#but a) the character absolutely does not & based on everything will not. & b) if she actually Does; e.g. in a fic. well it's about her now

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also it's something (better) like, the exercise of deliberately [art imitates life imitates art] holding up Billions to My IRL Things Perspective and going like whaaat would i want for winston. first answer is you want any character to not have been within the scope of the show in the first place, and to exit it since they are. and you kind of get that in the accidental reward in banishing winston, since like in the end it's just that the show doesn't care about him existing at that point But like it's winston sitting there quietly as everyone leaves & turns out the lights & Then he can leave too; others have peaced out & nobody remembers he exists so Now he can go off & do whatever.

but like in true form i think they definitely accidentally baked in another divine reward for winston in that, like, the way he's kept around as fodder for these fun little [pov: enjoy abusing this guy] asides with him, where it Just So Happens that he's autistic as something they're unaware of but is completely relevant to the expectation we understand him to be inferior(tm), it Just So Happens that he's also ""bad"" at not ""causing"" abuse to be turned on him. he's ""bad"" at staying in line. like well yes Yes that's what i want for him. just like In Real Life it's like yeah Ideally i'd want people to be able to extricate themselves from where they're trapped in power structures & i'd want them to have the perspective about it of understanding they're not Inferior / i.e. they are as much a person as anyone else and they're not corrupting everything good / i.e. it wasn't them Bringing It Upon Themselves and it's not them being Destructive by toppling a jenga tower of a hierarchy that happened to be pressing down on them. and winston is the kind of [the ruinerrrrrr] who is Turned On exactly because he keeps acting like someone who's on the verge of breaking out of the [being in line] someone demands of him as autist, employee, whatever other supposed manifestations of [inferior]

like in the 5 second stretches in which winston's allowed to speak before retaliation, it's because he's like "matter of factly" delivering whatever Information that's useful for another plotline. then he Brings It Upon Himself by making people aware that he's Also existing in his own right as a person rather than what they think serves their own deal / what they want from him at all times, perhaps by expressing his personality (didn't appeal to them! so it was Wrong) or not b/c of anything in particular said or done at present, just b/c people have a constant / accumulating contempt for him so their being in the same room as him & able to see & hear him is already dangerous. the [we're just seeing Any Abusive Dynamic in action] continuing apace.

and it's like, well, right there. he's written as acting like someone who doesn't blame himself for how he's treated, which billions frames as being Rude & Mean, and so too does everyone's abusers lmfao like and that these are his moments that are written to be Bringing It Upon Himself. and it's like hell yeah he doesn't blame himself. hell yeah that his self-esteem can manifest as anger at all. hell yeah that he keeps expressing himself with personality & confidence & doesn't even disguise his having been hurt, & it's this [his ass is Not grey rocking] that billions frames as both him "causing" his abuse & making that abuse "successful" lol, wrow just like real life!! and when like speaking of real life yeah it's not "bad" that people Do engage in strategies to mitigate & survive, including things like blaming themselves or being too "boring" to be anything but a non dialogued background character b/c that's all that goes unpunished, it's bad b/c it's done to them at all, not [ohh they're doing it to themselvesss] and like i'm asking myself like Ideally. what do i want Ideally. and i'd want winston to know that it's being Done To Him & i'd want him to find as much room for his personhood & autonomy as possible. and that's basically how he's written anyways, and billions hates that like You See this is why he deserves it this is why he's doing it to himself. and i'm like my god if that's not Inspiration for like "so what if people don't find you Personally Likable" and not preemptively holding back all personality or anything that'd draw attention as if you exist as a person in your own right & not something that only either gets in the way of or serves their wants of a Real person (someone with more power) like hell yeah you have him out here doing it =']

another fun addendum is like, billions isn't getting into it much b/c it doesn't seem to care much about "what if some people were peers & seem to have a genuine, recipcrocal relationship?" but that it just so happened to be like "oh tuk as the next closest loser who deserves it might be nice to winston" while it's framing winston as the "worse" Loser as being....unconditionally supportive of tuk. while the one downside of billions Also giving bentuk as much as it is is that it also inevitably has that shadow of "but ben is Superior to tuk" and like that it's correct that everyone encourages tuk to Stop Bringing It Upon Himself and start being less of a loser; it's wrong for winston to be like hey let's go have a foursome. like yeah probably don't make a list of the women you work with you'd be dtf but it's not like i'm convinced "ah billions and it's strong anti misogyny stance like" roflmao and billions is Not reflecting on "the downsides of unconditional support?" there when winston was beaten up for criticising taylor earlier like we WILL take his ideas while looting his [beaten unconscious] body there but he WAS wrong to express them as though he's BETTER than taylor!!! mafee's beautiful show of loyalty in kicking his ass even when he might agree with the argument and then benefit when it's adopted by taylor anyways! so it's as usual actually purely based on hierarchy & who gets to be in charge of people. it's correct for ben to be in charge of tuk, unless he has to step aside for that bizarre dead-end subplot about how it's tuk's fault if he's treated badly, b/c it's really his own Failure to have Confidence to know he has good ideas [raising our voice to deliver this message over the sound of breaking desks and chairs and computer monitors over winston because he had the confidence to act like he deserved to talk to someone and because he knows his ideas efforts & results are good & valuable around there] like. and isn't it sooo fucked up to talk about who you're dtf in the episode that has it be neutral if your boss is dtf & lets you know but is nice about it (and you're already Correctly tending to their ego, which you're responsible for!) like hey no possible problem! it's not even so much of a problem for a boss man to have the sex they're entitled to & be rude about their leveraging their power in that acquisition that it Stays a problem into the next season. ew, winston is Known (Inferred) Dtf??? we'll use it to exploit His vulnerability, exacerbate it, & punish him further for good measure in another episode that just revels in abuse & violation with a sexual aspect once again, but like, hey tuk don't do that, winston's such a Bad Influence for being like, shrug, kneejerk intervening with the Good Friendship where the One In Charge leaps in & Tells tuk the Correct thing to do. obviously there's also the tragedy that billions will Never let winston push back against Real Winners like rian or taylor in A Way That Matters (actually gets in their way at all) lol like. one thing that would have really been fun, winston should've literal kneejerk started physically fighting wags in either pertinent scene in 7x03 for real 110%. i wouldn't be like Gasp Violence Is Never The Answer if he just hit someone to hit them b/c fuck you. or broke anything on his way out etc etc. billions would Never let him. which is the other side of the same coin of [why he should get to]

tl;dr how great that winston's being "out of line" means he's basically always noticeably flouting & rebelling against the [He Deserves Abuse] agenda lol. that IS what i want. his being "beyond hope" like ohhh he's sooo stupid he doesn't realize how much he has the bad tastes & wrong interests & annoying personality He Will Always Be This Way like hell yeah!!! billions like oh no winston's personhood will never stay tamped down & locked away such that some godawful person tolerates keeping him in their inventory :( ohhh the ABA will never work :( that's right!!!!!!!!!! although they're not sad about it because it's about relishing the promise there will always be True Inferiors you can enjoy abusing with your righteous power over, but like well you wrote him escaping anyways even while dragging other "better" characters into standing around to serve axe's need for more than 1.8 employees and [crickets, reverberating cough, sneaker scuff] like. another ""wrong"" thing for winston to do, another thing for him to not "deserve," which is itself godawful actually lol like lord what it "rewards" its Good, Deserving characters with, no thanks. meanwhile winston's punishment is that he's autistic and """bad""" at being abused like lmfao good for him, fantastic for him, just what i want

[sleepy-harper]

hey buddy! i saw arcane on your fandomlist, so, you have any headcannons in arcane? i would love to see, no problem if not :))

I have a few!!! I picked the first 3 characters I thought of for this ask tho :3 this was a lot of fun!!!

Vi

*ੈ˚ I hc her 2 be a middle regressor!! around 8-10 specifically

*ੈ˚ distinct need for rules to break

*ੈ˚ she gets antsy when she doesn't have anything to do,, often resorting to throwing fits or making a mess if there's absolutely nothing to do

*ੈ˚ if shes got a caregiver, she'll try 2 work with them on controlling her anger n managing it

*ੈ˚ ^ if she doesn't, she still does try to not be so angry, she still wants people with her even if she's upset n recognizes people r scared of her when she's mad

*ੈ˚ always eager 2 help,, trying to find things to do, wether that be cooking, making something for someone, she's trying to be productive and helpful

*ੈ˚ often needs help reading and spelling due to her upbringing, and will sit with her cg and try to understand the importance and use of each words

*ੈ˚ reward charts mean the world to her

*ੈ˚ very communal little!! and a natural leader at that

*ੈ˚ she's always making sure her fellow regressors have everything they need,, being extra gentle with younger littles

Caitlyn Kirraman

*ੈ˚ caregiver!!! she is so mama coded 2 me,, maybe big sister,,

*ੈ˚ I imagine she likes to bake,, so she frequently offers her littles things to do to help her out with

*ੈ˚ often reads her littles to sleep

*ੈ˚ bath time is heavenly with her. so many little details for her littles to look at when she's helping them wash up,,

*ੈ˚ she's got a lot of money, so you can guarantee her littles have everything they could ever want or need to play with both in and out of the tub,,

*ੈ˚ her collection of books is large and vast. literally has a book for every genre her littles could ever want,, story time with her would be amazing,,

*ੈ˚ makes sure her littles have their own room in her place, making sure it's always exactly what they want and need

*ੈ˚ super attentive to all her littles, keeps her own reminder and notebook of all their likes and dislikes and what their needs are n how 2 properly take care of them (i.e, sensory issues or specialized hair cair if her little has wavy, curly, dyed, or damaged hair)

*ੈ˚ likes to keep up systems and schedules w/ her littles!! for anything, really, whether that b systems 4 picking up, bed time routines, etc etc

Sevika

*ੈ˚ in my heart she is an absolute mama cg

*ੈ˚ more of a firm/strict cg,, but she definitely is gentler with her littles,,

*ੈ˚ always trying to make sure her littles know how to stay safe whenever they're not with her,, keeping them close whenever they're not near,,

*ੈ✩˚ "Stay close, kid. The under city is dangerous..."

