#and there are a lot of bangers with happy endings too!! i think it’s important to remember that

[one-paper-bag]

i think generally (at least with most of the examples you listed) (i can’t speak to all the examples bc i haven’t seen/listened to them all lol) those stories are crafted around their sad ending and it serves the themes and narrative better.

Hadestown actively acknowledges its sad ending; “It’s a sad song, It’s a sad tale, it’s a tradgedy... We gonna sing it anyway”, and it bakes it into the narrative, yes it’s sad but it’s also a fact that it happened (at least within the world of the story, obviously its fictional). Also in the case of Hadestown and West Side Story they are both based on already existing tragedies so to stay true to the original narrative they most likely wanted to keep that element of it.

I can’t speak for Spring Awakening (although i’ve been told it takes place in a time period where the characters would struggle to be happy) but in the case of Falsettos it most definitely takes place in a time period where the characters cannot be happy. Whizzer can’t just recover from AIDS because that’s not what happened in the AIDS crisis!!

William Finn didn’t just write a sad ending because he wanted to make the audience cry, he also wrote it because he wanted to make a point. The line “this is where we take a stand.” in Falsettoland (reprise) would not have the same impact if Whizzer had recovered because that line is the musical saying to the audience “we need to do something about all these innocent men dying” (at least when it was first delivered in 1990, obviously the AIDS crisis has ended but yk the tragedy still lives on). I mean for me there’s an argument to be made that while, yes, Falsettos is not based off of real people it could still be considered historical because it takes place during a real historical period and handles it with a lot of realism.

Anyway that’s just for the examples you listed that i can speak for. But overall i think there are a lot of musicals with sad endings and, yes, that can be hard to watch but i think the important part is that they don’t have a sad ending for no reason. All of the examples i could speak to have justifiable reasons for the sad ending and i do not believe the narrative would be better off without it.

I don’t understand why you would EVER make a musical that isn’t based of historical events and not gove it a happy end. Even SIX could do that and they ARE historical. So im asking you W H Y? Why, West Side Story? Why, Falsettos? Why, Hadestown? Why, Springawakening?

This is a genuine question. There are so many heartbreaking stories. I GO TO THEATER TO EITHER ESCAPE THOSE OR LEARN FROM THEM!!! NOT BOTH

[magpie-trove]

August Reads

Cress & Winter • Marissa Meyer | it was Trying Times and for some reason Lunar Chronicles is one of my go to escapes and comforts turns out. I really wanted to reread Cress but got sucked in and had to do Winter too. Still as good as the first time. Deeply near and dear to my heart.

The Talented Mrs Mandelbaum • Margalit Fox | new non fiction about a Victorian crime boss lady and her band of thieves and fencers. Short and to the point. Interesting. Wouldn’t say it was one of my favorites of the year but it was worth reading.

Your Vote Matters • Rebecca Katzman | childrens non fiction about the electoral process. Made sense and had a real nice layout and pictures!!!!. (Not a picture book it was like 80 pages or something? But yeah I like it!)

Howl’s Moving Castle • Diana Wynne Jones | was just rereading all my faves for a bit there. Still a 12/10 book.

Yours from the Tower • Sally Nicholls | new YA epistolary fiction set in the 1890’s. Surprised me! Actually had a little nuance! Was very good about the characters. Important to me cause it made me understand how people work in certain situations better than I had before. I think I cried sad and I know I happy cried a little towards the end. I do recommend.

Sonnets from the Portuguese • Elizabeth Barrett Browning | still a favorite

Voices in the Air • Naomi Shihab Nye | the Emily poem!!!!! I think I loved Everything Comes Next more, a lot of these poems got more specifically political and idk it takes away their power a bit to me? But it still had plenty of bangers

Wheels of Change • Sue Macy | YA non fiction about the role of the bicycle in the suffragette movement. Interesting topic, real nice layout, lots of good primary sources. It had a reprint of a lot of pretty funny things women were advised not to do while riding, including “do not say Feel my muscle” and “do not ask Do you like my bloomers?”

The Castle of Llyr • Lloyd Alexander | follow up to The Black Cauldron. Beloved. He writes at such a good level and manages to keep the Nobility to the story.

Kilmeny of the Orchard • LM Montgomery | I actually didn’t like this one that much? Kinda hinged on some racist stereotypes and was mean about adoptees and the romance felt kind of condescending. Idk I wasn’t really impressed.

Saintly Women of Modern Times • Joan Carroll Cruz | Learned so many cool stories!!! I did also discover though at times you need examples as encouragement and at times examples might get a little discouraging. The women highlighted were all unique and interesting though!

Mapmakers and the Lost Magic • Amanda Castillo and Cameron Chittock | children’s graphic. Nice art interesting premise and world building. I’d probably read the next one.

Uniformity with God’s Will • Alphonsus Linguori | very good

A Wish in the Dark • Christina Soontornvat | HELLO!!! Childrens fiction with the premise Les Miserables but in Thailand. LOVED IT. SHOOK. I CRIED. BEAUTIFUL. I loooved the characters looooved the words, it was sooooo goooood!!!!!!!!! Made me want to do something nothing else has ever succeeded in (read Les Miserable). Do recommend!

The Lucky Poor • Mazie Lovie | adult graphic memoir about getting a house through Habitat for Humanity and unexpected drawbacks or something? Nothing really struck me about it tbh

Sisters of the Lost Marsh • Lucy Strange | the VIIIIIIBES VIIIIBES FOR DAAYYYYS. Middle Grade fantasy based on English folklore and circus, about six sisters who’s father says they’re under a curse. Beautifully done. This one will haunt me. Do recommend.

Romanov • Nadine Brandes | YA historical fantasy. had its moments but I kinda wanted the fantasy out of it at times though it wasn’t as jarring as some other stuff in that regard. It was a nice walk in the park and then the most nightmarish thing I’d read then just kind of ok. Not bad at all but not my most favorite. I just wanted to read about Anastasia tbh. I think (?) it had a pretty good illustration of forgiveness at one point though that made it make sense to me in a new way.

[seaofreverie]

Sparkstember Day 5: Indiscreet (In The Future)

Unfortunately it would be a bit of a lie to say that I vibed with Indiscreet right away. Not to say that I didn't like it, but maybe my unprepared ears weren't ready for whatever this album is. It's a lot. And it's all amazing stuff!! Still, I guess it needed some getting used to before I could really GET IT too. Had to stick to the couple tracks that I gravitated towards first (and I REALLY liked those btw. A lot) before gathering up the courage to take another plunge into the whole thing. Probably a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that this was one of my very first Sparks albums: the 6th I listened to according to my notes... I know Indiscreet is a pretty big fan favourite and thankfully, for me it might just be the finest case of gradually enjoying an album more and more with each listen. And I must say I REALLY love it now. EVERY song here is amazing, no doubt about that now.

