#but being a hater is good tbh… it builds character

[starbuck]

bro, stop quoting violence and the sacred in your meta, you’re scaring the hoes

[valar-did-me-wrong]

The Orc family hate has finally broke me guys, so here's me ranting..

Someone I read on reddit today said correctly that (paraphrased here with tons of my own opinion added) these ROP Haters™ were initially all happy & excited with the show announcement pre character introductions. It was all well & good for them till the day ROP announced Ismael as an elf & Galadriel, a woman as the lead. Then these people got furious!

But most didn't want to bring forth or face their internalised misogyny & racism fueling this sentiment, so it became their life goal to dig into the legendarium to find points & tiny side notes to use to drag the show & justify the hate they were feeling.

From actively overlooking the meaning of 'Adaptation', to painting Newline Cinema & Warner Brothers as charity organizations unlike Amazon, to making PJ's story canon OVER Tolkien's, to digging up dirt on the producers being religious hence implying (pre premiere btw) that the show is pure christian propaganda... no stones were left unturned by varying varieties of ROP Haters™ who were all united at the pale white European elves & delicate feminine background character Galadriel front. All of which the rage bait youtubers utilise against ROP to this date!

Well this succeeded in affecting public sentiment during season 1 because the show was a little Tolkienian in pacing with characters & world building, along with the humongous Rights Problem & people being generally wary of prequels.

But by mid-end of Season 1 to now; despite the review bombing & all efforts for the past 2 years, neutral people started to watch the show themselves & realised one by one that it wasn't actually a disappointment as they were promised. It grew on some people without Hate in their heart & biases filling their minds! Hence the views & the positive comments grew, infuriating the Haters™ & fueling their mindless bullying.

Yet still these people were pretty sucessfully hiding behind their canon excuse untill The Orc Baby.

The Orc Family Hate & it's unhinged justification via convoluting the basic essence of LOTR; it shattered the illusion hiding what these ROP Haters™ are at their core.. just people desperate to destroy a thing that isn't in line with Their worldview. Because in their head the story is Theirs, the only valid interpretation is what They grew up watching & hence it owes Them to be made exactly how They deem correct!

Willing to distort a dead guy's life work to absolve themselves of their unjust hate & get a free pass to feel morally superior doing so!

Unhinged comments claiming the essence of Tolkien's writings is the existence of purely black & white differentiation of good & evil in his world!! Each one of them sounding like regurgitations from some youtuber's video who watched PJ's trilogy at 1.5× solely to farm hate veiws.

Frothing at the mouth over a 5 sec clip! Demanding a world where a whole race can be hated without using critical thinking; these are the same people who used to scream before last week that the reason they can't give ROP a chance is because ` They cannot watch a show without critical thinking `

Embarrassing hills these Haters™ keep dying on tbh

Haters™ does not equate honest critiques btw.. Haters™ are the delulu, moral superiority complex driven, hate stalkers of ROP. The show has faults & you can obviously point then out without being these people :)

[priceforrottenjudgement]

Ive seen a lot of bitching about hotd in the tag, which surprised me bc there was none of this two weeks ago and now all these ppl are acting like season 2 sucks and its badly written and its rewriting the books and bla bla. This surprised me, so i did a little snooping

Like. First off, isnt grrm consulting them this time? I know he was doing it for s1 and im sure i read he was doing s2 too. I cant say anything about bad writing, tbh i havent examined it that closely bc nothing about pacing or dialogue has bothered me enough to spend time thinking about it.

The "its not like the book!!!" Thing really bothers me though bc have you read the book? Lmao im not so sure bc some of the stuff you complain about is so weird, also how did you miss that fire & blood has deeply unreliable narrators? It literally says gyldayn is an unreliable narrator on the Wikipedia, hes taking a bunch of biased sources and kind of patches the history of house targaryen together. If you had read the book, youd KNOW that it isnt a definitive chronicle and stuff was likely altered, embellished and left out. Some of the alterations make sense, because why would some maester know about these ppls private lives. Fire and blood is full of propaganda, rumours and bias. Also the stuff that WAS changed isnt really that deep? I really like the change to the rhaenicent dynamic (ill come back to this, theres a reason ppl seem to hate this change lmao), i dont care about maelor and the nettes changes dont bother me that much? (Some ppl are convinced rhaena will get the ENTIRE nettles storyline. Which would indeed suck cough cough, but i dont think thats where theyre going at all lmao)

So i took a look at some of the other opinions of ppl who really really HATE s2 and, WOOOOOOWWWWW,there sure is a lot of homophobia on the yuri Website huh? All of a sudden it makes sense why these ppl popped up 2 weeks ago huh? (And why theyre so bitchy about the changes to alicents character not being a wicked stepmother but more of an... almost lover) Wow, what a fucking pathetic reason to be a hater. Awww nooooooooo this female character is kissing women noooo, theyre ruined!! Even though the relationship was kind of maybe sort of a little implied in the book. (Granted the book talks about a close relationship between rhaenyra, mysaria and DAMON, but see above for rumours and inaccuracies) Also there are a lot of ppl who were genuinely Team green (i did not realise those ppl existed unironically, gonna be honest) who are mad that Team green is portrayed more negatively than Team black and apparently thats unfair. Yeah, idk what to say about that, do you always expect to opposing sides of a fictional conflict to be treated the same and to be equally good and justified? Granted, the "pick a side" Marketing was dumb and encouraged this sort of thinking, but those two teams are not equal lol you can still like the characters even though theyre cheaters, usurpers and Bad ppl.

If you had genuinely read and UNDERSTOOD the books and that theyre full of propaganda you would understand why SOME PPL are either portrayed more positively or more negatively in the show than they were in the book. Just consider WHO was writing the history for one sec.

Yeah, rant over, this was just too ridiculous not to get off my chest.

Like yeah, you can criticise some of the changes and the simple fact that 8 ep seasons are SHIT for building a plot, but considering some ppl call an ep "filler" just because nobody got roasted by a dragon, maybe we dont deserve 20 ep seasons with a slow building of plot and tension anymore....

