#but like overall not really his fault or anything so I feel like an evil selfish predator 🤷

[veganhamsalad]

Trying to not be sad bc it’s unreasonable and unfair

[gingerjunhan]

Can I request a ot6 reaction to their parter getting lots of compliments maybe because they are pretty or smart just all around a talented person I have the biggest head cannon that gaon and jungsu absolutely feeds into their partner’s getting praised and loves bragging about them because he knows they are amazing

☆彡 eeeek such a cute request!! I'm so excited to get the ball rolling again!!! I hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for the request! 🩷

word count: 768 | pronouns used: they/them | genre: fluff, established relationship | cws: slight swearing, mentions of jealousy, mentions of anger, lmk if I missed anything!! I'm a little rusty lol

goo gunil

I think Gunil would get a little bit jealous!!

like,, he knows you’re hot, other people do NOT need to be pointing it out!!

if others are complimenting your looks, he’s a little bit iffy on it sometimes, but he tries not to let it bother him too much

you did choose him after all!

eventually, the jealousy does wear off, and he can accept the fact that your good looks will grab people’s attention

if they compliment you for other things, then he’s a huge hype man

“Wow (Y/N)! You’re so talented!” eagerly followed by Gunil going *gasp* “Aren’t they?!”

hell, he will go out of his way to get people to compliment you on something if he’s proud of something you’ve done

overall, he’s very supportive, unless he thinks someone wants to pursue you romantically- then he has problems

kim jungsu

I think Jungsu would get a little shy no matter how you get complimented!

even if someone is trying to pursue you romantically through their compliments, he tends to back off, leaving you to deal with those people yourself 💀

he probably doesn’t want to seem pushy

the compliment was given to you, and he doesn’t want to steal your moment (even when he probably should)

if you make a big achievement and people congratulate you, he would probably stand off to the side like a proud parent and watch as you soak it in

he would only step in and say something if it’s absolutely necessary

if someone won’t leave you alone after you’ve asked them to stop, he’ll put his big boy pants on (that made me cringe I’m so sorry) and tell them to leave you alone

other than that? this is all you, baby!

kwak jiseok

overly excited

no matter what compliments you get, he agrees

a stranger tells you they like your outfit? so does he

that thing you made looks really cool? he couldn’t agree more

some random guy hits on you at a bar because he thinks you’re hot? Jiseok agrees, but leave them alone!

quite literally “yes, and”

“(Y/N), I really like your shirt today.”

“So do I! Don’t they look great in that shade of blue!!”

nobody can outdo the doer- so he’s perfectly fine with you getting compliments as long as you know he means them 10x more than everyone else does

oh seungmin

he’s like Gunil but evil

he’s not jealous… he’s possessive

don’t get me wrong, he’s happy for you when someone compliments your talents or achievements!

they just need to calm down on the happy tone 😁

he has to be 100% sure the other person has no intention of courting you for him to not blow smoke out of his ears

also, he doesn’t get mad at you no no no

like, he gets it- you’re attractive. it’s a curse. he doesn’t get mad at you that you get complimented by other people because that isn’t your fault

he’ll just… quietly sit in his jealousy until the other person is done

if he feels the need to, however, he will come wrap an arm around your waist mid conversation… just to prove a point

han hyeongjun

🙂↕️

bro is just happy to be there

he feels proud of you when others compliment your achievements or talents because he agrees!

you’re great! you deserve the praise!

he will let you bask in your spotlight for as long as you can

low key he would be the same for physical/ romantic compliments

Hyeongjun kinda gives the vibe that he just stands next to you silently in public like 🧍‍♂️🙂 while holding your hand, so I feel like people would get the nonverbal message that they should leave you alone

if they don’t, he’ll just give them a face until they move on

I KNOW y’all have seen his “bitch, please” face

lee jooyeon

he’s the happy medium between Jiseok and Gunil in my opinion

he’s so excited that other people will point out and compliment you on your achievements

he will take any chance he can to celebrate you!

he’ll compliment you to others when you aren’t around

“My partner is in this show. They worked so hard!!”

when things get romantic, however?

😃➡️😠

he no longer plays along and he will show that he’s mad at the other person

he probably won’t say anything, but he will definitely be giving out some dirty looks!

he’s supportive until he needs to stand up for you, then all of the sudden he is he tries to be Mr.Tough Guy™️

taglist: @mon2sunjinsuver , @mini-mews , @mxlly143 , @somethingaboutcheese , @weluvjeong , comment to be added!⁎⁺˳✧༚

[sunny-mercya]

Bittersweet

Geto Suguru x Male Reader | Platonic! Guilty Gojo Satoru x Male Reader

Fandom -> Jujutsu Kaisen

Masterlist

Gojo always detest it when he had to visit you. It wasn't because he hated—a strong word, more like dislike—you, if anything, it was more out of the still immense guilt he feels in your presence.

A guiltiness which eats him up, making him a pitiful whimpering mess in the nights. Bawling his eyes out at the empty shrines, after every visit—his confidence crumbling into nothing but dust, the insecurity resurfacing again and haunting him like the phantom, dull, pain he feels in his eyes and back.

It was his fault. His damned fault that you're like this now. A mere shell of apathetic lethargy and suicidal tendencies—three tries had almost succeeded.

So yes, Gojo detests, hated it even, to visit you. He had to though, in his sole duty of being your friend—even when you once had said, he isn't anymore a friend but a stranger—and because leiri made him to do.

Trotting up the stairs to your apartment, bags in one hand and the other causally in his pant pockets—playing with the house-keys—Gojo thought what to cook for you.

Perhaps your favourite? No, no, that it is only reserved for the Sundays. A light meal then? Something with fish? Pizza or Pasta? The list is endless to choice from and giving him a headache.

Shoko had told him, in her doctoring lecturing way, to create a Meal-Plan and only cook light meals for you—easy to digest—and nothing too overall fatty and heavy.

Gojo had waved her off, nagging at her how you wouldn't be able to enjoy the goods of foods with something dumb as a "meal-plan".

In the end, Gojo admits that Shoko was indeed right. Considering the amounts of meals and dishes he had taken home for himself, giving it away to his students or the homeless or had to throw it all away. After all you couldn't eat more than, on your good days, three to four bites—till hours later you would heave it up into the toilet again.

A Meal-Plan, huh? Yeah he could do that. Megumi can help him too.

Unlocking the door, Gojo stepped in and announced his presence.

~~~

After emptying out the bags and putting away the items for now, Gojo ventured into the living room—knowing well you're in there, either sitting or laying on the couch and watching whatever is being shown in the television.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips, once upon seeing a half finished puzzle on the coffee table and messy toys around it.

Megumi had brought them over during his last visit, telling you; these are much better to beat boredom than some television. Next time I'll bring some books.

Gojo was glad, relieved even, that you played with it.

Crouching down in front of you, blocking the view to television with his still towering high, he takes your hand in his—greeting you with a more softer gently smile.

»Sky eyes,«

Gojo had decided long ago, when you had first muttered those words to him—in the very beginning of your mental downfall, now a in a constant state of lingering decaying—that this was your way of greeting him, how you told him that you're aware of his presence.

Gojo had once made a mistake to come with his blindfold and spooked you so much—you really had believed and still would, if he tries again, that Gojo had been some kind of intruder with evil intentions—you screamed shrill and released a upcoming hurricane of thunderstorms with your cursed energy—now particularly sealed away for your own safety.

So now, whenever Gojo comes over he wears his round shaped sunglasses from his highschool years.

»Yeah, it's me, how are you today [Nickname]?« he asked questions even when he knew he wouldn't get replies from you.

»Hungry? I will made you some nice chicken nuggets, brought the Dino-shaped this time«

Gojo was aware he babbles. He doesn't care, he rather talks nonsense to himself and your apathetic self—than listen to the constant annoying chatter of the television and the upcoming silence which would follow afterwards.

»C'mon [Name], it's bath time,« Gojo picks you up, carrying you into the bathroom and sitting you down on a stool.

He fills the bathtub, making sure the temperature was neither too hot nor cold. He adds some bubble foam to it and two toys.

Gojo undress you slowly, cautiously of your still fresh wounds—self-inflicted days ago, when a night had gotten worse again. Sitting you in the water, he washes you. Humming happily some melody, occasionally joining you in moving the toy ducks arounds.

»Quack squishy wuack«

»Yeah, wuacky quacky [Nickname], look there wants to join another ducky« he showed you the third toy duck, adding it to the water.

A squeal of joy came over your lips, looking with wide eyes at Gojo, happiness radiating off from you as you continue to play.

Gojo's lips trembles, guilt crawling up his throat again.

