#bitching about world building

[punkybunk]

I watched Mama Mia 2 Here We Go Again last night with my friend (they bought me the double disk DVD so we have the 1st and the 2nd <3). I loved the movies for so long but I haven't rewatched them for a few years and now I have some Commentary. Below is me listing out the things that bugged me in Here We Go Again.

During the rewatch, I realized that Mama Mia 2 is like an AU of Mama Mia rather than continuing the same story. Like I Love the characters in the 2nd film but that's not my young Donna, and the other characters just aren't quite matching to their present day characters. Yeah- Aging is a thing and growing up means changing over the years but I don't see that in the way they showed them in Mama Mia 2.

(Not to mention they didn't follow the OG story line? Donna's diary not matching the 2nd movies plot line of meeting the men) (also Tonya and Rosie acting like they don't know the men /about Donna sleeping with them all in a relatively short time frame? But they meet Bill and Sam on the island)

Mama Mia is one of my favorite movies (definitely crushed on Amanda Seyfried in any of her movies tbh) and I was so pumped for the sequel but it is not connected to the 1st and it kinda stops me from enjoying Here We Go Again because I want it to follow the OG story and honor that.

Here We Go Again coming out in 2018 is probably the reason for the differences made- specifically the pro-life vibes in it. I could be wrong, I don't want kids ever so maybe it's a personal thing that the importance placed on Sophie being pregnant like Donna was odd to me. Overall the way they frame Sophie being pregnant and having that be a pivotal moment in the film was meant to show 'Ah the joy of a a baby its magic and Nothing Compares'.

Also Cher showing up to be Donna's mom?? THEM DROPPING THAT DONNAS DAD WAS HISPANIC ???? SENOR CIENFUEGOS?? I KNOW THAT STUFF WAS ADDED WAY LATER BUT I FEEL LIKE THAT WOULD BE IMPACTFUL TO DONNA AND HER LIFE BEING 1/2 HISPANIC/ MEXICAN. IM BEGGING FOR CONTINUITY PLEASE.

Love Cher- but hearing her show up and give Sophie shit by saying ' Don't hold a grudge it'll make you fat' ?? Why, just why and then Sophie hugs her later after Cher gives criticism about her performing but saying she's proud after Sophie prompting her to change her answer? Just gives a message of '(Blood) Family is everything and forgives all' that I don't like and was not in the first film? Donna also references her mother in the 1st movie as dead 'Someone has it out for me up there probably my mother'. Donna made it clear throughout both movies the lack of connection she has with her mom and the mommy issues she has. Everyone else in the movies being so open to having her on Kalokairi while they cry over Donna being gone and how much they love her? Sam giving her a hug and kiss despite not likely EVER meeting her before Donnys baptism??

(Also do Greeks do baptisms? I'll look it up but just why so Christian and all the Christian messaging. Sophie grew up on the island and so did Sky? Why no accents, why does it feel like the main cast is only visitors despite the story stating they lived there? Donna was there for 40 years why don't they show the impact beyond design choices??)

Also SOPHIES GRANDMA?? LIKE THE ONE SHES NAMED AFTER - THAT WAS MENTIONED IN THE FIRST MOVIE 'OMG I WAS NAMED AFTER THE WOMAN WHO HELPED MY MOTHER RAISE ME' WITH BILL FINALLY BEING ABLE TO CONNECT IT TO 'OH SHIT THAT GIVES MORE CONTEXT AND I THINK YOURE MY KID NOW'

WHERE IS SHE?? WHY ISNT SHE IN THE MOVIES? OBVIOUSLY DONNA VALUED HER PRESENCE IN HER LIFE, WHY WASNT IT REFERRENCED IN THE 2ND MOVIE OTHER THAN GRANDMA SOPHIA GIVING SAM SHIT FOR LEAVING DONNA / BEING ENGAGED AND TELLING HIM TO FUCK OFF WHILE DONNAS 'WITH THE BIGGEST STUD OF EUROPE' (LIKE THATS YOUR GRANDSON?)

I got a lot of feeling about world building man, that's what can draw me in and I wish they did more for the movie (bits and pieces, it doesn't have to be written out and verbally stated but like, but not even interactions with the staff/neighbors?) I was blind to it when I first watched it but they really don't give anything meaningful to any of the PoC characters despite this literally being their homes with their families. Like WHY DOES SOPHIE DO THE LINE UP THING WITH CHECKING PEOPLES UNIFORMS DURING ANGEL EYES??? Just the distance all of the white Europeans and the Greeks/ overall white savior-Mary Sue 'everyone loves Donna and Sophie' - why is everyone else so servant like?

