#and if they do they're clearly not a protagonist/LI

[maladaptivedaydreamsx]

no they do not, and you should know this by now 😅

[stackslip]

the aftermath of scar's first attack on the elrics has a markedly different tone in 03 and mangahood and ive seen some mangahood fans says it's an example of why they dislike 03 over manga/brotherhood—in 03, the brothers are very clearly closed off from the rest of the mustang gang and reaffirm their own strong bond to each other above all, not trusting the adult military members; whereas in mangahood there IS a moment of complicity and relaxation with the mustang gang for coming to rescue them, and a lot of people cite it as part of their endearment for mangahood—the elrics aren't alone, and they learn to trust and love other people, including the military adults who have their best interests in mind.

difference in taste asides, i think that this is forgetting a crucial element of the previous eps and why exactly 03 ed and al react the way they do. unlike mangahood, where scar just appears as a demonic and horrific threat without much context except that he's from ishbal, in 03 the elrics learn about ishbal and the military's atrocities there right before confronting scar. they're told firsthand that it wasnt the heroic military action they'd been told, but a savage genocide that their friends in the military actively partook in! ed and al have a whole conversation about whether scar is justified before ever confronting him, they learn of his losses, and al.... actively believes that scar IS justified, and that were al in scar's shoes he too might snap this way. scar's actions are immediately recontextualized to the viewer before we see him attack our protagonists, a great amount of sympathy is given to him by the narrative and by alphonse. and not only do the brothers have to suddenly contend with how their plucky military colleagues have aided in genocide, and that they have been actively lied to by the military, but then ed gets the bomb dropped on him that mustang killed winry's parents. his superior officer and the guy leading the plucky military crew is directly responsible for the suffering of their close friend!

so like, between this, scar almost killing ed but showing al certain empathy and promising edward he won't harm his brother, having to swallow that not only is the military is far worse an institution than either the brothers suspected but that the people cheerfully teasing them and showing concern for their safety have been active participants in unbelievable levels of suffering (including the suffering of an amestrian girl they DO know)..... yeah, of course al and ed end up being far more closed off to the mustang gang after scar's attack! ed didnt just almost die and lose his arm, he has to suddenly contend with very ugly truths and how much mustang might have been hiding from him til now. no wonder they reaffirm their bond to each other—how do you trust these people when they're still in the military after being ordered to murder innocent people and the help lie that it was a simple and necessary military operation? ed at this point is still somewhat stuck in his "well Equivalent Exchange means the world is fair and also i got some deep racist issues embedded in me, so surely the military didnt commit genocide for no good reason right?" but like.... he's still swallowing the pill that he was lied to, that mustang murdered winry's parents on direct orders from the military, that his becoming a state alchemist really was selling his soul to the devil. and al is coping with his own mortality and body, and with how what he would have done had he been scar, how fucked the entire situation is.

honestly it's a much better take on scar imo but it's also yet another example of how 03 is bitingly critical of not only the amestrian military as an institution, but of the people who willingly participate in it. there's no neat separation of the good military heroes and the evil military dogs—once you join the amestrian military you ARE their dog. you've signed away your soul. you're an active participant in their crimes, unless you leave and actively begin opposing them. scar pointed out himself he would have let ed live had ed quit the military earlier! he's only interested in going after the people who have been actively participating in amestris's military atrocities. and yeah it does mean that the mustang crew in 03 is not the lovable goof squad or Found Family people care about in mangahood, but tbh 03 is just fundamentally uninterested in these kinds of dynamics at all.

i think it's ok to have different taste and say, well, i need/want a crew of lovable goofs and found family to enjoy fma as a whole! but i think it's completely unfair to criticise 03 for saying that your favourite war criminals are.... war criminals, and that the teenage protagonists' realisation of the extent of their crimes should not at all affect their dynamic with the crew.

[evelhak]

Aaaaa, this!!! I literally cried, I am so happy to see some actual common sense!! I am so, SO tired of this trend, it's not just Rory either, there's a really unfair pattern going on where the "renaissance" on a piece of media is basically just fans ripping a protagonist to pieces for things that these fans do not hold other characters, particularly beloved antagonists and rivals, accountable for.

This video perfectly illustrates the dynamic: Rory, who tries her best to both achieve her goals and be a decent human being while doing it, who never was a perfect human if you paid attention, gets held to the standard of an angel, so every time she makes a mistake that mistake is treated as disproportionately horrible and irredeemable. Meanwhile, as a good example, Paris, who consistently treats other people horribly, gets downright babied, and how she deserved better is repeated, her own responsibility over her actions downplayed or completely ignored. Only her good qualities are remembered, and highlighted.

There's an excellent quote in the video:

"The audience loves Paris because she is so over the top that she becomes a non-character. But when you take her as a real person and judge her with the same standards as you would Lorelai and Rory, she is pretty terrible."

This. This happens with so many characters whose traits are so much that they are viewed as inherently comedic or unbelievable, so they don't count in people's eyes. Paris having a fit in her college entrance interview, yelling over the interviewers and defending eugenics, gets brushed off as "poor baby, she's clearly mentally ill, she just deserves better, she should have gotten in", while Rory, who got manipulated into an internship by the BIGGEST journalism figure just so he could tell her "she didn't have it" was JUST weak and entitled for getting upset and discouraged over it.

Paris cheating on her boyfriend for months with a college professor gets pushed under the rug because people are too uncomfortable to even acknowledge the whole thing, meanwhile Rory is THE WORST for sleeping with a married guy after she repeatedly asked him if both him and his wife agreed their marriage was over, suggested they could try counselling, and was lied to by said guy that both he and his wife knew things were over between them.

Yeah, Rory made mistakes, and definitely didn't act perfectly after either of the situations I mentioned. She was emotional and people generally make mistakes when they are. But for some reason certain characters get a free pass all the time, while it feels almost like Rory gets punished for even trying to be a good person. Like "See, I caught her making a mistake, that means she's the worst." As if trying to have morals and be decent is inherently arrogant and hypocritical. Like trying and failing is worse than not even trying. It's like, her mom and grandparents and home town expect her to be perfect, so fans did too, and now they're mad at her for being human because they put her on a pedestal. Meanwhile characters who consistently don't care about their impact on others don't get scrutinized, their actually horrible behaviour is just taken as comedy or proof of their victimhood.

Basically, people are desensitized to horrible things from certain characters, they expect it, so they don't react to it, but when Rory who is "supposed to be good" makes a mistake, it's suddenly the core of her character and all she is. Geez.

And don't get me wrong, I love both Paris and Rory. I love every character in the show. But this double standard drives me nuts. So many characters in the show have done very similar things as Rory gets accused of, some of them while feeling no remorse. Some of them have done a lot worse things that get forgiven easily.

And don't even get me started on what a hot guy with a tragic backstory gets excused for. Yeah, some things are understandable when you know the backstory. That doesn't make those things not wrong.

It's like people are obsessed with the idea that someone who appears good on the surface must be bad, and vice versa. Nuance be damned.

[lorimnnn]

I watched ✨House of WAX✨and YOU BEST BELIEVE I'M POPPING OUT A REVERSE HAREM WITH THE SINCLAIRS ONCE I'M FINISHED WITH THE FICS I PROMISED YOU. ALL OF YOU. YOU'RE FINISHED.

Vincent the voyeur. The second you come into town you can feel eyes on you but you don't know who they belong to, and you can't shake the feeling of being watched. But he's everywhere. He's sneaking peaks at you hiding in plain sight, shuddering as he completes his sketch, pencil moving frantically over every inch of the page. He can't move fast enough.

