#and they felt like characters in service of their own stories. it didnt have to be connected! which was great!

[mummer]

which barry s4 arcs do you not have glowing things to say about im curious

i feel bad saying this because he was literally my favorite part of s3 and i thought it was so transcendent but.. hank 😔😔😔😔😔 hank my best friend hank. i just thought in the end (and especially after the timeskip) his s4 arc wasnt really saying anything more complex than bog standard “doing violence is bad” which i think the show explores in like ten other more interesting ways already. i dont understand why him and fuches had to have a final showdown because these characters dont really care that much about each other so it did not land. like i just for real didnt get what they were trying to DO with him in the finale. i also thought it was a really weird decision to sort of forget about the homophobia/queer horror angle that was more explicit in s3 and i feel like it still couldve been worked in to what we got…. timeskip didnt really change him in an interesting way…. and maybe getting rid of cristobal as early as ep 4 was a mistake??? just feels like there were countless potential angles to explore with him that were wasted which SUUUCCKKSS :(((((((( because he’s so great :(((((( but it’s okay….;-;

[caffeinatedattorney]

caped crusader spoilers!!! I need to let my half baked thoughts out. spoilers under the cut

Animation is good! voice acting is good! I love how the caracters sound!

That said, this show... is so mid. The best parts are Barbara, montoya and harley. Bruce kinda tags along which is more than fine, he's not the only character in the show but i cant help but feel like this whole elseworld thing was an excuse? they arent different enough and theres other stuff that just... didnt click with me. like, penguin looked so good but shes never mentioned outside of ep 1? she was so interesting but she feels underused??

The women in this show feel so interesting! and so fleshed out. I loved the harley & barbara & renee thing. I loved penguin, i loved selina, i loved them, i wanted to see more of them.

the other guys are fine? clayface has a similar motivation to btas and as an observation, i find that this show isn't quite btas in exploring on theme with bruce / batman but a weird mission? not necessarily a bad thing but some eps def dragged on. Again, barbara is the star of the show. she and montoya move a lot of things along.

Its weird that bullock sticks with flass for so long. Like, i guess he's a Thorne lackey first and foremost?

And DONT even get me started on Harvey. That whole schtick about him being corrupt didn't change shit, considering his ending and the way his story works, which is the same btw. he puts a dangerous person behind bars and gets Dented tm. then he has a breakdown and does fucked up shit (would've worked anyway)

and his death pissed me off because of teh above. It's like, hes not the tragic character with the abuse backstory but he changed his mind at some point about his own actions??? idk where that happened or where i was supposed to feel like he did so i just feel like the show is trying to convince me that he was good all along or that he wasnt that bad.

like a lot of things in this show are cool with harvey (the date with bruce, his explosive self loathing, his suicidal ideation, his understanding to other patients, him wanting to save people but only near the end) but the fact they have to come packaged with him being an ass that's cool with corruption feels wasted in a way. Like, you can only redeem him when he's already done horrible things and not the guy who wanted to do good (btas) and did horrible things later.

I appreciate the bruharv but his death sticks with me in a bad way. I don't feel like it's earned? its like i, as a fan, want to feel something for this harvey, but i dont. then when i think, okay, whatever, he's cool i guess, the death is there, not as a tragedy of who harvey is (and bruce seemed fine with harvey being corrupt?? he knowingly endorses him and hangs out with him?) but about bruce being so far gone he felt too close to the edge like harvey and that scared him

And its not him saying that, its alfred, who he calls pennyworth. (uh, this bruce isn't a nice bruce and while that's fine, its so... hard to sympathize with his choices sometimes)

just my two cents. I don't wanna hate this. I really don't but man, the last ep made me want to type this out.

EDIt: Love some of the design choices. Hate others. Animation is serviceable. Bruce looks so... weird to me. Harvey what i can only call eVil eyebrows and compared to everyone else they just didnt click with me unfortunately.

[stevie-petey]

M WHAT THE FUCK

the gasp i just gasped is INSANE

i can't even bother to start the insights from the start because WHAT WAS THAT ENDING I AM LITERALLY HYPERVENTILATING RN !!!!

honestly i felt the entire chapter to my core, everything's going wrong and it's falling apart, felt it in my gut. i can't believe the fallout dustin and bug are having. it's just, so. sad. i feel like i was ready for everything BUT that.

and bug deserves to lose it genuinely, all this time she's been so so considerate for everything and everyone, girl's bound to lose it at some point. darling lucas is kind of the only one who's appreciating her rn :(

and STEVE OH MY GODDDDDD SIR IK YOU HAVE SEVERE ABANDONMENT ISSUES AND SHE DOES TOO BUT HEAR HER OUT SIR PLS & that argument was soooo abrupt and sudden i did NOT see that coming like steve cmon fight tmr she's having the worst day rn :(

AND FUCKASS JONATHAN DUDE LITERALLY EITHER BE SOBER AND CALL OR JUST DONT AT ALL WTAF WAS THAT PISSED ME TF OFF LIKE STFUUUUUUUUUU

(ik what you're doing m, this is aaaallllll a set up for her to be a target for vecna, I KNOW IT I FEEL IT)

okay all my pent up feelings are now out (not really) so aside from that. the letter from el was THE cutest thing ever like omg and i can't wait to see her interact with eddie, will be a treat for sure.

and i think i might not like season 4 all that much :D SO MUCH GOING ON PLS CUT POOR BUG SOME SLACK

anyway, that was all for insights today, i am NOT handling it well. will be screaming till the next chapter comes out.

thanks for your service, love you <3

AGAIN I APOLOGIZE FOR THE ENDING IT TRULY WASNT MY PLANTO DROP ALL THE FIGHTING IN ONE CHAP BUT THEN I REALIZED THERES ZERO ROOM ANYWHERE ELSE LMAO

dustin and bug fighting ,,, it hurts me too. but dustins character changes so much in season 4 and i had to include it because i want my own explanation for it tbh. he becomes so much more aggressive :((( my baby. and it was SO refreshing writing bug as more angry this season. she does deserve to lose it, i support her. so having her yell at dustin, defend herself against steve, and hang up on jon is GROWTH !!!

lucas <3333333 this seasons hero honestly

steves abandonment issues vs bugs is sooooo funny to me like guys u both hate being left alone pls recognize this and get married smh. and i wanted the argument to be slightly abrupt because theyre nearing graduation and never once discussed what would come next. the consequences of that speak for itself with the fight. steve just assumed hed move in with bug (which is a HUGE leap) while bug just ... didnt think about it (which is also a huge leap). both of them are upset and hurt and have the right ideas, just horrible ways of communicating them.

jon ,,, oh my dear baby jon. the phone call was the scene ive had planned since season 1 :) fun come home fact: the phone call, camera scene from season 1, and the iconic come home scene yall will get later were all planned before the story even began. they inspired me to write come home.

els letter !!! i felt cheesy starting the season with that, but it honestly felt so fitting. it was interesting writing from els pov with the way she speaks. she doesnt ever use conjunctions and she has a weird way of expressing emotions that i loved toying with !! i also wanted to show how el feels comfortable enough being vulnerable with bug by telling her about angela and the bullying (while hiding it from mike) so ! cute lil letter it was

AND I LOVE U TOO !!

[brighteyesredfire]

🌟 AI: NIRVANA INITIATIVE | FUCK MY LIFE

beloved sequel to aitsf it sure kicked me in the balls

I just remembered a google doc i compiled of my post game flurry of thoughts after playing this one and decided perhaps they deserved a little cleaning up and placing here. So Here they are.

TL:DR i liked parts of this game but some really big glaring aspects kind of spat on them and destroyed any persistent good will i still had for it in me...especially reflecting back on it months later.

/ spoilers from here /

To start this is largely a visnov so i wont be saying much about the gameplay, the qte's are what they are i have no strong preference for them either way. I'll mostly be commenting on the narrative here.

God Uchikoshi you really grind my balls sometimes.

To start off, the main twist. We all know it, the beautiful stupid DNA timeline twist that warps at the end and gives everyone a headache when they go oh god wtf is the continuity doing here actually.

After all has been said and done i don't know what the purpose of hiding the fact the story was split the way it was... WAS in the first place. It didn't really resonate emotionally with anything, it was mostly just a confusing 20 minutes of me staring at the screen once it happened. It basically lives in service of being a fun twist... but for what!?! the entire story forces itself to bend around this twist so the player doesn't see it coming (to its own detriment) and it doesn't even do anything with it. It's just there to Be A Twist.

You could rewrite this entire game with Ryuki doing all the past segments and Mizuki all the present somehow, and then just shuffle it if you wanted the presentation to be confusing to the audience lmao. But Bibi secretly being past Mizuki, i really don't know what we get from it in the audience other than LMAO didn't see that one coming!

The most this game gets from splitting the story like this ill grant it is that it does help make the audience almost feel Ryuki's dissociation more because some shit just doesn't make any fucking sense between scenes. The off kilter way characters will just say or mention something that completely confuses you as a player is fun but i don't know if its worth all the bullshit required to trick the audience 😭

The swapping also helps hint at timeline nonsense for SIMULATION THEORY stuff but you could also have just done that without the two Mizuki trick, hell just have mizuki and ryuki be literally communicating between the past and the future instead (zero escape fan jumping out sorry).

Ryuki can shoot someone else to save tama in the past to make the plot go, it doesn't need to be Bibi! Offscreen Abis psyncer #4 get over here like, lmao Bibi's existence just continues to horribly grate for me.

Speaking of, my next gripe, Bibi and Mizuki! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Starting off on a positive note, I liked the interactions her and Mizuki had actually, that is to say i liked them so i didnt really realise why i was so bored recalling them at first.

But it is simply because i don't really care…. about the designer baby twist or secret sister twist like did we need to shove another secret backstory onto mizuki for some reason? it felt. EXCESSIVE. to the point of it being nothing (getting apollo justice ptsd rn dude).

Mizuki could still have been experimented on as a baby unknowingly somehow (renju and shoko wake up) and i don't mind them wanting to explain her hulk strength but like i didn't need the secret clone twin and i was raised at an orphanage stuff.

Also Bibi being so similar to Mizuki personality wise, that they're nigh indistinguishable while playing is just kind of boring. I dont want mizuki 2… id rather a different new character…!?! It also just steals screen time away from... MIZUKI!? WHO'S KIND OF MEANT TO BE THE TITULAR CHARACTER OF THIS SEQUEL. AND ALSO IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE WHY THEY WOULD ACT EXACTLY THE SAME (EXPLODES).

Everyone and their mother has also complained that it just shoots her arc in the first game in the head, i dont need to repeat myself but oh my god bro. I guess it makes Shoko's abuse and Renju's distance almost paradoxically worse if she was adopted too because they would have adopted her into. A FAILING MARRIAGE, its almost cartoonishly bad now.