~~~

Nights are cruel in their own way. Leaving the thoughts spinning and setting them free. Bringing out a loneliness and feelings once deep buried down.

Gojo buried his head in his hands, slightly gripping his snow white hair—you once said to him, how his hair reminds you of the first snow—sitting at the edge of your bed.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply, breathing in a pattern of three-five-five. His thoughts are going haywire again, flaring up the guilt—which is now so thick in his throat that he couldn't swallow anymore.

He looks at you—such a peaceful expression on your face, already so deep in the blissful dreamland—moving his hand to slowly drive through your hair with his fingers, all the way down to your cheeks and caressing them.

His gaze goes to the few photo frames on your nightstand, the small nightlight illuminates only so much. One particular photo always captures his attention.

It was a photo of Geto and you, happily married with Nanako and Mimiko—when they had been around 3 years old—in your arms.

A time where you had been the uttermost happiest. Now it was in ruins, leaving you all alone.

If Gojo had been a bit stronger, if he didn't let Geto go, back then when they had argued over jujutsu sorcery's politics and their moral beliefs towards the world, had been more stubborn—than it wouldn't have ended like this.

With his best friend being dead—at fault for this was Gojo himself, he was the one who killed Geto after all—and you, who had already lost your husband and losing your daughters shortly after—till today you didn't know how they died and Gojo thanked the above that it hadn't been him who done that—who is nothing but a decaying shell forevermore.

»Ya know, [Nickname], I've decided you gonna move in with me now. So I can take even better care of you.«

That's what Geto would've wanted.

[archduchessofnowhere]

We talk about portrayals of Sisi, but I think that Franz Joseph was, if anything, even more misrepresented by the recent period dramas. How would you rank the portrayals of him you have seen/read (in historical novels)? Is there any piece of historical fiction that actually captures his character accurately?

Hello! YES I always focus on Elisabeth but he is also completely butchered in all these new series. I think I've said it before, but basically it's very hard to reconcile who FJ actually was (both as an emperor and as a person) with him being a love interest we as an audience can root for. Specially in these new adaptations in which Elisabeth is outspoken, mature and actively politically involved in the events of the empire (and not just the Compromise). Why would our Girl Boss protagonist want to be with a man who was bureaucracy made flesh, very conservative, and just kinda boring in general? It doesn't work. Thus, his personality also gets rewritten.

I don't really have a decided ranking, but off the top of my head I'd say these are my least to most favorite portrayals:

Sisi & Ich (2023): Do you hate Sisi adaptations that turn FJ into a horrible, abusive husband in order to make his wife look good? Well, this portrayal does just that. He is only very briefly in the movie but I hated every minute of it, personally I was mostly fine with the movie despite all its inaccuracies but there was one scene from this part that was a deal breaker for me. This movie should've been just two hours of Irma and Elisabeth traveling and nothing else.

Die Kaiserin (2022-): The solution of the screenwriters to the problem of "how do we make FJ likeable?" Basically turning him into his brother Maximilian lol. You see, he has liberal ideas but his evil mother doesn't let him pursue them! Oh, and he had nothing to do with those executions, that was also his mother! In fact everything bad he ever did was all his mother's fault, because he is not even governing, his mother is. By season 2 it almost seems that FJ has absolutely no idea what's going on in his own empire and needs to be explained basic thing like Italian nationalism. This series sanitizes FJ in levels that just aren't seen in any other adaptation, not even the Sissi Trilogy. You are watching the show and can't help but think "who is this guy???". The only thing he has in common with the real FJ is that he loves his wife, but the way their relationship is portrayed is so unlike the real couple that not even that makes him similar to his historical counterpart.

Sisi (2021-2024). This FJ is in the opposite end of the same spectrum as Die Kaiserin's FJ. Season 1 had the original take of not making FJ likeable, but instead they turned him in a borderline cartoonishly evil, violent and smug man. He smiles as he orders executions, he beats his aids for not reason, he openly cheats on his wife and publicly insults her in a fit of jealousy. Honestly I was baffled by this take, because even after all these bizarre changes they still went for a "Sisi and Franz's great love story!" approach for the series. Which was. A choice. They obviously wanted to make him like that so that he could go through a redemption arc thanks to his relationship with Sisi, but it was just not a well written arc, and when his personality does change in later seasons it doesn't feel like earned character grow but simply that the writers decided to tone down their original approach.

Yet I will admit I'm lowkey fond of this portrayal, I liked most of his storyline in season 2 (he spends most of the season bonding with a feral child and also definitely has a thing going on with Andrássy you can't convince me otherwise), and in season 3 I found myself agreeing with him. So yeah, utterly butchered FJ but in an entertaining way at least.

Sissi Trilogy: I'm honestly overall indifferent to this FJ; he is basically the blueprint for every posterior depiction that portrays him as a Prince Charming love interest. Yet, for all the overomantization of Elisabeth's early life, the movies don't shy away from telling us how FJ was directly responsible of the counter revolution executions. We even see how he is still hated in Hungary and Italy (at least until Sissi comes into the scene). A certain show from a certain straming service could learn that it's not necessary to completely sanitize his image and pin all his faults onto his mother to make Franz Josef into a palatable love interest.

Sisi (2009). I feel about this FJ almost the same as I feel about the Sissi Trilogy's FJ, but in this portrayal we do see more of him than just "Sisi's love interest". Also it's not always all the color of roses, he and Elisabeth disagree and fight more than once. His relationship with his brother Max is also really interesting, pity they only interact in like three scenes. Overall a solid take, if a bit romanticized and not particularly remarkable.

Kronprinz Rudolf (2006). Not a bad take but for what I remember they portrayed Taaffe as having this great influence over FJ and putting him against Rudolf. And like no the evil minister was not responsible for FJ distrusting his son He Was Like That.

Elisabeth das Musical: the only depiction on this list that I truly like, and it really proves that the only way to have a good FJ is to not make him into a love interest. He is only a supporting character and yet the musical nails the most important bits of his personality and his relationship with Elisabeth outstandingly well (loved his wife but never understood her, cheated yet still longed for her, let her go but always hoped she would comeback next to him). There's even room to also show his relationship with Rudolfl! The only thing that I don't really like is that they do portray his mother as having a lot of influence over him, but that's mostly because the musical has an outdated take on Sophie (which works pretty well in a storytelling level nonetheless!). Boote in der Nacht is the saddest song in the entire musical, and the musical is not even about FJ and Elisabeth as a couple. Just a great, nuanced and engaging take!

I know I'm missing a lot FJs but these are the ones that came to my mind right now; I don't think I've ever seen Franz Josef in a piece of media that isn't about Elisabeth or Rudolf. Thank you for your question!

[journals-of-the-guardian-project]

LORE POST #1

Redesign of my Chat Noir redesign to go together with my rewrite which I will talk a lot about under the cut. I'm pretty set on this design too and will link it at the beginning of the fic when I get ten chapters completed and ready to post :3

What is different from canon, why I am changing some things, etc. Feel free to just read my thoughts around the design if you want to read my fic without any guidelines of what I'm planning so far for him

BUT I won't spoil anything major dw

The design:

I've changed chat noir's design so it would blend in more at night. The preferred the sleek black tones over the glow in the dark green I gave him before. I take a whole lot of inspiration from the PV of miraculous ladybug in these designs so of course his hair is still floofy.

When initially designing Chat noir, the tips of his hair are darker since I really liked that trait some other redesigns gave him so I included it without making his whole head of hair black.

I got the idea to base his design off of rust and RAN with it! He still has some greens in his design but they've shifted closer to yellow green and gold for the color scheme!

I've liked the idea about the clothes in the hero designs looking more cloth like too so I've incorporated that into the design with pockets and a zipper cause I can. Since Adrien has been thinking about being a superhero for a while, his design is more thought out were it could be.

EDIT: Forgot to mention!! Ladybelle has a lil more black in her design and now chat has a little more red! :3 matching

I saw some concept art of Chat Noir with a hat at one point and I loved it so much I wanted to keep it in to a certain extent, SO Marichat moment all the way. I decided to add the bells back into his design (I missed them) and took inspiration from @/callimara's Chat Noir design.

