#but again I don't think I'm the target audience XD

[redstarfish-art]

Hey, DC. When I was screaming about how you should try to capitalise on the family aspect of the Batfam in the comics because it would bring in lots of money, I was not suggesting that you make them hug and say "I love you" every two seconds.

[soulsisterif]

LITG Season 9

(Not Soul Sister related, people, just ranting)

After weeks and weeks of not playing I got up to date with season 9 and... Well, actually I didn't finish playing the latest volume. Same disappointments as always. I'm not one to post to complain but I'm kinda frustrated. Ranting got too long, so, under the cut.

First off I understand that male LIs are also infuriating and that wlw players are not this game's target audience (then again, there are few of those) but dude, at this point I'd rather not have any sapphic options. The last route I recall being actually good (by which I mean the female LI not stringing me along à la Marisol until the very end) was Najuma's and Angie's, and that was season 4. Yes, you can only couple up with Angie at the end too, but you get so many info about her, and so many sweet moments and bonding that I didn't even care. And it's more about her being unsure of her feelings than unwilling to be with you. Quite relatable. Peak of this game for me, if I'm being honest. Good friends to lovers, even if they went too far too fast with the sex scene in my opinion. Still, it was very well written!

But every single season after that had the female LI fucking drooling over several men (and sometimes women too) and then adding a half-assed line like, "'oh, but I don't know, I have my eyes on someone else too', she gives you a wink". Like that makes it okay? I think the only truly unapologetically loyal female LIs were Najuma and AJ back in season 3.

They put so little thought into incorporating the wlw routes that to make them progress you have ludicrous paths. Like, in my playthrough Henri won a challenge and as a prize my MC could actually dismiss him and choose to go to the hideaway with Natasha or Kelly instead. Like ??? That's just bad writing.

What's worse, we can't even make friends anymore, it's all about romance, which wipes out most of the appeal this game had for me. Practically every islander, even after you reject them, comes at the MC confessing their undying love like a crazy stalker for no reason, because we know nothing about each other! Besides half of the options you have to get to know more about what's happening around you force you to be an insufferable gossip or a petty child. "Let's listen to a private convo, MC", "Why don't you sneak a kiss with guy 2 to make guy 1 jealous?" And you have to pay an unfair amount of gems to do it, on top of it!

I want to get to know the characters BEFORE I choose who I want to pick. I want to know the characters even if they are not romanceable. It's ridiculous, though, that there are seasons in which you know more about your besties than you do about your LI. That's why Angie, or Seb, or Nicky, or Viv or Thabi, hell, even Hope and Lottie, wth all their flaunted flaws are so appealing. That's why Season 2 is so goddam popular. We had actual interactions back then. Now, whatever interactions there are, you just witness.

This is also why people like games like Too Hot to Handle so much more. I'm not really into guys but I still play their routes because it's good content beyond romance stuff. Hell, Jirayu may be my favourite out of this season's bunch. And they're all different! It's an interactive game, choices should matter.

At this point I'll probably stop playing and limit myself to read other people roasting Fusebox. Honestly, a company that asks for the fans' opinions season after season just to ignore all the feedback doesn't deserve half the players they still have.

There, ranting over XD

[lilolilyr]

Heyyyy! 2, 11 and 15 for the unfinished business ;)

Thanks for the questions! It's always fun to talk about my wips :D

I feel like maybe I should've posted a list with the ask meme with my many many unwritten or unpublished fics for you to choose from xD so for future askers, here goes, my main current and future projects at the moment:

- Bering and Wells days 12, 16 and 18 of the Advent Calendar

- Star Trek college AU continuation

- chaos scifi dystopia idea

Plus some ideas I might or might not ever write:

- twilight SIOC

- Berena continuation to the matchmaker fic

- St Clare's (for example something introspective about wlw Alison... or reader x headmistress Theobald smut because reasons xDxD or some character studies!)

- Malory towers Clarissa x Bill or Billx Miss Peters or Miss Peters x Self insert… so many options xD

- St Clare’s or Mallory Towers SIOC (like the stories where readers end up in the world of Twilight as Bella or in middle earth or the galaxy far far away? Except you end up a boarding school girl in the 40s. both fun and very very unfun I’d say)

- Emily Lake Trauma

~

but as this ask is still open to interpretation I'll go with my most recent dumb idea, it'll probably be a Milippa fic but more to why I'm not entirely sure on that point in the actual answers!

2. How did you get the idea to write this?

It came to me in a dream!

No, seriously.

I don't usually remember much from my dreams, or when I do it's just a jumbled mess of scenes that don't make any sense or don't fit together or both, but yesterday (day before? idk) I woke up and had a fully fledged dystopia novel in my head. Well, not really, it still was dream-like and chaotic, for example I wasn't entirely sure whether it was aliens taking over the world or some kind of robot and that seems like a major plot point doesn't it xD plus

11. Is there any scene you can't wait for people to react to when reading? Why?

Already answered something for that particular fic here, so how about I'll talk about a Bering and Wells WIP, that's probably more what you're here for anyway! :D

I haven't written this one at all yet, but I'm really excited to get to Myka noticing how it isn't just a crush, she's falling in love with Helena, and her panicking and all the feels! And I'm also excited to see what people will think of whatever I'll come up with for that one!

