a tangle of personalities that feel all too real.

@kimmiessimmies I'm still just getting to know your characters, but they're so vivid. As I've said in the comments, I really appreciate that Sadie and her entourage are mostly emotionally mature people who are working through their problems in reasonable ways. Characters don't have to be shallow or dumb to find themselves in drama, but it's a challenge to write mature ones.

@bearphase I got sucked in by Clem. Orange has got to be one of, if not the most challenging NSB generation, and you aced it. I've been invested ever since.

@rebouks You sucked a character all the way to rock bottom, and then he climbed out with hope and integrity and took everyone nearby out with him. I'm still not sure how you made such a dark story so warm and friendly.

@zosa95 I always smile when your characters show up on my dash. You're a warm presence in the community and a good storyteller. And your screenshots somehow manage to be extra endearing.

@greenplumbboblover I've never seen someone try to tell a soap opera of all of Sunset Valley. I'm getting a fresh look at characters who almost never get the spotlight. It's so much fun.

@mosneakers What can I say? I'd snatch Coraleye away from her boy if I had a chance.

@danjaley I can only imagine the kind of work that goes into the McCarrics. Reading their story makes me feel like a fly on the wall of real moments of a Scottish landed farmer's life. I've also snatched up a lot of your cc for my own projects.

@declaration-of-dramas You have such a beautifully staged historical setting, and your characters are so wild. I miss Lady Prilly, but this new story you're telling in San Pineda has already caught me.

@natolesims Your NSB has so much personality. Grey is a lot of fun. I hope we'll see Tiana soon. Ella's story really gripped me, and Tiana's was shaping up to be just as intense. Plus, your Disney simalikes are spot on.

@oasislandingresident You're a big reason why I discovered I like longer lifespans! I fell into the all-to-common trap of assuming everything had to be generational. You can discover very different stories when you give sims more space to live.

@pudding-parade You make some of the prettiest sims I have ever seen. I've downloaded about half a dozen worlds from your world reviews, and I'm not even sure what I'm going to do with them.

@queeniecook I can't wait to meet Vera and Caleb's baby. You've got us all in suspense. Your story is such a fun combination of adventure, intrigue, and domesticity. Also, so many pregnancy photo shoots. 😆

@nocturnalazure Last on this list but not least, I think your story is the first one I found on tumblr that I became a passionate fan of. I honestly think in another universe it would be a great TV adventure drama. I jump whenever I see something new on the tteot tag. Thanks for the story.

Thanks to everyone, and to the folks I've forgotten and will feel guilty about later. 😅

#echoweaver #sims #simblr gratitude day

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omgkalyppso · 9 months

Text

I posted this before but deleted it both because I was embarrassed and because I was worried I'd severely fucked up Astarion's age for the nth time, originally referenced from This Post. But I've seen many more analyses and I think it's right. I think it is. Anyway!

EDIT: I DID GET HIS AGE WRONG because that is the post I meant to reference. But I'm not fixing it. 232.

I was tagged by @luinen-bluewater to complete this far simpler ship meme: otp, ot3/4.

Here is the template I actually used: ot3. Here's the otp version.

I'll tag a few people to complete any of the templates referenced: Luinen, @the-eldritch-it-gay, @vlwv, @tadpole-apocalypse, @boghermit, @lemonbronze, @littleplasticrat and YOU.

I'll put the above image chopped up below the cut so it's easier viewing for the curious. And I'll ramble a bit more (bg3 spoilers, discussion of vampirism and character deaths).

In my headcanons, Astarion neither remains a spawn nor becomes the Vampire Ascendant, he becomes a vampire, and some hundreds of years later he turns Étoile to a vampire as well (this post / these headcanons need reviewing after the epilogue changes with the Crown, but we'll see).

With this in mind, I was thinking of Halsin being the longest of their lovers and how Étoile could possibly handle his death:

Étoile and Astarion occupied on some adventure / business or other, and when they return, an unaffected or perhaps impatient messenger has come to deliver news of Halsin's death. And it is so long after the others of their relevant, initial, adventuring party has passed (or maybe not. Lae'zel is a wild card (no aging on the astral plane)). Still, i can imagine one of them snapping. I think it's more interesting if it's Étoile, saying aloud that the messenger is mistaken, that surely the message is that Halsin's ill and is calling to see them a final time — Astarion's near shouting in embarrassment and worry, telling the messenger to go, calling Étoile's name, grabbing their arm until Étoile says loudly that they heard them. They heard what they said. And also sends the poor messenger away.

But then I started considering an alternative which I felt was ooc for Halsin from the base game but which I think is more possible / within the scope of his character after the addition of the epilogue. Reminder that Étoile is a paladin of the neutral evil goddess Auril, started bg3 as neutral good but whom I consider neutral evil, and is an Oathbreaker by the end of their adventure:

Halsin at like 820 or older, life expectancy 700-1000, veering wildly between peace with the natural order of things and intense discomfort with things that feel unfinished, the way they always do. And sometime with Étoile leaned against his chest he speaks of Silvanus, the Oakfather, of children and elders in all families of creatures have come and gone, of how his druidic order has changed more slowly than a tree spreads its roots, and how never in all that time did Étoile ask him to abandon his god and his (god's) comfort for the sake of vampirism and eternity. Fondly, expecting Halsin to imagine it an irritation after his speech, Étoile recalls that Astarion did, three hundred or so years ago. Étoile points out that they know the comfort they found in their worship, and they would never have sought to steal that from him (Halsin). To be a vampire is unnatural, lost to his Oakfather. Halsin points out that he has felt that Étoile has wanted to ask before, even if it has always remained unsaid, in the emptiness in their chest (lack of heartbeat), in the slant of their mouth when his (Halsin's) movement is broken with age, in how they've (Étoile has) breathed in his silver hair the more it's overcome him, something that felt respectful once, but now he's past where his end should have been, and the temptation of rekindling old strengths, the hope of another thousand years, through vampirism, shames him (Halsin) greatly. The selfishness of an old mind. Why wouldn't it have felt like a possibility a hundred years ago, two hundred, more? How could he dare to think of continuing a protection of his forest, of caring for his kin, if he lost all connection to them, and even fears what makes them the same in their morality so much that he would dare forsake it. If he was going to lose his faith, why wouldn't he have done so when he was younger and different, except that he was stronger then, in body and in mind. And yet what difference would there be, feasting upon the wild in the woods? And Étoile would be blunt about the differences, and about how there are even laws now, that they helped put in place. "They" could punish them both greatly for this, but the transformation itself would be their shared shame. He could be their first spawn, and perhaps their only, but if he wanted this now — that it was no corruption of age, just a changed heart. And they would happily accept him into their home if all beasts and men turned from him as a decree from his Oakfather -- but he would have to be sure, because the fallout could be immeasurable. Étoile would try to do it permissably, but they would turn Halsin in secret, if need be. And what if "they" were like. fucking no???? and to ensure you don't do this thing we're going to keep you sealed, either in an area or in a fucking coffin until your druid has passed. (Astarion would lose his fucking mind.)