[becquerel]

im kind of surprised by the amount of people going "well the retcons were good" on my post after i just like offhandedly mentioned oh well im not a huge fan of this plot element in an example because tbh i think the retcons are kind of awful writing in general. they took away narrative stakes for almost everything, i no longer felt interested in the characters moving forward bc we no longer knew these new guys, and the payoff for it being solely Vriska Is Back Alive Now Except With No Character Growth just feels really... not worth it in terms of writing?

and even outside of general plot elements, the writing quality post retcons is just not good. like have you sat down and read every dialoguelogue and narration text after game over? like there's some gems in there (everyone loves the dirk & dave convo for a reason), but the vast majority of it sucks in a really bland way. characters don't emote like they used to. there's less comedic timing in general. does anyone else remember the scene where jade reveals davesprite and john blew up? like they just fucking blow up? its got no build up and it just Happens. Does anyone else remember this. What the hell happened to the double nannasprites. I'm not a retcons hater because I hate retcons or hate vriska or whatever I'm a retcons hater because its just a clear downgrade in comic quality and made the story worse overall

[loader-bot]

4, 7, 13, 14, 34, 38, 40, 43, 44, 45 and 55 for the blands ask game 👁️👁️.

4 If you could meet your favorite character, what would you tell them?

aside from thanking him for being the biggest and best badass in the entire universe and being the greatest inspiration to all loader-kind? give him one of these bad boys.

this got long so the rest is under a cut vvv

7 Least favorite character?

well. nekrotefayo is a cool planet except for all the parts we have to put up with typhon. but he's dead already so uhhh. no need to beat a dead horse.

13 Weapon of choice?

CONFERENCE CALL!!!!!!!!!!!! MWAH MWAH MWAH!!!! 🥰🥰🥰 for when you want to turn a whole bandit camp into a fine red mist with just a few shells. very efficient murder. even if he got pretty nerfed in bl3... still love him.

honorable mention to cryo/rad redistributor for being incredibly fun with the right zane build. nuclear winter in a single gun.

14 A gun or skill you can never seem to get along with?

just. all of krieg. sorry big guy just don't like ANY of his skill trees or his action skill. which is ironic considering my love of bloody violent rip-and-tearing.

34 Favorite location?

whether running around elpis looking up at it, or around on it, helios is the best place in the universe. 🌌

[ this message brought to you by hyperion board of tourism ]

38 A character you wish you could play as?

WELL since fl4k got a loader pet that's probably the closest we'll ever get to playable loaders so... hm. hoping ava is the player siren in bl4. both to piss off the haters and because she deserves to be a main character 👍

40 Favorite wild animal species?

ava's little buddy hermes is very cute, whatever he is. also those split-in-half lizard-horsey things on gehenna. wanna pet em.

43 Something you wish you could change in the franchise?

if it was good. 😔

UHH real answer is bring back hyperion pistols. and add hyperion assault rifle offering. something like the DMR from halo or soma prime from warframe would be awesome and suit hyp's elegance + precision aesthetic.

44 A character you wish had died but didn’t?

well those nasty bandits roland and lilith are already dead so that's mission accomplished already baby 💪

45 A character you wish had lived but died?

this probably doesn't even need to be said but ANGEL MY PERFECT ACUTE ANGLE!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 😭😭😭

or kat so he could get a redemption arc where he gets bullied by rhys and everyone at atlas until he learns to be slightly normal.

55 Favorite song in the OST?

ough. can't choose. blands has such incredible soundtracks.

bl1 - fyrestone. the og. thank u for giving blands its leitmotif that will be stuck in this units cpu forever 🙏 also overall love bl1's ost for being so much more... atmospheric and moody than later games. very cool.

bl:tps - claptrap's defragmentation immediately comes to mind (also where it plays is such a cool place) but jack's office is also a very nice ambient track.

bl2 - exploitation preserve ambience. ice is a classic. + the bunker is not what it seems!!! very good. oh also hyperion, obviously.

bl3 - main menu day makes the 'tism brainwurms very happy. also neon arterial upper. also atlas hq. and all of jackpot's soundtrack tbh. bl3 has the best overall ost.

tftb - the galatarium. just. incredible. the tension building in the music as rhys becomes more stressed about making a super hard decision while in great danger is just peak cinnamon topography 👌

[kustas]

dagda and olruggio for the aak game!

My first impression

Dagda: I actually don't remember! I don't think I paid much attention to him at first. He's very much an npc with little personality in the first chapters he appears in

Olruggio: hello handsome followed by woah. Here comes a true hater

My impression now

Dagda: very underrated character, I really like him but I'm not sure if at this point it's the character or my interpretation of him I like most! I used to have a lot of headcanons about his past who all got disproven by the story but I still think a lot about what he'd have been up to before plot beats, and what he's like as a person.

Olruggio: I'm fond of him! Goofy and endearing, really good foil to Qifrey, and nice with the girls....:) he's also a very relatable character to me, in many ways! And his design goes extremely hard

Favorite thing about that character

Dagda: how he views his relationship with his son. It's tragic but loving at once, that he sees him as his biggest triumph and the only worthwhile thing he's done in his life. If only you knew how highly your little guy thinks of you...

Olruggio: as mentioned before I share a lot of his personality traits and it's relaxing to me to see him portrayed as sympathetic for it. I also really like his place in the story, as someone with good contacts in witch society and legal obligations, his position as the Eye brings both tension to the story and real nice hints of world building elements

Least favorite thing

Dagda: hard to tell because he doesn't have a lot of screentime tbh. I wish he did not get murked because it feels distasteful to give Custas this much trouble when he's already struggling enough. But that's not really about Dagda isn't it

Olruggio: how he's reduced to blushy tsundere for fandom tropes' sake. He is those things but he is more than that

Favorite line/scene

Dagda: Either the monologue where he talks about Cus being the only good deed he's done, or the short flashback where he's spared by the musicians after accepting they were going to kill him

Olruggio: I struggled to pick, but I'm gonna say, the moment he finds the disabled kid in the street. It's such a good scene in terms of drama and in relation to the wider themes of the series

Favorite interaction that character has with another

Dagda: When he replies to his boy begging him to abandon him with a silent hug and wet puppy eyes

Olruggio: Previously mentioned scene with the lil kid, how he snaps at Agott during the river rescue mission, his tense little staircase moment with Utowin

A character that I wish that character would interact with more

Dagda: of the ones he's interacted with previously : Lulucy, Olruggio, Coco. His interactions with adult witches are interesting because of the balance of power. I could write an essay about his relationship with Lulucy just based on that alone! With Oru, it's because I believe they have a lot in common and could actually get along well. With Coco, I find endearing how gentle it is to her, and given she mostly knows him as a father and her own dad died when she was very young, it might be cool to see how that goes.