15. Do you have any unwritten scene that you think about a lot?

At the moment it's the reunion of the main characters of the (maybe)Milippa fic! But that's just right now really. I have tons of scenes I keep thinking about - but most of the ones that I think about again and again have a tendancy to be very removed from canon, after juggling them in my brain for years and years xD and that way it gets even less likely for me to write the fic, because it would have a target audience of 1 person namely me!

unfinished fic ask meme

[elletromil]

elle's January 2023 rec list

So I just thought this year I would try to do a little something fun and rec things I enjoyed throughout the month, and by things I mean pretty much anything that come to my mind (so like, books, shows, music, food, etc)

It, of course, won't be an exhaustive list of everything i've consumed, just the things that stood out for a reason or another

Books

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

In 2022, I started reading through Natasha Pulley's books and I really enjoy her writing style. Without going into details, even my least favourite book of hers, it wasn't anything she could have changed because it had to do with me being so picky with time-travelling stuff.

Anyway, The Half Life of Valery K is easily my second favourite. I liked it so much that even though I had borrowed it from my public library in December and really should have finished way before January started, mid-way through I just went "you know what? nah, i'm keeping the second half for later, I don't want to be done with this yet"

I just really love the way she builds up relationships and how diverse her characters are and how everyone had flaws and good sides and it's not just black and white thinking. Also, this one didn't, but the other books usually have a little element of like urban fantasy/sci-fi (i'm saying sci-fi because time travelling) in them, and i seriously love when there are stories that are based on real life but with a little add-on.

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White

So, even tho I love sci-fi, I don't actually read all that much of it? I just gravitate towards fantasy more often then not or romantic stuff with a fantastic elements in it.

I sure am glad I decided to check that book out though because damn it's good :D

I really enjoyed the alternating POVs between the two main characters and while I am usually a "no, let the relationship develop slowly" kinda gal, in the context of the plot, even if it was rushed I was left with a "yeah, no that checks out, none of it is happening 'too fast'". Because even tho I do love romance, when it's not fanfiction, I have some difficulties enjoying a book when like within a day of meeting each other for the first they already want to get married. (I am not saying this is what is happening in this book, because it's not)

Also I really love the fact that the people at the center of the book and controlling the mechas were all musicians? And not like soldiers or revolution fighters by trade or something like this. That felt very refreshing! (But then again, like i said, i rarely reads sci-fi, so maybe it's more usual than i think XD)

I really enjoyed reading a book where one of the main character was non-binary. Most of the books I read are queer-flavored in one way or another, but it's one of the first where there was a non-binary main character and it made me want to find more books with characters that are not just gay.

Honorable mention:

In Deeper Waters by F.T Lukens.

It's not the first book by Lukens I read and it won't be the last. Did the book left me raving at everyone that they should read it? No. Was it still very enjoyable? Yes.

I don't think it was doing anything new, but it was still a fun read! And one that was... I want to say "easy"? As in it's for a younger target audience than my 31 yo ass, so I just got through the book in two days no trouble. Which you know, sometimes you just want some quick no-brainer fairy tale romance and this delivered.

And I say no-brainer, but I shouldn't because there was still a bit of intrigue and mystery in it, that even if I had no trouble seeing through didn't leave me going "COME IT'S OBVIOUS" at the characters. And it's not like the intrigue and mystery was the purpose of the book either.

TV Show

The Last of Us

I won't go into details because well, you probably know them already.

I will just say that 75% of the reason I started watching/wanted to watch it was because of Pedro Pascal because I quite like him as an actor. And that 50% of why I am really enjoying the show is because Pedro Pascal is 200% dilf in it. I am not ashamed to say it and it's not like I'm the first one to say it, far from it.

Also so far, besides Pedro Pascal, my favourite things are the opening scenes of each episode. They add some layers to the whole show I feel like.

Music

Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) by Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox and Sweet Megg

So like a lot of people, I was done with hearing Running Up That Hill and it's 2 billion covers. But I usually like Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox covers so I gave it a listen, put it in my winter 2023 playlist and then forgot about it.

Until last week when I ended up on it again and just have been listening to it on repeat since. I just really love the tempo of it, the piano and saxophone.

Dixie by Harmonium

This one is an oldie but oh so fucking good~

So Harmonium is a Québécois band from the 70s with wonderful music (highly recommend the album Les Cinq Saisons, it's on spotify) and Dixie is just so fun to listen to.

I went to see a concert with my parents mid-january where they did orchestral arrangement of the band's music and it was just all so good.

Food

Lemon coco cake

Not the first time I made it and it sure won't be the last :)

I love the texture of the cake and also how easy and quick it is to make

Recipe (i'm translating the original here because I am nice)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of melted butter

1 ¼ cup of self-rising cake flour (i mean, all purposed flour also work because i know i don't always have cake flour on hand)

200 ml of coconut milk

2 lemons

Make sure you have a cake mold of about 24cm/9.5inches diameter too

Pre-heat the oven at 350F In a large bowl, mix the eggs and the sugar. Add the melted butter then the flour and mix well. Once everything is mixed well add the coconut milk and mix again. Then add the zest and juice from the lemons and (guess what) mix again.

Pour into the cake mould and place in the oven for about 25 min.*

*The recipe says 25 minutes, but everywhere i have made this cake it was at least 30-35 minutes. Just (carefully) stick a knife or one of those long wooden stick in it and make sure it's coming out dry.

According to the recipe book, it makes for six portions. According to me it make for 4 to 6 portions depending on how much you end up liking the cake and how much willpower you have that day.

[visionthefox]

Yes the show is very very messy, but if it's their job, why not make it better? I mean i worked and it comes to a point where companies want to improve make things better try and separate themselves from others. Which was something that they were making at the beginning and now like you said it's just a mess. There are things left unresolved.