Abbreviated:

Halsin: what if i've lived long enough to see myself become the villain. Étoile: well my ship has sailed, and you know, if i meet you in hell then it's not hell

I think though that Halsin's village would have warm, clean shelters under the ground, just below the surface as if to shelter from storms, but well-used and familiar to vampires after years of shared knowledge and resources. They'd be glad to claim him.

OH! And Étoile's birthday is Oct 20th (their date of creation during early access was Oct 20 2020), I gave Astarion Sept 22nd (first day of autumn), and Halsin May 13th (he seems like a Taurus and I figured he'd be worn and irksome about having a birthday that often falls on a day associated with bad luck (Friday the 13th)).

#long post #oc tag: étoile #halsin bg3 #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 spoilers

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momo-de-avis · 1 year

Note

Saw this on TikTok, thought you'd find it mildly interesting. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJvpDMqN/

A few things:

Sangria is 17€ everywhere in downtown Lisbon. 5€ is the glass. A jar of sangria is not going to be much cheaper than 17€ anywhere in Lisbon. I don't know who the fuck sees "sangria 5€" and expects that to be the price of a full one litre jar

I'm very positive I've seen those guys every other day. I walk that street almost every day, I have a stop there on the food tour and also there's a café there I often go to. It's a pretty chill street overall, but those dudes, if they are who I am remembering, they're those guys who are usually standing there trying to sell drugs that aren't really drugs. Now Imma be honest with you. I've dealt with them very often, for several years. Never, not once, had a problem. Yeah they're loud and a little annoying with the hustle, but when I was working near that street selling touristic services and they were next to me selling fake weed lmao they even defended us at some point.

I'm not saying everything described in the video did not happen. Likely it did. I said that street is very chill, but if you watch the vid you'll see in the background a building with flags and then a purple light. that building with flags is the Coliseum, the local concert hall. Which means this couple is officially on the wrong part of the street. Portas de Santo Antão, the street in question, is fine right before you get to that part, overall.

When travelling nobody has the mindset to just google every restaurant and check reviews, but keep in mind this is going to be a possibility. Lisbon is very, very popular right now as a tourist destination, and we Lisboners have known FOR YEARS about a lot of these restaurants functioning on the basis of scams. Portas de Santo Antão, again, is usually chill, but not always. Personally the way I deal with it is just pay for my shit and move along, cause you're in a foreign country and it's not worth the shitshow. You don't know what's going to happen, you don't know the country's laws, so just accept that you made a mistake. It happens often.

What this means is that Lisbon has become a city that requires thorough research before you sit your ass in a restaurant. Even for me, bro.

If the restaurant has people aggressively trying to get you to come inside and sit, avoid it. Granted that not all are going to be like this, and I can tell a couple ones in downtown that are chill, it's just the dudes are paid to do that ungrateful job. But there's Critical Zones

With that in mind, when eating lunch or dinner stay away from:

The upper part of Portas de Santo Antão

Rua dos Correeiros, for the love of god stay tf away from this one. The chances here of paying 500€ for a salmon are not zero. Loads of restaurants here are actually run by the biggest pickpocketer in Lisbon. THis is not a joke, it was on fucking TV

Rua Augusta although this one is fine for breakfast and sweets to be honest.

Trust:

Rua dos Sapateiros (some of the oldest and most trustworthy and iconic restaurants in downtown are here)

Rua do Ouro for quick snakcs but nothing too traditional

Lower part of Portas de Santo Antão, namely Casa do Alentejo

Rua do Jardim do Regedor, namely, Bonjardim which is one of the oldest places and most trustworthy for piri piri chicken

Rua da Madalena. 100% nothing there is bad. Literally nothing I am not exagerating, best bifanas in Lisbon and some of the coollest wine bars too.

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zacki0gaming · 6 months

Text

The PCC Comic + HOPE Series Are Masterpieces? (Absolutely Not!)

Before I Start

This is going to contain Major Spoilers, Disturbing Topics, Etc (You have been warned).

Greetings everyone! I am continuously providing reviews of both continuations of the episodes and ranting. Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to express my thoughts on the comic titled "Pink Corruption Continued" or PCC for short (which is canon btw) and the HOPE series. If I must briefly describe these two, I must say that it felt more like it was "another waste of my fucking time".

The content, more often than not, felt like I was listening to a fanfiction OC fetish that I could typically find on websites, such as Wattpad or Archive Of Our Own.

This is generally insulting in this franchise that it does an incredible successful endeavor to make me feel miserable. The HOPE series felt very empty and the PCC comic NEVER tries to make it feel "canon" and I wasn't even satisfied to the "slightest" on how this entire current 23 page comic went.

In advance of offering my critique, I would like to acknowledge a noteworthy statement that was shared by a YouTuber named "Upper Echelon," which I wholeheartedly concur with: "Human beings can be manipulated through cheap and shallow tricks." Within storytelling, whether it be in a game, novel, or other media format, individuals can be emotionally manipulated and misled by poorly-written narratives. Regrettably, creators may intentionally introduce characters who are supposed to be perceived by the audience as cool and instantly likable. Yet... Objectively speaking, this approach offers characters that are often somewhat forced into the storyline without adequate development or proper characterization. This can be interpreted as an "act of manipulation" towards the audience to forcefully evoke sympathy for these characters. Remember this because this almost happened twice for me with one of ArtofSoup's OC characters when I initially read the PCC comic for the first time that I'm going to talk about later on.

Here is what I'm going to do here before starting reviewing the entire comic:

Firstly, I'm going to explain the drama, controversaries, and the old cancellations to the best of my ability from what I can remember.

Next, about the comic, I'm going to be explaining all of the characters I've seen having ages changed, the canon ships, etc.

Thirdly, I'll be discussing additional screenshots of potential ideas that were supposedly going to be incorporated into the comic that were from discord.

Fourthly, I will be starting reviewing the entire comic by dividing the pages into 4 separate categories: Pages 1 -5 (First), Page 6-9 (Second), Page 10 - 15 (Third), and Page 16-23 (Final).,

Fifthly, I'm going to be actually discussing the "HOPE" series too because why not.

And finally, I'm going to give off my final conclusion for all of this.

Drama, Controversaries, & Old Cancellations

I can confidently say that this entire franchise's downfall is well-deserved in my opinion.

For the sake of brevity, I will succinctly address the Pink Corruption Drama because this will go down in my opinion, the most stupidest and hypocritical drawn-out drama I have ever seen in my life... All of this started because of disgusting pornographic fanart from Brittany's sister, Brea...

It is repulsive, nonsensical, and ironically hypocritical. If you want even further context on this, I will be providing links to videos, etc about the drama and allegations itself. I'm not joking, some of you people don't realize how DEEP this rabbit hole goes...

To clarify, the Pink Corruption Series used to reach its peak back in 2019 to early 2020, specifically talking about the amount of views Season 1, Episode 3 has on Brea's channel. 3.1 million views... (Probably only because the JSAB game was very popular back at this time). However, Brittany's sister, Brea, uploaded several videos discussing canceling the series but, I couldn't remember the main reason why.