Of the ones he has not interacted with previously, I am begging mentally for him to spend a significant amount of time with one of the Wise Three, the king, or both - to contrast between the leaders of their respective societies, and a guy who is the lowest of the low in said societies. Also I really want a world where he hangs out with the atelier girlies and they get to bother him

Olruggio: of the characters he's interacted with: all the girlies...especially Riche and Agott. He's less...overtly affectionate? Than Qifrey, more frank and snappy but it feels like they like him for that. Dagda as previously mentioned. Beldaruit bc their interactions were rly funny lol

Of the characters he's not interacted with yet: Lagler, because they're both witches who work with unknowings with strong moral compasses. Ininia, because I want to see him react to a kid who's unapologetically in his opposing faction. Atwert, because given that guy's current situation and his own empathy it would bring up lots of interesting elements I feel

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

Dagda: they have nothing in common personality wise but lots of contextual parallels with a character I adored as a kid, Dustfingers

Olruggio: as previously established, Me from Real Life (jk. I couldn't find a good one for him)

A headcanon about that character

Dagda: I think he's a very meek and submissive man who's seen a lot of shit but has never tried to fight against it properly. Haven't decided yet if it's because he's a pessimist or just doesn't care. Also I think he's not very clever

Olruggio: That one's basically confirmed but I like to imagine he gets wooed a lot even by unknowings, and absolutely hates it LOL

A song that reminds of that character

Dagda: Corvus Corax - La i Mbealtaine. It's my voice claim for him, and given he's named after a Celtic god and he's a minstrel, a gaelic song made from a medieval poem feels fitting

Olruggio: can't think of one ;_;

An unpopular opinion about that character

Dagda: nobody ever talks about this bloke lol there are no popular opinions. I'm the only one. Hello. Hi

Olruggio: I'm not denying there's something kinda gay in the air in that Atelier but the fandom's accepted romantic pairing of him and Qifrey feels completely OOC. It would not be a nice sweet relationship, Qifrey is a sneaky elusive man with deep rooted trust issues and Oru strongly corrects him. I think they have deep affection for each other that manifests in commitment and boundaries but that their actual communication is entraves by both their personalities and that in their current state at least they would never enter a traditional relationship

Favorite picture

Dagda: this panel bc it's closets to how I draw him/imagine his face! He's got some cute panels too tho

Olruggio: yes it's not in the manga but man. Unmatched swag and the details are so sweet. U know crumbs fly off when he sits up. I could NOT find the full pic but you need to know he's wearing fuckass flipflops with this fit

[clingyduoapologist]

hello!! I was redirected here by bronzetomatoes after inquiring about kylo ren hate (I think the hitting him with a car post is so funny and also i know so little about star wars. it adds to the comedy tbh) and i was told if i want the funny/thorough answer that you’re the place to go. so if you’d like to, go absolutely off the walls about it :)

My friend have you come to the right place.

SO BASICALLY Star Wars is a story about how 3 good movies collectively altered the course of human history by making just like, stupid amounts of money right?

So obviously, Disney was like “I need to get in on that” and bought Star Wars and then started working on their own trilogy. If you’re a Star Wars fan, this is pretty cool! New planets, new character, new lore! It was pretty awesome. The trailer for the first movie in this new trilogy came out and everyone loved it! So much interesting things!!! A female protagonist?!?!? Wow this is so awesome!!!

The problem was the movie isn’t very good.

Don’t get me wrong the force awakens is fine, definitely the best movie in the trilogy, the problem is that it wasn’t good enough, not for most audiences, and especially not for Disney. So they fired JJ Abrams, who directed the force awakens, and hired Ryan Johnson to direct the second movie: the last Jedi.

I fucking hate the last Jedi.

And so did like half the world, and what followed the release of the film was probably the worst fucking time in the history of life on earth to be a Star Wars fan, as basically the entire fanbase devolved into a civil war between last jedi haters and last jedi defenders.

But amongst all the fighting, another group was beginning to form, one that had began in the shadows of the Force Awakens, but was now bolstered by the release of the last Jedi, a shadowy and secretive threat that was about to rear it’s ugly head:

Reylo.

Now, Reylo, as a ship is like, fine? It’s literally just the most barebones enemies to lovers ship you can imagine.

But Reylo as a fanbase? That’s where things start to get interesting. Because what Reylo lacked in character and writing, it made up for in hot fucking actors (I mean it’s fucking Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver what did you expect). this in turn led to a vicious cycle where Reylo fans were extremely uh… motivated… and also had basically blank canvases to build off of. This lead to the Reylo fandom becoming almost a separate entity to the Star Wars fandom, which only further boosted their forces.

But what made Reylo infamous was the scale. These guys were loud, and were prepared to rip anyone to shreds for even the smallest injustices. It was a dog eat dog world, and one that maintained itself through a constant state of war.

But setting Reylo fans aside for a second, you may be wondering “Okay but what does any of that have to do with Kylo Ren?” Which, sure fair question. But to answer that, we have to look at Reylo not as a ship, but as characters.

Now, Rey, as far as protagonists go, is… fine? She’s definitely screwed majorly by being in a completely unplanned trilogy of movies that wasn’t interest in making her a compelling and likable character, but like even then I’d be lying if I said that she wasn’t at the very least interesting. And again like I’ll take any excuse to see Daisy Ridl- sorry what, anyways point is Rey Palpatine skywalker kenobi whatever is a perfectly mediocre protagonist and thus, while sexist assholes may try to convince you that she burned the world’s crops and poisoned the town water supply, truth be told I and many others fans became at worst indifferent, and best charmed by her.

But Kylo Ren? Kylo Motherfucking Ren? Ben SWOLO himself?

This man makes me violent.

And it’s not because he’s more well written then Rey, or even because his writing is particularly worse, as far as I’m concerned they’re both hand in unlovable in in terms of writing quality.

The problem with Kylo is that he could of been so much better, so easily, and yet people still fawned over him.

Like, this guy is Darth Vader’s Fucking Grandson, Luke Skywalker’s Nephew, Son of Han Solo and Leia Skywalker, 1 hot actor removed from self insert character, and yet these writers fucking struggle, each and every time, to figure out what to do with him. Like they are fucking racking their brains trying to make a guy with one of the sickest lightsaber designs ever and a badass outfit all being acted by ADAM FUCKING DRIVER “interesting.”