I think it's ok to upload a month full of gameplay while Davis and the others try and figure out the lore and what's next, I know davis keeps google sheets of upcoming episodes or ideas (I really don't know, because the only two times that we see what's opened on his computer are during the garden of banban chapter 3 and jumbo's kitchen they appear on screen for a split second), but that works but like in every rp, fanfic, if things are getting out of hand or going in a certain direction, you stick to it or you plot things to actually move around and close certain aspects so the following chapters or replies are coherent to what you wanted or plotted from the very beginning.

I have several things that ticked me off and are sull bothering me because I want to know what was the real meaning behind it.

The first instance of this happening was back in October 2022 where Lunar and Eclipse took over the show. In the first episodes there was an instance where Sun and moon shared a mind and they could see out of Lunar or Eclipse's eyes I don't remember (mind you in the wedding episode Lunar never was mentioned and never appeared, even thought Eclipse took him with him to the wedding) and during that sharing sequence Moon said you Sun need to help and find he way because if we remember Moon was in pain, and efore he episode ended Sun said "no, not again" and he changed places(?). Still in October 2022 Lunar said that everything was going to plan, like he sounded like he had something to plan against Eclipse but he only resolve was I'm out here Moon take over and we never really got to see his true plans.

Fast forwarding to 2023 and when we came to see KC and Lunar inside the mindscape whatavtuañly happened inside there, because in the early days of Lunar he was suppose to suppress the kill code or as he was known back then the homicide code, so what happened did the circuit breaking made everything malfunction or as KC kept growing he overpowered Lunar and that's why he shrunk(?) Because at first he would present as Moon but just a glowing version of him and now he was tiny.

And I have a lot more but these are the ones that haunt me forever.

Also I feel like Eclipse is taking the route of the underpants gnomes like:

Phase 1.- Get the star.

Phase 2.- ????

Phase 3.- Profit

I'm really sorry xD

The targeted audience I really don't know, I think at first was for kids (from the reaction videos), then it kind of moved to teens, now I think its E for everybody channel, i know they are trying to get views (with the introduction of ruinncharacters) and it's understandable I hope they get more views now that dlc is coming out but they also need to tie loose ends before they advance to other things.

working for a company may be hard, I can give Davis that, they are suuuper limited, but also.. they didnt had a complicated storyline before,, they kinda ruined it over time sooo mmhhhh and true true, he could totally keep posting gameplays, since the show was only gameplay and lore was a side thing, they could try and come back to that, keeping ppl in waiting and finally giving a good thing to see.. but nooo noo.. and ok, I write fics, or used to, and I keep at least 3 different files with a storyline, I changed 3 times due to changes that happends as I write, BUT I always keep my files close so I can make sense of what I DO..of course Davis keeps a doc with what to do and what not to do but- then again.. why not working on the lore and logic of your world? because.. what is the rules of this universe? can robot have jobs like a human? or are made to do one thing forever? is every robot sentient? or being sentient is like a miracle? how can robot make babies? is it building it like lego? or in bed? can a robot walk free? magic, how a piece of metal can handle magic? why does it affect a computer with legs? how a robot can create such a destructive thing, does the human working in the plex ever dare to walk in the daycare? are humans even a thing? how come no one ever put a stop to these machines? the ppl looking for Sun and Moon, the cops, what happened to that? see what happend when you dont buiild a work around your story? Davis?! and what you say, true, they lead us with words and indications of a bigger thing, that never happends.. and specially with Lunar he clearly had brains, and had to keep an act, in a way, he played with Eclipse's mind before the back stab, becuase he managed to see the holes on Eclipse plans.. then... what? suddently when Monty make him a body he also made him less smart? less sassy and less sneaky?? why? the whole KC thing, too, like that had no logic, and for me, it had be keep as "Moon's second face" becuse that makes sense than a sentiend line of code.. when KC took control, I felt it, the lore never moved an inch, he acted like he had this oohhh big plan! and oohh so evil he wanted to break moon ooohh but.. then.. he was good?? and.. he then cared for Moon?? huh?? and Eclipse too.. like father like son, he doesnt plan at all , he only dances around then finally throw hands to get what he wants, at least in the early days he clearly was meant to be more of a silly villain, one hurt by Moon's words but also not evil, just annoying.. he moved Sun's body like a puppet but never actually put him in an real danger.. then suddently is this anime villain? (I can writte an long ass post with my theory as to why he changed like this but I wont- I'll save your guys the nonesense) idk, I love the refe tho, that is totally him hahaha but yea.. I think they just need to sattle on who the audience is.. is it kiddos? or teens? then sit the hell down and plan a good damn lore, they can totally re boot the whole universe to one that makes sense and maybe just stop trying to get a new villain every month and just be a wholesome channel like it used to be, that sells too, that can work

they dont need a drama after drama to stay relevant, their channel is the one with more followers, they are high, they can stop the chase..

[sansaorgana]

Ah man not to be a hater but i didn't like this new episode at all. Feels like an episode i probably won't watch ever again. Like giving me this characters that they're interactions in the series had been brief and randomly giving them a bigger light i just i wasn't up for it. I'm all for filler episodes but filler episodes of some bitches i could care less about? 😭😭😭😭 I know (probably) this episode is needed bc it will be for the plot to keep forward and maybe later I'll agree it was needed but probably not LOL. i wanted more din and bo katan and baby grogu adventures and they just didn't give it to me. The episode was going fine until i noticed it had been more than 20 minutes with this people i could care less about so i just watched the episode while scrolling on Tumblr. Which i NEVER do. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Hi there! 😇

I personally loved the plot, it's very much what I like but as I said in my post – I don't see a point of it being a part of The Mandalorian, and yes, I'm sure it's something related to the plot of the new season but I can already see it won't be something I'm going to vibe with in The Mandalorian context because honestly? I thought he would try to get to Mandalore and bathe in the Living Waters for the whole season xd This political plot with a bit of a horror twist is not exactly what I want to see in The Mandalorian. It's kind of like The Mandalorian is trying to be "Andoresque" but... They're two completely different media with different purposes and different target audiences (apart from people who watch everything Star Wars).