You're in awe of all the effort he takes into making the wax sculptures and beg to meet the artist himself, and he's scared shitless that the mask will bother you but you're just impressed it's molded so accurately to his face. Let's you touch it and guides your fingers over the contours of his mask, shaking at the miniscule tingles he can feel against his weathered skin.

obviously you're attracted to him

Bo the flirt, of course. The second he sees you he knows you'll be fun. Heat licks up your spine every time he looks at you and it's a burrowing, soul-squirming, slow and steady kind of stare that makes it feel like he's looking at every part of you, not just the parts that they all usually like.

And obviously you're this sweet, shy thing emboldened by his attraction. You can't get enough of it and he can't get enough of you. It really will be a shame to kill you.

All your friends are terrified of the goofy, scraggly driver and kind of dicks to him, and you're frowning and he's feeling his heart stutter at someone finally standing up for him and appreciating him the way he deserves. Lester giggles when you ask him more questions, normal questions, almost like you're trying to get to know him. Calls you a 'pretty thing' and gives you a little pendant made from a squirrels skull for good luck, knowing what lies ahead.

And he's falling all over himself too to be the perfect gentleman. Holding your hand to help you out the truck, the touch lingering a tad too long (he's not extending this gesture to your dick head friends of course) leaning against said truck to talk to you and missing like a complete dork, falling on his face. Embarrassed but it's all worth it when you laugh

and then all three of them when you're still roaming around and you can't find your friends, not knowing they're already dead and you're the only one left. You go to the gas station to ask around and they're all there and pretending they have no idea, smirking at your flustered expression when Bo flirts to redirect the conversation, backing you into Vincent as he does. Now you're a bit intimidated. Why are they cornering you like this? Even Lester isn't doing anything apart from an occasional 'knock it off, eh?" when you're too flustered to speak

Hehe you're in for a ride

Mini rant:

No because immediately what struck me watching it is that Carly and her friends are kind of asses??? Like yes I'm all for character flaws but just being an idiot is basically your death sentence. It was karma. The only one I feel bad for is Paige. Tell me why I had hope that they would deserve to live when it was a bunch of college kids - - - you can never trust them to be protagonists of a horror movie because WHERE IN UR RIGHT MIND DOES IT BECOME ACCEPTABLE TO TRESPASS INTO AN AREA THAT CLEARLY SAYS 'CLOSED' OR KEY A WALL FOR PROOF??? like what if I went to ur house and saw it was locked and was like "oh, that's just a decoration" and to prove your window was real glass I threw a brick at it??? Same energy really Carly's boyfriend had it coming.

p.s. i've started writing a reverse harem novel based on house of wax--- it's gonna be a slow burn that's kind of romantic and has a lot of sexual tension hehe. would any of you be interested if I posted it on ao3, or posted updates here so you know when you can perhaps... buy it? i feel like it's going to be around 150,000 - 200,000 words

[ninthskzmember]

Birthday, debut. Part II.

Part one

idol!skz word count: 2,1k. many curses! jealous hyunjin. protagonist gets scolded many times (middle child shit). fluff, angst.

As I walked to the kitchen to grab something to eat before rushing out to the location I was going to debut, I saw the kitchen and living room filled up to the top with pink balloons all over.

“The fuck?" I whispered to myself while walking in slow motion through the place.

“HAPPY DEBUT!" The other eight members were waiting for me with a gigantic cake on the counter.

You could see a gigantic sign strikethrough attached to the curtain that you could read 'happy birthday' and a handwritten 'debut' under the 'birthday'. That was clearly Minho.

"Guys!" I laughed. "Why are y'all spoiling me so much?" I made my way to them, hugging them one by one.

"Because you're our girl! And we are excited for you." Jisung said this while hugging me by the shoulders.

"In my defense, I was forced to," Seungmin joked, with a big smile on his face and his arms wide open, waiting for me to feel the warmth of his body.

"Yeah, he's saying that like he wasn't the one who inflated the balloons." Chan teased him.

"I was just doing a favor. Y'all have weak ass lungs." The young one teased back, winning a punch from Minho.

"That's mean." I said while hugging him.

"He is mean." Jeongin added to my statement, "Stay think Lee Know Hyung is mean, just because they don't know about the real firece from Skz."

"Nah." I said while pulling away from the main vocalist. "The firece one is actually me. I'm the girl living with eight men."

"Not as if we were that bad," the maknae laughed while welcoming me into his arms.

"You're right, it could be worse."

"Yeah, imagine living with those friends of yours." Hyunjin said, making reference to the 5SOS guys.

"That was actually uncalled for." I rolled my eyes while smiling. "I actually don't think they're that disgusting."

"No, we know you don't think that." Chan added with a smirk on his face.

"How's Calum doing?" Obviously, it was Seuingmin who addressed the elephant in the room.

"I actually don't know; thank you, Seungmin." I rolled my eyes as I hugged the rest as a thank you for the detail in celebrating the debut.

"Oh, but you received a call like ten minutes ago, honey," Hyunjin said again.

"She did?" I heard Minho's voice, not so sleepy this time.

"Yeah, she did." Felix was watching my every movement and scanning my features to see my reactions.

"Yeah, Luke called." I avoided every look in my way. "Actually, it was Luke's phone, but in the call, I spoke with him, Ash, and Mike." I nodded while I was looking through the things in the kitchen cupboard to make some coffee.

"Here." Minho stopped me and gave me a mug with coffee.

"Thank you." I gave him a soft smile.

"They're here" Hyunjin didn't even look at me; he was talking straight to Felix.

"Oh, alright." Felix spoke while thinking hard.

"Calum is not? Dang it, I really liked the  guy."Seungmin teased, and, again, he won a punch from Minho. "Hyung, you're hitting hard," he said, rubbing his stomach.

"It will be harder if you don't shut the fuck up when you need to." The older one flashed a smile and looked back at me, inversed in the conversation like the rest of the boys.

"It's alright," Chan said after a while. "Just remember, you're our member. Don't get lost with them again."

"Yeah, I know that." I agreed, "Calum is not here anyway, so no need to worry about anything."

Chris looked at me incredulously.

"What?" I blinked a few times.

"You're running very late. Drink that, and we'll see you at the event. I'll talk to you later, MoonJin." He scolded me without actually scolding me.

I really don't know what that's about.

"I'll drive you; swallow all that." Minho said, hurrying me.

"If you were somebody else, I'd be turned on by that, you know." The words came out of my mouth without consent.

"OH GOD!" Jisung closed his eyes and covered his ears, making us laugh.

"You really are a little him, huh?" Changbin said with a disgusted face.

"I trained her well." Minho let a smirk out again. "Let's go." He slapped the cheeks of my ass slightly, hurrying me.

You think that since I'm a girl, he wouldn't slap my ass? Well, you're wrong. I get the exact same treatment as the rest.

I did what he asked me to and drank my coffee as a tequila shot.

"Let's go." I smiled and took the keys to the dorm, my bag, and my sunglasses. "Bye guys; see you in a while." I said, waving my hand to the other seven boys.

"Break a leg!" Changbin waved back.

"Be careful; I love you." Felix said

"I love you, Lix." I smiled at him "Byeee."

Minho practically dragged me out of the place to the car.

"Did you open the gift?" He asked once we were inside the vehicle.

"Oh god, I completely forgot! It's still in our bedroom. Hyunjin took all my attention." I laughed it off.

"You're the worst birthday gal, like, ever!" He protested while he began to drive to the studio.