Chat noir will still be very cat like in this and I thought it'd be funky if his feat were like a cat's

Overall it isn't much of a design change for some aspects but I really like how it turned out!

K story stuff now:

I want to get ten chapters done before I post chapters again on the first fic since I don't think I did the best job introducing what I've changed. This isn't talking about adrien agreste's life this is more his role as Chat Noir. I'll get to adrien when I get his redesign sheet finished

(any part of this section might be edited in the future but this is basically part of my ideas)

Honestly a whole lot of the fic(s) is(are)

Fault of canon? -> Solution

I've been developing for two years now and I just gotta write it out... Entirely hinging on my execution sigh

Chat noir's powers are now on a more equal footing with Ladybug's (Ladybelle now) and I'll get more indepth when I post Ladybug's redesign and stuff but basically

The miracle box is a mix mash of several miraculous's from other boxes due to an event Guardian Marianne caused. Supposedly, she unleashed the Rabbit kwami of time on the guardians in an act of defiance. Resulting in rips in time eating away the members present for such an event, burning to death in fire. Marianne managed to run away with the miraculous's she could obtain and do her best to live her life knowing what she's done.

The Ladybug and Cat miraculous are a duo pair. Strongest when used in a partnership. Many are tempted to use both at the same time for what the powers merge to become but this isn't the strongest path.

Tikki and Plagg are soulmates you could say. They aren't really romantic but they are bonded for life. Never one without the other.

They are the only miraculous pairing in the new mixmash of the guardian box. Eventually Marianne gives the responsibility to Master Fu, her lover, before the rabbit comes after her as well.

I'll talk more about the changes I've made to Tikki's character in Ladybelle's post but as a part of the Miraculous cure, something all pairing miraculous's have to purify evils and darkness, it requires both parties to be present. Usually some form of touch or communication initiates the Miraculous cure

"Pound it!"

Chat noir can use his power alone to defeat evils but it's like cauterizing a wound. He doesn't figure this out for a bit.

I'll talk more about the miraculous cure in Ladybelle's post

This is still a part of the story I'm working on but:

the miraculous of destruction gets more powerful the longer the user wields it. With techniques and familiarity, Chat noir will be able to make black pockets of nothing just from a touch. Yes I'm including this from the concept art. Though he'll only get this later down the road

Chat noir is still a form of escapism to Adrien and part of his character arc is realizing he can't rely on it like that. A large part of adrien's character I'll talk about in adrien's post ties into Chat Noir too

I'm still figuring out some plot points for him so this is where I'll end this off. But I will say I'm planning on Chat Noir getting more time with the kwamis and more of a role in the Guardian arc and guardian stuff in general

[antoncore]

ok i think i have a lot to say but i might actually not end up saying that much we’ll see… (edit; omfg)

but ot7 riize would take u to a resort (in my mind, ideally pretty tropical, somewhere with blue waters and white sand<333 somewhere really nice, whether it’s all inclusive or not, ur not paying for anything) somewhere you can just lounge about the whole time and never have to change out of your bikini unless it’s into another bikini<3

so i’m gonna try to write a short scenario for each member cuz i’m insane.

in my mind, shotaro would be the most chill out of all of them, more the type of offer to give you head when you’re hanging out by the pool or in the hotel room like “i’ll be quick, just let me make you feel good~” kinda pussy drunk/service top, slowly gets more addicted to the way you taste, and the way your squirm under him when he’s sucking on ur clit, you love pulling on his hair and smushing his face in between your thighs (and he loves it too), would definitely want you to ride his face and then his cock, overall just gets off to seeing you enjoying yourself so much<333 is definitely one of the more considerate and caring members though, would go grab you a different swimsuit to change into if he made a mess of the one you were wearing, would feel so bad if he accidentally ripped your top while you were riding him because he got too into it :( would tell u to stay in the cabana and go get you water and a towel to clean up after and then take you bad to the room to cuddle<33

eunseok is definitely rougher… he’s just the type to manhandle you all the time, touching you constantly like he needs to have his arms around your waist or his hand on your thigh at all times. and since you’re both super horny, it always lead to him fucking you into oblivion just about everywhere. he doesn’t care if anyone is watching or potentially. would definitely fuck you on the ground by the pool at night once it’s dark, keeping your moans muffled with his hand over your mouth (or not), taking his time with you, fucking you slow because he doesn’t to hurt your back too much :(

sungchan is also crazy (i’m just crazy and obsessed) and would fuck you every chance he gets, he’s definitely spanking you and fucking you rough with his fingers, maybe into edging you during the day and then fucking you really hard in the privacy of ur hotel room at night, keeping you needy and flustered all day, begging for him and then giving you what you asked for later on… i don’t really see him being into toys that much but maybe if he was feeling really evil he’d set you up with a vibe in ur bikini bottoms while you’re both out at dinner or smth, definitely a waterproof one so he can have u writing in the hot tub, begging him to touch you but he’s like ur so needy :( why don’t u just enjoy the view of the ocean? and you’d whine and whimper about how this is his fault, you’re trying!!!

sohee trailing after you, whimpering in your ear about how badly he needs to feel your warm mouth around his cock. begs you to suck him off in the resort arcade or in the bathroom at the restaurant, you’re so wet from hearing him moan for you, letting him push on the back of your head cuz he’s so fucked out from how good you’re making him feel, looking up at him to lock glazed eyes, licking your swollen lips and asking “is it my turn?” takes you back to ur hotel room and makes you ride him, making you beg for him to fill you up with his cum before turning you onto your back and releasing all over your tits and face, so unfair :(

seunghan is also definitely playing with you, cumming inside you in the cabana or in ur bikini bottoms and then slapping your ass before telling you to get back to the hotel room and wait for him there, don’t you dare touch yourself in the meantime. fucks you so hard into the mattress, choking you, and spitting in your mouth, praising you when you open wide for him and swallow without him telling you to. “good girl”, and “such a slut for me,” but definitely makes sure to give your clit it’s much needed attention, making out with you sloppily, and sucking on ur tits, prolongs your orgasm and makes you feel so so good you forget about how mean he is and keep running back to him for more :(

wonbin wants you to masturbate in front of him in ur room, jerking off to the sight of you, you encourage him to touch you, but he says no, wanna cum with you and then fuck your pretty little pussy, you’re so overstimulated as he sinks into you after just reaching your high, walls clenching around his cock and your eyes rolling into the back of your head, gripping the sheets and crying out as he begins to thrust inside of you, drives you to the point of tears, before cumming on your stomach and then sinking his cock back into you to go again

anton hot tub sex. moaning into your mouth as you ride him, the water allowing you to lift your hips and sink back down onto his with more ease than you normally would, he has one of your breasts popped out of your swim top and into his mouth, suckling on your nipple and leaving hickeys all over ur soft mound, making soooo much noise :( u tell him to be quiet but he whimpers that he can’t :( you just make him feel too good :(( you shove your boob back in his mouth when you feel his cock twitch inside of you, both of u cumming at the same time but you make sure his cum stays inside of you until you get out of the hot tub cuz u don’t wanna be nasty and leave the hot tub filled with his jizz :(

- 🧸 anon

i have no words. this is a masterpiece. i felt many many things reading this. i need this and i need this NOW. 🧸 you are just amazing ilysm mwah mwah mwah. to have this rn would be a DREAM (and i’m sure everyone else would agree). and also if you did end up writing on your blog and you wrote this i would read it at least once a day ISNSNSNSN

[tragicbeauty1991]

So I know I’m extremely late to the party, but I FINALLY got around to watching Wish now that it’s up on Disney+ and…I genuinely don’t understand why it got so much hate?? Sure, maybe it wasn’t on par with things like The Lion King or Frozen in terms of the lasting effect it’ll have on pop culture but it was still a good, fun film with original characters and plot and catchy songs. While I can see where some of the complaints are coming from, I feel like ultimately most of them blow the issues out of proportion. As for my personal thoughts on the film…

- The songs were good overall. Maybe not as memorable as some of my favorite ‘90s Disney jams, but topping Phil Collins and Elton John is admittedly hard to do. Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine were great, though. I honestly had no idea Chris Pine could sing so well. “At All Costs” was by far my favorite song of the entire film. I would have loved to see it as a love duet rather than singing to the wishes but regardless, it’s beautiful. “This is the Thanks I Get” got a lot of flak, but honestly, I thought it was catchy and fun—rather reminiscent of Gaston’s pub song about himself.