I was into the plot a lot but it just feels off in The Mandalorian context as I said before. Overall, though, I loved the characters and the vibe. I love that (I think) I was fooled by the female character (I don't remember her name, sorry) because I thought she worked for the Empire? Maybe she is but so far she's shown more as a person who wants to be praised in the New Republic. Or maybe she's punishing the doctor for turning his back on the Empire? Also, I love that it shows that the New/Old Republic is not so good and saint (I'm a Dark Side of the Force girlie) and I loved the creepy droids in the public transport as much as the absurdity of the situation where they made a droid a psychologist lol

[scienceoftheidiot]

There are too many things I want to ask, so there we go:

😅 😈 ✨ 💋 ⛔ 🍦 🍷 🌞 💖 ❌ 🎯 👀 🤗 🤲 ⏳ 💔 💥 🤭

(feel free to pick just some of them honestly)

And sorry for the inconvenience, it'll happen again

Ahahahaaaa omg no inconvenience there you're making my day <3 for real. So since there's so many I have decided to cut it in three, and start with the first 6, then I'll reblog when I have time to continue with another batch. (might happen right away, might not, lol).

Thank you so, so much for this :)

😅 What’s a story or scene you’ve created that you’re a smidge embarrassed exists?

Well. Smut. The smut fic, "Burn". I really am embarrassed I posted it but the worst is that it will happen again, since there IS smut in one of the fics I'm writing. Maybe in more than one. Somehow Royai has unleashed my smut writing side ^^" (the enabler will recognize themselves). So like. I'm embarrassed. But I'm having too much fun to stop. Oops.

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

Hm. No. I don't think so ? But there's one I plan in a fic I haven't started writing, just planning (not alone...). A little twist that you'll fall right in if you know me and what I write, and that I find fitting for the fic and as a nod to canon. You won't know more lol.

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Eeeeh. I for sure write exactly what my target audience (me) wants.

Is that okay ?

Okay I think I might be alright at writing soft/tender scenes? I do love to write them, at least.

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

I. Tend to write first kisses over and over again. So hum. Do I really need to answer this question?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

No. I put them on the back burner but rarely scrap them. The one I pushed the further away is an Ishval fic that I feel I need to read more of the source material to write. So, who knows. I have incredibly long fics to write before this one XD

🍦 What’s the sweetest fic you’ve created so far?

Like, sweet, as in there is no trace of angst and only fluff in it ? Or am I allowed some angst ? I have some coming to mind from different fandoms.

For Royai I'm sorry but sweet with no angst is something I haven't come up with yet. And probably won't lol. I guess you can go with this extremely short prompt answer OR this fic that could actually stand by itself I think ? It's sweet alright but really starts with angst soooo (this is all I can write with those two. Whatever happens everything will be bittersweet... suits them). This one, for the Daredevil fandom, is just Foggy getting Matt a present for his birthday, resulting in him getting his signature glasses. It's just what it says on the tin. Sweet and fun friendship fic.

I even found one for the Ripper Street fandom, guys! lol

Original stuff has a lot of fluff but hey have some drunk friends silliness, here.

Here's for the first 6 answers lol stay tuned XD thanks again !!

Send me some emoji asks ? (Or reblog and get one from me 👀)

[epicspheal]

(Same anon) I apologize in advance for this 8-part word vomit, didn't mean for it to get this long. xD I guess that's what happens when you have a lot of thoughts for your favorite characters; especially when this could be the last time we see him. :P If any parts didn't make it, let me know.

Hi there anon!

First off apologies for the late reply! Hopefully I can answer this within the character limit (apparently asks have character limits both for the asker and the answerer). This was definitely a challenging ask to do with formatting because of length so hopefully my thoughts come across okay. I really appreciate your enthusiasm for Gary it’s really heartwarming to see!

While it's true that Project Mew wasn't in the works initially, I'm not sure it's conclusive that they were planning a battle rivalry for Gary and Goh (although if anyone has any sources saying otherwise please let me know). With how they were barely showing Goh do more than throw Pokeballs at Pokemon it's hard for me to see where they were going to include a battle rivalry with Gary and Goh.

As far as a battle rivalry distracting from the PWC, I can see that but personally I think people would've been just really upset that Gary wasn't in the PWC instead finding it more suitable of a challenge

I disagree that a research rivalry wouldn't be believable, since that's basically what Project Mew is. Research in real life is full of rivalries and it produces so much drama in academic institutions. I think it would be more accurate to say it wouldn't be interesting because I'm not sure how children would care about academic drama with how it's portrayed in real life LOL. They kind of actually touched on that back in the Johto arc with Professor Elm getting really heated at times when talking about research but I'm sure went over most kid's head (I know it did for me, but now after having done academic research for almost a decade I can appreciate it a lot more). Which is why Project Mew as a concept is interesting as it makes a research rivalry in a way that isn't boring to the target audience

The anime does not get a lot of credit for how it builds upon the world of Pokemon especially with giving creative on things for kids to do outside of Battling, Contests, and Showcases. Again this is why as a concept I actually really love Project Mew although the execution left a lot to be desired

However, I strongly disagree that the game universe just having 8 badges means its easy. Much of the game text and game-accurate adaptations mention that it's not easy to get 8 badges at all and that many of the trainers you meet on Victory road had been at this for years. Which is why they don't typically have tournaments because in most regions bar Galar there is too few people getting 8 badges and going through victory road to warrant it. Generations mentions that for a long time only 2 trainers had gotten 8 badges, Red and Blue being the last and only people to defeat Giovanni. SV even states that half of gym challengers drop out by the 3rd to 4th badge and most don't even get to 6 badges. In SwSh Raihan makes a note that not even 10 people got to him and of that, only 4 even made it to the challenger's cup.