"I'm not! I actually thanked you right away."

"Yeah, but you didn't even open it because your boyfriend arrived with a bouquet of roses." I flashed a glance at me and went back to the road. "Those aren't even the ones you like," he chuckled.

"He's not my boyfriend. And I like roses, though." I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah, you prefer jasmines though," he imitated my tone.

"But I do like roses." I glanced at him and checked my phone.

"Happy 19th one."

His contact name appeared on my screen, and I let out a little playful laughter, catching my oppa's attention.

"I honestly hope that's Ryujin with a dirty text rather than what I think it is."

"I don't know what y'all's problem with Cal is." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Not as if he fucked you and left you in for like a week or so. Not to mention your cries every other day AND all the heartbreak songs you wrote."

"Thank you for remembering that," I said, raising my eyebrows. "It was like a decade ago."

"The hearbreak ones were fire, though," he kept teasing. "You check in and out of my heart like it's a hotel, and she must be perfect; oh, well, I hope you both go to hell." He sang nicely. "BANGER." He smiled playfully. "Hyunjin-ah won't like that message."

"As I said, he's not my boyfriend." I looked at Minho through my eyelashes, blinking a few times.

"Don't make puppy eyes," he said, rolling his eyes, and I could see his ears turning a slightly pink color. "I won't be on your side, Moonlight."

"There's no side, Oppa."

"Yes, there are. I'm telling you this before Hyung scolds you in front of the rest of the boys… Don't get lost and be seen around with them, MoonJin. It's not good for your image or Jinnie's feelings." His tone was serious.

"But…"

"You already fucked him up with the Calum thing."

"As if he did not do the same with Lia," I fought back. "Everything I do is in response to something that I've been through, so, no, I did not fuck his feelings up. At least not first."

"Revenge is not good."

"And you're the one saying that?" I really laughed.

"I'm serious." He laughed along slightly. "Okay, we're close." He turned right. "Anxious?"

"I'm already missing the chaos." I pouted

"We'll be there as soon as possible, Moonlight." He smiled, "Go get ready and slay the fuck out of your debut. Be the envy of every other Idol debut ever."

"Alright, thank you, Oppa. I will be waiting for you." I smiled at him while he stopped the car to let me out. "I love you." I hugged him quickly, got out of the vehicle, and ran into the building.

I'm already lost without my boys.

[...]

"Nineteens Kitsch" I sang the last line of the song, and the audience screamed with all their strength, including my boys in the front row while I was posing for the fairy ending.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" Chris started chanting, and soon our members and the audience joined him, wishing me a happy birthday. "Happy birthday, dear MoonJin! Happy birthday to you!"

"Thank you," I said shyly.

"Happy birthday, Moon Jin-ssi!" Lee Dae-hwi and Han Hyun-min approached me.

"Thank you so much." I bowed at everybody.

"All your friends are here!"

"They are." I smiled while looking at my members, and I know I've got heart eyes at this very moment. I just love them with my whole self.

Chris found me at my lowest and decided to pick me up and rescue me. I will be forever grateful to him. And obviously, the boys received me with open arms.

While I was looking at them, I saw frame by frame how Hyunjin's face turned from a joyful smile and heart eyes for me to his slightly scary, serious face. Felix too, and then I heard a loud laugh from Seungmin.

I looked over to the big screen, and there they were. The four guys. The audience went nuts, and my ears were burning.

"Oh," I said as my eyes became wide, as if I'd seen a ghost.

Luke, Mike, Ash, and Calum were waving at the cameras now all over them.

Chan, obviously, as professional as always, was clapping at them, yet made the time to send me a glance. I immediately made eye contact with Minho, who had a slightly fun expression on his face.

Changbin didn't really know what happened with them, but he had an idea, so you could say they weren't his favorite people. Hyunjin was trying not to show it, but I know him so well. He's so mad right now.

Okay, bare with me in this one. Jisung isn't really the kind to be pissed off, but, oh God, his expression right now is not like anything I've seen before on his face. It was like a pre-debut Han made it's appearance. On the other hand, Felix is always sunshine; we all know that, but his forced smile made me laugh internally. Yongbok held me so many nights while I was crying, he won't forgive as fast as I did.

Yes, Seungmin is a menace. He likes to tease so much and make fun of others for his own entertainment, but I have no doubts that if Calum came close to me by himself, his protective sibling mode would be turned on and he wouldn't move from my side. He's always like that; when interviewers start to make strange questions or remarks, he's always the one to call them out on shit. Jeongin just bluntly isn't even trying to hide it; he really doesn't give a shit, and I love him for that.

But, back to the main subject: What the fuck is Calum doing here? I thought it'd be just the other three coming, but on the other hand, I do understand that it'd be suspicious. Last time, Dispatch caught me and Cal fooling around being all dovely lovely.

I thanked them and the fans a few more times and went backstage. It only took like one minute and thirty two seconds to have my members with me

"I thought you said only Luke, Ashton, and Michael were coming." Hyunjin said so once his eyes landed on me.

"I thought that too." I looked at him innocently.

"Oh, don't puppy-eye me." He crossed his arms on top of his chest.

"Congratulations, Moonlight." Minho interrupted and gave me a hug.

"You really have a soft spot for her, don't you?" Jisung asked when he appeared through the door.

"So now Hyunjin is jealous of Calum, and you're jealous of me?" I laughed while still in the older man's arms.

"Why would Hyunjin be jealous of Calum?" Jisung made a disgusting face, and I quickly looked at Minho for some kind of salvation.

"Calum's real tall." Nice try, oppa.

"Yeah, but I'm a better dancer." Hyunjin added

"Sing better" Jisung and I said simultaneously, and the room broke into laughter.

"Hello." A familiar voice was heard, and I fucking knew it. I didn't even want to turn around and see

It's the Australian accent for me.

To be continued...

[bungone]

Actually no im not done because I know it gets talked about a lot but Lolita is such an interesting piece of media; not just the book itself but people's attitudes towards it.

like, first off, there's the actual author (nabokov) who goes out of his way to talk about how childish, mokeyish, immature and whatnot Dolores is in the most unnappealing possible ways, and then specifically said that he didnt want the kind of cover that every single fucking published edition of Lolita has?? With girls who are either being sexualized or very obviously having "a good time" which is absolutely not what Dolores was doing in the book?? I really, really, don't think anyone who designs these covers has even opened the first page because what. the. fuck.

It's so obvious that my man Humbert Humbert is an unreliable narrator, but gee, I guess we learned to take everything we read at face value, and also everything that comes from a protagonist's mouth as the "correct" way of viewing things, both in the book and in real life?

And even then, maybe, just MAYBE I can excuse the people who talk about how the book is fucked up because it's "glorifying pedophillia".

Maybe they had a really shitty english teacher. At the very least, they're reading it and understanding that the actions of Humbert Humbert aren't okay? They got to the halfway point. Maybe their education sytem failed them.

Maybe they had a really shitty high school english teacher that never taught them the skills necessary to understand this kind of writing. Maybe they're just dense, that's who they are as a person, and it would take someone going out of their way to point it out for them to consider the possibility.

But then there's the fucking apologists?? Like, putting aside the whole Dolores being 12 (which, yeah, is akin to putting aside the whole book, but bear with me for a second), Humbert Humbert not only kidnaps her (illegal), lies to her for a long time about her mother (not illegal but generally shitty), but is implied to have committed murder (illegal, not sure if implied is the right word here because it absolutely happened and everyone knows it), and sexually abuses Dolores (very illegal). These are crimes. He is a criminal. Say what you want about the justice system these are crimes that absolutely should be crimes.

