#anyway it’s overall good. i definitely have criticisms but i think i would have criticisms of aby batman adaptation

[clumsypuppy]

Atla live action 😐

[milk-lover]

Batman: Caped Crusader…. Good

[tori-artemis]

Oh this is a great question to think about! Tbh I had a lot of hopes back when the series was premiering (and before when it was just announced), so to go off of those... well first off, I really really wanted an exploration of Loki's trauma, his past and even his psyche. Like I know a psychological thriller/horror probably wouldn't have been in the cards for a Disney+ show, but tbf I feel like the creators of Wandavision touched on aspects found in those types of genres (if in a PG 13 kind of way) so I don't think I was too off base for hoping to see something like that for Loki. (Not to mention the ridiculous comparisons to films like Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs that Mike Waldron kept making... but I'm not gonna get into that rant again.)

I think I would've put a lot of focus on what the hell actually happened to Loki when he fell into the Void and disappeared for an entire year or so, and how he ended up encountering Thanos and the Black Order, how that all went down, etc. Either through flashbacks, or (possibly altered) memories, or Loki recounting those events interview/interrogation-style (and being an extremely unreliable narrator in doing so, like for instance saying something like "I made a deal with Thanos and worked with him willingly" and then at some point you see into his head through flashbacks/night terrors and realize that clearly wasn't the case, just stuff like that). The possibilities were endless tbh, like there's just so many creative opportunities to explore that one aspect of Loki's backstory. And since that's such a burning question to me (and many other fans tbh) still to this day, I feel like that'd be the first thing I'd want to tackle.

Another important thing I'd want to include would be Loki's gender fluidity and his bi identity. Like I don't think it necessarily has to go with Loki referring to himself as bi, like I don't think he has to say the actual word "bi" in order to give any meaningful kind of rep?? Especially now that Agatha All Along has come out, I feel like I'd want to approach Loki's identity in a similar type of way, just unapologetic, and as authentic as possible to his comic book counter part. Like hell, he can have hang ups with those parts of his identity (which would actually make sense, being from Asgard and since he already has a lot of self-loathing issues in general due to being Jotun).

I wouldn't mind that, especially if it was done in a non-typical way, like maybe it's not being sexually intimate with men/males that's looked down upon on Asgard, but - similar to the Norse apparently - it's on what role they play, or basically who's the "bottom" - that gets shamed, or maybe same sex relationships aren't looked down upon at all on Asgard, but giving birth/getting pregnant while being/presenting as male is, bc it's seen as unnatural, and then let Loki go through an experience where he develops deep rooted insecurities about those aspects of his identity due to Asgard's cultural prejudices. And like this doesn't even have to be explicit (tho after the birth scenes in both Wandavision and especially Agatha All Along I can't help but roll my eyes at ppl having a hang up with Loki going thru something like this, especially if they were totally okay with Wanda and Agatha having birthing scenes, but anyways). It can be something as simple and as subtle as Loki finding out he's pregnant (maybe he can magically feel the fetus growing inside him, or he can hear the heartbeat/etc, or maybe it's as simple as having morning sickness and/or a change of diet). And it just ends up with him drinking tea/potion (due to pressure from Odin/Frigga/society, or maybe he's not ready and seeks it out himself) which gets rid of the baby, but again it's done in a very non graphic way. Of course the whole mpreg thing is just an example, and doesn't have to be in a series about Loki (that's what fanfic is for!) but basically: let Loki be queer, he can have hang ups about being queer, and tbh I'd want the hang ups to be kind of different from the usual discussions/portrayals of queerness in media mainly bc Asgard's an alien/fantasy society so I'd want their cultural norms to be pretty different from ours (human society in general), but overall just let Loki be queer, goddamnit!

Furthermore, I'd want to explore Loki's self loathing in particular, and see his view of himself change as he develops and grows throughout the series. If he encounters other versions of himself then I'd want to see what that would look like... and preferably done differently from how the show approached it (regarding Sylvie). Like I don't want him to just, I don't know, praise his other self up the way he ends up doing in the series (I know he also fought with Sylvie at the beginning but tbh I couldn't really take their rivalry seriously, it felt very sibling-like - which I actually enjoyed at the time, mind you, but a reflection of one's internal self-hatred it certainly is NOT, and like overall the whole dynamic just didn't work for me bc I find those two characters so undeniably different from each other and therefore it doesn't really work as a metaphor for self hatred/self love, but that's neither here nor there).

Like - let it be messy! Let it actually be vitriolic and hateful if that's what the series is trying to convey. Let Loki be angry, let him rage, let him lash out - at versions of himself and at other characters, like c'mon! This is a character that has a lot of inner darkness and has suffered through a lot of trauma and has difficulty trusting others due to said trauma (especially if we're going with Avengers era Loki) so how about we Show That.

Tbh I wouldn't have minded for Loki's main villain (both in the series overall and wrt the lead character) to be a version of himself. (As long as it was portrayed in a thoughtful way, like don't just make him evil please, in fact he doesn't even have to be evil at all - he doesn't have to destroy or conquer other worlds, he could literally just be out there destroying all versions of Loki, which would force our protagonist to fight/confront this person hunting him down). Like I think there would be so many possibilities for all of the ways a protagonist could deal with a "villain" - or rather, an antagonist like that. Some far more darker than others, depending on how you want your story to go. Like it could end similarly to the Agent of Asgard comics (where I believe Loki ends up forgiving and embracing his "evil" self... tho I've not read the comics so please feel free to correct me if I've gotten something wrong). Or if I were writing this series, I would've just had Loki forced into a position where, after being worn down to reaching his emotional breaking point, and in a fit of sheer rage, he'd end up brutally murdering the antagonistic version of himself, in the ultimate form of self destruction, and then I'd have him reeling from the internal consequences of such an extreme form of violence done against himself - but that's just my ridiculously morbid psychological-horror-loving ass for you. I'd just want to completely unravel him ngl, before having him overcome the impossible by rebuilding himself once more (w/ a little help from his newfound friends)...

If the TVA had to be involved in some way, I'd want to approach them as an ominous totalitarian organization, and if Loki were to be tortured by said organization, it most certainly would NOT be portrayed as some throw-away-attempt-at-comedy-type-of-scene (AHEM). I'd go for a darker tone overall, and Loki's torture at the TVA would be portrayed with all of the horror demanded by those types of scenes dealing with that kind of subject matter.