So it's not easier at all any adaption, but gamewise as the players since we're forced to go through the badge route each game it makes it feel easier than what is.

I don't think anyone thinks he'd be steamrolled by a regular trainer. Everyone knows he's capable. It's about whether or not a win against Ash would be seen as believable, and at the moment it's hard to say. It's true it's hard to judge exactly where he is right now...but I think it's safe to say its "not as strong as he could be". Again he's dividing his time between research (very time-consuming and mentally draining) and training (also very time-consuming and mentally draining). That's going to realistically put a damper on how good he can get with dividing his priorities compared to focusing fully (or majority on one side). Him going against someone who has focused on battling, getting badges and completing trials over 7 regions and having 4 Grand Prize wins (Orange Islands, Battle Frontier, Alola Champion and now World Champion) needs to have some substantial reasoning. Paul is training to be a gym leader so him keeping up with his battling and thus keeping up with Ash makes sense. Misty is a gym leader and has been constantly training as a water type trainer so again her keeping up with Ash (and being able to take out one of his mons this past episode) makes sense. And then of course you have the actual champions in Alain and Iris. For Gary it's not a matter about Project Mew battles against legendaries (because as you mentioned legendary battles vary), but moreso how are they going to frame his off-screen training to make it believable that he even with his time divided he can still keep up with Ash. And for me that means revealing something more than just "I've been training". Maybe mentioning he got offered to be a gym leader but turned it down, saying he challenged the battle frontier, or even getting a mega. And I'm saying this as a Gary fan, but that's just the opinion of one Gary fan.

[Image Description: Screen shot of ask. It reads: “ (Part 8) of Gary's Pokemon. For a final battle to close out Ash's story, Gary is agreed to be one of the top contenders for this. But this is AFTER he just became World Champ, where a loss of any caliber is doomed to be ridiculed. League defeats still leaves a sour taste to this day, what would this one leave. For that, I think they have to be very careful on what they choose to do; especially if it's not a 1v1. “/End ID]  (apologies the alt text did not save for this last screenshot)

After this most recent episode, I agree it would likely be more of a "show me what you got" battle maybe with a little bit of closure for Gary. Like how he wants to move forward with his research career or if he wants to switch and do something else (and part of me kind of hopes he goes back to battling more). And a win or even a tie might rub many the wrong way. I think the best way to go about it would be

A.) Make it a 3 vs 3 like you mentioned B.) Pikachu needs to be in it and get at least one win because he hasn't gotten a chance to do so C.) Be very intentional on how they frame his off-screen training, with something a bit more measurable than just saying "I've been training"

[just-1-scorpio]

Reading Asterion by Alessa Thron, so you don't have to. Chapter 18 and 19.

This is a shared review, and discusion/dissing by me, and @wordsmithic

This time. I have only one positive.

The look of the Pithos's leader is pretty good. I like it.

A woman with a voice changer, and wears an ancient Greek depicting an exaggerated smile, has tears painted on it, and is made out of porcelain? The concept on paper is pretty good. In a batter book she would have actually be intimidating.

That's all with the positivs.

Chapter 18 starts after chapter 17. Asterion, Ariadne, and co, are about to attack the Pithos building. The plan is that they split in to two groups. Group one is Asterion and a few of his men, who go in from the front, whaile group two witch is Ariadne as the lead, Vin, and Theseus from the other said. They go in, and fight insues.

wordsmithic: Since when is Asterion trained to be the leader of an assault team? That's so weird

wordsmithic: Yes, okay Theseus is the mole 99%! If I can understand it, why does Ariadne not even *suspect* it??

scorpio: I don't get this eather. It's clear that Theseus acts suspicious, and she doas not even suspect something. When she is suposed to be smart.

Then sudenly Minos's assasins apear, and Ariadne has a little fight with them, where she literally says "You don't have to do this" to an assasin we literally seen only once in the begining, and probably completly forget about. And it also turns out that Theseus is the mole, to nobady's suprise. I'm sorry, but this was basicly one of the most oviouse plot twists ever.

And Asterion is laying in a pull of blood. Then Ariadne confesses her love to him, and then Pithos kidnaps her.

wordsmithic: Okay, we both called it! But no character saw it coming... Sure... 🤦‍♀️

scorpio: Theseus being the mole, is a pretty badly writen plot twist. Maybe if there was more build up and was less oviouse it could have worked.

wordsmithic: I am confused... Minos's assassins worked with Pithos? I don't remember this, if it happened.

wordsmithic: oohhh noo, not the "mine" thing!! Some readers like those animalistic instincts and I get that I am not the target audience for this but.. damn I cringe every time

scorpio: This "mine" thing is pretty cringe in my openion too.

After this Asterion, and his only surviving man, Vin, are taken to the hospital, where Selene is the nurse for some reason. Hades apears. Asterion wants to find Pithos, to get Ariadne back.

wordsmithic: HADES BEING THE VOICE OF LOGIC! THANK YOU! Too bad the narrative tells us we should not listen to him

scorpio: I agree with Hades too. They bearly know each other, but act as if they had a long romanc.

scorpio: I'm the only one who has the question that, why is Selena a nurse? Maybe I don't know much about her, but as far as I know she has not conection to medicine and healing. She is the titan Goddess of the moon.

wordsmithic: Well yeah she's The Moon basically. Yeah I have no idea why she would do the healing :O

So this is where chapter 18 ends. Don't worry it will be mentiond agein a bit.