He's clearly not an upstanding citizen, and I fail to understand how some people look at all his behavior and go "oh yes, the the man who killed a woman and kidnapped a 12 year old girl is just misunderstood, and he did those things for true love" like fuck no.

I like Lolita. It's an objectively good book. The quality of writing (high quality, I mean, I normally hate first-person writing but I actually liked Lolita), it's a great psychological horror piece that doesn't rely on things like shock value and overused tropes. The characters are all multi-dimensional and frankly, act realistically. But that's all it is. A psychological HORROR piece. It's not romantic. If anything, it's meant to make you sympathize with Humbert, and then you're supposed to take a step back and be like, "Wait. Why am I sympathizing with him? I'm not a pedophile." Because yeah, he's a complex character but that only goes to make him realistic in terms of the kind of pedos that exist in real life.

Pedophiles are people too. Mentally ill people, really, really shitty people who need serious help, but reducing them to "not human" only makes them an "other", which makes you forget that on the outside, they look like normal people. That have friends and family and go to school or have jobs and order coffe and read in libraries and yeah, maybe you sat next to one of them an entire year in organic chemistry. They're not weird stalkers that hang out in bushes in parks. Some of them, maybe, but not all. Nowhere near all.

man that derailed fast.

[nytb]

Game Night

Manchester United got on the right food from the get-go, having brought in reinforcements, they were well covered on all lines. The Spanish links were strong, Y/N Y/L/N and Lucia Garcia had fun up front while Ona Batlle joined from time to time on the attack. For Halloween, Ella Toone decided that a good old Game Night was long overdue.

"9PM, my place" the Brit declared in the locker room. Her teammates looked confused, rightly so "Tooney, have you fallen on your head again?" Ona mocked her teammate. Lucia joined the conversation "Game night?" she asked "Like monopoly or PS4" she scrambled from her little English vocabulary making the players laugh. "Console" Toone replied within her laughter "But make it Halloween" she added requesting her guests to show up with costumes on "I have-" you started to form an excuse to not attend the evening but were interrupted by an excited On "Noooooo" she begged "Please come" she added receiving an empty look from you "PLEEEEASE" she pleaded further. "Fine-" you replied "Tooney send me the adress" you requested "I will run some errands but I should be there by 10" you added as you left the locker room. Alessia, your flatmate, and the person you usually rode to training with ran after you "Waaait" she said grabbing you by the shoulder "I'm getting a ride right?" she asked "Like usual" you laughed.

In the locker room, some of the players gossiped about your possible relationship "Those two seem to be hanging out often no?" Maya asked the group, getting some strange looks from some of them. "Yeah-" Lucia answered "They're uhh..." she thought "friends" the attacker added. Nikita, who was close with Russo joked "Yup, they're friends allright" clearly implying that there was something going on with the flatmates. Some of them kept gossiping, but when Toone saw how sad Ona got by the conversation, she sat beside the fullback.

"You ok?" she asked quietly so nobody would pick up on their chatter "Oh- I'm fine" Ona replied slightly startled "Thinking about what I'm going to dress up as" she lied. "Mhm" Toone mumbled "So that face has nothing to do with the gossip?" she asked, already knowing the answer "I'm pretty sure there is nothing going on between them" she added. Ona, shocked at how much her teammate knew, asked "How would you know?" getting a reply from a mere gesture.

Toone pointed at Earps "If they were a thing, she would know about it" she stated "Have you noticed how quiet she is right now?" the midfielder continued. Parris saw the two of them talking, and decided to join "I'm joking by the way" she whispered "I could help you shoot your shot ya know" the forward suggested getting an instant reply from Toone "Yup, tonight we will wingwoman you" she added, not taking no for an answer "Dress as a hot cop" Parris suggested "We will do the rest" grabbing Toone away so they could plot their game plan.

Most of the players made it to the game night, Y/N and Russo being the last ones to arrive. "We're here" you burst through the door that was left open "And we brought booze" Russo cheared setting a beer case down on Toone's counter.

Ona was sitting on the couch next to Parris, playing some shooter game, getting a nudge on the shoulder from the forward "Imma go", the defender grabbed onto Parris's arm like her life depended on it "Don't leave me alone" she pleaded, the forward winked "I'm just making room for the protagonist" she replied calling you over "It's your turn to keep the Spaniard occupied". The opportunity got you smiling "Gladly" you replied grabbing the controller away from the forward's hands. "So what are we playing?" you asked Ona getting right into the game.

Thankfully, Ona had a successful career and her livelihood didn't depend on her gaming skills "Oh you're bad" you mocked the fullbacks abilities, getting a slight punch on the shoulder as an answer "I'm glad you're not a boxer either" you mocked the Spaniard strength "You're mean" she complained, you decided to flirt "and you like it"

The both of you kept making fun of each other during the night as you helped Ona in the game, teaching her how to win and all. Something that would come in handy for the tournament the players would have later on.

Toone announced the start of said tournament, making the teams as she pleased "I wanted to be with Y/N" Ona complained "She's too good at the game" the midfielder replied "But I'll allow her to be your coach", clearly that was part of her wingwoman duties.

As the tournament went on, Ona stuck on you, getting as many instructions as possible, celebrating every kill with you. Ona's team got to the final, it was her and Le Tissier against Galton and Russo. "Roommate alliance" Alessia stated, hoping you would have mercy and abandon Ona's team "Nope, she got to the final" you replied "She is winning it now" you were confident in what you had taught Ona "Way to put pressure on the girl" Galton replied hoping she could intimidate the Spaniard. "Shut it" you laughed as the players got ready for the final match.

Le Tissier, who was on her last life, stuck around Ona, hoping she would get some instructions from you, but those were only for Ona "Go that way" you instructed the fullback, allowing her to sneak behind their opponents and shoot them dead. "One more" Ona celebrated as she killed yet another character making you facepalm as you saw what she had done.

Realising that she was now alone, in game, against Galton and Russo, "She's dead" the Spaniard stated "I'm alone" she looked at you hopeless. You could only laugh at how lost Ona was, not understanding what was happening "Yeah-" you replied "You killed her" you laughed your ass off. Ona wasn't so pleased at the situation "2v1? It's not fair" she complained, to which Russo replied "You have Y/N, that isn't fair either".

"You can still pull this off" you motivated your trainee, getting closer to her, you whispered "Hand me the controller in a bit". In-game, Ona got closer to Galton's and Russo's characters, sneakily, she handed you the controller. In a matter of seconds, the game was won. Placing the controller on Ona's hands before anyone realised the swap, the fullback celebrated with you, jumping around in Toone's living-room, hand in hand.

"How were we meant to beat the dream team" Russo complained to which you replied "Sucks to suck" mocking her as you celebrated with your favourite Spaniard yelling dream team as you jumped around.

[lemon-natalia]

Gideon the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 24

oh Naberius why do you have to make everyone’s lives harder all the time 💀 he is being smart though, if challenging the others for their keys has just become acceptable, then this is the best time to challenge Camilla when she’s already injured and weaker.

