#and spends more time on the things that were glossed over in the narrative

[skufdaddyswansea]

Mouthwashing, Dual Protagonists, and Captain Curly

While the vast majority of Mouthwashing is shown from Jimmy's perspective, the events leading up to the Tulpar's crash usually follow Curly. There are several interesting reasons for this, but there's one reason in particular that I'd like to focus on.

By setting Jimmy and Curly up as dual protagonists, we're invited to draw comparisons between them. Not only are they the lenses through which we view the story, they pass the role of Captain back and forth between their chapters.

It's easy to feel sympathy for Curly, given the state he spends the larger part of the game in. It can also be easy to gloss over his more subtle shortcomings when measuring him up against Jimmy.

In this post, I want to take a closer look at Curly's character. And more specifically, how he relates to one of the game's most obvious themes.

Is Curly able to deal with the consequences of his actions? Does he realize his own failures and how they harm the people around him? What does he do with the power he's granted over others?

Does Curly take responsibility?

Jimmy's fixation here gives us a good jumping-off point. It's certainly possible that he's only really been told this once or twice, but because he's Jimmy he's blown it out of proportion out of spite. It's also possible he's entirely making it up because he's projecting, but I think the former is more likely if anything.

And, if I had to take a guess where he heard it from, I'd put my money on The Pony Express itself.

In the eyes of The Pony Express, a "great leader" isn't someone diligent or able to meet the needs of his crew. The real reason Curly was able to rise to the top of the ladder and become captain is because he gets the job done without rocking the boat.

I'm establishing all this because I think it's worth examining by what metric he's being judged. Because, while it may be Jimmy who most often digs this point up, Curly doesn't disagree with him. Even in the depths of his ennui, it's important to him that not only is he the Captain, but a good one at that.

When comparing the two, that can again seem difficult to argue against. Jimmy is quick to lash out and shift blame. His resentment and insecurities often drive him to pick fights. Curly prefers to avoid conflict, but knows his position doesn't always allow him to do so. He tries to pick his battles, but when he has to get involved he focuses on de-escalating the situation.

But although their similarities are few, they do exist. And they greatly influence the narrative. Because it is from their shared selfishness, callousness, and cowardice that the entire story is born.

It's time to address the elephant in the room. We can't draw any conclusions about Curly's nature, his character, his role in the story, and his relationship to its themes without digging into his handling of Anya's assault, and the chain of events that follow.

I find it interesting that we never see the initial conversation Anya has with Curly about the assault. We simply know that she confided in him. He is the Captain, after all. The crew is his responsibility.

The thing is, we don't really need to know the exact conversation they shared, because we can imagine it went quite similarly to their conversation about her pregnancy.

She tells him how scared she is. She fears for her life. It never even occurred to him that she was upset about anything other than losing her job. He swears to her that everything will be fine. They'll fix this. All he has to do is talk to Jimmy.

He does not talk to Jimmy.

Maybe the first time he really did intend to. He just needed time. Jimmy has always had... struggles. If we want to, we can be generous to Curly, we can assume his old problems were much less vile. Otherwise, he would have never pulled the strings to get him this job, never put him in a position of power over vulnerable people. Right? But now, this was whole new beast altogether. Because he and Jimmy go way back, he had to process this, figure out what he was even supposed to say.

But at the same time, The Pony Express had just gone gone under. He'd been struggling with dissatisfaction and indecision for so long, and now his hand has been forced. He has his own problems. And Anya seems fine, doesn't she? If she hadn't said anything, he'd never have even known there was anything wrong. It just doesn't seem that important.

Anya talks to Jimmy herself.

She's scared, she fears for her life. But now she knows now that Curly won't defend her, nor give her the means to defend herself. Still, he promises her, they'll fix this. He just has to talk to Jimmy.

Things are different now. He can't sit by and wait for things to work out anymore. After all, it's not only her problem anymore.

Now it's Curly's problem too. How is he supposed to find another job with this on his record? There's only one other person on this ship who understands what he's going through.

He talks to Jimmy.

And he understands. Not that what he did was wrong, of course. Not that he'd done something horrific, irreversible, cruel. But that it now had consequences, and that he wouldn't suffer them alone.

Curly made his decision. He chose his paper-thin illusion of peace and his eroding friendship with Jimmy over the safety and well-being of his crew. And when it all came tumbling down, he decided it was better to bury them all under the rubble than to face the struggle to rebuild.

If Jimmy hadn't been there, hadn't been his co-pilot, Curly almost certainly would not have been able to bring himself to actually follow through with something so selfish and reckless.

But Jimmy was there, and Curly made sure of that.

So, it's time to ask again. Does Curly take responsibility?

Well, yes.

But it's too little, too late.

As much as Mouthwashing is about Jimmy fighting furiously against the consequences of his actions, it is also about Curly being forced to watch them unfold anyway. His silence and inaction, once a choice, are inflicted upon him by his mangled body.

Jimmy may have crashed the ship, but Curly gave him the keys. And so it's fitting in the end that Curly is made to take the full weight of responsibility by the man who he helped avoid it so many times.

[annerbhp]

There are some narrative sleights of hand possible in fanfiction in particular that I just love to play with as an author. I really think it's an underappreciated part of the craft, knowing your particular genre inside and out and then manipulating it for evil writer shenanigans.

For example, fanfiction is unique as a genre in that it usually assumes a level of pre-knowledge of the reader. Fanfic doesn't spend a lot of time reintroducing characters or the canon plot. We just get on with it.

But when you combine that with another aspect of fanfiction: the willingness to more or less overlook various aspects of individual fanwriter's styles/execution/personal preferences, that things get really fun.

Like, we are all able to suspend a certain level of disbelief beyond any squicks or no-gos for us as readers. We might gloss over things, because maybe something in the story is artistic license or a personal headcanon or a simple mistake or mess up of canon. Like, when is a character out of character and when is it a personal interpretation and when is it done on purpose?

That's the place that makes it so interesting to play with. To clearly signal in the story that something isn't right, that something is off, but the readers might miss entirely or just skip over and only later when the narrative choice is revealed, does it become clear that those little "mistakes" or "inconsistencies" were carefully planted. It's SO FUN to pull that off sometimes.

So a character that died in canon is suddenly walking around again? Is that the writer embracing their personal headcanon? Is it the writer making a simple timeline mistake? Is it just AU? Or is it a sign that massive narrative shenanigans are about to rain down on the reader? Only one way to find out!!

[elderberries-and-honey]

As I understand it, the old family is abandoned and we will not see a continuation of Winifred and Lawrence?

I wouldn't say they are abandoned as much as they are just archived. I'm in the middle of finishing up my last English credit, and beginning a dental hygiene program after that which is an extremely difficult and surprisingly competitive field to get into, while also planning my wedding, and working full-time.

Playing the game for an hour or two each day, or something close to, and spending five or ten minutes editing vs spending an hour just finding poses, then writing the story, setting everything up in game, and editing in a way that satisfies me are very different energy levels.

It is my ultimate goal to be in a good headspace, with a healthy balance for leisure, studying and having financial stability, but right now, that's difficult to come by. I miss The Baudelaires every single day but their story also deserves to be told the right way, especially the more sensitive parts that require more research and figuring out how to present it in a palatable way. And again, especially when you consider that the Baudelaire's are living in, what today, is considered Northern Ireland in the early 1900's and there are significant moments in history quickly approaching that I must tell correctly and would feel wrong to just gloss over simply because I'm pressed for time and rushed through it just to get a post out.