- Speaking of Magnifico… More backstory, please! I would love for a sequel to do what they did with Frozen and explain all the things that were not fully developed in the first film. I want to know details on what happened to Magnifico’s family… But man, oh man… Was I EVER happy to get a “real villain” again with more of a classic Disney feel—dramatic, over the top, a little unhinged…and just FUN. I think the reason so many people seem to be having a problem with him is that they don’t quite know how to categorize him, though, before his ultimate downward spiral after being possessed by the book. (I think after that point, no one would argue about him being a villain.) But before…while he’s definitely narcissistic and has a temper…he’s not straight-up evil. There’s a big difference in being a bit of a jerk and being someone who makes you legitimately fear for your life. In fact, we have several heroic characters in the Disney canon who at least start out their story in a similar vein. Prince Naveen, Peter Pan, and Emperor Kuzco, for example, are all full of themselves and entitled…but they ultimately choose to do the right thing when it comes down to people they care about. That is to say, Magnifico’s less than ideal character traits we see early on in the film shouldn’t automatically qualify him as a villain. He could frankly go either way. And then when he does “go dark” it’s ONE stupid decision on his part (going for the book) that ruins any chance he had of being like the aforementioned characters. Personally, I like the complexity…and the tragedy of what it means for Queen Amaya. Which reminds me…

- Yes, a villain power couple would have been fun. But honestly, I think I like this better. Partly because of the angst potential here. For all his faults, Amaya DOES genuinely love him, and watching him slowly lose his mind and himself to the power-hungry monster he becomes has to be absolutely heartbreaking for her. Also…maybe it’s just because I identify with Amaya here. I have been in a bad relationship where I did truly love the other person and thought they loved me…but ultimately, they seemed to love themselves more. And I made excuse after excuse for his behavior for a long time because I couldn’t see what he was doing to me…didn’t want to see it…because I loved him. People say Amaya had to have known sooner that something rotten was going on but I don’t know that she ever allowed herself to think anything other than the best of him. Amaya has a good heart…and sometimes those people see the best in others even when it isn’t there. What I really would have loved is to have Amaya and Magnifico sing a short reprise of “At All Costs” in which Amaya is asking, “Really? You’ll hoard all these wishes for your own selfish reasons even at the cost of losing your people’s love? Of losing me?” And Magnifico is just…stoically resolute. That would have hurt but it would have been so good!

- Similarly, I don’t get the complaint about Star. I wouldn’t mind seeing Star Boy like he was in the concept art and having a romance with Asha. But also…Star is ADORABLE, okay?? He may not speak but he has so much personality. Makes me think of like…Pascal in Tangled or even Tinkerbell.

- I know a lot of people complained about there being too many references to other Disney films but this just seems like a silly argument to me. Disney has always liked to leave little Easter eggs in their films and have some fun with crossovers. I am thinking of the Genie imitating Pinocchio and pulling Sebastian out of nowhere in Aladdin. Hidden characters in the background of other films like Flynn and Rapunzel showing up in Arendelle. Hidden Mickeys. And of course shows that were all about a Disney multi-verse that sort of pokes fun at itself like Once Upon a Time, House of Mouse, and even Ralph Breaks the Internet. With this being a special anniversary film, of course we ought to expect more nods to other films and Disney animation history. I thought it was cute. Especially Magnifico’s jab at Asha’s little moving drawing. (“Is that a talent?”) Made me literally laugh out loud.

- I think the one complaint I do agree with at least in part is the, “But Magnifico was right, though??” Some dreams shouldn’t come true. Especially if it’s a wish you’re making when you’re 18. There are definitely things I wished for at 18 that I am glad I did not get in hindsight. Sometimes what we wish for isn’t what’s best for us or others. And while Asha’s wishes are selfless and for others…she seems to assume that everyone else will also have equally harmless, selfless wishes. It’s sweet but perhaps a bit naive. Also…Asha has good intentions but it is rather funny and frustrating as the adult to watch this teenager come in and try to upset the whole system thinking she knows better than the person who has been running the kingdom for years. That said… Asha isn’t totally wrong either. The wishes do ultimately belong to the people who made them and it’s better even if it’s painful to have a dream in your heart than to be lacking purpose. It may be easier to forget the wishes entirely but certainly not healthier. Ironically, if only these two could have worked together, they actually would have made a great team.

Overall, I liked the film. And I think if I was still a child myself, I would have enjoyed it even more.

[gladosluver]

music and artists i think you'd enjoy based on your favorite danganronpa character

- for characters with less songs, expect them to be edited in the future - if there's a song that's instrumental doesn't really fit the vibe of the character, then look at the lyrics. a lot of these are in japanese so i recommend looking them up if you're curious or confused. short explanations are provided for more confusing songs (original titles are provided, as some songs/lyrics only show up under those names) - don't like? don't look. if you don't like what i have to say you don't have to say anything about it. just smile and scroll

Chiaki Nanami binaria - not just recommending them because they wrote the DR3: Despair Arc opening, but because their music is legitimately super good and it somewhat reminds me of her laid-back sweet personality song(s) to try - 火星のアーカイブ (Mars Archive), 双糸 (Twin Threads) other assorted songs - き��うくらりん (kyukurarin), パレットには君がいっぱい (My Palette is Full of You) (rest easy, siinamota), 幸せになれる隠しコマンドがあるらしい (There's Supposed to Be a Cheat Code for Happiness), うに (Uni)

Nagito Komaeda Megumi Ogata - i know she's his CV... her music is just so, so good and fitting. no matter how hard i try i CANNOT unhear nagito.  song(s) to try - 再生-rebuild-, 残桜-zanka-, poison -劇薬- The Hoosiers - no comment i cant explain this one. wanted to put this for hajime too song(s) to try - Who Said Anything (About Falling In Love)?, Runs In The Family other assorted songs - Under My Skin, ヒトガワリ (Substitute)

Hajime Hinata Foster the People - this is definitely more of a "music i feel like they'd listen to." but to each their own. song(s) to try - Ask Yourself, Nobody's Favourite (Foster The People rework) (i should just link the entire Supermodel album here lol) other assorted songs - Friend's Apartment, A Sadness Runs Through Him

Ryota Mitarai 実験台モルモット (jikkendaimarmot) - although their songs don't have english translations (its difficult to even find the original lyrics) the overall vibe of their music makes me think of him song(s) to try - 100万回死んだぼく (I've Died 100 Times), リストカッター (Wrist Cutter) (shockingly, the latter is not about s/h. lyrics here, but i believe it's about coming to terms with living in hopes of a better future even if you truly want to die.) 全てあなた���所為です(It's All Your Fault/subeteanatanoseidesu) - their music is very vague and ambiguous. it's mostly just the vibes for this one song(s) to try - エヌ (N), . (it's just a dot) (i believe . about experiencing unexpected events in life, and whenever you try to see the good in them, they end up causing you more pain [ie. getting water from a usually empty container, only for it to taste too sweet]) other assorted songs - 輪廻転生 (Reincarnation), ドーピングダンス (Doping Dance), The Saddest Story Ever Told

Celestia Ludenberg Lana Del Rey -  BEFORE YOU BEAT ME TO DEATH hear me out… some of her songs really have that "femme fatale who pulls evil shit to get what she wants" vibe song(s) to try - National Anthem (Demo 1), Lolita (Demo) other assorted songs - Pyrite Girl, Girl Anachronism, Candle Queen

Kyoko Kirigiri x0o0x_ - whatever genre they make I WANT IT. their music is calming and makes you want to cry at the same time, yet some songs make you wanna scream the lyrics and stand ominously in the wind… it's just so unique song(s) to try - '''''', ====== (most songs have no titles, so i'm using the ones from their spotify) other assorted songs - The Downfall of a Well Known Actress

Junko Enoshima MARETU - the theme of his music is so… despair-inducing. you can imagine an edit of her with any one of his songs song(s) to try - マエガミスト (Maegamist), うまれるまえは (Born before) (maegamist is about turning a blind eye to other people's/society's problems, isolating yourself and leaving them to struggle alone. but this is just my interpretation) 和田たけあき (WadatakeakiP/KurageP) - cant explain this one… trust me song(s) to try - チュルリラ・チュルリラ・ダッダッダ！(Chururira Chururira Daddadda!), トラッシュ・アンド・トラッシュ！(Trash and Trash!) (chururira is about using other people's "bad" actions against them (no matter how small) to spread harmful rumors/snitch on them until you're the only "good" one) other assorted songs - Breaking Things Into Pieces, 食事 (EAT) (my interpretation of EAT is consuming everything you can, but never being satisfied)

hope yall can hear me out on some of these have fun happy listening

if i get any reblogs "correcting" me saying a fictional 4-person rhythm game group wrote and produced any of these songs im deleting my fucking account (iykyk)