*ੈ˚ ^ also doesn't have many rules 4 her littles at first,, only having some and adding onto the list based on whatever prevents tears and keeps them safe and relatively uninjured

*ੈ˚ because of her status, she often finds roundabout ways to get her littles whatever they want/need,,

*ੈ˚ incredibly protective 4 all her littles,, glaring and occasionally outright starting an argument/fight over how someone looks at her littles a little funny

*ੈ˚ holds her littles close and firm if they let her,, partially for their comfort, more for her own

*ੈ˚ holding her littles let's her know they're safe, it's comforting for her even if she doesn't want to admit it

*ੈ˚ if her little has long hair, she'll end up braiding it or trying to do different styles for them,, having some practice from jinx to do it

*ੈ˚ tries 2 lessen her smoking around littles,, esp if they have lung issues

*ੈ˚ I think jinx would act as a fun aunt/older sister 2 sevikas littles in the "let them fly off the handle" approach,,

[incorrectbatfam]

Types of obnoxious batfam stans

Written by an obnoxious batfam stan

Not really a rant but something I've noticed over the years interacting in different spaces and I've decided to make your problem now.

Please note that I'm not saying there's any "right" way to be a fan because we all suck by virtue of being comic nerds, but there are certain kinds of batfamily fans that stick out to be in particular.

Anywho, here are 12 kinds of annoying batfam stans that you've probably run into and you better get a laugh out of it *points gun to your head*.

1) The Newbies Who Never Heard of Google

There's no shame in being new to something. It's a phase that we're all guaranteed to go through, whether we're 11 or 101. However, in this day and age, so many things can be easily googled that you don't need to shout every question you have into the VVorld VVide VVoid. If you need comic recs or a reading list, google it. If you wanna know a character's origin story, google it. If you need to know the color of Batman's underpants in a particular issue in 1965... well that's probably too specific for Google but Reddit will definitely have an answer.

2) The Middle School Authors

Before the 13-year-olds get up in my notes, I'm not saying everyone that age writes like this. Middle school is a state of mind. These fanfic writers usually stand out in a few ways.

They're oftentimes first-person POV or reader-insert. Give Y/N a break, she's tired.

The grammar is stunningly atrocious. I get if you're inexperienced or if you're writing in a second language, but we are in the prime era of autocorrect. If you need help, it's right there. Also, fuck c*nsoring b*d w*rds and fuck "unalive."

The characters do things that are out-of-character because the author is projecting their own personality. Bruce Wayne is a lot of things but he does not listen to the fucking Mountain Goats.

There's a lack of experience or research when it comes to certain topics. That's not how physics works. He can't walk that injury off. And that's definitely NOT how you do the horizontal hokey pokey.

3) The Neckbeards

Unfortunately, these basement-dwelling mouth-breathers tainted the image of what a comic fan is, though that's been changing recently. Still, we've all seen them. They gatekeep via pop quizzes, 'cause obviously you're not a real fan unless you know what page 10 of Batman #138 smells like. They give unsolicited commentary on people's cosplays, nitpicking the guys and being gross toward women. And heaven forbid the comics add a little diversity.

4) The Moviegoers

Nothing inherently wrong with getting into the fandom via the movies, nor is there anything wrong with sticking to that. I just feel like we're two different species of Galapagos finches, you know?

5) The Christopher Nolans

Separate from casual fans of the Nolan movies. I'm calling them the Christopher Nolans because these people have a tendency to reach for the grimdarkest thing possible. It's like they cannot fathom Batman having any other emotions besides punching and gargoyle brooding.

6) The Canon Purists

Wanna share a fun headcanon? NO, because Stephanie Brown never used cherry lip balm in the comics so therefore that must be the absolute truth. These people are a stickler for comic accuracy to the point where it's like... why bother interacting with the fandom in the first place? The worst part is when they're adamant on following a single continuity and refuse to consider anything else. This is comics we're talking about. Everything either has been or will be canon at some point.

7) The Fanon Worshippers

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the people who base their entire perception of the characters on something either they pulled out of their ass or that their mutual with 16 followers came up with, despite evidence directly contradicting it. I love WFA, but I feel like that's partially responsible for further perpetuating certain popular myths. Also, these fans tend to focus solely on the batfam/their ships. It's one thing to have some people in the foreground vs. background, but put some respect to Bart Allen's name you goddamn cheesecakes.

8) The Golden Age Dads

These guys aren't really obnoxious. I actually find it kind of cute how they think Jason Todd is still dead.

9) The Chronically Online

I have a rule of thumb when it comes to discourse: if it's not something I'd hear about at a bar, it's not worth my mental energy. Some people haven't gotten the memo, though.

These are either the well-intentioned but misinformed teenagers or grown-ass adults beefing with children because they don't have a life. They have takes that are oversimplified, rage-inducing, TikTok algorithm attention-grabbers that no one cares about in real life.

Don't get me wrong, we've got a bunch of issues in comics and fandom that are worth discussing. However, there comes a point where you're splitting hairs and need to go the fuck outside. I'm not gonna link the post 'cause I don't wanna call them and their 7 notes out, but the other week I saw someone saying Stephcass was a racist ship because something something colonialism parallel. You gotta be Elastigirl to have that kind of reach.

10) The Corporate Simps

I love comics. I appreciate the writers and artists. However, you will find my carcass in a ditch before you catch me licking the boots of DC/Warner Bros. Basically, these fans, fewer as they are, can't seem to fathom that their favorite franchise can (and does) put out some steaming motherfucking garbage.

11) The Hot Cosplayers

Not actually annoyed, I'm just a little jealous. Stop being hotter than me, please and thank you.

12) The One With A Punchline For Everything

Wait–

[lyss-sketchbox]

With Natlan's AQ coming to a close and I had time to really think about it and see other's perspective of it. I have some thoughts. And its gonna discuss the entire AQ as a whole and not just Act 5.

In short

More consistent action and flare than Fontaine

Way too much 'waiting for the right moment' and no other preparations are shown because of it.

The blind trust to said moment. Noone vetoed this, noone was worried about this, noone doubted this. So everything felt weightless.

Mavuika is a mary sue. Her hardheaded and blind trust to an event that may or may not happen just so happens to go right. She's so confident it'll work out she spent the days leading up to the final battle painting. So everything she does has no weight to it when it's blatantly obvious they're gonna win and ruined anything hoyo tried to do to create any tension.

Capitano is the goat and it's a shame he had a fraction of the screen time but alot more impact.

I have to say the level of action and flare they used in the entire AQ is alot more consistent than Fontaine.

We all should admit that we came into an AQ expecting interaction and action from playable characters and not NPCs unless they built them up enough to care for. Fontaine's evidence searching and crime solving part is understandably slow for some people and it can really hinder the pace, especially Meropide's part where it fully focuses on NPC's instead of actually figuring out Wrio's and Lyney's plans (which is sidelined until the very end)

The action scenes and AQ specific domains are great. I like that they aren't making us watch still images or summaries of events and actually let's us play through certain scenes, especially the Act 4 war and Act 5 making our way to the eye of the Abyss part. I love that it gives us choices and consequences based on our choices and ACTUALLY shows that consequence instead of telling us. Makes it feel like they're putting effort into the story telling.

The actual weight of the plot...? Not so much. I think it is very cliche with not alot of active impact from playable characters. The ending falls flat compared to what was set up.

In Act 1-2, it felt cliché for Paimon to point out 'oh look it's time for us to solve this nation's crisis', pointing it out doesn't make it any better but this is just a pet peeve and pretty neglegible.

I was sceptical about Natlan from the start, I admit that, but I like how the characters had an active choice and struggle during these acts. Kachina chose to stay in the tourney and train, Mualani chose to switch teams, they didn't wait for a thing to happen to do thing, they initiated it first.

Mavuika and Capitano fight still doesn't make sense to me. It's alot of needless flare with no substance to me. It feels like Capitano just waltzed in there with no other plan than to fight Mavuika for the gnosis. Like he didn't even plan his escape, he just so happened to be saved by Ororon.

