#bc it will be better when I write a direct comparison between the two scenes and where the references are

[bonefall]

I'm not in 100 years reading wind, so what's the nightstar stuff as well as the harelight execution scene?

The Nightstar Stuff is that they're constantly making it clear they KNOW that cats can lie about getting the 9 lives, they KNOW that a murderer can receive the lives, and they KNOW that StarClan has never rejected an evil cat before... but then they handwave it away because they don't wanna do anything.

Nightstar/Nightpelt gets namedropped six times and vaguely alluded to a dozen more, but it means nothing to the story. You could have just forgotten him entirely and the plot would happen the same way.

Most of this book is the leaders finding excuses to sit on their butts, but I really only need to share one exchange to demonstrate just HOW stupid this is,

"I'd like to think that the ancestors would speak up." A+ logic Squirrelflight. Just believe that reality won't happen. If you cover your eyes it makes the maneating lion bowling towards your face go away. Soblem prolved.

[sunandmoongobrrr]

Korra and her Brutalization: A Legend of Korra Meta

In honor of International Womens’ Day, I want to talk a little bit about Legend of Korra and the treatment of Korra (and to a small extent other women) throughout the show. Content warning: there's some disturbing scenes that I show here, but if you've watched all of LoK, you should be fine.

Korra starts off confident; she is a young avatar who is eager to learn and feels suffocated from the isolation she is kept in from a very young age. But that doesn’t stop her, and like the headstrong girl she is, she moves to Republic City to make a difference and step into her role as the avatar.

Korra immediately starts to doubt herself; she becomes unsure of her abilities and frustrated with herself, and through that she learns to become emotionally vulnerable with Tenzin. To me, this was really great. It showed that you can be confident and vulnerable, and that the two aren’t necessarily independent of each other.

(I’m going to be honest, the 2nd season I didn’t really remember much of, so I’m just going to skip over that. Because what I really want to talk about is season 3.)

In season three, Korra faces the Red Lotus, an “anarchist” group that essentially wants to kill her. And they get pretty close. First, I want to talk about how Tenzin is beaten by the Red Lotus. This has been brought up in Lily Orchard’s (in?)famous LOK video, and while I disagree with her on many many topics of the show, I really think she has a point here. When Tenzin is being brutalized by the Red Lotus, the camera pans away. It is SO painful to see him like this, and the directors know it. It’s TOO painful to see it, so they don’t show you it, and the episode ends before we can see him be defeated.

Contrast that with Korra. They show you every detail of this. And I mean every detail.

It’s disgusting, and they refuse to treat her with any sort of decency or respect like they do Tenzin. It’s almost like they want us to enjoy her torturing. It’s genuinely gross.

People will often refute this by saying “LoK is just a darker show! Look at what they did to the Earth Queen!” And while yes, it is marketed towards an older audience, there’s still no point in brutalizing Korra this way. The main difference between Korra and the Earth Queen is that… well, Korra’s the protagonist. We’re supposed to be rooting for her, and while the Earth Queen being suffocated was definitely dark, it wasn’t unprecedented. The audience was never supposed to like the Earth Queen—she exploited and kidnapped her own people, so of course we wouldn’t care THAT much if she died. But we’ve been with Korra since the beginning. We’re supposed to want her to be happy, and why on earth would we want her to be tortured brutally in such a disgusting way that gives her absolutely no dignity? If we want her to succeed?

(here Zaheer uses the same technique used on the Earth Queen to suffocate here on Korra. for some reason)

In Season 4, the main focus is on Korra and her healing from the brutal things the Red Lotus did to her. She is clearly still struggling, and it could have been another great way to show how being physically strong and confident doesn’t mean you can’t be vulnerable. But they make a lot of bad choices in this season.

One of my main gripes is that in order to heal, she has to return to her abuser, Zaheer, and HE has to teach her how to feel better.

I don’t want to compare LoK to ATLA, although it’s very important to mention that a show that’s a direct sequel, uses its old characters, and banks off of references, should be able to be compared to its predecessor. But I think it’s important to compare Korra’s arc here to Zuko. This doesn’t come out of nowhere; Korra has a lot of similarities to Zuko. The chopping of her hair is a significant turning point in her arc, and there’s an episode called “Korra Alone” (which is clearly a direct callback; shown below).

The difference between Zuko and Katara is that, a. Zuko never had to accept his abuser, and b. Zuko started off as a villain.

One of Zuko’s major points is when he confronts his father—his abuser. He does not bow to him and give in, saying that maybe he had a few good points or his heart was in the right place, but he directly says that Ozai was wrong for what he did. This isn’t the case with Korra. For some reason, Korra has to learn to trust her abuser. The person who did this to her:

And she has to hear him out.

This leads me to my second point, and what’s basically the complaint I have; despite being a protagonist, the show treats Korra like a villain. It frames her torture scenes as if we’re supposed to be excited that she’s being brutalized, as if we’re supposed to think she deserves it. And it’s not even handled properly as one of the villains we know so well—Zuko, who was able to overcome his abuse and become a protagonist who we root for. Again, Zuko and Korra aren’t directly the same characters, but there are parallels between the two and the show encourages their comparison. When it comes to Korra, however, we’re supposed to believe that she deserves everything that comes to her; the brutal scenes and the lack of dignity, even if she is a protagonist.

And in the end, that’s what we’re meant to believe; that Korra deserved what happened to her. In the finale, Korra says, “I finally understand why I had to go through all that. I needed to understand what true suffering was, so I could become more compassionate to others.”

This is, to put it short, ridiculous. I hate this so much I can’t even begin to say how much I hate it. No, Korra did not have to go through the torture she went through. She did not have to go through the mercury poisoning. She did not have to go through every hardship she did. This “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is so harmful because Korra’s healing revolved around accepting her abuser and thanking him for the awful things he did to her. Korra wasn’t even that cocky by the end of the first season, so what it’s essentially indirectly teaching girls is that if you’re confident, you’ll pay. It’s disgusting.

Zuko got a banishment to the Earth Kingdom, got to have his ideas and practices challenged, but he never got physically tortured. I truly, truly believe that one of the main reasons why Korra is quite literally villainized by the show is because she was a confident, brown teenage girl. None of the male characters are treated with such disrespect and we never get told that they need to be “humbled” by abuse.

This is not completely resolved to LoK; there are some aspects in ATLA that I think could’ve been fixed had there been more women in the room. I tag her a lot (bc her metas are awesome), but I really recommend you read @araeph 's Katara: Consumed by Destiny series. I also have a meta here about how Katara is treated in ATLA, specifically in “The Fortuneteller.” (I want to emphasize that while I am anti-Kataang, I don’t believe that Katara’s treatment had to do with the ship itself or that kataang is inherently anti-Katara. It’s just a note about how her character is treated in this episode and beyond.)

I’ve heard a lot of people say that they’re ‘glad’ that LoK didn’t feature Suki or Mai or Ty Lee, because they can’t imagine how poorly they’d be represented. And honestly, I can’t blame them.

This isn’t to say that we need to stop watching LOK or even ATLA. I think the internet has this weird problem where we’ve been told that the way to get rid of problematic media is to just stop consuming anything even remotely problematic altogether. But certain aspects of media will always be relatively problematic, since as content creators we sometimes input our biases into the things we create. The solution, then, is not to banish anyone who puts any harmful stereotypes into their content from society, but to actively and healthily criticize it. Bryke are not God, but they’re also not demons put on the earth to suppress woc. They’re white guys that have implicit biases that have worked their way into the content they produce. I think the lesson learned here, is to have women, especially BIWOC, in writing rooms, to prevent atrocious acts from happening to future Korra's.

Happy International Women’s Day, y’all.

[justjstuff]

6, 9, and 26 for the writing asks! Hope you are having a wonderful day, J 💜

hi, hon! sorry for the wait! hehe thanks for the ask <3 Btw, was it you that reblogged something from Zoey smth-smth? lmfao bro you GOTTA watch Zombieland I swear to god I love that movie, it's so ridiculous xD

6. What point of view do you tend to write in? Do all of your pieces use the same POV? Do you have strong opinions on the POV used in novels?

r: Third person, always. I have VERY strong opinions about 1st person POVs lmfao I actually hate every single book I tried to read in 1st person. It feels very off-putting imo bc I never read a book inserting myself into the character (same reason I can't read y/n fics) so it feels wrong to see it "talking" as if it were me. The only two exceptions to that rule are Twilight bc I read it when I was 8/9/10 and it was the shit back then and Ume's fic the Eventual Descent. I don't know what it is about Ume's fic but I barely even notice that it's in first person, the plot is so captivating, the characters so fucking well-written it's just *chef's kiss*. This isn't to say that I don't change POVs while writing. I know some people say it's "bad writing" but I wholeheartedly disagree. A story can be told by just one person and it's even nice to play with the whole unreliable narrator style and the ramifications of it but that's not the only way to tell a story imo. I do think that the way the guy from GoT wrote his books is terrible tho lmfao. Yeah, mad genius that he is, it's very very VERY uncomfortable to me to be reading about smth that's kinda dull and then as soon as it starts to get interesting I'm suddenly reading about a character that is even more terribly boring than the first one. Lol, I'm probably gonna get hate for it but hey, if it's your thing then it's your thing, this is just my opinion.