‘Gideon realised they’d just lost her somehow’ there’s been this background conflict between the two since Ianthe lied about the keys, but i think from this point on Corona is subtly choosing to stick by Ianthe, which does not bode well for our protagonists  

wooooh yeah Gideon and Harrow have each others backs, hell yeah. compare this to when Gideon first challenged Naberius impulsively, Harrow’s come such a long way in understanding and trusting Gideon

uh Jeannemary i love u, and desperately hope u get the chance to kick Naberius’s ass at some point, but maybe stay out of this one ok

ok none of the characters in this currently are possessing brain cells, in what world is sending the two traumatised kids down to the death lab they have been explicitly warned not to go back to, where their mentors got killed like less than a week ago, a good idea?

i totally forgot that half the other houses straight up haven’t heard Gideon speak yet. imagine ur a teenager having probably the worst time of ur life so far, and the intimidating silent death cultist suddenly starts making sex puns

'never work with children, Griddle, their prefrontal cortexes aren't developed' Harrow, i love you, but you are like seventeen neither is yours. altho that is such a seventeen thing to say honestly

Gideon hugged Harrow!! also 'midnight hagette', 'crepuscular queen' this is so ridiculous, i'm cackling. Gideon is just as bad at coming up with nicknames as Harrow, they're a match made in heaven clearly

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Bryke was in the Podcasts Braving Element book fire, and one the most interesting in that conversation was Bryke say Kataang relationship in Book fire was their favorite and Basco he is vibing for Maiko, but he say the headband episode is technically filler, it means is not canon that episode? What you think?

"Filler" was an anime term, about episodes that existed solely to give the manga they were adapting extra time to get more content for them to adapt. The filler episodes are canon (to the anime versions at least), but they don't move the plot forward, so if you skip them you don't miss anything important.

Eventually the term stopped being used solely for anime - and some idiots started using it to mean "bad episode", but the actual meaning is still the same: the episode can be skipped without the audience being confused. Only now these episodes exist not to catch up with a source material (in Avatar's case there wasn't one in the first place since it was an original series, not an adaptation) but rather as a "breather" episode, that can be more light-hearted, or character-driven instead of plot-driven.

To give an Avatar exemple: "Tales of Ba Sing Se" is filler, but it's still canon. It does not, in any way, further the Dai Li plot the previous episode had established - but we get focus on the characters, their personalities, dynamics, and THE tear-jerker that is Iroh singing to both honor his son and express his grief over his death. We already knew Lu Ten was dead and Iroh was grieving, but this episode gives it further depth.

Even if "The Headband" was filler, it'd still be canon - and so would be the dance with Katara clearly being into Aang.

And I personally do NOT consider "The Headband" filler. It furthers the whole theme of the season and the series ("How do you rebuild a world consumed by war? Through kindness"), we (and more importantly, the protagonist) get a deeper look into the indoctrination the people of the Fire Nation are subjected to, and more importantly, it is the episode in which we are introduced to Combustion man - ya know, the assassin that will try to kill the Gaang? The secondary villain of half the season? The one that is Zuko's attempt to resolve the problem of "The Avatar is supposed to be dead" that the previous episode introduced? Aka it is connected both to the aftermath of the Ba Sing Se plot and the "Zuko goes from villain to ally of the good guys" plot?

You CAN'T skip this episode without being confused as to who the fuck is that guy chasing the Gaang and who sent him after them. You'd have to wait until his last appearance, in which Zuko confronts him, for you to realize what the villain's deal was, meaning that PLOT would only become coherent after it was basically resolved.

It furthers the plot, therefore it isn't filler. It's just not ALL about the plot. By that logic, nearly every episode of season one is filler. The Beach is filler. Well over half the fucking show is filler if we're only counting episodes that have BIG, plot-twisting events as "important" episodes. Bryke need to stop parroting fandom nonsense to gain points.

As for Dante Basco being all excited about Maiko despite being a big zutara fan, that does not surprise me. He has ALWAYS said he liked their romance, and that Mai is the kind of girl he'd try getting with in real life.

Once again, the epic "power struggle" between Zutara fans and the evil dark lords Bryan and Mike is only in the fandom's weird minds. They weren't always kind to shippers, but the simple fact that they're so chill with Dante, and lots of other people, including writersn who went on his podcast and said everything from "I don't really care for Zutara, but I think could have worked" to "It's one of my OTPs" shows that this "Bryke VS Zutara" war is VERY one-sided and exists solely because people can't accept that, no, the writers are not throwing away their entire plan just to please you.

[pumpkinhimiko]

Thanks for replying. While we're at it, I'd like to hear your thoughts on these ships: 1) Amamatsu. I like this ship, it'd be great to hear your takes on it!! 2) Oumatsu. it's been spreading on DRtwt, fans often mention that they embody the main theme of V3 (Truth vs Lies) and that their few interactions are romantically toned, so it could be a semi-canon ship. 3) Oumeno, there is a lot of content made by Japanese fans about this ship, so I'm curious.

1) I enjoy amamatsu well enough. Its main selling point is the "what could have been" if they survived longer, especially since Rantaro was being built up as the rival to Kaede's protagonist. Outside of the killing game, though, I dunno. They'd probably be a little too well-adjusted for my tastes.

2) I've already given my take on this here and here, but to TL;DR: I like the ship but don't find a strong basis for it in canon, nor do I read their interactions as romantically charged. I haven't seen this rumored thread myself, but I've got no clue where they're getting the idea that Kaede represents "truth". Is it just because she encourages Shuichi to find the truth? Because uh, plenty of characters do that, since not doing so will get them all killed. Kaede doesn't have a personal investment in the truth outside of wanting everyone to live, and Kaito usurps the role of pushing Shuichi towards the truth for most of the game.

Anyway, oumatsu is cute, although my reasons for liking it are largely the similarities with oumota. They're critical of each other, but it comes from a place of worry. Kaede is a little too content with dismissing everything Kokichi says as him just fucking around, though, even when he's clearly trying to get her to read between the lines.

(...but I mean, "semi-canon"? Really? Ships like naegiri and saimatsu are what I would call "semi-canon". But oumatsu? Come on. Let's not kid ourselves.)

3) I give it a hard "meh". I've seen the appeal of oumeno explained as them both being performers that want to make people smile and LBR Himiko being the only girl shorter than him, which, okay, sure. Their canon interactions still leave much to be desired. The whole bit where Kokichi calls her out in the third trial only serves to stoke the flames of my oumota-addled brain, since it took a combination of Kokichi's badgering and Kaito's subsequent defense for Himiko to achieve a breakthrough.

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

What's your reaction to "The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy" announcement trailer?

Sorry for the late answer! I'm glad you asked, because it's exactly what I wanted to talk about.

First of all, the timing of the announcement was not surprising to me, as Kodaka had given the impression on his X account that they would be announcing a new title soon, and when the trailer started on the Nintendo Direct, I immediately realized that this was the title he had been talking about all along.

However, I was surprised that it was a "school" story after all, and I thought again that the content of Danganronpa V3 was full of what they wanted to do. When I finished DRV3, I think it had a lot of different elements in a good way, but at the same time, it felt chaotic. I got the feeling that they no longer hesitated to cram in various elements without explaining anything. For example, there's no reason in Shuichi suddenly driving during the trial, there's no reason in the cornered criminal suddenly doing something like cosplay, and even though Tsumugi explained it's all Danganronpa cosplay in the final trial, there are facilities (such as the casino and the love hotel) that don't exist in Danganronpa. I know the reason for the various inconsistencies in the whole thing is that there are some lies hidden somewhere, but I think originally each of those elements was something they wanted to do more deeply. I also felt that when I played RAIN CODE,  I felt that the Reasoning Death Matches were a totally improved version of the Argument Armament in V3, and the fact that the protagonist is a detective and the idea that solving mysteries can sometimes lead to misfortune is similar to V3 as well. Going back to The Hundred Line, the setting of this school is very similar to V3. Thus my first impression of the announcement trailer was that what they wanted to do had not changed much since V3. 