I think it's easy for us to look at these historical events through a lens of academia and perhaps even through rose tinted glasses in some respects. But, for me at least, it feels so much deeper when you are telling it through a personal narrative perspective. For example, the suffragette movement. Yes it was a movement that gave women the right to vote but it also was extremely prejudice and by and in large excluded women of color. Yet, I rarely see that ever presented or shown in the stories written here. Now, I do understand that perhaps people feel they shouldn't share that history out of respect but I also think it's important to be honest about the fact that even the "progressive" women of the time were not all that progressive by today's standards. Or even the various wars that are coming quickly, like The Great War and the Irish Civil War. Civilians are always the ones who suffer the most when it comes to war, and again, I personally would feel wrong not showing that or mentioning it, at the very least.

But again, that also requires a lot more research on my part, while also staying true to who my characters are at their core and considering how these significant things would shape and bend their moral compasses, and impact their relationships with each other (because, spoiler, it will definitely have an affect on their interpersonal relationships within the family).

Now, that isn't to say I don't put as much love and care into the Flores Legacy because I still adore them as well or that I won't try to present these things where I can! But it is different in terms of perfectionism because of the fact that it's mostly gameplay and the game helps to steer their story in some ways whereas The Baudelaires are completely directed by me alone, if that makes any sense.

I apologize for the long rambling answer but I needed to get my point across that The Baudelaires are my babies. I have been playing them for years at this point and Winifred in particular is my favorite Sim that I have ever created in my 20 years of playing the sims franchise, and it was not an easy decision to put their story on hold. But I miss playing the game, and I miss historical simblr, so I decided to do something a little different, even if that's disappointing for some or even for myself.

Tl;Dr: they're not abandoned so much as they are just simply archived for right now.

[canonicallyobserving911]

9-1-1 Season 6 - Constructive Criticisms #1

Lack of and/or inconsistencies with interviews, promos, stills, trailers, etc.

IMO Season 6 ended like a wet firecracker with no sparks or anything exciting enough to make me want to return for season 7.  While the bridge collapse included in 6x18 “Pay it Forward” had potential, it fell completely flat because it felt rushed and the injuries the team received from it were glossed over once they made it to the hospital. There wasn’t any emotional depth and it seemed like another filler episode.  Also, since it was the “supposed” culmination of an entire season/series, it made everything seem more abysmal.  The first half of the season ended abysmally too on November 28, 2022 and over the hiatus, I hoped 6B would be better.  In February 2023, the promo was released for 6x10 “In a Flash” and I became excited again about the show since it seemed like 9-1-1 was back on track but much to my dismay, that wasn’t the case.

To say I was disappointed after watching 6x18 is a gross understatement because the narrative the show followed for THE ENTIRE SEASON was discarded and I stopped watching before the episode ended. It felt like the show I’d grown to appreciate as an actual form of entertainment in the current ‘wastelands’ of network TV had turned into something that was unrecognizable because characters’ storylines were completely obliterated, CANON facts from previous seasons were erased/rewritten and it seemed like the majority of season 2 never existed.  I was so frustrated with the ending that I needed to reassess and regroup in order to figure out if I wanted to continue CANONICALLY blogging about 9-1-1.

I mentioned in a previous post (linked here) that I wanted to provide constructive criticisms from an objective perspective for the season overall and in order to do that, I needed time to reassess. Instead of posting one long 100,000-word post (yes, it’s that many words or more), which would have included everything I felt from season 6 that should have been yeeted to the sun, I decided to make separate posts about them.

My first set of “constructive criticisms�� regarding the way promos were handled are included below the cut. Please note criticizing a TV show is NOT a bad thing especially since TV critics have been doing it for decades. Constructive criticisms are designed to help make something better and they are VERY different from negativity.  A person can offer criticisms about a form of entertainment they spend their time watching and not be negative about it the same way two people can agree to disagree on a topic. Just because one person liked the season, they shouldn’t expect for others to feel the way they do because everyone has their own opinions.  Simply put, two people can have different opinions about 9-1-1 and those opinions can COEXIST since they are not mutually exclusive.

If reading criticisms about 9-1-1 upsets you, then don’t read below the cut.

                      Warning! ⚠️“Constructive Criticisms” Ahead!⚠️

TV promotions for season 6 were all over the place and they were very inconsistent.  They’re supposed to generate GA interest in the episode to increase the number of viewers who will watch (hopefully live) and so they’ll know what to expect but the lack of/and or the inconsistencies in promoting them made that almost impossible. Video promos, teasers, trailers, interviews, synopses, social media, stills and everything else were delayed or nonexistent which made it difficult to follow the direction the show was attempting to take. The end result for some episodes made it seem like they were still editing up until the last minute which is ridiculous especially for a veteran TV show like 9-1-1 that was in its sixth season.  There’s no excuse for promotions to have been as minimal as they were and it’s also unfathomable for them to have not been presented to the network in a timely manner.

Promos, Teasers and Trailers Season 6 video promos, teasers and trailers were lacking and it was unnecessary since that wasn’t the case for previous seasons.  Promos for the entire season were off and it all started before 6x1 “Let the Games Begin” even aired.  The season opener promo wasn’t released until a few days before the episode aired when in the past, those promos were released at least one month prior the same way it was done for 6B.  Also, the 6x1 promo was attached to another FOX show that wasn’t even in the same franchise (The Cleaning Lady) and the 9-1-1 portion of it included scenes from 6x4 (Buck on the bicycle) which wasn’t set to air for another four weeks.  The “Blackout” trailer for Season 5 was released at least one month prior to when 5x1 “Panic” was set to air and it played continuously on FOX (at least it did in my region) until the premiere.  Therefore, the lack of trailers for the entirety of the season made absolutely no sense.

It appears there may have been more last minute reshoots, episode name changes and other reasons for the delays that caused edits to be processed down to the wire.  So, the lack of trailers, teasers and episode promos shouldn’t have been a surprise after season 5 but it was because it costs between 9 million - 10 million to produce a single episode.  Since it seems like 9-1-1 wasn’t bothered enough to promote their own show, they shouldn’t have been surprised when the GA didn’t tune in.  Several social media comments about the start of season 6 included viewers stating they missed the premiere because they didn’t know the show had returned.

Promos for upcoming episodes that should have aired at the end of 6x16 and 6x17 weren’t included and the promo for 6x18 wasn’t even released until the Saturday before the episode aired.  It was only 10 seconds in duration and it included at least 4 seconds of LD (a former recurring character from season 5 who hadn’t been seen since 6x1) even though each member of the firefam got less than 0.5 milliseconds of airtime in it.  Six sneak peek scenes were released for 6x18 but it probably would have been much better if they didn’t release a promo at all, especially since it wasn’t long enough to understand what was going to happen.

Unpopular opinion - IMO, FOX took the blame for the lack of promos during the latter part of 6B when the blame should have been placed solely on 9-1-1.  Since the show is responsible for getting promos and trailers to the network, wasn’t it 9-1-1′s responsibility to provide FOX with stills, teasers, trailers, etc.?  If that’s the case, then FOX couldn’t adequately promote 9-1-1 because it seems like 9-1-1 didn’t give them anything to promote.  This wasn’t an issue for 9-1-1 LS because they started promoting their 4th season in October 2022 even though the first episode wasn’t set to air until January 2023.  Reminder, 9-1-1 OG was on FOX for 6 years and in the past, FOX had no problems promoting the season 3 Tsunami, the season 5 Blackout and others so it’s kind of unfair for them to take the blame for the lack of promos when the show dropped the whole trailer/teaser/promo ball all on its own.