So chapter 19 starts with Ariadne being inprisond by Pithos. She thinks a bit, then Thesues steps in, and takes her to they leader, whaile they arguing. Where do to the lack of context, or knowlige about Theseus's life, Ariadne looks rather bad and unsymphatic.

wordsmithic: Yes, thank you, that was my question as well. Why wouldn't they collaborate from the beginning? I hope she can explain this a little bit better although... I doubt it xD

wordsmithic: Eeeeeh.... Didn't she, herself, tell him to come find her a chapter ago? "Listen to me, Asterion. You need to get better, and then you need to come and find me. You did it once, so I know you can do it again." To quote her.

scorpio: Yes too. Doas she want him to find her, or not?

wordsmithic: Finally, something remotely accurate!

wordsmithic: I mean....even if he was not a Monster, Asterion is kind of a mafia boss with his own fighters. Of course he has blood on his hands. Theseus is not entirely in the wrong here.

scorpio: I have a feeling "Theseus is not being in the wrong here" was not intentional on Alessa's part.

wordsmithic: Sorry.... how can you "fight" gods?? That's not even in the myths or Greece's history. The Greeks just changed their religion man. They didn't fight off the actual gods xD No saint went campaigning against Zeus to take him down from his throne.

scorpio: I have this question too? Is changing your religion means "fighint the gods" in this book, or what? What was Alessa thinking?

wordsmithic: She thinks we went on a crusade or something 😂 basically anything else than that characterization would be better

So then Ariadne is taken outside, and we learn that Pithos has basicly an army. Men and women with weapons, and full on military equipment are working for them. And we also meet Pithos's leader.

wordsmithic: "A palace". Thank you, Alessa, for the detailed description. Also what type of palace?? Does she think that all the European countries have one type of palace? Are we still in Greece? Cause we have... two palaces in the whole country, I think?

wordsmithic: As far as I know there are zero palaces on Crete. Does she mean they are on the ancient ruins of Knossos? Or did they build a new palace to stay in? Ughh that is so confusing.

scorpio: I have this question too. The Knossos palece is in ruins. I don't get this eather.

scorpio: I feel like these two chapters were supposed to be emotional. But it faild being it.

scorpio: Ariadne, and Asterion are more annoying then likable, we haven't seen or known Theseus, or Vin to have an emotional gut punch. Same with the Minos assasins apearing. I feelt nothing when Ariadne said "You don't have to do this" to Lynx, or what was her name.

wordsmithic: The Theseus being the mole plot twist, was so predictable, that it faild at being a suprise.

scorpio: Yes. He is the only one logical here, even if we don't agree with him.

wordsmithic: Also, yes, who cares about Lynx and the rest.. we only saw them in one scene

scorpio: I precticly forget about her existenc.

wordsmithic: Same 😂

wordsmithic: Also some said that Ariadne is "Minos' favourite". And ok this makes some sense because Ariadne is "the high priestess" But we don't see what "his favourite" means. Minos treated her like shit all her life. And we still don't know what "high priestess" is supposed to represent

scorpio: I think we don't get an answear to this. At this point we will not learn what it supposed to represent.

wordsmithic: That's what I'm thinking too 😂 What a fail

scorpio: Yes.

wordsmithic: Ariadne is The Bestest and Most Important but we have no idea what her title means

scorpio: Alessa failing at basicl world building. Agein.

scorpio: Also I'm the only one who still has the question about what happand? Okey there were riots, and such but what happand exectly for that day to be referd to as a fall.

wordsmithic: 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Apparently the whole country collapsed with riots and fire

scorpio: The fect that we bearly know anything about both that day, and Theseus, makes Ariadne kinda look bad in the conversetion she has with Theseus. All we know he was poor, and lost is family in a fire. Or something

wordsmithic: Yes! I felt it too. I'm not sure if this collapse is realistic in the first place. Yes, governments and systems do collapse like that but riots alone are not enough to dismantle a whole country. She should have done w civil war or something

wordsmithic: >> All we know he was poor, and lost is family in a fire. Exactly

scorpio: YEs. Riots are not enough.

wordsmithic: "oh you must've been rich if you hae things to lose" Let's stop the assumptions please. Alessa wants us to accept this as reality, ofc

scorpio: It would have been easy to explain that "it was a civil war" instead of riots.

scorpio: The "your angry beacause you now have to work like the rest of us" just sounds bad, when we don't know anything about him.

wordsmithic: "She drowned in a spoonful of water" as we say in Greece

scorpio: Also if instead of riots it was a civil war, that could have been an explonations about why Pithos has guns, and military gear.

scorpio: The only good thing in my openion in these two chapters was the apearenc and look of Pithos's leader. It's a good disgne in my openion. It's just a shame, that it had to apear in this book.

wordsmithic: That's good! So far you have great points and better world building than her

scorpio: Thanks.

scorpio: I know someone who was in the Hungarian Defense Forces. He said that militrary equipment is expensive. So if instead of riots Alessa went with a civil war, then she would have get rid of the "where do they get the money for this", because then Pithos could have used lthe military equipment that was left from the civil war.

wordsmithic: Yess! And Pithos could've been born from the civil war

I think from this little conversetion, it's clear what are the problems with the book.