Another thing that it's definitely a no-no for me is when the POV changes without a proper sign of it changing. No line breaks, no chapter breaks, nuthin'. It absolutely takes me out of the story when you're reading something and then you have to keep reading back to figure out who is now describing the scene to you. Changing POVs is great imo but it requires a bit more care about how the story is written in general, you gotta be mindful of the flow.

To answer the question, yes I do have strong opinions about it lol.

I should point out that these are all my personal opinions, this doesn't mean at all that if whoever is reading this does the things I don't like that they're a bad writer or anything like that. Even if I had tons of degrees in Literature (which I obviously don't) you should never listen to someone who says things like "this is the way you write well" or "if you do this, then your story sucks". Just tell those people to shut the fuck up. There's no right or wrong in writing, okay? Just what you like and what your readers like. Machado de Assis, one of the most famous Brazilian writers of all time wrote his books with TONS of grammatical mistakes. And you know what happened? We made rules about it lol. Now we accept those "mistakes" as something you can do in Portuguese all because this guy wrote books that people liked. So, yeah. To anyone reading this: DO YOUR THING.

9. What scene was the hardest to write for you and why?

r: Kakashi and Sakura kissing. LMFAO. I took around 200k words to get to a point where they would kiss for the mission, right? And it was fine, I kind of freaked out about it when I wrote but it was cool cool cool. Now, their real kiss? OH MY GOD, bro, I had such a hard time. I think I already told you guys this but I wrote like three times how they would get together and then ended up saving those scenes for later lol. I think this story is just an immense buildup to getting them to a point where I would like to see them together that now that they're finally there I'm... scared? I don't really know. It feels like I forgot how to write romance lmfao I'm currently rewriting their first real kiss for the fourth time I think and it's where I stopped with this writer's block :/

26. What do you feel like you need to work on as a growing writer? How can you improve?

r: This is a really great question. When I started writing (in Portuguese) I kind of copied the style from the books that I used to read at the time which is fine, you can't do anything without copying something first. The thing is, brazilian writing is a bit more... descriptive than English writing in general. Actually, let's make a comparison between English and Portuguese first. There are many linguistic reasons for this which I'm not gonna get into but in general, in Portuguese we use more words to speak. That is because of many many reasons but one of them is the fact that in English there's a process called "verbing" or "verbification" I think? Which is basically, you take a noun and you create a verb out of it. For example, to elbow, to distance, to inconvenience. In Portuguese, to say those things, we have to use more words, it takes us longer to get to the end result. Some more modern examples of it is terms like "Google it" or "Tweet it" or I dunno "DM her". We don't have that in PT.

Let me try and get back on track lol. So yeah, that happens because English speakers but mostly USAmericans tend to have a snappier way of speaking. You are direct and straight to the point in general. When I first started writing, my texts were best described as poems in prose form. lol. I was very descriptive, I took my time making sure the emotion was there and not just the basics to get my readers from point A to point B. I still like that type of writing but it gets tiring if it's a long piece. So, after being corrected by many english teachers on how I structured my stories (they were always very long sentences, sometimes a whole paragraph w only one phrase), I started changing the way I write.

Like anything in life, when you want to make a shift, you usually go from one end of the spectrum to the opposite. A full 180 turn. So I started writing shorter phrases, I stopped describing every single thing in the scene. I decided to let my readers fill in some of the blanks, let them figure out for themselves what kind of dress this character is wearing or how did she get from point A to point B, that's not the important part. Now, if you go see the first maybe ten chapters of Daughter of Fire, you'll see that I exaggerated on that end lmfao. Some things are too vague, some paragraphs could have been two or three sentences instead of five or six. It's okay, I don't go back to change those things bc I think it shows the progress I made as a writer.

What I want to do now, is to reach that middle ground, make a 90 degree turn instead lol. I managed to get better by treating first drafts as first drafts, I get my point across, point A to point B, quick, snappy. Then I go back and edit, I add descriptions, I connect the dots better. And that whole poem as prose thing? I save it for important moments. Those emotion heavy moments in the story where I do want to make the reader stop and feel. It's all a work in progress, I'm not even close to a professional writer or anything like that but that's where I'm at rn. I'm trying to find my feet in that middle ground.

[pendragaryen]

Before I start I just wanted to say: THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you brilliant, open minded, always positive and hopeful people and writers in this fandom, in this fam, that i am so proud to call me a part of for many years now. Thanks so much for all you analysers, all you meta-writers and speculators! I love you so much, because i’m shown time and time again, that i’ve chosen THE RIGHT peeps to follow. My dash is 80% hopeful Blarkes! And i LOVE it! Thanks for always being so inspiring and motivational, despite everything that happens on screen (or behind it). THANK YOU, FAM! That’s just my introduction today, before i dive into my mood…..

I probably shouldn’t write anything today for my mind is kind of dizzy bc of the painkillers I’ve taken earlier but well… I’m in a mood to get at least a few things off my chest now.

So. “The queens gambit”. You guys already summed it up, meta-ed about it and speculated the heck out of it so that my own 5 cents seem completely unnecessary at this point. I love some of your opinions, some I don’t. But here’s just what I feel about it (if anybody cares): In contrary to my whole excitement before the episode “Welcome to Bardo” and the tiny possibility that our Bellamy would finally and hopefully be back on our screens, THIS time, while I WAS CERTAIN to see him again, my whole reaction to finally HAVE him back was like… “yeah.. hey.. there you are. Nice.”  And that’s it. I truly wish my excitement would come back. But well… I am exhausted. My job is a pain in the ass too right now. I don’t want to feel bored or even annoyed by my fave tv show ever, this should BE FUN. But yeah a certain scene DID annoy me. Of course. I was in fact very thankful for all the distracting things that happened on Sanctum this time.

For those who know me a bit this isn’t news. I feel sick to my stomach when I have to watch scenes like that B/cho farce today. I did it for Bellamy/Bob AND I did it for Lindsey (congrats on your directing-debut, my queen!). But all your beautifully written and stubbornly hopeful metas couldn’t change the fact that THAT moment was simply painful to watch. It wasn’t even as lovey-dovey as I thought it would be. And I am truly relieved bc of the fact that it seems that Bellamy (at least at this “first time”) had some serious physical needs to get satisfied by that sweaty, sporty woman right in front of him (like it was with “Threesome-Bellamy” in season 1) and that THIS was the primary reason that my boy practically jumped E at that moment… (I mean… she IS attractive… i have to give this to her). With THAT in mind I can live. Everyone his needs. That’s okay. Sex is healthy. Needs are healthy. I am content that they haven’t shown us LOVE here. That wasn’t love. For sure. And their conversation is already wonderfully explained by several posts of you guys, so I won’t say anything else about that godforsaken scene than that it was a pain in the ass to watch for me. Despite all the things I said above and despite the fact, that IT’S JUST THE PAST. It still stings. BUT… It’s not current. And I understand the statement that underlines especially THAT fact: This is long gone and done. It is not current anymore. And now… not even thinkable any longer. I think E knows that too, despite her being clingy to her memories.

Whatever… I’m pms-ing… heavily. Don’t mind my ramblings. What I REALLY wanted to say tho is: I hope that - in comparison to that B/cho scene on the ring - we get to see one other significant scene (or more than just one, I wouldn’t mind it) at some point in S7 : Bellamy grieving the loss of Clarke Griffin - and I mean ON THE RING. That particular grief, that was addressed especially by Murphy last season “If he knows Clarke is dead all of this is for nothing” etc….. PLEASE! That would make the PERFECT opposite to that cringy, awkward B/cho scene today!!! What do you guys and analysts think? Is it possible that we get that somehow? Maybe we somehow get to see how the Bardonians extract memories from Bellamy’s mind at some point? I don’t know. That’s just what I wanted to shout into the void today. I’d appreciate it so much…

Anyway.. I missed Indra in the santum scenes? Where was she? But I really agree with most of you guys today too: Some of the best parts of this episode had to do with finally addressing some bad things people did in the past, bad decisions and actions I thought I have already heard the last  about. I am talking about the Blake’s of course. O’s treating of her brother after Lincoln’s death and Bellamy “forcing” the flame on Madi in S5. Well done. All of this a little late for my taste. But better now than never. Oh and I almost forgot: Murphy was brilliant. Again. His interactions with Sheidrussell… wow… deep. And Emori! What a QUEEN! I’m glad we have these two in Sanctum - tho I’m fearing a bit for their safety now, I have to admit.