In retrospect i realise i liked Bibi and Mizuki's conversations just because it felt like caring dialogue between Mizuki and another character, and her getting a chance to be wistful or vulnerable for a few scenes in this game (that she gets alarmingly few of). The thing is, i would vastly have preferred she got these scenes with any other existing characters in the cast… that she actually has a developed relationship with, so it's like a sea of wasted potential. I don't care about Bibi!? Frankly i don't know why Mizuki kind of does!? She doesn't really know her either!? AHHH!!!!

Her one scene where she actually reunites with Date in this game is comically short and undercut bc the plot is fucking zooming by and cant take the time to actually do anything too emotional with it. BUT BIBI AND MIZUKI GET ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD TO CHAT ON A PARK BENCH. im so angry sorry. Bibi is just so pointless and i hate her twist i hate her purpose in the story, nothing would be lost if she was written out out of this thing to give mizuki a better spotlight.

Regarding Mizuki's writing in general in this game, it is kind of terrible. She can barely do anything with the time she has and she also... barely develops or changes throughout this game despite the list of shitzillion alarming things that supposedly occur to her during its timeline!? (because no one can change bc of the goddamn dna twist).

I wish she was slightly less chipper most of the time considering her 6 years suddenly being abandoned again, suddenly parent-less again without Date and somehow coping. Ryuki becomes a depressed alchoholic in that same time near her, WHYS HE HOGGING ALL THE DATE ANGST….? ITS ALMOST FUNNY.

I almost wanted her to be more similar to how she is as a kid, a bit guarded and combative (acting out or being hardheaded), especially to Boss. It would have been an interesting dynamic seeing as she's her new guardian (and literal work boss). It would make the moments she is happy or upbeat again stand out more. So many of these relationships between games just feel underutilized.

You could make her get along better with Pewter over Boss, bonding via shared trauma or talking about Aiba. Those early few moments they wrote in Ryuki's somnium with her hyping him up and thinking hes cool because of the tech hes made were so good lmfao, but there's barely anything else like them.

I think her hanging out at ABIS more than home after Date dissapears even if its awkward (ryuki, boss, pewter all in the same place) because it's preferable to being alone is so interesting as a thought… but none of this or how it effects her is barely touched on. IT SUCKS!

Let's move onto Ryuki, shall we...

Going into this game no one thinks they're going to like Ryuki over Mizuki, no ones thinking hell yes this new random twink is going to outsell Mizuki in her segments and writing, im going to be madly attached to him over any other reoccurring character in this game. Well Guess What HE DID IN FACT DO THAT. Thats how bad they handle the existing cast in this thing. Uchikoshi we have to stop letting you write sequels.

Ryuki's great, his brain is broken, his got an evil video game virus, hes bisexual, hes fail, he's gods special-est little psyncer, i could go on. The fact this is his introductory game means he actually gets to have a semblance of an arc, which compared to every other character in the game is a big win honestly.

On that note however, there are still downsides. His background is brought up then not incorporated at all which was funny, and i dont have a real problem with it. Though if they never called the masked woman, a woman, i would have instantly thought it was actually his brother, because as a stupid anime twist it'd make more sense than MIZUKI having one. and would have been. like. more interesting lmao.

Im resorting to writing au fanfic now in this review don't hold it against me but that is how much i dislike the bibi twist. You don't need to make his secret dead brother an ABIS agent either to take her role, he can just be fucking, vigilante man. Invent a good reason he didn't say anything to Ryuki here, its not that hard, maybe after his accident Chikara grabbed him and did x amount of horrible things to him and only after he died did he find freedom. Then over the next 6 years remember who he is, YOU DID IT TO DATE LIKE. LOL CMON.

His brother resents a choice he made blindly pursuing justice and it ruined his life. Just like a certain Mr Ryuki does in this game? Who is trying to cope with forgiving himself, now reflected back? Hmmmmmmmmm ? Cmon. Cmon. im giving this away for free.

I used to have an idea brewing in my head too over marco somehow being based on his brother, or having part of his brother in him but that would require some heavy rewrites like just make shit up territory now roflmao but ..! Yknow ! My point is we could have given any of this more relevance and it would have been probably better off.

Speaking of TheBestCharacterInThisGameRyuki, hes offscreen for some significant endgame time to the point that he felt almost like an afterthought, which was also amusing. Also, and perhaps this is due to the nature of the timeline lying to you, it just seems like at the end of the game hes just like dont worry. I got better 👍 and we then just moved on from his problems lol.

One of what'd be his most pivotal scenes is offscreen? We get the peptalk from Date after but its still kind of ridiculous. We don't get to see the depressed bisexual man see the guy he loves on screen again for the first time after thinking he killed him for six years!? Mizuki's Date reunion gets shafted, why is Date even in this damn game.

And, I mean Ryuki is probably still mentally ill and coping better after date has re-alived but as for how the timeline was resolved its just a little flippant regarding his emotional arc, it kind of peeters out... the fucking secret routes almost more of an ending to his character development lmao. Yet, the meta stuff is also underbaked, i wish it had more relevance in this actual plotline.

Moving onto the rest of the cast...!

CAN YOU FIX DATES FUCKING FACE UCHIKOSHI.

Regarding the others - Lien and Kizuna dragged Mizuki segments down considerably on account of they suck; they were both snore and nothing characters. Remove or redo them completely or even just tie their character development to OTHER CHARACTERS and not each others godawful ROMANCE.

Have Lien be more tied to his Gen, Date bestie trio (even his past with moma!? wow something for him to do in this game) or have Kizuna relying on Iris in her rough time after getting caught up in an explosion instead (and wow here's something for Iris to actually do in this game now too). Just stop gods worst straight pair ever written in these games PLEASE. U CAN KEEP THE DUMB PROPOSAL JOKE SCENE IF U REALLY NEED TO. BUT JUST HAVE LIEN GO FML…okay w/e and move on. stop this.

Mame as a character to focus on was great, Gen can be written less tropey and melodramatic so i dont fucking laugh at all his cutscenes but otherwise, he was fine. Outside him also being in love with Amame (stop doing this). I liked Shoma and Square Dad just fix his head its so hard to take him seriously, in my perfect world Shoma gets an older model and doesn't get hit with super non aging but i can let slow growth go…..for now…..

Tama and Aiba were great, i do think there needs to be some sort of resolution over Date and Mizuki sharing aiba now that hes back…maybe this is where marco can come in and be Mizuki's new permanent in the epilogue scenes lmao, (blue!) though she still switches Aiba in sometimes bc thats her ai mom… :)

At this point im dreaming up things to make myself feel better because i hate thinking about this games execution. All of this crap essentially boils down to, we had to sacrifice a bunch of shit to make our big twist work, and it wasn't even a good twist and i dont know why the fuck we did it.

Good aspects and characters saved it at times, but ultimately, this games feels like a waste and a wash and a sea of lost potential.

[away-ward]

I love that you mentioned that emmy and alex's ways of dealing with depression or hard life is not one better than the other, but because of the narrative, it might seem like it is, depending on who read it. What pisses me off about pd is when they were asked in a goodreads question/fb group a few years back about what emmy did all those years she was away to california, pd merrily replied: i dont know. Like... WTF. Thats the thing, we didnt even get will's pov as much when he was drunk, but we got so much intervention from unnecessary side characters. I remember when nightfall was first released, so many people hated emmy on twitter and fb groups, some even made fanfics of willalex in the chatgroup lmao, even when pd already said in their fb page that people were very quick to judge women like emmy when they liked damon, but that didnt really stop the haters though. But can you really blame these fans when pd kept on hyping up willdamon and willalex all those time? Why hype them up so unnecessarily when there would be no follow up of their relationship later because the endgame was already set in stones? It just came back to bite pd in her ass.

During that summer/fall of nightfall's release, so many illemmy fans were super mad and i believe it was the book that pd got the most hates from FANS because of the way they wrote emmy. Many fand on twitter accused pd writing so much alex's involvement in nightfall as a fan service for alex's fans because these fans then demanded too much and unfortunately, they got it. Then Fall Away wasnt hyped as much by pd's fans because of this backlash, and now even Motel, a novel set in the same universe as Birthday Girl was announced to be put on hold from writing and publication because pd said they couldnt force themself to write this novel no matter how many times they tried. Unsurprisingly, Motel was supposed to come out a few years ago near nightfall and fall away. Pd also implied a couple of times that they couldnt continue writing their stories because the fans' expectation and the stories that they actually wanted to write are different so they would be stuck in a pickle. Honestly, readers should just leave pd alone because i knew damn well nightfall was not supposed to be written like that, if pd werent so pressured by all those fb moms for their damon and alex's fascination years ago. Writers should stay away from fan spaces, and fans shouldnt bother authors and just write their own headcanons or fanfics for things they wanted to read outside of canon, instead of demanding things from the author. Or else, things like this will happen.

Can you imagine if pd actually wasnt that influenced by those fans or haters all those years, we could actually get a solid willemmy story in nightfall. I dont know if anyone has mentioned this to you, but there will be a special edition that will be released in america only (so far) that will include qnas, letters, bonus and contents for each couple? If youre from the US, maybe you can get your hands on them. Unfortunately, im not from the US, and i dont even live near the US, so im not able to get them but im sure those contents will be spread anyway hopefully.

+I was cackling at that damon torrance hate ask, because yes, it's always a damon torrance bully hate hour, haha! Hope theyre doing well though, damon is just a fictional character after all, no need to stress out too much. Just pray we dont meet someone like him irl.

I did read PD’s response and felt some negative way about it. For me, even if I’m not writing that part of the story, I have to at least know what happened because it might become relevant. But then, I go too far like that (as I’m sure you all can tell now). But PD’s process is probably very different from mine and, hey, at least they’ve finished and published multiple series and stand-alone’s…which I have not. So, I’m not here to criticize their method.

I didn’t know PD had called the fandom out on their dislike for Emmy when NF was released. I can’t imagine having to deal with that level of vitriol, especially about something I created.

I will admit that I’ve written myself into a corner before, without the help of anyone else lol. And once you get stuck in the corner, it’s really hard to get out without feeling overwhelmed. If PD had let other people control the narrative, even indirectly, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to get back on track. But you have to deal with it. It makes sense that the fear of backlash would paralyze them. Not saying it’s right or fair but writing and inspiration doesn’t work like that.

You’re absolutely right. As the author, PD should have left the fandom spaces long before writing, but it’s really hard to. Writers thrive on feedback and comments, and if they had found a place that gave them constant feedback and validation for what they were doing, and throwing out ideas (hey, free inspiration!) then I understand why they didn’t peel themselves away. The fandom should have never been given any power of the story. But yeah, once it was published, readers should go to the author’s space to complain. If the author wants to hear their negative feedback (which we all know we’ll get at some point) they’ll find it when they’re ready to process it. It’s never warranted to go directly to the author and throw hate in their face.

I do wonder what things would have changed if the story had been influenced by the fans. A more fleshed out Willemmy would have been great.

I hadn’t been aware of the special edition release. Honestly, I’m surprised. I figured after the most recent cover change, that would be the last PD was going to touch the series for a few more years. That bonus content could be really interesting, and I hope we get something good. It most likely will be spread and made available some place.

