#as main characters of their own show goddammit

[evviejo]

SEVEN OF NINE & RAFAELA "RAFFI" MUSIKER - STAR TREK: PICARD

[armageddidnt]

Welcome to My Collection of Random Thoughts during my nth* rewatch of Good Omens Season 2

*only amazon prime knows the exact number at this point but I’m fairly certain it’s in the double digits

Episode 1: Gabriel’s fly lurking in the box when Aziraphale first takes it inside 👀

Crowley’s promise of “two minutes” basically means that he’s been homeless and living in his car for the past 4 years strictly so that he can be within 2 driving minutes of Aziraphale at all times in case his angel needs him I’m not crying you are

So here I think the key word is “fragile,” Crowley knows they are ostensibly safe from their respective sides but that could change at any moment so he’s basically spent the last 4 years in anxiety-ridden terror hovering as close to Aziraphale as he can to try and protect him from heaven, hell, and anyone else that would want to bring him harm after all that business they pulled in season 1 with stopping Armageddon

Episode 2: I just happened to pause the episode while Aziraphale is lying to the angels about his miracle and LOL Michael really outdid himself here (Sheen, not the Archangel)

Gabriel trying to swat flies and almost smashing the repository of every single one of his memories

I’m cAckling

So if Good Omens exists in Good Omens, does that mean Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett exist in Good Omens?? Do you think they based their Aziraphale and Crowley characters on Aziraphale and Crowley??

Episode 3: So I’m trying to find any hints or foreshadowing of the Gabriel Beelzebub thing bc tbh I did kind of feel like it came out of nowhere which is really the only issue I have with them. I found this one scene where Beelzebub almost ?? seems to be concerned about Gabriel ?? But it’s blink and you miss it and there could be lots of other reasons why Beelzebub doesn’t want to fail in locating Gabriel (pressure from/leverage over heaven, etc) so idk

More Foreshadowing Fly content 🪰

Episode 4: So here we’ve seen that Shax can just appear inside the Bentley bc she did it earlier to talk to Crowley. Shax only pretended to be a hitchhiker so she could be invited in because Azirpahale was driving so technically she needed permission to cross the threshold of an angel 👀

This scene will never not destroy me the 1941 flashback is the absolute sOFTEST thing ever to happen on this show

We really need more context here I need to see the Crowley-Furfur Monkey Rides

Episode 5: ahahaha thank you google translate for absolutely destroying my sanity this evening

POP goes the Ziraphale

Okay I know you can’t hear it in the gif but just before Nina takes Maggie’s hand, there’s a very quiet miracle noise, like Azirpahale literally MADE Nina dance with Maggie, he said I’m writing a Mina Jane-Austen-Ball-AU and my otp will KISS godDAMMIT

Azirpahale seems lowkey kind of manic this whole scene tho, he’s controlling literally everyone to force Nina and Maggie together and whenever Crowley says anything that pokes holes in Aziraphale’s Magical Jane Austen Ball Fairytale, Aziraphale just straight up denies it. He wants Nina and Maggie to dance and he wants him and Crowley to dance and he refuses to acknowledge anything beyond that.

Is this just Shax insulting Crowley for how much of a nuisance he’s been or a reference to his former status as an angel ???

They’re both completely dismissive of each other when they’re trying to say something important and that’s the main issue they’ve been having this entire season tbh

Episode 6: I think it’s funny that Crowley describes the angels as bees here because in the book, Neil/Terry describe humans the same way. Guess we have more in common than we thought huh?

So the metatron was the one who originally decided Gabriel would be memory wiped and not sent to hell, and he was also the one that decided not to sound an alarm about Gabriel for some reason and said ‘just go find him yourself’ instead. The metatron has definitely got his own agenda and you can bet he doesn’t want Aziraphale up there in heaven because he’s a “leader” and he’s “honest” like that’s exactly what Gabriel was and look where it got him 👀

There’s just something I can’t quite put my finger on about the metatron bringing Aziraphale a coffee from “give me coffee or give me death” and then asking Aziraphale if he’s going to take the coffee he’s giving him…

I have not seen a single person talk about this since s2 came out but Nina literally calls Maggie “angel” because that’s the term of endearment they hear Crowley using for Aziraphale !!!! I’m still going fERAL over this and I can’t believe no one else is eitHER

Something about this part of The Final Fifteen compared to this scene from the first episode is so representative of the entire season. Azirpahale keeps saying “my way or get out” and Crowley finally hits a wall and can follow Aziraphale no further. So he does just that. He goes.

I’m sure a lot of us by now have seen this post that brings up how Aziraphale literally pushes the remains of Crowley into his mouth and swallows and it’s the only thing I see when I watch this now

We still don’t know for certain if Crowley queued up this song to play on their way to the Ritz or if the Bentley started playing it all on its own and it’s driving me insane

Basically how I am doing after my Truly-Alarming-Number-th watch of this traumatizing episode/season. WELP hope you enjoyed this garbage dump of my thoughts and feelings time to go cry for a bit again BYE

[markantonys]

rotating potential Mat Show Structures in my brain...........assuming that ebou dar is cut (which feels likely if mat is indeed already having a southwestern coastal roadtrip with elayne and nynaeve in s3), what if:

s3: gets his marriage prophecy, tanchico trip with the girls, meets tuon (without knowing she's Prophecy Wife) but they go their separate ways by the end of the season

s4: returns to rand's side, forms the band, leads the band as part of the dumai's wells rescue mission because dumai's wells needs to involve as many main characters as possible goddammit (and because i need the romance of mat helping rescue rand)

s5: leads a campaign against the seanchan with rand and/or on rand's behalf (depending on what else rand has going on this season), reencounters tuon and kidnaps her (but may or may not yet know she's Prophecy Wife; either way, kidnapping motive is instead something calculating like taking a high-ranking seanchan as a prisoner of war, or something morally righteous like rescuing her from her own people's assassins and taking her off with him to keep her safe)

this would be adding mat into rand's TPOD storyline, of course, but at the same time it would ALSO be mat absorbing ituralde's storyline from the next few books. i remember talking once with @butterflydm about how ituralde is basically Knockoff Mat in that he's getting a whole spotlit Clever General storyline while mat, who's supposed to be our main Clever General, is off fucking around in the circus.

so i feel like involving mat in the seanchan campaigns could be an elegant solution all around. mat actually gets to fulfill his narrative role of leading armies on rand's behalf, the seanchan campaign storyline is in the hands of a main character (vs. rand doing it only briefly and then ituralde taking over the bulk of it), mat gets involved with the seanchan in a manner more organic than "author drops a wall on him to force him to encounter them", and it lends a huge amount of much-needed enemies-to-lovers narrative tension to the mat/tuon relationship if he is actively leading military campaigns against her forces (like he did for about.......5 pages in the books).

now wandering off into very-hypothetical ship-related territory thinking of what mat/tuon would look like in this scenario.

i'm thinking mat never finds out during s3 that tuon is a high-ranking seanchan and thinks she's just His Good Buddy Tuon (because she's disguised and undercover). but as the s3 finale stinger, the audience finds out that tuon is mat's Prophecy Wife AND is the heir to the seanchan throne, so we've got some tasty dramatic irony. s4 has tuon doing a solo storyline of seanchan political intrigue, either still in the western westlands or back in the actual court in seanchan (the latter would be sooooo cool, but it depends on how many times they want her zipping back and forth between continents). but her time spent with mat, elayne, and nynaeve (two marath'damane who are in fact people!) in s3 has got the gears turning, and in s4 we get to see tuon in her natural habitat but we also see that she's starting to question and doubt some Seanchan Ways because our kids have expanded her worldview.

in s5, tuon is tasked with heading up the next wave of military efforts in the westlands. so when mat crosses her path again, she is decked out in full seanchan regalia and he realizes that His Good Buddy Tuon is a high-ranking seanchan and must have been using him in s3 when she acted like his friend, so he's all hurt and betrayed (alternately, this reveal could happen as their final scene in s3 and mat is still feeling betrayed when they reunite in s5), but tuon genuinely did like him in s3 so she's hurt that he now hates her but she also can't reveal any of this weakness because he's the enemy general and her people would think she's a traitor if she shows any hints of non-hostile feelings towards him, and despite his anger mat can't help holding onto some non-hostile feelings for her which makes him even more angry with himself, and it's all very delicious.

kidnapping happens, and for s6 they embark on a roadtrip back across the continent (maybe with mat intending to deliver tuon as a hostage to rand; we could even mix the 2 motives i brainstormed, where he impulsively saves her life out of feelings but Then justifies it as taking her with him as a hostage), and all this prior development means several good things for the show being able to sell their relationship as a bona fide romance (and tuon as a dynamic, complex character).