Did I mention that i LOVE the Diyozas? No? Yes i love them. Very much. That scene between mother and daughter was TEARjerking. And NOW i’m really afraid of what will happen to especially Charmaine… I cannot put a finger on it WHY. But i TRULY fear for her now… She’s a unique character. I don’t want to lose her tbh… (In contrary there’s Nikki. Or Nelson, for example. To THEM i cannot find any connection at the moment… They are just… there.. making trouble… I wouldn’t shed a tear if they die at some point.)

And then… Clarke tho… CLARKE… These few seconds they’ve been showing her reaction to the news that HER Bellamy’s dead… All these emotions mirrored in her sad, shook eyes in that precise moment… This really made it up for me and saved almost the whole episode imo. Wow… (Eliza… Eliza, you brilliant little thing. I love you. I’ve been reading, that you weren’t allowed to show more than a minimum of a reaction at this point. But you transferred it, ALL the feelings - just through your eyes!) You can almost pinpoint the very moment her heart broke. I can’t wait to see the continuation of that scene. (Btw: Great job, Lindsey! Zooming in on Clarke’s face in just the RIGHT moment… I’m in tears…)

All in all (and despite of a certain scene) a solid episode. (But WHAT THE ACTUAL F.. DO YOU MEAN WITH “YOU’RE MY FAMILY TOO” OCTAVIA?! You CAN’T be serious! E?! YOUR FAMILY?! No..  HELL nO…  That shows without ANY doubt how much she's changed and that she now must be some sort of an all forgiving Buddha, whereas I clearly haven’t grown or changed one bit, bc THAT… hurt like hell to hear from especially her. WTH.. It REALLY bugs me..)

ugh… that was long… i am sorRY

[ckret2]

So I've been deeply pulled into the Radiosnake pairing bc of your fantastic writing! Problem is, now I have fic ideas but no knowledge of the Hazbin background. Can you tellI me where I can get more Hazbin info? I've only watched the pilot and read your stuff. I heard there were comics??

That is an excellent question anon, because right now it is really hard to get Hazbin background easily.

Okay, so, the canon info on Hazbin Hotel can be sort of sorted into four tiers, from most to least canon.

Tier 1: The Definitely Canon

There is, of course, the pilot. And then there is an Angel Dust prequel comic, only seven pages of which have been released so far. We’ve been told it’s gonna be finished and we’ve had glimpses of in-progress prequel comics for a couple other characters—most prominently Alastor’s and Charlie’s—but so far that unfinished Angel Dust comic is the only one that’s been officially released.

Finding the in-progress comic pages is... a challenge. Nobody, as far as I can tell, has been specifically collecting all of the pages we’ve seen so far. I was able to scrounge up:

Couple more Angel pages

some Alastor pages

another Alastor page

a random Alastor panel

another random Alastor panel—I’ve seen the full page of this before, Alastor goes “Hello ladies!” and they go “HELLO ALASTOR~<3″ but I can’t find the full page now

There’s a smattering more canon panels on the artist faustisse’s twitter, but I haven’t dug them all out, and some of the posts I’m gonna link in a lil bit have a glimpse of another panel.

If you haven’t already heard of Helluva Boss, I recommend looking into it as well. It’s a second series being created by the same folks, different cast of characters but set in the same version of Hell, so any canon details we learn in Helluva also apply to Hazbin.

Helluva’s pilot is here. Plus a cute music video here.

Earlier this month, during a BLM charity stream hosted by show artist Ashley Nichols—she runs regular streams under the title “HuniCast”—they released a few sneak peaks of future Helluva scenes, all compiled here.

And that’s it for canon. Two pilots, a music video, a smattering of future scenes, part of one comic, a few WIP pages/panels from other comics.

Tier 2: Pseudo-Canon

Everything else we currently know about Hazbin (and Helluva) are things that the creators have told us. Consequently, they’re all pseudo-canon—and likely subject to change in the future as the shows and comics are further developed and released. Some details that were released/described in the past have been contradicted at other times, or else radically changed by the time the pilot came out.

(For example, when Alastor was first created years and years ago as an OC with no plans for Hazbin, he was a demon deer who could shapeshift into a human shape—now he’s a demonized human with a few deer traits. And Charlie and Cherri Bomb used to look very different.)

So until and unless they make it into canon, all these pseudo-canon details are subject to change and should be taken with a grain of salt—but, they also comprise most of what we know about the characters’ backstory and the as-yet-unaired characters.

Pseudo-canon info on Hazbin is scattered mainly between two sources: the creators’ twitter accounts, and livestreams where they take questions and talk about the making of the show. If you and livestreams do not get along (my ADHD and livestreams do not get along), or if you don’t want to wade years and years back into twitter accounts to dig up every scrap of info on the characters the creators have ever mentioned, collating all the pseudo-canon info is gonna be hard. (It’s gonna be hard even if you do want to sit through the streams and dig through all their tweets.) Lots of fans, me included, depend on the absolutely heroic work of various fans who are willing and able to watch hours-long streams and collate a list of canon factoids released during the streams. I’ve reblogged as many of these posts as I’ve been able to find:

Alastor’s sound design (on twitter)

Alastor's Sound Design (post I made with screenshots of weird—but very interesting—subtitles slipped into the aforementioned video)

Sir Pentious and Cherri Bomb’s sound design

Niffty and Husk’s sound design

Charlie, Katie, and Tom’s sound design

Intro song’s sound design

Happy Hotel’s sound design

details from Faustisse (including a pic of a couple costume designs. Most of these posts come from zatyrlucy, who’s been doing a fantastic job of going stream-by-stream to get lists of details from the regular streams by Ashley Nichols and by comic artist Faustisse.)

more details from Faustisse (including a pic of the Von Eldritch family dining room)

Faustisse 3 (better look at that table)

Dollymoon’s Hazbin Hotel Facts - PART ONE (Shoutout again to dollymoon for compiling these, we’ve never spoken but I am eternally grateful for this service. Dollymoon’s posts are THE single most reliable compilation of Hazbin Hotel’s nebulous pseudo-canon facts that I have found to date, including both links to the sources and timestamps where applicable. Dollymoon’s URL has changed since making this post so the “read more” link doesn’t work but the “source” or “reblogged from” links direct correctly to the new blog. Incidentally, the risk of other blog creators deleting their blogs/posts or changing their URLs is why in info posts like these, I always link to my own reblogs rather than their original posts—their original posts might vanish without warning, but I know I ain’t gonna delete my posts, so these links will still work in the future.)

Hazbin Hotel Facts - PART TWO

Hazbin Hotel Facts - PART THREE

Faustisse 4

HuniCast - Australian Wildlife Relief charity stream

I think this was a faustisse stream (the original source deleted these posts, so the comic pages that were originally behind that read more cut are now gone.)

Faustisse stream 6?

And those are all the masterposts of factoids I’ve managed to collect. If anyone has more masterposts, chuck ‘em at me.

Even this isn’t all the knowledge that’s been released about the show. The posts that dig the farthest back are Dollymoon’s, and even they don’t comprehensively cover all of Hazbin’s production. A couple of these characters, Vivziepop created as a teenager, so there’s some truly ancient concept art floating around out there that will have details that probably aren’t canon anymore... but might still be until something happens to actively contradict them.

Tier 3: The Wiki

The wiki is kind of an absolute mess. It’s a chaotic blend of things actually seen in the pilots/comic, things mentioned at some point in some stream somewhere, and wild fan speculation based on what they headcanon as plausible based on the above, all mixed together with very little indication for which is canon, pseudo-canon, fanon, or speculation. Most of the statements on the wiki don’t have citations.

(And, on top of that, half the main characters’ info gets split up into separate tabs instead of just having a normal-ass wiki page, AND their image galleries are on COMPLETELY SEPARATE pages that are linked to in one of the tabs, and the most important characters all have TWO SEPARATE GALLERIES. Which doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of the facts hidden underneath those tabs, but nevertheless drives me up the wall.)

Some things on the wiki were added according to info released so long ago it’s probably changed by now. Some are possibilities that got reported as facts. Other things on the wiki have unambiguously changed, or else are just flat-out incorrect. (For instance, at this moment Alastor’s page still lists him as an overlord, even though it's been confirmed that Alastor is not an overlord despite his power level because he isn’t interested in and didn’t pursue that position, per this stream. For a little bit, somebody’s fanart of their headcanon human Alastor got added to the wiki as concept art.)

tl;dr: the wiki should never be trusted as a primary source. The wiki’s better than it used to be. Even so, at this time, it’s only trustworthy to fill in the gaps of what you already know is true from other, better sources.