Incorrect synopses There was an abundance of incorrect synopses included in season 6 and if the goal was to hide/deflect/deter the audience from potential spoilers then maybe it would have been a good idea to make sure the final edit of the episode was done before any synopses were released.  It seems like the lack of planning caused a lot of these errors especially when reshoots for certain scenes had to be completed (the scene of Marisol crying while standing over her brother in the ambulance in 6x5 was actually a reshoot.  Imagine that👀👀... they reshot the scene and it still looked like she was in love with her brother.  Therefore, that was a WASTE OF MONEY/BUDGETING DOLLARS).  The synopsis for 6x1 stated Maddie and Chimney would go to couples’ therapy but either it didn’t happen or it was cut from the episode.  The 6x5 “Home Invasion” synopsis stated Hen would talk to her professor when she did that in 6x4 “Animal Instincts”.  Guests and recurring characters listed for 6x17 and 6x18 was an inconsistent mess and it’s unclear if they did it that way to hide the fact that AK and MW were returning in 6x17.  But viewers who saw the BTS pics that were released in March, already knew AK would be in the finale and it was speculated that MW would be too after she was spotted at FOX studios.  Does anyone proofread these things because the synopses that included Buck and ND kept changing like they were trying to decide how to handle their nonexistent relationship only to shove Buck into one with her at the end of 6x18. SMH!

Stills Stills are a huge part of promos because they can be used on an array of social media platforms when compared to videos and GIFs; therefore the lack of them for the majority of season 6 was unacceptable.  A lot of the stills that were released came from the main cast (thanks to OS and AH) and the ones from the show were always released when it was close to the episode’s air date instead of at least one week in advance.

Social Media By the end of 6A, the official Tumblr 9-1-1 account hadn’t posted anything about OG since the BT breakup at the end of season 5, so I unfollowed it.  People who use Twitter and Instagram probably got more interactions from the dedicated FOX accounts than other platforms but hopefully when the show is on ABC, things will be better and the Tumblr 911 on ABC will get the attention it deserves.

Sneak Peeks 9-1-1 should STOP releasing five and six scenes from an episode the weekend before or on the day the episode airs because it’s a lazy way to promote it and they ruin the viewing experience.  The duration of each episode is between 42 to 45 minutes so if 5 scenes that are each one-minute long are released, the audience has the chance to see at least 11% to 12% of the episode before it airs. That spoils a lot of the excitement and it’s been happening since season 5.  Sneak Peeks should NOT be used to replace promo videos and teaser trailers.

Pre and post-mortem interviews Interviews have become an antiquated way of promoting TV shows because most of the GA DOESN’T READ THEM.  Also, some people don’t even know they exist but the main problem with 9-1-1′s post-mortems is information that should have been included in CANON WAS NOT but it was mentioned in interviews like the audience should have been able to anticipate what the showrunner wanted them to know (i.e., Chim and Buck making up off screen in season 5 and Chris being told about Eddie’s will)!  The showrunner(s) released all kinds of important information in them but if they didn’t read the post-mortem, viewers didn’t have any ideas about the things that supposedly happened.  For example, KR mentioned, right before the midseason hiatus, that Ravi was away at the academy but the GA had been asking about the character since the beginning of season 6.  Therefore, if the majority of the GA doesn’t read interviews, how were they supposed to know that?  Also, she always mentioned things happened off-screen during her interviews when clearly those things were important enough that they should have happened on-screen.  Since most viewers don’t read post-mortems, they had to do mental gymnastics during and after episodes to figure out what happened to the characters.

Another issue with 9-1-1′s post-mortems is lately there’s only been one main cast member doing the majority of them and that’s just not fair.  Viewers have their favorite characters and contrary to popular belief, BUCK IS NOT EVERYONE’S FAVORITE.  My favorite character is Eddie Diaz, so I would like to read some interviews with RG instead of OS.  If RG was allowed to do some interviews then maybe I’d read the articles instead of just scrolling to the comment sections.

Please note, I do not have a problem with OS because he’s a gifted actor and he knows and plays the character of Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley very well but he’s done like 90% of the post-mortem interviews for season 6 while the rest of the main cast has barely done one or NONE (RG) over the past two seasons.  It’s an ensemble cast so it would be fair if EVERYONE is given the chance to do at least one interview.  If they don’t want them to do one then maybe the showrunner(s) should do all the interviews instead of them spotlighting only one cast member. 

To make things fair, every main cast member (there are 9 of them) should be allowed to do a minimum of two post-mortem interviews per season or if that’s not an option, none of the main cast should do them.  That way audience members would have the opportunity to read interviews from some of their favorites too.  The comments on other social media platforms and post-mortem interviews for season 6 proves that viewers would much rather read interviews from someone other than OS in season 7. 

The viewers who like AB want to read interviews conducted with her while others would like to hear from AH, PK or KC.  IIRC, JLH hasn’t done an interview since season 5 after 5x12 “Boston” also both GM and CM haven’t done one since last season either.  AH did an interview after 6x6 and PK completed one before 6x7 but the information he mentioned was either incorrect or the character’s job was changed from her being a ‘famous singer’ to a ‘movie star’.  KC did one a few weeks ago after the proposal arc and it appears to have been a HUGE success since he was finally allowed to do an interview.  When is RG going to be let out of interview jail?  He did interviews in previous seasons, so what’s the problem with allowing him to do interviews?

Hopefully the transition to ABC will be better but if they have to wait for promotional materials the same way FOX did, it’s unlikely things will be any better than they were during season 6.  9-1-1 needs to work on their time management and organizational skills during the hiatus to be better for season 7 so they’ll be able to release promos, stills, etc. on time.

These are my criticisms regarding promos, trailers, stills, interviews, etc. and “Constructive Criticisms” #2 will be posted soon.

[anemonecoronaria]

SPOILERS

The love I hold for Miquel Moliner is the one he should have had, he deserved so much better than Nuria and Julian and the absolute shamelessness they had, especially when it came to his death. I can’t believe how much this man sacrificed for so little in return and for such an awful life, he needed better friends.

And Julian didn’t really love Penelope as much as he loved the idea and memory of her, because what he did was cheating (even if Penelope was actually dead by that time but he didn’t know that). You come back to Barcelona under the pretence that she’s still alive and awaiting your return, and in the mean time shamelessly have sex with a woman who has an unrequited love for you? It’s callous and disrespectful, and I’m shocked how the narrative glosses over this. I feel so bad for Nuria.

The only decent person in that backstory was in fact Miquel Moliner. That’s not to say that I don’t absolutely love Julian Carax and Nuria Montfort, they are excellent characters. I can appreciate the tragedy of the whole thing, and do understand why the author chose to craft his story that way, but I can’t get behind the love story between Julian and Penelope, to be honest. Whatever love he held for her, I think it was borderline obsessive, especially into adulthood, otherwise it was so clunky. I think that could have been improved upon, and Julian Carax spends a lot of time unpresent in the book, when he could have showed up more, he held a certain menace and gravitas that was lacking by the end.

However, I can overlook all of this in favour of the ambience, enchanting prose and gravity of this book. Zafon was a phenomenal writer; I could feel the brilliance of the Spanish language beneath the English translation. The characters also had so much heart and were very vivid and memorable. I think The Shadow of the Wind has a soul, which not many works of art do. If I have a criticism, it was that much was left to be desired from the female characters. All of them were two dimensional and boring, and Nuria Montfort was by far the most complex, and even then she was surface level and lacking.

My thoughts are very jumbled at the moment but despite the flaws, the fact that this novel has a heart and soul that many other books lack, raises it very easily. I fell in love with it from the very first page and this is making me ignore the glaring flaws, even if I’m not blind to them, they add to the beauty of the book in a way that’s very rare. An overall charming and gorgeous read, definitely one of my absolute favourites.