- I love Harry (the token gay of the show really) and his character makes me sad more after the 2nd movie. In the end sequence/ final song of Super Trooper (with Cher) all the characters are dancing with their younger selves- everyone is having a good time and dancing but Harry is like No I don't dance/ my younger self is cringe? Like part of his development was connecting with Sophie and being one of her Dads / valuing life again and being more than a corporate executive/ banker, 9 to 5 guy. He dances with everyone else but with his past self he's back to 'I'm uncomfortable and a boring man, allergic to fun'? That unravels everything up to that point of Harry connecting with others, his want to be 'spontanteous', his want to be fun and in the moment. (Also Harry in the 1st movie - would Not entertain the idea of missing something of Sophie's -why the hell was he in a board room for 14 hours before deciding to remember how important she is to him??)

Also Sam, Bill and Harry in the Super Trouper number are shown behind the var picking up glasses of beer to come around it and sit on stools while kinda singing? It's giving ' oh haha the Average Dad who likes to sit and watch sports on TV and sit back after long day of work'? I feel like there were so many small things and decisions made to show a conservative version of Mama Mia in Here We Go Again.

It's a fun movie and not meant to be serious commentary of the world but rewatching after the last few years leaves me with a sense of 'its not that great or/ fulfilling characters stories' - I'm still jamming to the soundtracks and talk with others who love the movies but damn I needed to rant.

[starry-bi-sky]

don't you want to be a cult leader? - danyal al ghul au

this is mostly a joke post but i thought it was funny and had to share so--

his first mistake was, obviously, inheriting his father's inability to see an injustice and stand still. -- actually, danyal's first mistake was his lair being so big. a mountainous island with a large temple in the center resembling his old home in Nanda Parbat? With sprawling foliage and rivers and streams and waterfalls galore? What was he going to do with all that space? Let it go to waste? He had plants there! Native trees of the ghost zone growing from the soil! He couldn't let it all be left unchecked!

So naturally after helping a fellow teenage assassin ghost -- who he later learns is named Akihiko, -- from Walker of all people, he sent them over to hang low at his lair until it was safe enough for them to wander around the Zone. Walker couldn't get through Danyal's astrofield if his life depended on it, and trust him -- he's tried. Danny was clearing out debris from his stupid transport vans for weeks.

Honestly it wasn't so bad, he and Aki really quickly became fast friends and Danny loves having a sparring partner close to his level again -- he hasn't had this much fun fighting since he left the League. Aki was very dedicated and levelheaded, the both of them clicked really well because of it.

Nonono, the real trouble began after Danyal met some long-passed League members and allowed them to come join his island as well. Apparently they had made a few enemies of the zone, and maybe Danyal still felt some loyalty to the League. He couldn't just let them be left to rot. Their zealotry could be overlooked so long as they kept it contained and helped him take care of his island.

And it.. snowballs from there? He meets a teen squire aptly calling himself Ambroise -- whether that was his living name or not is yet to be seen -- who died during feudal france, who is just about as dramatic and passionate as every french stereotype makes them out to be. He calls Danyal "my moon and great muse" -- which is both flattering and little uncomfortable, but Danyal's grown up in the League as the Grandson of the Demon Head, he is used to mild worship. he passes it off as nothing more, nothing less. -- and while his energy is overwhelming on the worst of days, he helps Danny draw out of his shell more in ways that Sam and Tucker still struggle with.

Him and Aki butt heads a lot, but the two seem to hold the other in at least some positive regard, so Danny doesn't worry too much about them fighting while he's gone. It only becomes a mild issue when Aki also begins calling Danny "my moon". It's a little sweet, so Danyal brushes it off.

Then he takes in a troupe of ghosts some time after he defeats Pariah Dark and they begin calling him "great one" just as the yetis do in the far frozen. This is where he meets the twins -- a pair of sibling ghosts who call themselves Trixie and Missy (short for Trick and Mislead) -- who aren't quite as passionate as Ambroise but more energetic than Aki. Eventually they also start calling Danyal "my moon" and attach themselves to his hip, even within the living. They like to hide in his shadow and cause trouble for the rest of the students. He makes sure they don't hurt anyone.

He's pretty sure Aki is jealous, same with Ambroise, but he can't be too certain other than the fact that they become much more lingering (re: clingy) whenever he visits the island.. Something he's trying to do much more often these days due to the increasing amount of people living there now. Since when did he become so popular?