But returning to the start for a bit, I was ready to get into some more of that (glam) rock side of Sparks I already knew by then from the previous two albums, and I got a bit of that here... Not quite as much as I hoped perhaps, but that was just another fact of life to learn here: Sparks never stick to one thing for too long. And this is when I need to get into the beautiful mix of... everything that this album offers. Early 20th century big band and vaudeville next to rock and pop and even some slightly-punk-before-punk-was-even-a-thing-really, as I've seen In The Future be described as once (more or less)... And then within the tracks themselves, we'll have strings next to brass and horns next to electric guitars next to beepy synthesisers. And let's not forget the most important of them all: the whistle.

The best thing about it all though is that it does not feel jarring to have a mix of all these different things and jump from one to the other constantly. Or, at least, not TERRIBLY jarring. Jarring within reason? Jarring, but in a masterful and knowledgeable way that works in favor of the whole piece rather than against it? You name it.

I say this... quite often about Sparks and individual songs or albums of theirs but this time I mean it perhaps even moreso than ever, that this album is extremely unique and truly like nothing else I've ever heard or likely will ever hear. I'd say it poses a bit more of a challenge than some other Sparks releases but once you get through that initial bewilderment (if you DO encounter it. I'm sure many don't but many others also probably do just like I did), the reward is a really great and one of a kind musical experience.

Favourite songs (and other highlights):

Happy Hunting Ground: early fav that I don't really think about all that much anymore... (it's still a total banger though. And, not going to lie, seeing the live performance of this song from Dee Vee Dee renewed my love for it recently). I was REALLY into it in the beginning though. It aligning very well with my hopes for more energetic rock tracks must have been a big part of that

Get In The Swing: idk what to say about it but it's just SO GOOD! Type of song I hear before the album proper that convinces me that yes, this band here is truly something special, I need more of this

Pineapple: it fullfills every need! Most importantly the need for a very singable and delightful tune from the renowned songwriter Russell Mael. It's sure to lift my mood considerably every time I hear it

It Ain't 1918: I think if I had to cut down all of Indiscreet to one song that represents it best as a whole, I would go with this one (Get In The Swing would probably be my second choice)

The Lady Is Lingering

In The Future: DEFINITELY my favourite here, another candidate for one of the best Sparks songs overall, special shoutout to those short instrumental segments between parts of the verses, you know, with the synth line that slows down and then speeds up again?

Miss The Start, Miss The End

Profile: song so good and in line with the rest of Indiscreet that I find it hard to believe it's just a bonus track. Impressive falsetto moments, fun as heck piano lines, all of the songs here are very unique but this one is fun and catchy in an especially unique way, to me

[cathchicken]

Ok watched the new episodes, my quick thoughts: (spoiler)

I thought cake dropped the f bomb when she said “puck him up!” In the first few minutes. Sort of disappointed she didn’t tho, that’d be really funny

Episode one overall was really cute! Gave me big bee and puppy cat vibes

I like the relationship Fiona has with both Gary and Marshal. ALSO PEPPERMINT BUTLER WAS SUCH A JUMPSCARE IDK WHY

Also surprising: Hunter?? (Genderswapped human huntress wizard). It’s a different design than the one we see in the trailers! I’m not sure how to think of it yet but I could immediately sense the sort of pairing they are going for obviously with Fiona.

Lsp was lsp

Also the human lemongrabs haha

Intro theme was a banger??? Especially episode 2

Ok episode two: essentially a Simon torture porn episode like oh my god I am not kidding

He’s such a looser (sad)

Like give my man a break

I bet you could easily make a 20 minute compilation of every time Simon gets whacked in the head or punched or something, by the end of the series.

Also Simon and Marcy flashback. Gonna throw up now my heart won’t take it

He is going insane. Like his girl how cute 💕💕💕💕

Betty shrine

Choose goose but EVIL!! yes! This was hinted at in the “wizard city” episode of distant lands, and now he is back but filled with dark magic I guess.

Nothing happens with that little Fiona fangirl

FINN!!! He is very big but thr same the whole time, I am happy to see him back

Jake is dead :’(

Finn hangs out with TV now, interesting. TV even has a little tamagotchi

This episode REALLY earned the tv-14 rating. Lots of blood, but satisfying in a way. A beat up monster actually has visible injuries!!

Well also Simon his arm gets jacked up. Because it’s mandatory I guess

I have no idea what’s gonna happen to finns weird scratch, maybe nothing

Finn makes like at least two jokes about his balls and it’s so good. He’d totally be the person to think balls are funny

Huntress wizard is also mentioned in this episode too!! Not any appearances though. Finn does say he regularly meets with her though, and at the end of the episode even goes to “hang out” with her

Rebecca sugar song!!! I think!!!

OH YEAH WE GOT A BIT OF BUBBALINEEE. Nothing too important, just them having a goofy time and being happy :3

next: Simon summons god /j

Well, he does something to connect with golb, or at least his intentions. But choose goose messes up the chant by saying something about Fiona and cake.

Ok so THEORY: this summoning/portal ritual caused a portal to appear from Simon to Fiona’s world, like the chant eventually said. The portal itself (in Fiona’s universe) was specifically tied to ice, since that’s a point of simons identity. Well, the portal cake wen through was right near human ice queen, so I thought it was because ice queen was the Simon of Fiona’s universe. But cake doesn’t enter her, but just the ice in her ice cream cart. Hmmm,,,, not sure.

Ok I think that’s it for now!!

[machiroads]

anirevo 2024 con report belooooooow

THURSDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 8TH

Left my office at 4:30. Took the bus to the ferry straight from work except the GODDAMN BUS DIDN'T ACTUALLY STOP TO PICK ME UP so I had to wait for the next one and missed the 6:00 ferry so I didn't get to my hotel in Vancouver until after 10pm oof

The slow bus was very nice once i got over being mad about the fast bus leaving me on read by way of listening to linkin park. It goes through some very quaint rural areas.

I purchased a can of wine on the ferry which was like $15 for 8.5oz. I don't know how I feel about this but I do feel like I got ripped off because the wine was only ok

I edited and posted ch2 of WTBL&W entirely on my phone which may or may not have been a mistake. Getting the html formatting right wasn't too bad, but editing the splash image for twitter and bsky on photopea was uhhhhhhhhh a mistake. FAFO

FRIDAY AUGUST 9TH

My hotel had one of those fancy toto washlets so you bet your ass my butt was squeaky clean all weekend

My hotel also had a room service menu that had a bowl of oatmeal for $14 as an offering. Which. No.

I got an actual breakfast at a tiny hole in the wall crepe place staffed by a single old man, then trundled over to the con to pick up my badge at like 10ish. I was in line behind a cute couple in horimiya cosplay

The first panel I actually wanted to see wasn't until like 12 so I sat on the seawalk, finished my coffee, watched floatplanes, and replied to AO3 comments. 11/10 banger morning.