This action here was the beginning of "the downfall of the entire fanchise of the Pink Corruption Series". This also most likely caused the drastic decline in viewership for the series, going from receiving millions of views to approximately 10,000 or more views in the subsequent months.

In early 2020, with insights from Bubby Aurora's "Telling My Tale" google document, the "drama," or "great schism" as some call it, began in early 2020. Brittany's sister, Brea, had been writing pornographic fanfiction for the series and constantly showed it to Brittany. This made Brittany so uncomfortable that she felt compelled to cancel the series.

In early 2020, the infamous drama, or "great schism" as some call it, began. The catalyst for this event can be traced back to insights gained from Bubby Aurora's Google document titled "Telling My Tale." At the heart of the conflict was Brittany's sister, Brea, who had been making pornographic fanfiction for the series and continuously showed it to Brittany. This caused significant discomfort for Brittany, leading her to make the difficult decision to cancel the series. (Keep this in open mind later on).

At the time, ArtofSoup and Brittany used to be friends at this time period, but I didn't fully understand what was happening behind the scenes. Because of this friendship, Brittany Robinson gave her permission and consent for ArtofSoup to continue the series in the form of a web-comic. Ecstatically, ArtofSoup began writing their comic, "Pink Corruption Continued." (I'll explain the events surrounding this in more detail after discussing the current topic.)

However, things started to fall apart when Brittany supposedly cut off contact, shit talked ArtofSoup behind their back, and continued to create episodes (that were non-canon, NOT CANON)... Without their consent... This eventually led Brittany Robinson to intentionally create the "Non-Canon Continuation of the Pink Corruption Series" on youtube, "Season 1, Episode 6 to recent". Due to this happening, Brittany Robinson started to blatantly steal ideas from ArtofSoup's work into the non-canon continuation, which infuriated ArtofSoup.

The most important links I can possibly provide for this:

Telling My Tale - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VcQcbdEQwRxJPiWgI8BZFwj8d0GtmjzC0R3ASOSzrls/edit "Telling My Tale" is a document drafted by a user named "Bubby Aurora / Mzoyagon." It recounts both her personal experiences within the fandom and people who she used to be friends with such as the current creator of the series, “ArtOfSoup” (formerly known as (Quadragon, ItzFriday). It also deals with other disturbing and horrible topics she encounters such as grooming, stalking, spying, doxxing, etc. ArtofSoup also traumatized her since she was 12 years old at that time because of it.

Lucas' Lies - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ci_EhXiI6pndj1g-T3Kfy-YgwBd0UVgD was a Google Drive that was established by "ArtOfSoup," formerly known as "Quadragon" and "ItzFriday," the current creator of "The Pink Corruption Series." The contents of the account included inadvertent conversations between Brittany's sister, Brea and ArtOfSoup, and allegedly stole ideas derived from both Brittany and Brea without their consent. Moreover, tons of screenshots and proof about it, showing Brittany Robinson lying behind ArtOfSoup’s back.

Reasons why LucasTheDubber shouldn't upload on BreaBear Jone's channel - https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sr33b0 This was one I found from a website I've never seen before on the Internet called, "TwitLonger". It was created by a user named, "RPG_Animator_Mi" for reasons of Brittany's sister, Brea just trying to suck in all of the attention and money they can, and using Brittany herself as a vacuum. The list that he created has 7 here, some are possible evidence that Breabear is directing Lucas and some are things that are definitely wrong. However, all of these links in the list aren't going to be accessible to you all.

Pink Corruption Youtube is in DANGER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXP-EGwa63A This Youtube video revolves about two things, Identity impersonation and copyright infringement related issues. This was because of Brittany's sister, Brea, "who is alleged to have posed as her sister, Brittany in order to issue copyright strikes against fan videos of The Pink Corruption series from other Youtubers, whom are in the fanbase". The issue happened with the removal of translated versions, including "Russian", of content from the series. From the video itself, the situation escalated when a favored Youtuber within the community, known as "Heck Island" (whoever remembers this person), faced the termination of their YouTube channel due to repeated copyright strikes. Notably, these strikes were attributed to her sister, Brea alleged to be impersonating Brittany Robinson. The videos that were listed on Heck Island's channel were taken down because, "they were just regular memes videos".

Furthermore, remember what I said on why this is also comes off hypocritical too? Well... I would consider Brittany Robinson, a fucking hypocrite herself because of this. According to the "My Channel Intro 2022!" Video on Brittany Robinson's channel, toward the end of the video, this is where I initially see Brittany comes to "her sister's defense against long-term bullying because of the people harassing her online". Moreoever, she expresses a zero-tolerance policy toward negative commentary regarding her sister, which she will go to lengths of blocking you "if you say something bad about her sister", possibly for the ones about her being a groomer.

Brittany coming to her sister's defense over this shit is absolutely unacceptable. However, the gravity of the situation cannot be understated because IT'S... STILL... FUCKED... UP!!!

I could talk even further about Brittany's hypocrisy. Remember what I said about how the drama originally started back in early 2020 because of Brea shoehorning her Pink Corruption pornographic work into Brittany's face? Well... I have a screenshot of Brittany Robinson, "calling her sister's disgusting Pink Corruption work, "Cute" with a heart emote".

I can prove this further when "Pipythecat205" says in this response on the Pink Corruption discord that "Lucas just doesn't seem to care". Yet, Pipy... Is right... Brittany Robinson doesn't give a shit ALL THIS TIME and still supports her sister from this.

The Drama's Central Query So let me tell you yall something... If Brittany Robinson does actually love and care about sister, actively defends her over online harassment from other people, and has recently developed a tolerance for her sister's contentious disgusting contributions to the "Pink Corruption" series—the catalyst for the drama. What the fuck... was the legitmate point of this all happening in the first place then...???

Final Verdict On The Drama, Controversaries, & The Old Cancellations

Overall, perspectively speaking, Brittany Robinson is a straight-up hypocrite, a fake friend, and perhaps a disgusting individual. She went from being ham-fisting crude pornographic depictions of the Pink Corruption Series by Brea. Into terrible lengths to allegedly steal ideas without that person's consent for her non-canon continuation, false relationships, block people on Youtube (probably the ones, who know about the drama), and for some unknown reason, "likes Brea's content now"...

Her sister wanted to shove porn art of fanfiction TPC crap up to Brittany's face, abusing the copyright system to take down TPC Fan videos from other Youtubers who watched this series, etc.

This entire drama is remarkably atrocious in a tumultuous and regrettable manner. Brittany Robinson and her sister, Brea wanted to deliberately cause their downfall of the entire series in the most disingenuous, hypocritical, and ridiculous way. And they succeeded at it...

I'm finally done talking about this shit... I know there's more to discuss, but I've decided to focus on the most important points here in the entire drama. There were more videos about the drama itself, but unfortunately, the ones I used to watch have been already removed from YouTube.

Character Ages

After finally discussing what I know about the Drama, now we discuss the age changes made by ArtofSoup themselves. In one of the current creator's posts on the canon wiki, I had to scroll down to find the canon ages post. According to the post, it is quite clear that ArtofSoup changed the caretakers' ages.