Omg. Yes. Like I said, I usually get these either first thing in the morning or right before I go to bed, so I’m half-asleep when I read them the first time and let me tell you…opening my ask box to that comment was confusing the say the least. I was like “what did I say??” but then I realized they were just ranting in general, so it was fine. But goodness. I can’t imagine getting that upset, but I know it’s just the way some in the fandom respond to people disagreeing with them and criticizing their fav. I hope they were okay with my response. And yeah…let’s hope we don’t meet a Damon Torrance in real life.

[heller-castiel]

I mean for me personally it’s bc he has a history of doxing customer service workers he doesn’t like, going on twitter and posting actual pictures of a persons face and throwing his fan base at them. he also said he likes the finale, which isn’t inherently bad like of people were happy with it i can’t relate but good for them, but his reasons were he felt like it was dean’s “ultimate success story” to die for sam, even though dean DIDNT die for sam, he just. kinda died nearby him? and jared’s phrasing seemed to imply that sam would have never been happy if dean was alive so by dying dean freed him from the burden of his existence which is. very pro suicide?

and i’m sure jared probably didn’t MEAN to imply that but he says a lot of shit without thinking it through which isn’t a good quality to have, like that time in 2021 someone asked jensen a question about the confession and jared interjected to say that the show wasn’t ‘about that’ and that cas can love dean with it being ‘like that,’ the same way that jared can love his kids without wanting to touch them inappropriately, which is drawing a line between gayness and pedophilia and is BLATANTLY homophobic regardless of what jared meant to say, that still reveals his own biases. ALSO his twitter melt down about not being included in the prequel, where he made a public scene instead of just, texting jensen? and also directly attacked robbie thompson with his et tu brute tweet

there’s also some discussion of his acting and how it feels like he stopped really trying at about the season 9 mark and how that affected sam’s character, and is reflected when jared just. incorrectly cites canon, like the example with the finale. He had also said he liked that sam’s wife was blurry, since he said that Dean wouldn’t have wanted him to end up with Eileen, who was a hunter - even though there’s an episode where dean says that sam should hold onto eileen bc she’s too good for him, and that maybe ending up with a hunter is the better thing to do, since they get the life.

no matter how we feel about jackles and misha collins, we can all agree, fuck jared. and i think that’s beautiful

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale's Story Idea: 'Those of another world must die' or 'Isekai no mono ha shi ke re ba naranai'

(I probably butchered the Japanese. But the point is to give it a light novel title feel)

(Since a few people have been asking what my light novel idea was. I decided to explain it and go a bit more in-depth)

Premise: Rumors have been circulating about a Killer known only as 'Hero Eater' is targeting heroes in the Human Kingdom of Itsumo. But not everything is as it seems, Itsumo has many dark secrets and the kingdom may need a change...

The world of Itsumo.

Now the setting would be similar to most fantasy Isekai worlds. Money consists of Gold, silver, Bronze coins. Platinum coins are for the super rich.

Magic exists, Magical items exist. Levels exist.

There are dragons, goblins, the typical fantasy fair/ D&D/MMORPG feel but with a lot more twists

Summoned Heroes

When it comes to Summoned heroes things get different.

1. 'Heroes from another world' are treated above the standard people. As being summoned from another world gives them stupidly over powered abilities compared to the average citizen of Itsumo. The Elites show them favoritism.

2. Aside from obviously enhanced strength, speed, durability, and magic. They level up faster, have overall higher stats, and Summoned heroes also get some sort of Overpowered ability.

3. These over powered abilities or OPAs are ranked from S to E. Depending on that OPA, determines your lot as a 'Summoned Hero'

4. E's are the lowest. The skill is just slightly useful. Summoned heroes are still MUCH stronger than the average soldier. So these heroes are often brainwashed Coerced and put as soldiers on the front lines, or bodyguards of the elite. (Basically they are just glorified meat shields.)

4.5 There is nothing ranked lower than E. Those summoned ALWAYS have a OPA.

5. C and D Ranks are considered worlds more useful. These heroes depending on their abilities are thrown into a field where their skills can be utilized. These heroes are usually thrown a boon by the king and get funding. These heroes are the ones responsible for the innovations in technology (such as guns, refrigeration, etc). (Though in truth they have done a lot of f***ed experimentation)

6. A and B Rank are considered 'Heroes of the Kingdom'. Those heroes are the ones that you see going around and fighting demon hordes with ease. The ones you see with the harems (usually of whatever their fetish is). They basically have license to do WHATEVER they want, so long as the King doesn't intervene.

7. S Ranks. These summons are incredibly rare, but their skills are 100% broken. To put it in perspective. 1 S Rank hero could easily beat 10 A ranks without breaking a sweat. This is where the OPA's become near god like. Fortunately for some reason, only 7 S ranks can exist in the world at a time. Only when 1 dies can a new S rank otherworlder can appear. Currently the King has some of them watching over different parts of his kingdom. But all of them are considered Legendary.

8. (Little known fact that summoned heroes are often loners, losers, incels, neets, and other lesser freaks of society. Who else would willingly go to another world if their life is actually good?)

9. Some heroes do start out doing good... but power corrupts

_____________________________________________________________

Religion:

The Religion of Itsumo in stated by King Tyran. Insists that there is a kind and loving goddess (Named Oveun Ativ) that blesses Itsumo with the heroes that appear. Basically making those from another world as 'Her blessed children'.

So often regular citizens range from worshiping them or at the very least respecting them. (Though this is simply a front, the average citizen HATES these arrogant s***s. Considering the awful stuff they put them through.)

The Church also has a monopoly on Hero summoning. The ritual that they use is as follows.

1. A young girl will be chosen once a year from every village. (basically not where the nobles live.) It was considered a great honor. (and if the town didnt comply the church would inform the king and that town would be burnt down and all of the young maidens there would be brain washed and taken anyway) A maiden will be trained in magic for several years until her 18th birthday. During this time she must not have relations with men, must not touch the blood of an animal, must read the sacred scriptures and serve the church without question. (Indoctrination)

2. According to the church, the Summoning ritual will then have the young Maiden perform the summoning magic in which if performed successfully, will summon the hero and she will take the form of a portal of light which summons him. After which she will ascend and become an angel that serves the goddess. (This is not true. Its a virgin sacrifice. Those girls are killed in a ritual. Its f***ed up what the s***)

3. If a maiden summons a B or A rank hero she is regarded as an example for others to follow. For she clearly followed the doctrine of the church. She was likely Heavily rewarded by the goddess.

4. If a Maiden summoned C or D rank, they are not discussed often except by friends and family.

5. Maidens that summon E ranked Heroes are considered disgraces. Maidens that clearly did not follow the teachings of the doctrine. Their names are stricken from the records.

6. Maidens that summoned an S Rank hero. Are written into the logs as Blessed by the goddess. They are treated like Saints and some worshiped like deities. Some doctrine claim that they serve at the hands of the goddess after achieving this.

_____________________________________________________________

Economics

Summoned Heroes basically caused Economic collapse for adventurers.

Summoned heroes often hunt monsters and get rare drops, and often those with rare skills can get much more value than typical adventure guilds.

Merchants initially loved Heroes getting them rare drops but when many other worlders started selling so many Rare drops like they were common... it made rare items worth much less and drove value of such items and materials down dramatically. Newer merchants will rarely buy goods from adventurers because of this.

Blacksmiths and artificers initially also had it great. They now get access to powerful materials for cheap. Since their work is labor intensive the value of the item is much less impacted on the product. Though Other worlders with Craft skills have popped up and open businesses that have been driving other types of stores out of business since they can easily craft higher grade weapons for cheaper and faster thanks to OPAs.

The only real way to make money was in the service industry. With rare items and monsters easily hunted and sold for cheap, Restaurants, inns and Taverns have less of a thin margin. And with Otherworlders constantly moving about, the inns had constant customers. Many of these customers would throw money around and expect to be waited on hand and foot. Inns that had pretty women were often the most popular.

Brothels were very popular among Summoned heroes. Though the places that experienced the most traffic were the ones that had more ... unique characteristics. (Animal ears, pointed ears, Wings, horns.) Beast-kin were often very requested.

Societal Impacts

Women would often try to sleep with Summoned heroes. Children made with those of another world often had a chance of producing offspring with an OPA. Which meant that the kid could have a much better life.

The 'Trope' of offering the daughter for saving them was more of a way to ensure their Family had a better life. But in reality this just meant Summoned heroes often obtained harems. This resulted in declining birthrates as many summoned heroes didnt actually often marry humans. Most would simply keep the harem. Or if they did marry they would often sleep around.

Heroes that dismissed companions often left them as single mothers. Some would be lucky to remarry, but many were left single due to social stigma. The claim is that men felt insecure marrying women that have been with heroes, because how could they compare. (In reality it was more like they felt the woman had little self respect to be willing to partake in a relationship with a hero with a harem.) And the off chance the hero did comeback to the woman to find her married, the new husband was likely slaughtered. (This selfish mentality of treating women as things to be owned was disturbingly common in the summoned heroes mind)

____________________________________________________________

The Main Characters.

Oralee: A maiden that was raised in the church as long as she could remember. Her family had a lot of faith in the church and were honored that she was picked. She followed the doctrine to very high levels. Never ate meat, Never even made contact with another of the opposite sex. She dreamed of summoning an S Rank hero and bringing great honor to the goddess (As a recent S Rank passed away and hasnt been replaced yet). Though the night she along with her fellow maidens were supposed to summon heroes. The 'Hero Eater' arrived and started killing everyone.

Hunter "Hero eater": A high level individual. A skilled fighter with a plethora of weapons in his arsenal. Skilled in strange magic that seems unorthidox yet effective. He wears a skull mask with a black cloak. He wields two daggers. One Named Malice, and the other named Mercy. His goal is to kill every other worlder he comes across. What is his motive? Does he want revenge? Power? Fame? Why did he spare Oralee. What does he look like under that mask?