I watched an improv comedy D&D skit, which was fun, then traipsed down to the exhibition hall to do Some Shopping

MERCH REPORT: nobody really had heroaca stuff? Or if they did it was just the main kids. Still lots of people with HQ stuff, which I'm encouraged to see years after its ending. I'm happy with the pin selection this year tho, I picked up some nice stuff (but I think i will need to find additional capacity on my button collection because it's p much full oops)

BONUS COSPLAY REPORT: There also weren't really any heroaca cosplayers either, i saw like 1 shinsou, a couple bkgs, and a handful of people in nonspecific UA gym uniforms. Very strange. I did, however, see like 3 Nanamis within the span of 2 minutes on Saturday. (i don't even go here re jjk but he was the basic white boy cosplay of the year)

I spent like 2 hours in the exhibition hall and my brain hurt so I got poke for lunch, went back to the hotel to eat it, then took a nap

I went back for another couple panels on Friday night (a panel with vancouver VA graham hamilton, and another improv advice panel)

SATURDAY AUGUST 10TH

I went bra shopping on saturday morning because i accidentally overstuffed my backpack last week and zipped my bra into the zipper and tore the liner whilst trying to extract it. This is not relevant to the con, however it was an important part of my weekend

There wasn't anything I wanted to see at the con in the morning so I didn't get there until like 2:00 so I could line up for the cosplay contest. I'd never been to one before, and I don't really cosplay mself, but I've recently been watching some sarah spaceman videos, so I thought it would be fun to go see a contest for the first time.

On the schedule the contest is supposed to start at 2:30. There's like 6 down-and-backs of queueing space for people waiting to get in. When I got there around 2ish there were people milling about saying they'd cut the line. I loitered a bit longer until some admin looking folk went around telling people to disperse because queueing outside of the taped off area was a "fire hazard", and to come back at 3:00 when the event started. At this point, the line of people illicitly queued for this event wrapped probably halfway around the building, and the VCC is a Large Building.

I assume the delayed start time was probably due to pre-judging going long (thank u sarah spaceman for this education i now know how cosplay contests work), so i wasn't too fussy about that, but the fire hazard thing was a little silly to me because I'd been in the exhibition hall already which to me seemed like waaaaaay more of a fire hazard than a generally orderly line. Regardless. I bummed around on the seawalk for a bit and then went back just before 3 and managed to snag a seat. The contest itself ended up being really fun, and I'm glad i stuck around for it.

I went to another 3 panels on Saturday night, all 3 of which had similar queue capacity issues, and all 3 of which started late. Again, when the panels themselves started, they were all really fun, but logistically it seemed like they had some challenges. It does feel a bit silly to complain about though when I have literally nothing else to do that weekend tho haha

I attended the Philosophy of Science in FMA and Dr Stone (TIL epistemology is a word), a panel about adaptations that are superior to the source material, and...............yaoi bedtime stories. Which was a hoot.

SUNDAY AUGUST 11TH

Kind of a chill morning. Got some goodies at a bakery for breakfast / lunch / to bring home, checked out of the hotel, then trundled over to the con.

I went to a panel that was just a bunch of tables set up with colouring sheets and books and stuff and that was super what I needed. I coloured the eeveelutions from memory (and only forgot half of their colour schemes), and then there was a little time left so I also coloured in a cardcaptor sakura.

I thought about attending cosplay life drawing afterwards but ended up just heading home after colouring since I was kind of Done after a full weekend. There was another improv dragon ball tribute scheduled, but not until like 6:30pm and if I stuck around for that I wouldn't have gotten home today lol

No bus mishaps on the way home fortunately

ANYWAYS that's all folks thanks for reading about my dramatization of what was actually a pretty chill weekend.

[teruki-inoue21]

THE… END?? 

Aight so… to y’all Of those who’s goin’ mad watching S2E12 like me, I’m here to analyze it and make y’all go EVEN more mad. Let’s start

WHY were the glitching effects there when Liu Lan (Tianchen’s and Tianxi’s mom) died. Like, we know that the glitching effects appear when there’s some time travel shenanigans, so is it possible that in probably Link Click III, someone from the present actually was possessing Tianchen or Tianxi and saw what went down? Was LIU FRIKIN XIAO involved??? [ Like, I know CXS was inhibiting Xixi at that point, but what I mean is that what if someone from even further in the future, like from S3 stuff, possessed either Tianchen or Liu Lan (the scene was from Tianchen’s POV, so…]

2. LESSSS GOOOO !!!! Lu Guang confirmed to be a time traveler! But what’s weird is that how does he have CXS’s ability? Does it mean that the theory regarding LG actually giving CXS his powers is true? Also, which photo did LG use to dive back? When did he dive back? It could be that while we were thinking that CXS dies in the events of S2, it was all a fluke and he actually dies in some S3 stuff? ( refer back to my post relating to Liu Xiao v Lu Guang). 

3. Liu Xiao - oh you……. WHAT THE FRIK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?! Like, be at least a little bit sad that your brother died, will ya? Also, I guess I was right about Liu Min’s phone being important for the plot. And, did he LITERALLY lowkey indicate diverging and/or converging timelines when he said he wanted to connect all possible lines and go towards one single conclusion??? WTF????? What CONCLUSION?? What DESTINY?????    

4. So, milady Wang Juan is alive! Who’s happy? But, Ayo, Xiao Li legit made a division on crimes related to paranormal abilities? Yo, that’s gonna be super important later on!!!! This bit is making me SOOO sure that Liu Xiao has some ability as well (once again, refer back to the post where I liken him to Lu Guang)

5. And, why was the teacher guy’s (who was in a affair with Liu Lan) face hidden? Will HE be important for S3 as well???  

6. Idfk but please tell me Qiao Ling got Tianxi’s ability!!  

7. Finally, we gonna have Lu Guang’s backstory. Qiao Ling, my dear, care to share? 

8. And last but not the least, it seems we finally gonna get our duo (CXS n LG) v another (LTch and Liu Xiao). Yep, Liu Xiao, tell us what your power is! Don’t tell me, u got yo’ powers from the same place as CXS and LG?? (Do note that he was abroad too and said a lot of interesting things happened there!!! YOOO I’MMA LOSE MA MIND!!!!!!)   

Yea, good goin’ theorizing about all these, me lads! Til then, I’ma go listen to the banger of an ED they gave in that last episode!

[faceglitchsworld]

It's the 31st of October, happy Halloween everyone!

Hope you'll celebrate this day happily with your ghosts friends and you'll watch your favourite horror movie tonight.

But this is not the important stuff today.

Today it's Seunghyub Day! 🥳

Happy birthday! 🥳

Please, look at the collage I made for him 🥹

I can't believe this month I've ended two birthday letters series, I'm still shocked about it 😭

And it's kinda ironic that I'm ending my N.Flying birthday letters with HIM. The man himself, the leader, Seunghyub 😭

Oh boy, what a rollercoaster writing these letters has been. Honestly, I thought about the format too this time because I wanted to make a very very special letter to him BUT since he's doing well and he's not in the military (thank god) I'll just give you the classic format BUT I've made sure to make it very long this time.