[sasukeless]

just wondering aloud here but what do you think about the many negative feelings towards itachi? i mean obviously he did very bad things but i think about my siblings (and family, and friends, and loved ones) and maybe i wouldn’t go so far as to annihilate my entire clan like he did, but… i would go very far for them, i think. once someone recognizes how his betrayal and actions thereafter are out of love and duty the theme/story becomes very, very different, just mostly sad.

which is not to mention that he was a child soldier and was straight up murdering ppl before he turned ten!! at ten i was still making mud pies with dirt outside !!!!

also it’s not that deep but idk i think about the two brothers and get sad sometimes.

okay this is a really complicated because as much as i like itachi as a character i understand very well why people hate him or are critical of him.

the thing about itachi people hate is how he’s portrayed in the narrative itself. kishimoto wants the audience to view itachi massacring his family as a good and honorable thing and not as something horrific. his crime is glorified as the peak of a great shinobi and will of fire, which in the text, are put as the good side. so ofc anyone that actually stops and thinks what they are reading will go HUH?

its true that itachi was a child soldier and was groomed at 13 to do what he did but itachi dies as a grown person and STILL he never thinks of the course action he took as the wrong one. it certainly brought guilt to him killing his clan if he wanted to be killed so bad by sasuke’s hands to “right” things but until the very end he saw his clan as if they had been in the wrong for standing against konoha. and yes we can just say that’s because how deep the brainwashing went but it still doesn’t absolve him because as any grown person you have to do retrospection in your life. (sorry for using my dumb phd in star wars here as an example but take anakin. he was groomed to become evil since he was a child yet still you can’t say he’s not a villain because at the end of the day it’s him who is killing children and the movie doesn’t tell you this is good thing because he’s doing it to “save” his wife. it’s a selfish horrific act and the narrative paints it as such)

it doesn’t help that itachi as a character is a big mess in certain areas that came with him being a straight up villain in part 1 then “broken hero” in part 2. it’s true itachi chooses danzo’s way to kill their entire clan to spare his little brother’s life but the elders did not tell him to make sasuke watch that and psychologically ruin sasuke for life, and then coming back to the village and doing it again. he did that in his own accord because he selfishly wants to dictate sasuke’s actions. he was very controlling of sasuke’s life but the funniest thing is that he couldn’t see it until after he dies but people still paint these actions as good (even though in his rarest moment where he gained self awareness, he says himself he was wrong).

i don’t doubt he loves sasuke more than anything but for 99% of his arc it was a very obsessive and controlling and ruthless kind of love in which he was the one to hurt sasuke the most with the actions he committed to protect him.

i personally love and hate itachi as a character, he’s fascinating because of how fucked up he really is. i enjoy characters like that overall. and i love fucked up siblings relationships and itachi and sasuke are one that drives me crazy because the love is really there despite everything! but still i’m not blind to kishimoto’s propaganda i can see the faults in his writing and why people (me included) hate the narrative he tried to push

[bigblueoctoling]

So, Side Order

Thoughts and theories below. I'll be getting into Everything.

I think Side Order sets off with a very bad first impression, but the story shortly develops. Side Order's biggest fault is simply in placing the Finale at the end of the first run; Of course one naturally should assume that more content would come after beating your first run, since this was very obviously marketed as a roguelike, but a roguelike generally shouldn't present completing your first run as completing the game. Any contemporary roguelike like Hades or Isaac will also have the credits after the first run, but the conclusion given is typically that Your Job Is Not Over. The way Side Order does it is as if Isaac's first ending was The Beast. I can't really blame people for mistakenly believing that the "Story" was over after that.

I also have to mention that I LOVE the Final Final Phase with collecting All Of The Color Swatches, but it really really cheapens how cool of a moment it is for Eight when the FINAL ATTACK is just... Pearl doing the killer wail a second time. Like, could you really not come up with ANYTHING else? I like Pearl's killer wail, it's cool, but it just felt like Eight got completely robbed of a moment.

With those two things out of the way I can safely say that Side Order was overall very good. It was kind of a rollercoaster for me, initially.

For a lot of it, I was really irked at how generic the whole Evil AI Story was, but it really develops as time goes on without really outright spelling things out for you.

I was deeply worried when I got Octavio's palette; one of my biggest fears for Splatoon currently is the idea of them trying to redeem Octavio, who is blatantly just a war tyrant who grooms child soldiers. That's not me reading too deeply into subtext, that's just what the text is. But as you keep going through it it becomes pretty clear- Marina in particular is the one who's phrasing everything like it's Really Not So Bad.

One of Side Order's major themes is Marina repressing trauma.

Smollusk is never really given an outright explanation on their origin, but I think it's fairly clear if you pay attention to how Smollusk acts- Smollusk is, in part, a manifestation of the "weakness" in Marina's subconscious Order used to infiltrate her mind. As far as evidence goes, it's pretty clear with how Smollusk swoons over Pearl- but additionally, I feel a lot of their notes from clearing palettes are relevant to this. In particular, in relation to the theme of Marina's repressed thoughts, there's Sheldon's info- The fact that they outright condemn Sheldon for taking "two young, impressionable children who've known him since they were babies and raised them to inherit his legacy", and "drill a love for weapons into them" seems to outright be a condemnation of Octavio's treatment of Octarians, while also skirting around directly condemning Octavio of such due to repressing what she went through.

In addition to that, I feel Acht's presence is a key part of this theme as well- it is extremely in character for someone as empathetic as Marina to downplay something she herself went through, especially in the context of being around someone who went through something much worse, with Acht's sanitization. Marina consistently refers to it as her Job, and Octavio as her Boss, while Acht will outright describe it accurately as conscription.

There's also the aspect of the other octarians- namely, the concept of Octarians who "didn't want things to change". At first, the concept reviled me- but I came to realize that this wasn't really about blaming Marina for leaving- after all, this wasn't an active desire of the Octarians involved, this was a shared subconscious feeling. It's less that Marina "abandoned the Octarian Military", but rather, that the people left behind felt abandoned by Marina's leaving. They surely wouldn't actively express this, but... it left an impact all the same.

Most clearly this is expressed by Acht. With the final notes unlocked from Eight's palette, I feel like it paints a very clear picture- Acht cared deeply for Marina. After Marina left... Acht fell into a complete depressive spiral. They used music to fill the void left by her absence, eventually to the point that they were willing to let themselves be sanitized. I feel like a lot of people are kind of distracted by the idea of Acht's irritation of Pearl and Marina's flirting being funny to realize that their discomfort is coming from the fact that Acht had very Heavy feelings for Marina. Acht, possibly more than anyone else, represents the idea of wanting things to stay the same back then. The ultimate conclusion being that Acht moves on from everything, accepts the change, but is happy to be able to be here, in the better future Marina created by making the risk to change everything.

I honestly feel like this is the intended story, but at the same time, that it's going to go over a lot of peoples' heads. But it really paints a very dynamic plotline that I think they handled masterfully.

For context for people who don't know me, to put it bluntly, I kin Acht and Eight pretty fucking hard. I can't say enough how thankful I am that Acht is written largely how I've always envisioned her. I wrote a fairly extensive fic myself on how I imagined sanitization worked, and the way Acht made their way to the surface, and how Marina worked to cure their sanitization. Suffice to say, while my interpretation was different, I'm deeply, deeply pleased that the canonical direction was largely similar to my own, in that Marina would absolutely be way too empathetic to not try to rescue the sanitized octarians from the NILS statue. And for what it's worth, I'm kind of glad, albeit mostly as a writer and less as a player, that they left a lot of the details open-ended, so I have MOUNTAINS of material to work with in writing another, more accurate fic. I'm also very happy that Eight is very heavily relevant! Acht is characterized perfectly. Very emotionally reserved, but has a lot of feelings hidden behind that wall.

As for Eight and Acht, let's talk about them, because I feel they are very intentionally linked, beyond the similarity of their names. It stands out very heavily that Eight's palette is here, but Acht's is simply missing. The idea that Acht's palette was simply already configured doesn't quite track to me- it feels more like an excuse Marina cooked up to keep Acht from worrying. I came to a realization of a theory shortly after completing the game that I was mortified at being true, because it was a worst-case-scenario I thought of shortly after Acht's reveal, which is:

Acht is Eight.