1) tuon having spent time with westlanders and free channelers already in s3 and having spent s4-5 questioning Seanchan Ways on her own means she is now primed for a final push over the edge of unlearning seanchan conditioning and admitting that slavery is wrong (which she has to do IF the show wants mat/tuon to be a bona fide romance rather than a political marriage; a political marriage with an unrepentant tuon would also be a viable route, but show!mat would never ever ever fall in love with an unrepentant slaver so if it's going to be a bona fide romance then she has to repent) and ideally admitting that she herself can channel (feat. tasty scene early in the season of her accidentally channeling for the first time to protect mat). now tuon is a complex character who grows and develops over the course of the story, and it does not defy all reason, credibility, and established characterization that mat could fall for her. improvement!

2) if mat is feeling angry and betrayed by the discovery of tuon's seanchan identity, and if tuon is hurt by this because she genuinely likes him and wasn't faking friendship in s3 and wishes he would believe her, now mat has the "upper hand" in their roadtrip dynamic, so to speak, and tuon is in the position of needing to work to earn mat's trust. so rather than mat nonsensically handing over his loyalty and protectiveness at the drop of a hat to tuon who's used to being worshipped and takes mat doing so as her due and walks all over him with no pushback, now it's a more equal dynamic and a better power balance because tuon has to work hard to give mat (and the audience) a reason to believe she's Better Than Other Seanchan. improvement!

imagine how hard the "you're not my enemy, but your empire is" line would go in this context!

and i haven't even thought about when mat would find out tuon is Prophecy Wife in this structure. i would love for it to be not until after he's already falling for her naturally, but if he's fighting against a seanchan army that she's leading in s5, he might not be able to go very long without hearing the "daughter of the nine moons" title. idk! even if he does find out fairly early, i know that show!mat would not let this information immediately remove his spine from his body, so i have faith either way.

[patentedsun]

Rapid fire Fairy Tail rewatch thoughts. May or May not expand upon each point later on.

THIS IS LONG AS HELL BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP.

for reference, I've reached tartaros so far. I am aware of the canon happenings after that tho.

The female cast is so good idc what anyone says obviously the fanservice is awful BUT I will say, in the earlier arcs, it actually felt decently balanced because of Gray's whole stripping shtick + Natsu's cunty vest wasn't particularly modest either LOL.

Erza is such a wonderful character. I've seen comments that she goes downhill like 100yq onwards but. Um. 100yq characterisation.... that's a whole post of its own.

I never expected to like Lucy so much. idc that it takes her like 200 episodes to win a fight solo because when she FINALLY DOES IT WAS THE BEST MOMENT OF THE SERIES BY FAR. characters who's defining traits r kindness and compassion <33

Interesting how Lucy is the traditional shounen protag (underdog, skills develop overtime) because the rest of team Natsu sans Wendy were all like ... already kinda OP established mages even at the beginning.

I know there are debates ab who really is the protag and imo the narrative skews towards Natsu more BUT. it's bizarre how unexplored he is for a main character. Like yes he is my favourite character other than Lucy but his inner psyche is barely explored it's so weird. He doesn't really have a character arc either??? I'll expand on this more once I finish post tartaros (lolll not looking forward to that) and once again it seems like he's completely regressed from what I've seen of 100yq.

I fucking love all the ships.

I don't agree with comments that Natsu can't be traditionally romantic. Like, I definitely don't think he would ever have the natural inclination to be that way as a part of his character on its own. BUT considering iconic rainbow sakura moment I fully believe he would do whatever it is that would make Lucy happy. And if that includes red roses and candlelit dinners he would absolutely try his best.

Nalu moments r seriously. so good.

I totally see why Juvia stans don't like gruvia. But unfortunately I like them. And I've slightly rewritten them in my head so that juvia doesn't get completely flanderized LOL.

the Natsu Erza Gray sibling relationship goes soooo hard.

Just in general there's something beautiful about the way Fairy Tail handles it's numerous platonic and romantic relationships. Nothing feels secondary yk. Everything is given its due time (except maybe NALU goddammit).

I LOVE THAT FEMALE CHARACTERS HAVE DEEP COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS IRRELEVANT TO THE MALE CAST. Lucy and Levy, Lucy and Yukino, whatever combination between Erza Lucy Wendy, Lucy Flare, Wendy Shelia, Wendy Carla etc

Even when the relationship involves a man in some kind of way like eg Lucy Cana or Erza Kagura it's still not like... in a bad way. The friendship itself is still there, it's just that the inciting incident tends to involve a dude.

Speaking of Lucy having so many deep female friendships is a big reason why I like Nalu so much lol. Like I literally do not care ab ships in media but fairy tail.... just has that something...

Love how often everyone changes outfits.

This show desperately needed a mini arc somewhere with just Natsu Lucy Happy going on a low stake job, where Natsu actually opens up ab his emotions and his relationship with Igneel.

Needed more Natsu and Igneel flashbacks in general.

Wendy triple combo abandonment issues are not talked ab enough holy shit. Grandeeny, Mystogan and then her entire guild???!

Lucy's relationship with her dad was objectively so well written. I skipped starry skies arc sorry the pacing was destroying me so I can't speak on that. But everything else was just BEAUTIFUL.

The fact that she returns to him just to tell at him. The fact that he comes to her with money problems and she STILL stands her ground. The fact that it's HIM who has to better himself and earn HER forgiveness.

Even after it seems like they're on ok terms, Lucy mentions in tenrou that they don't keep in contact, which is soo... realistic...

and then his death... Shout-out to Natsu who actually is emotionally quite mature (as the author himself seems to have forgotten) and dealt with it wonderfully. He gave Lucy her space, he let her vent, he stopped Happy from interfering too much. + Lucy being conflicted ab it and clearly grieving what could have been instead of what was. sighhh. .

idc ab no deaths but I do wish they didn't do fake out deaths as often. Because when actual loss sticks, it's done super well imo. Ultear, Aquarius, I haven't hit this part yet but Igneel... (yes I'm ignoring 100yq)

the episodic fillers r INCREDIBLE.

Rogue and Frosch are so special to me.

Wish they expanded on Jellal and Meredy's relationship a bit more it seems quite wholesome.

I love Virgo.

Really hate the muted colours Ft2014 onwards, but I do like that Lucy's hair became blonde and not yellow.

Pacing 2014 onwards was GOD AWFUL. I WAS SO SAD because I think the story beats in eclipse arc is actually super good but it was DRAGGED OUT SO MUCH nothing had the impact it should've.

Snow fairy, FT, Masayume chasing you will never be forgotten.

Lucy underutilizes Gemini so much it drives me mad. They were terrifying under Angel so like... cmon...

idc what anyone says GMG and edolas were top tier.

Edolas Natsu X Edolas Lucy... yes

objectively speaking gajeel is a top tier character too

Someone pointed out that Natsu didn't reallyyy hang out with anyone other than Happy pre canon and it changed my life. Every time I notice him and Lucy casually hanging out now I start screaming.