Sorry, you'll read much more this time.

My relationship with Seunghyub is kinda complicated. If you've followed me for a while you already know that I've reblogged many, and I say MANY, Seunghyub posts: photos, GIFs, videos, I think Seunghyub is the N.Flying member with so many posts about it on my blog. He has even more posts than my actual N.Flying bias, it's kinda crazy. But despite this mass posting, Seunghyub still didn't take a place in my bias line.

But despite this, Seunghyub is still important to me. I've met my dearest moots thanks to him and I think I've learned a lot about him thanks to them too.

Like, I think I know all the freaking times he made something risky like making a shirtless photoshoot or that time he starred in a drama and...well, he went randomly shirtless and did some work out too. And every time he does something I consider risky I always make sure to tag my moots on it because he truly makes them cry and scream.

And not only these moments, mind you. There are the silly moments too. Like, I can't believe that this tall man had a boomer moment when he joined Fromm and he couldn't change his propic properly. Or when he went at 2idiots and he almost failed the game and went shirtless. Or when he didn't know how to wear a shirt the right way. This man is silly, very, very silly.

And of course all the silly moments are always connected to what is his second family to him, N.Flying as a whole. And N.Fias too. I think that these days he has been more active than ever (I mean knowing the period ofc he's much more active now). It's honestly good that he wants to spend much time with us and keeping us company while waiting for N.Flying coming back as a whole. Sure, that means more boyfie moments but the company, the company you all. That is more important right now.

And of course I should talk about his music side too. And confess that at first I didn't believe he had a deep talking voice. I believed he had his singing voice and not that one. But still, it's not the most important thing to notice. The important thing to notice is his song writing, both as Seunghyub and as J.DON. because I'll never believe that someone isn't capable of vibing with Clicker, like no, that song is a banger. But there's one song in particular that deserves the spotlight today.

There's one song in N.Flying that I don't listen to too much. Not because it's a bad song or something, but only because I get so emotional when I listen to it that I should listen to it only for some occasions. That song is Starlight.

I don't think this song needs any introduction. If you've followed N.Flying for more than five minutes, you probably already know the meaning behind it, the cute yet sad MV and how it wasn't one of the most played songs live until recently apparently. Maybe Seunghyub went through some emotional struggle and decided to make everyone, especially me, teary and emotional during these recent N.Flying concerts, who knows. Jokes apart, I sincerely think that this song is so powerful to me that you don't need to search the translation to understand its feelings. Heck, I barely remember the translation myself and I still cry when I hear the words.

All this introduction just for telling you that this song, apart for tearing me apart all the time that I hear it, helped me a lot this year. I don't want to enter too much in detail because that would completely ruin the letter's vibe and, well, this is a birthday letter after all, but, at the beginning of this year I lost an important person in my life. The night I received the news I was so devastated that I didn't want to cry about it in front of my parents. It happened only once in my life and I didn't want to do it. I wanted some time alone, you know?

So I went into my room, put on my earphones and searched for a song to listen to. And my mind went towards Starlight. I searched the song, pressed play and let the song ring in my ears. I cried a lot. I think I've put the song on loop a couple of times while I was letting out all the tears. I was tired after a while. But I wanted to listen to the song one last time. And the song turned from a catalyst to a comfort blanket.

Dear Seunghyub, I don't want to reduce your songwriting to just one song but I want to tell you that, thanks to your music, I made a good bunch of friends and I went well when I had some terrible moments during my life. You caught a young fan's heart and you'll keep doing it as time will pass.

That's why my birthday wish for you is that you'll be able to wrap up all the songs from your SoundCloud and that you'll give us the next J.Don comeback from those. The world needs more of your music, your creativity, more of you in general.

Since you already did your birthday live, I can only wish for you the best day ever today. Spend it brightly.

Happy birthday, Seunghyub ❤️

[rebloggedsunsox]

SECURITY BREACH RUIN SPOILERS

Finally got around to watching a Security Breach Ruin playthrough, oh boy. That was a lot. Most notably in my own thoughts, or as many as I can pull out of my head right now-

• Obviously, so much more fleshed out and developed. I'm really happy SW was given all the time they needed to make this dlc, because it's just so so good, storywise and obviously in its gameplay compared to the unfortunate fate of security breach.

• Bonnie's Glamrock design had me screaming - there he was!! I love all the fanon designs for him don't get me wrong, his game design is just as refreshing and cool. The bright light blue in the main of him reminded me of Toy Bonnie (aka one of my favourite animatronics) and was a very nice colour to choose in comparison to purple, since that colour is mostly incorporated in Roxy's design now (and Aftons whole thing but ykwim). Brilliant!!

• ROXY. OUGH. I pitied her and liked the memes abt her that went around during the first game and her hatred for Gregory following into the new one (duh, wants her damn eyes back), but oh my god her whole thing with Cassie made me so sad. Surely your friends will show up this time!!! Number one!!! Twice!!!

• Not gonna lie, was very much expecting an ending where the mask gets permanently stuck on Cassies head and the AI Bunny(cant remember atm what ites being called lmao) just torments her for all of eternity. It struck me as really important that the mask had such an intrusive and physical method of use, and how Cassie is now permanently connected to the network whether she has it on or off, I thought they were going to do more with it in the endings. I know that the Brazil ending had Cassie using it to hide from her fate with the mimic, but that feels to me like its more about Cassie using it to escape rather than the reality of the mask now being specifically part of her. Not a complaint at all though, just my own personal thoughts and observations!!!

• The Mimic. Yeesh. Rip having to pretend to be Gregory of all people just to get out from a sinkhole, may I remind you the Mimic literally sassed Helpi in the first rid of the AI Bunny? Most in character line he managed to stitch together lmao (i have more to say abt it but I am too tired to try and write thst out rn)

• CANDY CADET. SOBBING.

• That poster up by the vents from BOWLING to FAZER BLAST being Freddy's poster for Bonnie? Cry. Legitimately made me tear up a little. I don't care what context people are choosing to frame their relationship in based on that "Love, Freddy" bit or what is actually confirmed canon (when do we ever get that in fnaf tho/j), they were programmed robots with a legitimate sense of care and affinity for each other and that is SO. DAMN. SAD.

• Follow up to that, DID SHUTTING DOWN ALL OF THE CUTE LITTLE YELLOW SIGN BABIES RELEASE BONNIE'S SPIRIT OR KILL IT? Regardless, those glowing eyes from his body in the secret bowling area had to mean something. Imagine being destroyed like that and having your soul trapped in your immovable body, waiting for who knows how long for someone to evem find you...

• Monty's story? Both don't trust it or Monty at all and still feel kinda a little bad for him. Going on the principle that he's had the ability to feel since the beginning too makes me worry for his possible character conflict when/if his full story if explicitly revealed. Someone gave him the ability to become one of the four, and still I don't think it was Bonnie despite the little art story. Monty might have been the one to destroy Bonnie to get there, but I think that hand with the guitar is symbolising that he had some kind of help along the way.