And PEOPLE FUCKING FELL FOR IT. Like if you go into almost any even slightly sad tag in ao3 I guarantee there will be at least one kylo fic. Like I can not stress to you enough how many people fucking lost their MINDS!!!

FOR HIM

And remember, this is all ON TOP of the fawning that Reylo stans had already been doing. Which only made things worse, if you can even believe that.

And so ever since Rise of Skywalker managed to drag the sequel trilogy’s tired, burning, mangled corpse over the finish line, and all the buzz over it died down, and every YouTube video essayist/movie analyzer saw dollar signs in their eyes, we’re left here, with Adam Driver’s tits swaying in the wind. And for what? The most stock Sad Boy Villaintm of all time and his British gf? A marginally cool lightsaber design? Maybe like, 1 cool fight scene at the end of the first movie?

Like… I’m just left to stare… Stare at this man’s hot topic shopper ass hair cut and Zuko wannabe facial scar, left with nothing better to do than seethe, quietly and angrily, at a character who could have been so much, who could have done so much, but yet was doomed to only ever be himself.

In the end, I suppose I am like Sisyphus, rolling my anger up a hill, knowing that it’ll only roll back down again anyway, and yet not an ounce less motivated to continue my toil. Because Kylo Ren is my enemy, my one true opposite in this great narrative we call reality.

And at least, on some nights, I can rest easy knowing that he fucking died at the end.

[toxycodone]

Rari facts:

- is 6'6"

- wolf like with his animal features. great hearing, great sense of smell

- ranger by trade. excellent at finding and disarmind traps, long-range reconnaissance and cqc. hires himself out to adventurers or whoever pays him more. a little morally bankrupt lol

- voracious eater. carnivore.

- soft fur, looks like an alexander's archipelago wolf.

- preferred weapon is two marlin spikes. usually, they're used to help tie knots on ships with huge ropes, but rari likes to use them to stab people + they fit into his boots

- gets overloaded sensory-wise pretty easily, which is why he's so good at tracking people.

- from a village high in the eastern mountains. [cynocephali were said to live in india!]

- he's got a sheath and a knot. good for him.

- pretty stocky build. lots of scars from previous jobs.

views on the party:

laios: finds him adorable. likes messing with him.

marcille: too much of an egghead for him. tbh he thinks she talks too much

chilchuck: kindred spirits to the end. similar professions, both haters. one is just more of a homosexual who loves attention [rari its rari]

senshi: he finds senshi calming. reminds him of the older cyno in his village.

izutsumi: cat 🖕 but respects her combat style

any more questions about rari or even things you think would be cool to add to rari's thing would be appreciated [but not required] 🙏🙏🙏

HeroForge link to Rari for the curious anons who wanted to see him: https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D47399064/

HE IS. SO COOL.

man fuck him teasing Laios in the hot spring I’m kicking that man aside BC IM TRYNA GET AT THAT KNOT FIRST.

Okay also I need you to know I’m on a deep dive on Alexander archipelago wolves because oh my god? An entirely separate sub species of grey wolf is CRAZY I’ve never heard of them

But also I think…for the sake of story

He and Laios TOTALLY need to have some sort of like. Serious talk because I’m sure Laios’s interest in him is cute at first but it quickly gets really fucking annoying

And this is mainly because Laios is like Rari = Dog and equates that WAY too much. Like 💀 even despite Kuro being a whole ass adventurer and a fully fledged member of Kabru’s party Laios still refers to him as dog. Still thinks of Izutsumi as “cat”

I need Rari to smack a little sense into him and be like. Yes I’m a Demi human NO I AM NOT A PET.

Laios just gets too excited IG IDK I JUST. Think about that.

Also….have u considered maybe a little bandana on Rari’s head…like a sailor…….🥺. And maybe some rope as a secondary item for his spikes can work too? May be useful for tying knots to create lassos and such to access high places/escape traps/etc.

(Also wtf I am. Going to use hero forge this is crazy awesome???)

[yanderefairyangel]

Think the dumbest claim about Engage fans I’ve heard is “they do nothing but diss on 3H all day” or “There are no Engage fans just 3H haters”. Not saying I haven’t seen Engage fans who are unnecessarily hateful and hostile towards 3H, but when I look into the Engage fandom there’s far more content for and gushing about what they love about the game than complaining about 3H.

Yeah I did saw that and euh ... it left me confuse as ever ? Cause I barely hear any dissing on 3H ? Really ? And let's not like as if the fandom didn't do that in 2019 cause we all know they do this. Recall the F!Byleth's design controversy ? Or when they call Hubert, Lorenz and Raphael ugly ? Or Dima's noddle hair ? Anyway.

I do agree that if you look or search deep enough you will find Engage fans who reacts like little kids and attacks 3H because people said Engage was bad or whatever but as someone who checks the tags for Engage everyday, really... there is almost 0 of that nonsense against 3H. In fact... it's Engage that get that treatement. You have no idea how tiresome it is to click on the Engage tags and find yet another person who goes "Yeah Engage sucks, 3H rules" and me thinking "I came here for positivy, would you pleaaaase not tagg your negative opinion on the Engage tag or use a different wording so that when searching I can actually escape your negative opinion ?"and sometimes, I find, as you say that one person that will act as if the fandom was bullying them for not liking Engage and prefering 3H.... but I find 0 post about this. Really, not a single one! Take Bigkingly for example, he made a FE gameplayvs story tier list and even though he place 3H much higer then Engage on the story, he still got people arguing with him because he place Engage above average and said he though it was good.... And don't get me started on the pretty impressive amount of video making a bad review of Engage that have much more engagement then the one praising Engage, it's all the big FE tubers : Ghast, Mekkah, etc. The one who praised the game have very little expostion and will often have the SAME people in the comment section of Ghast "Engage fell off video" or Mekkah's or even that 2 hour long video whose views are currently getting much and much more important numbers.