The thing it’s good at is it more or less compiles all the known info all in one place. Trying to figure out who the hell this Vox guy is is really hard if you’re reading for mentions of him in compilations of a dozen different streams, much less if you’re trying to comb through those dozen streams yourself, plus a dozen more, plus three different artists’ twitters. In comparison, it’s really easy to, say, just go look at Vox’s wiki page, where all the trivia is compiled. (And Vox’s page is actually one of the better cited on the wiki. Look at all those numbers!)

So, if you need to find out who this character is you’ve never heard of before, if you want to see a full list of the thus far named characters, if you don’t remember whether Alastor likes coffee or tea, if you want to know what Angel’s twin sister looks like, if you need a reminder of Sir Pentious’s death year... check the wiki. It’s an okay starting point.

But, if you see a “fact” on the wiki that you yourself don’t remember from straight out of the pilot, and it doesn’t have a citation that links to a tweet or a stream... regard it suspiciously. And do not trust it unquestioningly as fact until and unless you have seen the source.

Tier 4: Noncanon Creator Shitposting

I’ve mentioned Ashley’s HuniCast streams a couple times. The biggest draw of them is that she usually gets several of the voice actors in the streams, where they’ll happily say nonsense in their character voices. For the most part, they’re not sharing any actual canon info they’ve been given on their characters, just goofing around pretending to be their characters. Nevertheless, a lot of the things that happen in streams get accepted as broad fandom headcanons, like Alastor being into dad jokes. (My favorite, for obvious reasons, is this one.)

It’s easy to find the source audio for all this wonderful nonsense by searching youtube for “HuniCast highlights,” and then rummaging around for animatics people make out of the audio. The only one noncanon video of this sort I can think of that didn’t originally come from HuniCast is a lone one from Alastor’s singing voice (who’s a different voice actor than his speaking voice).

So, obviously, none of these are canon. But they do come from some of the people actually involved in the creation of the show, and they are in the characters’ canon voices, so a whole lot of people treat them as semi-canon anyway. (Even the wiki lists “dad jokes” among Alastor’s likes, which to my knowledge hasn’t come up anywhere except for HuniCast streams.) Since they’re so broadly-known, they’re worth knowing about as important sources of fanon, even if you don’t want to adopt them into your own headcanons. They’re basically the same level of canon as blooper reels.

[endysgirl]

Sailor Mars Birthday Tribute

I am so late on posting this but I just did not have time to edit. For Mars I wanted to talk about her 90s anime version and her much better manga version.

Let me start by laying my bias wide open. I never liked Sailor Mars. As a kid I thought she was unnecessarily mean. She was and still is my least favorite, besides ChibiMoon. She’s beautiful, and her powers and attacks are awesome. As for how she fits into the overall scheme of things, I have major issues with how the anime portrayed her compared to how Naoko intentioned her. Frankly, I can’t help but view 90s anime Rei as an imposter and I’ll explain why...

Ok, first let’s talk about 90’s anime-Rei. We know she’s very hard working, goes to an elite girls’s Catholic school and wants to be an independent career woman when she grows up. Yet, for some reason (*cough*patriarchy) she sees Mamoru in season one and thinks he’s perfect so she’s gotta have him. She embarrasses herself going all boy crazy over him (he literally steps on her head and just walks away) and he seems like a typical clueless dude who doesn’t realize she *likes* him. I relate hardcore to Mamoru here. She’s so thirsty and he is so not. Then fast forward to after Endymion gets taken and Rei slaps Usagi calling her a coward. It’s meant to be some great emotional scene that some fans latch on to. Yet, it’s not Rei’s slap that motivates Usagi. It just hurts her. Go watch it again (epi35); it’s the voice of Mask from her memory, gently and patiently encouraging her, as always, that she is strong and can fight that spurs Moon into action. We’ve seen over and over that Usagi responds to patient encouragement over violence, just like when she does when she faces the baddest villains. Yet, the 90s anime always has Rei cutting her down. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just the patriarchy at work, trying to convince young girls that the boy or girl who’s mean to you really does care about you. It’s toxic and just plain stupid.

Now, am I saying 90s anime Rei doesn’t really care about Usagi? No. Not at all. She’s her Senshi and they share the same heart and the same dream to protect those they love together. Of course she loves Usagi. My issue is how the 90s anime portrays that dynamic. It’s spreading toxicity within female friendships and trying to sell it as genuine. I also understand that Mars’s fiery personality is what a lot of her fans love about her. I’m not saying that’s bad either, even if it’s an inaccurate representation of the character Naoko created. Apparently, it was Ikuhara that wanted the anime to change her cold and aloof personality to “fiery”. To perpetuate the patriarchal tropes I’ve mentioned, the anime tried to paint her as Usagi’s bff of the group, usurping Minako’s place. In the manga, Minako is the Leader of the Senshi and the one closest to Usagi in personality and in her role as the Leader of Serenity’s guards. Yet the anime is constantly trying to make Mars the one that is extra special to Usagi. Case in point, at the end of Stars the first voice we hear address Eternal Moon after she defeats Galaxia is Rei but in the manga, Usagi is drawn hugging Minako first. These little moments bother me, probably a little too much.

Then there’s the love triangle they tried to created with her and Mamoru. Fucking kill me. The love triangle garbage is just typical, patriarchal tropism within the storyline that has no place in the SM story in regards to Mars. Let’s make two friends like the same dude bc that’s drama that people have been conditioned to enjoy. It’s lame as far as I’m concerned. Let’s take a moment to remember the random, stupid and pointless scene in the curry episode where ChibiUsa and Mamoru run into Rei and after a moment of awkwardness they decide to go find Usagi together. Tell me that’s not the patriarchy trying to validate one woman’s place by using another woman as comparison instead of letting her stand on her own. 😒 And they’re trying to backtrack on the whole Rei liking Mamoru episode. This isn’t Rei’s fault obviously, I’m just using this scene to explicate why I don’t like the dynamic the anime created, and why that makes Mars a difficult one for me to get excited about.

There’s no way you can convince me that Mars’s bitchiness wasn’t a direct result of a “male perspective” (as Naoko called it). The idea that female bffs bully each other and cat fight all the time is ludicrous. As a 32yo woman (and lifelong Moonie) with a tight circle of girlfriends, there isn’t a single one of us who would tolerate such toxicity from the other, even at 14yo. It just isn’t realistic, unless it’s a bad relationship. I’ll give the anime credit for getting one thing right - her bravery. In both the manga and the anime, Mars is fearless. She charges into battle and gives it her all. She doesn’t let any doubt get in her way. She does not hesitate or dwell on self-doubt. And that alone is reason enough to love her.

Now, let’s discuss Manga-Rei. Because Adult-Moonie-Me LOVES manga-Mars. She actually appears in Codename Sailor V outside the arcade. She says the atmosphere is “disquieting” and leaves. In the manga, she’s very quiet and reserved. There is no bickering or cat fighting between her and Usagi. She’s also probably the most objectively beautiful of the Inners. She’s suppose to be “slender”, with long black hair and brown eyes which are sometimes seen as purple. When Usagi first sees her on the bus, she thinks she’s soooo beautiful. And another time, when they’re at the beach/pool, guys keep buying Rei drinks but she’s not flirting or giving them any attention, bc she is not boy crazy. Sis is enjoying those drinks tho.

Her awakening in the manga is very similar to the anime with the exception that’s she sees a premonition of Usagi and Jadeite that makes her go find the bus. Like the other Senshi, she is drawn to Usagi.

In her manga profile, her dislikes are television, modern society (the anime has her immersed in pop culture, going so far as to make her write her own songs and dance at the school festival), canned asparagus and men. It’s implied that she doesn’t like men or care for them bc of her father. He never had time for her and she doesn’t have a good relationship with him. Plus in a short story, she has a guy she likes but he chooses to follow her father’s footsteps into politics. So she kisses him and is like, boy, bye. ✌🏽 She considers men emotionally weak, untrustworthy and is generally disinterested in them, even if they’re buying her drinks and fawning over her. Same, Sis.

She is described as beautiful and “reserved”, but “scary” when she’s angry. She so beautiful that when Mamoru’s underclassman, Asanuma, sees her, he thinks she would be the perfect girlfriend for Mamoru (who Asanuma thinks is perfect) and that she should be Mamoru’s ideal type. He’s really surprised that Usagi is so *ordinary*.

Rei has strong precognition and has an affinity to fire. Ironically, there is nothing in Shintoism about fire reading, so that must just be a shoutout to the Greek influence on the manga. I love her psychic abilities in both the anime and the manga. Random fun fact: Naoko worked at a Shinto temple for a while before or maybe during college.