[nemovanilla]

okay now i know how to articulate my feelings about the ending. i LIKE the idea of it but i dislike the execution. horikoshi did a fantastic job doing the first seven steps of every arc, and he did a good job on the tenth step, but he glossed over or entirely skipped eight and nine for certain characters (like midroriya). and i could go into a lot of detail about that but i dont really want to spend all my time complaining about the series i love.

i did really like how uraraka, shoji, todoroki, and all mights arcs went. i’m nearly completely satisfied with bakugos arc, though yeah i do wish the hand reach had more focus in the chapter (however this is minor). i do actually like that kid dai, but i think it shouldve been less focused on. the main thing i find upsetting is that midoriya had to wait, and his friends had to pay, for his ability to be a hero. what, he saves the world and he gets nothing? really? thats kinda heartbreaking, but it also shows that… has society even really changed all that much? i also take issue with the fact that he seems more or less unaffected by shigarakis death and being in the war in general. i can understand if hori doesnt wanna get too much into ptsd or anything like that for the sake of simplicity or ease or something, however it feels ultimately cheap or rushed by completely glossing over it, to the point that i cant even tell if midoriya ever had complicated feelings at all. did we need him to have an actual breakdown? no. but i really feel his character would have benefited from even just a conversation with someone, be it bakugo, all might, uraraka, his mom, whatever. he didnt get to take the time to figure out what heroism is to him, and we didnt get to see him do it. although im glad that he ended up being a quirkless hero in the end, i just wish he had more emotional depth on the way there.

i actually dont have too many problems with the villains. its sad that they all either died or ended up in shitty situations, but realistically they wouldnt see anything else. if they did survive theyd get thrown in tartarus forever. yeah, if society did change they would have sympathy, but they are still mass murderers and terrorists. it sucks but its reality. and anyway their arcs where handled well as far as the narrative is concerned, so im 99% happy on this front. although i am grieving.

a lot of people have problems with hawks being in charge of the hero system, and if i were writing mha it wouldnt have happened, but for the politics hori set up throughout the story, it fits and is honeslty seen from a mile away. this is supposed to be evidence of individuals within society changing.

the only thing that genuinely shocked/upset me is the lack of an emotional confrontation for midoriya, such as dvk3 but not necessarily that. if that had happened, even vaguely on one page, i would have way fewer issues. otherwise? im okay with this. its an above average ending, but its not mindblowing like the rest of the series, which i think is what really gets me in the end.

my love for the series VASTLY outweighs my distrust of the ending. horikoshi, thank you so much for writing this amazing story, even if you didnt totally stick the landing, it was so much fun for all of us and i will look back on these years with fondness. and by the way everyone, im not going anywhere for a looooong time. mha has my heart forever.

[thegreatzombieartisan]

Worldbuilding: Life During the Numenorean Expedition Voyage to Middle-Earth

Logistics

The ocean’s conditions are comparable to the Atlantic.

Depending on conditions, the route from Numenor to Middle-Earth was about 3 - 4 weeks.1 or 2 days sailing upstream. Some estimations say 2 or 3 days on horseback to Tir-Harad and fighting the orcs. ssues here: If this were scouting expedition, this set up makes sense. Except Miriel would not have joined. Consider the risk of t makes more sense to address the Southlands' issue with a combat expedition.

However, as a combat expedition, it would have included many more arms and ships to ferry them. Galadriel and Halbrand, as royalty, would be on a separate ship from Miriel with respective private cabins.

Galadriel x Halbrand

The voyage affords them all three conditions to build intimacy: proximity, repeat interactions, and safety.

Official duties — As the expedition commander and king-in-exile, they would be exempt from performing crew duties. Perhaps some time devoted to solidifying expedition affairs with Miriel and officers. Otherwise, they had cause to spend considerable time together.

General routine — Sharing meals. Strolling around the deck. Watching the sun rise and fall. All inadvertently romantic. An unspoken agreement existed to be discrete of course. Miriel might join them at times.

Getting more familiar — The show makes it seems like Galadriel never learns much about Halbrand’s past. But that would verisimilitude, or narrative believability. They have nothing but time. Further disclose about each person’s backstory would have occurred en route. While Halbrand’s alleged backstory is tragic, he never declares it off-limits.

The Numenroeans, curious about this king-in-exile, would also likely seek to learn more about him. Aligned with his honest-as-possible character motif, Halbrand would discreetly speak about Aulë, Melkor, Umaiar, etc.

As for Galadriel, the calm beauty of the open seas (and getting her way) would have a relaxing effect on her we rarely see. Made her more open to sharing about herself to Halbrand.

Did she tell Halbrand about Celeborn? It’s hard to imagine glossing over such a major life detail. In any event, when Sauron later proposes, he either believed her a maiden or LACE (laws and customs of the Eldar) doesn’t apply in RoP.

Numenroean Crew

The expedition ships appear to be modeled after Byzantium era “Novum militarium” ships. Sail power demands a large busy crew working in long shifts around the clock.

Elendil — As sea captain, he’s responsible for the expeditions sea voyage operations. His word is law and it’s hinted he runs a right ship. Elendil would work closest his first mate, navigator, and coxswain (person who steers the ship).

Most often, only Captains have the luxury of a private cabin. If the ship had only one, he would forfeit his own to the Queen Regent.

Daytime on deck —During the day, the deck would be a busy place. We didn’t hear it in the snow but the few might sing sea shanties to pass the time. Off-duty crew might practice swordsmanship with each other and/or Galadriel. Perhaps Halbrand would demonstratehis own skills and help with training.

Night time off-duty —At night, the day shift would mostly settle in the haul to unwind and sleep (lower ranks might sleep on deck). There’d be card / game playing, sometimes music, reading, writing, whittling wood and lots of conversation.

They would talk so much, they would run out of things to talk about until they landed. It’s how soldiers bond quickly. It’s crucial to know who they are fighting alongside.

Few topics are off-limits: the mission, Middle-Earth, politics, rumors and gossip, food, sports, family, spouses or significant others, sexual conquests, tales, poetry, jokes, hopes and dreams, etc. Pretty much everything.

(For a greater idea about foodstuffs, grooming, and other ship life aspects, click here. )

Queen Regent Miriel

As queen, Miriel is most likely to Seinfeld much time in her private cabin.

Any expedition key expedition discussions would occur here too. As in the show, she would likely be (re)learning about Southlands / Middle-Earth. Sometimes from from reading material, other times directly from Galadriel and Halbrand.

Exempt from crew duties, the trio would pass some time together. Strolls around the deck with them or separately. Dinner or conversation in her cabin. From Galadriel, Miriel might wish to discuss the Elves and how to move forward together.

Soldiers, Halbrand, & Galadriel

Naturally, the soldiers would be curious about the unlikely pair — separately and together.Speculation no doubt on the nature of the true nature of Galadriel and Halbrand relationship.

Halbrand —With his charm and graciousness personality, it’s easy to imagine he would be a big hit among the soldiers. He would captivate them with tales, anecdotes, and knowledge. Perhaps also becoming the go-to person for advice. To Galadriel, perhaps some things he said it knew might seem a bit off but she would explain it away.

Galadriel — The Soldiers would likely wish to hear her talking about the war against Morgoth and their Edain ancestors; life in Valinor and the Ainur; other people and places, almost long gone and found only in books and tales. Isildur would’ve been an eager audience member, as he’s interested in Middle-Earth.

Galadriel might join these off-duty gatherings as briefly as possible. She knows a superiors presence does little to put lower ranks at ease.

While the crew and Halbrand slept at night, she would be most likely awake on deck, as Elves don’t require sleep as much as Men.

Thank you for reading! Likes and tagged reblogs are appreciated. Got feedback? Do tell.

Enjoy it? Learn something? Had something to add?

Disagree? Go on. I love good faith verbal sparring!

Found a possible inaccuracy? It happens. Tolkien lore is complex! Drop it in the comments 🙏

[discountalien-pancake]

Mmkay. So I didn’t hate it. I definitely didn’t love it. I don’t feel like my time or money were wasted on reading this book. I also feel that this book would have greatly benefited from several more rounds of editing. This was very much a book that could have been good. And not in the way that people say it about SJM’s books. There was a clear, sense-making plot progression, purposeful foreshadowing, follow-through on all the Chekov’s guns (well, most, but the last one i think is probably resolved in the sequel which I probably won’t read?).