[chaoscontrolr]

i think the way they wrote sonics personality in the movies is interesting. i like that they kept the main focus of his personality in that hes just a fun loving dude whos caring and knows when to be serious too, but his child-like demeanor surprised me tbh. i don't mind it much and i get that they needed to do something to show some character growth/development, so giving him that young appeal gave an easy base to easily show him grow a bit in maturity on. besides that i think it makes sense that they want a more 'adorable' than 'cool' sonic since honestly the way he looks next to all the real life humans makes him look like a cute plushie tbh and would probably be hard to take seriously if he had the same 'cool' persona as he does in the games/shows/comics, since his literal appearance in the cartoony-looking canon series doesn't make him stick out as the 3 foot fuzzy creature that he is, so he's able to well represent being a super cool guy there but probably not here. finally they probably overall also just want to sell the appeal of a cute and easy to love character too, since this movies target audience tries to rake in everyone and not just people who are young or are already familiar with the character, which is ok. overall i don't have any issue with it (realistically a typical teenager his age isn't incredibly mature to begin with anyway), it was just surprising to see such a more babyified version of sonic than what im used to seeing is all.

edit: i'm also realizing that of course they tried to make sonic as cool as they could for the games/comics because the target audience was mostly younger people, and it probably wasn't going to be as appealing to most of them to see an adorable baby boy fight evil robots right, but that isn't the case with the movie. to me at times i think they went a bit over the top with it but again i think to try and appeal to as many people (including adults and older generations) as they could they just made him into more of this cute little dude since an older person isn't gonna typically see a 14 year old hedgehog and think 'wow how cool' anyway they're thinking 'aw how cute'. finally, sonic was made a whooping 30 years ago so i think naturally with time his personality was going to have to adapt to keep up with the changing ideals of what the majority of people might want to see on screen now (perhaps it has shifted more from wanting to see baddies to wanting to see cuties?) and i guess that's understandable too. so overall ig the combination of it being a live-action movie, not animated, not a game, while also probably trying to appeal to every age group, and just being created in a new decade is why we have cute movie sonic. i hope this was coherent its 1 am i am sleepy XD

[verecunda]

9, 14 and 38 for the tolkien questions!

Thank you! :D

9. Which character do you look the most like?

lol none of them. I'm fairly hobbity, in that I'm short and chubby, but beyond that... nah.

14. Do you think that Tolkien would have like Peter Jackson’s movies?

I think I would say no, based on what I know of Christopher Tolkien's reaction to them. And wasn't he pretty adamant that he didn't ever want Disney to adapt them? I just don't think he'd jive with any Hollywood-ising of his books

38. Someone says ‘LOTR IS BORING/TOO LONG/SUCKS’, how do you respond?

lol this actually happened to me once. It was the first time I was reading it, when I was twelve, just after the first film came out. I was reading it in the school cafeteria at lunchtime, and this older girl - who I didn't know - just came and planked herself down opposite me. When she saw what I was reading, she asked, incredulously, "Do you like it??" I was visibly over halfway through the whole thing, so my response was pretty much, "uh... yeah."

"Did you like the film?"

"Yeah," said I. "That's why I decided to read it."

"Well, I didn't," she said. "I didn't understand it."

"Okay..." I said. (Not wanting to say, "What's not to understand?" And wondering, "Why the hell have you buttonholed me like this?")

She went on and on from here, about how boring it was, and about how Elijah Wood gave her the creeps. Then, I think eventually my decidedly noncommittal responses got through to her that I was not her target audience, because she just kind of fizzled out, then went, "Well, bye." And left me on my own again. To this day, I've never been able to figure out what the hell that was all about. XD

So, yeah. That would be my response. A rather bewildered "Okay...? Well, I like it." XD

[lesbiancarat]

Oohhh at least now we have answers to why a shortened promotion period hdjajdsbdhs i haven't watched the concert because I mixed up the dates bUT from the gifs I saw uhhh help? How are the carats still breathing after seeing that live? I barely survived the gifs bsnssn like svt dancing with females (YESS!) dinoe solo oh and power rangers hip hop unit? XD seemed like a giant fun time (speaking of concerts, there is a rumor we may be having an in person tour? Oof i have mixed feelings on stuff like this)

Omg valid, it keeps changing for me for favorite like right now I am on 2 minus 1 vibes. I am head rocking along to the song (we need more rock songs in kpop just saying) it is a really great album front to back! For sure my fav album for the year. I do see target being common for kpop albums, like you get some exclusive items like a pc or poster which is very cool and nice to see!

But nooo, both wrists!? D: that doesn't sound good, omg please take all the time you need. As said before, post the missed updates later if needed. Your health is super important!!

Ok so part two because I missed another part of my message BUT I agree. Music shows while are important to help give a group some boost, for a senior group who already has gained success, not so much. I mean look at exo or shinee for example. They don't get wild wins sure but they have a consistent success and svt is the same. Am I happy to know svt is breaking records? Yes!! Always am :D but svt are VERY well respected by everyone. They don't need to prove anything anymore

finally getting this! the end of the semester got a bit busy for me lol. i still haven't recovered from the power of love concert TT especially dinos new solo songs, they really just reminded me how much hes grown 🥺 i'm glad they let him and hoshi do some solo stages since jun and minghao weren't there to do perf unit songs, i think it was a good solution. i heard that rumor about an in person tour as well, but since we haven't heard anything yet i'm not sure if anything will come of it. i also have mixed feelings about it, on one hand i'd love to see them in concert again and i know they'd love to perform in front of an in person audience again (especially cheol, since it's been so long for him). but on the other hand it's not as if covid has just gone away...

i think my wrists are definitely better than they were a few months ago so i'm still trying to rest them as much as i can, but there are still bad days TT i've been prioritizing my health but it's also frustrating that i can't run this blog with as much diligence as i'd like to so i really hope they get better soon TT

very much agree!! some ppl act like it's shameful for older groups especially to not win this award or that award or music show wins, but it really happens all the time. it doesn't mean that group or artist is any less respected or successful. after a certain point these things don't really matter as much :P

[cometconmain]

Warning: Long rant. Negative criticism of Earthspark. (When I have time to get to my computer I'll put it under a keep reading thing.)