Then there's Pēnelópeia from the Greater Athens, who ran away from home and joined his Island after he ran into her while she was being chased by Skulker -- and he's pretty sure the reason was because of her chimeric appearance. Her strange eyes and mismatched wings and lion's tail and talons. She assimilates into his friend group very easily, she gets along well with Ambroise and Trixie and Danny usually finds the three of them climbing the trees to pluck the most fruit from the top. They can fly and he knows it, but they prefer to climb.

Then finally there's silent poet Akkara who comes from ancient mesopotamia, who gets along most with Aki -- which is no surprise there considering their similar personality dispositions. he watches Aki and Danyal fight each other and leaves comments on this or that that he notices. He writes Danyal poems on clay tablets and leaves them by his room.

They're one big mismatched group of outcasts, and Danny's got the other ghosts on his island to tend to, because they're living on his island and he wants to be hospitable even if he struggles with that. But he spends the most of his time with them.

Sam and Tucker are making fun of him. Tucker jokingly tells him 'careful Danny, at this rate you're gonna start a cult'. Danny really wishes he had taken that joke more seriously.

He just. keeps. collecting people. Wayward souls lost in the zone, looking for shelter or refuge from something or other -- whether that be another hostile ghost, or a past afterlife, or just a purpose. Danyal finds them, he takes them in, offers them a place on his island until they are ready to leave. Many seldom do. He's not complaining -- he has the space, and it feels like it's only ever growing.

His close friends, his "inner circle" as he's heard the others call them, keep insistently calling him "my moon". He starts calling them his stars, because then it only feels fair. They're his stars, this is his constellation. It becomes a thing; little star halos begin forming behind their heads, picking them out from the rest. He loves them so much, it's hard to place. Sam and Tucker are also his stars, but they reside in the living realm, they're his tie to Life. Meanwhile, his friends here know what it's like to be dead, and sometimes its nice to relate.

Those living on his island keep calling him "Great One" and he's beginning to notice zealotry in their care for his island. He really, deeply appreciates it. His close friends gain nicknames -- as his stars, it's only natural for him to pick them out from the cluster in the skies. Akihiko, his Sirius and bright star. Trix and Missy, Castor and Pollux, the twins and troublemakers. Ambroise, his zealous Antares and close friend. Penelopeia, chimeric and loyal Vega. And Akkara, his Arcturus and strength.

It's ridiculous how long it takes for him to notice; he is, of course, a deadly trained assassin. He is meant to be observant -- and normally he is! But somehow this becomes a blind spot. One that becomes too big to be dealt with by the time he realizes it.

He should've noticed when Aki, his Sirius, stood beside him one day while Danyal looked over his island and saw the sprawling spirits carrying on about their afterlife and bowing to him as they saw him, and said: "I looked down into the depths when I met you; I couldn't measure it." They aren't one for flowing prose, it took him so off guard he was silent for over a minute before he finally spoke.

Danyal should've recognized devotion for what it is, and yet he didn't. He should've recognized it when Antares began spouting praises about him, crowing about his radiance and resplendence to the heavens. He just brushed it off as Ambroise being Ambroise. He should've recognized it when Trix and Missy nearly broke Dash's leg after he knocked Danyal's books out of his hands, he excused it as them being protective. Of them coming from times where such violence may have been customary -- after all, that's what he used to be like. What he was still like, sometimes, when his emotions nearly got the better of him.

He should've noticed it when the people living on his island followed his word like gospel, looked at him like he hung the stars in the sky. When his friends gifted him a shawl with the moon phases delicately embroidered into it, with silver, shimmering thread and moving stars lovingly stitched into it. Their constellations seen clear as day in the dark fabric. When he found small shrines dedicated to him -- but they lacked any image of him beyond stones carved to look like moons, so he ignored it. When the religious imagery began popping up.

He really, really should've noticed it when a bunch of cultists accidentally summoned Antares, and Antares had turned to him when he arrived and called them heretics. But he was so centered on the fact that they had kidnapped one of his stars, that he hadn't paid much attention to what Ambroise had said.

Sages say that faith is blind, they should also say faith in you is even blinder.

It really only hits him one afternoon while he's sitting in Sam's room studying with Tucker, Missy and Trixie lounging at his feet, Aki sat on his right, Penelopeia braiding his hair, Ambroise draped against him, and Akkara lurking over him. Its one of the rare few times they're all in one room together.

It hits him like a bolt of lightning. He looks up from his textbook. "Oh Ancients," he says in no amounting shock. Everyone looks up to him.