Act 3-4 while had character interaction, feels tonally wrong. Like are Mavuika and co. NOT doing anything else but to wait for the 6 heroes to show up? Mavuika FOUGHT against Capitano's methods because she believes her way is better but it feels so... shallow? She just trusts that the 6 heroes will show up on time without any doubts or Plan B's at all...? Also in the beginning Mavuika told us to be careful when sharing the news that a war might break out but the first thing we do is... tell people...? Out right...? Sure.

The war was done well, I like that we have choices and consequences. The end sequence literally is a My Little Pony clone but it does fit with the consistent theme of solidarity in war and nationalism. Still felt cheesy to me.

Act 5. ACT 5 is the worst tonal shift of all time to me. So we spent the first half celebrating when we know something else is there, no preparation or doubts. Even Mavuika is like 'ah yes let me paint to pass the time :)', it feels... arrogant, it feels as if it's absolutely undisputed that we are gonna win. So there's no tension at all even when they finally try to make the final battle feels important. Even the stadium bit feels off, there's literally NO signs that we are losing but for some reason the Sacred Flame goes out...?

While I like that they brought out memorable NPCs from world quests, the part about the 6 heroes feels so extremely tacked on. Like wow the 6 first heroes gave us blessings randomly in the middle of the sequence even though the actual power up sequence to get pyro traveller is still... way after that so it felt... useless? The entire boss battle even feels so weightless because yeah, you're gonna win, what is there to root for lmao.

Don't get me started on the celebration afterwards, the long awkward section where you allegedly spend a while giving out autographs and taking pictures. It feels like Hoyo is popping a party popper in our face and going CONGRATS YOU DID IT! CELEBRATE NOW! THIS IS A CELEBRATION. If they were trying to divert our attention from Mavuika's death then it's a shit attempt. Because the final battle didn't feel like it had weight, so it feels not worth celebrating.

Capitano is the only saving grace of this AQ and even then he's been sidelined for the entire act so while the logic for his sacrifice to Ronova was great (hell even more hyped about this than the entire final battle), it didn't have the impact it probably should've had. It felt like he had an entire side quest that we didn't get to see or hint at unless you count the very first dream opening Act 5.

Now my biggest issue with this nation is WHY IS THERE SO MUCH WAITING FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT????

Kachina deserved to be one of the 6 heroes instead of Xilonen. We literally don't know what Xilonen and Iansan even do to earn that title but they just... are??? We atleast see Kachina fighting for a spot in the Night Wars and we hear about Mualani and Kinich's wins but Xilonen and Iansan???

Mavuika vetoed Capitano's plans that actually had substance and logic behind it because she just.... trusts that it'll happen. Does she not worry they won't show up?? Does she not have Plan B's?? She had absolutely 0 worries at all so she just... feels so flat. Then in the final battle she just... doesn't worry at all, like I understand as an archon and a leader it's best that you act like it, but there's like... absolutely zero signs that she's worried. Even when she's talking to her LONG LOST SISTER SHE'S JUST... FINE??? MOVES ON??? ARE YOU NOT GONNA TELL YOUR WORRIES TO YOUR SISTER??? OR DO YOU JUST NOT HAVE WORRIES AT ALL????

Man idk, the ending flops for me. Rip capitano one of the only good thing about this nation and he isnt even from it. But we SEE HIS STRUGGLE, HIS DOUBTS, HIS FAILURES, AND HIS SACRIFICE AND SUCCESS WHILE WE GET SHIT ALL FROM MAVUIKA SO LIKE????? WHAT WE'RE THEY DOING???????

[avelera]

big agree on your post on stuff people overlook with Jayce and Viktor.

fwiw though, people taking issue with Jayce making weapons for Cait feels very fair considering what the grey doea. that regardless of whether they were working for the barons or not, anyone impacted by the grey was a civilian. like even if it only hit chem barons employees which feels very doubtful since it's a gas, we've already seen like in the shimmer factory that many working for them probably didn't have better options. it's plausible Jayce didn't know about her plan with the grey and simply trusted her and figured anything she would do would be the lesser evil but that is a hard pill to swallow.

Personally I don't see why Jayce would know about the use of the Gray. He's resigned from the Council, as far as we can tell, after the Memorial attack he basically goes into his lab to look after Viktor and never leaves again except once to make the weapons for Cait's squad.

Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence, etc etc but I'd say there's as little evidence that he knows about it as there is that he does. The Council meets below ground because these are top secret sessions and Jayce isn't part of them. That's if he even cares. Jayce seems wholly focused on Viktor from that point forward and then when Viktor leaves, Jayce basically goes into a depression coma. He's not taking part in current events, much less reading briefings or attending meetings that are going into the strategy for the hunt for Jinx.

On that note, if we're going to look at extra-narrative evidence for or against Jayce's knowledge, just going by a gut feeling he knows, I'm going to counter with my gut feeling he doesn't based on the fact that Caitlyn is leading a top secret strike team operation.

Piltover has recent, painful experience with officials in high places betraying them through the former Sheriff Marcus. I would see Caitlyn's strike team operating on a strict need-to-know basis in order to prevent leaks that could give away where they're going next, much less what methods they're using once there. And again, even if that knowledge was available for Jayce to know, that even if he'd gone to those Council sessions or asked Caitlyn he would have learned the details of her plan for flushing out the Chem Barons, I simply don't see Jayce as being in a place where he wants to know right now. You can see that as its own crime, but my read of the scene was he made weapons while hating himself so that Caitlyn and her team would be safe, then fucked right off back to the lab.

As for the whole use of the Gray argument, honestly, I'm just going to go with the word of god from writer Amanda Overton on that: Caitlyn used it with pinpoint accuracy, only Chem Barons and their operatives were impacted, but that doesn't necessarily make it right and the narrative wants you to question how you feel about that. Caitlyn certainly hates herself later for everything she did to hunt down Jinx while consumed by rage and grief for her mother.

But I am a little sick and tired of the widespread assumption made by the fandom that civilians must have been impacted too even though we have zero evidence of that, these assumptions that Caitlyn is murdering children all over the place when that is never seen or shown. As far as we know, once the operation is over, she turns the vents back on in that location. Let's absolutely question whether using tear gas, which is what the Gray effectively is, is the right thing to do in that situation at all (Silco certainly didn't have a problem with it when he used it on the other Chem Barons himself) but let's not add a body count that isn't shown onscreen just because of a gut feeling. Arcane doesn't shy away from showing us children getting hurt or killed, I don't know why they would shy away from showing Caitlyn's strike team hurting innocent civilians and children if it was happening, especially when they showed it with another character: Jayce. So I don't buy the argument that they just don't show it because she's a popular character or something, Arcane is totally fine with showing its beloved characters kill children. Therefore, I conclude that it didn't happen. They're not hiding it. It didn't fucking happen.

Finally, and I can't believe I need to say this, but that whole arc is very influenced by 9/11 and the writers are the right age to be deeply impacted by that event too, unlike many of the young viewers commenting right now. So perhaps you don't know that there was a heated discussion of whether a full invasion or a strike team was the better option for going after the lone, deranged perpetrator of the attack. Sound familiar?

Most people from my generation who were in on that debate believed that justice was necessary, but the progressive side of the argument was that an elite strike team was better than an invasion in terms of loss of life. Arcane is a world that exists with a lot of nuance, where no one is wholly good or wholly evil, where there is no perfect option, but it's wild to me that so many people are saying that the strike team was automatically evil when the alternative was all-out warfare that would have absolutely been indiscriminate in the death of children and civilians.

[saeun]

BOO! gotcha~ gojo satoru.

sum. he meticulously planned the night out, she was busy with her routine. ( basically gojo trying to be bold and manly but the bold and manly doesnt want to be him )

"BABE! COME QUICK — NOW!"

voice louder than ever, gojo's curled into a ball, on the couch, diverting his eyes everywhere but the tv screen. it was movie night — or so it was supposed to be. you left him alone in the creeping dark. left him all alone to tend to your nighttime routine.

you see, truth be told, he's absolutely terrified of horrors. the setting, the music, the jumpscares, the plot — everything. poor gojo wanted to be a romantic "i'm here for you," man for his girl but it seems like that plan is screwed! he does not have a plan b in mind. there was one sole plan and it didn't consider the possibility of him being scared shitless.

you both decided on having a horror marathon. as the month of halloween dawns closer, it's only fitting to watch horror-themed stuff, right? not quite. there's one person who's covering their eyes with the blanket every time it gets intense and it's no one other than gojo satoru.

the plan was picture-perfect:

a) get the scariest horror movie.

b) watch to see when you're scared.

c) put his arms around you, bring you into his body, and whisper, "it's okay, don't fear."

d) become your knight in shining armor.

clearly, this plan was not properly thought out. he's shivering in fear, waiting for his knight in shining armor to save him from the misery — and also from the thought of some demon waiting to jump at him from behind the tv.

the movie's soundtrack quiets, only the character's hesitating footsteps towards the locked room can be heard. as they walk closer, the door creaks open. nothing's in the room..? "that's... strange," they whispered, stepping into the room with their oil-based lamp. the camera pans to the left: nothing suspicious. it pans to the right: nothing out of the ordinary. it goes back to the center and—

"FUCK no," gojo turns the tv off. he knew what was about to come, and he wasn't going to sit through it.

suddenly, as if the saying of art mimics real life comes true, he hears the same hesitating footsteps. strange, the tv's off. absolutely not, he thinks, balling up the blanket ready to leave. fastening his steps to the front door, he grabs the keys off the counter. the keys have gone in the keyhole, and so did a hand on gojo's shoulder.

he freezes. body gone stiff. breathing halted. heartbeat intensifies. what the fuck.