The Caretakers' ages before being changed: (Pretty much confirmed from Brittany Robinson's old twitter account)

Pyrare - 1000+

Pentellow - 24

Iris - 25

Cube - 19

The Caretakers' ages after being changed from the current creator, ArtofSoup:

Pyrare - 45

Pentellow - 20

Iris - 21

Cube - 16-17

Please keep this in mind, because I’ll bring this up again later to provide more context by combining this with the canon ships, including the other characters as well. Now, here are the other characters whose ages have been changed:

Dub - ? (I don't know why he's age has a question mark because Brittany Robinson confirmed that all monster shapes have longevity for being 1000+ years old)

Ajaceare - 19

George - 22

Challenge - 19 (soon 20)

Teroblast - 22

Sitbnite - 15

It is likely that ArtofSoup knew about the previous ages for the Caretakers and then changed their ages for the continuation. Also, an issue with this is that the is is clear that there is a minor lore change I noticed ArtofSoup made... It was to the species' lore. They removed the monster shapes' ability for longevity, giving them instead a normal lifespan like normal shapes.

The Ships

Now we're gonna talk about the canon ships. According to the canon wiki's posts, I found a screenshot of at some point on Youtube, ArtofSoup (Formerly known as QuadragonX on their channel's name), confirmed at least 6 ships. Let me briefly state my thoughts about these ships.

Dub x Cuda (Barracuda) - I don't see a lot of people talking about this ship, also I don't have anything to say about this.

Cintagon x Circumsphere - One of those type of ships that I generally feel so confused on why people shipped these two in the first place because clearly there hasn't been any potential romantic tension between these two.

Cube x Lythorus - I don't ship these two because I see their relationship perfectly working as "childhood best friends".

Ajaceare x George - George has a fucking wife and children since Season 1, Episode 1...

Pentellow x Iris - I'm not going to explain this insufferably generic lovey-dovey couple ship...

Squadril x Marcle - I don't see a lot of people talking about this ship but, I ship it nonetheless.

I'm starting to feel like I don't have a huge taste in romance anymore. It's still fine. :/

Anyway, if we combine the age changing and the ships together, ArtofSoup made it feel disconcerting and perhaps disgusting because of two ships on the list. The ones I'm talking about on this list is, Ajaceare x Geroge and Cube x Lythrous ship. Before you all start talking shit, none of this has to do with me being a homophobe or anything, let me please explain why...

Ajaceare x George Ship

Let's first talk about Ajaceare x George ship. Considering that this ship isn't even close to being decently popular, since Season 1, Episode 1, it has been pretty much confirmed that Lythorus was talking with George himself before he turned into a corrupt. He had a "martial family with a wife, son, and a daughter".

We don't know how old Geroge was before the comic came out besides being confirmed 22 by only the current creator, not Brittany herself. In light of this, it seems that the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted George to "secretly divorced his family, thereby opting to pursue a romantic relationship with an unattractive cyclops female monster cube". Crazy, right?

Cube x Lythorus Ship

Now we'll talk about Cube x Lythorus ship. I generally feel like they wanted Cube to be shipped with a character like I said about Lythorus's entire characterization in my Season 1, Episode 2 rant "who is so incredibly forgettable in the series that was left in a coffin for about 6 years by now, and a cardboard cutout leader who shows a level of incompetency for not having any reinforcements". But wait... Here's what I found out...

I could pretty much say that Brittany Robinson confirmed the caretakers' ages, including Cube being 19 years on her old twitter account before it was taken down. In all 31 states, a minor is referred to as someone under the age of 18. So basically, I thankfully got a screenshot of Brittany Robinson confirming that Lythrous is actually 20 years old from a QnA on her channel before it was taken down because of the recent short cancellation of her non-canon continuation of the series. We can pretty much agree that Lythorus was this old before the comic and the drama came out.

So theoretically, what I'm trying to say here: ArtofSoup never confirmed Lythrous's age being changed on their canon age post on the wiki. So, if I'm possibly correct on this and ArtofSoup likely knowing about the caretakers' previous ages, they would be changing Cube's age from being 19 to a minor (a 16-17 year old) just for him to be shipped with a fully grown adult (a 20 year old flower) in the canon continuation. If that's the case, then we have a damn problem here guys because it is a 5-4 age gap... Might as well have to give Cube a different main love interest than in the comic...

Sexualities

Also, I found a screenshot of the characters' sexualities for the canon. I don't have a lot to say about this. :/

Final Verdict for the canon ships & sexualities, and characters' ages being changed

None of this has to do with the characters' sexual orientations or anything like that. Overall, what I'm saying about this is that the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted characters like George, who has been canonically married with a loving family since Season 1, Episode 1, to be in love with Ajaceare, and changing up the lore for the monster shapes just for them to be get rid of the ability of longevity. Furthermore, ArtofSoup could also potentially involve changing characters' ages into minors so that they can be shipped with fully grown adult characters like I said for Cube and Lythorus. I can't say for sure whether this is the case, because I don't have much evidence to support it. But it's possible based on what I've covered up.

Potential Lore Changes

Despite my previous discussion about Monster Shapes losing their ability to have longevity, I found another screenshot that has happened since 2022. These were possibly future ideas for the canon continuation itself for the current creator to use if that's the case.

So technically, they are 9 here and let me tell you something. Some of these feel uninteresting or pretty weird. Although I do find some that are potentially good for the comic.

The idea of granting the Tree of Life the power to send prophetic dreams to shapes, offering glimpses into their future, is an intriguing concept that adds supernatural abilities to the trees themselves. However, on the other hand, I find this other idea for the Tree of Life to be quite ridiculous. Having the Tree of Life become bored and cause all sorts of mischief for its own entertainment feels completely out of character. I generally don't like the idea of the Tree of Life having potentially negative motives, as it doesn't make sense to me.

Making LGBTQ+ jokes that confuse some other shapes like I don't care about this...

Also, having Heroes such as Cyan, who is canonically a 0 years powerful childlike being start cussing, especially saying the world "fuck" while improperly maturing is just pretty uncomfortable... Imagine seeing Cube hear his hero start cussing while in his sudden mature state... Like, these heroes are so precious to be starting to swear tbh...

Let's FINALLY Discuss This Comic Now!

Front Cover

First off, we get a simple, yet terrible front cover. Just look at this shit...

I can already tell that the current creator is a "straight-up Iris simp" who made Iris "the pretend main lead of him being the only one to fight Dub in this front cover" instead of including the other caretakers and heroes with him. I'm getting sick of tired of these people having this sort of "Iris Simp Fetish", trying to make Iris act as if he's the coolest character and should've been the main protagonist of the series because very clearly he's definitely not in my opinion...

Second, it seemed like the current creator, ArtofSoup implemented some kind of dumb Iris vs. Dub fanart that they found somewhere on the internet for the front cover instead. (I know it's the creator's digital artwork but, come on...)

Anyway, now let's talk about the pages. (I'm not going to be discussing a lot here due to it feeling short because of the length of these pages).