And the most recent thing I saw was someone saying, and I quote "I legitimately believe the Engage fans are too lazy to actually take a break and read about the amazing lore 3H brought, along with the supports. They really believe Engage's lore is more interesting, and still prefer those supports than 3H's, that's just hilarious." or "It does suck tbh. Engage does have their own benefits, but 3H just getting targeted really does suck as it's a flawed, but amazing game." or "3H world building is just the books in the library" is one of my favorite little things that engage fans tell themselves".. and I find none of the post or comments or anything supposed to be speaking of that like... what ? And apparently there is a "3H hate train wagon" which is weird ? Cause the hate train wagon I noticed was for Engage, not 3H. Most of the 3H negativity I ever saw was in response to it being treated like an amazing masterpiece with no flaws to diss on Engage and while very childish.. that's not like the initiative I saw in the Engage hatred.

Honestly, I am thinking it's some side of the fandom trying to make believe it's a "both side" situation so they can diss Engage without any repercussion, never mind that "yeah but Engage fans said bad things about 3H" is just as childish as the part of the fandom that diss 3H just because they said bad things about Engage.

Frankly, I can't tell cause really, you are right Anon. Most of the Engage fandom, if not all is just us chilling out on characters, making fanart, fanfiction etc. While there is some discourse (cof, cof, Seadal, cof, cof, Alcryst, cof) it still stays rather silent and even the big controversial DLC romance concluded into : people who ship it can ship it, people who don't want to ship it won't ship it and we won't try to make an argument on whether opinion. And it's also acting as though we can't discuss Engage in a civle manner and that's... false ? Like, not long ago, someone told me why they though that Marni telling her backstory in chapter 21 was bad and offered a rewriting and I shared my thoughts, and not once did we disrespected each other. In fact, the most rabbid Engage haters are ... so dedicated that they retweet a lot of tweets supposed to be about Engage's writing good point to do nothing but... diss on it.

Keep in mind that my timeline is recomending me those only cause those people insist on quoting everything related to Engage and that tehy don't even have the decency to "untagg" or do something so that blocking or muting works in a way that doesn't end up with you viewing no content of the fandom you belong to.

I for one and many of the fans in my X circle are trying to spread positivity about this game. Heck, I even made a video just because I wanted to help it spread bigger and faster, on a plateform that is more accessible to everyone.

We are all tired of negativy, while would we add into this ? I for one don't really want to be known as the "3H hater" but as being a great contributor in positivity when it comes to Engage cause this is a game that has many great stuff. And again, this is more another way of stigmatizing Engage fan for liking the game, saying in an indirecct way "Engage's fan just PRETEND to like Engage, in reality they just hate 3H and use Engage to hate 3H cause really, who could love unironically this game if not people who simply just hate 3H because they are idiots ?" because like... I and many fans of Engage are pretty much the first one to say "comparing it with 3H is useless". So I ain't saying there isn't some case like that, but really ? That's a very minor part of the fandom that's hardly vocal.

Sorry it got a bit too long, (I really can't stop talking, can I ?)

[overleftdown]

so, here’s the thing about loki S2.

i was a S1 hater. i went to war over this series. i despised the direction they took my favorite character, i despised the actual characterization, and i despised the way they seemed to retcon everything that made him a substantial character. not to mention the hollow, corny, soulless background characters, the odd themes and plot devices, the depiction of friendship/relationship dynamics- wow. it was a mess.

however, as i’m seeing more loki blogs double down on this criticism with S2, so to speak, i’m actually appreciating this season much more. not only is the actual cinematography miles above the cheap “classic superhero franchise film” shots, but the dialogue and framing of scenes is much more pleasant. S2 seems to have an entirely different aesthetic. the graphics, especially the temporal shredding/time slipping, has consistently left me visually pleased. the side characters are incredibly more dynamic and nuanced. loki’s relationship with said side characters are genuinely reciprocal. seemingly above all else, loki FEELS like a main character, this season. he felt like a main character even before this massive OP power addition in Ep5.

i fucking loved loki’s Ep5 brief emotional monologue. it sprinkled in a tasteful description of what many loki fans have consistently been thinking; no, loki is not narcissistic. he genuinely just wants to be loved, to feel less alone. although the show has neglected to truly callback to loki’s problematic family dynamics, this seems like a sort of red-thread moment to loki’s entire MCU arc. i don’t see this as some stupid “character growth 😛” bullshit, either. i don’t think loki suddenly wants to have friends, and never did before. where the growth comes from, for me, is loki building trust. that same “trust” seemed plastic, ingenuous, and redundant in S1 because it lacked any realistic foundation. we have a supposedly very mentally unstable loki variant surrounded by untrustworthy people, and he,,, what? followed his captor around like a puppy? nah. this season, however, feels different. the dynamics can be flawed at times, but there is a genuine sense of community and reciprocal care. i just wish S1 wasn’t such a bad foundation for everything good about S2 so far.

that isn’t to say i don’t have criticism and pipe-dreams for loki as a character. i wanted to see his gender fluidity. i wanted to see, especially, his struggle with his jotunn racial identity. direct references to his familial trauma (show-dont-tell, of course). i have to admit, though, that the plot itself is winning me over from these grievances. the sheer enjoyability of this season is addictive. if i want incredibly detailed loki character studies, i have fanfiction for a reason. while i wish some things were represented more in-canon, i have to admit that S2 has been so fucking fun to watch.

final note is that i am, unfortunately, being indoctrinated into the lokius agenda. i know, i know, 2021-me would kick now-me in the nuts. this change of interest is genuinely based on the in-canon dynamic shift. they seem much more like colleagues and friends. the weird power imbalance is much less apparent. i’ve been getting through S2 by sidelining everything from S1 except for necessary plot points, tbh. S1 was such a waste of space.

and that concludes my tangent.