If you're looking for unpopular opinions, the show is... not great. And I really don't understand why everyone is praising it to the high heavens. I couldn't get past the first 15 minutes of the pilot, because the writing was just so damn BAD. The dialogue is awful, how characters react to situations isn't thought about at all (the kids get thrown off a bridge by an explosion after seeing giant spiders and a bunch of transformer cars which if they're the Autobots I don't understand why they didn't go to check on the kids, and the kids spend like one fraction of a second acknowledging the giant spiders and then go straight back into their stupid cliche family drama), they couldn't be bothered giving the rock the girl lifts actual physics to show it's heavy and maybe an 8 year old (or whatever) should be struggling with that just a little more or maybe just give her an actually manageable rock to handle, and then when they're in the cave they're so busy TELLING us absolutely EVERYTHING through the dialogue because they have no idea what visual storytelling is apparently (actually that's a problem throughout what I watched and my friend who watched the whole season to see if it gets better said that that and other things don't get much better).

And then (and ok I will happily admit this is a personal preference and my pet hate springs out of that personal preference) they've apparently decided to go back to G1 content. AGAIN. Because they are categorically incapable of not making everything about the 80s fans whenever possible with this franchise. Like, please, for the love of god, please let the 80s fans have their box men and old story and let new fans enjoy newer designs and stories (most of the show is newer designs from what I've seen at least, but this is something that very frequently destroys amazing designs when they redesign the characters to make them look like their 80s version again). 80s content doesn't stop existing just because newer stuff exists. Newer different things should be allowed to exist without leaning on the 80s like an outdated crutch. Let the franchise grow. Let it breathe and evolve into something else for a change with just a few little easter eggs here and there if you really have to nod back to the 80s sometimes. Please, I beg. XD (again, I recognize this one is a personal preference not a bad writing thing itself, though there's plenty of actually bad writing too).

Also the way they handle the kids getting the robots and informing us what they're doing with the history and world building in this show is extremely lazily handled. Again, they tell us everything as much as humanly possible through characters talking (at this point I would have preferred written exposition on the screen; it would have been less painful and taken less of my time and energy).

And then they gave the masc robot an incredibly annoying personality, because they are also categorically incapable of writing a show without an RiD Sideswipe, TFA Bumblebee, or Rescuebots Blurr etc etc type in it. (I'm happy to take the masc robot's personality thing as personal preference though and also maybe he gets better? Idk.)

And I know some people are going to be all "oh my god it's a kids show, shut up" and to that I would like to point out Rescue Bots because that was a younger target audience kids Transformers TV show (younger target audience than Earthspark I think actually) and it had actually good writing across every single area and I watched all of it and I love it to death (except the parts with Optimus and Blurr but that's also personal preference; they still handled the actual writing fine).

I do like what I've heard about Nightspark being outright Nonbinary which is definitely an awesome step in the direction of marginalised rep, the entire family is poc which is refreshing, and I've heard the mother has a great dynamic with Megatron which I do think sounds fun.

My friend is an even bigger Transformers nerd than me and also likes actually good writing based on what used to be the standard expectation for basic writing skills in media, and they've said it does get better, but they still don't get why everyone thinks it's amazing (they also made themself watch it just to find Soundwave, and when they did he apparently turns up for like one episode and then they ditch him again, and they don't like what the writers did to his character.) Overall they said it improves slowly from 'fuck this is painful why am I watching this?' to 'it's ok but ultimately not worth watching even for the blorbos' status for them. Which is usually 'fuck this is painful why am I watching this?' to 'fuck this is still painful but someone took pity on me and gave me a single panadol to take the edge off a bit while I desperately look for anything that makes this worth my time and suffering' for me. XD

(This friend is also an animation student and doesn't like the animation at all. While watching together they said most of the humans are "ok" and then they kept exclaiming about "wtf have they done to her FACE?" with the little girl because she looks like a doll instead of a low-grade cgi human apparently. I do agree she does look less real - within the realm of cgi humans obvs - than the other humans but I'm not an animation student yet so I have to take my friend's word on the animation quality overall.)

Now, I'm not saying I don't think you should give it a try. Absolutely do, because if nothing else there's more content to have fun with separate from the official show if you want. And hey, maybe you're like all the other people gushing over Earthspark who have built up a strong immunity to the things that eat me alive when I see them in shows and you'll love it too, in which case, all power to you, you're allowed to enjoy things and I definitely don't intend to put down things someone enjoys so don't mind me, I'll bow out and go watch things I do enjoy. That's also why I'm not going to tag this with fandom tags, because I don't want to bring this into the positive-enjoyment-of-Earthspark space. (I figured since you haven't seen it and don't have opinions about it yet and someone was asking about thoughts on it this might be an acceptable way, time and place of presenting a differing opinion to the majority of tf fans on this show. Let me know if it wasn't, in which case sorry about that).

I'm sorry this isn't an unpopular opinion, but it's a question... Have you watched the new tf project? Are you going to watch? You will not? Your opinion~

I havent but i will eventually in like. a year or so once the hype as died down lol

Ive heard its good so i have some expectations that it'll be a fine show