"I've become my grandfather."

[budugaapologist]

still dont see how so many people say that dawntrail is poorly written in comparison to other expansions like. what, did you realize you had to learn about a new culture and immediately not care anymore lmao? you've done it before, was this one not white enough for you?

genuinely i think more people should do side quests during msq so idk you can form a heart about the characters you're interacting with if you struggle with that and understand the land better so when impactful shit happens your illiterate ass can actually read and have empathy. theres no excuse for this.

if you can't handle storybuilding and character introductions from the expansion that feels like stormblood and shadowbringers had passionate gay sex that got one of them pregnant and birthed a beautiful daughter they both love and care about then idk what to tell you, maybe youre just lame and can't read. best of luck with that.

[musical-chick-13]

This is the only thing I'm going to say about the election until it's over:

Anyone who did not vote for Harris or who attempted to dissuade people from voting for Harris, you are indirectly responsible for whatever shit Donald Trump does if he gets elected. That blood is primarily on his hands, yes. But it is also on yours. I hope you can live with that because I sure as hell wouldn't be able to.

[nesscel]

even though i love negativity i think the only way for ness to get over this kaiser/feeling useless slump is to be optimistic and romanticize his bleak life. like ykw yes that flower growing in the cracks in the sidewalk does symbolize perseverance and shows us that we can bloom even in difficult circumstances and isnt that magical. he’s sensitive he can’t handle being a doomer

[darkpoisonouslove]

Hc (and something I wish would've actually happen): During that scene in 3x23 where Griffin, Saladin and Faragonda fight eachother Griffin realized at some point that something's was off bc she just knew that Valtors powers felt diffrent in that moment. Like she still recognized his powers but she knew in a real fight with him it would be diffrent. So she stopped attacking and instead just defended herself bc she knew how he works and there could be the chance that all of this is a twisted illusion and that Saladin and Faragonda still could be there.

That's always bugged me! Forget knowing Valtor's magic! The idea that Griffin, Saladin and Faragonda wouldn't recognize each other's magic is absolutely mindboggling! They've known each other for literal decades and have fought a war together!!! There's no way they wouldn't realize they're fighting each other! But once again, plot is prioritized over having character situations that make sense (because otherwise the Winx wouldn't have gotten to fight Valtor with the Water Stars and had the shocking revelation that Valtor has trapped Bloom's parents in his body that's... debunked by the end of the next episode... by the Ancestral Witches... who are beings of pure evil and have zero reason to tell the truth to the daughter of their sworn enemies... I give up; the writing for this show is atrocious!!!!)

Anyway, my idea (haha, RIP my rewrite that was supposed to include this) was that Valtor sends the Trix in his place to fight Griffin, Saladin and Faragonda after he gives them some magic to help emulate his own and because they used to have the Dragon Fire, small sparks of which have remained inside them since it can never be extinguished. So Griffin ends up fighting Darcy and she still figures out the deception! Because YES, she fucking knows him and his magic! That is to say, I completely agree with your headcanon! (And seriously, he should have used the Trix! This is a perfect three-on-three battle opportunity and could have brought us back to the time when the Trix were an actual threat!)

[starzgaze]

why is it everywhere i go my oc just had to be detailed brah this is what playing gacha games do to a mf ☠️ also genshin phase went hard im letting it hibernate before i go crazy on my ocs again bc WHAT WAS I ON??? WHAT THE HELL DID I CONSUMEEE😭😭😭

[darkangel1791]

MALEC

is

Matthew Daddario as Alec Lightwood

Harry Shum Jr as Magnus Bane

Crazy Chemistry

and

All of their fans, 50% of which only watched Shadowhunters for them

[odessastone]

I love writing Lifeweaver fanfic because biolight literally makes no sense at all

[imminent-danger-came]

It's just me and the 2 different season 4s that destroyed me

[communist-octoling]

Minecraft Java players when Mojang fixes a bug that only affects a small part of the game: OMG LITERALLY UNPLAYABLE!!1! MOJANG HATES JAVA CLEARLY BEDROCK IS THEIR FAVORITE!!!1!!!1! :( Minecraft Bedrock players when Mojang changes a perfectly fine part of the game to be more like Java for no reason for the thousandth time: Well, as long as its for parity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[poisonousquinzel]

sorry but if you actually think Cancel Culture ™ is a thing then you're kinda a dumb fuck. Cancel culture isn't real, holding people accountable for their actions is a thing, but this whole narrative around Canceling that's evolved over the past few years isn't real. It's never been an actual thing. Its just a fear mongering tactic to further vilify the groups who were being harmed in the first place and victimize the person who did something wrong.