Pages 1-5

On the first page, the story continues after the opening scene of Season 1, Episode 6 left off, as it originally shows Cube losing his grip from his grabbing claw while trying to stop Cyan from searching Ajaceare while he was in his sudden mature form once again.

On page 2, as the trio (Cube, Cintagon, and Iris) continues to plummet to the ground, Iris says that he can't teleport while falling, and even if he could, it likely wouldn't help save him and the others. (Well, I don't understand this part about why Iris can't teleport while falling. Perhaps ArtofSoup was trying to establish a "weakness" here for Iris's teleportation ability, but it feels very vague to me).

While this part was still ongoing, I'm not fucking joking, this was so unexpected that this happened in "THE SECOND PAGE"!! One of ArtofSoup's OC characters named, "Challenge" came out of nowhere alongside Orange because he randomly found this dude?!

On page 3, Orange screamed out Iris's name as he noticed him with Cube and Cintagon still plummeting toward the ground. Challenge quickly came up with a plan with Orange to split up so they could catch more of them. Challenge and Orange then starts zooming down toward the trio to save them.

On page 4, when Challenge grabs Cube's hands, (He does the 200 pound joke like how Lythorus did in Season 1, Episode 2 toward Cube. This reference right now for me is cheap, amateurish, and not funny at all and it's only there to be this perhaps stupid exaggeration for Cube to be called FAT) due to Challenge carrying Cube from his hands. Wow ArtofSoup, I don't think it's the best time to be doing this right about now.

On page 5, this is where the entire pacing goes all over the place... It abruptly skips ahead to Squadril, who is suddenly captured by Dub and Flower Corrupts.(In a confusing turn of events, I was... Being showcased a fucking completely new and seemingly OC character - a random inverted triangle—whom Orange somehow met at some point in page 2. And now, this story then abruptly shifts to Squadril's perspective, where we find him being held captive at Dub's base with no explanation... What...?)

Dub, who was satisfied by Cyan being out of the way for his future plans. (I swear to fucking god... I hate this plot device that this series gave Cyan. Cyan's sudden mature form "ISN'T DOING ANYTHING FOR CYAN'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!! IT'S ONLY THERE TO BE A "FRUSTRATING NUISANCE" TOWARD THE OTHER CHARACTERS, ESPECIALLY HIS CARETAKER, CUBE THAT'S IT!!") Oh my god...

BTW, CYAN WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN FOR THE REST OF THE COMIC...

Behind Dub, two corrupted flowers called him by "Boss" show Squadril being held captive all of a sudden. Squadril then tells them to back off as he won't surrender to them. This won't help Squadril as Dub then corrupts him in the process.

Alright, so... not off to a good start for me. The first five pages already have pacing issues, with OC characters randomly appearing and a touch of overused comedic references from the canon episodes that aren't funny at all for the dish. What a disgusting meal...

Pages 6 - 9

On page 6, we see Dub still processing on fixing Squadril while turning him into a corrupt. While fixing him, Dub screamed out George's name, wanting to know where George was. George was seen presumably hiding and (starts to be the only mouthless flower corrupt showing emotion...) Answer me anyone... WHERE THE HELL did this development come from???

On page 7, Cube and Iris were safely landed back down to the ground with the help of Challenge and Orange while Cintagon completely landed onto a tree branch from impact (Hey Orange, why can't you use your telekinesis on Cintagon too???). Iris then says nice work to his hero, Orange. (Lets pause here...)

Major Issue: Iris's Entire Characterization Being Changed

From a post I found out about Page 7 from the current creator, one of the information about this page is that ("Iris has more emotion than just "smug").

I actually have more evidence to go along with this which is from the Halloween Comic, ArtofSoup created on DeviantArt.

From the Halloween comic itself, Iris does a prank on Cube by using pink paint to disguise himself to make Cube think that he got infected. After Cube found out that Iris was pranking him, he didn't find this funny (Iris... Your sense of humor will always fucking suck bro to this day... Get a life dude...). Iris even "actually apologizes to Cube from the prank", which is so weird for me because of his sudden change of character.

You really think that Iris was this kind and friendly enough from the way Brittany portrayed it, who has fucked up demeanors? THINK AGAIN FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP!!!

Overall, this also implies that ArtofSoup also made Iris's personality more apologetic and nicer now. So... takes a sip of cold coke You're telling me that your making Iris's whole characterization and personality more mellow and likable now all of a sudden without even giving him any sort of meaningful character development for him to be acting this way...??? Bruh...

THIS WAS NOT EARNED!!!

Btw, that Halloween short comic just basically shows just like I said, how fucking pathetic Iris's sense of humor is toward the other characters.

Back To The Comic

Back to Page 7, Challenge, Iris, and Orange notice Poly Village unknowingly being destroyed that being up with pink flames coming out of the burned houses from some unknown corrupt. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS COMIC?!?! DID AN FUCKING DRAGON BURN THE ENTIRE VILLAGE DOWN????

On page 8, we get to introduce another OC character.... (where the hell are these characters even coming from, bro...) that comes out of nowhere. He's name is, "Teroblast", an old friend of Challenge and this MF looks like a self-insert of the current creator, ArtofSoup's QuadragonX's profile picture on the wiki into this bitch.

Am I wrong?

Anyway, while Purpex is never to be seen (like we care where she is at this point), Marcle was crying on the ground because of Squadril getting kidnapped. Teroblast was about to comfort her until he noticed Challenge with the others. With an awkward gesture, Challenge acknowledged Teroblast's presence by placing a hand on the back of his head.

On page 9, Teroblast asserts that he has not seen him since his brother's death. This statement concludes with Challenge exclaiming "ENOUGH!", which shocks Teroblast. Ok first off, let's talk about what happened here...

Question Time Imagine this scenario: You unexpectedly run into an old friend you haven't seen in ages. They are delighted to see you, but out of the blue, they start sharing very personal information immediately that you'd rather not discuss in your current situation. I want to generally hear your thoughts about this in the comment section...

I would've punched Teroblast in the face for that...

From what I'm seeing him pages 6-9, Poly Village gets burned and destroyed with no explanation to just let it happen for the sake of the plot's progression, more OC characters coming out of no where that looks like an almost self-insert of the current creator.

Page 10 - 15

On page 10, Challenge believes Teroblast doesn't understand. He explains that he and his unknown brother were very close until Dub abducted him. Judging by the appearance of the unknown shape next to Challenge, it is implied that his brother is Barracuda himself. But, who knows if that's the case...

On page 11, Teroblast expresses sympathy for Challenge, who is grieving the loss of his brother. Challenge weeps, and Teroblast speaks his name.

Here's the main issue with this: remember what I said earlier on, before I started explaining the comic, about how creators may intentionally introduce characters who make the audience instantly love and find them cool, but who are objectively blinded by them not being well-written characters? Reflecting on this comic, I nearly felt sympathy for Challenge and his predicament. However, I just... Still don't care about him because he was very unexpectedly introduced into the story in a very non-linear approach.