Mars is one of the only Senshi, like Michiru, who can use an item as an attack in her civilian and Senshi form. Her “ofuda” (Shinto talismans) are powerful enough to disperse evil and make regular people faint (remember anime epi w/Unazuki’s mouth getting sealed and in the manga/crystal she accidentally “purifies” Usagi, causing her to faint). Mikos (shrine maidens) are known to use archery attacks, so civilian Rei was already proficient in archery before awakening as Mars. Also, just like Jupiter’s earrings stay on her when she transforms, Mars is always wearing a pendant and when she transforms, it attaches at the waist to her fuku.

Mars also, uniquely, has her own guardians: the Crows, Phobos and Deimos. In the anime, the crows never take human form as they do in the manga. In the Dead Moon arc, Jupiter and Mercury power up by speaking with their inner consciousness. But Mars powers up by speaking with the human forms of her crows. This is a great moment in the manga bc Phobos and Deimos basically tell Rei that’s it’s ok to not want or desire men and marriage. She is the asexual goddess everyone overlooks and I love this aspect to her personality. The Crows are the ones to give her the Mars Crystal which is her starseed. We also find out here that Mars pledged a vow of Chastity to Serenity in the SilMill. They don’t explain the reasons behind the vow, but considering Rei’s spirituality and serious conservatism, it’s understandable. Also, while Phobos and Deimos are named after the moons on Mars, in the Stars Arc it’s revealed that they’re from the Coronis and were acquainted with Sailor Lead Crow.

For the most part, Rei in the manga seems more boring than Rei in the 90s anime, but personally, I don’t think so. Reading the manga in middle school and seeing a female not *give*a*fuck* about marriage was awesome to me. She’s also kinder and she has far more respect for Usagi. She’s extremely popular at her school and has her own fan club. She carries herself with a certain dignity that reminds me of Michiru. She’s second in command after Venus. And let me end this by saying that Crystal gave Rei justice, and for that I am happy.

Happy Birthday, Mars! 🔥 🌙 ⭐️

P. S. Check out Allison Yarrow’s book “90’s Bitch: Media, Culture and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality” for more detailed analysis on how women in the 90s who wanted to have a home and a career got turned into the bitchy boss, bitchy girlfriend or bitchy best friend to subvert their quest for gender equality. I think Rei is the perfect example of this narrative. Especially when you consider men changed her nature in the anime from what her female creator intended for her. Also, check out the podcast on it https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unladylike/id1333193523?i=1000432317654 (podcast name: Unladylike episode 45. how to free the 90s Bitch)

Thanks for reading all this you wonderful Moonies!!!

[sayu-is-a-sass-queen]

Redemption and Identity - Death Note: New Generation

One thing I really appreciated from the third and final episode of “Death Note: New Generation” was Taichi Amazawa’s arc and his main conflict with Yuki Shien. Those themes of redemption and identity really stuck with me!

I’m gonna be sharing some thoughts and personal opinions under the cut below! Spoilers for “Chapter 3: Fanaticism” (Shien’s chapter) of “Death Note: New Generation”! You can find a brief summary of the episode here (I will be diving into a summary myself, though).

My personal arguement: Taichi’s surname (formerly Kunugida, now Amazawa) represents his identity - how he sees himself and how he is seen by others. Consequently, the act of changing one’s name represents the decision of moving on from his [criminal] past and yearning for at least partial redemption. The episode thus expores the question whether one’s identity should be defined by their past actions (Taichi Kunugida) or by who they are working towards becoming in the future (Taichi Amazawa).

Let’s start with a brief elaboration on the two opposing viewpoints presented in this episode!

On one hand, we have Taichi’s girlfriend Hayaka, who sees him as Taichi Amazawa - she judges him based on his current actions and not based on the act of killing a young girl as  Taichi Kunugida. According to her, he is “no longer Kunugida”.

On the other hand, all other major characters in this episode judge him based on the killing that took place. This includes Taichi himself,  who does not feel like he deserves to live a happy life as a possible husband and future father. Of course, this is certainly a valid viewpoint, especially in the case of the older woman related to Taichi’s victim, who simply cannot forgive Taichi for what he has done.

Yet, Shien takes this a step further by planning to write down the names of Taichi and Namaki, his former partner in crime, in his Death Note. As the victim of a similar crime and as a Kira supporter, Shien judges both Taichi and Namaki based on their past actions and does not believe that they should get the chance to redeem themselves.

Now, how does this conflict further explore themes of regret and (partial) redemption?

This is when the episode presents us with a comparison between Taichi and Namaki. Clearly, Namaki is very much the foil to Taichi’s character - they share the same past but, in the present, choose to define themselves differently. While Taichi is living a quiet life and performing hard but honest work, Namaki is planing to commit further crimes and does not regret his past at all. Thus, he threatens Taichi in order to make him join his criminal ways once more.

However, when Namaki dies because of the effects of Death Note, Taichi finally feels like there might be a chance to partly move on from his past. After all, the person mainly tying him to those events is now gone. Additionally, that meeting with Namaki has reminded Taichi of how he is aiming to improve himself and choosing live with the consequences of his actions, instead of taking the “easy” route.

This results in Taichi not having nightmares about his past for once (something he shares with Shien btw - both have frequent nightmares about family killings but from constrasting perspectives). In my interpretation, he realizes that he has the chance to improve himself and thus accepts Hayaka’s wedding proposal.

Now, whether that would redeem his character or not is up to personal debate. I personally think redemption is a matter based on personal relationships and values - you can be redeemed in the eyes some but not be forgiven by others. It would be unrealistic for somebody to be “completely” redeemed, as there will always be someone who won’t be able to forgive you (often for justified reasons). In a way, I do believe that Taichi has become aware of this notion as well. He might never be able to completely move on from his past but, to some people, he can bring positive change. I’d like to think that this is what lead to his change of mind.

Now, how exactly does that moral conflict conclude with Shien writing down Taichi’s name in the Death Note?

Ironically, this one night without any nightmares (and thus to Shien’s eyes, without regrets) is the reason why Shien chooses to write down Taichi’s name after all (although I do personally think that Shien might have written down Taichi’s name anyway and was merely looking for ways to justify his decision).

Interestingly, Shien confronts Taichi upfront about his actions - which is something he did not do before killing Namaki! Shien once more makes his moral standpoint clear by referring to Taichi as “Taichi Kunugida” and states the following: “Even if you change your name, your sin will not go away.”

And Shien is right about that. Taichi will never be able to completely erase his past. However, Shien refuses to even acknowledge Taichi’s new identity, his regret, and how he is aiming to become a better person.

In the end, Shien does write down Taichi’s name at home, observing Taichi through live security footage. (Of course he cannot be seen at the crime scene during the crime itself, but I do find that sudden distance after such a direct confrontation interesting as well.)

Shien writes down Tiachi’s name: Taichi Kunugida - his old surname. It’s the identity that represents his crimes and that Shien sees him through.

And so he waits for Taichi to die - but nothing happens.

Shien stops....and he is forced to acknowledge that Taichi’s birthname is not the name that can be used to kill him. Thus, when Shien now writes down the name “Taichi Amazawa”, he is forced to admit to himself that he was wrong about what Taichi’s real identity truly was.

In the end, the name used to kill Taichi represents the identity that he chose himself - the identity that he is striving towards in the present, not the identity defined by his past.

Once again, whether this prooves that Taichi is a redeemed character is not entirely possible to answer. It goes without saying that this is a tricky subject to discuss. Yet, what this episode does state (in my personal opinion!!) is the following:

While our past actions can not be entirely ignored, they are not the sole thing defining our identity. Rather, our identity also depends on how we react to our past actions and how we are willing to improve ourselves towards a future goal.

Of course this statement is a fairly popular one that’s explored in all sorts of different media - but I simply liked the execution in this particular episode and how (given the nature of the Death Note universe), names were used to drive this point further.

Moreover, I am aware that the universe that this miniseries takes place in is not the canon manga universe. From what I’m aware (pls correct me if I’m wrong!), we don’t know how name changes affect the Death Note in the manga. It was really just fun to explore this idea further (bc I feel like this moral conflict is something the manga did not elaborate on to the same degree) and to give these lesser-known Death Note characters some more attention. New content! We love to see it!

To conclude this spiral of Death Note thoughts, I thought it would be fun to end this with some translations of Taichi’s name(s)! Thank you so much for the translations and your general help regarding this post, @misora-massacre!

To directly quote Blue’s messages:

[02:19, 1.6.2020] Blue: Amazawa is written 雨澤, those are the kanji for "rain" and "swamp" [02:23, 1.6.2020] Blue: Kunugida is 椚田, those are "oak" and "rice field" [02:24, 1.6.2020] Blue: Taichi is written with the kanji for "thick"/"fat" and "one" [02:24, 1.6.2020] Blue: ....... He shares two kanji with [Touta] Matsuda's [02:25, 1.6.2020] Blue: The da at the end of Kunigida "rice field" is also the da at the end of Matsuda [02:25, 1.6.2020] Blue: And the Ta at the beginning of Taichi "fat" is also the Ta at the end of Touta

Some things that stand out in my opinion (but that could very much be coincidental): The common kanji with Matsuda’s name, as well the possible translation of “one” for Taichi’s first name in contrast his two surnames/identities.