Tbh I have so many ideas for a Loki-centric show, some that involve the TVA and some that don't, but there's just so many threads and I don't want to make this any more convoluted than it already is, so to put it simply: I'd want the focus to be on Loki first and foremost. If it's called Loki, then it should be about the main lead, similar to how Agatha All Along was about Agatha, and Wandavision was about Wanda. (Which means, if the TVA has to be involved, then they would be secondary to the series' main focus - which would be on Loki and his relationship with himself.) Secondly, I'd want to see his trauma not only brought up, but fully explored. Which includes his traumatic upbringing (Odin's A++ Parenting, Frigga's enabling, family dysfunction, Asgard's toxic social/cultural norms) as well as the horror he experienced in the Void and on Sanctuary, maybe even some events in the first Avengers film, but seen through Loki's eyes this time. And I'd just want Loki to be queer, so if he's bi then let him have previous (or current!) relationships (or flirtations) with men (or attraction towards men) as well as women, if he's gender fluid then Show. That. Whether he physically transforms into a woman at times, or through his inner monologue where he refers to himself with different pronouns even if his gender presentation hasn't changed, or even his ambivalence towards being trapped/labeled in a one-gender-ticked-box, but Show. It. That part of his identity deserves to be shown, especially in a series where Loki's the central character.

If you yourself could’ve directed/wrote the Loki series, what would you have done differently? What would you have wanted to see in a series about Loki? What would you have focused on? Would the series take place somewhere other than the TVA? Which characters would you include? What would be the end goal? What aspects of his character would be explored?

[zuzuzuko]

Thoughts on The Boy Wonder #3:

Under the cut because it got LONG

I really really am enjoying this comic still. This is part of my favorite page from this issue:

Someone posted the Talia panel earlier but I think that panel with the context of the rest of the page makes it even better. It’s kind of a subtle nod to the fact that Talia and Ra’s do NOT fuck with these kinds of people and in fact think they’re a blight on the world. So I really really liked that.

LOVED Tim being all smarmy at the Gala. And I thought it was fun that Damian just thinks that’s how he is. It shows how much Tim and Damian misunderstand each other and how neither of them think very highly of each other at this point.

Glad they showed Tim’s distrust of Damian too because that is a big part of why their dynamic is how it is. Early Damian and Tim interactions are basically built on misunderstandings and lack of trust. I also thought this dialogue was interesting because it is a great reflection of how Damian originally DID stop killing just because his dad told him to and he wanted his dad’s respect. It took some time for him to actually BELIEVE that not killing was the right thing to do. So Tim saying “I can tell you feel bad about killing that guy. But do you feel bad because you hurt someone or because you got punished for it?” Was a very good insight to include in my opinion.

I don’t really have any commentary for this next page I just think it was a really fun silly page:

This next part was so cute 😭 Damian thinks Tim decided to be a better person that makes him believe HE can be a better person too. And in the last panel I post he says “I thought… I thought I was the one who got you to…” meaning he thought he inspired Tim to be a better person. 😭😭😭😭

so it makes sense that he’s upset then when he finds out that Tim was just ACTING like a smarmy socialite and was actually helping Damian with the mission all along. Because he kind of felt like “oh I thought you made mistakes and now were redeeming yourself which meant that I would be able to redeem myself. But you were actually just good all along…”

Completely off topic but Tim breaking in the night before and stealing the Batman statue head is so funny and definitely something he would do.

“He wanted to feel better, worthier than him so badly…” yeah Damian definitely saw Tim as competition when they first met.

Also the last panel I didn’t read as if Talia and Ra’s tell Damian he’s weak but I see it more as an unreliable narrator thing. Like Damian’s own insecurities are presenting themselves as his mother and grandfather.

ANYWAYS

there were so many more panels I wanted to talk about alas the 10 picture limit.

Overall I really liked this issue I think it was a simple story for sure but it also highlighted Tim’s distrust of Damian and them misunderstanding each other. I will say Juni Ba definitely made them nicer to each other which is my only real criticism tbh.

TLDR: it was good 👍

[your-resident-boat-person]

It's been extremely frustrating watching people nitpick every bad decision Kamala and Tim have ever made while ignoring the fact that overall they have a fantastic track record, get backlash for it, and immediately fall back on "what?! I can't criticize a politician?! They need to be held accountable! Can't I criticize a politician that I still endorse?!"

Yes, you can criticize a politician. In fact, I'd argue criticizing even fantastic politicians is an important part of keeping politics healthy, and politicians accountable. But what people forget is that there's a time and a place for everything. Politics is a popularity contest. If Kamala isn't popular enough, we will be stuck with Trump for 4 years. I'll forgo explaining why that's an unambiguously bad thing, and state:

When it's 3 months before the popularity contest, it may not be a good idea to publicly lambast the only people that have a chance against Trump to an audience of people who have already largely fallen for the propaganda that a blue president will be exactly as bad as Trump.

We need people out there to vote. This is the website where its users famously lack nuance. People will see one bad article about biden and post that picture of the trolley on one track with the caption "pulling the lever makes the trolley blue" as it continues to run people over. The number of people on this website who genuinely believe having a blue president will be EXACTLY the same as a red one is shocking. When you're trying to fight several immense propaganda machines from several countries who have a large interest in another trump term, please understand that right now, this just isn't the time to be nitpicking Tim about his DUI (which caused him to quit alcohol for good and create legislation giving less fortunate people the second chance that he didn't think he deserved, but got anyway.)

If you think that you are immune to propaganda, and that there's definitely none on the """queerest site on the internet""", you're genuinely kidding yourself. This is the EXACT propaganda that caused Hilary to lose in 2016. And while Hilary is unambiguously a monster, you are lying to yourself if you think her presidency would have caused as much damage as Trump's.

It's unfortunate, but politics isn't about policy.

Politics is about who looks the best.

Making your candidate look bad before the popularity contest just isn't a smart move.