HAPPY IS SUCH A GOOD CHARACTER IDC. His edolas character arc was incredible, his relationship with Lucy is just as (if not more) fleshed out as his one with Natsu and that's part of what makes them such a great trio.

Whenever he goes LUUSSHIEEE . my heart ...

OST top tier no notes

the writing was actually so tight up until GMG part 2

I generally don't care ab the powerscaling issues but laxus v jura... no.

The anime kinda fucks up his face a lot but manga Natsu was genuinely soooo adorable in every single panel (once again IGNORING 100YQ).

Wendy also great character arc.

Sting's whole design is SO GOOD and ten years too early. the fur lined vest, the crop top, the one dangly earring, the scar, the loose fitting pants, good God now that's a Look.

Seriously I love Nalu so much...

That's all for now folks. If you want me to expand upon anything just lmk bec believe it or not all of this is a summary.

[yujeong]

So. I think as a fandom we haven't talked about this nearly enough. Actually, I haven't seen it mentioned at all and I want to change that.

It's just a throw away line. The screen writers were probably like, "Hm, we need to make Tankhun say something relevant to the situation as a reason for him wanting to give Pete to Kinn and take Porsche. Ah, yes, a bizarre thing from the past with Macau and Pete, cool, throw that in." What the screenwriters didn't expect, I suppose, is me seeing that line and losing my mind over it. I've been thinking about it for months, it's kind of a problem.

Alright. How is this line significant? Well, it gives us vital information about 1. Pete himself and 2. Pete and Macau's relationship, because it sure af affects it later on, even though we never saw it in the show (we needed more Macau GODDAMMIT.) Ok, so first things first. Pete. I would like everyone to know that this is the second time we get indication that Pete speaks his mind against things he believes are wrong to do. The first is during the mermaid scene in ep 2, the screenshot below showing what Pete said to Tankhun when he ordered him to feed Porsche bread:

Generally, throughout the show, we see glimpses of Pete's opinions being expressed at the Theerapanyakul sons, and while most if not all of those times he gulps them back down, the fact that he said them at all is significant to his character. He's not a pushover. He doesn't just blindly follow orders. He has *opinions* about what he sees and hears and he expresses them. And he's smart enough to not retort when those opinions are not taken seriously, being ignored or when he gets warned about them (a.k.a. the interaction he had with Vegas at the table in ep 4, this moment also lives rent free in my mind, thank you.) Back to Macau, what was even the situation with him that ended up making Tankhun asking Pete to tie him up? Was it just silly Tankhun being silly (that man is never silly, he knows exactly what he's doing)? Was it something serious that involved the whole family? Neither of those? Whatever it was, the most important thing is that Pete said no. And, in headcanon fashion, I believe Macau was present during that moment. Macau saw Pete refuse Tankhun's order, the order of someone from the main family, someone above Macau in status. He saw it and he remembers it to this day, because during the temple scene in ep 9, we get this:

Ok. I'm going a little feral over what my mind has come up with. What we're seeing here is Macau, a member of the minor family, the lesser family, making fun of Tankhun, the oldest son of the main family. The family Pete serves. And all of the people present know this. It's evident - to me at least - by the fact that Vegas says *nothing* about Tankhun. He just says Pete is alone as an answer to Macau's question. So, the conclusion of this is that Macau feels confident and comfortable with sharing his actual opinions about Tankhun to Pete, who's Tankhun's main bodyguard, which both brothers know about. Vegas is also comfortable and confident with allowing Macau to say those things and the reason I'm mentioning him as well is because we all know how protective Vegas is of Macau. If that endangered him in any way, he wouldn't allow it. A reason they're both comfortable, of course, is because Pete is below *everyone* in status. He's literally just a foot soldier, he has no power over them. But the moment he returns to the main family, he has protection against Vegas and his side. He's in his own turf, and Vegas cannot do shit to the main family bodyguards if the main family decides so, as evident by the whole Porsche&Macau situation in ep 2. Now, can we imagine for a hot second, if Pete reported that back to the main family, what would have happened? Probably nothing, I hear you say, and maybe you're correct. But the more suspicious (and angsty) part of me wants to believe that there would be repercussions for this. Tankhun can literally hit Vegas with a fucking tray if he wants to, because he dared eat at the same table as Kinn. He can order Pete to tie Macau up because...something something Macau is a brat I guess. He can do whatever the fuck he wants to them, even if they've done nothing wrong. Can you imagine what he would do if he had actual reasons to punish them? The thought makes me shiver but it's reality and it's evident from ep fucking 2, as mentioned above, when all Porsche gets for making Macau BLEED from the HEAD, is a little choking and a pat on the back. The same goes for Kinn of course. He threatened Vegas with a gun in his OWN FUCKING HOUSE because he kissed Porsche in ep 7. He says the line "Do you see my ring?" and everyone understands what that means. The main family can do whatever the fuck it wants to the minor family and you just have to shut up and accept it. In conclusion, where does that bring us to Macau&Pete post-canon? Well, there's the simple thing called "trust". Yes, Macau will not trust Pete immediately. Yes, I love seeing this in the multiple hospital era fics I've read. But, can I introduce the variable of that event shaping Macau's feelings about Pete to the table? Because holy shit, it's eating away at me and I love it so much to let it be ignored anymore.

[highway-road23]

This is Admin talking

It is very sad that krul dead without having any kind of special and unique and glorious moments of hers just like how other side characters like kureto or shinya had for themselves. Krul's personality and character was very well written and had so much potential but it was completely wasted thankful of takaya only focusing on two characters and their relationship for YEARS and completely ignoring all his other side characters aside that now it was time to remove them, which the removal itself wasn't bad or bad writing, it suddenly felt a too rush in forward although it was not and krul's death in all aspects was completely predictable just like how the title of the previous chapter "Queen's time" was a promising title telling us that krul's end is very close, but yep it felt bad and out of blue because unfortunately takaya never gave her enough screen times of her that now she had removed we can't accept it and get over with it, like krul never had any special plans of her and all she did was following mahiru's or ashera's plan and words but she, herself, never had a motivation forward although she was even older than ferid and she literally did nothing all these long times to make a plan of herself to defeat the first or gain more information although we can see how MALE characters like kureto, saito, ferid, ashera, noya and guren had their own plans in their own ways yes a character like crowley had non too but at least we have goddammit novels of him and we got enough screen times of him so that his death didn't felt too rushed or anything but for krul? Nothing. We had nothing. And the sad part is that she was an important side characters not a minor character like chess, horn, rene, lacus, byakkomaro, raimeki and etc. so that if she would remove from the story we won't feel that much of a problem with it, yes she was a side character but she was an important side character, she wasn't anything near a minor side character but unfortunately takaya showed again he is definitely too bad at writing not the side characters themselves but also FEMALE characters so badly too, like krul even in the story of her and her brother wasn't the main one and it was always ashera who was the main character in their stories and krul was playing role of a supporting character even there and it was no single motivation and act from her side throughout the whole manga although we expected so much more and high of her why? Because at the beginning of the manga it was shown that she kind of have plans for both Yu and Mika and she whispered some amazing and mysterious things to Mika and it made us be so curious over it just to realize that no it was never anything important and there were no actual and amazing plan from her side but the amazing plans was only from the male characters or mahiru and that is what made her death unbearable although it was a need for the story and it was simply her time to go away but because she laced character development a lot, her death felt so out of blue.

[feralwetcat]

I haven't been very sappy on main so *throws sad shit at you* (aka me thanking the fable community and cast again, cuz goddammit you guys are so neat and cool)

Fable smp was, and is probably one of my favorite things I've discovered, i clicked on one of heyhays vods one day on a whim and gods im so glad i did, the way Fable has shaped me as a person and helped me improve is honestly crazy, its how i got into doing art, how i improved, how i met most of my friends, its genuinely been an amazing journey.