• Was kinda hoping Chica was gonna get more of a fleshed out backstory but its fine, she got her bits and thats okay! What was with the voice box bit??? Her minigame looked like fun tho lmao

That's most of what I feel like bringing up for now. Overall just a solid, banger fnaf game that I absolutely now just regard as its own installment completely seperate to Security Breach. Finally getting back into the swing of things. Cant wait for what's next!

[quietwingsinthesky]

I want to ask who your fav doc is, but that feels unfair since you just got to Twelve :c I'll come back and ask when you've finished his era

from what i’ve heard of 12, im fully expecting him to shoot up the ranks quick.

of the doctors i have experience with rn tho, i think the ranking goes 11 at the bottom (i love him but by god he does have the most variable episode quality so far and. watching his seasons leaves me with the feeling that no one in charge really knew what they wanted to do with him? even by the end of s7, im still not sure what exactly eleven’s arc was. there’s the ‘he got too important for his own good’ bit, but his fall from grace into obscurity is a background detail that doesn’t seem to effect him. s7 was. we don’t talk about s7. s6 had the strongest idea with building him up as that important guy, but watching the season itself, it’s more like a thing established in episode 1 and then not brought up again until the finale. sorry, im rambling. i have a lot of thoughts about eleven. matt smith killed it, and his dynamic with the ponds & river was brilliant. clara even gets some great episodes with him. he’s just a little messy.)

and then after 11 is mr war doctor. yes maybe i only knew him for one episode, but holy shit what an impression he left. everything about him fascinates me. i love that old man.

and then finally, i flip back and forth on whether nine or ten get top spot depending on the day. nine does have less time in the spotlight but his season is straight bangers, eccleston’s performance is everywhere from hilarious to dread-inducing to tragic. he’s everything to me, all that fresh trauma in a leather jacket and still so, so kind. life-changing doctor. imprint on as a baby duckling kind of doctor. but obviously ten is iconic for a reason. do i even have to explain why he’d be at the top. i love him. im dunking him in a glass of milk and slapping him against the wall. pathetic man with a grief-driven god complex, can’t stop himself from trying to save everyone he can, never gets to be happy, adopted 900 year old son of wilfred mott, i could go on.

im curious where 12 will fall.

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

OMG WE'RE RANKING HAZBIN SONGS!?!?!?!? MY TURN MY TURN MY TURN!!!

Respectless: Carmilla and Velvette both have such satisfying voices omfg. Also the beat goes sO HARD- it catches your attention and DOESN'T LET IT GO! Also it moves the plot forward very effectively which is actually really important for songs in musicals to do so. That's nice. Tbh it's only flaw is being too short-

Stayed Gone: VOX MY BELOVED- this song is so fucking catchy. It also kinda gives me Will Wood vibes, and I love Will Wood so ofc I'm gonna love the Will Wood ass song. Love how petty Al and Vox are, like it's so fucking funny. The lore drops are also really interesting. Aaaaaaaand Alastor's bit at the end reminded me of the Nowhere King and I love Centaurworld so :)

Loser, Baby: Pretty obvious why this one's so high up; Huskerdust, Keith David, cute bonding, has a message I needed to hear tbh, and its catchy as FUCK

Hell Is Forever: God I love all the different genres they play around with in this show- like I was NOT expecting a straight up ROCK BALLAD in the FIRST FUCKIN EPISODE but god Im so happy we got it. This song goes so fucking hard. Alex Brightman should be allowed to sing more Rock n' Roll.

Poison: Once again, this song is catchy as hell! Blake Roman's vocal preformance is also phenomenal, like that man can fuckin SING!!! Of course he can he's been on broadway and releases his own music bUt you get it. Also that final verse... man. In the context of the episode this song is emotionally devastating, out of context it's uh. Still really sad tbh but it's easier to bop along to it cause you don't have the visuals- Idk it's just a fuckin banger man. Though speaking of the visuals VOX WHAT WAS THAT FUCKING LOOK WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO CONVEY HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ANGE- *gets shot dead*

Happy Day In Hell: Honestly? Pretty neutral on this song. Love Erika Henningsen's voice, I think it's catchy(no duh), and the Disney Princess vibes are IMMACULATE. Not a huge fan of the random shift in the music I wanna say half way through? But otherwise it's a good song I think, conveys Charlie's motives really well.

Whatever It Takes: Okay okay look. It's a good song. Does it's job in the episode. It's just not for me. I think it goes on a little too long, and I think that, while Daphne Ruben-Vega's voice fits the song PERFECTLY, Stephanie Beatriz was singing too high in her range to a distracting degree. Like I think there was something wonky going on because that shit gave me the same whiplash I got when Marinette started singing in the Miraculous movie, and it just. Doesn't fit the style of the song. Like Vaggie's part should've been more belty or something. Idk man I might be too out of my lane w/ this for my critique to be valid, because I have literally never written a song before, and music is VERY subjective so I don't think I can even be objectively right here, but still. Oppinions.

It Starts With Sorry: Look, I know this song is supposed to be a joke, but the first time I saw the episode that did n o t click with me, and without the understanding that it isn't entirely serious this song just feels so fucking out of place and really falls flat. Like it feels like somebody took a song from My Little Pony: FiM, made an AMV with Hazbin characters, and then threw it in the episode, y'know? And like don't get me wrong MLP has some FUCKIN bangers(Say Goodbye to the Holiday, This Day Aria, etc), but a lot of the musical numbers are still really bland and samey, y'know? So uh yeah it's a decent song and a funny joke but def my least favorite so far.

[larnax]

ok i have. i have more disgaea thoughts. my girl fuka what did they do to you

ok so the thing abt d4 is that overall its story is quite fun, it's peak disgaea because it is wacky in a way where its absurdly exaggerated literal events are used to represent emotional conflicts ie a character's dad shutting himself away in his lab for her entire childhood who reveals it was to fulfill her dream of taking over the world by developing machines that she can command to take over the world as an allegory for a dad doing his best to provide for his kids at the expense of being there for his kids so they grow up without feeling like he loves them, and it legitimately is the only story i think really intertwines serious and batshit to make "WE HAVE TO POWER THE MECH WITH LOVE SO IT CAN STOP THE MOON FROM CRASHING TO EARTH, QUICK, PRAY TO YOUR PARTNER BECAUSE WHILE YOU HAVE NO FAITH IN GOD YOU HAVE FAITH IN HIM!" instead of in d1 having the story be wacky with occasional stops to tell a standard story with normal emotional stakes and etna is there to tell jokes, or from d5 onwards basically just being standard fantasy stories with normal emotional stakes but theres wacky backgrounds.

the actual main story of d4 is all bangers, there are a lot of great heels to keep the story interesting and although they all come around to val in the end they don't all become his bff which avoids the d7 problem of "you made a new guy up just so we would have anyone to fight and nobody we do recruit puts up an interesting struggle and therefore none of us have an interesting reason we're still here beyond inertia". i do wish artina got to do more stuff i think she's way too fun a character who is way too important in the story to be relegated to third wheel as often as she is, but to fix that i would just give her most of axel's stuff. she becomes president and then is absent for the moon episode on intel that she'll meet "someone she doesn't wanna see" and then when she radios in for the roll call you have a little joke about flonne being that person.

usually i really like flonne being a straightforward heel in her adult appearances. shes the whitest woman in existence and shes very nasty when she thinks she's doing the right thing, which is always. i support women's wrongs and her stealing billions from the netherworld(which celestia already exploits in a lot of ways/sometimes just decides to destroy) to fuck around with by forcing an underling who actively does not want to do it to shake down random civilians and public infrastructure, all to fund her stupid ass mech shaped like her who's powered by prayer? thats horrible! shes so nasty! it's really funny and them being forced to deal with That being their only way to keep fenrich from having the most important thing in his life(after val) fucking exploded leads to one of the reasons they should have won that fucking noncanon gayest ships tournament FUCK those community bitches.