By the way, the school uniform is similar to the Amaterasu Corporation uniform from RAIN CODE, and Shinigami and SIREI are clearly similar, so it seems like they're not hesitating to repeat what they've done before, but Kodaka says they've packed in what they want to do in this game, so I think it's good that their direction is consistent. 

Well, to be honest, I'm a little confused right now. Although I don't have such an opinion, there were a lot of people in RAIN CODE reviews and X comments who said that if they wanted to make a game that was so similar to Danganronpa, they should have just made a sequel to Danganronpa. I thought maybe they wanted to make a more free-form game and break out of that mold, but in the end, the main characters of The Hundred Line are students and can't leave school, so I'm starting to think that maybe they wanted to make Danganronpa-like game after all, and that confuses me. But I also think it could be that they're trying to trick their fans into thinking that, so maybe it's right to think that way (in other words, just like they hoped 😄).

In any case, I have already decided to buy this game. I'm not sure what it will be like, but at least it was announced that Masafumi Takada is the audio director, so I'll definitely buy it because I'll definitely be able to listen to his new song, which is worth it to me. Of course, I'm also looking forward to the art of Rui Komatsuzaki and Shimadoriru! I'm just happy to be able to see their new art. 😊✨

The way I'm talking may make it seem like I don't have high expectations for Kodaka's scenario, but I don't really know what kind of scenarios Uchikoshi writes, and also Kodaka said in an interview that he hired a new writer for this title, so I lowered my expectations a bit. 

So if anyone reading this is planning to buy The Hundred Line, let's look forward to its release together! 🙌

Thank you for asking! 💖

[qqueenofhades]

Now that you finished s2, do you want to share your thoughts about sweet pathetic Aleks and sweet pathetic Alina? In s1 I didn't care much about her, honestly, she didn't have the dephs I normally like in protagonist (for me to like) and I was genuilly worried about this season, but well. You saw, Hilary. I love it, what they did with her (and Aleks, and, for that matter, Alina and her relastionship with Mal)

Honestly, I am a huge fan of what they did with Darklina this season, and all the complaints about it deeply, deeply baffle me. Like... y'all realize that in the books, she kills the Darkling, gives up her power, and goes to live with Mal on a farm in obscurity, right? We all bitched about it, and we were all dreading s2 because of that whole mess and it not being what anyone wanted. I was obviously very skeptical about how the season overall and especially the Alina/Mal/Aleksander part was going to be handled. Because in the books, Alina is not very interesting, Malina is not very interesting but still automatically promoted to endgame, and none of that is really challenged or deconstructed at all. I wasn't sure how bold the writers were going to be about changing it up, whether they were going to play the book arcs fairly straight, or what. And they did NONE of that. Yes, she still killed him, but after we literally had a flashback of them kissing the first time and him stating that was when he truly felt peace! He dies gazing at her adoringly and calling her "my little saint!" Like! This was not them "minimizing Darklina" or whatever!

I know that fandom is gonna fandom, and also that fandom tends to insist that they like complicated female characters in theory and then turn on them the instant they're actually complicated, but Alina is SO much more interesting and nuanced in the show that she is in the book, Jessie Mei Li does a great job with her, and the chemistry with Ben Barnes, even and especially when they want to kill each other, is hnnnnngh. Like, again! The writers went "hey twisted soulmate bullshit!" at us at every opportunity! They broke up Malina and sent Mal off to develop an actual personality and plot purpose, and the show acknowledged multiple times in-text that the relationship is weird and codependent and possibly influenced by him literally being her magical footstool! They didn't just go "well they should get married now and Alina will give up her power and live Happily Ever After in obscurity!" Instead, they made it all much more complicated, they made Mal likeable instead of a jealous dickhead but still admitting he's outclassed, they had Alina choose Nikolai and power, they set up an arc of Alina trying to be the "good Grisha" and the "good queen" and discovering that it's SO much harder than just being able to summon light, and crucially, repeating every one of Aleksander's mistakes/being drawn into his character arc exactly as he predicted. So what happens next? We don't know, but we can bet there will be more Parallels.

Basically, the writing this season for Darklina was a lot smarter and a lot more challenging/subversive of the source material than I ever expected it to be, and I eat it up. AND THEY ENDED IT WITH ALINA LITERALLY USING THE SHADOW CUT, Y'ALL!! LIKE. LIKE!!!! SHE CLEARLY ENJOYED DOING IT BECAUSE YET AGAIN, TWISTED SOULMATE BULLSHIT!!! I AM STILL VERY MUCH INTERNALLY SCREAMING ABOUT THIS!

It seems as if there are some segments of the fandom who only like Alina in theory, as long as she doesn't do anything to "challenge" or push back against Aleksander, and like. Guys. That's their whole arc. That is the whole dynamic in a nutshell, and that's what makes it interesting. Enemies-lovers-enemies-lovers, inextricably bound up even as they hurt each other and deny each other and try to push each other away. They always end up coming back to each other, because as the show and the characters themselves keep telling us, they are each other's only equal in the world! Not mention, the show has cleared WAY more space for that to be explored in an actually meaningful way than the books ever did, and I for one am very here for it. It's My Jam to a truly embarrassing degree.

[cardentist]

to add to my jay posting from earlier [Link 1, Link 2]

a Particularly Irritating part of people being weird about horror protagonists making decisions that would be socially unacceptable in Normal circumstances is when that standard isn't upheld Evenly.

the two biggest examples in marble hornets is the way that people will Seriously hold him accountable for stalking and leaking tim's medical records when. he did those things because he was being stalked by multiple people (including By Tim) and had tim's records leaked To Him.

there are masked people who have been stalking him for years and communicating to him through clues, who seem to be hostile in one moment and saving him from a serial killer the next. he doesn't know their motives, as they won't just speak clearly with him. but they Do frequently send him clues.

he finds out that One of these masked people is tim, and while tim claims to not remember (something that We know is true) jay has also been lied to before. jay shows caution and tries to figure out if he can trust tim, if tim is dangerous and if tim knows more than he's letting on.

this eventually leads into a blow up fight, where tim cuts contact with him (understandably, from tim's perspective).

while this is all happening, The Other Member Of This Masked Group Is Still Stalking And Documenting Both Of Them.

this other member Searches For and Finds tim's medical records, hides them in a tunnel system under ground, contacts jay to tell him that he has an Important Clue That He Has To Know and Explicitly tells jay that tim is lying to him.

and in a way they're both right. this other person finds out that the operator sickness that's been affecting all of them had been affecting Tim when he was a child, that he was likely patient zero. but Tim had grown up assuming he was just a mentally ill person, that the monster he was afraid of wasn't real.

likewise, Jay doesn't know what's going on with anyone, what their motives are or what they know or if they want to hurt him (well, besides the serial killer and the monster of course). moreover, If tim had remembered, If tim knew then it would be proof that tim really Was lying to him, that he really Was withholding information, and could recontextualize what happened (which, of course We know that wasn't the case, but jay didn't).

and if the question is "why post it Specifically online" then we Do have an answer. there's a monster running around that very intentionally wipes peoples memories, with jay loosing anywhere from hours to days to weeks to Months at a time, and both physical evidence and video have been stolen from him and erased from his devices before. any information that he doesn't have recorded and posted can be stolen from him, including from his own mind.