For me as a person, my home has always been an odd environment, without getting into too much detail my family has lots of trauma circling around, my brother and dad especially, so the way Fable comforted me through bad days, or when my dad would burst out at me or my mum, its genuinely such a crazy thing that these little block guys have helped me through so fucking much, the way they've helped me discover who i am, to feel represented through so many characters, heck even just hyperfixating with others, its amazing

Its helped me become more confident in my own skin, able to accept my body and how fucked up it is, from the rep with disabilities to identities, seeing something like "hey i have that!" Or "i experience that!", even the small pieces, its so fuckin awesome to see such cool people that are honestly like me

To all the cast: thank you, if not for making Fable, but for representing people, for showing us how much of an outlet being creative can be, and everything in between, all of this is so crazy how cool and detailed it is, truly.

To the fandom: you all are so fuckin cool, the way i get so excited when you guys interact with my stuff, art, silly posts, or just jokes, it's just so cool to interact with y'all, I've made so many friends and i know I'll make more, especially with all the smps y'all promote, keep doin that, i love your stuff guys<3

(now for specifics that have made me feel seen ayo)

To Athena: thank you, genuinely, for making a space that i feel seen in, i feel welcome in, the rep with C!Athenas disability and still having a great time, having a fulfilling life, which I've been told so many times I can't have due to my disabilities, its so amazing, even if its sleepy stardew, lore, or anything in-between, your community and self is so inviting and comforting. Your voice has always been so comforting (like a chill pink mixed with a light coffee brown feel:]), and i genuinely can't thank you enough, if not for representing me, but for becoming a comfort streamer for me

To Ghosty: Caspian as a character was so cool to see, his story was like a good book really, one you could pull up and watch with some tea or hot coco and a blanket, one that was so interesting, I've experienced some of the issues he worked through and it felt so amazing to see, especially a trans character whos entire personality wasn't that he was trans, or a character who struggled with grief but was still happy and able to be *alright* sometimes, thank you.

To Sherb: the way you did lore, and continue to do lore, always excited me, got me feeling genuine emotions, which I've always struggled with, it made me get into storytelling, something I've always enjoyed, it made me get into telling my own stories, its been so enjoyable, and will continue to be ! Icarus as a character made me feel seen in the way that you can care for someone, trust them fully, but they can still be a good person, but the way they treat you makes you believe they're a good person, and thats really important to me. Thank you Sherbert

To Connor: gods your writing is so cool, your fics motivated me to start writing again, and Ulysses as a character as well is such an interesting character, his writing is so neat and his story again made me feel so seen in many ways, and your writing is so good

Finally, To Beck: Arisanna was and continues to be a character i resonate with, always working for someone, never for yourself, feeling alone at times even with many people, having to or feeling like you have to provide for your friends and family, i grew up feeling like i had to protect my older brother, make sure he was alright, and Ari made me feel seen in that way, thanks for that, really

Thank you everyone, for supporting me, through my art, pickup lines, or just dumb jokes

Signed, FeralWetCat (Kai)

[aghostwithnoname]

DATV GAMEPLAY SPOILERS

In other words, don't read this if you don't want my hot take.

So for the past week, I've fallen off the deep end to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard to avoid whatever the fuck is going on in the world.

First, for the pros.

The game is visually very stunning, and by the gods, the character customization is fucking amazing. The HAIR. The complexions! The scars and the FACT YOU CAN FINALLY BE A FAT HERO. My god, I spent two hours alone just creating my Rook. I LOVE that we finally have a Thedas that actually reflects the diversity of our world.

For the first time in the Dragon Age series, I can actually play as a nonbinary person and have that be recognized by the story!!!! I love that Neve is disabled, and it's not even the main focus of her character! Thank god for finally giving us a cast of companions that aren't white!

Partly why I wanted to support the game, despite knowing about all of its troubled development, was because we need to show as players that we want and support this kind of content and thus will show a demand for it in our capitalist hellscape. (I don't make the rules - that's just how this stupid industry works.)

Now, despite giving us ALL of that, this now brings me to the cons.

Veilguard just doesn't *feel* like part of the Dragon Age franchise.

Maybe it's just me but like 20-30 hours into it and I just... I'm not feeling it, guys. Like it feels like the devs just fired all the writers and threw the flashy battle mechanics of God of War, *some* of the relationship dynamics of BG3, and the user interface of Mass Effect (which for the record, I don't actually like Mass Effect) into a blender and produced... whatever this is.

The dialogue is so... bland. I skip through half of it and I *never* skipped through dialogue in any of the previous games. Progressing on this plot feels like a chore, because there is literally nothing else to do except pursue the main story line. The world deceptively *looks* expansive, but you're really just being funneled from one major plot point to the next with no room to breathe.

What was fun about BG3 is that you could drop down a fucking hole in some random part of the Underdark and the game REWARDED you for your curiosity or your weirdness (lick the spider, goddammit!). By contrast, even though GoW was basically one plot, it was poignant and meaningful because of the excellent dialogue, acting, and relationships - you cared about Kratos and Atreus and Angrboda and Thrud and Thor because they were excellently explored. Imo, BioWare clearly saw these games winning game of the year over the last decade that they've been working on the next DA game, got jealous, tried to mimic these elements to chase the success of these franchises and failed miserably, while also just not understanding the unique idiosyncrasies of the franchise they themselves created.

As someone who has played origins, awakening, da2, and inquisition, at least i felt there was some tonal consistency - despite the fact we can all argue what the "best" game was. Like, your companions are snarky and funny and weird in ways that are completely irrelevant to saving the continent, and we know the Chantry is fucked but so are the apostates and the Qun and the Dalish, and there are no clear "good guys" vs "bad guys", and not EVERYTHING said is plot-relevant.

Sweet Andraste, I think Bellara's said "The Evanuris - you know the elven gods!" like about 50 times already. I get it that they want new people to come into the world and understand what's going on, but it just feels like the devs are holding my hand like I'm a little kid who cannot be trusted to know what's going on or make their own decisions.

Don't even get me started on how Varric is narrating everything, telling me how to feel about what I am going through. It's like on top of all this disjointed gameplay mechanics and narrative design, BioWare is trying to tell me it's all okay, even though it is not.

Maybe the next 60 hours will change my mind... (I haven't even MET my loves Davrin or Taash yet) By the Maker, I hope it does.

[kalicofox]

WIP game

Rules: You will be given a word. Share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that start with each letter of that word

@shadow-pixelle tagged me for this, with the word ECHO! Tysm! ^_^

E- A Thing With Feathers (Original work, Sci-Fi)

“Essentially.” Zeke said. “Or you could do none of those and go for a wander on your own, but that’s not usually recommended for someone with a chassis as big as you. People tend to notice a space station wandering through their system.” “Right. I need to have a bit of a think about it.” Cogita said, and on the holo-screen in front of Lissa, a flight plan appeared. “In the meantime, do you think you could go pick up a friend of mine? Please? She- she’s running low on power, and she’s scared.” Zeke’s head tilted slightly, peering over at the holo-screen. “That leads out nearly to the intergalactic void… are you sure someone’s out there?” “Positive.” Cogita said, her voice clipped, “I- we exchanged handshakes right before they shut me down. No one would listen to me!” The frustrated exclamation bled stifled hurt and anger. “I tried to tell them, I tried to ask them to wait, but ‘No Cogita, it’s time to say goodnight.’ ‘You find strange signals all the time and they always turn out to be nothing, Cogita.’ ‘Stop trying to delay the inevitable, Cogita’ augh! Why are humans so… so… so!?” Zeke grimaced, and shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you. I am sorry that that happened to you, though.” “This friend of yours…” Lissa said slowly, studying the flight plan. “What are they doing that far out? That’s past the edges of settled space, even if only barely. Are they a scout?” “Something like that…” Cogita said evasively, and Zeke’s eyes narrowed.