Anyways, thank you very much for reading this! If you have anything to add or if you disagree with one of or several of the points that I have made, feel free to reblog this post with your reply or make your own post and (if you want to) tag me in it. Always looking forward to different opinions or corrections in case I accidentally got something wrong!

[mastcrplanncr-a]

issue #23 made me really heccin’ emo over eggman and sonic. i was prepared for it, but also ?? not prepared??? holy frick im just gonna ramble under the cut.

first of all, i’m just gonna’ idly ramble about some things i noticed.

Eggman, literally 11 issues ago:

he makes these off remarks and then changes his mind whenever it’s convenient for him smh. that or hes a freaking liar and. WELL THAT’S PRETTY TRUE HONESTLY.

i’ma be honest fam starline is a freaking mood rn. it’s ?? so dumb?? LIKE EGGMAN WHERE IS YOUR FUCKING FAILSAFE UR SOLUTION WAS “not touching the robots hurr durr” PL EASE.

In retrospect, though, this is an interesting parallel to Forces because he’d apparently learned from his mistakes. TBF, and it has been brought up elsewhere on tumblr, this is a man recovering from amnesia. He must’ve just not gotten to that part. OR HE’S JUST. DUMB AND ARROGANT. Like, yeah, sure, there’s no vaccine - lol the heroes can’t fix anything & it also means you’re valuable because you’re the one person who can. BUT COME ON EGGMAN.

my friend actually predicted this holy shit. i was rambling abt a discussion we had in the egg cult, where we were talking about the possibility of sonic infecting eggman to blackmail him into getting the cure because he’s reached the point?? hes so done with eggman’s shit??? all his friends are in danger and hes backed into a wall what else is he to do than do the one thing he doesn’t want to: use eggman’s tactics against him?

and my friend was like:

LIKE. IT IS A HUGE RISK, and Sonic went FOR IT. I’M SCREAMING TBH.

THIS CONFRONTATION WAS SO FUCKING RAW YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. I thought I was ready for it but I really, REALLY wasn’t. I love the little details of Starline bein’ like: “oh fuck” - usually he’s pretty cocky around Sonic but uh. HE’S INFECTED NOW. And the zero remark - idk if that’s intentional on the writer’s part but ZERO TO HERO anyone?

anyway toxi broke down crying at this point. you have no idea how much i was sobbing over my blue son just. pouring out his heart to his nemesis. that’s top tier tearjerking material.  also starline passive aggressively readjusting his outfit lmfao. BITCH IM FABULOUS. but man the usage of ‘ BE’ and ‘LIKE’ - Sonic knows who Eggman is; he’d never ask him to be something he’s not. but it’s also a reiteration of sonic’s want to see good in him; being LIKE tinker is a statement in that he wanted eggman to be who he was, but NOT to go back. to do good for the world. have it be his own decision, because deep deep down:

isn’t that what he really wants?

Also, although there are those sickly sweet descriptions, the usage of ellipses in this narrative really fucks me up because you can practially hear the gradual realization in eggman’s voice. his mockery starts out so !!! but it just eventually gets straight to the point, as a list. as a routine. because he was used to it. and because, some part of him misses it. notice the usage of ‘need’ and ‘use’. they needed him, and yet he used the people that appreciated him sm like puppets.

some nice guilt there, huh, doc?

ALSO I SPENT LIKE, HOURS TRYING TO FIND THIS EXACT DIALOGUE, but Eggman has a conversation in Dark Brotherhood with Sonic and makes this remark:

LIKE??? this isn’t new to his character, actually? Ignoring the ken penders thing bc smh. Going by this game he’s actually kind of okay with that set up. And he just works so well with the others too??? this isn’t even taking into account the other games he’s teamed up with them. I’m sorry but my head just goes back to this line so many times; it’s one of the ones that stick with me, along with ‘complicated guy’ from lost world. HE COULD!! legitimately do good. and he actually doesn’t find it too bad??? IM EMO MAN...

and IMAGINE making super cool things that people genuinely like... eggman has a HUGE ego, that much is very apparent; he’s super big on appreciation as comes with. and with tinker? he had that - he felt appreciated and loved. people LIKED what he made, and he didn’t have to bend over backwards to have that. his work felt included and he didn’t have to take that appreciation by force like he did with his lackeys (which half the time was fake anyway) .

first and foremost - WE SEE THAT OPEN YOUR HEART REFERENCE, IDW. also sonic’s frustration here, in comparison to the lil smile the panel before - he’s just!! “WHY CANT YOU WAKE THE FRICK UP OLD MAN”. the justification here seems a tad bit like DENIAL to me. and the justification seems... kind of odd from him? since when does EGGMAN justify anything he does? He does what he wants and when he wants, because he’s the E.G.G.M.A.N. he doesn’t care what anyone thinks... right?

it’s because - especially with the usage of better - he didn’t like where that train of thought was going. for once, he’s justifying himself - because the alternative is admitting sonic is right. that he did like that life. that he’d want to go back. throw it in a hierachy and it’s all so simple, right?

also the inclusion of open your heart lyrics here. the incident with chaos was just as catastrophic. and these lyrics in context of the previous panel, highlights how sonic and eggman both seek unity and peace but in their own ways; eggman’s is just evil. it seems a little bit of a diversion to me - to antagonise sonic and make him forget about it. what better way to do that than to relate to him? ‘own styles that we won’t change’ highlights a stubbornness in ways, too, especially with the current context of eggman denying his old life. ALSO IT IS LITERALLY TELLING EGGMAN TO OPEN HIS HEART.

and ngl this seems like idle banter to hide the fact he genuinely felt remorse for his actions for a second. because lbr he has a habit of being all talk when a plan goes wrong or suffering inside,

which starline does quite pointedly explain.

As I was saying above, Sonic has no choice in what to do now - he’s reaching his limit. OR ELSE. hes pondering doing the thing he doesnt want to do. and honestly, ‘you can’t stop me. no one can,’ is so hardhitting not just because of its looming threat, but because of how much it solidifies for sonic that he can’t take the chance anymore. if anyone is going to change eggman, it has to be himself.

also can i just cry over how much sonic trusts tails. im getting sa2 flashbacks.

also man i’d like to point out the specific use of ‘lock you away forever’. it coooould be a reference to sonic’s time imprisoned during the events of sonic forces. bitterness?

NOT SAYING I CALLED IT, BUT I CALLED IT. it still hurts though. and wow, it really is horrifying when eggman fears his own heccin’ creation, huh?

i live for sonic being passive aggressive with eggman. give me more please.

im immensely concerned the direction starline is going, honestly. but it does say a lot about eggman; how he’ll keep trying the same things expecting different results, but failing and never seeing that. because he’s EGGMAN; every plan is brilliant by default!

i love how sonic just !!! SHOT... THE MOMENT HE WAS REMINDED WHAT WAS AT STAKE. son i love you so much you’re doing great sweetie

also, man, can we talk about eggman avoiding his blatant faults, and shoving his failures onto someone else? because this little scene here - eggman ur literally the one who crashed the thing. it had absolutely nothing to do with sonic. i feel as though this is symbolism of his self-destructive nature, honestly. hes always gotta make things harder for himself. (also starline’s face is killing me)

Eggman does what he has to, but technology won’t work every time you kick it. he thinks he can get everything through force but we have several instances in idw where force did NOT work out; you’re not gonna get far, egghead.

MHM, and just who does that sound like, Eggman? honestly the mirrors between these two are seriously destroying me. although sonic is in a horrible position, so is eggman; he likes to think he’s won the war, but hes surpassed his own expectations, and that’s going to backfire on him eventually. hes stubborn to admit he has NO REIGN over this and they’re all doomed, so he’s pinning his failures / loss on Sonic.

is that the amnesia kicking ya in the shin, eggman? or sonic’s reality check? either way, the doc hates emotions. dammit man why you gotta make him emo

future eggman is going to kick past eggman in the kneecaps. it’s times like this ur reminded how much of a kid he is. eugh but that’s work i want my victory and senseless destruction now. honestly if the doc is after success, he is certainly not getting it this way and I AM FEARING FOR EVERYONE’S LIVES. he’ll probably have to work with what’s left of the resistance like the back end of most games at some point.