[dateamonster]

ive thought abt it ive meditated on it and i do like x significantly more than i thought i would

my first impressions led me to believe it was going to be an """elevated horror""" take on a bog standard slasher, with the adult film angle mainly being used as a gimmick to shock and tantalize while paying some lip service to the (s)exploitation history of the subgenre. from the trailer alone you could see it was heavily referencing slashers past (mainly texas chainsaw) but it was hard to get a sense of the movies identity outside of that. with how obsessed the genre (and all genres really) currently is with stealing the moves and iconography of more recognizable and nostalgic IPs, paired with the fucking lightning quick release of a prequel, i kinda wrote x off as a sales strategy dressed up like a movie. and idk i still stand by like parts of that. ive heard that pearl is the wildly superior movie (planning to watch that next) so it makes me wonder if x was just like a means to drum up interest in a movie that otherwise wouldnt have been as marketable. if that is at all the case, i have to give it up to the creators because that is such a bold and honestly kind of hilarious strat and funniest of all it seems to have totally worked. this is all still speculation of course.

but x on its own is a pretty strong movie. idk if its an especially good horror movie, but it is a good movie, and i feel like that sorta takes precedent. the characters were all well-defined and interesting. there was a good mix of likable folks that made you want to see them survive and assholes with satisfying deaths- the two prime forms of slasher victim imo. most importantly in my opinion, the story engaged honestly and meaningfully the subjects of sex and sex work. the way the genre typically treats sexuality has historically been... less than progressive, and though its still ultimately a story about sex workers being killed by repressed octogenarians, which is gonna be what it is no matter what, i felt pleasantly surprised by the treatment of the characters and the subject matter.

it doesnt feel like an arbitrary gimmick either. more i think the conflict between the elderly antagonists and their lodgers represents the conflict between the free love and sex positive movements of the 60s and 70s and the rise of christian conservative moralism in response to it, ominously foreshadowing its crest only a few short years after the events of the movie during the hiv/aids crisis.

i interpreted the movies thesis as this idea that hostility towards sexuality particularly between generations stems from this repression and agonized frustration at the loss of sex, beauty, youth. the movie draws all these interesting visual and narrative parallels between the two conflicting parties, particularly between maxine and pearl, which is obviously heightened by the fact that mia goth plays both characters in either movie respectively, which seem to suggest that pearl is a version of maxine who never got to live her superstar dreams, who is deeply burdened by regret and the passage of time and takes it out on those she sees as flaunting their privileges. its a phenomenon we still see in real time today: "why does this sheltered, soft younger generation get to have it so easy, when i had it so hard." clumsy as the execution felt in some places, the core premise is strong.

the places where x doesnt work for me or mostly in its desperation to make moments feel scarier than they are with ominous sound design and erratic editing. it doesnt not work, i guess, but the result feels undeserved. the actual horror part of this horror movie is its weakness. its the first time i can remember where i was engaged up until the middle of the latter half where the killing actually takes off. it just didnt do it for me, and the way the elderly couples bodies and sexuality were exploited to try and provoke horror and disgust felt especially like it was just trying too hard. i cant deny those scenes were uncomfortable, but not for the reasons the filmmakers seemed to think, and never to the point of fear or dread.

my favorite parts of x were the moments that explored the relationships between the young movie makers. i honestly feel like that in and of itself couldve been the whole movie and i wouldve been just as happy. bobby-lynne i think was a delightful, undersold character, with her marilyn monroe looks and quiet, profound emotional intelligence, as well as the unflinching pride in her career of choice. jackson i wish couldve been a focus more, if only because i feel like media is so afraid to talk about male sex workers and especially the way that role intersects with race. the film their making itself is predicated on a really loaded racialized dynamic and i know focusing more on that would probably totally take focus off the main story but its still really interesting and it feels strange just sort of letting that hang in the air.

the subplot regarding rj and lorraine is incredibly interesting and frustrating to me. x just fucking nails it with this one. lorraines sudden desire to join the movie felt a little forced to me but im overlooking that because it gives way to this sharp, incisive character moment, revealing that rj, for all he likes to talk about porn being art, looks down on its participants. his supposed sex positivity only holds out as long as he can retain a clear mental distinction between the good girls (chaste, but not too prudish, of course) and the dirty sluts. its just such a succinct and accurate roast of the divide between person who benefits/profits from sex work vs the actual worker, and how thats informed by sexism, racism, classism. rj and wayne die horribly again challenge <3

anyway thats all i have to say for now i think. there were hits, there were misses, but i do think i absolutely get the hype now, even if i dont necessarily agree with it in absolutely every aspect. mia goth put in an amazing performance, obviously, as did the rest of the cast imho, and im very excited for pearl.

[amoosewritesfanfic]

[+18]

Dom/sub + mind control

[Shinsou Hitoshi x Fem!reader]

[Warnings: quirk play, Shinsou is definitely rough in this, he's like smacking you and spitting in your mouth its great, oral fixation, light orgasm denial, overstimulation.]

[I don't own any of the characters or art all credit goes to the original creators, edit an story is mine tho. All characters are aged up, +18.]

-

Trust was one of the most important aspects of a dom and sub relationship, after all you as the sub are trusting your dom to take care of you and ensure you don't get too overwhelmed or pushed over a limit you can't handle. That's somewhat the relationship you had with Shinsou Hitoshi. He was your dom, you referred to him as either sir or master. In context he called you 'kitten' or 'baby girl' when you were good and 'slut' for when you misbehaved which was often. That bratty attitude was definitely something he loved about you. Sometimes he mixed it up calling you 'slutty kitten' if you wanted to be degraded that day.

Of course today however you really pissed Shinsou off. The drive was a quiet one, uncomfortably quiet. You, not on purpose however, were speaking to a man who happened to be hitting on you. At times you were oblivious so when the unknown man touched your arm or hand it got Shinsou increasingly pissed off. Usually it was an uncomfortable thing to have someone so possessive over you, but with Shinsou it was different. It felt so damn right for him to become a bit jealous over another man flirting with you.

So when you arrived home you didn't even have enough time to take off you shoes before this six foot tall man grabbed your throat and pinned you up against the wall, those indigo coloured hues staring at your eyes carefully. His hand wasn't to tight around your throat either so you were able to breath. "What the fuck was that?" He asked, his voice was low, feral almost, nobody should touch what's his after all. "Nothin'..." was all you said looking away. Now at this point you had two options be a bratty little shit and get the best fuck that your little masochist heart desires or be a good girl and get a loving fuck and give him a nice tender loving and caring just to prove how much you care about your dear master~

Obviously...

"What was that?"

"I said it was nothin' 'Toshi."

Oh you definitely were in for a ride. His hand gripped your cheeks and he was barely inches away from your face. "I thought that's what you said you little whore." and with those words leaving his lips he pried open your mouth before spitting in it. "Keep it in there, don't swallow until I tell you too." He said as he pulled off your shoes before dragging you by your shirt collar to 'the room'.

This room was the room that is most commonly referred to as the red room, but no Shinsou hated that cliche bullshit, so he called it the room. No fancy name or whatever. Of course though on your way to the room you 'accidentally' swallowed his spit so when he pulled you into the room and pushed you to your knees and he smacked you through the face, making you gasp and look back up at him with those big doe eyes, tearing up a little.

"I told you not to swallow little whore~ did you do it on purpose just to annoy me more?" He asked and you just nodded slowly, there it was though that firm grip on your cheeks and those cold harsh eyes glazing over with lust. "You really enjoy a thorough punishment but I'm not gonna give you that satisfaction of being fucked till you can't walk straight." He told you his thumb eased over your bottom lip for a moment before he gave your forehead a soft kiss. "You're a real dumb whore you know that?" He spoke and you shivered a little as his free hand trailed down along your back his hand gripping your ass for a moment before landing a firm smack making you yelp quietly, your hands gripping onto his shirt.

"So tell me little whore, you gonna get on your knees and suck my cock?" He asked you, his voice was husky as if he just woke up. His fingers tugging at your dress bunching it up around your waist. "Use your words~" he hummed against your ear as his hands palmed at your luscious asscheeks making you shiver and press more into him. "Y-yes sir..." you mumbled and then you felt it. That all too familiar sensation of your mind hazing over. His quirk was activated now. "You always look so pretty when you're mindless and submissive~ drop to your knees whore~" he hummed as his thumb ran over your bottom lip and your body moved. You got down on your knees, looking up at him in that dazed expression. "Use that mouth to take my cock out..." he said as his fingers threaded through your hair softly before taking a firm grip on it. You winced slightly but it didnt stop you from pulling down his zipper with your teeth, your nose buried into his crotch.

"There we go..." he murmured, once his pants was undone he helped you a little, pulling his cock out for you, it landed on your face, right on your forehead as you looked up at him with that hazy expression. "Give my balls a nice kiss~" he ordered and you did, without a single sign of hesitation, those soft plump lips of yours leaving a few scattered kisses against his balls. "Ah shit kitten~" his hand which still had that firm grip on your hair tugged your head away from his balls forcing you to look up at him now, his cock resting on your lips. "You gonna service my cock without being a brat?" He asked and you nodded slowly in response and with that he let you out of his quirk.

In which you immediately started to kiss at his cock, keeping your hands on his thighs as you worked his cock with your mouth, giving kisses and kitten licks before you got to his tip, now at this point your tongue ran along the tip dripping with precum, moaning a little from the salty flavor filling up your mouth before you started taking him into your mouth. Those bright eyes of yours looking up at the indigo haired male who had his head tilted back as his cock disappeared into your mouth. Your tongue running along his cock as your head started moving back and forth. Your nose getting tickled by his pubes and your bottom lip pressed against his balls everytime you moved down.

You heard him grunt from the feeling of your tight throat around his cock. "Fuck you always suck me off so good kitten~ ya like that? Do you like having my cock all the way down your fucking throat?" His foot moved to rub against your crotch which had you moaning quietly. You moaned around his cock in response to his question considering you couldn't respond with a mouth full of cock. It made him chuckle however when you pulled slightly back to give your jaw a short break. That definitely didn't sit well with him, because with that firm grip he had on your hair he shoved your face back down making you deep throat his cock once again making you gag, tears stinging the corner of you eyes.

"Naughty thing, you gotta ask kitten. I gotta punish you now~" he said as his free hand moved to cup your chin, with that firm grip on your face his hips started moving back and forth, his pace started off slow. Allowing you to adjust to his movements. "If you're pussy is aching to be touched use my foot..." he said, slowly picking up the pace as his foot remained under your pussy and your hips immediately pressed down against it, grinding your hips back and forth against his foot as his hips kept slamming back and forth against your face, balls slapping your chin. You could feel your drool falling from lips, you knew that there were strings of saliva attached to your chin and his balls.

You felt so lewd, grinding your clothed pussy against his shoe as if you were an absolute bitch in heat, not to mention his cock that was constantly moving in and out of your throat. You felt that pit in your stomach building up as his foot lifted slightly, the feeling of the laces on his shoes added a little more friction to your clit which had your back arch slightly in delight.

"Hmmph~♡" was your response to it, making him smile a little as he pulled his cock from your mouth letting you have some time to breath. However your hips didn't stop moving, not that Shinsou minded it, he found that to be rather adorable.

The fact that you were rutting your hips against his foot with no signs of stopping was a sign to him that you were about to cum, but just to make sure. "You gonna cum?" He asked his thumb ran along your swollen lips making you whimper and nod slowly. You felt that sudden burst of energy that made your hips rut rust against his foot a little more to just get you to your orgasm but he pulled his foot away, making you whine in response. "I told you whore~ I'm gonna make sure you're crying and begging me to fuck you~" he hummed, instead of shoving his cock back inside your mouth he decided to lift you up and carry you to the bed.