The problem was I found myself hurtling through the book, and not in a good way. I wanted it to get to the damn point. So much of Kadou’s point of view is spent dithering within these gratuitously overwrought panic attacks. There’s just so much and so many of them that it actively interfered with the progression of the narrative, not simply of in-world events. Everything would just grind to a halt while Kadou spends two or three paragraphs self-flagellating, carry on for half a page, and then more self-flagellation. There were multiple chapters of entire days, sometimes multiple days or even a month, crunched down to just lengthy descriptions of Kadou being a helpless, shivering wreck, interspersed with one-sentence summaries of all the important official business he’s carrying out as a prince on probation.

And then we’d swap povs and get Evemer’s rundown of the exact same events again but from his perspective. And it makes sense to do this once or twice, so that we can get out of Kadou’s head and see things more objectively. But the fact of the matter is that this book could have been a solid 50k words shorter and lost nothing of the plot or even the character development.

I feel like I’ve only been saying negative things, so here’s what the book did well: it established a very diverse cast who are all treated respectfully by the narrative. It established that there were a great many cultures coming into contact with this region, though I would have liked to see more people from those regions rather than just mentions of the material culture. It established that nonbinary folks are a normal, common presence within society and didn’t make a Big Deal out of any of it. The politics were mostly reasonable except for what I feel was a deeply contrived set-up. There was a lot of thought and care in the handling of the power imbalance between Kadou and Evemer, though I still feel that it failed to convince me that they have an equal partnership. You mileage may vary on that point. Evemer, in my opinion, was a delightful and very endearing neurodivergent character (definitely on the spectrum, probably a bit OCD). The author definitely did a lot of research on textiles and garment construction even if I can’t quite agree with their taste.

Would I recommend this book? Maybe. Depends on the person. I think if you like the bodyguard/prince trope, you might be able to gloss over more of the issues than I did. Perhaps you will be more sympathetic of the Anxiety Goblin prince than I. I fully admit I have little patience for characters like that. If you want a queer romance between an anxious prince and his demi, autistic bodyguard, then you’d probably enjoy it. You might find Kadou’s narrative cathartic. IDK. On my part, I found Evemer sufficiently compelling to finish the book despite the other flaws.

[gamesception]

These tweets are both true, at least of comic Scott, at least for a certain segment of the audience. Comic Scott Pilgrim is a shitty guy, and deliberately invites readers who are also shitty guys to identify with him in the opening half by presenting him as a sort of wish fulfillment ideal of a shitty guy - all the same toxic behaviors but he's popular and girls like him anyway because he can skateboard and he's in a band. But then the story spends it's back half calling Scott, and by proxy the readers who did identify with him, out on his/their bullshit - saying even though he's cool is in a band, his selfish behavior and poor treatment of those around him, especially his girlfriends, drive away everyone who gets close to him.

Sadly the Edgar Wright film, while it did an amazing job translating the tone and aesthetic of the comic to live action, opted to cut out most of the core element of the comic's criticism/deconstruction of Scott as a character. And while the film pulls some punches in terms of cutting out or glossing over some of the shittier things comic Scott has done, film Scott still ends up more hate-able than his comic counterpart ime.

Partially because it cast Michael Cera doing his meek passive pitiable thing, which leaves the audience wondering why anybody puts up with his shitty behavior in the first place. This isn't a problem in the comic because comic Scott, for all his shittiness, is depicted as having a sort of infectious confident outgoing energy that makes him believably fun to be around. Unlike film Scott, you totally buy that people would overlook comic Scott's faults until they were personally impacted by them.

But mostly it's that movie Scott never gets properly called out. Comic Scott's sins are both greater and more numerous, but he's forced to face up to and accept that he's been a shitty person and start changing for the better, and in doing so he starts to earn back some respect from both his friends and the reader. In comparison film Scott is validated in his shittiness. He's 'not that bad', he only needs to learn 'self respect'. His lack of respect for others is left largely unaddressed.

The difference is most clearly seen in the Nega-Scott subplot of the comic and the film. In the comic Nega Scott represents all the terrible things Scott has done to his friends and especially his girlfriends over the years that he chooses to either remember wrong or not to remember at all in order to preserve his own self image. The only way for Scott to escape Nega-Scott is to merge with him, symbolically accepting that he really did all those things, that he's basically been a bad person up to that point and he needs to make fundamental changes to his attitude and actions going forward.

Film Nega-Scott on the other hand is the exact opposite - representing film Scott's poor self image, the bad things he thinks about himself but that either aren't true or aren't really that bad, and the subplot is resolved by film Scott having a friendly conversation with his shadow self and realizing that they, and by extension he himself, were never really that bad in the first place and he just needs to cut himself some slack. Which is a cute and funny subversion of the evil opposite trope, but is absolutely disastrous for the story and the audience's relationship to Scott as a character.

If time constraints or differences in directorial vision were the main reason that this narrative thread got inverted in the film, then hopefully an animated miniseries with O'Malley at the helm should be able to do the comic better justice in this regard. I'm certainly optimistic in that regard. On the other hand, seeing a version of Scott in full sound and color and motion who is more true to the comic - in that he treats the people around him even worse over a much longer run time - could make for a pretty hard watch, even if he is eventually forced to face up to the reality of his behavior and start to change it by the end.

[mysticdragon3md3]

🦌💔🩹...

The other day, I was screengrabbing FE3H Claude quotes, and when he talked about his dream to the Golden Deer, he cited that even though Duscur and Brigid had attacked/invaded Faerghus and Adrestia, there were still Duscurians (Dedue) and the Brigid princess (Petra) accepted in the Garreg Mach monastery.

I never noticed this line before. But for all of the praise we give Claude, especially FE3H version Claude, for digging to find the truth (of Fodlan) and questioning the given narrative (which seems to be what the developers wanted us to do with FE3H, especially Crimson Flower), Claude got this part all wrong. Duscur didn't attack Faerghus. That was the propaganda the western Faerghus nobles spread to justify their conquering of Duscur. Did Claude really not dig deeper into the truth of the Tragedy of Duscur? I mean, considering meta reasons, Dimitri was already covering that issue, so maybe Intelligent Systems thought it was ok for Claude to glaze over that truth? But with how much Verdant Wind Claude and his route represents revealing the truth of Fodlan--- even ending the route by defeating Nemesis, who was the "hero" propped up by historical lies and who was created by the unequivocally, cartoonishly clear, true villains, the Agarthans, and revealing that "hero" as a villain---I don't appreciate this oversight. Same with Brigid. Did Brigid invade the Empire??? I could have sworn that Petra was at Garreg Mach as a political prisoner, to assimilate into Fodlan culture, because Brigid had become a vassal state of Adrestia, after Adrestia conquered them in a conflict. Wasn't that what happened? (I try not to spend too much time experiencing Crimson Flower myself, since I don't want hours of vain attempts to get me to sympathize with El, so in regards to my gaps in the story, I usually just trust the reports of others who have played through it---which is how for so long I believed El's lies about the Church/Rhea actively enforcing the Crest system---I wanted to give El the benefit of the doubt out of fairness! But more recently I've been shown that believing the perspectives of El fans is just the blind/me trusting the duped, who don't question Crimson Flower's given narrative.) Isn't that why all the Khalidstans jump down Edelstans' throats, when they ignore Petra was fighting for Brigid to regain its independence from Adrestia? Anyway, it really disappointed me to hear Claude state surface level narratives like facts, when other routes had proven those claims as lies. Verdant Wind/Claude were supposed to be about questioning given narratives and not accepting the surface value of things (narratives, information, people, etc.), so hearing that out of Claude was disappointing.