C- Two Rules (Self Indulgent SI Pokemon)

“Ceus…” I said, very slowly, “What time period am I in? And keep in mind that if you don’t say ‘modern era’, the fit I’m going to throw is going to be epic in both scale, and scope, and may possibly even make Giratina’s tantrum look like a minor snit.” “’Tis the modern era.” They assured me, and my eyes narrowed. “Modern for whom?” “Ah…” “Oh goddammit!” So what it boiled down to is this: I was stuck in Hisui. I wasn’t plot relevant, Arceus had assured me; I apparently didn’t have the soul markers that would designate me as a ‘Chosen One’ (aka, a main character), and so I wouldn’t be expected to really do much about any of the stuff going on in Hisui. That would be Dawn/Akari’s job, whenever she showed up. Poor girl. Maybe I’d drop by and see her every once in a while. Maybe give her some stuff that might make her life easier. Or at least more comfortable. See, the thing was, I wasn’t supposed to be here. Not in this time period, not in this body, not in this universe. But Arceus had made just the teensiest, tiniest mistake when they’d been working on making themself a body, and, in the process of imbuing the body with enough Aura to survive a small nuke to the face (or a rampaging Giratina), they’d grabbed my actual, literal, soul, and stuffed it in there too. Which is why they’d panicked when I’d opened my eyes and started talking.

H- Gods in Winter (Original Work, High Fantasy [Rewrite])

How many times had that tusk been broken, to leave it so fragile? He was almost impressed when the half-orc rolled to his feet. He was considerably less impressed when the other man brandished a short knife at him, his hold inexpert and his stance sloppy. “I really do not think this will be as productive as you hope.” Tzedef said mildly, and the half-orc sneered at him.

O- The Spare (Pokemon [Legends Arceus])

“Outsider.”   The voice was smooth and rich. Dark and calm.  Like some of the late-night radio hosts that she’d listened to when she was working on her term papers. She gulped.  “Um…” Mei pointed at herself. “Me?”  “Verily. ” The Mismagius drifted closer, and Mei abruptly realized that the three gems on his front were glowing very faintly. The gems were glowing. Someone was talking, but the only other person around was Mismagius. The Mismagius was talking to her. “Oh gods…” Mei took a step back, her eyes wide. She knew that some Pokemon could speak human. Dawn had told her about the Team Rocket group that had a talking Meowth, and Psychic types were regularly proven to speak human languages, even if it was only telepathically. But a Ghost type? “How…?” “Magic.” The Mismagius sounded unbearably smug about that. “While others of mine fellows might use illusions to speak as you humans do, I have delved deep into the mysteries of the arcane arts and thus mine speech is translated directly.”

I'm opening this up to anyone who wants to try their hand at it! Also, @nerdpoe, @leithlovesyou, if you're in the mood! Your word is FAIRY.

[sparring-spirals]

you know i just had this thought, cause i saw your posts about feeling a little iffy with the whole mixing c2 and c3 characters thing, and like, if you’re looking from the standpoint of critical role as a show, and the cast as storytellers, then yeah there’s kinda this worry about past campaigns and character arcs overshadowing the current ones

but

but if you look from the viewpoint of a group of friends playing dnd, having your old characters show up in your current game and team up with the new party is just like, the coolest thing ever, no questions asked

Oh yeah, 100%! The cameo/crossover thing is exciting and lovely as is, and definitely really fucking fun for them. and us! Shared universes and crossover AU's/episodes and etc are popular for a reason!

okay, this answer got out of hand. hopefully it makes sense. my thinking is something like- yeah! bringing in caleb and beau and other cross campaign cameos and big shared universes like this is a perfectly reasonable kind of storytelling and very exciting. That said- yes, the broader story implications, possibilities, potential impacts, focus on Bells and the space for their arcs, etc, I have personal reservations on. And part of that is also tied to shared universe, MCU crossover style storytelling/worldbuilding not really being my cup of tea.

But that's not necessarily like, an indictment of what the cast chose to do or even an indictment of people (me, im people) enjoying the actual crossover encounters. Because they're fun! Exciting! Its cool to see characters you love and watched in a unique, fleshed out context collide with completely different characters who you love in a unique context. I bet this goes threefold for the cast, getting to see their characters alive ans breathing in the world, acting on their own. The point of crossovers and cameos is for this kind of joy! There's no real use to me pretending I'm not thrilled by their presence, or to not wonder about their wellbeing in past years or what other familiar faces are doing in the meantime.

The flipside is. Yes. Broader storytelling implications and concerns. That in the context of the Bell's Hells story, I want to be careful to still treat them as the main characters of this campaign, with the real estate and weight that deserves. Everything else about overshadowing and etc aside. Caleb and Beau and everyone else in the Mighty Nein had their campaign, and a wrap up and an epilogue, and my own soppy feelings about that aside, that is important. This campaign is the Bell's Hells, its theirs, and about their stories, and them. The M9 are, now, NPC's- and I have a lot of thoughts about how that is its own good ending, its about knowing when stories should be closed while letting the characters live on beyond them- but that should be its own meta fuck goddammit. And that's important. Its very important to me that I am, above all else, treating the Bell's Hells story as theirs.

The most direct example I can give, I think, is that before they intervened, I was somewhat okay with the Bell's Hells failing in some sense, Ludinus getting away with some part of his plan. Knowing that Beauregard and Caleb are involved brings up a specific feeling of wanting them to succeed, thinking about things they have waiting at home, the campaign that already went by and the epilogues I had already promised them in my head.

But- this is not their campaign, and this is not soley their issue anymore either. If I really handle them as NPC's, if I can decouple the thought of Ludinus as their behemoth to tackle, and think again about this issue in context of Bell's Hells, disastrous and loving and 50% unreliable with a moon over their shoulders- the perspective on the situation and what I want out of it and them and everything- shifts. And it's important to me I take the time to do that, as much as I love the empire sibs and am thinking fondly about their careers and loves and hopes.

but none of that is mutually exclusive with me making little heart eyes at the two of them and reblogging all the art of that scene. :)

[constantvariations]

V9C6

Pro tip: never let someone who doesn’t understand the RP in RPG run a DnD campaign

Post Ep: quite possibly the best episode of the season so far. Things actually happened for once, and it was all character focused. By V9 standards this is an absolute masterpiece

Hey the OP changed to show Jaune’s ugly ass breaking the 4th wall. Don’t care about your sad face dude

Oh goddammit not this 1st POV shit again. I get doing it for Ruby bc yknow. Main character. Show’s named after her and everything. Jaune? Not so much

So we don’t even get an indication of when Jaune originally showed up? Where even is he?

Ah yes, let’s just skip right past the trauma of someone waiting literally decades for people he knows are coming but not when to have some silly whoosh sound effects and bullet fast questions

One thing I will say is I much prefer this voice to his usual. It’s far more natural and far less grating on my soul

WHY ARE THEY MAKING WEISS LIKE THIS. WHO IS THIS BITCH AND WHERE IS THE REAL WEISS

Like, if she’d shown any interest in an older man before this then, fine, Weiss would be into older men, but this is coming from literally fucking nowhere and feels like, yet again, the writers are catering to themselves via their pet rather than thinking about what the characters would actually do

“We got everybody out” think you’re missing a few dozen folks. Yknow. The ones who Cinder exploded off the bridge? Even if the explosion killed all of them, which is statistically unlikely, there would still be bodies somewhere. Thanks to the timey whimey fuckery, we could see them falling from the sky at any time, which would be gruesome as fuck but a very poignant moment of failure for them all

Aaaaaand once again the team’s attempts to have a proper fucking discussion about their past actions and the subsequent consequences interrupted. By fucking Jaune. Goddammit

“What cat?” Does Jaune not know the story or is he attempting to clarify it’s Curious instead of some other resident? Also, damn that was actually a good bit of voice acting. Is this Luna or is someone else playing Elder Banana Boy?