"babe? where are you going?" you questioned, confused as to why gojo's ready to sneak out in pajamas and a blanket.

gojo doesn't respond. he's watched that movie for long enough to realize it doesn't have to be you who's talking.

however, it is you, and you're very confused. after finishing your routine, you came down to watch the movie with him only to be met with a mess of popcorn, tv off, and a missing gojo.

"babe? you alright?" you questioned again, this time grabbing him with both hands and turning him to face you.

"who are you?" it's his turn to question. you look like you, but are you really you? a question that only makes sense to the man himself.

"i'm y/n, duh."

"then prove it," he demands. if it's truly his beloved, he knows how she'd react.

hands on hip, your face twisted into a mix of confusion, deadpan, and slightly amused. "what are you on about, satoru?"

"oh my god you're an imposter," his conclusion makes him turn back to the door, frantically twisting the keys to unlock the barrier that keeps him from safety.

without looking back, he walked out the door, tripping on himself as he sought his safety. all you can do is shrug. he'll be back in two minutes maximum.

[emblemxeno]

Cindered Shadows Thoughts

Btw if you don't wanna see thoughts on my 3H playthrough block this tag #playing fe3h

-Finished it in exactly 8 hours, at least 2 of which could've been an email /s

-It is truly a microcosm of my foundational issues with 3H as a whole, besides two things

-One is that exploration isn't as tedious because Abyss isn't as big as the monastery, but I guess that isn't really a point in its favor since that's the whole point lol

-The second is I feel like Byleth's dialogue and text selections with the characters is a bit better. There's less instances of , what I describe as "characters extrapolating how Byleth feels in 1-2 text boxes before actually responding to what they said", which I swear is a cause for why the main game reads as if it's 10% longer than it's supposed to be.

-IMO unique map objectives don't save map design that's pretty uninteresting at the end of the day.

The first map's layout is cool! Until it gets reused in chapter 4, where it's only saving grace is a new objective utilizing prior knowledge established in chapter 1. Clever, but still a reuse in a game that infamously spams repeat maps. And outside of Chapters 2 (a slog where you defeat enemies in waves which isn't fun in FE) and 7 (a cramped hall where you have to brace against a monster boss), the other maps are reused from the base game, even chapter 3 is a slightly modified sealed forest.

-Combat itself is so slow, I'm really just debating turning off animations in general when tackling the main game. Not only do the animations take forever, but they don't look interesting, are surrounded by washed out textures and models, and-my personal biggest grievance-have absolutely no momentum nor weight behind them. The Tellius games, from what I've seen, yeah the animations take decades, but from a visual and sound design point, fighting feels significant. 3H also being sandwiched between Echoes (the gorgeous culmination of handheld 3D Fire Emblem presentation after half a decade) and Engage (which to me set a new, high bar standard for 3D FE presentation going forward) is an extremely unfortunate situation and I feel really sorry for it.

-Music still hits though, Shackled Wolves never gets old

-Another thing that 3H does that this DLC reminds me of is the amount of -Stand Around- cutscenes there are. It confused me that Engage gets the most heat for this, when this game does it more, due to more drawn out dialogue, simpler camera angles, stiffer models with fewer animations, and an absolutely diabolical background setup. For a game with an expository selling point, it repeatedly falls short at being engaging in a visual sense, with its scenes always being saved by the phenomenal voice acting. Almost always, at least. The scenes where the Wolves are getting their blood drained while they just stand there is so jarring and bad, it's nearly funny, when it's obviously not supposed to be given the lines, their delivery, and the accompanying music.

-The story from A to B is sweet I guess, but given that the devs said the Cindered Shadows version of events is basically non-canon to what happens in the main game sours me on it. Like, yeah it's cool that the Wolves can technically be capable enough to do it offscreen on their own, but then what's the incentive then for me to recruit them beyond the player's pre-established care? There's no narrative payoff in the grand scheme :/

-Also the whole plot is "what if Yuri, Rhea and somewhat Claude/Linhardt do everything and also these other goobers are here" which became really funny, because after a while even the lines had characters deliberating the sheer amount of coincidences and melodrama that was occurring. 3H style writing shoved into an 8 hour timeframe is accelerated, exhausting nonsense.

-Sothis not being in the plot is fine, because even though it doesn't make sense why she wouldn't comment, it's not like there's anything of value she would contribute beyond her usual schtick of "bratty banter, where are my memories, i sleep now".

Not having Jeralt though? Absolutely ridiculous. I don't like Jeralt as a character (he's my idea of pretty face and that's it), but there's no convincing me why he couldn't be here but Alois can. Love Alois! But he was a device used to have the Knights on standby and nothing more, which Jeralt could've done and it would've let him have a proper impact on the ordeal with Aelfric.

Speaking of which, revisiting this DLC had me thinking... wow this love of Aelfric is veering very close to cult-like, and it's cut short after chapter 5 because we don't go back to abyss once that map's done. I'm left with wondering how the Abyss denizens would feel after knowing that their caretaker was Like That™️, which is a completely foreign feeling to me when discussing 3H's narrative since the game normally never lets it be remotely unclear how the characters or the player should feel about anything ever. So... props for that for making me flex that part of my brain! You did it Fodlan, the creepy custodian plotline that was left dangling was great fridge horror material.

-The constant suspicion throwing and animosity towards Rhea and the church is tiring as usual, and also sometimes downright baseless. Like, at one point it's said that orphans are among those who are relegated to Abyss or otherwise ignored on the surface which is flat out not fucking true, Rhea literally takes in former bandit kids and Remire orphans, what are we doing here.

-Balthus has a cringe "fight the system line" meanwhile he's an irresponsible jackass pushing 30; Constance is written like a joke; Hapi's writing is a joke; Yuri is as incomprehensibly competent and storied as ever and I love that cuz it's nonsense.

-Overall, not godawful terrible, but nothing in it that's worth coming back to in my eyes.

[lauralot89]

Also I think I figured out a way to do a Dracula/Mina romance that isn't absolute garbage which destroys Jonathan's character and/or all of Mina's agency, and I'm going to reproduce it here because I don't actually feel inclined to write it in narrative format but maybe somebody does

Some caveats:

You do have to take everyone somewhat out of character for this to work. Still, not nearly to the extent of your average adaptation.

It requires major change to the direction of the story. There's no way to do this plot without making it an AU.

It requires both Dracula and Mina to be some flavor of neurodiverse (which, granted, to me is already canon but my thoughts are not everyone's thoughts)

So. Firstly, either you have to make Mina come to Transylvania with Jonathan for Reasons or you have to have it happen in Whitby. You cannot write an AU where everything with Lucy happened as it does in canon and expect Mina to have a Dracula romance after that.

Let's go with Whitby. Imagine that instead of just flitting about the window at Crescent in bat form, Dracula got invited inside. One night, he decides to creep around Lucy and Mina's room, because of course he does, when he notes that on the desk or nightstand or whatever, Mina has copied down the train time table (let's say she didn't do it in shorthand so that Lucy and Mrs. Westenra could read it if need be).

Yes, I am basing this entire romance around the fact that Dracula reads train schedules and Mina writes them down. Bear with me.

Dracula wakes up Mina (she does not scream or have a panic attack and Lucy does not wake up because Vampire Powers) and wants to know why she copies down train schedules. They both realize they have a monomania (term for special interest from the early 19th century) about trains, and other fixed interests and shared struggles (hating specific textures/sounds/other sensations, sensory overload, etc).

Dracula becomes infatuated with Mina and tries to express this, at which point Mina says that she's engaged, and then gets very unhappy due to worry about Jonathan. Dracula realizes who she's engaged to, and has a Grinch-style cardiac event of emotions upon realizing that a) Jonathan Harker was intelligent enough to love someone as amazing as Mina and Dracula's ladies have probably eaten him and b) Mina will never forgive Dracula for Jonathan being eaten but c) maybe he can still fix things by taking Mina to Transylvania so they can all three live as sexy vampires together

(Surely it will turn out better with Mina than his other female roommates! They both like trains!)