[zadig-fate]

I realised I don't have a pinned introduction post since I only rejoined tumblr recently so here goes

My real world name is Kris, yes just like Joker Out's resident hater, even the spelling is the same, which is why I can't be a Kris girlie because it feels weird

I'm in my early 30s and grew up in Vancouver, Canada, but moved to Germany nearly 10 years ago

I used to have a Serious Job as an EU economic policy analyst but then suffered burnout and an actual mental breakdown so now I'm a lazy freelancer sleeping until noon

My current obsession is obviously Joker Out

Are you unsatisfied with this short introduction? You want the real TMI, my dirty laundry? Well then friend, read on under the cut 👇🏻

I joined Tumblr in 2011 for Sherlock as a depressed 20yo and now I'm back for Joker Out as a depressed 31yo. My life is full of cruel loops like that 👌🏻

I have an adorable 3yo husky mutt named Akai, I adopted him from a shelter in Slovakia and he is my floofy baby boy and I love him

I believe in being open about mental health struggles and treatment so here are some fun facts about me:

- I spent 2 months in a psychiatric clinic in Bavaria for depression during the covid lockdown, it was a weird time but I actually miss it a lot

- I spent 3 weeks in the detox ward of a Berlin hospital where the other patients were actually crazy and I carved a pretty soapstone wolf in art therapy (idk if it was a good idea to be giving us knives though tbh)

- I went to rehab and it sucked, but I do have to admit, the addicts had WAY crazier stories than the depression group from the Bavarian clinic

- After rehab I was unemployed for a while before deciding to build a new career as a freelance translator (German>English), English editor/proofreader and writer

Now that I've left my previous career in policy/politics I give zero shits about anyone knowing my history of mental health treatment so ask me whatever you want, I'm happy to talk about it

Uhhh what else? I'm bi but currently questioning my gender identity, love languages, history, literature... I speak English, German, and French, although my French is rusty, currently learning Polish and Czech (maybe Slovenian soon??), live alone except for my dog, have a tattoo of the European flag.

I love my home country of Canada very much, but that time of my life is over. I've only been back once in nearly 10 years and that was on a business trip. My life is in Germany/Europe now and I identify more strongly with Europe than with Canada; after all, I've spent most of my adult life here.

Blog name: from my favourite novella by Voltaire because I'm a tool and was living in France back in 2011 when I started it

Icon: Haruhi from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya which was THE cult anime hit when I was in high school and I always identified with her character

[thedawningofthehour]

Tbh I just love how Deep In The Shit Draxum and Galois are at this point with whatever the outcome of all of this is. I think, in a lot of stories where a main character is brainwashed and joins the bad guys, they always pull their punches in how long it lasts and what they do while they've switched sides. But here, not only has Draxum gotten Donnie/Galois to do some Heinous Shit (not only to his family once he figures all that shit out, but like. Yknow. War) but also??? The genuine emotional bond.

Like. In terms of long term damage and pain, the genuine care and rapport Draxum and Galois have is probably my favorite* part of DOTH because how do you 1) resolve the idea of someone who you think loves and cares about you and you have more in common with than almost anybody doing THAT to you and 2) how do you process that part of your life where things were undeniably good (and in some ways better) with the fact that it only came from pain and led you to do horrible things?? Every single twist in this story has me on the edge of my emotional seat Donnie is going to have psychological issues beyond comprehension when this is all done

*this is technically a lie because my real favorite thing about DOTH is your fantastic hidden city worldbuilding. Its become canon to me and also I could hear about how yokai society works forever. You really make it feel real in a way that really makes the story click. I also lump Draxums family under here bc they are legit fantastic break Bella out of jail so i may propose marriage

I very much dislike it when authors so clearly try to keep their precious darlings from doing anything problematic. Especially when they're trying to portray them as being morally grey or in the wrong, or even just showing poor judgement.

Katniss kills a civilian woman without hesitation to protect her squad. Zuko burns down Kyoshi village searching for the Avatar. Daenerys throws an entire region into chaos in her noble but naïve attempt to wipe out slavery. These are all characters we're supposed to like, that we generally do still like in spite of their problematic actions. (unless you're a Dany hater, in which case get off my blog and learn some reading comprehension) Their misdeeds give them depth, places to improve themselves and mature. That's what characters should be doing. If your protagonist keeps their hands clean the entire time, not only do they end up passive observers in their own story but it gives them no opportunity for growth. Daenerys learning from her ignorance and sculpting herself into a better ruler is not only a major component of her own story, but it's what sets her apart from the five kings. Avatar wouldn't be half of what it is without Zuko's redemption arc. And Katniss had to be that merciless, fatalistic Mockingjay to kill Coin-and killing Coin changes the meaning of the entire story.

The fucking world-building. I just watched a video today on world-building tips, and the guy doing the video essay used a Rubic's Cube as a metaphor for putting together all the different parts that make up a living, interesting fictional world and making them work together, with the disclaimer of DO NOT BUILD YOUR ENTIRE GODDAMN WORLD IN FULL DETAIL FOR THE LOVE OF GOD THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE YOU WILL DIE. And I felt that on an emotional level. I've been re-reading ASOIAF lately, and I'm starting to develop more sympathy for Germ taking 'checks notes' twelve years so far to write the next book. I think he's legit weighed down by Worldbuilder's Disease and now the story is too big for him to hold up. I very much enjoy the world-building, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't. But oh my god it is a well with no bottom and I am pressing my feet and shoulders against the side trying not to fall.

[sarahnotjmaas]

Here it is, my chaotic note taking as I experienced Queen of Shadows 4.5/5⭐️

I do not trust Arobynn. Why does this woman keep working with this man.

Who is with Chaol?? SHE!?!?

I heard the fandom is full of Chaol haters and tbh I don’t get it. I’m only on the 5th book but not seeing it yet

Chaol is kinda dumb haha and super sensitive and 5 books in has yet to prove he can fight like at all. He killed Cain but it was a single strike and that was like his first kill. Ever.

SJM wouldn’t write another tragic love story right!? Cuz Chaol is in need of character building and Nesryn and him are already giving me Dorian and Sorscha vibes.

Listen in SJM books endgame relationships are slow burbs. They have chemistry to quickly

HE PAWNED THE RING???

Kaltain has a collar too!!

Dorian battling for his life with that demon 😭

Aelin, we’re officially calling her Aelin now, is wasting her time with Arobynn she is capable without he’s gonna double cross her I know it

Her showing up to the shadow markets was dope!

When is Manon gonna for something cool. She has an awesome dragon puppy Abraxos and she’s doing nothing. Low key I love Asterin and she clearly has her back so demoting her was a bitch move

This book has more action, I like it

Sneaking into the party as a dancer, nice.

The smoke, very Harry Potter! I could see this scene so vividly in my head

Chaol is being a jerk a little bit. He acts like the whole rebellion isn’t for Aelin. When you start holding your own then you can talk, Mr. I’ve only ever killed one person, otherwise stop bossing Aelin around……

Oh shit Elide is a witch. So she’s in with the witches meaning when she links back up with her childhood homies Aedion and Aelin they will be a steaming pile of shit in the kings bed! Hell yea

When does Rowan come back 😭oh okay

27 chapters lol

I read pine and snow and my heart fluttered

No she made a bath for him with all her fancy soaps!!! BECAUSE SHE YELLED AT SAM FOR USING THEM!!!!!!