HOWEVER. the fuka dlc is so bad. or let me rephrase: the fuka dlc is transcendantly good until the ending at which point it becomes the worst thing that happens in disgaea 4.

bc ok ok ok. so fuka is dead. that's her story, after a childhood of being neglected by her always busy dad she breaks into his lab and finds his evil scientist lair full of mutant constructs, one of whom kills her. she doesn't accept that she's dead because she's only 14 and her life hasn't even started yet and on top of that she's been sent to hell despite being a normal ass 14 year old whos biggest crime is being a teenager. so she deals with it by denying it and deluding herself into believing that this is all a dream and someday she'll wake up in a happy life she's just starting and she won't have to confront the terrible fate she met with. so the solution is obvious, right?

after the main story resolves and fuka has a group of friends and caretakers who love her and she's patched things up with her dad, fuka needs to accept that she's dead. disgaea uses a reincarnation system as a core part of the series mythology and gameplay. reincarnation is good and necessary. fuka, eventually, needs to let go, and stop haunting the world she did get cheated out of a life in.

so in the dlc, her friends and family help her. val puts her through the toughest puzzle course he can because he's her teacher and he wants her to prove that she's strong and resourceful and capable, and she does! she passes all his tests and he gives her his formal blessing. then her secondary father figure, her bio dad, finally delivers on his promise to help her take over the world, they like. rent out a city and give her a bunch of crazy machines to go wild on with the power she's worked so hard for and the allies she's found so much support in, including her little sister who she only recently got to meet and connect with during the main story and her surrogate reluctant little brother, The Grim Reaper, who is the one guiding her through the mechanics of reincarnation in the first place as a sign of his own personal growth that he's now mature enough to handle this difficult case.

and it works! fuka accepts it! she accepts, sadly, that she's dead, and she should move on. she'll lose this life, which is sad! they're all sad about it! but it's okay. and then-- it's an ending, right?

it's going to be an ending, you think. disgaea has a bunch of specific endings. there's one for completing a single optional stage in d1. it would make perfect sense narratively and gameplay wise to have an ending with fuka reincarnating, then just. introduce a bill to resummon fuka from an alternate dimension or time travel shenanigans or literally whatever other funny joake you can think of this is a comedy series and doing it this way doesn't undercut the emotional part While Its Happening. because if that happened itd be Bad.

enter flonne. because it is not an ending. flonne barrels through the fourth wall at the last second and, dead vfucking serious, CONDEMNS FUKA TO ETERNAL HELL WITH NO CHANCE OF REINCARNATION because she "tried to take over the world" by fighting in a stage consisting of like three blocks her dad set up for her where no civilians were even present. also bc shes the ruler of heaven this is the character who condemned her to hell originally when she was FOURTEEN because when she was six she wanted to take over the world.

which is a baller heel move and i would be so so so so into it IF she was a boss fight. if they had to defeat her before she was forced to reluctantly give fuka her very well-deserved reincarnation. but, uh, nope, last minute twist, Moving On Is Bad Actually and fuka is still condemned to eternal hell. fuck you. sure its technically a sentence that lets her spend time with her besties forever but like. at what cost. flonne only works as a heel if the other characters clash with her instead of valvatorez and emizel of all fucking people being like Woof so glad we don't have to say goodbye, i guess our entire characters and the things we find important and the reasons we were doing this do not matter and all that shit about caring about fuka and wanting her to find peace was Bullshit. have fun being 14 for the rest of your life, Dumbass!

← literally what its like to be 14 years old

[aviel-the-trans-bucket]

Welcome back madlads, today we’re listening to more of Gerard’s solo music. Today we’ll be doing all the non-album singles, meaning my next post of these will be the first of several posts listing to Frank Iero’s post breakup music.

I’m not too sure what to expect but I’m looking forward to it. Honestly I needed a bit of a break after I finish mcr’s backlog (I write my draft structure in advance lol) it was nice but I got that kinda ache in my chest after finishing a good story. I’m looking forward to getting back into new music and moving forward. (So this one came a while after I did the last post because I got really busy and lost track of time, so let’s try and finish the hiatus music before 2024 together ;u;)

Pinkish: Ok grainy, but the vibe is pretty tasty. This is nice, it reminds me a bit of bullets tbh. I’m not sure I know what to call this vibe but like, I feel. Hell-fucking-o that guitar jumpscared me, but it’s sexy as hell!

Don’t Try: oh this is a liminal vibe. It’s like both poppy but also reminds me of sifi sounds and it’s trippy and I like it. This kind of fucks. Oh I like this. I think this might be a new favorite of his solo stuff. Vaguely kinda reminds me of disenchanted. Yea I vibe with this one really hard.

Into the Cave We Wander: oh this sounds nice. This feels cozy, oh I adore this. This is just such a pleasent sounding lovely time. This gives such a calming yet adventurous vibe, fills me with a sense of pure wonder. Gorgeous 10/10.

Baby You’re a Haunted House: ok this feels reminiscent of the classic emo sound. Ok but like, why am I getting Fountains of Wayne? Like vague vague “Stacey’s Mom” vibes. But it’s pretty good. Might take a few more listens to really hook me, same things happened with “I never told you what I do for a living” but now it’s stuck in my brain.

Getting Down the Germs: oooo nice guitar. Ok this also kinda fucks. Man all his solo music has felt just so retro fr. It’s a very chill vibe, is nice.

Dasher: ok I’m not sure what to expect here. It sounds really pretty tho. Just really relaxing and pretty, I like it a lot. Yea this was beautiful.

A Hazy Shade of Winter: ok I’m not sure what to expect here either since I’ve heard this is also a cover. The vibes are something? I don’t know what tho. Haunting intro and it blows your tits clean off! Oh this is what I’ve been fucking craving! Ok this is one of the ones I think I like the sound of the most. This is good as hell!