[cannibalisation]

authors note. + tw for mentions of rape.

i wanted to share my overall thoughts on fanfictions about/relating to Luigi Mangione.

in no way am i targeting any specific writers (i really don’t want to start any drama, this is just an analysis of my own findings.) but i am fully aware of how impactful words can be. not a person alive is immune to propaganda, and, that’s simply what words are.

with the writing i’ve done about him, i have been mindful to portray him in a way that is not at all abusive, toxic or even simply rape-y. i’m not trying to place myself at a higher moral ground for doing so or directly shaming anyone else in particular, i just think it’s disingenuous to view him in such a way and honestly? i don’t really think it helps his case in anyway.

also another thing that bothers me is that fics will often be tagged with things related to “uhc shooter” or “brian thompson”. this directly links luigi as the shooter, which isn’t something that should be done if you believe that he’s innocent/framed.

regardless of your personal views on the case, most can agree on the fact that luigi has been terribly treated in the press. i have made the decision to no longer apply myself to any further misinterpretations of who luigi is as a human being, and as a victim of public humiliation and abuse.

i do not think that it is inherently cruel to write fics of him but there are boundaries, boundaries that haven’t even been set because he’s quite literally incarcerated and silenced.

again, i am not trying to garner any sympathy from anyone, because it’s really just not the time and place but i have been subjected to multiple anon asks that have been unnecessarily rude and mean. i initially thought that it was some type of constructive criticism but the more asks that were sent showed that it was not the case. the anon was pretty clear in how much they disliked my depiction of luigi, and had some not so nice words about me and my writing. i’m not going to lie, it definitely has made me reflect on my actions.

i’m not going to respond to any of the asks on my blog, as it will only add more gas to the fire (or whatever that idiom is 🙄) i’m only human, words do get to me, so, i don’t really know what to do now, i will still be supporting luigi but, i don’t really know if writing fics for him is a good idea. his name needs to be voiced aloud, if writing fanfictions is loud enough then i will continue but right now i’m at a loss tbh

if anyone has similar feelings/thoughts and would like to share, my inbox is always open and safe + feel free to dm me :)

[utilitycaster]

what are those 5 things? 👀

Seeing people start admit that maybe Imogen and Laudna did in fact pressure Fearne excessively hard to take the shard. I think it's good Fearne took it in the end, but yeah they really made it difficult for her to express her doubts and that was shitty of them. I got extensive hate for saying that at the time from people who are literally saying the same thing now. It's very funny.

The (entirely valid) complaints I've seen that people care more about imo/dna as a ship than Laudna as a character and are making her book solely about the fact that Imogen will show up in it. I pointed out this exact same problem occurring while Laudna was dead, almost two years ago.

Caleb considering leaving the Nein means they aren't really bonded. Imogen considering leaving Bells Hells means she's so perfect and caring and selfless and noble and good. Anyway yeah sure I definitely believe that if Imogen were a man played by Liam everyone would definitely be totally uncritical and love everything she did. (This is also a layered one, given how Twitter has been bashing Orym nonstop for over a year).

I know it's been a month and I've said this repeatedly so this is a bit tacky but I'm still riding the absolute Irony High of people being like "STOP TALKING ABOUT HUBRIS STOP TALKING ABOUT HUBRIS anyway of COURSE Bells Hells would NEVER see the gods as a messed up family, just like them" and then jump cut to Laudna literally saying that. It's just genuinely so funny that people mad at everyone calling Aeor full of hubris proceeded to get their wax wings straight up vaporized at the top of episode 102.

People calling imo/dna the bestest most organic most slow-burn sapphic ship ever (it's not even the longest slow-burn f/f ship on Critical Role; even if you're stupid enough to count the two years we know virtually nothing about just for the purposes of padding out the time to eliminate Beauyasha on a technicality - nevermind that slowburn is about the length of the story itself and not the length of time the characters have known each other, since it's obvious that if someone said 'here's Jane and Kate, they've known each other for 300 years, now they are kissing' this would not be a satisfying slowburn unless like, you went back and filled in the 300 years - Kimallura STILL wins) but as someone who received a decent amount of harassment for saying it wasn't very interesting and as such kept tabs on the people engaging in that harassment...they've been dropping like flies. If it's the best sapphic ship ever and it's canon and you're in the top 5 ships for the show of all time on ao3 and Delilah's gone and they're going to get their cottage, funny how a good chunk of the shippers haven't even managed to stay interested in CR. Also why are half the people who HAVE kept up like hmmmm what if I threw Fearne or Ashton in there. Like believe me, I support a poly hells situation, but uh. quite a tumble for what people used to call the Beating Heart Of The Campaign (TM).

Bonus! This is below a cut because it has spoilers for next week's Re-Slayer's Take that's only out for Beacon subscribers but

we see Devexian, and he meets Frog (an aeormaton PC) and his overall statement on Aeor is "it created us to serve, and we fought for our autonomy. It was both a beautiful and terrible place. Anyway the past is past, what's important is that we as aeormatons take our chance to live now, and my personal goal is not just to bring back as many aeormatons as I can, but learn how to make more aeormatons." He is completely uninterested, at least in 839 PD, in any sort of action against the gods. Like, I think he regrets the fall of Aeor because a lot of Aeormatons and knowledge died in it but he literally is like "your life is defined by your own choices, not your designation at the time of Aeor." The actual survivors of the fall of Aeor are like anyway, we want acceptance, autonomy, and the means to control our own production in modern day Exandria. Ludinus whomst.

[genericpuff]

Why is the art so unappealing in lore Olympus now Persephone looks like a highlighter and maybe it’s just me but the proportions like the fingers in arms are soul over the place I don’t think they used to be this bad. Am I just looking at it with nostalgia or am I crazy ?

Honestly, nostalgia does play a huge part in it, even to this day there are times I look back on old S1 panels and go-

Actually here's a great example that literally just happened yesterday in the ULO Discord that nearly had me on the floor LOL This is from Episode 70:

Like I didn't even believe that that was real until I was told what episode it was from and I was just. Astounded and flabbergasted. The over-shading of the blanket that just makes it look like a really bad edit. Insane.

And yeah, there are a lot of old panels that hit different now that the rose-colored glasses have been removed, crushed, and thrown into the trash compactor.

I think that's why it makes it all the more amusing when people come into my inbox and ask me "wait, why did you like LO to begin with?? It's always been ugly as shit, I think you're just romanticizing it" because like... there's something to be said about art and subjectivity, even if something is ugly to one person doesn't mean it isn't beautiful to someone else. It's why I try not to be too mean towards the fans of this comic for still enjoying it, because while I definitely have strong opinions about how "LO has gotten worse" and what kind of following Rachel has cultivated (cough cough), there are also just as equally valid arguments that LO has never begin good to begin with that I can't necessarily disagree with now that I'm looking back on it with a more critical eye.