Gavriel is Aedion’s father!?!???

Oh no poor Aedion, the blood oath was sworn to him but also…. Why can’t she have both she’s the queen she can make her own rules

THE NIGHTGOWN!!!!! She better get a fucking good night gown i stg!!

My boy Chaol is BITTER! Damn he fucked up in the second book and is gonna be bitter the rest of the series. He’s giving big soft boy energy. #NiceGuysFinishLast lol but I low key still want the best for him. He’s loyal to Dorian at the end of the day. Period. However if he’s trying to free Dorian doesn’t he think giving him full access to his powers might help him beat that demon in his body… just saying

Rowan’s and Aelin are literally dating

Going to Sam’s grave. Having Rowan go with her😭 I’m welling up it’s too much. I fucking hate Arobynn and it better be the sweetest death cuz I hate him so much

So I’m definitely not a fan of the witch maternity prison ward that’s happening. Everything about that is uncomfy and I need it to end immediately. Asterin seems to be the only sane one.

Rowan wearing the almost oil, power move!

No, not the room where she saw Sam’s mangled body😭HE PUT THE RING ON HER FINGER!!! Is she faking it??I knew it lol wait but why did he say don’t touch me like that 😭well good for Lysandra I guess

This book is an emotional rollercoaster

There is something SO sus about her Manons grandma. She bowed to the king!?!?!? What’s in the trailer?? What did Manon see??????

Hold up!!! The King is just another victim!?!? No fucking way!!!! That’s a twist I didn’t expect

ALL THOSE CENTURIES, I WAS JUST LOOKING FOR YOU fuck me up Rowan 😭

Slamming the door on Aedion’s face was a little rude but his timing is awful. Wait Lysandra and Aedion???? Love that, that’s fierce pair

Still not a Chaol hater and the trio of friendship between Aelin, Dorian and Chaol is so sweet. Is Chaol ever gonna find a woman he lives as much as Dorian lol CHAOL IS PARALYZED!?!? He broke his promise to Nesry cuz he can’t walk! I’m screaming “Let’s have an adventure,Nesryn Faliq” okay cute but am I alone in thinking Chaol needs someone meeker?? Like someone softer because I think nesryn is too much woman for him…….kinda (don’t come for me)

I never know what part of an SJM book will make me cry but making Lysandra a lady and having Evangeline be her heir got me actually tearing up!

Manon and Dorian. MANON AND DORIAN!!!!!!

Crying again cuz Rowan smells like Terrasen!

[box-dwelling]

I'm becoming slowly open to being a hater of AA5. In that I want to know where the bad stuff starts. Because I actually liked the first case a lot.

Like it's fucking goofy but thats AA baby. The characterisation seems good. Athenas a ton a fun. Phoenix is trying to be the adult desperately but is being vicariously a little shit through Athena while also showing he's incredibly caring and protective for these kids he's acquired, Apollo doing the heroic thing in protecting juniper but being so much of a workoholic he reopens his fucking wounds in the process is in character. The case makes sense especially for a turtoiral where the complexity has to be limited. I like the mood matrix mechanic. The cut scenes are fine. The judge is himself and got a few laughs from me. I was genuinely shocked and worried when Apollo was attacked. Juniper is sweet, Ted isn't the best murderer ever but the tutorial case ones never are (with 2 glaring exceptions where they cheat by having them be the main villain) and the ending hook was interesting as was Athena's PTSD. Like this is around as good if not better than 1-1 and 2-1 imho. Their villians are kinda bland and ted was goofy enough to be fun. I don't like the 3d look but it's tolerable if you meet it where it's at. Like it's good I'm kinda confused where the issue is.

5-2 is feeling weird. I'm glad to see Trucy but she does seem more bland and the 3d design did her very dirty but I'm only at the very beginning.

From what I've heard of from later on Apollo kind of gets too many unpreivously referenced stuff. Which ok but I'm going to be honest that feels like it's maybe more an AA4 issue? Don't get me wrong I loved that game and I love Apollo as a character but there's very little to work with after it. There's the sibling twist which does need addressing (I'm aware they don't) and his mentorship with Kristoph but, I'd Apollo always felt like the one who Kristoph had the least bad infulence on. Like Klavier is a very explicit victim of emotional abuse and Trucy and Phoenix's lives were destroyed by the guy. Apollo while still negatively impacted felt like the one who could get over it the easiest. Then there's his rocky relationship with Phoenix which, like the ending of AA4 kind of implies he started to understand that especially with how he talks about him in court. Does it happen off screen? Yes. The lack of wanting to repeat information after the mason section (objectively a great section) means we never really get his reaction to learning that Phoenix didn't forge evidence and that he didn't give up on the law and was just biding his time. We don't see it but from how he talks during the final trial day it's pretty clear his opinion of him increases a lot when he realised what Phoenix was actually doing and actually going through. I'm actually going to make a post about how I'd fix that tbh. But yeah. I just feel like this game had to build on something with very little left to build on.

[caffernnn]

Hi! I love your blog 💙 also as a fellow makoharu shipper (I finally watch the Final Stroke) I noticed the parallels of Kiyofumi and Ryuuji vs. Makoto and Haru and they are kind of interesting? Kiyofumi tells Ryuuji that "your swimming makes everyone feel good/happy" similar to Makoto saying that he felt happy seeing Haru swim after his race with Rin (also kind of parallels to episode 9 of season 1, where Makoto tells him he felt happy to swim in the relay with him). Also Hiyofumi saying "Hisashiburi" to Ryuuji, which parallels at the end of the movie with Makoto saying it to Haru. Fans on twitter have said that the Fanbook of Free! The Final Stroke mentioned "Kiyofumi is the indispensable presence of Ryuji Azuma as Makoto for Haru but since he passed away Azuma is alone now and really sad." Sorry for the rambling, I just love the meta 😅