Your fav being called out for playing an antisemitic video game that directly gives profits to a hugely influential TERF, who's said openly she sees getting profits / royalty cheques from her franchise as endorsements for her bigotry, is not "cancel culture". It's called the consequences for your actions.

You have every right to do and play whatever the fuck you want, but that goes both ways. If you go out of your way to build up and financially support these people who're openly advocating to take away trans people's rights, then you get to deal with people not trusting you because of it. You get to deal with trans and Jewish folks not feeling safe around you, not wanting to be around you or not wanting to talk to you. Because you have shown that you care more about nostalgia and temporary personal emotional gratification over the wellbeing and safety of those communities in the real world.

People have explained why supporting HL is wrong, people have explained why it's harmful, people have explained in detail the issues with this situation. You. Just. Don't. Care. You don't listen, or read, because in the end, you can't be bothered enough to put in the effort of having 1 moment of critical thinking.

It's not that folks don't have arguments or evidence, it's that it clearly does not matter to you. It's that the value of an antisemitic game full of one horrific thing after another is worth more to you than the real, living breathing people who are going to be, and have been, affected by this.

You come across as a bad person. Not because some person on Twitter determined you must be, but because your actions speak far louder. And they're screaming red flags.

I'm not going to argue with you over your own bad decisions and life choices. You've made your bed and are mad that people are telling you to lie in it.

[ace-and-ranty]

The really fun movie I was watching turned out to not be a "character overcomes and wins!" but a "character goes full horror in a final dovespin", and I feel a bit like a stick in the mud because clearly the movie did it on purpose, they wanted this to be a horror and they wanted to end on that note, but... and I know my biases as not a horror fan are showing... the other story was so much better. And they ruined it for a horror ending that doesn't mesh well with the rest of the movie at all.

[britneyshakespeare]

been thinking about this a lot lately. if i had the opportunity to leaf through a first folio, i would lick one of the pages and that would be my contribution to history. reblog with which play you would lick in a first folio i'd do antony and cleopatra

[archerons-arrow]

i will be happy when sarah finally releases whatever retconned garbage is up next so everyone can stfu about whatever ship war they're reading into (whether you're right or wrong). i used to care about it in like 2018; i don't anymore. because this woman doesn't plan shit. she can't even keep her own lore, world building, or already published plotlines straight.

jfc - it has been a fucking decade of this, and all she has done is shit out a "crossover" that no one asked for and use her own need for therapy to have the eldest archeron sister cosplay as feyre and replace her younger sisters with two complete strangers that she "saves" and call herself a warrior queen who answers to no one. girlie, if you live in a court in prythian, you're a subject and you answer to someone somewhere. sit down and eat your food... or cassian's dick for all i care. i lost it at the house being alive in that book, besties; like what has it witnessed.

like ... idk what happened to the person that wrote the first three books, but holy shit. i am tired. i even stopped following tags on all social media three years ago and the discourse just leeches out everywhere. hence why i am here complaining. y'all woke me up on tuesday with your bullshit. so now my formerly-quiet annoyance is everyone's problem.

[snekdood]

ppl who larp about the Revolution™ almost seem to expect someone *else* to take the leading role in it all so they can sit inside on their asses and do jack shit, they know they have no meaningful skills to offer and would only slow people down, but expect to *somehow* magically radicalize most americans into doing all the work for them because awww dey're just such a weak wittle babu that needs to be pwotected and defwended awlways uwu

like. come on. get a grip. if everything went your way and someone actually stronger than you came along to take the lead, you're likely not being invited, and you'll likely be left behind... which means left to the alt right, who will no doubt come to your house to see if you're perpetuating anything "woke", and you gotta know they wont just ask, they'll barge in and look through everything even your computer.

though, you should really focus on your plan. your first step: get along with people enough to even actually convince them its a good idea, and we all know you'll never dare to try that shit. you cant even be on here w/o blocking someone like me for even suggesting you are approaching this like a child playing war and you have NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

you think you want a second holocaust (which is essentially letting trump win, i mean hitler got the majority vote in germany. thats how he rose to power. didn't just materialize out of thin air), but you dont seem to grasp the gravity of what that entails, or even that you'd be thrown in the camps with everyone else, all to stick it to jewish ppl and "the libs", even if it means you and all the ones you love die along with them. you are a net negative to humanity and quite frankly should be on a fucking watch list.