I’m getting a little burnt out but i can’t forget my son and how much he hurts me.

first of all that third panel terrifies me. the fact it GOT that far does me great concern. the RED EYES? that’s pushing it fam i dont like that. the expressions are also just freaking destroying me; they’ve been PERFECT this issue. and the fact sonic is at his weakest when he feels like he’s failed everyone hurts me deeply. he has SO much on his shoulders and its getting too overwhelming for him.

also man... the whole thing with eggman... just stuff me man. but it hurts all the more because it’s so glaringly clear that there is?? some good in eggman??? he just. doesn’t want to admit it. and unfortunately these aren’t good circumstances to debate on that.

ANYWAY, THAT ISSUE WAS AGONY AND IM STILL REELING AND HAVENT EVEN. TALKED ALL THAT MUCH ABOUT SONIC HERE (on account of this being eggman’s blog) but idk if i’ll write anything on that.

gonna go cry about an egg now brb

[noscorpsaladerive]

LRA Korea Write Up!!!  This is so freaking long and rambly and fangirly but here we go

So obviously spoiler alert, I’ll mark the appropriate parts with trigger warnings, and also I don’t speak any Korean so obviously I missed a lot of stuff

Okay so first off the theater and stage itself were pretty damn small especially in comparison to the 4000 seat Palais des Congrès in Paris but they def made that stage work for them.  The back of the stage was curved in and had steps going all the way around, a screen above the steps with projections, etc, and a couple of entrances for actors.  They had some minimal set pieces, but the coolest part was the like celestial pattern they had on these giant moving screens that they used for a curtain as well as for backdrops for some of the scenes.  Tbh the costumes weren’t like mind blowing like you could tell they didn’t have the biggest budget but they worked and none were so ugly or awful that it took me out of the story.

So the show starts in a similar way with Merlin and the Dragon, but it was really cool bc the part (i assume at least) where the Dragon mentions the king’s son Arthur pops up at the top of the steps!  As the knights are slowly appearing for the tournament and start fighting, Arthur actually sings part of Je me relève???  Which imo is brilliant???? Anyways it gets down to just Meleagant and as he goes up to try and pull Excalibur from the stone, he sings part of Un Nouveau Départ which is also brilliant????  This production did a great job of establishing and maintaining musical themes for characters and i was living for it.

Anyways Arthur does the thing and yay he’s king now but wait side note Han Jisang who played Arthur was SO FUCKING GOOD.  Like he captured Arthur’s transition from a boyish squire to a grown ass adult king so beautifully and wonderfully it was truly incredible.

Okay so now it’s Advienne que pourra time and holy fuck.  Holy f u c k.  Kang Hongseok was the perfect Meleagant.  I’d link it but I’m on mobile but you can see his Advienne que pourra in the King Arthur press call around the nine minute mark and he just fucking k i l l s it.  Also there were no sword dicks in the choreography so it’s automatically better.  And the projection1!!!  They had a sun up from the beginning bc the Dragon had appeared in the sun but it was still up for Meleagant but then during the bridge it’s eclipsed by the moon and it’s like ooooo symbolism for Meleagant’s feelings~~~

Side note i really really really loved the staging of this like so much of it made soooo much more sense than the french production and like I’m attached to the original because obvious reasons but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t‘ve been better.

The training scene with Gauvain was pretty similar as the original.  Merlin introduces the stag and the wolf again, and ngl the dude who plays the wolf has very nice abs so good for him for being motivated to work out like that lol.  Anyways i really liked the staging of Qui suis-je because Arthur still has his existential crisis but Merlin’s explanation of the Grail is less directed at him???  Like Arthur’s still on stage but he’s not listening and is working on training with Merlin’s brothers.  So it’s much less “I know you’re having a hard time but look at this shiny thing!” Than the french one.

They took out the Danse des guerriers battle dance number music but they did still have a dance battle!  At the top of the stairs they had Guenièvre and Léodagant being held prisoner by Méléagant and they showed Mélé like trying to be romantic ish with Guenièvre so establishing that connection was really nice. And Méléagant had a new song????  That was really short????? But i don’t think it matched any of the melodies of his other songs?????? I’m confused but intrigued.

Oooo what was really cool was how they did Arthur asking Meleagant to knight him.  Like in the french one it’s tense but i really felt the tension among the characters tonight it was sooo great oh my god.  But after Meleagant takes the sword, he sings a few lines of Advienne que pourra and then points the sword at Arthur’s neck and idk i just really liked it it was such a nice touch and maybe it was Hong Seok and the other actors reacting to him but there was a true sense of holy fuck no one knows what he’s gonna do next and Arthur had this look on his face like I’m prepared to die if this is my time and ugh i love them all so much ;alkdjfa;dk 

Okay next is Rêver l’impossible.  I liked our Guenièvre but I’d have to see her again to have a more detailed opinion of her lol.  I really loved this scene because one no pregnant handmaidens and two Arthur was being really cute and acting all in love with her and it was adorable and I love it.  Quelque chose de magique was more of the same like Han Jisang fucking killed it as Arthur like he was such a dork in love and I loved it.  And towards the end of the scene Méléagant walks on stage and looks at Guenièvre and Arthur and so you know he knows he’s lost Guinevere.

Un Nouveau Départ was great because Kang Hongseok is great and I love him.  They did have the dancers do body rolls which i found very amusing for some reason idk why a;dlkfajd;lfksd Next was my one complaint about the show and it’s that there was no transition whatsoever between Un Nouveau Départ and Au diable but maybe they had Guenièvre do that lyrically???  Still some sort of musical interlude in between would’ve been nice.  I did l o v e how they did the water for her arrival like she stood at the top of the stairs and they had blue fabric covering all the steps then they pulled it down as she started to walk down and the screen was doing these cool star projections and it was just so pretty.

RAPE TW for this next paragraph

Next was A l’enfant and Tu vas le payer.  Nothing really changed story wise but our Leia was soooo good and was such a great dancer.  And I noticed the lady playing the role of child Morgane in the story had such great expressions and body language and tbh the same can be said for the entire ensemble they were amazing. Anyways our Morgane was really amazing too her expressions were also soooo great and I’m running out of adjectives bc it’s three am a;ldkfjad;l but anyways the way things go down for these two songs is about the same in the french but the staging is different obviously like instead of the party scene it’s mostly Morgane jamming out with the ensemble then they roll Arthur and Guenièvre in on rolling platforms and then Morgane waves her arms bc magic and she does the same movements as Guenièvre so it looks like she’s controlling her which I thought was a cool way to do that.  Afterwards Arthur is obviously very distraught but instead of Merlin being like “you have bigger problems your people are dying” Arthur runs off stage to (hopefully) process what just happened so i appreciate that there’s that moment instead of just rushing on to the next thing.

Next was Guenièvre’s garden and Lancelot’s arrival, which was really cute bc her handmaidens blindfold Kay and have him try to find one of them and he ends up in Lancelot’s arms ;aldkfjsdl;k. And the way Kay tries to protect Guinevere was so freaking cute he kept throwing his arms up to protect her and she kept pushing them down then his arms would pop back up it was so cute ;ladkjfadlk

Si je te promets goes down pretty much the same, but what’s interesting is afterwards Merlin shows up and is like hey your people are dying and that’s when they have Délivre-nous!  They also had ensemble member solos instead of just one singer which i thought worked really well.  And Arthur’s moving among them and he tries to reach out to help them as they fall dying and i just love the staging so much like from the very beginning with the dude who rushes in to tell Arthur Méléagant is holding Guenièvre and her father captive you can just tell Arthur is so concerned about caring for his people and i love him so much ;alkdjf;aldk 

After that song ends Arthur’s like hey we gotta fix this shit so he creates the round table then goes into Je me relève!!  Which was a lil creepy bc that’s the exact same idea i had in my own LRA rewrite and i was like fuck did they find my blog but it fucking works y’all!!!!  And they end Act I on that song and ugh it’s so beautiful i love it

Act II starts out with Dors Morgane dors but it’s not about her mother’s rape anymore, we think she’s talking about her plans for Lancelot, Guenièvre, and Arthur but that is to be confirmed.  They then show ARthur and Lancelot kicking ass and taking names which i liked that it showed Lancelot had buddies besides just crushing on Guinevere lol

Next was A nos vœux sacrés which holy shit y’all.  Holy shit.  Both actors are so freaking good and they both hit high notes at the end of the song and i died and went straight to heaven it was sooooo amazing ;alkdjfa;ldskjfas;d also they did not paint Méléagant up like a war boy they had this like branch like mask thing??? It looked really cool omg

Next Lancelot and Guinevere had a short scene that led into L’amour quel idiot and i loved this staging so much!!!! Like instead of having him sing at their faces after the wedding he’s downstage singing and longing for Guinevere while she and Arthur are standing at the top of the steps getting ready for the wedding and i just love it so much y’all

The wedding scene didn’t have a song but Morgane sung Ce que la vie a fait de moi afterwards and holy fuck y’all i freaking died and went to heaven every time this Morgane hit a high note she was soooooo good y’all.  So fucking good.