Anyway then Dracula and Mina get to Transylvania as fast as possible and find that Jonathan is still human and after a lot of forgiveness and repentance and therapy for poor Jonathan, the three of them begin a polyamorous relationship because there is no Even Slightly In Character way to write Mina that has her leaving Jonathan

Now, is this absurd fan fiction nonsense? Yes. But you look me in the eye and tell me it doesn't respect the characters more than whatever the hell filmmakers have done with Mina.

oh also Dracula gives tons and tons of money to Jonathan to try and make up for the whole torture thing

[retromotherfuckers]

OBX Rock Band AU (headcanon)

Characters:

jj maybank, john b routledge, pope hayward, kiara carrera, sarah cameron

Word Count:

~700

A/N:

i have no idea if this has been done before but the idea came to me the other night in the shower lol. i’m in a band so you can guess what i loosely based this on

JJ - Drums

is my opinion biased on this one? probably

my favorite band member and character

the one with the most problems

drinks a little too much,  stoner

personal life in shambles most of the time

once he found the drums as an outlet he dove into it, eventually becoming an intensely devoted musician 

that drum set has seen some things

jj lets his anger out on that poor, innocent drum set

all the different pieces have had to be replaced so many times because he beats the living shit out of them

the one that got john b into rock music and the rest was history

he's not one of the chill drummers who just shows up and does their thing, this man is a show-off

so many tricks

long solos whenever the chance arises for one

flirts with the entire band

music genres: rock, grunge, alt, metal

bands/artists: Sex Pistols, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Nirvana, Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard

John B - Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar

a no-brainer. this is practically canon

no i will not be hearing opposing opinions at this time

he's the frontman

the one most people's eyes are drawn to right away

controls the vibe in the room

him and jj put on a show

stoner

is naturally a gifted singer, but had a vocal coach for a little while to get some pointers

rhythm guitar because most rock songs need at least two guitars and he's played guitar since he was a kid just for fun

music genres: country, rock, alt, pop when jj isn't around

bands/artists: The Rolling Stones, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Aerosmith, Taylor Swift, Johnny Cash 

Pope - Lead Guitar/Band Manager

he's just there to vibe but also an incredibly skilled guitarist 

the one that tries extremely hard to keep everyone on track, but can't because no one listens to him

also the one that found kiara and Sarah

he's classically trained, but he only did classical as a kid because that's what he thought the smart kids were supposed to do

he plays like Slash: relatively controlled body language, but his fingers fly back and forth on the frets 

music nerd

everyone can tell he loves what he's doing

manager because who else would manage these fools?

music genres: rock, alt, indie rock

bands/artists: Falling in Reverse, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Green Day, Hozier, The Killers, The 1975

Kiara - Bass

i will not be accepting arguments on this one

she 100% grew up on cello, but wanted to rebel against her parents as a teen and switched to rock but realized she fucked with it

this girl is hot as all hell and knows it, but has nothing to prove

she's one of the more responsible members of the group but also super laid-back

stoner

effortlessly keeps everyone in check 

she just wants to vibe and play some songs

flirts with the entire band

weird, hippie, earthy screams bass player

music genres: indie rock, r&b, pop punk, anything from the '60s and '70s

bands/artists: Janis Joplin, The Strokes, Young The Giant, Hozier, Paramore, Joan Jett, Whitney Houston

Sarah - Backup Vocals

she was definitely an attention seeker in her young years and would've hated backup, but now she's perfectly content chilling in the background with some killer harmonies 

she has a few songs she leads in the set when john b needs a rest

she absolutely KILLS them

but she loves playing with the melody and adding a harmony on something that you wouldn't expect

this girl has perfect pitch so harmonizing takes about 3% effort from her

if a song is too low for her or too high for john b, she transposes everything (perfect pitch and all)

she will. not. touch. an electric guitar with a 10-foot pole. 

don't ask, i have no explanation for that one

on the occasion a song needs keys, she's the go-to

music genres: she's a retired theatre kid so she listens to just about everything under the sun except country

bands/artists: Taylor Swift, The Beatles, Queen, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Knicks, Amy Winehouse

[maespri]

my thoughts on the your turn to die percentage sheets

i keep thinking about how strange the percentage sheets are in your turn to die. so. here’s my thought dump. everything under the cut.

spoiler warning for the whole game, just in case…

so. from my understanding, they’re based off of the AI test runs of the death game, or off of the characters personalities prior to being put in the death game. but how exactly would either of those things work?

for starters, if they’re based off the AI runs, then the percentages instantly become unreliable the moment any uncontrolled variable enters the death game. in this case, that would be joe and (if im remembering correctly) nao. joe and nao presumably were not part of the test runs, considering the fact that neither character had an AI made for them in chapter 2 (besides joe, technically, but he wasn’t part of the main panel, so… he’s up in the air). therefore, the fact that they are in the death game instantly makes the percentages null. it’s like throwing a slice of banana into a smoothie full of vegetables- it may seem small, but now the entire composition of the smoothie is totally different.

literally every characters percentage could be different based on the sole fact that joe and nao are in the death game. you might assume it would only really affect sara or mishima, but this isn’t true at all- from big questions, such as who would’ve picked up the sacrifice cards in chapter 1 and 2?- to small questions, like… in chapter 1, would sara have ever even opened that door under the bar that shin couldn’t get open if joe hadn’t done it?

we’ve heard that sara’s percentage was only so high because in every run, she would do terrible things to win, becoming increasingly violent with sole interest in self preservation. so joe was put in to be a handicap for her. but, once again, this makes her percentage- you guessed it- inaccurate! it would presumably be considerably lower with joe there.

if the percentages are based on the characters personalities prior to the death game test runs, based on what asunaro has gathered from watching these people for forever, i think that actually only makes them even more inaccurate. that means the percentages are entirely based on assumption. just because sara can be an intense person, does not mean she would have the highest chance of winning. similarly, just because shin is weaker than a newborn baby, doesn’t necessarily mean he would have a 0% chance of winning.

so, here’s my thing with the percentages. i think either way, it fails to consider one of the games overarching themes, and a topic i could go into extreme detail on in another post: humans are inherently good. and inherently very unpredictable. and AI can never replicate that, no matter how accurate asunaro’s data may be on these people. they can run the AI death game a million times, but the robot versions of each person cannot perfectly simulate how a real human would genuinely act in such a situation. this is also because AI can imitate fear and desperation, but it cannot actually feel it, and i’d argue feeling is the driving force behind every decision characters make in this game.

another thing i want to note is the concept of zero probability and impossibility, which basically just means the chance of something happening can never be 0%. anything can happen. and that means that in at least one simulation of the AI death games, each character won, even if it was only 1 time out of 1 billion runs. which means that shin’s percentage absolutely could not be 0%.

it does the beg the question of why asunaro made the AI’s at all, because if they put that much effort into them, i don’t think they would A) make their data totally unreliable by throwing in unknown variables during the real thing, or B) run all those death games tests and collect the data. i honestly think the AI’s were solely to impede the characters.

this isn’t to fault the game at all, however- in fact, i think the percentage sheet is incredibly genius if only for the amount of chaos it causes. it’s a completely unreliable piece of information, and yet shin sees it and thinks, “15% versus my 0%… ok, this seventeen year old girl is my WORST enemy now…”

another thing that i’m too lazy to figure out for myself rn but is a question i had- do the percentages even add up to 100? because i don’t think they do. which begs the question of what they’re actually out of. sara has a 15% chance of winning, out of… 100? out of 20? out of 50? out of 1000? i know percentages don’t have to add up to 100, but it just adds to the unreliableness. technically, we don’t know what these percentages are measured out of.

i guess my overarching point here is just that the percentages sheet is really interesting, and simultaneously really useless and unreliable. but that’s what makes it so interesting. i think it instills a feeling of dread and uncertainty in the player seeing how low certain percentages for other characters are, or maybe it instills confidence and superiority seeing how high sara’s is. either way, it definitely helps you understand why shin acts the way he does once you figure out he’s known about the sheet from the beginning.

anyway. that’s it. i’m sure someone else has talked about this or everyone knew about it blah blah blah but. whatever i had fun writing it out. Peace and love

[sofoulandfairaday]

1 for the ask game

from: choose violence ask game

1. the character everyone gets wrong

Err... all of them? I'm not even kidding. More on this here.

Bellatrix: fortunately there's been progress in the fandom, but for years everyone loved to describe her as an overly sexualized, crazy, shrieking mindless slave, when she's actually quite the opposite. She is sadistic, but not insane, she's passionate but not irrational (she is the only one who knew Snape was a traitor; to me, it's because of a peculiar mix of rationality and intuition that shows her to be actually quite intelligent). Nothing suggests her being promiscuous in the text and I would actually argue the opposite of her (why would she ever lower herself to sleep with someone who she deems her inferior - so basically everyone -, even just to satisfy mere physical desires? This post, to me, is Bella at her core).

Narcissa: this is canon Narcissa, all of you are perfectly entitled to your soft babygirl headcanons, of course, but then again you are perfectly entitled to be wrong <3 [also, shameless self-promo: x]

The blorboification continues for every single member of the Black family and I hate it so much you have no idea:

Andromeda: somehow described as a soft little girl who loved her mean, mean sisters so much and had to run away? Bitch stood up to seven centuries of tradition, and abandoned her sisters and parents, to marry a boy she had fallen in love with maybe two years prior (we know this based on Tonks' age). Good for her, but as I have said previously, both Narcissa and Andromeda (and Sirius, really) strike me as a bit selfish. The one with the romantic attachment to the idea of her family, the child most like Walburga, is Bellatrix.