---even if his route could afford to gloss over those subplots because Verdant Wind had a lot of other things to do. Again, maybe Intelligent Systems thought that having Claude also dig into the truths of the Tragedy of Duscur, AND the Adrestia/Brigid conflict, AND what foundations the Church of Seiros were actually built on/stand for, maybe have been "too much" or would have "cluttered up the story". But if Verdant Wind and Claude are supposed to represent digging for truths, questioning given narratives,…if the focus character Claude is constantly characterized as curious, frequently investigating/researching in the library, expresses suspicions about Seteth censoring the books, talks about conflicting sides (perspectives on Rhea, El's motives) with equal weight but always settling on hearing them out, is repeatedly characterized as open-minded, and thus not willing to simply settle on purely negative appraisals of even El and Rhea… Then how can he simply accept that "Duscur attacked Faerghus" and "Brigid tried to invade the Empire"?

I WOULD LIKE to think that maybe Claude intentionally stated such surface level narratives, casting Duscur/Brigid as aggressors towards Fodlan, to better prove his point about how even people who were in conflict can actually get along if they just get to know each other as people (like as classmates at Garreg Mach). But sounds like a stretching headcanon. I would have felt better if Claude had actually confessed such a simplistic narrative as part of his strategy, to Byleth in private, but he never did. And also! If he did, it's kind of counter to Verdant Wind's theme of revealing truths! Building a following/nation on lies was El's thing. Crimson Flower ends with her building the new government on lies and Huebert carefully managing/constructing/manipulating the information that spreads throughout Fodlan. Even the best faith interpretation of this dialogue from Claude seems to still hit wrong. I wish Intelligent Systems had fixed it.

On the good side, I don't believe in liking something to the point of finding no fault with it. If I can't criticize at least one thing, about something/someone I love, then I have to be suspicious that I might be "blindly following". And that's the same as not really loving something or not really seeing it for what it is. When I was young, I used to pick a mangaka or author I really liked, then just collect all their series. I'd convince myself that I loved all their works, while completely ignoring that there were things I didn't like. But it was easier to just pick a "favorite" and pretend they could "do no wrong". I've grown out of that by now. An AX Staffer friend once asked why I wasn't enduring the line for a CLAMP panel; that's why. (Because despite how much I love CLAMP their repeated use of the romance trope "girl falls in love with guy who annoys her the most" was just something I couldn't deal with anymore, after the Legend of Chun Hyang.) I tried getting myself to read Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" book series and some of her scifi novels, because I loved her "Harperhall of Pern" book series, but after trudging through a couple books, I had to admit that it's possible to like several of an author's books without LOVING ALL their work. I'm tried of trying to convince myself that I love EVERYTHING about something that I like, to the point of blind devotion. If I'm blind to a thing's faults, am I really seeing it? I want to be able to pick out the faults, say that I accept it or that it is a problem marring an otherwise beloved thing, and completely SEE something for what it is, when I say that I like or love it. I want to make an informed, more proactively consensual choice about what I love these days. That makes me feel more solid in my fandom love of a thing.

So if Claude has this flaw, maybe I'll blame the writers' oversight or meta constraints...or maybe I'll just accept this as a flaw among his more numerous good character qualities...and maybe I'll also headcanon scenarios for him to rectify these flaws within fanfics (or plans for daydreamed fanfics). But at least now I feel more aware of the full situation/character and that liking Claude is my informed choice, that I can feel more solid in now. Finding a flaw in a beloved character is proof that I'm thinking about them critically, versus scrambling for any rationalizations to justify that they "did nothing wrong" in their entire lives. If I find at least one thing I disagree with in a character I love, then I feel more like I'm not blindly following. Then I can feel more confident that I actually like a character, rather than simply, blindly, picking something to love just because I "love loving" something. (To paraphrase the old adage "Love loves to love Love".)

[vacantgodling]

the old english baron — mini review

just for context, i was much much quieter in my live reaction from the other three books i’ve talked about reading on this blog, and that’s kind of because like. this book was very… eh.

the context that it was written “in direct response to the castle of otranto” actually does it more harm than good, because seriously this book hardly feels like a goth lit at all. all of the quintessential things that create a good gothic literature piece are just missing from the narrative, or glossed over. if anything this feels more like a medieval period piece with gothic elements. which, tbh, i don’t mind—i saw reviews with some people getting annoyed by the entire latter half and end of the book being devoted to court proceedings but because i enjoy history i was actually kind of fascinated by it. but the fact that all the “gothic elements” were resolved within the first 100-150-ish pages wasn’t really great bc all the intrigue that could’ve been fell by the wayside.

the main similarity this book shares with the castle of otranto is its lack of focus; but i think it’s done worse lmao. it’s very clear in this book that edmund is the main character but it’s not necessarily built up that way—the first part of the book starts with sir phillip who the reader immediately likes and feels sympathy for and we get a detailed backstory for; however the story then shifts to focusing on edmund who is like. for all intents and purposes jesus fucking christ reborn. i like him much less than theodore from the castle of otranto; theodore is a more complex character who does have some faults despite his (generally speaking) overwhelming good qualities (which is just a thing in gothic lit and old european books in general; the characters are very overwhelmingly Good and Virtuous Christians LMAO). but edmund is a fucking SAINT. i somehow like little billee from trilby SLIGHTLY (oh so very slightly) more than edmund bc edmund Literally Is The Perfect Man and at least billee was interesting by virtue of being ridiculous, having a foot fetish, and getting on my fucking NERVES lmao.

furthermore a lot of this plot hinges on random characters who are “villainous” doing “villainous things” out of just. jealousy???? barely explained jealousy at that. we spend very little time with the murderer of edmund’s parents nor the kinsman of the baron who edmund lives with who hates him for idk breathing air… and like it’s saying a lot that i can’t remember their names because they are THAT inconsequential and make THAT LITTLE of an impression. meanwhile manfred made himself no. 1 enemy of the state by PAGE SIX. i hated him and i wanted to see him get his shit rocked. that makes a good villain!!!

and despite being written by a woman, this book is so uninterested in talking about the few female characters that exist it’s painful. lady emma is introduced as a love interest after never being mentioned out of FUCKING NOWHERE in the middle of the story and just said “btw she’s perfect also and edmund’s been in love with her since he was a boy but dw about it” and i’m just ??? bruh lmao. otranto gave so much more respect and character to its female characters; all of them had distinct personalities and goals and furthermore THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE OF THEM!!! (and i’m not counting edmund’s adoptive mother in this bc sorry she is also like only in one scene and is basically irrelevant. yeah she tells edmund about his mom but we did like Nada to give her anything. she and emma count as one for me).

— going to show that just because a woman has contributed to something does not automatically mean it’s not misogynistic (looking at jkr as well 🙄)

anyway the other main thing that strengthens my stance that this isn’t Really a goth lit book is there is Barely any tragedy or lingering melancholy that haunts the narrative. yes, edmund’s parents died but there’s literally like two scene with the ghosts (or anything spooky) and yeah edmund is sad about it once he learns the truth but it’s just all… never expanded upon. it’s talked about but the emotions aren’t felt. the loss doesn’t take center stage; it’s simply a vehicle to propel the story to edmund triumphing over his circumstances and getting Literally Everything he wants out of life. which; mind you, i’m not against like at all. i don’t dislike the overall story (sans edmund being a mary sue? edmund sue? and it being kind of just. boring lmao) but i dislike the insinuation that it’s gothic lit like at all. it has gothic elements. but it’s just missing everything about the genre that makes it good.

so going back to my original point—the author positioning herself to try and make the castle of otranto “better” or “more realistic” is just. ridiculous lmao. it’s no different than people who make adaptations of media they’ve barely engaged with and that they don’t understand: it will never be as good.

overall 5/10. i wouldn’t read it again but just bc it’s kind of boring lmao. but i don’t hate that i read it lmao