That said, there's tons of media that I enjoy that is objectively awful. Like y'all, you don't need to take my opinions about a dumb pink x blue fantasy romance comic seriously, I like Starfox Adventures-

Like yeah it's a badly made rushed piece of shit that was developed right on the ass end of Rare's glory days and was really an original IP (Dinosaur Planet) that got Frankenstein'd into a Starfox game so it could "sell better" for Nintendo, but I don't give a fuck, I love Starfox Adventures and some day I wanna be in the top 10 speedrunner leaderboards for it, which I know doesn't mean much because no one is speedrunning Starfox, but I do and no one can take that away from me dammit-

Anyways. Lore Olympus has, in many regards, always had "bad art". But "bad art" can and should still be enjoyed by those who find joy in it.

And in LO's case, the world it existed in when it launched was a lot smaller than it is now - more specifically, the world of Webtoons. We can look back and see how 'bad' LO looks and reads now because there are genuinely way better comics surrounding it. It was unique and refreshing and experimental back then... now it's just "that stupid blue and pink comic for horny teenagers".

In most cases I would consider that "cringing in hindsight" feeling a good thing because normally it means something has grown and that it seeming "bad" in hindsight would mean that it's outgrown itself and moved onto bigger things. But LO has the more unique problem of "its current stuff is shit and it's making us want the old stuff more, even if the old stuff wasn't good either". In that regard, LO is closer to being like Harry Potter. Remember when The Cursed Child came out at the height of Rowling being exposed for being a TERF and even people who liked Harry Potter didn't like The Cursed Child because it was just objectively worse overall (with or without Rowling's bullshit attached)? It made a lot of people go back and re-read / rewatch Harry Potter with a more objective lens and go "wait a minute guys, I think we only adored these books so much because we were 12 when we read them". Often times it's the good memories we have surrounding certain things that make us have the opinion about them that we do.

Of course, LO is definitely not as politically weaponized as Harry Potter is, so that's where that comparison ends. But my point is that LO is definitely in a situation where it's been riding off the same privileges it had back in 2018 - having an 'experimental' art style while also utilizing tropes and characters that were VERY popular at the time (remember that 2017-18 was when Tumblr was at its height of H x P "Hades was a chill accountant guy who wore socks and sandals and didn't cheat on his wife like Zeus did" fantasizing) - and thinks that those same tricks and tropes will still work today.

Because of this, the art in LO really, really hasn't aged well, even the stuff that we look back on fondly. But I think it's the panels that we specifically think of when remembering "old LO" - the ones that stuck in our memories the most - that are the ones that make us miss or just not care about the panels that don't look good (the panels that make people question why we ever liked it to begin with).

We liked it because of how it made us feel to look at panels like these-

Those genuinely wonderful panels that we think back on the most don't exist separately from the bad panels, they exist in spite of them. Even if we can look back on panels like these and pick out problems in the lineart or the proportions or the color travelling outside of the lines, that can't and shouldn't change how those panels made us feel at some point or another. And that's why when people ask me "why were you even into LO in the first place" I don't have any one answer, because I can't fully explain how something made me feel to justify why it's good to someone who can see from the outside - without rose-colored glasses - that it evidently isn't. It's very much a "you had to be there" type of thing.

Unfortunately, nowadays even the 'best' LO panels in S3 still don't come close to what the S1 panels accomplished - because for many of us, the rose-colored glasses are gone, we can't appreciate the good among the bad because we know now how bad it truly is and so the good just feels like wasted attempts at trying to recreate something it can no longer be. It "came back wrong" so to speak.

LO came back just regular. But our journey to resurrecting it changed us to such a degree that even its closest intimacies are now foreign to us. Sorry dude.

This is still probably one of my favorite panels out of the entirety of S3 for being as close to "old LO" as I've seen since S2, and even it feels like a mistake, an accident, how could a panel like this exist in S3 when so much of it is a dumpster fire? It's like a flower growing in the ruins of an apocalyptic wasteland.

But wasn't that always the case? Isn't that 'always' what LO has been, since the very beginning? A poorly cobbled together mess of writing and panels that, every now and then, manages to leave an impression that makes you feel something? Did we ever truly know LO? Or have we just been relying entirely on an idea of it that we've built up in our heads that when it does do exactly what it's evidently always done (even if not made apparent until looking back on it in hindsight) we think it "came back wrong"?

[gulano]

My thoughts on Gwenpool #1

Now that I've had a bit of time to think about this first issue, I figure it's a good idea to put it all into words

Let's get a simple criticism out of the way first...

There are way too many double page spreads. 4 or 5 of those on a single issue is too much. It felt like we got less story because of it, so I hope this isn't a reoccurring problem.

Now, for the actual story...

A friend of mine has complained to me that Gwenpool in this first issue is "annoying" and "not showing what makes her different from other parody characters."

On her being annoying, I agree, but Gwen has always been annoying. It's part of her charm! Most of her relationships boil down to Gwen being annoying about the 4th wall and the people around her being annoyed by it, but still trying to accept her because she's nice to them! I mean, if anything, she was less annoying than usual this issue since she didn't waste time trying to convince someone that they're in a comic, which shows a bit of character progression!

What sets Gwenpool apart from other 4th wall breaking characters is her relationship to the 4th wall itself. She is earnest about it. The fact that she's in a fictional world means something to her sense of identity and has been the source to many of her worries.

But like...

Every Gwenpool focused story since the ending of Unbelievable has been about her having a mental breakdown over her sense of identity...

After her Love Unlimited story had her having a breakdown over a part of her identity that wasn't 4th wall related, I got hopeful that her next appearance would be something like this.

Gwenpool is confident in herself, her relationships, and her abilities as a hero! We need to remember that the whole point of the ending of Unbelievable was that, no matter what, she would eventually be a better version of herself, and then Strikes Back showed her getting there slowly, but surely.

Of course, facing down an attempt to reboot her will definitely make her think about a lot of stuff, but there's no reason for her to show that side of herself in this first issue and honestly I hope it doesn't even affect her too much.