This upset me a lot because, well, I kin both of them- I have a lot of self-perceptions tied to each of them. If they're both the same character, to put it bluntly, it feels like I'm basically having one of them get forcibly removed. Some people get confused when I say this upsets me, but simply put, it just doesn't gel with my brain.

The most upsetting thing is how many holes in the plot it seems to fill in perfectly.

Eight, Marina, and Pearl were the only ones who initially entered the spire. Why was Acht already there, 'physically', as opposed to everyone else who merely got their soul sucked in through the sea cucumber phone?

Where even is Acht, physically? They're presumably still in the NILS statue, since it's pretty heavily implied that the memverse is what made Acht in control over their body.

Why doesn't Acht have a palette, even if it was already somehow automatically complete? Pearl and Marina just sort of have theirs with them. Why doesn't Acht?

Why is Eight's palette so huge and fucked up?

Why does Eight's palette unlock notes from Acht?

Why do we not actually see Acht physically in the real world? On the news, rather than just showing the three standing together, they show Pearl and Marina standing next to the old album art of Acht.

Why do we not get much of any feedback to explain if Eight gets their memories back?

Upsettingly, it even kind of goes to explain why Nintendo would give Acht they/them pronouns- as happy as I am for Acht to just be nonbinary, the explanation that Acht is Eight would explain why Nintendo would do that.

Most upsettingly, it seemed like nothing really hard countered this evidence- Eight and Acht look completely different, but that's kind of a nebulous hurdle to get over when everything else seems to line up so perfectly.

...However, thankfully, I came to learn that, of all things, TABLETURF BATTLE would save me from this theory being real. Acht is real, physically. Logically it doesn't track that Acht would exist physically after Eight, since, you know, you're definitely playing as Eight in Octo Expansion, so I think it's safe to say that this theory is a non-starter. Huge relief to me.

That being said, I still feel like this theory has legs- it certainly would make a very good super depressing fic where Acht has to come to grips with the fact that they don't exist anymore, but I'm not in the business of making that kind of fic.

On the other hand, I do think the fact that so many things line up does imply a lot about Acht and Eight, if not strictly canonically speaking. I think it's very possible for it to be something like:

Eight is a clone of Acht.

This, for the most part, explains the plot holes listed above, and explains the weird green goo that we initially find Eight in. It also adds more fun to work with for writing the two. We get a lot of language like "Who am I?" with Eight in particular, and giving Eight an identity crisis on top of everything else sounds fun. It also explains the visual discrepancies, a clone can look different from the host, but clones sharing souls tracks. I'm keeping this headcanon.

I also just think the color swatch system, and the design for Dramatic Days in Orderland as a whole, are very Neat and very Cute and line up with my autism very very very well. It makes me very deeply happy how autism-coded Marina is in this, and frankly, this being her solution to curing sanitized octarians is even more indulgent to my own interests than my own self-indulgent fan fic was. I cannot WAIT to write more and think about Marina's silly virtual worlds. Especially with how power-trip-y this one is; the fact that she envisions herself as the final boss is really a lot of food for thought.

As a whole, all of Side Order is an enormous amount of food for thought. This is EXACTLY what Splatoon 3 has been missing- fodder for theorycrafting and fanfic-writing and so forth. The world of Splatoon 3 has felt so stagnant and all of this is an enormous breath of fresh air that makes me excited for the future of the series.

In closing:

Smollusk is a product of the subconscious of those who worked on the game.

Acht loved Marina but lacked the self-esteem to express it to Marina. Marina left and Acht took it pretty hard, but they're okay now.

Eight is a clone of Acht and they share one huge fucked up broken soul. Whoops!

[fu-cough]

I watched Disney's Wish (aka their 100 year celebration movie) and if you like the movie please just feel free to ignore me😭

ITS SHITTY.

1. Appearance - it is so bland. The castle has no color in it. It's all grey, even Asha's clothes are muted! Their city is called "ROSAS" for god's sake, they couldn't have thrown in an abundant amount of roses there?? Flowers?? They tried to do this 2d and 3d mix that the Spiderverse movies made famous and it just does not work. The characters do not interact with the textures of the background at all. It feels like they were just plastered onto the scene with the backgrounds already made. The trees and leaves do not sway. The best sequence was probably the "At All Costs" song number.

2. Soundtrack - "here I are", "Throw caution to every warning sign" (the context of the song is that she does not care about the warning signs), "I got these genes from outer space" (which does not make sense metaphorically and literally because afaik Magnifico is a human with powers). Overall, the tune is okay (more of pop music than theater style but ok) the lyrics are not. Definitely tried to copy Lin's style.

3. Asha - who EVEN IS SHE?? We don't even know anything about her except that she wanted to be Magnifico's apprentice so her family could have a higher chance in having their wish granted. Also her father died. She was so boring as a protagonist. She had an i want song where she spoke about being restricted by people telling her "no" and like WHEN?? She was never stripped of her freedom, the only time she was told no was when she asked Magnifico to have her grandpa's wish granted. She was THE SAME throughout the entire film. No development, no moral lessons, no nothing.

4. Magnifico - he kind of deserved better lmao, not the best but his character deserved better treatment plot wise. Like he turned evil in a span of 5 seconds because of some cursed book i guess. And then his wife of how many years immediately left him and took the throne for herself 😭. He granted a girl's wish about being a dressmaker and she talked shit about him the moment he was in the mirror. I don't really understand why he's a villain but that's because I don't understand how wishes worked in-universe.

5. Wishes - i dont understand THIS!! it pisses me off so much and threw me off the entire duration of the film. Like okay so the people of Rosas WILLINGLY give the King their wishes once they turn 18. Then the King grants 1 wish per month and people KNOW THIS. It's basically a lottery and there's a chance your wish will never be granted. The citizens also know that they will forget their wish once they give it and they will never get them back. So what is Asha trying to revolt against here?? People seemed okay with this entire arrangement, hell, they knew about it the entire time. What exactly is the conflict in the story?

6. Other Characters - ohh omgg Asha's friends are the seven dwarves haha nice idea Disney, if only they were fleshed out and we could've seen their wishes, right? Also there's a talking goat thing who makes butt jokes. And then there was Star that was definitely just there to make merch plushies. Asha's grandpa wants to "inspire the young generations" thru... playing the guitar??? Asha's motivations revolved around having her grandpa's wish granted and his wish is just so goddamn plain. Like where are the stakes?? It would've been better if her grandpa's wish was something life saving. Maybe her mom was sick or something.

7. Plot - there's a plot?

I am just so madd. It so soulless, stiff, and basically just an entire ball of corporate bullshit. I am not blaming any of the writers, animators and anyone in the creative field because we know damn well it's the executives' fault for making this whole mess. 1/10.

[forthegothicheroine]

Scattered thoughts on The Wicker Man 2006:

This felt in some respects like a bad production of a good play- it hits so many of the same beats as the original film, but it hits them wrong! 

The original Summerisle was creepy intermixed with seeming like a really nice, friendly, cheery place to live. The tension builds with each scene of the village doing something weird, but not necessarily wrong. In this film, Summerisle (excuse me, Summersile) is filled with sinister old women chanting “Yes, the wicker man!” and all but outright telling the cop what they want him to hear. Howie had to work to find out what they wanted him to know- that was part of his tragedy, that his own efforts doomed him. This film feels like the cult doesn’t trust their victim’s intelligence or skill as a detective so they have to spoon feed him every clue.

“This is like if the girl in Get Out said “I want to take you to my family’s experimental brain surgery party!” - my husband

Nic Cage is famously as good or bad as any given movie calls for, but when the whole cast is bad, it’s probably the director’s fault.

Yes, it’s misogynistic. Extremely so. A class full of girls and a line of pregnant women are both treated as scary sights in and of themselves. In many ways it’s reminiscent of Harvest Home, but the decent quality of that book overall made the misogyny offend me far more. Here it’s just goofy.

On that note, I wouldn’t normally think anything of a man punching an evil woman in a horror movie, but it feels like the movie wants me to feel a certain way about a manly man drop-kicking a teenage girl into a wall. But how does it want me to feel?

Sister Summersile isn’t given anywhere near Lord Summerisle’s charm or seduction; she’s just straightforwardly creepy. The whole point of the leader should be their charm!