Happy Together: mmm another cover. Oh shit man, now this fucks. God I love his voice so much. A banger cover, his voice has lived in my brain for years and paid not a cent on the god damn power bill 😔

Here Comes the End: ok vibes much. This kinda slaps shit. Looking back, yea this makes sense this was released in 2020. It vibes but damn that was 3 years ago and both feels like it’s only been 1 but also a full decade.

Well this was nice, a lot of good songs. Sorry if I missed any important ones, I’m just going by the Wikipedia page. My top 5 of the bunch would have to be…

1: A Hazy Shade of Winter

2: Don’t Try

3: Into The Cave We Wander

4: Dasher

5: Baby You’re a Haunted House

So I’m finally done with Gerard’s solo stuff after a long gap between posts of me being busy and then burnt out. I’m hoping to learn more about my music taste by doing this tbh, since Frank’s is next I’m kinda hoping to be surprised a bit. So far I’ve learned Gerard’s vocals are but one aspect that makes mcr music tickle my brain. The constant threat of having my tits blown clean off by a guitar seems to be a secondary factor. Well next up we’ll be doing stomachaches.

[necarion]

Series that ended strong

I’ve been thinking recently about media franchises that make it to the end of a long series and then really nail the ending. This is obviously extremely challenging; anything that’s run for sufficiently long is going to have a ton of moving pieces that are hard to pull together in a way that’s satisfying for the reader. Sometimes this is because there are many plot threads that need resolution, and sometimes because there are character payoffs that need to finally come do.  Regardless, some media really manage it.

Some things that come to mind for me are below. I’m trying to include things that were particularly large or long-running, or were not intended to be as involved as they were.

Full conclusion, but ran out of steam. It didn’t leave any major plot threads hanging, even if there are elements that are kind of unsatisfying.  Sometimes this happens when an author just is tired, or when the thing becomes a bit too unwieldy.  There are a lot of things here. Schlockmercenary. Ra. Worm (Worm desperately needs a rewrite of the back third, more or less).

Endings that landed the plane reasonably well. These are endings that managed to pull most things together in a way that work better than not.

Avengers: Endgame. Managed to get the first three phases of the MCU to a close that was basically satisfying for most of the core characters. Had its dumb moments (many a result of Infinity War). Had a great HELL YEAH moment.

Things that had a satisfying conclusion. This usually requires (most) character arcs or plot arcs to be completed.

Wheel of Time. Brandon Sanderson inherited a basically impossible task from Robert Jordan. Yes, many of the threads had been partially wrapped before he took over, but the most important ones (especially Rand and Egwene) and then the entire Last Battle needed to be resolved.  He’s also dealing with 15 years of other plot constraints in an acute case of Death of the Author. I think he did better than could possibly have been expected and delivered and ending that I still am reluctant to reread unless I’m okay crying my eyes out. Nevertheless, there are a bunch of bits that are weird or don’t quite work for folks.

Animorphs. (I’m told, I never got to the ending). Unsatisfying in a lot of ways (no happy endings), but very satisfying thematically.

Harry Potter.

Things that nailed the ending (best category):

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

A Practical Guide to Evil. The best example I can think of for this. The series got progressively stronger as it ran. And then the final book kept getting better and better. Almost every major conflict ended satisfyingly resolved (whether for the character or the story). Even when there were unsatisfying moments, they turned out to be deliberately so, to be properly resolved later. Every major character, and many of the minor one’s I’d gotten to love over the past 5 years, got big moments. And then the last 10 or so chapters were a set of absolute bangers. Followed by a pair of Epilogues that absolutely wrecked me.

The Good Place. Didn’t have a bad episode anywhere and absolutely nailed the finish. That was a hell of a finale, really showcasing the growth that all the characters had made over the four seasons.

And then we have the odd category of “solid ending, but then faceplanted”. These are ones in which there was actually a really good ending in there somewhere, and then at the very end, something got put in place that was a “what the fuck?” moment. These ones are often stories where fans say “just don’t watch after 10 minutes in the final episode”.

Battlestar Galactica (2004)

How I Met Your Mother

Any additions for the list?

[devitalise]

i agree with ur thoughts on s2, here some of my in depth thoughts though:

stuff i didn't like

- i totally agree about carmy not being as big of a presence in this season, i understand they wanted to show that he absolutely isn't ready for a relationship, but imo if ur gonna do that u gotta go bigger? crying in the fridge and getting in a fight with richie who we know he'll easily make up with isn't that big of a deal to me.. i would have loved to see a huge break up that made him confront his inability to let himself be happy AND claire reminding him of hs, home and michael (they kept hinting at this and all we got was one panic attack scene? ok)

- i actually didn't mind claire. it was very clear she was just a plot device from the start and i def wouldn't mind there being more depth to her character, but they had chemistry and the actress did a great job. idk i rly liked her character, but disliked the narrative surrounding her (i started rolling my eyes by the 20th time someone mentioned carmy liked her in hs, we get it!)

- i hate what they did to marcus, i don't see him as a bitter guy who yells after getting rejected idk what the point of that was since it got resolved in 10 min

- ebra's arc felt a little unfinished, like a scene or two was missing? but other than that i think it was great to see him struggle with smtn and more of his friendship with tina

- maybe a me thing, but i missed some of the surreal elements s1 had (the cooking show, the literal bear, the cage, the nightmare..)

things i liked

- literally everything else. the acting, dialogue, direction, lighting, you name it i loved it. the comedic moments were so good this season, richie and fak were standouts for me.

- just when i thought this show couldn't possibly overwhelm me more, but the christmas ep proved me wrong. it could have been shorter (the tiff and richie scene was especially long), but jamie lee curtis was too captivating for me to care all that much

- despite there being a lot of things i dislike, this is such a short list for me? i fucking love this show sm, and s2 was a great comeback as far as i'm concerned. not as great as the first, but still a banger and i can't wait to see what they do next <33

hi babe sorry i kept remembering and then forgetting to answer this and then i didn't want to drop spoilers the same week as release because i can't put your ask under a cut but it's been a month now so i'll go under the cut to hit your points

i didn't completely hate the fridge breakdown like him not being able to be there for such an important career milestone because he kept putting things above the bear opening?? fitting and deserved to me!

yeah i feel the same about claire like after a certain point none of the claire carmy scenes were offering me anything new. i wasn't learning anything new about carmy and didn't feel like the plot was moving along either. and the sex scene?? EW (not in a puritan sex way but carmy is sooooo sexless to me i don't want to see him breathing into this woman's face all sensual like creeps me out)

yeah that was sooo???? HELP! glad they got over it at the end of the ep they'll be fine

agreed about ebra! not completely there but i think he'll shine in s3 if there is one in the same way tina came so completely into her own this season. (love tina!)

yeah absolutely! there was a whiff of it with syd in the last ep with the ticket printing and ep2 where she's going around eating food but more weirdness would have been appreciated idk

i'm gonna rewatch s2 in a couple months i think to really see how i feel about it the further removed i get from watching it the better my memory of it is for me so i'll see how that goes

[sublime-beyond-loss]

While I personally don’t mind the fandomification of TSP, especially because so much banger art comes from it, and I don’t think it’s been boiled down to two white men because there are still so many amazing designs for them that can be strange, surreal, oddball, and non-human. Plus there are plenty of designs for them that don’t make them white and often make them non-binary. Still, as someone who was around for the first release of the game and has watched it explode into what it is now, it has been an interesting experience. 