I mean, if we only ever make Gwenpool stories about her having a mental breakdown, then no writer will want to use her for more casual adventures... This is very healthy for her mental health and her appearance number. I don't want my girl to become a Kurt Connors type of character where she only shows up to repeat one storyline over and over again...

Either way, this first issue made it clear that this miniseries will be making fun of edgy comic books and edgy alternate versions of characters

The Gwen Stacy clone thing isn't going to be permanent at all, and despite what the covers will tell you, Gwen is not actually dying here

I mean, the cover of the second issue that has her "dying" is an obvious reference to Elektra's iconic death from back in the day and the third cover that has her "haunting Puny Parker" is probably a reference to those first few Superior Spider-Man comics where the Ghost Of Parker Past was still hanging around Otto commenting on what he was doing wrong.

Of course, there's always a chance of this comic ending up being bad anyway, but I'd rather be hopeful about it.

I liked Strikes Back's overall theme and ending, and the first two issues of that miniseries were WAY worse than anything in the first issue of this one lmao

[wings-of-ink]

Hi!! I have a bit of constructive criticism, if I may 😅 English is not my first language, so pardon me if I sound rude, it's definitely not my intention!

Something that confuses me is how people act when the MC has to lift their shirt, when in comparison characters like Oswin and Duri can be shirtless/completely naked and people not batting an eye at it. It's funny and confusing why people jump at MC taking out their shirt as if it's scandalous 😅. I guess if that was the reaction to all the characters it wouldn't be as weird, but MC seems to be singled out. For example, on that scene where the characters ask to analyze MC's mark and they say "I can just cover what I'm not comfortable showing", that answer doesn't really make sense to MC's who consider "it's just skin", as can be stated if you choose to take a bath on the river after meeting Nathan; I'd imagine my MC just lifting it naturally, or even taking out his shirt completely without any problems, going as far as being confused as to why Oswin is making a big deal of it. This is just one example of something that happens some other times, if you want I can list them, so it's easier for you to check them out! The characters reactions seem pretty on point, tho! Zahn and Duri don't seem to mind anyone naked, Rune is respectful regardless, and Oswin seems to only be affected by MC's nakedness (which can be explained by his apparent feelings for MC? I'm not on his route but it looks like he has a crush on MC, I could be wrong😆). The problem comes mostly to how MC responds, I think? As in, couldn't they be as comfortable about being naked as Duri is? So just a bit of a twist on MC's answers and it would flow naturally! Coding wise, maybe putting a choice of how comfortable your MC is with showing their body at some point in game/the beginning? Like, "never comfortable", "uncomfortable with strangers", "choose as happens if they're comfortable or not", "always comfortable", etc.

Anyways, sorry for the long text and thank you for your time! I absolutely love the game and constantly replay it, thank you for your hard work and good job! :)

Hello dear and thanks for stopping by! And not to worry, I didn't think your message was rude. Below I've explained where my thinking is in the way I've written what you're discussing.

The reason those parts are written that way is not because it is intended to seem "scandalous." Nudity in general isn't really considered as such in the world and it's entirely up to personal preference. The reason those scenes are written in such a way is that I'm writing from the eyes of many MCs with many different possible comfort-levels. I didn't find it necessary to track code for the MC's feelings on being exposed when it is easier to write a general statement that suggest the MC does or does not cover themselves and the like (where I could, I added reaction choices). And sometimes, it's better to error on the MC being a little bit discreet because of that. Could I add code for this? Yes, but overall I didn't see the purpose in it (I have a mountain of variables as is and some things just need to be trimmed).

I also need to consider that situationally, each MC will react different. With the variety of situations in the story, even when MC is comfortable, there could be situations that they would not be. Getting an exam from a stranger is different from your crush walking in on you or you wanting to tease and such.

During the forest-bathing scene, the MC also needed to take consideration for keeping their mark concealed. Oswin was cautious because they just met Zahn and he knows that Nathan has a unique curiosity for magical goods. As we learn in later chapters, this is wisdom since some people covet magical things and are willing to do horrible things to get them.

Oswin also has a particular protectiveness over MC, especially depending on a few choices about MC's feelings for him he may react different in certain scenes.

I hope that covers it in a satisfactory way. At least for now, I don't think I will set any code variable for this at least for the time being. I'm not sure how often MC will end up nude either, lol. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! I'm glad you're enjoying the game! ^_^

[realtapiocafan]

https://www.tumblr.com/realtapiocafan/782305018268286976/maliks-also-there-at-the-body-armor-event

LOVE your tags so much please do tell your theory on Justin and why they just adore Ja’Marr real bad

ok ok ok!

so. what you have to understand, is that justin was never The Guy at lsu. like he was good, don't get me wrong. he was really fucking good at lsu and definitely a key part in the 2019 season and why lsu won the natty (the peach bowl 😮‍💨 iconic performance) and he's still one of lsu's most beloved alumni -but. one of the reasons why he fell all the way to 22nd, is that he went to lsu.

before he got drafted, a lot of the criticism was that he was 'just' a slot receiver -which he was at lsu. if i may interject a quick football discussion: slot receivers are typically seen as the 'worser receiver' (as compared to outside receivers). i disagree but what do i know. so during the ever-so-famous 2019 lsu season, of course ja'marr was playing outside. and justin got relegated to slot. the lsu wr scheme was set up around ja'marr, not justin, and well. ja'marr won the biletnikoff and they won the national championship, so you can't really say lsu was wrong for doing that. the general reasoning was that: well, lsu said that justin was not the best wr there. why would he be different in the nfl?