That king sized bed covered with the most comfortable silks that were a mixture between black and white, once you were there he started stripping off your clothes. Smiling smugly at the soaked mess between your thighs. "Master... please... please fuck me please..." you whined. "Oh come on now~ get a bit more creative whore~" he hummed giving your thigh a firm smack making you whine, your hips bucking slightly. "You gonna beg like a proper slut? Hmm? You gonna beg like a proper slut for your master fuck this slutty little cunt?~" he asked, flicking his finger over your clit making you grip onto the bedding and moan. "Please master... I want to feel that big fat cock stretching out my insides... I wanna feel that cock rearranging my guts~" you begged as his fingers now smoothed over your thighs, keeping your legs nice and spread with his hand. "Rearrange your guts?" He raised a brow as he stared down at you with those lust filled indigo coloured hues.

"Yes master please... I want it..." you whined out, your hips basically bucking up against nothing, his cock barely inches from you. "That's a new one for you whore~ usually you ask me to fuck you till you can't walk~ are you that needy for cock that you're willing to have your guts completely rearranged? So that slutty hole remembers my shape?" He asked as his hand moved to grope your breast, his palm rubbing against your nipple making you whimper quietly. "Yes, please master... I want my slutty hole to remember nothing but your shape~" you begged at that point he had pulled you a bit closer, pushing your legs up against your chest. "Hold your legs right there~" he ordered and you did as you were told, pulling your hands to hold your legs to your chest.

He aligned his cock with your soaked slit. His thumb easing over your clit making you moan quietly. "You're so ready for me~" he hummed, his tip kissing the folds of your pussy. "All for you... master~" your voice faltered slightly as he slid his tip inside of you. The head stretching you out slowly. "That's my cute little kitten~" he hummed as he slowly eased himself inside you, inch by inch. Making your hands grip onto your thighs as you let out gasps and moans. "Fuck... your insides are so fucking wet, is that just for me?" He asked. "Y-yes..~ it's all for you~" you mewled.

He leaned down and kissed your leg, before he drove the last few inches of himself inside you, his balls pressed right up against your ass. It felt like you were about to cum just from his cock sitting inside you and he definitely felt it, the way your pussy walls tightened around his cock for that brief moment. "Ah shit kitten... you're so tight, were you about to cum?" He asked in a teasing voice making you nod. He let out a low chuckle. "Well then I'll have to make sure that you cum..." he paused, his head lowering slightly to your face making his cock move slightly inside you making you moan quietly.

"You'll be cumming so much you won't even remember how to walk~" he whispered and before you could even respond those hips started moving, it wasn't slow and teasing like you expected, no, it was hard and fast, his balls smacking against your ass and his cock hitting just all the right spots in your pussy making you squirm in his hold. "Ngh~ yes yes yes~" you repeated it like a mantra, your head tilting back as you held harshly onto your thighs, you could feel your orgasm building up in your stomach and there were no signs of Shinsou slowing down, even as your walls tightened around his cock he coaxed you into cumming, whispering sweet nothings of how pretty you looked when you creamed all over his cock. The way your hips lifted up and your eyes rolled to the back of your head as your love juices covered his cock. He wasn't stopping in fact he was helping you ride your orgasm out longer, you already had tears staining your face from him face fucking you it only added on. "I-I can't... it's too much master... fuck fuck fuck!" You whined out as he hit another sweet spot, he kept hitting that spot over and over again until you came again, you were a sobbing moaning mess. "Gods kitten, yes... you look so fucking pretty cumming all over my cock~" he hummed.

By the time Shinsou had actually cum you had at least five orgasms and you were on your hands and knees, although you had collapsed from being unable to keep yourself up straight, your body was shaking along with your legs and your mind was blank almost. "Gods you're so amazing y/n..." he whispered against your skin. He decided that the two of you were just going to cuddle for a bit before you got back at it, after all Shinsou wasn't done with you and you knew that.

-

-

[I'm not gonna lie I did rush this one cause I was behind on my schedule of smut writing but yee, some of the prompts will be shorter than others so I'm sorry in advance for that :3]

[kelvintimeline]

omg i didnt mean that i wanted same to HAVE more trauma, i meant that it would be nice if, instead of most of the emotional backstory going to bucky, id like there to be some sort of acknowledgement that sam has experienced some awful fucked up things (not including being gone for 5 years) and they're a part of who he is and they affected him

Oh yeah!

They don’t EVER let Sam process anything??? Or receive support.

John gets the throwaway line about military service feeling bad. Bucky gets to be resentful about Steve being gone and his legacy.

And Sam’s blip trauma is just... about serving some symbolic (and IMPLIED, not explxicit) gesture towards recognizing racism exists and even then he doesn’t ever get to call it what it is--racism. He receives microaggression after microaggression (after MACROAGGRESSION of the bank scene) and it’s just... he doesn’t get to be mad about it.

Just... still kind. He is a passive character in a story named after him.

He doesn’t receive love or care or catharsis. He isn’t even allowed to be complicated--just straightforward (even when his ideology contradicts itself, ie military good... Karli bad?).

A lot of his trauma is left in the periphery. It’s implied and almost omnipresent through parallels with Karli but never truly spoken of or FELT. It’s just a tool to make him an ideological mouthpiece.

And that only gets more clear with the treatment of Lemar who served as the ideological balance of John, who once killed unleashes the full and real John.

Sam is the balancing act of the show. He doesn’t get his own backstory unless it’s just there to be used against him. Sarah is dropped completely unless it’s to fuck up things with Madripoor or show how unhinged Karli can be.

Like??

It’s so fucking disrespectful.

[thefutureduchessmarie]

My thoughts on Buck Begins (and why it was such a letdown to me)

There was a lot to love about this episode (particularly the background it provided on Buck and Maddie), but ultimately it failed to live up to the expectation for me. Here’s why: FOCUSING ON BUCK/MADDIE INSTEAD OF BUCK/CHOSEN FAMILY

So far the season did a great job in showing exactly how and why Buck grew up with so many abandonment issues and feeling like he wasn’t enough. But the issues didn’t come from Maddie. Sure, he was hurt when she moved away, but that had already been mostly dealt with. And of course discovering she lied to him his whole life was hard, but I feel like given their current relationship Buck would always forgive her for that, he just needed time to process it. What I really needed from this episode was for Buck to realize/accept that he’d already found the family he’s been looking for his whole life. 

The idea that he 118 are each other’s chosen family is one of the central themes of the show, and I needed that energy now, more than ever. All I wanted was to see them doing everything they could to save Buck, not because it’s their job, but because they love him. And they did - each one of them walked into that building, knowing they could very well die. We just didn’t get to see that because the show failed to realize that should have been the climax all along. 

Was there seriously no one who could tell him that he doesn’t have to save every single person on the planet in order to be worthy? That he’s enough on his own? Because that’s the reason why he keeps putting himself in life-threatening situations to begin with. And instead of helping him realize that, they praised him for it and told him that’s why they love him so much, reinforcing his belief that he needs to be out there saving people in order to earn the right to be loved.

BOBBY 

The father/son relationship between him and Buck has been an important part of the show since season 1. So when it was revealed that Buck Begins would address Buck’s complicated relationship with his parents and culminate with him being stuck in a fire - a situation that mimics the way Bobby’s children died, it felt like everything was lining up for this dynamic to be the heart of the episode. It seemed to offer the perfect opportunity for both of them to make peace with their past (Bobby couldn’t save his children, but he could save Buck; and Buck could get closure from his parents and fully accept Bobby as the only parents figure he needs in his life). The crossover only seemed to confirm that. 

By ignoring that, and not showing any special focus on Bobby, they didn’t just waste the opportunity to tell a beautiful and meaningful story. They completely disrespected Bobby as a character. Because you look me in the eye, and tell me that seeing someone he recognizes as a his kid, someone he loves and feels responsible for stuck in a building on fire wouldn’t be triggering as fuck to Captain Nash! The show can’t just ignore the single most traumatizing event of his life simply because they don’t know how to address more than one relationship (Buck/Maddie) in one episode.   

EDDIE 

If there’s one thing I hate in television, it’s fan service. Its always painfully obvious when a show is doing something not because they believe in it,  but because the fans want it. However, right now 911 is doing a sort of anti-fan-service that is just as terrible. Basically, they created a “Buddie monster” that doesn’t seem to have been planned and now they have no idea how to handle it. It was so clear that they were going out of their way to avoid any Buddie moments in this episode, that they ended up throwing Eddie’s characterization and the beautiful friendship they wrote for him and Buck out of the window. 

The Eddie I’ve been seeing for 3 seasons now would be the first to rush into that building after Buck, even before he got any confirmation or authorization from anyone. Instead, they turned him into this ice cold person right when Buck was feeling so unloved and abandoned. They don’t want to make Buddie as a couple? Fine. I can live with that. But please don’t disrespect the amazing friendship that has been canonically written. If they don’t think they can show us Eddie caring and worrying about his best friend without making it romantic, then it means they’re not doing they’re job well.

They also inadvertently created a power imbalance between those two that literally no one asked for. Because now, if you compare how each of them reacted to the other being stuck in a life risking situation, it comes across as Buck caring way more than Eddie. Which I don’t think it’s true, but alas…. Its there now, and it reinforces Buck’s feelings of never being enough. 

(And yes, I’m already taking into account their different personalities. I never expected Eddie to panic in the way Buck did in Eddie Begins. But I was expecting him to freak out in his own Eddie way, which he didnt. At all. Despite the show repeatedly showing us how important Buck is in his life and how much he unravels without him)

The cheap queer baiting (“I feel like he’s working his way through the village people”? They were purposely showing past-Buck in queer stereotypes and they know it. And Im really getting tired of them not putting their money where their mouth is) v them going out of their way to make sure there were no meaningful interactions between Buck and the man people ship him with 

PLAIN-ASS INCONSISTENCIES OR WEAK TV :/

First thing Bobby told them when they got to the scene was that they couldn’t separate from the team. They’re all trained professionals, fully aware of how risky the situation was. They’re also aware that Buck is the most reckless member of the team on a normal day, and that day he was dealing with some particularly difficult shit. So why the hell did no one stop him when he tried to separate from the team? If you wanna convince yourself the 118 suck and don’t love Buck, fine, but I know its not true. So Hen and Chim letting Buck go just feels out of character to me. Something the writers did, not because it made sense, but because they needed to have him alone and couldn’t come up with a better plan.

Now compare that to Eddie Begins, for example, a Begin episode that followed a very similar structure. Eddie being stuck didn’t feel forced, because the situation was properly explained and contextualized.  Everything made perfect sense given their line of work, the team dynamics and protocol. It felt like the natural consequences of a very risky job. It also made sense that Eddie Begins focused so much on Eddie/Christopher and climaxed with him fighting like hell to return to his son, because that’s Eddie’s struggle - feeling like he failed as a parent.

Buck’s struggle is feeling like he was always the one left behind. The one people didn’t love enough, because he it made it hard to. So by not focusing on his relationship with his chosen family, all we’re left with is “Buck and Maddie against the world”. Which is not where any of those characters deserve to be and ignores all the progress that has been made for 4 seasons. 