But this is nothing, NOTHING, compared to what this fandom does to Regulus and Sirius.

Regulus: canonically a Voldemort fanboy, with newspaper clippings of him everywhere, and a blood supremacist. Sirius says it better than anyone: Reggie is soft. But not in the way the fandom believes, nope. He's just a coward who, much like Draco years later, was super excited to be like Bellatrix (Lucius) until he realized what killing really meant, what fighting a war really was, and most importantly because Voldemort touched him personally (Kreacher, whom he loved). Voldemort was probably a little more deranged than he had been at the beginning of the First War, and someone that had inherited the Black pride/haughtiness probably didn't like being branded like cattle and treated like a slave, on top of everything else.

Sirius: fanon Sirius is basically another character. Canon!Sirius is: tall, canonically incredibly handsome, quite masculine (in an explicit and toxic way, especially as a teenager in the fucking 1970s - the skirt-wearing, feminist one-liners spouting version of Sirius is something I just cannot get behind), a dick, a bit classist ((don't come @ me with your "oh, but what about Moony?!" because a) we don't know Remus' wealth when Lyall and Hope were still alive, we only know he can't get a job as an adult because of his condition and b) Remus is Sirius' exception, in the same way Lily is Snape's when he calls her a Mudblood - everyone else is in his eyes)), brave to the point of recklessness, quite cruel, funny, witty, magically talented, loyal to a fault, extremely charismatic and everything else outlined here. For the same reasons, I'll say Remus too.

Don't even get me started on Severus Snape. Other people have spoken on this better than I could ever. At least here on Tumblr, though, it seems to me that things are getting a little better after years of absolutely bizarre takes. Or maybe I've blocked all of the idiots idk.

Dumbledore. More on this here and maybe I'll outline my ideas better in a future post.

Also: I do not accept any characterization of Evan Rosier, Barty Crouch jr, Reggie, and Rabastan Lestrange as anything less than violent blood supremacists. Yes, they can be nuanced and gay (and only for each other might I add), but these people are the KKK (metaphorically, of course, because I hate comparing real-world tragedies to completely fictional ones, but still).

Lucius: a complete dick, but definitely not abusive. The man couldn't raise a hand to Draco if the Dark Lord threatened to kill him over it.

Speaking of which: my darling Lord Voldemort. Not much to say about him really because I know that some people do write him in a very interesting way (and I am open to interpretations of his character even if they are different from how I see him - and I have a very fucking specific vision of him). The problem is that perhaps three (3) of these people write him with Bellatrix and that saddens me.

Now, I mostly read First Wizarding War stuff or Death Eater stuff so I can't really speak to many other characters, especially in Harry's generation, but anything other than cowardly Draco is not a good Draco characterization to me. Ron is hands-down the best one in the Golden Trio and Ron Weasley bashing is pathetic. Hermione has faults but is ultimately a strong, take-no-bullshit girl and I'll take that over basically any and all female YA protagonists. And Harry is sassiness personified, but with a heart of gold, and oh-so-caring. Which is also why I can't read dark!Harry for the life of me. It just makes me giggle.

[muddypeeps]

I've come back from the dead to talk about Stephanie Brown for a second here because I really like her character. Now I can't guarantee this accurate to like... anything, so yell at me if it isn't!!

Anyways actually rambling time. To me Steph has very loud personality. The most common example of this is that Steph's anger is loud, she doesn't hide that I feel. However that also means her happiness is loud, anger and happiness are very connected to each other. As anger is usually formed from the absence of something, say for Steph a lack of good father, while happiness is formed from the gaining or having something, say Steph gaining a close bond with Cass letting Steph feel like she can rely emotionally on someone in a way she couldn't with other people (as Steph could very much be emotionally vulnerable with Crystal, but it was also complicated, I'll go more into it in a bit). Now this is where some people leave her character traits at, which can sometimes be fine, but I also feel like it leaves a lot that people can use Steph's character for. Because Steph's compassion and sadness are also very loud.

Steph's compassion is very much influenced by her moral compass. As seen from the fact that Steph became a nurse for a good bit because a man and a tiger died from a cop shooting them and she couldn't save them. Now this does also lead to a lot of guilty. Having compassion is great, but it also has its cons like everything else, it's just to Steph especially the pros outweigh the cons. Her compassion is loud in such a way that if you get helped but Steph I feel like you could genuinely just tell from that Steph is a good person, a hero even. It's not overwhelming though it's just assuring. This is also where you can really see Steph shine through. Steph is different from say Jason is this regard when it comes to this type of compassion. Because Jason isn't tied to guilt in the same way that Steph is. Jason can take a life because he can be assured that it was the right decision because other people were being hurt and now they won't be. With Steph however she thinks of it in a different way i feel. Steph wouldn't be able to reassure herself that killing someone would fully be the right decision unless pushed to absolute extremes here because yes killing them would stop people from being hurt by that person, but who's say that people will not also be hurt from the death of that person even more so. Death isn't a one way deal after all, killing a criminal can bring safety... but it can also get rid of stability. I feel like Steph with Cluemaster as her dad could understand that, though Jason would also understand it but their moral compasses are different in that regard but I am not here to talk about Jason that much.

Now onto Steph's sadness being loud. Sadness and anger are like twins, they are both caused by the same thing but they are different reactions to it. Steph is the type to have sadness underneath her anger and vice versa. It's honestly something that I love to see in characters and I wish that people would write Steph more in this way.

You might be wondering though that based on what I said earlier how can Steph have troubles with being emotionally vulnerable if she has a loud personality? Well you see that is because Steph isn't always verbally loud, I mean she certainly is sometimes, but not always. However Steph's behaviors have always been pretty loud, it's just harder for people to pick up on that sort of thing. That's why Crystal couldn't always understand Steph when she was emotionally vulnerable and Steph with all that honestly overwhelming compassion didn't want to give her mother more work or things to worry about. This is why Steph and Cass's relationship works so well. Because Steph both a) can talk enough for both of them and still understand Cass because Steph shockingly (/s) has a good bit of empathy and can read people pretty well, b) Cass is y'know very good at reading body language which Steph always speaks very loud with in a metaphorical sense and that is absolutely something Cass can pick up. They understand the parts of each other that other people might not be able to understand. As much as Crystal is a pretty good mother and she really does try, it doesn't mean that Steph reallys know how to be emotionally vulnerable in a way that her mom will be fully able to understand. It's just relationships (especially with parents) are complicated like that. Anyways that's all I really have to say. Once again feel free to decide to disagree with me or like make your own take!!

[youngerfrankenstein]

So today I watched two movies where the deuteragonist goes kinda nuts and turns into a dragon thing, before the protagonist has to calm them down.

They were both a pretty fun time!

Promare is something I had been meaning to watch for quite a while but somehow never got around to. Glad I finally did!

Promare has quite possibly the Worst oppression allegory I have ever seen. A bunch of people are discriminated against because they burned half the world and killed billions (with a B!) of people. Also it’s not actually anything inherent to them it’s a bunch of alien parasites that will destroy the planet. However, since this is basically just an excuse for robots to fight other robots on fire… I can’t say I really care in the end. Promare is ENTIRELY style over substance, and I mean that in the best way.

The plot is breakneck and stupid. Most of the characters barely register as such. The dialogue is so dumb. And it FUCKING RULES! I’ve seen the film described as “Anime the Anime” and that does kind of sum it up. Everything feels like a ten year old boy smashing his action figures together and you can’t help but get swept up in the enthusiasm.

Helped by the absolutely (excuse the pun) FIRE soundtrack. The energy almost never lets up, and on-the-nose engrish lyrics just add to the experience. Even if you don’t watch the movie holy heck listen to the soundtrack.

The characters may be paper-thing but holy hell are they fun to watch. Our protagonist, Galo, himbo extraordinaire is as ridiculous as he is somehow charming. You can’t help but admire his drive to help people. And his foil, the ironically icy Lio, here to set fires and fight for his rights. Aina, a nice, spunky girl set up as a love interest for about five minutes before it turns out her character has more of a story based around her relationship with her sister. Which is a nice change! In fact the only romance in the story arguably involves CPR for plausible deniability. And our hero remembers to open the airway thank heck. Though whether intentional or just ship tease who knows? And who cares. You can guess who the villain is about ten seconds after he shows up and he is as much a blast to watch as the rest.

And really, this is a movie with a secret robot used to save the day called the Deus X Machina. A movie that ends with two shirtless guys setting the Earth on fire to stop the Earth from being set on fire. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and really neither should you. Let it sweep you away for almost two hours and you will feel much better afterwards.

-

I started reading Nimona around the time it was wrapping up as a webcomic. I have a copy of the graphic novel on my shelf. I was excited when I heard the movie had been greenlit (less so when I heard it was Blue Sky Studios), disappointed by the cancellation and, well, I’m happy it’s here now. While I’ve gotten grouchier over the years, it does make me smile to see these guys on my television, even if they’re not quite the same people either.