(and this is hindsight bias, but i think the whole slot/outside thing says more about ja'marr and joe's connection, than anything about justin's abilities. justin ran a lot of routes on the outside in 2018 and was very productive in doing so! it's just... you know. ja'marr and joe.) (anyways, both ja'marr and justin have proven that they can basically line up anywhere and be successful so it's a moot argument)

so basically it was only when justin got drafted to minnesota, that he really got his first chance to shine on his own and show what he -just himself- was capable of. and wow did he flourish!

like, to go from 22nd overall to oroy (and opoy two years later)? that shit must've felt sooooo good to him!

a huge part of all of this, is also that justin was always underrated, not just in lsu. you can't forget this was the same dude who was a two star recruit coming out of high school, who only got into lsu bc of a summer camp, who rushed one time in his freshman year for four (4) yds and recorded no receiving yards, who got slapped with the 'slot receiver' label in his junior year. when i say justin was constantly dismissed and disregarded for years, i'm not joking.

i guess my overall theory regarding justin: i would NOT say ja'marr held him back, let me be absolutely clear... but looking back... i don't think resentment's the right word, because justin loves lsu so damn much! i don't even think sacrifice is the right word, because justin put up REALLY great numbers in his own right, but i can't really find a suitable word. i just think.. justin has some very Complicated Feelings regarding lsu.

and that translates to 23 lsu specifically, because a small part of him must look at 23 lsu and sees him and joe and ja'marr and can't help but wonder: 'who's sacrificing?'

a small part of him looks at 23 lsu and is reminded of those days -of only being known the slot receiver, of being the 'lesser' receiver. it's not rational, but feelings aren't rational.

justin has worked so damn hard to be seen as who he is today - the best wr in the nfl. he does not want to be reminded of the times when he wasn't the best wr on the team, when he was constantly underrated. it's not rational, but feelings aren't rational.

and then you compare that to ja'marr, who was lsu's darling star wr1 and won the biletnikoff and all that good shit. he doesn't have the same chip that justin has, because he was never underrated the same way justin was. he was a four star recruit! drafted number five overall! lsu was fucking awesome for him! he developed the confidence to dance in the endzone AND developed a codependent relationship with his qb!

there's no complicated college feelings for ja'marr, so he doesn't feel the need to separate himself from 2023 lsu the same way justin does. while justin might see malik and brian as a second coming of him and ja'marr, as a reminder of his own college days - ja'marr just sees malik and brian (and jayden) as. well. them.

which must be soooo incredibly exciting for them!!! to have one of the guys that they heard stories of, that they watched endless hours of tape on, that they have a CRUSH on <3 -seeing them as them, not as another version of 2019 lsu.

i'll talk a little here bc this post is sooo long already but i also have a lot of thoughts about 23 lsu's feelings about being constantly compared to 19 lsu. 'cause i mean, 19 lsu was one of the greatest teams ever. it's so unfair to jayden and malik and brian to do that, because that's just an impossible standard, but people WERE doing that. and i think there's a little resentment (from jayden especially) about the type of pressure they were under in their early 20s.

which adds to the reason why they love ja'marr sm bc he sees them as their own people, not as replicates. for ja'marr, he sees the similarities ofc (it's HARD not to), but he's not blinded by them. it barely fazes him really. yeah, they might play a little like him and justin and joe, but they're not him and justin and joe. that simple.

also. it helps that he's constantly hyping them up so fucking much and praising their play and giving advice to them <3

[jackiepackiee]

hey hey, can I request chuuya and ranpo (if u don't write him it can be dazai, I don't mind) with a gn or fem reader who has alopecia areata?- like, reader is pretty insecure and wears hats or wigs to hide it, yea I totally don't have alopecia and it's totally not worsening rn lmao anyways remember to drink water!

BSD x Alopecia Areata reader

Chuuya, Dazai, Ranpo

Warnings- none?

Type- headcanons

All three 🙏

Okay… who better than the king of hats himself to help out his lovely partner?!?

If you ask, will most definitely buy you matching ones

Thinks is absolutely adorable to see you in one of his hats

Always giving you his incase you forget yours

But on a serious note, if you wanted it to go away he would do absolutely anything to find a remedy

Money? He’d burn down the world for you, so money isn’t an issue

The best doctor, experts. The whole works

However, if you don’t wanna fix it? That’s okay too, he supports whatever decision you make

“Baby, I don’t love ya any less. Ya hear me?”

Genuinely, he doesn’t mind it

Hair isn’t a big factor at all to him, personality is

And if anyone is mean to you?!?

Pray for them…

This port mafia executive has hurt many, a few punks is no issue

Overall, very helpful. May not be the best with comforting words

But trust, if anyone hurt you feelings? They’ll feel some pain in 20 minutes

Unfortunately, Dazai isn’t the best with genuine emotion

So words of comfort aren’t his forte, essentially because he uses his silver tongue on enemies

He would never fake his words to you

As for the symptoms?

This man knows more than you, the person will it

He will study every article, read every book

Hell, he’s practically a doctor

As for his more womanizer personality? That’s bs

He would never criticize anyone good based on their appearance

This is no different, he will never bring it up

Before you tell him, he’ll probably know

He’s just smart

But when you tell him? He’ll act as if it’s nothing

Not in a “I don’t care” way. In more of a “I support you, but it doesn’t affect our love”

He also might seem cheap, cause he is…

But, he may or may not use some port mafia tricks to snatch a hat of beanie that caught you eye

Overall, makes you feel as if you have nothing to worry about at all

Knew from the second he met you

Although he seems childish? He would never ever bring it up

He is smart (obviously) and would never want to hurt your feelings

So… you’ll have to bring it up first

“Oh, that? I knew. You’re dating the world’s best detective!”

If you’re ever in a bad mood over it, feeling insecure, he’ll give you snacks.

Definitely has your favorite sweet on hand

But will deny this if you ask

Similarly to the others, doesn’t mind it

But, if your mood is worse than normal? He can be very articulate and will comfort you

Somehow, he’s incredibly talented at comfort

(It’s just him being smart)

You’d forget whatever you were upset about

Overall, the chillest experience

[kisa-seira]

S7 critical content below

So S7 happened...For me, it had a really strong start (in a good way), but left me totally conflicted at the end… Overall, I liked the more serious tone of the season, with enough cute and funny moments inbetween. I liked the character development of the characters (not all, but definitely had my favorites).

Probably unpopular opinion here, but it really made me sad that Callum ended up with a streak of white hair (I know many fans wanted this, and I have no problem with that - we are all different). But for me, it destroyed the purpose of the S6 "cleansing" part. I totally get that it was a last resort "solution" to try dark magic, and that was a really good plot element, really gave me the scares. However, Callum never finished casting it… and I would not wanted him to (so luckily there is at least this). The only possible explanation I could see, that he was never trained as a dark mage, so the strain on his body was big (adding the fact that it was one of the bigger spells). Even so, it just leaves me sad… he simply didn't deserve it in my opinion.

As for future possession chances, I think - since he didn't finish the spell - he should be safe for now. . Aaravos was waiting for him to cast the spell, if he could have possessed him, he would have done so the second he was "ready". The possession plotline was interesting once… will feel very forced the second time if they intend to keep it.