By focusing so much on this one relationship, they also turned this into “Buck and Maddie Begins”, instead of Buck Begins. THEY COULDN’T EVEN FOCUS ON BUCK IN HIS OWN EPISODE. Tell me how is this supposed to help resolve his insecurities?  

I did love all the flashbacks and the moments between the siblings tho. And I cried reals tears when Maddie pulled out her own version of Buck’s box. I guess I’ll just have to rely on fanfiction and headcanons to fill all the voids mentioned above 

[podcastlimbo]

My honest honest opinion on second citadel season 3

Uhhhh... short answer? I didn’t like it much.

Okay wait before I go on to my long answer I need to say that this is all just my opinion and it’s all subjective. If you liked sc season 3 that’s awesome! I get why you do and I’m glad you enjoyed it!

But I really wasn’t a fan of where they went with it (even from episode 1), and I’m gonna go on a long rambly and repetitive rant about it.

I’m not gonna talk about the way the season ended and the setup for s4 because I haven’t fully formed my opinion about that - to form my opinion means to relisten to the season and i don’t really feel like doing that.

Anyways, these are my unfiltered 2am thoughts about the Rest Of It - maybe I’ll neaten it up later to make it more palatable but for now it’s wordy n messy and you can just. Not read it bc it’ll probably make you mad, or feel free to pick it apart and tell me I’m wrong, or unfollow me (and at least one person has already done so lmao) but like that won’t change the fact that I just wasn’t feeling s3 so uh. That said.

Long answer? I love the second citadel... at least the first two seasons

I love the world building, how the setting is such a unique, deliberate step away from eurocentric fantasy, how refreshing all that is! The Second Citadel (the place) is rich with culture and history from the brief glimpses we get of it (mostly in knight of the crown). Not to mention the monster society, with its own rules (or lack thereof) and environments and personalities.

I love the storytelling, how different mediums are woven into the way each episode is formatted. Rilla has her tape recorder, Damien his prayers, Caroline her letters, and each medium is so well suited to each character, and it truly lets us get a glimpse of what’s going on in their minds, and I find it utterly fascinating how a protagonist of one story could just as easily become an antagonist (or at least, an annoyance) in another

And the characters! Each one so compelling, with their own goals and motivations, their own intriguing backstories and potential.

Most importantly, the way these characters play off of each other is what makes second citadel amazing. Getting to see people with similar experiences but different world views clash (Caroline and Mira), people with fundamentally different beliefs reconcile and meet in the middle (rilla and arum), just, Kabert created so many interesting characters, and watching them bounce off one another is a joy.

And that’s what made season 2 so great for me. The exploration of each character, getting to see their good sides and bad, through either a medium tailored for them, or through interactions with others, as they explored a fascinating world.

The end of season 2 left me so satisfied, but still with so many questions and excitement about what was to come. I wanted to see Talfryn come into his own and step out of his brothers shadow. I wanted to see Damien, Arum and Rilla navigating their new relationship. I wanted to know more of the fate of Rilla’s parents, Damien’s past, the consequences Arum would surely face after defying the monster court. I wanted Marc to finally be recognized by his fellow knights, to watch as Caroline lead the journeymen knights, while learning to trust in others as she was beginning to do. I wanted Angelo continuing to unlearn the implicit biases that had been instilled in him as a result of his upbringing, or more details on Caroline and Quanyii’s relationship. I was also curious!! How would human and monster relations change after the events of the finale? And would we learn more of the past, when humans and monsters lived together in peace?

I was buzzing with excitement for season 3, and then.. it came, it aired, and then it went.

And I felt... meh?

Don’t get me wrong. There were moments that I liked. Some of what I hoped to see did happen (see the above paragraph lmao), getting a glimpse of the western wastes with its own culture a joy. The dynamics between Olala and some of the characters were really fun! And the direction the story took at the end was one I didn’t expect, but left me open to more.

That said,,, everything else about the season just. Didnt gel with me.

Everything I loved about second citadel pretty much wasn’t there??? Aside from Caroline, Angelo and Quanyii, all the characters they spent so much time introducing to us and fleshing out over 2 seasons were just relegated to the side??

I think my main problem with season 3 was that it felt like a completely different show. Characters introduced as part of an ensemble became side characters in (what was supposed to be) their own stories. Character arcs that got set up were dropped, and mysteries/backstories teased were forgotten. Heck, the monster court and senate wasn’t even brought up! The aftermath of the fear bugs attack ont the citadel went unexplored! It’s like nothing in the past season even happened!

And I’m sorry I gotta say this, but the problem is Olala.

I mean. Okay I don’t wanna be super mean- she’s perfectly fine as a character. We root for her, we cry when she cries, and we cheer when she wins the day.

But since all the episodes were centered around her, we didn’t get to see anyone else’s inner worlds. And like okay, yes, they did it for this season of Juno Steel too, where Juno, the previous POV a character for 2 seasons, became a part of an ensemble, and was a side character for many episodes. But this choice worked for Juno and not Second Citadel, because it was a natural progression for his story! We spent 2 seasons exploring Juno’s character, his backstory, his motivations, we saw him come to terms with his family history, grow and change as a person, and by the time he joined the Carte Blanche, we’d gotten to a point with Junos story where we’re okay to step away for a while, and see events through the lens of others.

But that just?? Doesn’t work in second citadel? Because unlike Juno, the characters introduced in s1-2 are virtually unexplored! There’s still so much about their stories we don’t know, and so many ways for them to progress.

But we didn’t get any of that! Stuff established in s1-2 barely got payoff in this season. Characters stagnated, and when previously it was amazing to watch them interact with each other? Having each episode throw different combinations of characters together and seeing how they clashed and came together? Yeah we didn’t get that, it was all the same characters bouncing off of Olala, which is fine at first, but honestly? After the first couple episodes, it got stale.

And remember how before, we would get to see the characters tell their story through a medium suited for them? Well I noticed that the format of this season was a lot moreee audio drama-y (basically a TV show but with no visuals) and while there’s nothing wrong with that, one of SC’s strengths was in using the medium in unique ways, presenting the episodes in unique formats depending on the POV character. And with the exception of a few moments, the season really lacked that!

I know there were episodes in s1-2, like caves of discord and the Janus beast which didnt follow that format, but I think it’s a fan consensus that the episodes that do (moonlit hermit, KOTC lots, lady of the lake) are favourites, because they fully embraced the advantages and limitations those framing devices offered, and were truly perfect for character exploration.

It’s like. Idk. Imagine wolf 359 s3 where the si5 were introduced, and there was like 1-2 episodes of them interacting with the rest of our cast, but then after that the rest of the season just completely focuses on Eiffel and the new characters, and everyone else just disappears n twiddles their thumbs and doesn’t even do anything during the finale. That’s what happened this season, and that’s the kinda weird vibe I’m talking about.

Since I’m already rambling, I might as well just say some more stuff. I was disappointed with the music this season. I can tell Ryan Vibert was trying to figure a way to make SC sound different from Juno, and he was getting there in s1-2! The pieces that stand out now are the soft, acoustic guitar pieces, like Rillas song, or the lone melody line of the guitar in the SC theme. I thought he was getting it with s3e1, when Marc fought the dinosaur while traditional Japanese instruments were playing!! But then for the rest of the season, it was just samey echoey ambient electric guitar, like how it is for Juno. There could’ve been so much potential to give this world its own musical identity, but in the end, that attempt was dropped (at least that’s how it come off to me), just like so many other elements introduced in s1-2!

I’ve gotten this far in my rant, and I haven’t even talked about the story. And the story is. Hmmmmm

Like. It’s completely serviceable? Kabert are good at what they do so the story is a okay I guess? But to be completely honest, the characters and story were so tied together in previous seasons, so much so that in this season, even though the plot was just fine, it stayed just that. Fine. it always felt like there was something missing because the characters were the story, and to have just. So many holes in that department meant that the story itself was fundamentally empty.

Anyways uh. All of this is to say that this all boils down to character. I had my nits to pick with other elements but the fact that Rilla, Arum, Damien, Marc and Talfryn got completely sidelined (Tal most of all) when so much of the previous seasons were spent setting them up- in favour of a completely new storyline featuring new characters and settings when there was still so! Much! Left! Unfinished! From unfulfilled arcs to dynamics left untapped, and creative potential lost, the essence of the show was watered down and it left me with the intense feeling of

:/

Idk. Season 3 felt like a completely different show. I liked s1, I loved a2, but s3 just. isnt second citadel for me. I’ll probably still listen to the next season out of loyalty, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel as passionately about the shows future as I do it’s precious seasons, especially if they continue this way.

Sorry.

[freebooter4ever]

Ref anon: I hope you can get help for that pain. Maybe a nerve is pinched? I'm really not sure about my future. I have a lot of hobbies but just work a shit customer service job. Getting motivation to do drawing at all is difficult let alone animate. Which is a great mental state to be in when my only plan for my whole life since childhood was animation. 🤷‍♀️

its tendonitis and im pretty sure the only way to get rid of it is to take a break from working which is obviously not possible so just gonna ignore it till i die i guess \o/

so yeah you struck a cord with me, this got long...

i cant help with motivation, i have too much of it. i lived with my grandparents for a year while grandpa was sick, and it was the first time they'd ever really seen me /work/ and even they were shocked. it really is constant - if i have twenty minutes and im not using it to draw its wasted time, you know? my first roommate here in LA was concerned too - she kept trying to get me to stop working and go out and back then my excuse was i didnt have a job and no money for going out, but really im just like that all the time. i try to balance it with seeing friends and social media and everyday shit like eating food, but its hard, my favorite people are the ones who will just sit and work with me lol! (or going out and working in places im not alone and quiet). i guess what im saying is...if its really your passion, is it not there all the time? i only ask because it took me a long time to realize that although i loved to analyze animation and watch it - the way i process art doesnt quite have what it takes to do that. we all love the end product, but just because the animation part is the most front facing part...doesn't mean that's necessarily where your actual passion might lie...if that makes sense? there's SO MUCH to do in the animation industry, its crazy. for me, i finally realized that all my obsessive energy revolved around character and especially faces, and i just started focusing on that. i would much rather be concepting a wide variety of characters than spending a whole year animating about one minute of a two hour movie.

that said there's also the sad reality that some people have had doors open more easily than others. i feel you about being stuck in a retail job you feel wasted in :( im sorry you are in that position. i hope you are able to make a change, but i understand just how fucking /trapped/ that can be. watching life slip by into nothingness while the tiny snatches of meaning only happen during off hours and scraped together seconds of free time. one of the biggest ironies though is that this is how a lot of original animators felt about dsn*y. i mentioned that on my road trip i stayed with the son of an animator who worked on snow wh*te - he wasnt one of the 9 old men but he was their contemporary and friend, and the animator took the job just to make money off his art. animation just wasnt his full passion and he eventually quit, moved up north, and started experimenting with helicopters and boe*ng lol. 