Because the movie is very different, and yet much of it feels similar as well. Certain scenes, like the board game, are almost directly from the comic, others are from the comic but not quite the same. The characters are different, Ballister is less jaded, Ambrosius less delusional and Nimona less, well, monstrous. She seems to more beat the snot out of people than commit mass murder. In the comic she’s every bit the monster people fear her to be, though a sympathetic one, and perhaps one who will heal someday. While the ending of the movie is far happier, it fits the new tone. And honestly? I need to stop making comparisons and judge the damn movie on its own merits. Of which it has many!

Our setup is fairly simple, Ballister BlackBoldheart is a new knight of the realm, who immediately gets framed for the murder of the queen and disarmed (heh) by his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin, while on the lam he is approached by a shapeshifter called Nimona who is up for a little mayhem and hijinks. Together they try and clear his name.

My fist fear when I heard Blue Sky studios would be the ones releasing the movie was that a lot of the humour would be Quite Bad. And while there definitely is plenty of that, I think more gags hit than miss. Hell the movie got quite a few laughs out of my dad and he’s a fair bit less likely to chuckle than I am. It is quite a funny movie, which is good because it helps the harsher moments hit harder. Because there are also plenty of those, especially in the final act.

Speaking of, the film is somewhat surprisingly well paced. Scenes tend not to overstay their welcome and the movie flows well. What else flows well? The animation! (My segways not so much) Everything is very smooth, which is rather necessary for all the shapeshifting, and there’s quite an interesting scene made to look as if subway tiles are telling the story of Nimona’s origins (ish).

And the main trio really are quite fun to watch. Ballister, always the underdog, now a public enemy and trying to both clear his name and perhaps open his mind a bit. Ambrosius, golden boy, trying to do the right thing and not always doing a great job. And, of course, Nimona, who’s just here to break shit, though it is quickly clear there’s more underneath, also a pretty blatant trans allegory.

The relationships Ballister has with both the other two are sweet as heck, but also riddled with mistrust that they all have to work to overcome.

And while the movie does get a little preachy at times, it’s a kid’s movie. What do you expect? Rah rah fight the power, all that jazz. I may be too jaded for it but it certainly works.

—

Would recommend checking out both or either if they sound like something you’d enjoy!

[milleart]

hello! it's your 7kpp secret santa here and WOW that's some delicious piece of info! i love how in depth your response is! with that said... *puts on interviewer hat* another round of questions i would like to ask are:

what are nayeli and lien hua's roles during week 5's theatrical, and what are their thoughts about it as the theatrical descends further into a charade of what it's supposed to be?

did nayeli and lien hua give anything to their SOs and if yes, what did they give (i don't wish to assume that they gave their SOs the best gifts from the options in the game) and how are their letters like? (e.g. lengthy paragraphs, legibility of their handwritings, ink stains on their letters etc.)

not really relevant to the gift itself, but why did you choose the names "nayeli" and "lien hua" for them, and why did you choose yellow/orange and green/white for their colour schemes? p.s. i love their designs!

thank you for reading, sorry that this time is more rambly!

no thank you for all your questions!! it's been really fun to ramble about my girls a bit 🩷 

1. Oh god the theatrical :') After the trial, Lien Hua was absolutely drained and overwhelmed so the moment the theatrical came up she was just "oh fuck no". She immediately beelined for the backstage work before Jaslen was even halfway through explaining the main character roles. Still, she does most of the delegate herding/"please get your shit together" speeches because of her sense of responsibility, but she's not really enjoying it at all. She doesn't feel like it's proper to host something like that after everything that happened but wouldn't voice it openly.

Nay meanwhile jumped in on the acting because a) it's silly and fun and b) she doesn't really want to think about the trial and everything that happened there anymore, it really shook her up. Sharp-tongued Vienna was a perfect fit for her and she even got to tease Blain on stage a bit so all in all a great opportunity. She's great at improvising and has a lot of presence + she gets along with Zarad well so it was fun to play together. And she totally jived with the pirate chicken attack.

2. Gifts! :3 Lien Hua likes her gifts to be practical, useful. Part of is her personality, part of it is because it's less emotionally vulnerable to give something that another person can use (no matter their feelings towards the source) rather than something that would only have value based on the recipient's relationship with her. She absolutely overthinks stuff like this. 

During the Summit, she'd probably want to give Jarrod something he could use but that'd also encourage his growth. I can see her getting him a small and good quality leather journal, thinking that since he has so many (usually negative) opinions on everything, he could use a place to write them down instead of bellowing them to the world. Of course she wouldn't frame it like that, she'd make it into something much more ego-stroking and say it's for recording aaaall his victories and successful hunts and thoughts because someone like him must have soooo many of them to share wink wink. 

Nayeli's a bit more chill about gifting, she just enjoys seeing people's reactions to whatever she saw that made her think of them. She also likes her gifts to feel like treasure so they usually come with a tale about how she found it.. or some embellished backstory she made up on the spot to entertain. Blain loves beautifying himself so it'd be super obvious to get him something in that vein, and lucky for him Nay loves sparklies too so she'd get him some pretty accessory like the cravat pin mentioned in game. Coupled with a cheeky but effusive letter with tons of extremely blatant praise.

Handwriting-wise, it's kind of a funny contrast in a way. Nay's dad was very big on calligraphy practice and all that so even though it was boring for her all these hours spent on practicing made it so that Nay's handwriting is actually really nice and legible, you wouldn't think it belongs to her at first. The letters are well-formed even though they might have a bit of a forward slant when she writes fast (which is often), she also adds little flourishes here and there, if you're really observant you'd notice it reflects her mood too, she presses her pen hard if frustrated or irritated. Her letters are very stream of consciousness, she doesn't really compose them before hand unless it's really important/official. 

Lien Hua's handwriting is very efficient, not a great feat of calligraphy but not illegible. It's somewhat nicer when she writes in Jiyeli, but in general its the kind of handwriting you'd be happy to see if you borrowed study notes from someone. There's not much flourish, the letters are small and evenly spaced. Her hands tremble when she's extremely stressed or upset though, if you see her letters get wobbly it means things are really bad. She reads a lot of course so her letters sound nice, with long and thoughtful paragraphs. At the same time, she can be a bit warmer in her letters than in person. She's not always good at saying the emotional stuff openly. 

3. This part might be a bit disappointing because I usually don't go very deep with the names and go with the flow of what feels nice / seems culturally appropriate.

Lien Hua was my very first character I played and her name mostly comes from me liking the sound and meaning for it and deciding to use it when I immediately got Jiyel and saw the cultural inspiration behind it. But it means "lotus" and sounds feminine so it works well for a daughter's name in a traditional family.

Nayeli's name I put slightly more thought into! It actually means "I love you", and the love you feel in the Pirate!MCs family, on all sides, is so touching that I wanted it reflected in how they named their daughter.

Design-wise, Lien Hua was actually supposed to be wearing mainly pastel pink in the original iteration but it didn't feel right so I played around with colours until I got something that works. Also, her dress is heavily based on an ao dai, though with a skirt to make it more princessy. She'd absolutely wear pants to the Summit if she could get away with it, though.

Nay I wanted to be colorful and warm and also a bit chaotic and sparkly, I was inspired by this dress: https://pin.it/WUIqGZRGr so that's where the black/yellow combo started. The green in her jewelry is for some extra contrast, though I played around with different shades until it felt right ^^

[armandyke]

My next lot of ten reviews featuring one hell of a rant

31) Cujo by Stephen King (5⭐)

Again I’m not gonna go too in depth with the Stephen King classics because like, we all know what’s going on here. This is the one about the rabid dog. I gave it 5 stars, it gives everything you expect from a good Stephen King book, and it made me cry because despite being a classic I didn’t actually know how it ended. And, yeah, maybe up there in my top five Stephen King books so far. 

32) The Dark Net by Benjamin Percy (3.5⭐)

This is a weird one because it was good, but it also wasn’t really about what it said it was about. The “dark net” is barely a factor in this book. The evil demon people recruit like, one guy, through the internet, and the internet then plays a key role in the climax of the book, but for the most part it’s just standard physical demon monsters and the like. 

It’s not a bad thing, and it’s not a bad book, I guess I just expected something slightly different than what I got. 

33) The Dinner Guest by B P Walter (4.5⭐)

If you’re a fan of How To Get Away With Murder, I recommend this book. It has a similar structure, opening with us finding out someone’s been murdered, and then skipping backwards and forwards in time to give us little pieces of the puzzle at a time. 

In essence, the story is about Charlie, a man who lived with his husband and teenage son, and when a strange woman suddenly inserts herself into their lives, his husband winds up dead. We follow the story from the very beginning, getting perspectives from several different characters but predominantly from Charlie and Rachel, the mystery woman. I will say one major downfall of this book was that any time we focused on the teenage son, it became very obvious that the author was not a teenage boy, and, despite presumably having been one in the past, he does not know how teenage boys act or talk. 

Aside from that, I loved this book. It was completely bonkers, the twists were over the top and far fetched, and I loved that. If you’re looking for serious, gritty crime this might not be for you, but if you want a bit of fun and whimsy I recommend. 

34) The Cloisters by Katy Hays (2⭐)

The funny thing about this book is that I remember very little about it, but the one thing that still sticks in my mind to this day is the fact that the main love interest was never described. 