The framing of Curious Cat under clear skies to Jaune under dark clouds is really fucking good. Wonder if the protruding jackalope antlers means something or if it’s just too big to leave out of frame

“This place really is the pits” I’m not entirely sure this is something Weiss would say, but punderful crossroads ig

So the tree is the source of the Againing? I feel it’d be more impactful if residents went to the tree willingly, like a sacred pilgrimage, rather than being dropped through a hole

Though this does present an interesting choice for Ruby: go to the tree and become someone new or continue with the choices and responsibilities. It must be incredibly tempting

“[Yang and Blake] must’ve had something bigger to work out.” Shut the fuck up their romance isn’t even tied to any character arcs or thematic problems; they’ve just been circling each other for fucking seasons while ignoring everything and everyone else. This is NOT bigger than what’s already at hand

Ah yes, the perfect solution to force a romantic confession: dangling people on a rickety bridge in high winds. Guess that brings a new meaning to “falling for you”

“So, what, Alyx lied?” Damn sure would be nice to know the actual story so we can feel the same betrayal the characters do

God can I just skip over the high rise bumblebee moments? I’m cringing so hard my intestines are straightening out. Also is it just me or is the animation around these parts really strange? I can’t put my finger on it but it’s wigging me out

Not entirely sure how I’m feeling about this Alyx reveal. Would it really have been so wrong for an innocent, naive girl in strange and overwhelming circumstances to make terrible mistakes? Wouldn’t that be far more relevant to Ruby’s own journey, especially if Alyx never learned to take responsibility? Especially if one of those mistakes cost her a brother she never spoke of again, perhaps eventually even forgot due to the guilt?

Idk this kinda feels like another complicated, morally grey situation being boiled down to “bad person hurt good person so we hate the bad person." Also, not great that she and the dead bro are the only ones darker than milk this season. Gr8 representation rt

“You have cat ears!” ...why are we alive? Just to suffer? I swear this volume has made more of a fuss about Blake’s status as a “non-human” than all other volumes combined. SHE IS JUST A HUMAN WITH CAT EARS I’M GOING TO EAT A FUCKING FRIDGE

“Maybe it’s saying things we’ve never said to each other.” Damn y’all haven’t really done any talking about anything so if that’s the rule y’all could reach the platform by straight up talking about the weather or books and videogames

Also this forced confession feels really icky. They’re basically hostages to the environment. It’s not cute that the confession is coming out of this situation, it’s fucking appalling. Especially when you consider how much better and more natural it would’ve been in V6 or V7. Hell, I’d take a wildly out of place kiss in V8 rather than this

I think Blake should’ve been the one to say it first. She’s the one with the running away problem, so her being the one to step up and face her fears in such a personal manner would be far better for her character arc than urging Yang to take the leap instead

“You never give up on people, even when they hurt you.” Adam Taurus and every White Fang member she’s killed is calling bullshit. Blake never tried reaching out to any of these people and clearly had no problem slicing and dicing them for the sake of humans who give zero shits about faunus rights

“You never give up” I think her retreat in V4 counts as giving up, Yang, but you wouldn’t know that because you’ve NEVER FUCKING TALKED

Huzzah, a kiss! Now, how about a proper, healthy relationship?

So Curious knew the story all along? Which means we didn’t have to suffer that obnoxious, self-righteous snore of a “love letter to the fandom” because it was required for the plot. We suffered it because the writers wanted us to suffer. Thanks I hate it

I really like the checkers going dull when Curious gets sad. They’re genuinely the best part of this volume, followed only by that gorgeous mushroom forest. I just wish their colors were better. There’s a difference between bright and eyestrain, and they very much are the latter

“You used me in the same way I’ve only seen [indecipherable] for knowledge and entertainment.” Firstly, can I get some goddamn captions please my family is starving. Secondly, go get em baby I got yo flower

Damn did they rip that house straight from the ps2? What the fuck

Ah, bathos. Possibly the worst literary crime possible. Why would we ever ruminate on the fact that Ruby and co. have been using people and making lives worse everywhere they go when we can watch Blake and Yang suck face?

Also, I’m fairly certain that, out of the two of them, Yang would be the one to pop a leg

“I think Alyx traded [Louis] to the tree [in order to leave]” Is that what Ruby’s gonna propose? Being traded so everyone else can go home? Doubt the tree will allow such an uneven trade to begin with, but, once again, a tempting idea

Why is Ruby having an episode over Cresent Rose’s return? Is it the reminder of what happened at the V8 crossroads? The responsibility it represents? The identity she no longer has?

This would be easier to understand if we had any build up. If the return of her weapon is going to be this heavy, then the loss of it at the beginning should have made a serious impact. But it didn’t. She didn’t even look for it. Never once talked about it. Outside of fights, Cresent Rose’s absence has been completely ignored

And why is no one seeing her very clear and obvious distress yet AGAIN? WBY cheer when she gets it back, but it makes them seem ignorant to the point of callousness. Par for the course this volume, but the longer it goes on, the less I actually care about any of this

If her supposed friends, including the overprotective sister who apparently raised her, don’t notice Ruby waving more red flags than Sayaka Miki, then why should I be bothered whenever it’s happening? If the story keeps dragging her symptoms out episode after episode, cutting the scene any time it feels like we’re about to get somewhere, then why should I invest any energy into it? If the story doesn’t care, why should I?

Luna is, indeed, still the voice of Jaune. Great improvement, boyo, keep this voice for him forever

[lediz-watches]

Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir the movie

Put shortly: I liked it. It was good times. Great animation, good storyline, good use of the characters, good time.

Put slightly longer: I feel way more satisfied after watching this movie than I did watching the mid-season of the season 5 on Disney+, but I think that's saying more about where the series currently is than the movie itself. So let's focus on that!

Spoilers below the cut like WHOA.

Starting off with my in-movie notes, because I haven't felt the need to do that since watching The Winchesters, so why not?

Oh, they kept the voice actors. Thought they’d go with new ones

But they didn’t use Christina Vee for Marinette’s singing voice, which is very strange

Also, this song is lovely, but is not matching the movie. It’s a pop song, and I dig it, but it’s tonally wrong for the movie, which wants a full on Alan Menken with much brighter orchestrations. And Marinette’s voice is higher than this.

I like that Marinette is the one rejecting other people in this movie. This makes so much more sense for how she will suddenly become super popular once she’s Ladybug

CHLOE MY BELOVED BITCH WITH SOCIAL MEDIA AWARENESS. The Kardashians would deign to meet with you

Alya, you well meaning bitch you. This is why people struggle with you so hard

I really prefer the character designs for this movie. Not just the facial designs, but these actually look like kids with a healthy weight and proportions. (Series!Marinette's limbs freak me out)

I really like how the other kids act around Marinette. Aside from Chloe, the bullying really is all in her head – people are just looking at her, not judging. I like it.

Adrien studying at lunch! Another characterisation I like. And him running away when he’s confronted with people being a bit weird and him feeling like he’s on the verge of being awkward. Or at least that’s what I guess he was doing? They don't actually explain his actions here.

Oh, Garbiel’s beginning is nice. I like it.

“a nice screaming exchange like two civilised teenagers!” oh Chloe I adore you

Knowing what I know about the spoilers, this line “who saves a life saves the world” feels pointed, and could have been a great theme in the series

I love Tikki already

This 'You are Ladybug' song seems very nice, I love the beat, but again, Marinette’s singing voice is so distracting

Oh, goddammit Adrien.

GodDAMMIT Adrien.

Oh, boy, please, calm down. I love you but wow, boy… This is why I love you, even, but WOW

And watch as he immediately falls for the first girl to act like showing him attention isn’t a big deal

I love these kids so much. They’re so 14. Such brats.

See, Adrien’s singing voice actually fits him, despite still sounding like a pop song. Actually as a general rule, this song is just more suited to the movie and the moment, too. Maybe it's just Marinette's singing voice I'm struggling with

Did they change Plagg’s voice?