There is a note or two of folk music during the procession, drowned out by the suspenseful soundtrack. COWARDS.

If our lead isn’t religious, let alone virginal, the line about “You have the opportunity to be a martyr” means nothing.

“Not the bees!” Yes, yes, it’s very funny, and the bees themselves are Birdemic-level bad CGI. But if they revive him with an epipen and then burn him anyway, what was the point?

“Our ancestors fled persecution in Salem!” Fuck you, movie.

This leads into one of my biggest criticisms of the film’s internal logic- the history of the cult. In the original film, Lord Summerisle’s grandfather created a Golden Bough-inspired “recreation” of ancient pagan traditions on the island; you can raise questions about how well that would work, but I bought it. But American white people don’t have ancient pagan customs. We all came over here long after Europe was Christianized. I would believe a New Age pseudo-Wiccan cult started a generation or so ago, or I would believe a Plain Folk pseudo-Shaker insular Christianity, but I can’t believe both at the same time. (I guess I should just thank god that it wasn’t portrayed as an evil Native American island...)

After all that, the end credit line “Dedicated to Johnny Ramone” was the last thing I expected.

[chacharoni]

end of 2024 ramblings

I haven't really made a proper post here in ages, so here's me rambling about things I really enjoyed in 2024, primarily animations but also some other media and ttthings.

Asks/comments regarding this post are very welcome, thank you and I hope you enjoy reading!

Sailor Moon

Starting off with this, as of this year (2024) I have finally watched the whole show (and I'm slowly reading the manga too). I will be talking about some spoilers so do skip the Sailor Moon section if you don't want to read them.

My only real exposure to the Sailor Moon series prior to this year, was trying to watch it on TV as a kid, but to no avail as it aired in ungodly early hours of the morning… and I suppose all the art and memes that I would later stumble upon online from time to time. So my thoughts prior to watching it summed up to 'Sailor Moon is a classic and its cultural impact is tremendous' and 'it also has lesbians I guess?'.

Needless to say Sailor Moon is, similtaneously way more and way less than I expected.

There's so much that can be said about the anime adaptation and its differences from the manga. I'm personally of two hearts on the matter, I don't like how the manga's stories were dismissed for not having a broader appeal, but I enjoyed the extra content of the anime more often than not.

While the anime expands on the manga in a very repetitive manner by sticking to a 'monster of the week' format, causing plotlines to stay flat for too long or even rolling back on plot progress made on occasion, it manages to flesh out a lot of characters way more than their manga counterparts.

A side effect of that also being that some characters get stories that conflict the manga canon to an unrecognizable degree, but that's usually not a bad thing.

Examples of positive change (in my very honest opinion) are evil twink Zoisite and Koan's survival and redemption arc. I loved these two characters a lot so I was glad to see them stick around for as long as they did. Sure Zoi could have done without the hints of homophobia baked into his character and Koan should REALLY REALLY NOT have been de-gothifyed around the end of her story relevance, but no point crying over 30 year old spilt milk I guess…

My overall watch experience through season 1 and up until the end of season 2 was mostly curiocity satisfied. 'This show is history and that's why I should watch it' was my main drive. Despite the fun parts, the first two seasons did get somewhat boring and I wasn't very font of either plotline.

(My knowledge of the manga also rans out by the end of with these two arcs so I have little to comment on the differences between the two versions past this.)

Nothing really prepared me for the director change that happens for Season 3. A difference that can be felt from the very first animated frames of this arc and especially in the world shaking impact the 'sailor moon lesbians' have on the story, through the character conflict they bring on the table.

I love Sailor Moon season 3 more than anything I've watched this year (and I watched a LOT of really great shows).

Nothing quite made me feel like a child watching my favourite show on TV impatient to see my favourite character show up again like this season managed to.

Haruka Tenou is the best Sailor Moon character and this is a fact, not just my poor little guy honest opinion. I'm incredibly happy to have been blessed with a director that was aware of this fact too and did all in his power to let her shine as much as she did.

Haruka and Michiru's presence in the show brings intrigue and investment in the plot that was sorely lacking in the seasons prior. They're also a vast improvement to the rom-com aspects of the show, with how they make the rest of the sailors soldiers question their sexuality.

So yeah… I really loved this season, it only kinda disappointed me at the very end because it gets vague and anti-climatic. From research I did, that seems to have been the fault of studio execs, so I'm more mad in behalf of the director than anything.

Sailor Moon s3 walked and fell on its face so Utena could run basically.

I don't really have many more thoughts on Sailor Moon. Season 4 was well directed, but I hardly cared about Chibiusa and her horse bf. It had no Haruka, like at all, so that was a massive downgrade. It was still better than s1 and s2 though.

Season 5 was the other Good One imo, what it does with the guardian lore is pretty cool and Seiya was a fun character. Also Haruka comes back for this one and she's still great despite the different directors, so this is my second favourite season.

Anyway, I'm kinda scared to start reading arc three in the manga because I heard they're quite different. I hope I like manga!Haruka too…

Wakfu Season 4

Hrm, we're back here huh.

So Wakfu season 4 was good, great, amazing and then also bad in very predictable ways.

I have been actively holding myself from commenting on it before. Specifically because I think some of the frustration I have vented about this show before was a tad vitriolic and I'm not happy with it anymore.

But it's been years since then. I've changed and grown a lot (for the better I'm hoping) and Wakfu and its primary author also have undergone changes of their own, so no harm in going back in and talking about the new season, right?

Wakfu season 4 starts a new leaf for the direction of the show. The brotherhood of the forgotten is promptly send their way in the first episode so we can dive in the new story at hand.

I will be honest I expected nothing at all going into this, negative, positive or otherwise, which is why I was quite pleasantly surprised at first.

The first few episodes are pretty good, the general direction of the show is very solid, telling the story at hand in a more competent manner than the unfortunate s3 had prior.

The new characters introduced are very intriguing, especially the Eliatrope goddess and Torross. The animation is incredible, which is to be expected frankly, Wakfu always had good animation, but its no lie this season went a bit harder than usual. Nora's journey and the Eliatrope Goddess backstory sequence are still in my mind months later.

While I've never really been in love with the main characters, I did like the changes made to them and their dynamics in contrast to the slog that was s3.

The direction of the story also managed to keep me invested in them, at least up to the point where it seemed the big bad was going to get pummeled not with an 'EPIC BATTLE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS' but simple sticks and stones for a change.

But sadly as soon as that possibility faded from the horizon, so did my attention.

A glaring problem with this season for me is that a few too many of the plot threads laid out have been left aside for a later one/different potential stories. Because of this some characters just go in directions that I don't particularly feel made for a compelling continuation or exit from their established stories.

I'm not really happy with what the mechasm was dragged in to contribute to the narrative at all. I was super stoked to see it but it was massive a let down it just gets reduced to a power source to replace the eliacube…. The eliasphere…… My god, this just fucking sucks, ESPECIALLY so if that's supposed to be the point, why go out of the way to glorify Qilby's actions this time around, come the fuck on.

(The showdown between them was pretty cool though and it was incredibly funny Qilby had that one sexist line towards the mechasm around the end, what the fuck is wrong with him?? good god)

Aspargone was way way better characterized this season, her 'gaslight, gatekeep, feed the orphans' shtick is funny as hell. I was just not pleased she didn't get to have proper closure with Ruel. I don't think their story needs to drag on further than this season and I kinda hope it doesn't.

Torross was cool but does not feel like he was dealt with in any meaningful way. I understand he has to stay alive because he needs to exist and show up across the games that are set in the past or future of the story in s4, but I find that a flimsy excuse for the underwhelming finale.

Yugo doesn't seem to have learned anything meaningful from him, just has potential to reflect upon what happened in a future story and that just doesn't feel like a satisfying ending to all this. (Oropo bringing some arguement in the narrative against Yugo acquiring more power doesn't matter to me. There has not been one instance of Oropo trying to fix things that was good or benefited anyone at all and he's also boring as hell and I don't give a shit what he has to say.)

I'm also somewhat annoyed that Torross's backstory is as vague as it is cause it's quite interesting and I wanted to know more about what sort of place his planet used to be. Why does it only seem to have hosted three gods etc etc.

Nora's demise was another let down. She was the character I was most invested in and I was really hoping she would be added to the main cast.

Like, finally we get an eliatrope who's actually grown on me, her design was made to cater to me specifically and she has A LOT of potential character development she could undergo laid out and… She just gets canned end of the season?