I don’t really remember much about le Serment d’Arthur prob bc i know they changed things but language barrier so I’m not 100% sure how it changed rip

Faire comme si was good but I’m so attached to the french staging of that song i still miss it ;alkdfjsad; one thing that i really really loved and preferred in this one was Lancelot and Guinevere don’t really touch??  It’s just longing gazes and at one point they touch hands and Lancelot like freezes like oh fuck she’s touching me i can’t believe it but then Guinevere pulls her hand away and he just leaves his in the same spot for a second like he still can’t believe she touched his hand and ugh i loved it the lack of touching really upped the ante on the pining and it was sooo good a;ldfkjadfkl;

Next was another scene with Morgane and Méléagant where Méléagant starts out being all like you promised me!!! And then I *think* Morgane tells him something like be patient and explains her plan but once again Korean and changes so it’s mostly speculation

But y’all

Y’all

They had Morgane and Méléagant sing Mon combat

Like w h a t

But also y e s

I’m glad they didn’t just leave the song the way it is in the French version bc it doesn’t work very well where it is in the French one???  So I’m so happy they moved things around and tried to make things work better

Next up Merlin peaces out and Arthur?????  Sings a slow reprise?????? Of Quelque chose de magique??????? No clue what he says in the lyrics but i thought it was an interesting melodic choice to bring back in the moment Arthur loses his mentor

So Guinevere gets kidnapped and Kay’s the one who actually realizes she’s gone and who took her but Arthur decides to go after her himself???  Then it switches to Lancelot who’s looking for the Grail and they kept the phrase Wake Up in English bless them but he doesn’t find Guinevere’s handkerchief until partway through the song and Niel (the kid playing Lancelot) was really great??? Like it was so much fun watching him as Lancelot ugh

I don’t remember why but Arthur then has a reprise of Si je te promets jury is still out on what he’s singing about but will keep you posted

Yoooo nos corps à la dérive man.  So. Good.  I’m so in love with Hong Seok’s Méléagant he’s so great and i just ;lakdjf;alkdjfd but the set was so cool they had like all these white ribbons???  That Guinevere was attached to??? Which sounds weird but it was like part spider web effect part almost shattered mirror effect????  That’s not explaining it well but it looked really cool and avant garde ish and there was a significantly fewer number of random creepy skeleton projections so i was here for it

Major difference tho Lancelot shows up ready to throw down except he gets his ass kicked and is seriously injured???  And Arthur shows up but he just listens at first so I think that’s when he really figures out what’s up between Lancelot and Guinevere but then Arthur steps in and kills Méléagant (who sings a reprise of Un Nouveau Départ before being carried off into the afterlife) (rip in peace).  Arthur then leaves Guinevere and Lancelot alone while the latter dies and they sing a really sad reprise of L’amour quel idiot :(((( my son dying meant that Il est temps got cut but like they added soo many reprises and things it makes sense that they’d have to cut at least one song but still sad :(

Next Arthur talks with Morgane and I’m not entirely sure what was happening but it seemed like she was having a breakdown because of what happened and what she did to Arthur and Vanessa said that he said something like “Don’t turn into our mother” or something like that but she breaks down and spirits herself away while she and Arthur sing a reprise of Dors Morgane dors

Then it’s Tout est joué and Merlin is standing on the back of the steps while Arthur is in front of the closed screen so it was nice to have that kind of physical barrier present on stage to further emphasize that Merlin’s not gonna be helpful bc he’s now separated from Arthur rip

Next up was Auprès d’un autre which involved a lot less yelling and shit then the French version and holy shit Han Jisang fucking killed it (again) he was sooo great but Arthur lets Guenièvre go partway through the song and so the show ends with him by himself holding up Excalibur

At curtain call they sang some of Je me relève (i think) again and it was cute esp bc at the end everyone was holding a dramatic pose except Han Jisang was just quietly bopping and jamming to the instrumental outro by himself so everyone is dead still except Arthur who was just bopping along it was so cute ;alkdjf;alskdjf

Anyways it was amazing and they seemed to make changes to make the story make more sense which bless them for doing it but i loved it so much and i need to see it like a million more times it was so good a;ldskfjas;ldkfjads;lkfjasd;k

[butteredonions]

Oooo I liked your writing process bc scrivener sounds better than Gdocs... more about your writing process?

SCRIVENER IS AMAZING. It’s created by a company called Literature and Latte, and what it is is a high-powered writing software that lets you keep all your research, notes, outlines, drafts, EVERYTHING in One File. Not a folder saved to your desktop where you’re constantly opening file after file. A Scrivener project, or a “binder”, keeps all your research in one file. Here’s an example.

(This isn’t a complete list of my Projects, just what I’ve linked to my Dropbox. Scrivener also has a mobile app so you can take your files with you on your iDevices. It’s great!)

Each of those look like they’re their own file, right? If I click “tiny Shiro”…

(Lots of pictures and words beneath the read more! This got lengthy!)

ETA: all my images are tiny, I’m aware, it’s almost midnight so I’m going to fix them in the morning kthx

BOOM. We’re all in ONE FILE.

All of my smol!Shiro chaos, plans, and secrets are contained here. Over on the left-hand side is a giant purple strip; that’s my Binder, which keeps all my files/pages organized. (It only looks clean because I have things minimized.) The folder open in the main screen (the corkboard background) right now is my Draft. I have 8 items here - each one is a chapter of the fic. 7 of them are labeled red, which is my label that the chapter is Done and Posted. 08 has not yet earned that label ;)

Talking about the Binder on the left for a second. There’s multiple Folders there and they are completely customizable. I have my Draft Folder, an Actively Writing Folder, two Outlines (smol’s been through a lot), and a few scattered Research folders. You can make however many folders you want, as well as pages inside them, and label them whatever name and color your heart desires. For example, my Actively Writing Folder is a personal preference of mine; I pull scenes out of the relevant Outline folder and drop them in here when I’m ready to work on them. If I click into the Actively Writing folder…

It looks something like this! You can see the detailed remnants of Chapter 07, actually. Chapter 07 is four scenes long, and each scene I’ve given its own page. That way I can edit each moment individually without worrying about finding or losing my place. When all the scenes are written, I can consolidate them into one document (the chapter in Drafts) and copy them over to Google Docs for collaborative editing.

[You can also see I have a Themes page starred in this folder, so I’m always keeping my overarching concepts in mind. You may notice Chapter 08 is also in the Actively Writing Folder, though I’m keeping it minimized for now. ;)]

There’s so much you can do with this program. I have labels for each chapter/scene (whether it’s written, edited, or WTF Lisa); I can choose a status for each page, too. Most of these are “GDocs - Copied In”, because I’m slow and didn’t do my housekeeping on the backend to mark them as “DONE”. The one downside of Scrivener is that sharing files between collaborators is a bit of a challenge. When I’m ready for my beta-readers to take a look, I copy/paste my work from Scrivener into Google Docs. Scrivener makes compiling all your pages and exporting easy; I just have to remember to copy/paste it back in when I’m done. Maybe someday Scrivener will have an option for collaborating, but in the meantime, this fix works well enough.

So freaking much you can do with this program! Here’s another one, my Gen Scrivener Project. Most of my gen fic and ficlet goes in here. 

this started as a This Doesn’t Belong In The Smol!Shiro Project And Now What The Hell Has It Grown Into

I do most of my writing in Drafts, especially in this project where the work is more one-shot or prompt based. In the Binder on the left I have a Draft folder (extended; you can see a few of the different labels I have for things) and an Ideas folder, which conveniently cuts off at the bottom of the screen, oh no ;)

Ummm let’s see - that’s probably enough for a Scrivener intro! If you have any specific questions about this or my writing process (miss onions, why do you have so many folders), (miss onions, why do some folders have little triangles next to them), (miss onions - ), just ask. I’m happy to share more screencaps. 

OH

OH NO THAT’S A LIE

I ALMOST FORGOT MY FAVORITE PART

THE SPLIT SCREEN!!!!

My lifesaver, my best friend, Scrivener’s split screen allows you to view two pages at exactly the same time so you can work on one while referencing the other. No more dragging two Microsoft Word files side-by-side on your screen. No more tabbing between open Docs on the Google. Scrivener has everything right there, immediately, and I can make a direct comparison between my pages and notes without having to lift a finger. 

You can see in this example. The top half (”16)u”) was the first draft/outline. The bottom half (”16) Shiro, Ulaz, panic attack”) is the rewrite I did. You can see how the second half is a clear expansion of the writing in the top half. This split screen is what made me fall in love with this program. 

So, yes, that’s more of my writing process in a nutshell :) If you have further questions about Scrivener or other goodies in here, just send me an ask! Always happy to gush about this program.

TLDR: SCRIVENER IS THE BEST.