Secondly, Teroblast... Why the hell are you bringing up something so personal out of your fucking mouth to piss Challenge off and make him cry afterward, despite already knowing about his brother's death then...? Let's have Teroblast be aware of Challenge's brother's passing without making it a big issue, and then immediately use it as a cheap trick to try and sympathize with Challenge's situation.

On page 12, this is where I die in laughter... After Dub finishes corrupting Squadril, he turns into this very clever and calculated henchman (Hedrilateral, his name)😂😂, as he comes up with this plan for Dub to disguise as a flower. (Lets pause here).

So you're telling me that Squadril's character gets immediately thrown out of the window because I barely fucking know anything about this magician's life, just for him to become a "henchman corrupt for Dub" for god knows how long?! 😂😂

On page 13, Dub showcases a new ability for him to shapeshift into a gray flower, like the one from the video game itself.

On page 14, Dub senses victory drawing closer. He envisions a restored Cubic and a corrupted Iris, believing that Paradise will be his. (Just to keep you guys the heads up, Iris's corrupted counterpart's name is just "Corrupted Iris"...)

On page 15, Iris notices Stibnite and alerts Teroblast, Challenge, and Citren that they have a problem. Teroblast shouts to Stibnite that he has five seconds to leave, or he will take action. However, someone intervenes and advises Teroblast not to do that.

Overall for pages 10-15, the portrayal of Challenge's emotional turmoil as a result of his brother's demise, coupled with Teroblast's subsequent apology, was so poorly-done and was clearly contrived, seemingly inserted from the current creator, ArtofSoup with the intent to elect sympathy for the Challenge's character. Additionally, Squadril's entire characterization gets his ass cheeks smacked out of the window, just for him to become a "fucking henchman corrupt" for Dub...

Pages 16 - 23

On page 16, Stibnite displays his hatred for Sabrepulse and the four caretakers. Before seeing a shield, he immediately senses that something is wrong. He notices the purple dome that was created by Iris and Orange that contains Lycanthropy inside the seal from the Lycanthropy fight since Season 1, Episode 4. Wait...

So basically what's going on here is that, ArtofSoup wanted to insert another OC character coming out of the blue. Furthermore, I thought Dub was going to send "a group of corrupts to save Lycanthropy from what he said in Season 1, Episode 5", not some bat-like creature that randomly finds it out in Poly Forest. Another minor plot change that nobody notices...

On page 17, Stibnite approaches the seal. Inside is Lycanthropy, who appears to be undergoing a purification process within the seal, which is transforming him back into his pure counterpart, Lythorus. Lycanthropy and Lythorus begged anyone to save them until Stibnite saved Lycanthropy's life from purification inside the seal by summoning a bomb attack to explode the seal. (Lets pause here).

About this page, the seal that Iris and Orange created here for Lycanthropy since Season 1, Episode 4 was another way to purify corrupts. It is shown that Lycanthropy is being weakened by the seal's power, proceedingly turning him back into Lythorus, but at a slow rate. However, at the same time, looking back at Lycanthropy's entire character, you could barely give a fuck about him because he has little to nothing to do in this series...

On page 18, Challenge uses some sort of new ability or something (possibly a clairvoyance power, I don't fucking know). Meanwhile, Lycanthropy thanks an embarrassed for Sitbnite for stopping the purification and destroying the shield, though the former thinks the latter overdid it. FINALLY, Pentellow shows up and accidentally snaps a branch, Lythorus notices her, and the situation gets ugly for Pentellow.

WHERE THE FUCK WAS SHE AT???

On page 19, Pentellow gets worried about how she can't win against Lycanthropy. Challenge runs off-screen to search for Sibinite as Cube chases after him, while Tsavorite, who pops out of no where and somehow, starts to use some new ability to sense or call Cube (I don't know). Tsavorite starts saving Pentellow's life from Lycanthropy, as Tsavorite tells Pentellow and Cube to rush off, while Tsavorite and presumably Challenge stop Lythorus.

On page 20, Pentellow tells Cube that they need to go without a second thought, with Cube being clueless about what's going on (how about explaining to him while still running). Lycanthropy was about to launch a spiked ball at Pentellow and Cube when Challenge stopped the attack by using a weapon by using his prismatic ears, then threatening Lycanthropy to stop. (Let's pause here).

What follows here everyone is going to be the most blatant heroic sacrifice I've ever seen...

On page 21, Cube realizes that Challenge got infected by The Pink Corruption via his prismatic ears. Cube informs him, but Challenge already knows, and he says that although "pyramid monster shapes are resistant to The Pink Corruption Virus" Slams hand so hard on computer desk in disbelief WHAAAAAT?!

I THOUGHT THE CARETAKERS WERE THE ONLY ONES THAT WERE GIVEN THIS ABILITY!!! THIS FURRY PYRARE WANNABE MOTHERFUCKER IS NOT A "CARETAKER"!!! GTFO WITH THIS SHIT!!!

With tears in his eyes, Challenge warns Cube that he has been too cautious. He asks Cube to convey his farewell to his father (how the fuck will Cube know anything about your father if you never told him his name to him...) before succumbing to corruption. His final words to Cube were a single, urgent command: "Run!"

On page 22, while Cube, Tsavorite, and Pentellow are running away (and we never learn what happened to Orange, Iris, Gold, and Pyrare), Challenge confronts Lycanthropy, declaring that he won't allow him to harm our virus-stopping team. Lycanthropy responds by saying that he has already achieved victory, but Challenge is confused and asks what he means.

On my gosh, we are at the final stretch of the comic everyone!

On page 23, Teroblast shows up and is forced to watch Challenge being corrupted. Teroblast and Challenge are both shedding tears, with Challenge trying to say he loves him (Don't tell Teroblast that you love him after he bursts out very sudden personal information about your brother's death), before the virus fully controls him. Challenge suddenly becomes infuriated, as he screams in agony turning him into a corrupt.

You know what, I wanna talk about this dude, Challenge...

Challenge's Entire Characterization

Undoubtedly, even though it's been 23 pages, Challenge is the most forced OC character I have encountered over my years in web-based content. He was so forced here in such a highly incongruous manner, that Challenge wants to be incorporated into the comic to play a pseudo-protagonistic role, which is absolute shit. Furthermore, the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted so hard to manipulate my emotions by invoking sympathy towards Challenge situation - specifically about his brother's loss, as it is clearly shown from pages 9-11.

ArtofSoup wanted her OC fanfic fantasy to have Challenge to be the most broken character in the entire fucking series. I will explain why:

It is implied that Challenge has the ability to "see into the future".

Every Pyramid Monster Pyramid like Challenge are resistant to the Pink Corruption (even though, the caretakers only possess this power).

He can fly.

If Challenge had been introduced much later in the story, in a more linear approach, it would have been a lot better.

In all honesty, this wouldn't help right now, because I couldn't care less towards Challenge's selfless heroic act, leading to him becoming a corrupted shape since Page 23. Overall, he is poorly-written, who has been seemingly shoehorned so hard into the story with very little consideration for contextual fluidity or compelling characterization, is contrived, distracting, and is too overpowered.