Thanks, friend 💚 and YEAH the setup for Ryuuji to see himself in Haru and for his relationship with Kiyofumi to come back in his mind when he sees Haru with his close bonds (especially Makoto) is definitely an interesting one! I think there are more people out there who have spent more time sitting with Ryuuji’s character to properly understand him (I’m trying to be less of a hater) BUT from what I remember (being several months removed from watching the FS movies now) the few insights we got to see into Kiyofumi/Azuma’s past had me curious as to how it would all play into how Ryuuji reacts to seeing Haru’s spiraling trajectory once he chooses to take his advice and isolate. Imagine your grief manifesting into this idea of “I didn’t have a choice, but if you have one, leave before you can have a chance to lose them,” and then not seeing the flaw in that until this kid you see a lot of yourself in falls into that trap and loses touch with himself completely. If the first season of fr! could’ve been seen as a story of lost lonely former swimmers relearning the importance of connectivity through rebuilding (forming a new team, watching Rei learn from the ground up, building skills and trust in each other and everything else), there was ample setup from s3 to the FS movies for Azuma’s arc to mirror that same discovery process. His loss is different (there’s no getting back Kiyofumi for him :/) but there’s still a chance of rebuilding after, connecting after. Coaching is a shot at rebuilding, and the ways he approaches Haru had potential for rebuilding… but I don’t think we got to see as much of that tbh. Part of my delight/frustration with FS is that there are seeds for so many storylines and relationships to care about at this point, but that overwhelm of potential left a lot of avenues not fully explored. I’m not saying that out of all the fun crumbs introduced that the Ryuuji-Haru mentor/mentee storyline should’ve been top priority or anything, buuuut I would be curious to see that whole parallel setup get a proper follow-through. What do they learn from each other, if anything? Does Ryuuji ever realize he’s too close or invested for reasons not related to helping Haru? Do they have a serious talk during his rehab about a way forward that might not involve the pro world long-term, or that might not involve them moving on together? Could there be more moments between Ryuuji and Makoto as he keeps growing as a coach/trainer, since there’s also something interesting there?? Would be curious to see more takes on this 🥲

[coinshotmisting]

GOD DAMN IT I'm so done with Emily Axford I try not to be a hater on main but every decision she makes in D20 seasons pisses me off so fucking much god damn it I want to break something

and I feel like there's something I'm missing cause everyone ACTS like she's a great storyteller but the off theme choices she makes keep building up and building up and I'm fucking sick of it

FUCK IT I'm gonna rant, sorry everyone

Fig: this character is a satire of teen rebellion. Fig is consistently an asshole to everyone around her with no regard to how her actions affect other people's emotional state. which is intentional, and a fine flaw for a character to have. But she never grows to differentiate good rebellion from bad, forcing Brennan to work himself in knots to not make her arc's theme 'teenagers with trauma are cruel assholes who need to learn how to behave' because that theme sucks

Lady Featherfowl: great start to a character. asshole party animal from a middling family. love it. BUT OH NO PLOT TWIST she's actually one of the good nobles who fell in love with a commoner and now demands the ability to simultaneously enjoy her elevated position and continue to love the mortal who's subject to her and her peers' whims

Sundry Sydney: not too many criticisms tbh, I like her. except that her story arc felt entirely disconnected from the other players. her being part of a crew didn't really thematically contribute, Emily just very clearly had a story she wanted to tell, and when that story got wrapped up too she took the first plot point Brennan threw her way and made Sydney all about that

Sophia Lee: it's been a while since I watched UC s2 tbh, don't remember what happened. Sophia is fine for the most part, I just don't really find her relatable or compelling to watch

Little Red: playing a pre-teen in the horror season? really? it doesn't help that the character barely does anything to play to the genre. and there's so many little moments this season that made me fully stop watching. EMILY WANTS little red to go on this weird puberty/accepting death metaphor thing where she becomes death, but is clearly uncomfortable giving that any moral weight. She's yet to struggle against characters who don't want to die, and, ironically, the most morally bad 'deaths' they've contended with are the death of death.

spoilers for newest ep btw

and then AND THEN little red has her Baba Yaga trial. some vauge mention about going to kill some chickens for dinner. perfect. PERFECT. Reds going to have to face the core conflict of her arc. How do people relate to death, when it can be both tragic and good? How do we understand it without minimizing the tragedy, and how do we mourn it without rejecting its necessity.

And my first thought was simple. Make sure the chickens don't want to die. give them voices, make her roll, just give off the vibe, whatever. but make it clear that in order for little red to 'succeed,' in order for her to accept her role as death or whatever the fuck, she also has to accept the cruel, unyielding, and dark part of it.

perfect little scene. she doesn't? great setback on her quest to self realization. she has a new specific topic to grapple with, and immediate, material conflict. She does? her character has become morally ambiguous in a tangible way, and her companions and the narritive need to wrestle with that. sometimes people die too young. sometimes people die tragic, unnecessary deaths.

But then. BUT THEN. Brennan hits her with the path. boom mirror of where you started. great. THERES LITTLE RED, STILL LITTLE. oh my god, amazing. and I instantly had an idea, but wasn't sure if they would go through with it. Have grandma's house look a loooot like a chicken coop. cause Emily has cast red as a fusion of the protagonist and antagonist of her own story. at the end of this scene, the antagonist side will dominate. so the story seems clear. Red has to kill someone else's grandma. she's hungry, or out of obligation, or for her friends, whatever. but if she's the wolf now, if she's DEATH, then the trial should be obvious.

instead, she goes for an nice walk, makes it clear that her conflict is still accepting death of a loved one, then meeting a grandma who died peacefully and happily, and who is happy to see her.

then the icing on the fucking cake? she has zero conflict with the actual chicken slaughtering part. it's a joke where she brutally kills more than necessary.

FUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOU!

you don't get to pull a heartfelt scene where you struggle with the tragedy of death, where you act as gentle ferry for souls that have reached their appointed time, then go *hehe I'm a wolf omnomnom I love to kill*

it's just such a rejection of the actually important part of the scene. no even vauge attempt to tie the two INCREDIBLY THEMATICALLY RELATED actions together at all.

litterally I so often have to pause D20 episodes cause one of the players pulls some shit like this and it rips a part of me out. the part of me that's invested, that wants this story to mean something feels crushed whenever this shit happens.

D20 is great. I love it. dropout is the only subscription service I pay for rn. but in its exceptional quality, it's proven to me that tabletop rpgs just simply don't work as a proper medium for storytelling, at least not the traditional GM / Player structure.

again. sorry for the rant