EDIT to the above: watched that scene again, and both Aravos and callum kinda confirmed this. Aravos said "if you cast the spell", and Callum said "the moment the spell is complete" - which was never completed / casted. (ans so the white hair is due to the strain on the body while preparing the spell I guess?)

Honestly I believed first that Kosmo's prophecy was actually about Claudia in response of something happening to Soren or Terry. (I missed the used pronoun the first time I watched it.)

Some people got mad at Rayla for picking up Runaan's bow. To be honest, that scene broke my heart and gave me the scares, but I could understand the reason behind it. If they can not bring down Aaravos, they are dead. If Callum casts the spell, get's possessed, and lives, everyone will be dead by his hands, and he WILL have memories of it. Which will just haunt him and he will suffer as long he lives. For those few seconds, there were no good options, only terrible ones. I just wonder if she could have lived on afterwards… anyways, I am really glad it diedn't come to this, but it sure gave me the scares.

The finale just… fell apart? Many random things happening (and Ezran arriving with the Nova Blade just to never use it), so many open ends, nothing is really resolved, just delayed (by paying a very heavy price).

At least we got lots of Rayllum moments, so there is that.

I will probably just move to AO3 after this, and live my life there silently, waiting for the people there to feed my conflicted and sad soul with their amazing work.

Just sneaking this in: Callum's VA is still my absolutely top favorire. Everyone did an amazing job, but I just LOVE his voice so much ~

[longbobmckenzie]

THTH Season 3 Thoughts

It's been awhile since I've done a thoughts post, but we're over halfway now, and I definitely have some thoughts.

Overall, I'm enjoying the season - I adore Taz, and I look forward to playing it every week. However... I also have a lot of criticisms.

The Love Interests

The love interests are carrying this season!! Taz is the only one I'm really in love with, but I think they're all really good and well-rounded, and there's something for everyone. They have a lot of depth, their loyal routes develop at a really nice pace, and I love that they can be customized! They're the best part of the season and imo they're what make it as enjoyable as it is. Unlike...

The OG "Friends"

I hate them all, and I have since the very first week. Sean is a self-centred annoying asshole (I know some people like him and think he just needs to mature, but he's a big fat no from me). Victoria is an ugly bitch who just uses others to get off. Julian has annoyed me from day 1 with his dramatics, and I didn't like Giselle either but she's only gotten worse and worse. Like girl, if you don't even like Sean that much, maybe don't have sex with him? She's being treated as a sympathetic character, but she wasn't being manipulated or emotionally abused, and she could have spoken her mind. Asshole.

I honestly have had no desire to take the options that give friendship points, so my meters are barely filled for any of them and as a result I lost money when they didn't agree with me when I wanted to forfeit $10k when Poppy and Julian were in the suite. Oops.

The FTL Routes

I really like Avi, and while Poppy was annoying at first, I know people who are doing her route are really loving it. I love the slow burn friends-to-lovers thing so I really love this element - however I would have much preferred it if they were OGs. For Avi especially, it didn't really make sense that he kissed us on the date only to immediately friendzone us. I think it would have made so much more sense if he were there from the beginning and we started out purely as friends.

The "Spy" Storyline

Not a fan of this. Bad Lana is one thing (we'll get to that) but I think this just... doesn't make that much sense? idk. I don't have a fully fleshed out opinion on this or how I'd do it differently, but I think it would've been better in a season without Bad Lana.

Bad Lana

I watched the new season of the show where Bad Lana made her appearance, and I do think it's really neat that they were given that info ahead of time to add it to the game. However, I wish they'd followed how it was done in the show, where the Bad Lana ruling period was at the beginning (they did mention that they had this as well and had lots of fun with it), and then the two people who took advantage of it the most were sent into banishment. Having another Bad Lana ruling period (and then adding the banishment which is coming up in the next episode) right in the middle of the show just doesn't work quite as well to me?

Also, what is the point of getting green lights during Bad Lana's ruling period? We could kiss without them anyway!

MC as the Bombshell

I have mixed feelings on this - I loved being the bombshell and getting the free pass, however... there's just no impact. You pick an LI, you automatically connect, and other than Carmen, none of the partners really care? I would've preferred coming into a situation where the couple was actually a couple and I had to work a bit to turn their head (or maybe even switch to the other person, that'd be fun).

Tying this into the Bad Lana point above, I think it would've made a lot more sense if MC were an OG in this season to experience the Bad Lana period at the beginning. Kiss a couple people, get sent to banishment. To me, that would've been a lot more interesting.

Branching

The branching has been fine (although there have been some continuity errors if you stick with the same LI each time), but I think it was better in S2. I remember always being blown away by how much branching there was in S2, and this season just hasn't had that. It's still good and nothing to complain about, but I'd like to see improvements each season, or at least keeping the same level, rather than taking a slight step back.

Especially now that there are some people who are being banished despite not breaking any rules? How does that make sense? At least in S2, you could be eliminated or not depending on your choices.

The Spicy Scenes

These have been great so far, and I love that they're personalized to each LI and stay consistent with their character. No criticisms here!

The Confessionals

I love, love, love that we don't have a whole episode dedicated to confessionals anymore. And no more dumb quizzes

Cliffhangers

Please, for the love of donuts, not every chapter needs to end on some dramatic soap opera cliffhanger. This week alone, the chapters end as follows:

MC is shocked to walk in on Jirayu and Carmen in the sauna

MC is shocked that someone is having sex (despite the fact she literally just had sex in my route)

Lana's announcement

It's just kinda cheesy at this point, especially the 2nd chapter ending. It's Bad Lana's ruling period, people are having sex, what is there to be surprised about? And the fact that sooo many chapters end like this? Walking in on other people, jumping to conclusions, etc. It's getting old. It's one thing if the whole episode has a cliffhanger of some sort (still not really necessary), but each chapter? c'mon. Let's stop with the dramatics.

Edited to add:

Background Characters

It's kind of disappointing that if you're not romancing one of the LIs, you just... never see them. The storyline is dominated by the "friends" and your own LI (and Carmen/Jirayu with a minor plotline), and then there's always that one other couple that breaks rules, but otherwise, they all fade into the background. It's a lot like S1 again, whereas one of the things I appreciated about S2 was that the LIs you weren't romancing were still a big part of the story. In S3, if you don't choose their scenes, you just never see them. I hardly know anything about Beatriz, Carmen, or Isla, because I don't take their scenes and barely interact with them. On my Taz route, I've barely spoken to Jirayu or Matthias.