Other OC Characterers

This also goes along with ArtofSoup's other OC characters such as Teroblast and Sibtinite...

Final Verdict On For The PCC Comic

Cons

Narratively, ArtofSoup wanted to ham-fist shit such as different story's direction, changing characterization without proper development, minor lore & plot changes, etc to make it feel so unappreciated, miserable, and unsatisfying to me. It happened because to make the entire comic feel like it has "OC Fanfiction Fetish Fantasy Syndrome" from the current creator, ArtofSoup. They tried to deceive me by deliberately using "forced sympathy tricks" to desperately make me care about their OC characters in the cheapest way as possible, particularly Challenge and Teroblast (mostly for Challenge) cause IT DEFINITELY SHOWS. The pacing is already all over the place in the story's progression over the span of the preceding 23 pages. The Caretakers and Heroes should've been in a different area in Paradise by now searching for more groups besides wasting their time tagging along with these fucking OC characters (that almost look like self-inserts) for the PAST 23 PAGES!!!

Pros

Despite the amount of issues in comic, story and writing-wise, I would like to acknowledge some commendable elements. For starters, the story's tone achieves a more serious tenor (from the look of the direction), while not trying to be cheesily lighthearted, like from the earlier episodes of the series. Furthermore, character designs such as Teroblast's are aesthetically pleasing, knowing that it is assuming that the canon continuation was going to add more characters with improved designs.

Score

In summarizing my evaluation of the PCC Comic, I assign it a score of 4 out of 10 (Below-average). Starting with your sister shoving that disgusting pornographic fan-art cake in your face for dessert, and ending with the transfer of ownership of your project—with your full consent—to another individual, whom you badmouthed behind their back all this time, all of this led to a lackluster fanmade series derived from the "Pink Corruption Series," specifically the "Hope" series (that I'm going to be talking about next). Finally, giving me an actual pretty bad continuation in the form of a web-comic that "never tried to make it feel canon to begin with", to shove even more cake ONTO MY FUCKING FACE NEXT with OC fanfiction fetish toppings on it.

Hope Series

Now we can finally talk about the "Hope" series... The Hope Series is a discontinued fanmade series, based on the web-series, "The Pink Corruption Series" after Brittany Robinson gave her consent and permission for the Pink Corruption series to ArtofSoup.

Most of all, just like the pilot episode from The Pink Corruption Series, this pilot episode is not good...

So Let's Discuss This Episode

Beginning Part

In this episode, the scene opens on a stormy night, with Cube singing as he sits on a rock. He receives a call from his triangle chest from his brother, "Cubical". (Lets Pause Here).

Do you want to know the main reason why Cube has a brother? It's probably because we feel so bad that Cube doesn't know anything about his biological family. I don't mind Brittany taking away the generic childhood best friend trope, but this doesn't help the fact that I wasn't even invested into Cubical's character.

In a conversation between Cubical and Cube, Cubical asks Cube about his whereabouts and mentions that he has been searching for him. Cube responds by telling Cubical not to look for him and explains that he "needed some fresh air anyway". (It is evident here that Cube has a bit of an attitude here toward his brother).

After hanging up his brother, Cube continued walking until he heard a baby crying. He found Cyan, whose wing was caught on a tree branch. Cube rescued him and decided to take him home.

For some unknown reason, I don't know why Cyan is out here this windy and rainy at this late at night, while getting stuck in a tree...

While Cube was singing to Cyan, Cubical, who had been searching for him, spotted his umbrella on the ground and picked it up, looking worried. He then found Cube and hugged him. Cube stated that Cubical didn't need to search for him. Cubical was startled when he heard Cyan and quickly moved back. Cube explained how he had found Cyan, and Cubical agreed to let Cube take Cyan home. (Cube and Cubical's relationship kind of fucking sucks tbh).

Overall, the beginning part of HOPE episode 1 was pretty boring, with nothing interesting happening. Notwithstanding, the interactions between Cube and Cyan were moderately charming, though not particularly noteworthy, Cube and Cubical's relationship is already somewhat bad and cliched. Moreover, having Cyan randomly come out of no where just to get the rest of the plot going was never explained...

Back To The Episode

Middle Part

Later, while they are eating, Cyan shoots a beam from his chest, acting like a projector, showing Pyrahedron (we fucking "replace" Pyrare with this guy now...), who explains that Cube is now the fourth caretaker of the Tree or Life and that he has one day to reach the tree and seal the monster. (Lets Pause Because I Think I Can Talk About This Right Here).

Major Issue: Cube's Entire Characterization Being Changed

I think it's a good idea to make a comparison from the pilot episode from TPC with the HOPE series.

You can clearly tell from Cube's character and personality in the HOPE series that it's "completely changed" and I find it very disagreeable. From Season 1, Episode 1, Cube was fairly apathetic about his role as one of the Caretakers and his position as the hero, Cyan. This was evident from Cube's dereliction of his duties as a caretaker, which occurred twice in the pilot episode.

The first was forgetting to assist his hero Cyan in sealing away Dub, seeing Cube questions Cyan on why he has to come along as well.

The second one was forgetting to give Cyan his name (most likely by accident).

In a metaphorical sense, Cube's pronounced apathy towards his caretaker responsibilities, evident since the first episode of Season 1, serves as a reflection of his demeanor characterized by timidity and nervousness. Seeing him throughout the series occasionally questions Cyan or the companions, the other caretakers and heroes about why he has to perform these challenging or significant tasks. Nonetheless, despite his reservations, Cube still greatly assumes his role and together with his hero, Cyan, unintentionally semi-completes their mission on sealing Dub (even though it ended in chaos toward the conclusion of that episode).

(This image right here perfectly explains what I'm saying.)

In contrast, in the HOPE series, Cube's persona went from being a shy and somewhat introverted shape, which clearly shows signs of self-doubt and uncertainty about his role as a caretaker at times throughout the TPC series. And turned him into a much more easygoing and composed personality, who has a bit of an attitude toward his brother's overprotective tendencies and doesn't seem to be bothered or anything in the slightest about being chosen in his caretaker's role. Although recognizably simpler, this marked shift in character causes me severe dissatisfaction, as I perceive Cube's character in TPC to be superior...

About the way Cube gets chosen as the 4th Caretaker of the Tree of Life here, he was chosen so damn unexpectedly, after receiving a call from Pyrahedron (I don't know how the fuck did Pyrahedron get Cyan's phone number), without giving any indication as to why he was chosen for this role. Cube never expressed any concerns or questions about this, like how his TPC counterpart legitimately did toward TPC Cyan in the pilot episode. All of this happened because "he fucking "randomly" found Cyan, who inexplicably showed up out of no where to initially be stuck in a tree and gets taken care of by Cube just to get the rest of HOPE's main plot going".

Overall, I already dislike Cube's character here. This fucking disrespects how Cube's entire characterization was established in the TPC series.