All Parties here were understandable in the way they felt, All Parties here were reacting to an extreme situation, all parties had the right to be suspicious and feel betrayed.

but it's Only Jay that I see Specifically held accountable for doxing tim. both in jokes and in serious meta analysis. this is considered a character flaw, a wrongdoing.

and it's So Ridiculous to me when people just Don't extend the same sentiment to the character who Actually Found Tim's Medical Documents And Gave Them To Him.

jay is called out for stalking and breaking and entering and doing weird and socially unacceptable shit but if you put on a mask and run around making cryptic youtube videos it's just like. Fine when you do it.

and I Get It. there's no point in holding, say, a serial killer accountable for stalking when he is literally a murderer that has killed people with guns.

but it's Ridiculous to have people watch tim literally sit on jay's dresser like a spider monkey while watching jay sleep and then call Jay Out for stalking Tim later when he's trying to figure out if tim is gonna kill him with rocks or not if he approaches.

and it's all the More ridiculous when tim really Was keeping something from jay specifically because Tim ended the series fully believing that his alter/the actions he took while wearing the mask were evil when they weren't. Jay's in the wrong for being suspicious of tim because of the actions he saw him take as masky, but Even Tim was mislead into believing that masky's actions were suspicious

jay's not allowed to React to his situation but the other characters are allowed to Be the situation, and it's Weird.

[disneynerdpumpkin]

⚠️ Wish Defense Rant Warning ⚠️

ASHA DIDN'T WANT ALL THE WISHES TO BE GRANTED. I can't stress that enough.

Everyone is all like "Asha wanted all the wishes to be granted not all wishes can be granted that's so unrealistic you can't grant everyone's wishes and Magnifico isn't the villain"

Asha didn't want all the wishes to be granted. She VERY CLEARLY stated that she wanted to give the wishes BACK to the people (because Magnifico literally ripped the lives out of them by taking their wishes!). She even SAID that the dangerous wishes could be stopped!

ALL ASHA WANTED WAS TO GIVE THE WISHES BACK TO THE PEOPLE, NOT TO GRANT ALL OF THEM. She wanted all the wishes to have a chance at being granted, not to be granted. And through giving them back, the wishes could then be pursued themselves through their own determination; not relying on Magnifico to grant them.

"Giving the wishes back" and "granting the wishes" are two completely different things!

And not everyone's wishes were even granted at the end of the movie! They were left to pursue them themselves if they chose to do so. It's exactly like what Sabino said; "I may not pursue my wish but it's nice to know that I can."

The plot was not about Asha wanting to grant everyone's wishes. It was about giving them back (because you literally lose a piece of yourself when you give up your wish to Magnifico!!!) and restoring the lives of the people of Rosas.

People are acting like the wishes are like "oh, I wish I can have a ham sandwich for lunch tomorrow" Like no! The plot clearly states that the wishes aren't just any wishes. They're the ones that drive your heart, the one that makes you who you are. How would you feel if you gave your wish to Magnifico and you got your memory erased, and you don't even remember the most important part of yourself?!?!

People are even complaining about the concept of the wishes being in magic spheres. They're even complaining that "you can literally see the wishes in the spheres!" Like...obviously! How else is Magnifico supposed to see what the wishes are?!?!?!

I even heard someone say like "You can't grant all the wishes, like you can't grant a 5-year-old's wish to become a monkey" Did you even pay attention?! The plot clearly states, MANY times, that you have to be 18 or older to give up your wish to Magnifico! By then, the wish that drives your heart will probably be connected to your passion (like singing or music or baking, etc.).

Magnifico "decides to grant the wishes that are good for Rosas" because the wishes power his sorcery and magic when destroyed. And Magnifico literally makes his people forget the wishes they made, that's basically ripping out their personality from them! Giving their wishes to Magnifico literally rips the life out of them and physically drains them, and it pains them when their wishes are destroyed entirely. And then he's driven LITERALLY INSANE AND COMPLETELY UNHINGED with his sorcery. He literally keeps the wishes for himself. He literally ONLY GRANTS THE WISHES THAT BENEFIT HIMSELF AND HIS POWER. He's literally so manipulative and LIES about the wishes being dangerous! (He OUTRIGHT LIED about Sabino's wish. Inspiring the next generation is not a dangerous wish!) He's literally a narcissist.

HE IS THE VILLAIN.

Asha was actually a great protagonist. She does have some of that "adorkable" Disney heroine feel, but that doesn't make her a bad character. She was an amazing, very well developed character and her personality was great. Edit: she was NOT adorkable. She was such a well developed character and she was amazing.

I loved that she sketches and even does flipbook animation! SHE WAS NOT SELFISH. She didn't want all the wishes to be granted, she wanted to give the wishes back.

And apparently "This Wish" is getting hate just because there wasn't a big belt in the song. It's not that kind of song. Disney movies use songs to push the plot along. The overall tone and dynamics of the songs are what help the story along. "This Wish" is not one of those songs that has a loud belt in it. It's supposed to be quieter. Disney songs sound like they do for a reason. "This Wish" was beautifully performed by Ariana DeBose and didn't need a big belt.

Disney, David Metzger, Benjamin Rice, and Julia Michaels used a fresh approach on the songs and the animation; and because it's different than the most recent Disney animated movies, everyone goes lashing out on it just because it's fresh and new.

Clearly, people didn't pay attention when they were watching it.

Did they even watch Wish? I'm halfway convinced that secretly there's some sort of doppelganger bad version of Wish they watched, because we definitely did not watch the same movie.

The animation was absolutely gorgeous, the music was so fresh (and I may or may not listen to the soundtrack on repeat), the characters were awesome, the animation was absolutely stunning, the humor actually cracked me up, and this movie made me CRY and it gave me so many feels. Everything about this movie makes me so happy, it's such a fresh approach for Disney and it's a perfect love letter to Disney animation.

Disney genuinely worked so hard on Wish and it makes me so upset to see all the hate that it's getting.

Like Disney actually makes a really good movie for once and everybody's hating on it.

I understand the reasons that people didn't like Wish, and some of them I agree with, but that doesn't mean that I don't like it. I loved it and I thought it was great! I agree, there could've been some things better about it (they could've made it longer, that one lyrics "shareholders", etc.) but you don't have to go all out on hating this movie.

Could it have been better? Totally! Was it a horrible movie? Absolutely not.

All these "critics" and "movie reviewers" are just so nitpickity. They see a few TINY things wrong with the movie and then go "this is the worst Disney movie ever" and "this sucks so bad" and "Magnifico is the good guy" And they keep saying "this is an insult to Disney fans". How would you know? You're not a Disney fan, so how would you know? (Most) Disney fans, including me, actually loved the movie!

I'm literally crying because all the "reviews" are so negative and they're completely ruining this amazing movie for me. I just feel so shut down because (I'm sorry, I have to say it) all the negative reviews are wrong. And some of these "critics" are making these reviews without even having seen the movie!!! Wish was so magical and breathtaking, and it's been Disney's best movie in a very, very, very, very long time.

People keep bringing out all the negatives of Wish and never the positives. If they keep bringing up the negatives, people will only ever see Wish as a bad movie. Yes, there were some flaws (no movie is perfect!), but that doesn't mean that there's nothing good about it.