My Youtube channel tends to interact with the game closer to the more humorous and surreal way people did with the game back in the day, and it definitely doesn’t gain the same sort of traction or notice typical ‘fandomified’ TSP works do these days, outside of a few outliers that the Youtube algorithm picked up. I don’t mind too much though because I was never exactly looking to create an audience through my work, I just enjoy interacting with the game in my own weird ways. 

Plus, there’s my whole thing about streaming an ongoing refusal to push the skip button as a sort of statement on non-violence in video games, knowing perfectly well that there is no way to beat that ending without doing harm to the narrator. It’s meant to be a kind of optimistic nihilism that embraces the absurdism of it all. Because at the end of the day I am killing a PS4 for no in-game benefit and yet still making meaning out of just sitting there inside a game while doing nothing. But that is also why I refuse to believe Ultra Deluxe is worse than the original or had a bad effect on the legacy of the game, because nothing in the original game inspired me to do something so crazy and strangely meaningful through what is ultimately an utterly meaningless action.

I enjoy what the game has become, and UD ending the way that it did was pretty much asking for this to happen by seemingly declaring itself artistically dead, and I think on a subconscious level it is still the player/narrator dynamic playing out. You are meant to push back against the narrator and the ending was the ultimate challenge for you to prove him wrong by creating and perpetuating TSP through art of your own, or at least that’s how I see it. But I also kinda get why some people would not like this because a lot of the fandom does not really engage with its themes on a more cerebral level and instead focuses on the fandom-y aspects that aren’t even really present in the game itself. I’ve definitely noticed a lot of people who jump into the fandom saying they’ve never actually played the game or even watched a playthrough, or when they do play it they come back saying it wasn’t anything like the way the fandom presents it to be. 

But, like I said, I personally don’t mind. The TSP fandom is super chill and really kind and accepting, and that’s all that really matters to me. I’ll take that over a giant, far more toxic fandom, or a small one that is difficult to find and connect with and only engages with the game in a more ‘artsy’ way. Plus older TSP fans tended to fall far more into that toxic gamer mindset that was nowhere near as open and accepting as the current one, despite the game itself challenging those kinds of mentalities. And that’s exactly why I prefer the current fandom. The openness of TSP itself allows for all kinds of interpretations and artistic expression. If TSP evolving into its current state brings people happiness, that’s the more important part to me as someone who exists within both extremes. Still, your post gave me some things to think about and it kinda put into words something that I had been trying to articulate within myself for awhile now as someone who is a bit in between the lines with how the old TSP ‘fandom’ interacted with it compared to the new one.

I was just talking about this with a friend but its SO WEIRD that there's a massive stanley parable fandom now bc of ultra deluxe when i was really into the game in like. 2015 there was barely anything. like i made a davey wreden server i 2017 that had 10 members

[starlightshore]

Question about your DP AU but what are the main trio's families like? I think you've talked about Jack and Maddie a few times, but not in depth. Anything different between Sam and Tucker's parents? How much do the parents know about each other or what their kids are up to?

oof this topic is hard cause its been a long time since i watched the actual show (minus the two eps i watched to answer asks) and well, there really isn't a ton to work with regarding Tucker's Family. they seem nice. that's all we got. there's not even a "personality" section on their wiki page.

in the fandom, oddly enough, there's only one fic that comes to mind rn that had tucker's parents be semi-important (or at least, relevant) i can't remember the name rn but its like, "nobody knows au, tucker is a reluctant psychic who has to find a serial killer AU" which was a banger. i don't have a lot to go off of, so in all honesty I'm likely just going to make shit up to make things more interesting.

(img description in the photo)

putting all of this in a read-more cause its loooong.

What we DO know is that Danny and Tucker were "best friends since forever" so, here they are as besties from like, kindergarten. We can easily assume Maurice and Angela (Tucker's parents) don't mind the Fenton's antics, or at the very least tolerate it enough to allow Tucker to be exposed to their strangeness.

Meanwhile Sam would be going to some Rich Kid school. To up the ante, my take has Sam do something so scandalous and horrifying that this rich family moves from New York to a small town in Minnesota.

Sam isn't actually proud of it, but plays it off as if they are. cause like, yeah, their parents are never going to let them live it down. which is a success. We never learn what the hell happened, it's Sam's Noodle Incident.

Anyway to lay low from the shame of the event, they move to Ida's hometown (Sam's grandma) and it's Sam's punishment. They're "grounded for life."

To Jeremy and Pam's ignorance (Sam's parents) Sam is HAPPY to be away from the big schools and high end life. Not that they'll let them know that, like, ever.

I have no idea if this is canon or fanon but there's the idea that Jeremy and Pam are too busy and negligent to be aware of what's going on in Sam's life. And as long as Sam isn't repeating the New York Incident, Sam is probably fine to do as they please. They know now to keep a low profile.

Jeremy and Pam hate the local Fentons, first for being Weirdos and then later for bringing in the ghosts. (Which honestly, like, fair...) Poor Danny and Jazz get lumped in, seen as bad kids despite just Existing within the family.

The Only Normal Ones (tm)

For contrast, Tucker's family is middle class and very loving and attentive parents. Not helicopter level, but more than the average parent. Maurice and Angela keep track of Tucker's social media and worry about him -especially once the ghosts come out.

i won't go too into too much detail since i might make that fic, but I do want to give Tucker's family more importance and screen time. I won't be saying how but it'll be a nice development.

Danny's family is the same as they are in canon on a surface level. Some details are changed, but we get a similar result.

So for context: pre-portal ghost sightings are rare and people are quick to either see it as: superstition, a hoax, or misunderstanding of natural phenomena. The Fentons believe there's a natural explanation -until some shared childhood experience throws them into believing the paranormal. But they hate how ghosts are seen as gimmicky. They believe in the REAL science.

They want to use Math and Physics to explain the supernatural. They believe in a different dimension with different laws of nature, and they're going to uncover it! And obviously, they do with the Portal.

They study it with the help of Vlad's funding (who's relationship is different in this AU -he's still an evil bitch as always tho) they create the portal and study it alongside Vlad's team. (This is my work around from keeping the Fentons away from the GUI) Their personal bias against ghosts is something more "neutral" rather than "evil."

Personally I think misguided science is more interesting than outright witch-hunting styled ghost hating. the core conflict is the same, but it makes the parents more rational and grounded to science. This is a personal preference, each have their strengths. Regardless they've got big egos and jumping into a literal Unknown field of science that has it's own new physics, of course they're going to fail and misunderstand things. (science is failure just written down or however that saying goes)