Now that we're pretty much locked in, maybe those characters will start being included more (like in today's episode where we had the chance for a threesome with the couple we've interacted with the least), but I would have really appreciated them being included more up to this point. It's a noticeable change from S2 and since I hate the OG "friend" characters, it's a real negative.

I feel like I had more things to touch on but I've forgotten them, so I'll stop here! Would love to know if you agree, disagree, or have anything else to add!

[gunsatthaphan]

why didnt u like thamepo? :( damn a 2 in mdl??? i thought you would give it at least a 5 based on all those gifsets you did lmaoo i guess you cant trust what you see online anyway i did love it a lot and would like to hear what you think since i only saw you calling it slow during ep 1 and then saying the plot in 10 or 11 sucked(? something like that.. i thought you were refering to it ''sucking'' bcs the characters were sad but maybe you actually meant it lmaoo RIP okl bye

the fandom for this show is particularly defensive and aggressive for some reason and I will probably get torn to shreds for wording out a critical review in this ask but oh well. I won't apologize for having an opinion lol.

I was excited for it going in, I liked the trailer and I tried very hard to like it but I just didn't. I made sets for the scenes that I did like - plus I thought the visuals were really nice - and there were moments where I thought it could grow on me, which is why I did not drop it, but that never happened. Though I can see that it might be intriguing to some people, but I did not find the plot around the group/idol industry interesting and despite knowing that was the plot of the show going in, it turned out differently from what I expected - in a negative way. Casting an actual band in a show about how toxic the industry is that they're a part of felt weird to me, blurring lines is never a good thing, and I know many bls do that with the bl industry as well but in this case it felt strange while watching it. not sure why. maybe because I find the tpop/idol industry very cringy and problematic in general.

The worst part for me was the overall pacing though which put me to sleep multiple times (literally). It felt like every scene happened in slow motion. I'm not opposed to a nice slow burn but this was to a degree that not even a 200% speed run could fix. Moreover I was disappointed to see that the story between the 2 characters that the show was named after was a mere side plot and besides having a nice first kiss, there was nothing to their relationship that drew me in - mostly because barely anything happened in the first place. I liked Thame as a character and was convinced by William's acting debut, same goes for his and Est's chemistry - even though I found Po to be painfully passive. But it seems that the writers changed their minds about the main plot focus after filming the pilot trailer because this show is not about thame and po lol. And considering the fact that the other band members are so prominent, they really don't have much of a personality and don't get me started on the obscure jun x po plot bc that was the most pointless and irritating thing I have seen in a while. oof. On the other hand I thought the story around Pepper and Gam was nicely told, it was mirroring the thamepo relationship kind of but for some reason the writing + acting was way more convincing to me.

In hindsight I think I would have liked it better if they had left the group out entirely and william and est had been the sole main characters with a slightly different interpretation of the idol x mundane trope. I don't resent them for this though which is why I'm definitely looking forward to their next project, whatever that may be. Same goes for the rest of LYKN because I do like them and their music. But this was not it and I'm just very disappointed to say the least - the 2 stars on MDL are 1 for the nice soundtrack and 1 for episode 9 in particular. that's it.

xxx

[autisticandroids]

Hey ur my fave spn blogger by far (heavy is the head that has the crown etc etc) it occurred to me I've never heard u talk in Bobby? Any thoughts? Id love to hear em.

hey! so this is an interesting question. probably the reason i don't post much about bobby has to do with the fact that... well... i actually broadly enjoy bobby, and i enjoy him for exactly the same basic, surface level reasons as the show expects me to.

like, normally, if i'm watching supernatural, i am at least somewhat in conflict with the text. it expects me to like things i don't like (these are called "dogshit episodes" and they're a common hazard), and when i do like it it's often not really for the reasons that the show is expecting me to like it.

like... if you really want to see me shout and cheer, you should see what it looks like when i rewatch exile on main st., but neither a randomly selected mainstream audience nor miss gamble herself would necessarily agree with or even understand why i was doing so. like my enjoyment of that episode requires a lot of interpretive effort.

but fast forward three episodes to weekend at bobby's, and i could sit in a room with a general audience person, a reddit bro, a wincestie, and dabb/lofflin themselves and we would all basically have the same watch experience. i might be critical of the treatment of japanese culture, or annoyed by the way crowley's heel turn was handled, or something else, some specific element. but in terms of the broad strokes - bobby going around doing things, hunting a case, existing in relationships with a series of other characters - i like it for exactly the reason i'm meant to.

and that's kind of how bobby as a character is for me. there just isn't a lot of distance between what i'm supposed to enjoy and what i do enjoy. and it's that distance, and the interpretive labor required to close it, that generates thoughts, and thoughts are what generates posts. which means i don't really have a ton of posts about bobby.

i guess i will say... i used to be cautiously pro-killing-bobby-off in s7, definitely more than other characters who died in gamble era. because i was like "man, you gotta kill the father figure." that's the nature of these things. but upon rewatch, i actually think bobby's role as father figure is overstated. certainly it's overstated by the fandom, but even in the show to an extent. although i will concede a bit because i love when soulless sam tries to kill him. only good thing that happens in appointment in samarra. but overall bobby is as much just a friend as he is a father, you know? he engages with the boys on much more equal terms than a parent does.

but anyway. i don't like that they killed him because 1) they kept bringing him back, frequently stupidly. i liked safe house, but otherwise i am against basically all of bobby's appearances post-s7. i guess inside man was fine, but like. that's just the thing. it was fine. resoundingly okay. and safe house could easily have happened with bobby alive, just like. have him having the flashback. and 2) i think it has a bad effect on the show because like... after bobby died, the interpersonal conflict became even more dour. and it's already so fucking dour. there are no outside characters whatsoever to observe when things happen and so stuff spirals into madness even more and worse than it used to. no one is there to yell at dean the way bobby did in season four, you know? and then 3) i just enjoy bobby a lot i'm an enjoyer. i would have liked the show more if he stuck around in a meaningful way (and not just as a constantly recurring oh he's back from the dead for an episode plot).