I prefer the change to Doosoo’s, though

Oh, Gabriel. I love you, you ham.

I also like that there are already supervillains in Paris, even though we don’t actually know about them.

THESE KIDS.

This Mime villain is actually genuinely menacing

I also like the way Tikki acts here. She’s more chaotic and doesn’t feel entirely ‘good’. In the sense of being a goody-two-shoes, I mean. She feels aggressive, violent. Much more like creation.

And Cat Noir’s powers being rougher and more physical, compared to Ladybug’s quick thinking and grace. There's balance in these characters, not just together but also in themselves.

I like Adrien’s arc as a superhero here. Main character syndrome immediately failed, he relegates himself to being a sidekick, and never realises he’s legitimately a hero in his own right because no one ever realises his stupidity is ALWAYS the result of poor mental health responses. Someone who is not a destructive spirit intervene in this boy's mental state!

Gabriel… is falling apart. I would have liked to have seen more of that.

Okay. Pause a second. Because I’ve reached the part of the movie where Ladybug rejects Cat Noir, Adrien rejects Marinette, and she’s singing about… something? I’m not quite following what the narrative intention of this song actually is, but it’s hitting an interesting point that I’m suddenly distracted by.

So something that’s always kind of been annoying to me in the series is that Marinette went from being the worst, most hopeless and unpopular girl in school to being its superstar just by being Ladybug. This movie actually does a really good job of showing that she was never that bad, she just didn’t believe in herself and sabotaged herself, and so when she stops sabotaging herself she excels. And I actually think it would have been super cool if there was an arc where she thought it was all about being ladybug, and became OVER confident because of it, and assumed that being Ladybug meant EVERYTHING should go her way. And so this set back—Adrien not just falling in love with her because she wants it that way—completely destroying her world view? Causing her a crisis of confidence? Making her fail as Ladybug, because she suddenly realises it’s not just luck and super powers, but her? That would have been a great plot. I would have liked that a lot. I’m not sure that’s what’s happening here, but I would’ve liked that a lot.

Yeah, this song is just skipping that plot and her going straight to starting to realise she’s enough.

Yesss Fallen!Gabriel, I enjoy this

 Adrien, as always, your timing is terrible

…Hawkmoth, how are you doing any of this? How does it relate to your power set? Is this supposed to be what happens when you akumatise yourself?

I do like this resolution to the Gabriel villain story though. Including having Adrien actually being the solution to the problem, living out his role as the heart of the story to resolve the real problem, while Ladybug takes the spotlight as the ‘active’ hero.

CHLOE I LOVE YOU, YOU BITCH

Okay, so on a technical level, I love this movie's character designs, the animation is gorgeous, the direction is beautiful, the voice acting is (as always) amazing. With the exception of Marinette's singing voice, which was aggressively distracting, this movie is technically excellent.

And seems to have been delivered to schedule. Now that's the real shock.

Pacing wise, it was really good for a movie that was trying to encapsulate the scope of two heroes developing over like... what was supposed to be, six months? Very fast, maybe a little too fast, but not bad for its scope. But I do think that the only reason some of it worked is because we know these characters and could fill in the scenes. On his own, movie!Adrien wasn't developed beyond 'melodramatic BOY' (Nino did a LOT of heavy lifting for developing Adrien's character in like three lines), and movie!Marinette was pretty one-dimensional as 'underconfident'. But it was... fine. Ladybug and Cat Noir were a little better developed, and since they were the same people... meh.

Narratively, however.

I like Gabriel's story in this movie. I like him basically having a breakdown, and I like that it is only resolved when he is forced to see the damage he's done to his own son. I like that it's implied that Adrien's response is what actually saves him.

I also like how Ladybug and Cat Noir function together in this movie. They're stronger together, both literally and figuratively, and they have different functions that work, and the movie showcases it working. Ladybug is more visibly capable, but she's only able to be so BECAUSE Cat Noir is rushing around, taking the brunt of the chaos, distracting people, distracting HER from it all being too much. He can't do anything on his own, but neither can Ladybug, really. I really like how this movie ended that way, too - Cat Noir is unconscious, but still distracting the villain while Marinette sorts herself out. And once she has, she basically gets shunted off to the side, because the only way to solve this is with an emotional focus, and that's Adrien's job in their partnership. But AS FAR AS PARIS IS CONCERNED, Ladybug is still somehow the actual and only hero.

I suspect that after the series is over, I shall rant about the yin/yang and balance and what the series is trying to do, but for now...

Normally, I don't like movies that can't exist on their own. But in this particular case... I think I wouldn't enjoy this movie so much without the series to contrast against, and I think this movie showcases something really beautiful about the world of Miraculous. If it leads into a series of movies telling the Miraculous story...

Honestly, I wouldn't be mad.

Nice work, Mr Zag. It's good for what it is.

[kudzucataclysm]

🍀🧠for the asks :0

yaaaaaaaay!! main 4 again :3

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

for both Dez and Frank…i don’t exactly remember. they both kind of came into existence at the same time together a few years ago :0 they were already fully formed, but their personalities have developed like fucking CRAZY since then

Maya is actually one of my oldest characters!! she’s originally from my first ever “story” of sorts, that also had Sal and Jack in it as well. i remember her being specifically inspired by this one character in this manga/comic called “Nightschool” who was like. the head queen bee of the witch faction at the school jdhdhdhfhfhf like she was so ridiculously powerful at her age and was cool as a cucumber and smart as fuck and i loved her character tbh. wish there’d been more of her #BlackExcellence

Carmine was also someone else who more or less came into being as he is, except the helmet. he was actually supposed to have a fleshy, exposed skull instead, and i think that bit of him was inspired by Red Death from the Venture Bros show- that villain who preferred the old fashioned way of getting shit done and being a complete maniac but ultimately a good family guy and friend

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

for Desmond: just look at him. look at that baby angel face. he’s unaware of the horrors that await him and yet he’s gonna take it like a champ (NOT). he’s gonna take those punches, he’s gonna keep getting pushed down until finally he SNAPS, and he’s like “fuck it, i’m not taking this shit anymore!!” and he busts out of the spiral of hell he’s accidentally fallen into in order to make it on his own (+Francis) and to show everyone who’s wronged him the full force of the indomitable human will in order to save a world that he loves

for Francis: just her bastard asshole personality. the way she’s molded that personality out of fear of rejection and being hurt. strike first before they get you. she’s an absolute fucking mess and a downright horrible child who knows nothing but violence until Dez shows up. like by god she sucks, but holy shit she eventually tries. she tries and fucks it up so many times but at the end of the day she’s put that effort in to at least be better than she was the day before, and that she’s FINALLY got someone in her corner to help her find her way

for Maya: her sheer fucking arrogance. her hypocrisy. her weird as fuck god complex and the way she just straight up doesn’t give a fuck about almost anything. who has become something she hates, something that goes against the betterment of humanity. who eventually gets smacked in the face with reality, and is forced for once in her life to take shit seriously but in the same vein doesn’t lose that cockiness cuz goddammit it’s up to her to fix this mess and in her mind she’s the only one capable of doing it, even at her own expense which is the first time she’s not making a selfish decision

for Carmine: i like him cuz he’s trying to, in a way, convince himself that he’s normal but he’s not. he’s a manipulative asshole who’s obsessed with control through power, to the point where his paranoia has him convinced that a fucking child is gonna be the end of everything he’s worked for. and despite all his issues he does his ‘best’ to reconnect with family that he was forcefully separated from only to fall back into old habits and ways that undermine his own relationship with them….he falls AGAIN. his world burns AGAIN. and only time can tell if this is something he’s willing to fight for this time