and in reverse of that, as i grew up with a father and a grandfather who worked for boe*ng and the US space program, ALL my open doors were flight and space related - my cousin currently works for N A S A and my other cousin for boe*ng - they took the doors but i didnt want anything to do with it. it took years for my grandpa to finally come to terms with the fact that my passion for art was as strong as his passion for airplanes. he grew up a farm boy daydreaming about flying, and had to take a circuitous route to finally get there - army, college, mechanical engineering, finally rockets. he gave my dad and me all the chances grandpa would have wanted as a kid - my dad took them - i didnt want any of it. i would much rather have had those chances that the animator got.

and then of course there are the institutionalized gates - barriers against entry for women, minorities, LGBQT, people without money...its a LOT to fight against. which is of course why we celebrate the exceptional people who DO break through those barriers and succeed despite it all. but it can be demoralizing to be on the other side of those barriers. demoralizing is too soft a word. i dont think there is a word for how much it can hurt.

some wisdom that might help: randy pa*usch's last lecture - he is a white male who definitely does not understand the race/sex 'walls', but he makes good points, and also he came at the animation industry sideways for very similar reasons - through education and research rather than the traditional job promotion route. and then someone closer to my own age/time: justin scar*ed - i dont mean his road trip videos, i mean the old vlogs from 3-6 years ago when he was 31 divorced and depressed and realizing he had to release himself from his own pressure of his music career. his quest for positivity is an interesting concept, and i sympathized with that feeling of your life taking a direction you didnt chase after but somehow ends up being the thing you were actually looking for the entire time. if you want a success story there’s always my favorite: steve aok*. he went against everything that was set up for him in life and still made it work ^_^ (of course of these three, guess who also grew up the rich kid lol). or norman re*dus who quite literally accidentally became a model and successful actor. im paraphrasing this horribly, but my impression was that as a teenager he was selling shitty cat paintings on the streets of paris - which sounds romantic but miserable at the same time - and then followed a girl to california, got a crappy job in a motorcycle shop, went to a party and yelled at some people from a balcony, landed his first stage role...and eventually created the character of daryl and finally got the chance to have his genius really shine. (sometimes i wonder though, if it was frustrating to end up being famous for acting rather than art which was arguably his true passion?)

i hope any of this helps, i am pretty exhausted lately so apologies if my sentences are incomprehensible in some parts. and you know, my DMs on here are open if you want to talk more specifically off anon <3 

[plusultrcs]

Okay so now that i’m done crying about shadow and bone to my friends i want to make a controversial statement. Don’t bite my head off for my opinion bc 1. idc i said what i said and 2. it aint that serious these are fictional characters moving on though. I don’t think the show is bad AT ALL i really enjoyed it and seeing the inclusion of leigh and her books was so fucking cute but i will say i think combining both series into one did a huge disservice to the character development of most, if not ever, character. and i’ll explain why so (obviously) sab spoilers ahead. this also obnoxiously long so if you dont read it thats fine <3 lmao

I know going into it everyone, including leigh pretty much, was saying not to expect it to be like the books. That it was going stray away and be more like a fanfiction than the original works. Which was true, but only for the six of crows characters. The show leaned heavily and relied heavily on the plot of shadow and bone. Which, of course, makes sense but because of the inclusion of a heavy heavy re-worked six of crows plot that didnt fit the plot of shadow and bone at all it left them feeling incredibly displaced. Like on shadow and bones part every single major and sometimes even the minor plot points were followed to the number, but on the six of crows front the only thing closely followed was the nina and matthias backstory. I wont talk about every single character because i anticipate this to already be long, but the ones i noticed the most were done a disservice.

For instance Alina. Despite shadow and bone being followed so closely you dont really get to see the natural progression of alina’s character the way i was hoping we would. And that’s definitely because of the time restraints. They had to find a way to somehow balance the screen time for both separate plots so that they could hold the audiences attention for both. Like when nina and matthias plot wasnt on the screen for i think 2 episodes i almost forgot about them and what they were up to so i understand why they timing had to be so split, especially when you only have 8 hours to cover the characters of 2 over 300 page long books yknow? But that means important moments alina had to herself in the books were completely cut, and so a lot of that growth we got went with it. The the biggest thing i was disappointed to see go was the defeat she felt when she was first captured and collared by the darkling. She was feeling absolutely helpless, mal was in their hold, she had no power to do anything but sit there and let him use her. All the training she did felt pointless to her and she really was at the point of giving up. She went quiet, wouldnt speak,was basically a zombie until that moment in the fold when she saw innocent people suffering when she knew she could stop. And she found a way to break free. There were other moments like this in the book, like moments at the little palace where shelt herself getting further and further from mal and feeling like an outside on her own all over again. They tried to show it in the show but without the time to develop her life on her own at the little palace it definitely fell short.

Speaking of mal: THANK YOU WRITERS FOR FIXING HIS WHINY ASS. And while he was annoyingly whiny in the books, he is not a boring character. Not to me at least, honestly he never was. While i do appreciate them not making him so whiny, I would have appreciated seeing that same dissonance realizing alina was grisha brought about in the books. Its just like alina said, grisha were people they scoffed at and talked about in a joking way. Their lives felt miles and miles away from their own, and then to learn that she had been one the entire time. I know i know, it has nothing to do with, and alina didnt know either. BUT THAT IS STILL HIS BEST FRIEND. And obviously girl he’s in love with even if he wasnt aware of it at the time. it made him question everything he thought about grisha, and more importantly brought both of their biggest fears to light: being torn apart. In the book he doesnt deal with this well at ALL and while leigh bardugo does a great job throughout the series showing him growing to me he never got where he should have been, and the show did place him there but i think they do so prematurely. I definitely wanted him to be as understanding as he was, to take notice of how much healthier and stronger she looks since she’s not withholding her power anymore, but i did still want the tension of him wondering what it means for them, how their lives would change, because just based on laws alone she is a grisha and would typically never be someone he would have the chance to befriend but neither of them would be okay with that.

AND ON THE TOPIC OF MALINA. THEY ARE NOT A BORING SHIP. I think the only person other who would work for alina is nikolai (dont fight me on this im right), and that is who i wanted her to end up with. However, I understand why Mal was the choice. Alina has always been someone who just wanted to belong, to fit in somewhere, AND THAT IS OKAY. IT’S NOT A CRIME TO WANT TO BE ORDINARY. I know shes the main character, and has the prophecy of being the ~chosen one~ but that doesnt mean she suddenly has to alter change and rearrange herself entirely. she never wanted to be a saint, and even by the end of the series she still doesnt. Choosing to let the world believed she died so she could live a quiet life. tHAT’S ALL SHE’S EVER WANTED. And Mal is the perfect person to give her that. People who claim she gave up her life for mal, to me, didn’t understand her character. She bounced around from needing mal by her side, and when she couldnt have him there she still sought acceptance in the only other person willing to give it to her, i.e. the darkling. and then when she couldnt have it from him she’s forced to find it in herself and while she learns she doesnt need him or mal she doesnt need anyone, she still chooses mal bc she wants to be with him. she doesnt feel obligated and even later on in the books makes plenty stands on her own without him but she loves him and they honestly make perfect sense. a softer ship doesnt make it a boring one js.

NOW THE SIX OF CROWS GANG. I hate to say it, i do but they felt reduced to a form comedic relief. they had their serious moments ofc but for the most part whenever they popped up on the screen i knew a joke or gag was soon to follow. i will say kit as jesper? best decision that could have possibly been made he fucking did what he had to DO. Kaz’s development for me felt really really rushed and forced. Like he was saying things to inej he wouldnt have said so quickly and especially not while he wasnt under stress??? it honestly felt like fan service??? which im not mad at because again i dont think the show was bad at all the actors brought really great life to the crows, but it just makes me sad to see all that development and build up go out the window.  i think if they were that set on combining the crows story with the shadow and bone story it would have been so much nicer to get a sort of prequel on the crows. like they should have given them the same treatment they gave nina and matthias. so that we could see their backstories as explained in the book happening in real time like how they all came to ketterdam. i know theres no point in wishing that now since whats done is done and again I DONT THINK ITS BAD. Im just sad about all the character development and strong subtle points lost because leigh bardugo always does such a great job in dropping subtle hints and always bringing them back in the end, and that was sadly lost. STILL A GOOD SHOW STILL LOVE THE BABIES. STILL PRAYING FOR A SEASON TWO.

EDIT: IT ALSO MADE ME SAD TO SEE THEM LOSE SO MANY TIMES??? ESPECIALLY AFTER SOC WHERE THEY ALWAYS MANAGED TO WIN?? Like ofc it made perfect sense for them to be unable to capture the damn sun summoner !!! but kaz and all of the crows are meant to be the best of the best when it comes to criminals top tier and they were bested by a ball of light and a jog???? and them going home basically empty handed was kinda :// like i got it but also where did alina get that necklace lmao so yeah once again still great still love it questions had to be asked 

[mousehole5000]

 this is it... the final post.... 226 through THE END!!!!!

this shit with mu qing and the river of lava is SOOOO dramatic im loving it

oh my god theyre on a FUCKING bridge of course they are okay let’s go boys

“You’re right. We’re alike. You think me odd, I think you to be rather weird too.” - so what im getting from this is that xie lian and mu qing are the only characters in this book with working gaydar okay yup got it this checks out

god... the fact that xie lian is ready to be like “look mu qing we can just forget about the past it doesnt matter we dont have to be friends i know you dont like me but im not gonna let you die over it” and then mu qing is like “.... god i really do admire you huh”

“You...certainly...are rather amazing. You’re...also...a better person...than me. Long story short, I...very much wanted...to become your f-f-friend.”  - going to think about this for the rest of all time im about to become utterly unintelligible im overcome with emotions

“And, at the end of the white silk band, Feng Xin was gripping Ruoye with one hand while the other was holding on to a steel-faced Mu Qing, and he shouted towards him.” - the fucking IMAGE of this im gonna cry this is everything i could have asked for im so happy also mu qing dangling there like “ welp. guess ill live“

“Feng Xin was almost burnt by that pillar of fire, and he shouted in outrage. “WHAT’S WITH THIS BAND OF DOG SHITS, ATTACKING PEOPLE WHILE THEY’RE DOWN, SO VILE! FUCK YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY!” Xie Lian responded, “IF THEIR ENTIRE FAMILIES ALL LOOK LIKE THAT, YOU SURE YOU WANT TO FUCK THEM??” - theyre so funny!!! and theyre best friends!!! theyre joking together now in the middle of all this i could cry theyre back!!!