[yellowocaballero]

oh no you're right about all of it i'm not jewish either i'm on the other spectrum of the scale that is abrahamic religions (unnecessarily convoluted way to say i'm muslim idk why i phrased it like that lol anyway) so as someone who's pretty used to seeing characters with the same religion as me onscreen either having that aspect of their identity pretty heavily stereotyped or just trivialised i was hoping the show would handle it sensitively considering that (i haven't read the comics) marc's jewish identity does play a huge part in his characterization even if he wasn't conceived as jewish from the get go

and you're right we get like a handful of scenes that establish he's jewish (even less so for steven someone else pointed out the mezuzah in a fic but i'm not really good at finding stuff like that so yeah) and like yeah there's a lot going on in that scene but it's just subtext yk? it's written as something that's meant to be inferred and idk i do feel like there should've been more explicit text (tbf a lot of my problems with mk is that they rely way too much on like the audience piecing things together i mean i'm not asking for an exposition dump but it would've been nice to have like more flashbacks for characters and some more exposition and stuff)

the mcu is definitely heavily pro military there's this yt video by skipintro i watched a while ago which talked about the support the military funding of the mcu movies and how the avengers can be very easily equated to the united states' tendency to be the global police and how cap and tony represent american exceptionalism vs imperialism in their civil war conflict (great video btw you should check it out if you have time)

and yess i agree like yeah the story was very scaled up and didn't have as much time devoted to the characters that i feel an initial outing should've had especially considering that these are characters having their first appearance in this franchise + the way everyone keeps talking about it being a contained story like i have such mixed feelings about this show because there's a shit load of potential and i feel like they missed out on an important chunk of it but i do really like the characters so that explains why i'm always looking up for fics with them i guess

please don't apologise about the question i started the ramble and ngl i was kind of anxious for some reason after sending that ask lol so your very cohesive reply was great i had to reread it a couple times to be sure to formulate my response to everything (might've still missed one or two points wouldn't be surprised if i did)

anyway as an actual answer to your answer to the question i asked i really love that idea of jake being really philosophical and same idt i'd ever feel comfortable writing about marc's relationship with his religion because it's pretty different from my own (we both have a complicated relationship with though lol) and yeah thank you for answering my ask so eloquently hope you're having a good day/night

You are absolutely fine I love rambling and talking.

I love comic books and I hate the MCU as a whole so I am perpetually stuck in a sticky situation where I still glean joy from MS MARVEL on SCREEN doing her TEEN HIJINK but also it's all tepid and insipid. Which is...that is so fine, things are allowed to be tepid. But if you do nothing but read comics then you become a redditor and it's the same way with any sort of, for lack of a better word, 'trashy' stuff. I watch an insane amount of the trashiest genres one may imagine that I don't talk too much here about, and it's great, but if it was the only thing I watched my brain would leak out of my ears.

And yes, totally, MK brings up some insanely interesting stuff that you can just go way deep into, and I did enjoy how it did not assume the audience was stupid. With only 6 hours of content I am guessing that they just simply did not have time to stretch things and lay them out more explicitly. My brain is a rabid hyena and media analysis is crack cocaine to me, so I was really satisfied with the amount that it left me to figure out, but you are right - criticism should be laid out. You should be upfront. And while it's cool to leave some stuff (themes, imagery, metatextual relationship with the MCU, commentary on DID in media) implied, stuff like Marc's Jewishness has been implied enough. Again, like, look at how many Jewish characters we have. When writing, especially for TV, you have to make a lot of sacrifices to choose what to cut and what to keep, but I believe it's important to prioritize stuff like that. Wish things were different, wish it wasn't MCU, wish it had more than 6 episodes, wish it could have a harder bite. Verdict Of Would Be Better If More Episodes And Not Disney.

The MCU, and you could make a very strong argument that the entire concept of superheroes, is rabidly pro-military and it's disturbing. At the very least it's propaganda for the American hero narratives of the Exceptional Man and propagating exceptionalism, at the most it is just funded by the military. I could go REALLY fucking into comparing how the military is portrayed with Steve Rogers vs Carol Danvers vs [mostly implied but very much there] Marc Spector and it's fucking fascinating. The show has a subtle relationship with the rest of the MCU. But, like, military propaganda, so. It can't just not be that. So [mostly implied but very much there].

Unfortunately "really enjoyable, had a lot of potential, charming characters, didn't quite live up to the potential" is. The ripest, most fertile ground for fanfic.

Very quickly re: writing identities that are not your own - I have a pretty basic formula, which is that as a basic foundation I look for similarities and shared experiences between myself and that identity, and how I can relate and halfway-understand. I normally get this through talking with friends and exchanging viewpoints and also keeping in mind that not all experiences of discrimination are equivalent. In the story, the stuff that I will just never understand I downplay and the parts that resound with me the most I spend more time on. I fill up the gaps and add detail through research, speaking to friends again and reading testimonials, and doing more straightforward Wikipedia stuff for terminology and etc.

[bellarashallaplush]

Okay coming back to this to like try and expand on my thoughts- bear with me here because I am rambly as all hell.

So like. It's Northern Thedas. Hypothetically the choices we made in earlier games aren't relevant because they all took place in Southern Thedas and that just isn't gonna have much of an effect on anything that's going on in the North.

And if that were Genuinely The Case in this game I would be fine with it! But the thing is it's. Absolutely not. There's so many threads from the previous games present that feel glaringly ignored or just lightly glossed over.

Surprisingly enough, DAO and DA2 are the games that feel like. The most relevant. To everything going on in DATV in spite of it being a very direct sequel to DAI. Like don't get me wrong there's still definitely so much stuff in DAI that was dropped in DATV that feels like it should be massively more relevant but like.

DAO: Zevran & Sten! Like there have been so many posts talking about how sanitized the Crows feel and how disappointing it is, and how Zevran's absence from the narrative is so nonsensical given everything going on. Same goes for Sten??? Like???? If you recruited him and befriended him apparently he becomes the arishok that the antaam rebelled against! The antaam are now in! Antiva! Where Zevran has been systemically dismantling the Crows on his own! If you recruited him! In DAO! And this is all just kind of waved away with really vague statements from NPCs, if you're lucky you'll get a noncommittal vague codex entry that you can construe to maybe be referencing something about this. Sten can literally invite the Warden to come back to Par Vollen with him. Their friendship can be that strong. And you're trying to convince me that none of this is relevant to one of the central conflicts you created in this game??? My Warden romanced Zev and was besties with Sten! And you're trying to convince me that none of that is relevant to the events in Treviso? And this isn't even getting into the fact that this is the first ever double Blight which is coming practically right on the heels of the Fifth Blight- and the Hero of Ferelden. Who if they are still alive in your world state. Wouldn't be relevant in the slightest. To what's going on??

AND KIERAN- you're telling me!!! That the old god baby my Warden had!!! With Morrigan!!! Isn't! Relevant! He would be!! In his 20s now! You're telling me. That the child of Morrigan. And the Hero of Fereldan. Would be. Content. With staying out of the thick of things? Really?

And then there's DA2. Which is relevant for so so many reasons but also they make it more relevant by shoe horning in Isabella. Hi if Hawke romanced Isabella. And also didn't stay in the fade. Where the absolute fuck are they? Why aren't they spending any time with their pirate lover??? What the fuck?

And like Isabella isn't even one of the DA2 companions most relevant to this game. In spite of being the only one that made it in. Merrill???? Eluvians???? MERRILL?????

I am... getting more incoherent the further along I get in this but it's. Fine.

And. Fenris. This post did it better than I ever could so please go read that. But like we are in Tevinter. We know from the Blue Wraith comics that he is actively in Tevinter working to free slaves(depending on your worldstate obviously). Hm. Does that maybe sound. Like. The premise. Of an entire faction in this game? Perhaps? And we don't even get a passing acknowledgment of his. Existence. Even.