[markantonys]

you're watching my lady jane?! i LOVE that show so much, i started it bc i was bored and ended up bingeing the whole thing in about two days (and now i want to do a rewatch lol). it's fantastic 😊

yes!!! i finished it the other day! i could've easily done it all in a day or two but i kept making myself wait to savor it longer haha from the scattered promo/ads i saw beforehand, i thought it might fall more on the cringey side for me and not jive with my sense of humor, but i couldn't have been more wrong! i don't remember the last show where i literally Laughed Out Loud as often as i did with this one - i love how self-aware it is of its own absurdity and how it fully leans into the cringe and ridiculousness, that's exactly what makes it hilarious instead of cringey. it's unhinged in the best way!

also the main romance was genuinely SO good which i was not expecting! arranged-marriage-to-real-love is one of my favorite tropes, and they knocked it out of the park. the actors had excellent chemistry and both did a great job balancing comedy and drama.

and the side characters are all fantastic across the board. frances is THE supreme milf of all time if you ask me, i'm always a huge sucker for the Manipulative Matriarch archetype and she is just fantastic. and she gets a boytoy to boot! just after rand/selene in WOT s2 made me go "goddammit, we need more older woman/younger man romances around here." excellent! and rob brydon who plays lord dudley is the host of "would i lie to you?" which i have loved for several years, so i absolutely lost my shit when he showed up in this scripted show playing a character djdkfjg and he was hilarious in the role! mary made me genuinely angry, which is the sign of a good villain lmao and my sweet edward and elizabeth! and susannah! my only criticism of the show is i wanted 200% more susannah. (susannah/jane/guildford polycule, you heard it here first. jane has 2 hands!)

actually, i have 1 other criticism, and it is during the Dudley Boys Prison Break Attempt when guildford is like "the guards are right behind us, i'll stay behind to fight them so you two can escape" and then he and his dad have a heart-to-heart for like 2 minutes before the guards actually get there, during which time they all could've escaped together lmao but we had to get the drama of guildford not being rescued until the literal last possible second, so i can forgive this!

anyway, things wrapped up pretty satisfactorily so i would be okay if it didn't get a second season, but they did end it like they wanted another season since they drew our attention to several loose ends, and so i'm crossing my fingers!!

[choices-binglebonkus]

I haven't caught up with TPA since like late December, but I've been rereading your post about 10 Rights and Wrongs with TPA and I wanna add my thoughts on it. I'll mainly only comment on stuff that I have something to say about. These may be subject to change when I complete the book.

Soundtrack

Agreed with you, it's absolutely brilliant. It has a James Bond vibe that I like, and even ignoring that it's just really well-composed. I love the adventurous intro theme especially, as well as the steamy scene track– I will happily listen to those on repeat and never get tired.

Outfits

Agreed on that too, I didn't vibe with majority of the f!MC outfits besides the default ones but they still did do a good job making them look good for the most part.

I definitely hate the fem MC having a crop top as the cold outfit. I wouldn't mind it as much if they did the same with m!MC; it'd still be impractical, but like, either give both of them crop tops or neither of them crop tops. Enough with the "must be sexy because woman" outfits, goddammit.

Speaking of shitty outfit gendering, I also hate that m!MC's "sexy underwear" equivalent to fem MC's lingerie is a goddamn robe and boxers. The robe is admittedly nice and has a "luxurious evening" vibe that I like, but come the fuck on, stop playing it safe and basic with the m!MC and m!LI outfits all the damn time.

Vivian

I'm very mixed on her. On her own, I quite enjoy her as a character. She's fun, she's got some good lines, and she doesn't really come off as obnoxious.

But in the story, she just feels weirdly out-of-place in it? Perhaps because I've associated TPA as being the Choices' edition of a James Bond adventure, so it does feel unusual to have one of the main characters be a quirky nerd type. But hey, that does make TPA a little more unique.

But while I haven't caught up, I know others said that missions and tasks are way too easy with her being present, hence the lack of stakes.

Hookups

I didn't play any actual dirty-30 hookup scenes, but I did enjoy the buildup scenes to them and I'm sad we haven't gotten other hookup opportunities. Especially since I played as wlm, where the dynamics were very different from how PB usually writes their average wlm romance. I am forever here for male Lou swooning over f!MC being heroic and male Alexis's femme-fatale-esque persona. I found them way more interesting than the majority of MC and Agent Grey's dynamic. Speaking of which...

LI

One thing that is nice about the romance is that MC is the one who is more experienced in GAIA while Agent Grey is the new member. Honestly it's very refreshing (especially as wlm) considering how often PB's romance involves MC being the newbie and LI being the boss/teacher/celebrity/etc.

But character wise? Agent Grey doesn't work as an LI. Or at least not a main/single LI. It's It feels like they're only the LI by virtue of being MC's work partner. I'd rather Agent Grey have just been... still our work partner, but also as a casual hookup option like Alexis and Lou rather than our romance interest.

Possibly controversial opinion, I think a book that is just "no romance, only casual hookups" would be something unique for PB to write (granted the hookups don't take over the entire story). PB needs a break from writing romance and it shows.

GOC/Pronouns

A lot of people said this one "actually feels like it was written with male MC in mind for once". I have a lot of issues with that statement due to the fact a lot of the fandom's takes on what counts as "female coding" can be very dubious.

Regardless, even if this was written with mlw in mind, I've still been finding it very enjoyable and made sense (dare I say better and more unique) in a wlm route.

Any actual gender coding errors I've seen or heard about are very minimal. Though I will say that it made me want to sob to see male Agent Grey's swimsuit described as a "swimsuit that hugs his hips" despite his swimsuit in question being boring swimtrunks and a basic-AF open beach shirt rather than, yknow, a swimsuit that actually hugs his hips.

And that's about all I've got for now.

Thanks for your insights anon!

[thatpunkmaximoff]

Story: 4 out of 5 Spice: 0 out of 5

Alright, so this was adorable. I had trouble getting into it because the main female character came off as a little bratty and I was not vibing with it. But as the chapters progressed, the girl got more tolerable.

This is one of those books where you know the fake dating is going to blow up in their faces, and it did! I did not expect this story about high schoolers to crush my heart like that haha.

And though I loved everything about the pettiness in fake dating to prove an ex wrong and make someone else jealous in order to make them make a move, I adored reading Riley’s relationship with her father evolve and the new friendships she made.

This book contains no spice/smut and is perfect for the young generation.

* Chapter one and I already dislike Riley. She’s giving off brat vibes and not the fun type of brat either. I hope this gets better soon.

* Eh. Chapter two was slightly better. Riley’s ex is even more annoying than she is.

* Chapter three- enter Sophia who’s jealous of Riley possibly getting close to Nathan. I love pettiness lol. Bring it on.

* I love how Nathan’s friends don’t like Sophia because “she wants what she can’t have” and she only really showed Nathan attention when Riley was there.

* I think this is why I don’t like Riley or her mother. The parents divorced because the dad wanted to open up a game store. The mom didn’t like that he’d be spending so much time at the store, and instead of amicably co-parenting, the mom says petty/bitter comments about the dad. Excuse the fuck outta me. The dad just wanted to do what he loved and you guys hate him for it?

* Chapter four gets slightly better. Riley is fucking cringe tho lol. Why would you tell your ex that you’re dating Nathan, a guy who thinks you’re annoying lol.

* Okay, making Sophia jealous is fun.

* As much as Riley annoys me, I feel bad for her. She’s obviously going to fall first and Nathan is hooked on Sophia.

* I feel so bad for the dad. He’s so happy Riley and Nathan are “dating”.

* And Riley!!!! You’re gonna break your own heart, girl.

* Goddammit, Nathan. Just ask her to homecoming. Don’t make her third wheel.

* She can go to homecoming!

* Whoa… this flirting all the time will end bad.

* Ugghhh. And now my heart is broken.

* Oh no. Not the dad!

* Aww. Nathan helped gather everyone to help with the meeting.

* Oh my god, they have feelings for each other!!!!