“Using sticks as arrows, he held the bow with one hand and used his teeth to bite back the bowstring.” - no clue how practical this is but okay archer boy. hot

i actually have so many little quips between the three of them highlighted but we’d be here all night if i included them all. im literally so delighted by this omg worth the wait

“Each sabre strike slashed to the bone. It wasn’t like Xie Lian had never seen Hua Cheng use the sabre before in the past, but his style had always been easy and leisurely, nonchalant and casual. Rather than say he was handling a weapon, it was more like he was toying with a small knife. Yet those blade marks were filled with killing intent. It was easy to imagine just how skilled the one exchanging blows with him was, and how perilous this battle.” you have no idea how mad i was when i read this and thought we missed witnessing the fight between hc and jw omg

“Behind him, Feng Xin muttered, “Dear fucking god, may all the gods and buddhas grant their blessings, that better absolutely be Crimson Rain Sought Flower, otherwise he’s gonna go mad!” “Stop your rubbish,” Mu Qing berated. “We’re all the gods and buddhas ourselves and we can’t grant shit, just keep up with him! Look at the stumbling way he’s running, he’s gonna trip and fall to his bloody death before he even sees the man!” - okay i know i said no more quips but this is literally too funny i just wanted to read it again

“ However, for whatever reason, that vicious ghost, in its muddled state, took that large group of live mortals under its wing and fled for many days. In the end, they were still surrounded by millions of ghosts, trapped in a dead end, and it was going to be eaten along with those humans.” [...] “That vicious ghost almost made a move against those humans, but for some reason, in the end, it didn’t. It instead used one of its own eyes as the price to forge a blood weapon. That vicious ghost was already forcibly hanging on with its last breath; after digging out its eye it should’ve broken apart completely. Yet somehow something had shocked it, and it instead woke to its senses completely. “ - THIS IS AMAZING ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? IS THIS ALL WE GET ABOUT HIS GHOSTLY LORE?????? HUA CHENGGGGGGGG

“What a terrible offence, his old habit had come out, and he quickly apologized. “I’m sorry! You don’t have to listen to me!” Hua Cheng, however, only smiled happily. “Everything gege tells me is the best advice, so why wouldn’t I listen?” - this isnt the fucking time afjdkfjsdkl they really never stop

“So you can hold the illusion of a perfect Crown Prince of Wuyong to face and dismiss the Jun Wu now. Isn’t that your objective? Did you think I don’t know what you’re thinking?” “THAT’S NOT IT!” Guoshi cried. “Stop getting tied up in right and wrong, victories and defeat, I’VE NEVER THOUGHT THAT WAY BEFORE!” - jun wu only being able to see xie lian as his successor and believing that thats all anyone else sees too... okay

honestly this whole final showdown was a blast i cant put everything in but it was so much fun to read. the DRAMA the LAVA the SHOUTING t

“Hua Cheng had poured too much spiritual power into him. There really was too much, so much that it was completely outside the amount the cursed shackle could withstand.” - okay.... okay... the love you give will set you free... okay....

“With Jun Wu in his grip, he carried both their bodies and forcefully slammed into the incomparably-solid rock wall! He used all of his power in this smash, and in the rumbling and crashing of rocks, he also heard the sound of something breaking.” [...] “A moment later, Jun Wu suddenly asked, “That move. What is it called?” “...” Xie Lian raised his sleeve and wiped away the blood on the side of his face. “Shattering boulders on the chest.” YES!!!!! YES!!!!! xie lian actually lived that life!!!!!! i loved this detail so much

“After a moment of silence, Xie Lian took off the bamboo hat carried on his back, took it in his hand, and covered it over Jun Wu’s face.” - xie lian... good... another detail i love. a hat that protects from the rain, given in a moment of need, even to someone who has caused you hardship... we do not forget the kindness granted to us

“There was gratefulness, there was shame, there was heartache, there was wild joy, but above all else, there was incurable love.” - :pleading: i wish it was just that easy tbh. “i have to tell you about the worst parts of myself” “ive already seen them and i dont care i still love you“ truly the dream

“ It’s been so long since anyone listened to me talk, won’t you stay? Don’t...actually do this. I won’t be able to take it. Twice, it’s been twice already! I really don’t want there to be a third time!!!” - the bit about just wanting someone to listen to him talk... xie lian... :(

emily corpse bride moment.... i knew it had to happen.... butterflies.... death and rebirth.... inevitable

xianle trio bickering about ruoye..... mu qing complaining but not letting anyone else fix it... im so happy

“The Rain Master sat down on the spot, looking like she was going to perform a passing service for her. After all, Xuan Ji was the only one left of the Kingdom of Yushi besides herself.”  - xuan ji you sure the hell were... a character. this little moment tho..... yushi huang... many thoughts

“ Who hasn’t made promises, or swore to the mountains and the seas when they were young? Talking of affection, of love, of forevers. But, the longer I hang around in the world, the more I understand, something like ‘forever’ is impossible. It’s never going to be possible. Having it once was already good enough. No one can truly achieve it. I don’t believe in it anymore.” - jian lan im happy for you bummer it didnt work out with feng xin but yeah that was looooong ago. also this quote me same mood kin but its chill. having it once was already good enough

although yeah tbh if theres anyone who can have a forever like that... it would be a ghost and a god

fasdfjadklfj GOD... pour one out for ling wen.. but is that not the truth of this world? the one can be pardoned for being good at paperwork that no one else wants to do? isnt that the plot of the shawshank redemption?

okay but the fact that all xie lian’s friends come to visit him while he waits for hua cheng is making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.... fengqing coming together to try to get him out of the house but get scared off by his cooking... amazing

“Last time, they spent eight hundred years running towards each other. This time, it only took an instant to fall into each other’s embrace.” - im completely unaffected by this. im not lying i swear (i am lying im very emotionally affected)

okay i love this final wrap up chapter party its so fun. mu qing moving on from the broom thing!!! good for him!! the beggars get their reward!!! the fun ghost city chefs!! SQX!!!! and he xuan is?? here too??? he’s hungry??? fjadlkfjsdl

“The grounds that Feng Xin and Mu Qing had just swept were once again filthy from that giant crowd of muddy feet. Mu Qing gripped his broom, looking like he felt someone had infected him with fleas, and his eyes were wide.” - me when my dad comes into the kitchen when ive just finished washing dishes i get it king

the little folklore bit... fun!!! oh my god its over..... :(

that was really fun i had a blast reading it and on the whole really liked it i WISH soo badly that hua cheng had gotten more outside of being cunty and devoted even tho those are both important i just wish there was more about like how he got by during those 800 years and like did he ever have doubts? what shaped his worldview was it all xie lian or was it his experience as a mortal as well? why is he so mean to e’ming? theres bits and pieces here and there and i know it was already SO long but that really would have been great if there was more about hc cuz tbh by the end, at least for me, the hualian relationship didnt actually feel as fleshed out as the xianle trio relationship like i still liked hualian’s dynamic and it was really sweet how much they clearly really liked each other and  everything but i kind of wish some of the other subplots had been dropped or diminished in favor of more hc development i think that would have been cool

but anyway thats some of my thoughts and i really did enjoy the hell out of book 5 that was a riot and uhhh thanks to everyone who read these or commented *lends you spiritual energy through a high five*

[yggdrasil-mith0s]

Who am I kidding. I would be happy with one remake. If I could only choose one, though, it would be Tales of Destiny. I've explained it before but I have gotten new followers so I'll explain why Tales of Destiny is my favorite. I do have some Trigger warnings, though, since it is a part of my story. TWs: Cancer, Death.

Destiny is what started it all for me. I have talked about this before but when my dad got really sick with cancer, we sent him to Philadelphia for treatment (where my family is from as well as better hospitals and cancer ward). Mom and Dad had divorced 2 years prior but mom let us have as much time with him as possible while he was sick. But after he got to Philly and had surgery, we found out that it grew and spread to other parts of the brain (glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer is what he had). No more surgeries. They just kept him as comfortable as possible and let him recover in the hospital from the surgery. So my mom knew I was going to need a distraction. She let me pick out a game and for whatever reason, I picked Tales of Destiny. I played it constantly before we flew to Philly and right when we got there. I had the new PS1 with the LCD screen and an adapter so I could play it in cars and anywhere with a plug in. So I remember playing it on the way to the hospital. This is my first real RPG besides a select few but this is the first one I owned and actually knew everything going on while playing. I loved every second of gameplay. I remember seeing my dad in the hospital and he was so bad he couldn't talk or move at this point. I tried telling him I bowled a 165 (at my age that's amazing and he loved bowling. He got a 299 once). I ended up crying and left without saying anything beyond that. My aunt took me to the car and all I wanted to do was escape reality so I played Destiny. It helped relax me and calm down. It took me away from the painful feeling. Fast forward. He got sent home about 3 days later on Hospice and 3 more days later he died. We flew back up for the funeral. I had been playing Destiny but hadn't finished the game yet because I'm little and some parts took a while to figure out as well as school and other things. Destiny calmed me down everytime I started to cry or have an anxiety attack thinking about my dad the whole time. We get to the funeral service and my mom left the rental van on cause I couldn't save the game. I was in battle. The service happens and I want to cry but I am also ready to escape with Destiny. On the way to the funeral site to lay him to rest, I did it. I beat Tales of Destiny. The complete end finished as we pulled up. I got out and on the ground was this beautiful, gold feather. I never seen a golden feather and I still havent. I picked it up, feeling accomplished I beat Tales of Destiny, my first RPG. I whispered to my dad (his spirit I suppose), "I beat it, dad." I laid the feather on his casket along with the flower they gave family to do that, just before we left. So I get back in the car, smiled because I knew he would be proud I beat it without help and on my own (he loved games and RPGs). I turn on the PS1 and started a new game. I played through Destiny again 2 more times in a row. It got me through a really dark time. A time that really couldve been way worse without Tales of Destiny. It took me out of reality and the pain and put me in a place of joy, intrigue, and fun. Reality existed still, of course, and I still dealt with emotions and my dad's death the way any kid my age would.... but I couldn't have done it without Tales of Destiny.

That is why Tales of Destiny is my favorite. I also picked it back up every time I felt long or depressed through the years until I finally met a friend that had just bought Tales of Symphonia. I met another Tales fan. I met a friend. I invited him over and we played for over 12 hours straight and beat the game with one hour break to go get pizza from Pappa John's lol. But I wouldn't have met my best friend for the next few years if it wasnt for Destiny.

Even today it gets me through really depressing times. That is why I love Destiny so much and it's my favorite. It introduces me to the series. The story was awesome. I really loved Stahn Aileron as a protagonist. He had me laughing and interested when he got serious. Also I loved Mary Argent and her story. I related to her personality. Rutee Katrea was fun and cool. She was tough and I wanted to be tough just like her. Leon Magnus was cool. The kind of cool that everyone likes. I didnt care about that so much tbh. But I did think he was cool lol. Phillia Felice was so cute. I love how she cared about everyone. She said some seriously empathetic stuff that really resonated with me. I truly felt how she did so I loved her character. Garr Kelvin was a great friend to Stahn. The type of friend I always wanted. I eventually found that type of friend. He and I played Tales of Symphonia for hours the first time we hung out outside of school. I love the series. But Destiny is where it began with an amazing story and cast.