I genuinely presumed this was going to be a sapphic book after we got an in depth description of the protagonists female companion, but alas it was not to be. I can’t even tell you what hair colour her love interest has. I couldn’t even have told you concretely that he had hair until about halfway through the book when it’s mentioned offhand that his hair was falling out of its bun. Genuinely the most baffling move I’ve ever seen in a book. 

It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it definitely wasn’t anything above mediocre and forgettable.

I also have it on good authority that the descriptions of the Cloisters were bad and didn’t make any sense based on the actual layout of the place. 

35) Diavola by Jennifer Thorne (5⭐)

Aren’t you tired of stories about toxic families that end with everybody kissing and making up? Don’t you just wanna go apeshit? Well this is the book for you. 

This story follows Anna, who is forced to spend her Summer vacation with her family in Italy. They rent a creepy old house in a desolate part of town with one very simple instruction: do not unlock the door to the tower. And you’ll never guess what happens next. 

It’s a classic haunted house story, but the real focus is Anna’s family, who treat her like absolute shit. It’s genuinely stressful seeing this woman being gaslit and mistreated in real time, to the point where you start to wonder if she really is the problem. I won’t get into it any more than that because it will spoil the experience, but I thought the way it was written was genuinely really clever and I highly recommend it if you want a good haunted house story with a little something extra. 

36) Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (4.5⭐)

This is a beautiful little book that I have absolutely no idea how to describe. It’s a story about a man who lives in a very strange little world, with absolutely no memory of why he’s there or who he is. I really can’t describe it any more than that without starting to give things away, it’s the kind of book I think you need to go into blind. 

I really liked it. I loved the strange little world he was living in and I loved him. Recommend if you want a bit of a mystery, or just something different. 

37) Nettle and Bone by T.Kingfisher (3.5⭐)

This book was not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it definitely didn’t capture me the way T.Kingfisher’s other books have. Maybe it’s because this one was much more of a fantasy book than a horror book, so it was a lot more whimsy than creepy. But it just didn’t hit the same for me. 

I still very much recommend if you’re looking for a little standalone fantasy story to read. This follows a woman who is determined to kill a prince, after one of her sisters dies presumably by his hand and her second sister is subsequently married off to him. Accompanied by a witch, a fairy godmother, a knight, and a demonic chicken, she has a series of tasks to complete to make sure the prince can’t harm anyone else. It’s just fun, and really sweet. I love this woman’s writing so much. Not my favourite of hers, but still great. 

38) The Hatching (3.5⭐) Skitter (1⭐) and Zero Day (1⭐) by Ezekiel Boone

Oh my god what a pointless fucking series this was. I bought the second book, not realising it was a series, so then had to buy the first book, and then, for reasons I’m about to get into, I also had to buy the third book. And now here we are. Thank god I bought two out of three of these second hand. 

The first book was fine. Good, even. A story about an uprising of unstoppable, flesh eating spiders, complete with gross gore and all that fun stuff. In fact, I’d even go as far as recommending the first book to people who enjoy a bit of cheesy, gross horror. But for the love of god, leave it at that. The other two books do not need to exist, because nothing fucking happens in them. 

I’m gonna give spoilers because I don’t care. Because in many ways there aren’t any spoilers to give. I cannot stress enough to you that in the second book (Skitter) nothing happens. Nothing happens. The second book is literally, 100% just the human characters discussing the events of the previous book, and trying to plan for the next spider uprising, which doesn’t happen until halfway through the third book.

I cannot stress enough to you that there are no spiders in the second book. 

And then. AND THEN. After being forced into reading the third book (Zero Day), when the spiders finally make their grand reappearance, they are almost immediately defeated by the main characters [checks notes] shooting the queen spider. They take her out with one shot and then it’s over. There are tears running down my face as I’m typing this I cannot stress enough to you that the flesh eating spiders are in this book for like five chapters. 

39) Come Closer by Sara Gran (4⭐)

This is a little novella about a woman who doesn’t know whether she’s mentally ill or being possessed by a demon. We’ve all been there, right? There’s not much more I can say about it because it’s very short, but I had fun with it. I liked the writing style and it made me giggle a few times, and hey, it’s relatable. 

40) Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison (4⭐)

I don’t know what I was expecting from this book, but it was a lot different from what I got. Don’t get it twisted though, because I really loved it. 

This is the story of Vesper, who left her religious cult upbringing at the age of 18 and has been attempting to make a fresh start, when a surprise wedding invitation between her ex best friend and her ex boyfriend ends up drawing her back home for what should be the last time. It’s hard to go too much more into the story because the twist is really fun and I think the less you know about this book going in, the better. Just know that it deals with family issues, religious trauma, and that feeling of not belonging in a really fun and interesting way. After the initial twist I could kind of see where the rest of the story was going, and the ending felt a little bit anticlimactic. But I still had a lot of fun reading it.

[california-112]

TLG: E08 'Live'blog

Welcome to 2025! I am still on this train! Next stop: a Byers-centric ep!

TL;DR - This ep. This ep...we got the hurt/comfort. We got protective!Jimmy and Jimmy-Byers friendship. We got the 'sneaking into a prison' trope done EXCELLENTLY. This might be my fave so far because when I said Byers-centric, I was so right...my boy... ;-;

Oooh, big ship!

Langly I love your outfit! When did you get your shirt bestie

Frohike, down boy.

We stan a man who keeps his mind on the job tho

BASEBALL CAP BYERS!!!

Elvis impersenator?

Please say it isn't. Who I think it is. Please.

NO

Actually? Get it Jimmy. You're pretty good.

Not the fingerprint being 'read' by the screen lmao

Wait they thought this was a legit Elvis??? Dafuq?

Mic flip???

However. It does clearly show us that that mic is missing an XLR cable so. Hm.

F*ck.

Credits B)

He's still wearing the wig lolll

Byers I love you. Nothin in particular that this comment goes with I just love him

"I'm starting to think that maybe Elvis is really dead" Lmaooo

Is that the French Attache guy from the last ep?

Langly having a fight or flight moment

Jimmy's smile is nice! :)

Byers proper smile moment (rare!)

Actually I don't think it is the French Attache but he's certainly been in something TXF-related before

Your OUTLAW son?

A Team reference!

Are we going to get our own 'sneak into prison dressed as an inmate' ep? 👀

Byers putting a Thomas Jefferson quote into the mix for no reason

Jimmy's going in?

Wait why is Byers undressing. And what's with the cuffs

Texas?

Byers AND Jimmy!

Wait they put them straight on DEATH ROW what the f*ck???

Byers,,,

Ohhh I feel a panic attack fic coming on

I bet this guy kills the cockroach

Called it

Jimmy :(

And they are breaking into a burger place because...?

He had a silent alarm in a burger joint???

"Take my word for it! Pfeifer is absolutely a murderer!" Ah yes. That surely sounds trustworthy.

"He don't? Uh, uh..." Getting into character lmao

EXACTLY Yves. Glad you're here to put some sense into them.

Femenine wiles lol

Wait Byers. Byers. Wait. Byers

"You're not the fighting type." / "I won't have to be." Whump-lovers dream scenario coming up I fear

HE'S MY B*TCH???

PROTECTIVE JIMMY YESSS

Also he's in cell DR-007 lol

Byers.

Get! It! Yves!!!

Not the bubblegum and everything lmao

BYERS NOOO

"Where's John?" 🥺😭

Jimmy is just completely entranced lol

"I miss you baby..." / "Yeah? Oh!" They are made for eachother

Jimmy stop.

THE GUARD LMAOOO

Oh nice move

Peebo.

He broke his f*cking arm?

Byers nooo. My boy :(

Steady on Pfeifer damn

Oh yeah like he'll be able to wear that unobtrusively. Tf???

Aw f*ck.

Alright so what do we reckon Byers and Jimmy are '''in for'''

The lawyer!

The way they're showing us (the audience) this over-ear display absolutely rocks

Wait so Byers got whumped for NOTHING?

Jimmy look out!

Is the mom involved somehow?

They're sleeping on camp beds in their motel base...

Bet you it's not Yves

CALLED IT

LANGLY you need to get better at hiding things

You're actually being pretty cute in this scene tho ngl

"She's agreed to marry me!" WHAT IS THAT COVER STORY

Yes Yves. Toad boyyy

He's outside. He's outside!

Jimmy, don't trust this man.

He wants to farm cockroaches. (Different man)

Wait how is Byers' arm ok

Bro take the damn smoke.

Yes Byers!!!

Turn those puppy eyes on, damnnn

Ah yes. Prison officers

Why didn't we get a Byers + Frohike and Langly reunion??? He's been hurt, hello???

What's with the cowboy hats in the waiting room lol

Tell him!

They're rangers?!

Yeeeah! Happy Elvis montage!

Not 'Roach Rescue' 💀

Don't slap my boy lady your son literally did it

Something about how Byers just stands there in the rain and Jimmy walks over and covers him with the umbrella. My heart...

HUG!? 🥺

THIS EPISODE oh my god. Oh my goddd