Back To The Episode

Gold pops up and interrupts the call, while being happy (Gold's character gets ruined here too...). After Pyrahedron hangs up, Cube says he will go to the Tree of Life. Cubical asks how he is okay with all of this. Cube replies that he wasn't until he saw Gold on the call and realized that he looked similar to Cyan (Are you only giving out the main reason why you were chosen was just because of your fucking appearance looked identical to Cyan here...) He thinks Pyrahedron was serious and decides to head out in the morning.

The next morning, as Cube gets ready to head out, Cubical asks if he's really ready to do this. (OH MY FUCKING GO... You know what, I might as well talk about Cubical here...)

Cubical's Entire Characterization

I don't have a lot to say here so, I will keep it brief. If I have to describe him here, Cubical serves as a "clear replacement for Cube's childhood best friend, Lythorus". Despite being a caring brother to Cube, objectively, his character comes across as goddamn irksome due to his overprotective nature, constantly fretting over Cube's safety throughout the entire pilot episode, like shut up, bro...

Back To The Episode

Btw, despite giving Cube a brother, STILL DON'T HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SHOW PARENTS!!! WTF!!!

Cubical reminds Cube about his previous encounter with Dub. Cube gets a flashback of Dub shooting a laser beam, presumably toward one of his eyes. Cube reminds his brother that he survived the incident and that he will survive.

So you're telling me that before Cube was chosen, he encountered Dub before and was attacked by him, which we can all agree that Cube gotten "infected", right? So how come CUBE HASN'T TURNED INTO A CORRUPT LET?!

Subsequently, Cube requests that Cubical cease his concerns. While initially agreeing, Cubical persuades him to at least consume a meal before departing with Cyan, which Cube acquiesces to.

An hour later, Cube traverses the terrain clutching Cyan who slumbers soundly. Suddenly, a hazy figure zips past him. He glances back but discerns nothing. Progressing towards a huge pink lake, looking shocked. Unable to wade through the water, he ponders over how to circumvent his predicament.

Ketches approached Cube and asked if he needed help crossing the water to reach the Tree of Life. Cube gratefully accepted and thanked him. Ketches introduced himself and explained that he had helped all the caretakers before Cube as well. He invited Cube to hop aboard.

During their voyage, Cube acquaints himself with Ketches and inquires about the other Caretakers. Ketches identifies them as Iris, Pentellow, and Pyrahedron and clarifies that Iris and Pentellow have been unaccounted for since Cyan's birth. (You know what, looking back on Pyrahedron, I wouldn't mind having different caretaker characters because I could care less about Iris and Pentellow returning here...). However, Cube expresses his hope that their disappearance is unrelated to Dub. Ketches concurs, and they eventually arrive at the Tree of Life.

End Part

After dropping Cube off at the Tree of Life, Ketches expresses his gratitude, while cautioning Cube. He says that it looks like a clear path, but there could be someone clandestinely lurking about. Cube acknowledges Ketches' advice and proceeds towards the Tree of Life.

Before I talk about what happens next, I'm not joking, the rest of this conclusion is more "hilariously bad" than the TPC pilot episode's conclusion. 😂😂😂

Issue: Laughably Bad Conclusion That Ended On The Most Biggest Discontinued Cliffhangers I've Ever Seen In This Entire TPC Universe

Suddenly, a group a flower children showed up (they are fucking corrupts btw, who popped out of fucking no where). One of them "viciously assaults Cube by uppercutting him physically as a corrupt that caused him to disembody his body from his dead flying upward into the air". 😂😂😂 I burst out laughing because of this... How come Cube hasn't even turned into Cubic yet after getting blasted by Dub from his previous encounter with him and now an uppercut (that was so strong by the way) from an infected flower child?!

Cube firmly declares his refusal to engage in combat with children, even those tainted by corruption. (ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THEY ARE CORRUPTS CUBE, DEFEND YOURSELF?! 😂😂😂) However, one of the children warns that, despite their own unwillingness to fight, Cube will still face dire consequences from the flower group. (WHAT?! THEN WHY DID ONE OF YOU LITTLE BRATS START ATTACKING CUBE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT HIM THEN?!)

Following this, one of the child corrupt flowers, pulls out a damn gong out of her ass that causes the sky and the Tree of Life to adopt a pink and black hue. Heli's fleeting appearance is observed, before taking flight. In the ensuing commotion, Dub emerges, and the episode concludes. (JESUS WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?! 😂😂😂)

Final Verdict For HOPE Series

Cons

After laughing so hard after HOPE's pilot episode conclusion, it's time to give my final verdict on this. It is so unappealing and boring than its predecessor, TPC (despite my unfavorable opinion about the latter).

From a narrative standpoint, Episode 1 presents a poorly-written script, replete with subpar pacing, characters such as Cube, who has his personality and characterization disrespectfully changed, minor inconsistencies, and an utterly hilariously bad conclusion that is more worse than the TPC's pilot episode.

Not to mention, upon me discovering a restored video of the Hope series's intro, HOPE's worldbuilding looks like in a nutshell, if The Pink Corruption Series's worldbuilding was overly simplistic and generic that will make you go...

Me: Bro...

And, take all of the elements out of what a JSAB world looks like...

Pros

Episode 1 doesn't have a lot of pros besides character designs being improved (also, Cube's hat looks ugly as shit btw).

Score

My appraisal for the show, taking into account its single episode, would be like the PCC comic, 4 out of 10 (Below-average). The HOPE series, in my perspective, appears to be an unproductive utilization of my time. Going from giving your consent and permission to someone else just to make another typical underwhelming web-series on Youtube that failed to impress me.

Right after, when Brittany Robinson - the show's former creator - discontinued HOPE and instead embarked on the Non-Canon Continuation of the TPC series, this is where her writing skills showed their "true colors" due to how unbelievably bad it was in my opinion. It was because I knew something was up with the writing since the pilot episode that was going to eventually decline later on.

Final conclusion for ALL OF THIS!

So... What's the problem here between these two works? The biggiest main issues between them were the "amount of changes" that felt so insulting to me. It includes narrative shortcomings and quality, poor characterization that were disrespectfully changed or without proper development, ineffective worldbuilding that takes away what a JSAB world actually looks like, and try to perceived manipulative tactics emotionally toward me that were employed from the PCC comic for Challenge and Teroblast haphazardly, that was distracting and unnecessary, etc.

The Entire Pink Corruption Drama is the most pointlessly disingenuous drama I have ever seen in my life from what I've analyzed to the best of my ability. All of this because from the distasteful and objectionable pornographic artwork associated with the TPC series from Brittany's sister, Brea.

If I were to amalgamate both the PCC comic and the HOPE series, my rating would be a modest 3.5 out of 10 (slightly below average). My perception is that ArtofSoup and Brittany Robinson have lost their touch for me regarding the series as a whole. While there is much to criticize, I will refrain from doing so at present. However, I cannot help but feel melancholy because the PCC comic and the HOPE series does "an incredible job to make me feel straight up miserable in my gaming chair" and it shows, it ABSOULTELY SHOWS FOR ME!

Thank you to everyone who read this...

#the pink corruption #tpc #pink corruption #brittcorruption #jsab tpc #Episode Rant #tpc long post

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