Disney was truly trying their hardest and yet Wish is getting hate after hate after hate. THEY GAVE THE FANS WHAT THEY WANTED. Incorporated 2D animation ✓ Fresh music ✓ Fairytale ✓ Original story ✓ Stunning animation ✓ Truckload of references ✓ Great characters ✓ Good protagonist ✓ Amazing songs ✓ An actual classic Disney villain with a great upbeat villain song (not to mention a DILF) ✓ Breathtaking design ✓ Detailed plot ✓

And yet people are STILL complaining!!! (I mean most of them aren't Disney fans so how would they know if a Disney movie's good or not)

I'm starting to think that this was a movie specifically aimed at fans; and it's getting so much hate because these "critics"/"reviewers" and these people watching the movie aren't Disney fans and they don't understand the magic and how hard Disney really worked on it.

They're like "oh the plot is so unoriginal". Since when has Disney ever made a movie specifically focusing on wishing, with tons of references, blending 2D style with 3D animation, and satisfying various fan demands? Like what Disney movie has ever had a plot so similar to this one? That's what I thought. NONE. It was literally made in honor of Disney 100. YES, there ARE callbacks to previous Disney movies (such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, etc.). But these people are looking at all these similarities, then IMMEDIATELY jumping to "oh the plot is so unoriginal because they're combining previous Disney films to make this one".

And they're all like "oh the concept art was better". If you liked the concept art, that's great! I LOVE IT TOO! But every final design is carefully chosen for a reason.

They're all complaining about "Star could've been a shapeshifter and Asha and star boy could've had a romance". (but ngl I LOVEEEEE all the fanart and the concept art) and "we were robbed" and "it would've made the movie better" You're missing the point! Star carried the movie with Asha just fine as just a cute, magical, nonverbal star. STAR IS ADORABLE AND IS BY FAR ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS FROM THE MOVIE. Wish was not a movie that needed romance. It would've been nice, sure, but the plot works without it.

Edit: STARBOY WASN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE A LOVE INTEREST FOR ASHA. (Just found that out)

Also, people complaining about "we need romance" and "Disney hasn't given us romance in so long" Elemental. Did you watch Elemental?!?! That had romance!!!

Just because Asha's friends are based off the seven dwarfs doesn't mean that they're not great characters! Sure, I wish that they were a bit more original, but that doesn't mean they're bad characters! They might be based off of the seven dwarfs, but it WORKS. I loved all of Asha's friends.

Honestly, all of the hate for Wish is just plain hilarious now because none of it is even accurate.

As a Disney fan who actually loved it, I'm so so so scared of the hate I'm gonna get. Because the people who hated it are basically saying "either you hate it or you're wrong". And I shouldn't have to worry about that. Like what have I ever done to you? I'm not hating on the things you like, am I? Like I feel so bad about myself now because it seems like the only right thing to do is hate Wish, and that I'm not allowed to like it because a majority of people don't and that I'm a horrible person for liking it. I feel so terrible about liking Wish now because a majority of people are saying it's so bad and that if you don't despise it, you're wrong. And I don't think I should be feeling this way.

Edit: I can't even bring myself to even listen to the soundtrack anymore. As if someone is watching over my shoulder and will find out that I'm listening to it, and then they'll attack me for it.

I just wanna cry tbh like this is just so hard for me to deal with. I'm literally not allowed to like anything anymore. It's "it has to be 100% perfect with no flaws whatsoever or it's horrible".

Seriously?!?! Like that's so unrealistic no movie will ever be absolutely perfect all movies have flaws!!!

I WENT TO SEE WISH AND EXPECTED BETTER. I didn't get what I was expecting (and actually was a bit disappointed) but I STILL LOVED IT. You can like movies that have flaws. Sure, Wish wasn't perfect and yes, THERE WERE FLAWS. But that doesn't mean that there weren't good things about it either!!!

Most people who watched it I don't think payed attention to the movie (because what they're saying about it doesn't even line up with the plot!). So if you're hating on Wish, please keep your opinions to yourself and don't lash out on the people who liked it. You're perfectly entitled to your own opinion, it's just that some opinions are very hurtful to others and some aren't true.

Wish was a masterpiece (in my opinion), I enjoyed it a lot.

EDIT: I just found out that Wish won awards for "Best Animated Feature", "Best Songs", and "Best Original Score". If this doesn't tell you that this is a good movie, I don't know what will.

[dear-mrs-otome]

(Oh god Alfonse with the mysterious second man... or that event where Jude has to step in to prevent Roger from... yeah) This isn't a yuck anyone's yum thing, I just want it to be called what it is is all. For, y'know, safety and comfort reasons so people know what they're getting into. Especially when MC says "no" several times before finally giving in because the suitor (coughElliscough) refuses to stop. It really scares me that some readers think that counts as consent. It's cool if that's your kink but like... remember to have a safe word and talk that sort of thing through with a partner before trying it in real life, folks

I agree in that I don't want this to be a yuck someone's yum. What does it for one person won't for another and that's absolutely okay. I'm also a firm believer that cybird has the right to make whatever style of game they want...and to be fair, there are certainly characters in the game who don't seem to fall into this camp.

My concerns are twofold: the first mainly lies in making sure that people are able to know in advance what a route may contain in a narrative genre where people often identify so personally with the protagonist. I think that cybird has begun that endeavor with some of their content warnings in English... but on occasions it falls woefully short, so I am always glad for fans making others aware - with the caveat that what sets one person off will absolutely not always set another. I think it's most useful not for people to say 'SUCH AND SUCH CHARACTER IS AWFUL BECAUSE THEY DO X' and turn things into judgement than it is to clearly delineate what happens and let people decide for themselves if that is beyond the pale - for them - or not.

Secondly, my concern lies in the industry as a whole forever conflating 'dark' with SA. That the easiest way to mark a character as a Bad Boy is to have him assault the MC. That I feel is a shortcoming on writers and frankly a bit lazy (although there's an entire thing to be written somewhere, certainly by people far smarter than me, about conflating rape/assault fantasies with a culture where women/othered feel less free to express their own sexual desire BUT I DIGRESS) I do give Ikevil props for allowing their suitors to do other equally shocking things though, and allowing them other means of expressing their 'villainy'. At the end of the day I suppose we do have to remember that the game isn't called 'Ikemen Heroes' and so the warning is somewhat right on the label. 😂

I think conversations like this are important though too. I'm less worried about people perceiving something as consent or applicable to real life, because I do believe that almost everyone is able to draw a clear line between fantasy and reality, but I also think that makes it even more important to have discussions outside of that media where we pick it apart (lovingly) so that we can reinforce that boundary. Variety is not only the spice of life but it also gives us more context with which to frame our own patterns of thought.

Whew I really didn't mean for that to turn into a whole Thing, but thank you for the ask Nonny 🥰 I hope we're all looking forward to a (well-warned) launch of a fun new game!

[humaforever]

What’s your honest thoughts on Bal as a ship and Mal?

Mal and Ben had potential, but they are not a good couple. Their relationship is just lies and manipulation. Ben and Evie would've been a better match (he clearly likes her which is problematic if he's with her best friend.) Mal doesn't seem like she's ready or committed to be in a relationship, which is fine, I feel like she would've been happier on her own. I will say, I do like them in some fanfics tho, but of course, that's just the fandom always making up for the canon mistakes.

Mal, I mean I don't like her. She's selfish and never takes accountability. She has a power complex and her loyalty is just not really there. All the decisions that she made were to benefit her. And everyone around her loves her so they're not calling her out on her bullshit or making her apologize. At the end of D3 when Mal was talking about closing the barrier and everyone just ended up being like, "yeah we get it, it's okay" Like...no it's not fucking okay. She's just very problematic and not a good example, which is why she's not a good protagonist. For me personally, it doesn't help that she's played by Dove Cameron but I won't get into that.