I wanted so badly to see specifically Fenris and Zevran with Veilguard level graphics but that's irrelevant.

And Hawke. You guys remember Hawke right? Varric's BEST FRIEND HAWKE? Who was either. STUCK IN THE FADE. Or went to WEISSHAUPT at the end of DAI??? You're telling me? None of that matters? In this game? That is? Half set in the fade? When the Seige of Weisshaupt is like a big plot point? And. Y'know. Everything going on with. Varric. You don't think maybe an alive Hawke would have... opinions. On that. Maybe? Perhaps? Just a thought?

And then there's the whole "haha remember how you poured hours into the first three games that took place in Southern Thedas? And how you fell in love with those games and the settings and characters and stories they told? Well JOKES ON YOU FUCKO ALL OF SOUTHERN THEDAS IS BLIGHTED AND BASICALLY GONE! Don't you feel stupid for loving things now?" Like seriously who the fuck thought that was. A good idea. What the hell. Like they're trying to forcibly make the first 3 games completely irrelevant while also having so so so many active glaring holes where they should be.

Thinking about how none of our choices carried over to Veilguard. And how I was disappointed but like okay with it because yeah sure I can see it not being relevant in Northern Thedas. But then playing the actual game and it really feels like there's this gaping hole where all of the actually incredibly fucking relevant things from the past games should be.

[flightfoot]

I don’t get the argument that Adrien’s emotional issues were glossed over in the NY special. He didn’t swallow his frustrations. He literally had a meltdown in the sewers and quit. He didn’t swallow his frustrations and come back. He was upset because 1. He almost killed someone and 2. He thought he was a hinderance to Ladybug after their argument about him leaving Paris. He came back because the person he almost killed came to get him and 1. Told him he was forgiven and 2. Convinced him that Ladybug still needed him. His problems were dealt with in a believable way and his emotional tolls were acknowledged. Sometimes I feel like people get an idea in their head and then can only watch the show through that filter. Ladybug has the monopoly on finale emotional support but the show has repeatedly acknowledged Adrien’s emotional struggles and had people support him too. The Christmas Special where he’s extremely upset and everyone comes to spend Christmas with him at the end or Felix where all his friends send him encouraging messages and get akumatized because they thought he was being mean to them? When he’s thrown a gay party in Party Crasher because Nino wants to spend bro time with him? When he becomes the anxious one for once in Reverser and Ladybug is so sweet and encouraging to him? Even Marinette’s initial charm bracelet was first given to Adrien because she was emotionally supporting him when he felt down. This narrative that the narrative never gives his emotions any consideration or weight is biased and blown out of proportion. Like there’s a difference between “ I would like to see Adrien’s emotions given more consideration for certain things” and “Adrien has never had any emotional consideration a day in his narrative life”. The latter just isn’t true, even in the earlier seasons.

Yeah, agreed on this. Adrien's emotions are given consideration and space and are centered many times. Now, I still would like it to happen more often than it does, especially with how much his life is like a horror story in some ways and that he has no idea about it, but his feelings aren't completely ignored, and I do think that ends up exaggerated.

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

i need to rant real quick because this "friend" of mine is making me frustrated 😭 this will obviously gloss over a lot of details because i can't tell stories without jumping into other side stories akjdfn

okay so i've known her since i moved in middle school and she's the sweetest person ever, and now we even go to uni together and since she's a math major we have classes together so we get to spend more time together which invariably is a good thing!!

or so we thought

can i tell you she's become the biggest pick me girl known to mankind good l o r d-

to sum it up: there's this guy in our calc class who she asked if i thought he was cute and tbh i'm not really paying any attention to anyone of the male species rn because i kind of have someone which is a story for another day but i said "yeah kind of i guess? i never really looked at him closely" and then she said that she thought he was cute and whatnot, and dropped the subject and started talking about other things that were going on in our lives, and while this is happening we're walking in the student center which is structured in a way where there are group study rooms on the second floor, and since they have glass walls (?) people at the top can look down and see the lower floor

so as we're walking there's this group of guys studying in one of those rooms and one of the guys looks down and sees us walking and starts smiling in our direction which i thought "oh maybe he knows her or something" but then she asks me if i know him which i have never seen him ever so obviously we're confused and she goes "he was staring at you!!" and then changes her narrative to "wait he was staring at me" and then back to "he was staring at you" BACK TO "he was staring at both of us beautiful women ^-^" he was in fact staring at me which i know because i made eye contact at him and half smiled which made him smile more

AND THEN THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING EVER is that she's always like "oh look at me" and keeps making a bunch of comments in class about the content, which might i add is quite loud, makes unprovoked dark humour jokes which literally just seem more unnecessary than joking when other people do it

but idk it's been annoying me and there are a ton of more instances where she's been like "guys think i'm flirting with them but that's just how i am 🥺" and it irks me which makes me feel bad because she's genuinely a nice person and would quite literally lay down her life for me and i for her :((

Ah, Rose, I'm so sorry you have to deal with someone like that. Of course, even good friends have their... icks, so to say, and to put it in my perspective (granted I only know so much about your friend), it sounds like she's still rather immature. Things like this take time, but I'm sure your friend will come around once she realizes that she actually has to start taking classes a little more seriously. I definitely understand your annoyance, I used to be friends with someone like that. We really only stopped talking because she was a business major and I'm in biochem but she's the same, we were basically closer than sisters and in some ways we still are. I can't say distance is the best solution, because I'll be honest it really made me sad lmfao, but if worse comes to worse you might be better off calling her out on it. Sure, it'll hurt her feelings at first, but if you're as close as you're implying she'll understand you and you'll both be able to work through it!

[sapphiresaphics]

Have to disagree with ya there. Class inequality was definitely a thing, but the Arcane and its influence on BOTH cities has been there since the beginning too. You don’t get the tragedy of Vi and Powder without the success of Jayce and Viktor. There’s a reason those scenes are intercut together with one another. They are linked to the events of the Arcane in deeply profound ways. Always has been.

Also, are we watching the same show? Because all of Act 1 of season 2 was about the imbalance between the cities and the repercussions of the wealthy elite taking things out on the poor. Caitlyn’s entire arc is about her retreating back into her privilege and using her family’s legacy AGAINST the people of Zaun. How is that being left “unaddressed” when we’ve spent so much time there seeing how it affected everyone?

Also, interest you bring up Lord of the Rings, because have you gone back and read it? The pacing in that story is WAY off. It starts off super slow. Literally takes months for events to get going. Spends multiple chapters still in the Shire working their way out on their journey. And by the end of the book entire battles are glossed over with in a matter of paragraphs. Helms Deep is barely even a chapter. It got faster and faster and faster as the story came to a close.

What you guys have done is identified a theme of the story, correctly… and then you’ve projected that theme onto the main focus of the narrative, which is incorrect.

You can want the story to focus more on the oppression of the working class, but at the end of the day THAT was the framework they were using to tell this much larger more abstract story about power and privileged using the Arcane.

Feels to me like you guys have decided the themes you want the show to explore and are angry when the show says “nah fam, that was never our goal.” At the end of the day, that’s a YOU problem.

I find it hilarious when the show called ARCANE starts talking about the ARCANE and the ARCANE starts having a more prominent role in the trajectory of the show named ARCANE that people are only now complaining about “lore” being added to the show.

Like, my dudes… the show was about the ARCANE. Now that it’s reacting and developing and becoming the big thing the whole show is heading towards… NOW you’re worried about the “lore” messing things up??!

Hahah

Sorry guys. I know we started with class inequality, and that’s definitely a theme of the show… but the TRUE star has ALWAYS been the ARCANE and how it reacts to the events around it.

They wouldn’t have named the show ARCANE if they weren’t going to address the ARCANE.