I will only reconsider my frustration over this if she comes back in the future somehow, sheesh. :v

Eliatrope is the character I was most pleased with (while not my fave, I think she's the most well-rounded). It's very cool how she has an air of uncanniness to her that never quite leaves no matter how much of wet puppy she acts at times. I don't believe her side of the story is all there is to it and again, while I'm not happy it was left for another arc, I hope whatever we get about the gods' lore lives up to the unease she's build up.

Pinpin is the character I have the most mixed feelings about. He's back to be the amicable doofus he used to be, which is great and he's now kinda(?) better taking in that he's a grown man with a wife and three kids.

His character development is not unwelcome, same as Yugo's, I'm glad they're not being little dipshits anymore, but I feel like that change has come out of left field a bit.

We never get to see what drove either character to mellow out of the negative growth they've undergone in the OVAs and S3. And yeah it's good Pinpin finally got around to telling Eva, his wife that he has three kids with, that he loves her for the first time in their relationship, but holy shit that sucks so fucking much. I feel so bad for Eva.

So yeah, I think this season was way way better than last one. Not enough that I'm wholly in love with it, but I think some of the ways it failed for me won't be present for a future season.

The 'brotherhood of the tofu' in my opinion should be left behind to tell different stories about different characters in this universe, cause they're not particularly compelling, and especially Eva/Pinpin and their kids really feel like screentime that would be better used on other characters.

They could work better as assisting characters, you know? It might help a lot with their screentime quality if what development they get is more purposeful and measured.

Overall this season really felt like it was setting up for a future one to its own detriment. More focus should have been placed in making this a great season that can stand on its own two feet and be watched individually, than a season that is leaking plots left and right in favor of the transmedia narrative.

A good balance between those two has not been reached yet, but it feels closer in this season than it was before… I really hope if and whenever a new show or season comes out, I'll be pleasantly surprised once again.

Vocaloids, figures and other escapades

So I've ventured back into Vocaloid recently and it's been quite interesting to see how the fandom around them has changed since I was last here. Main reason for my return is that I've gotten into collecting figures, specifically Mikus, insane how there's like a bazillion of them btw, and that got me curious about Vocaloids again.

While the fandom is still going strong, it is, at least in terms of global marketing, wholly under Miku's chokehold. A fact that I don't like so much frankly, it would be nice if more vocaloids, none-crypton vocaloids, got their time in the spotlight too. But anyway...!

Here's my most favorite figure I got this year!

I bought her secondhand earlier this year. She was super cheap cause her standing leg was slightly damaged and coming off where it connected to her leotard. Gluing her back was a bit of a challenge but I pulled through and now she looks good as new!

I really like her outfit and expression here and I think its of her best figures for its price range… It's just good, I love it a lot.

Also, Vocaloid unrelated, by I have nowhere else to put this, please look at this tiny ass Haruka keychain I got……

She's so tiny I had to leave her hanging on my pinboard, I'm scared that if I put her on my keys with the rest of my keychains she'll be obliterated within a couple of days. And if anything happens to her I'll kill everyone in this room etc etc.

I really wish Haruka got more figures, esp of her civilian outfits. All her figures that I actually like are sadly garage kits that I have no way of getting….

Merch aside, I did my first cosplay in over 10-15 (idr?) years for comic con! And it was not a poorly thought out closet cosplay this time (I did still replace some parts of it with clothes I had I thought better fit what the outfit is supposed to look like a bit better). I've been slowly gathering this outfit for a year or so and finally I was able to go as Kenshi Yonezu's Sand Planet Miku. I had already decided the cosplay would be a Miku and his music was the reason I first got into vocaloids so... it was only fitting I would start with this one, it's one of my most favourite of his Miku designs.

Cosplaying was something I enjoyed way more than I expected to and I might try to get my hand on more costumes in the future (I have my eyes on Haruka in her mustard suit as a possible next one, but only time will tell if I actually do that one)

Despite how fun it is however, the public interactions that cosplaying encourages are a bit of a strain on my social anxiety, no matter how pleasant they have been so far. I don't plan to stop because of this but fingers crossed I'll get better about it in the future.

Anyway to close the vocaloid segment here's some bangers that came out this year that I really love:

Monitoring by Deco*27

I'll be honest I'm a bit lukewarm on some of Deco's songs, even if it's incredible how he uses Miku and I'm amazed how far he's come as a producer. Him swapping out of using Gumi for Miku and then even re-releasing Mozaik Role with Miku is an affront to me specifically and I will never forgive him for that.

That being said he really ate with this one, fantastic song, I love the MV so much.

Donut Hole by Hachi

We are SO BACK!! Not a new song by any stretch of the imagination, but the MV for it sure is new and also the first vocaloid related post we have gotten from Kenshi Yonezu in years. I'm kinda livid about it also, I love the new designs for the girls and how chainsawman-esque it is! I'm also pretty sure that's SF-A2 Miki as the villain and Kaai Yuki as the child character which just really makes me happy...

I don't know if this means more of his old songs have the potential to receive an animated MV, I hope it does, but if not I'm super happy we got this one at least.

Awoo by Van de Shop

This song was an entry for the Project Voltage event that happened late last year/start of this (2023-2024) and I love everything about it. The art is insanely beautiful, it's ghost pokemon themed (based), very catchy and it really makes me nostalgic of my early days in the fanbase.

I love this song a lot and this producer is nuts for using Meiko this well, I'm honestly impressed.

Intergalactic Bound by Yunosuke & CircusP

This one I'm a bit ambivalent about, I don't quite like the commercial-ness it emits but... It's a pretty good song and I really love the MV and the designs Miku has here, especially the last one. It's a very fitting song to celebrate the 10th Miku Expo and since I did attend that, this song is very special to me...

Now for Some Youtube recs!

I'll have to plug in Toaster first and his insane ability to make an incredible amount of Let's Plays. Thanks to his channel I've been able to get to experience a lot of games I don't really have the time to go through myself. He's doing whole series runs of games like Castlevania, Silent Hill, Panzer Dragoon, Zone of the Enders and many, MANY more.

His Up Late With 'X' videos are also very insightful reviews of the series he talks about in them and I really recommend them.

Also if you're like me and you like to watch all the videos on a channel you've just found and you loved, I wish you godspeed cause I have been defeated in this game for the first time OTL....

Ben G Thomas is a paleontology channel that covers a variety of discoveries from dinosaurs, to sharks, to worms, to weird fucked up shrimps both old and historic ones and recent ones. I have learned a lot from this channel so it's very dear to me, and I'm glad to slowly be brainwashed to actually remember the names of species etc.

Also one of this channel's segments, 7daysofscience, that covers more broad weekly science news was recently moved to its own channel, so check that out too if you're interested!

Ok, now I started following a CJ th X while ago because their videos are very very entertaining and they post banger after banger not gonna lie. 'Noface is an Incel' honestly improved the way I viewed that character, sure its been a really long time since I saw that movie but I don't think I had really ever considered this angle. Another I really like is the more recent 'How Jordan Peterson's Suits Taught Me Fashion', this video has a lot of interesting things to say about the social aspects of gender and I'm honestly very here for it.

And that's all, I'm glad I got to the end of writing all this and if you read up to here, thank you for sticking along!

[karuvapatta]

So this is me, trying to write some light and fluffy Jon/Elias.

....yeah.

***

“Uh, Jon? You okay?”

“Yes,” Jon says, through gritted teeth, and wonders if it’s too early in the day for another smoke break. “I’m fine. Perfectly fine. Everything’s just great, isn’t?”

Martin takes a hesitant step back.

“Well, actually—”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“I know that!” Martin’s face twists into a scowl, and Jon feels a well-deserved stab of guilt. He was supposed to stop that, wasn’t he? Stop keeping people at arm’s length, stop being mean and short-tempered, stop with the suspicions and stalking and baseless accusations—just. Stop.

Jon forces himself to breathe, imagining sharp taste of smoke filling his mouth, creeping down his lungs. He exhales, almost able to watch the puffy little cloud—

“Elias called. He wants to see you.”

Jon bites back a string of curses, because it would be unprofessional. He isn’t fooling anyone, though, not even Martin, who just pats him on the shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world, for him to touch Jon. For anyone to touch Jon.

“I’ll make tea, shall I?” Martin says brightly.

“Oh, great,” Tim says. “I didn’t feel like doing all this work, anyway.”

He has been slacking off as much as possible, these past few days (weeks?), straddling a fine line between plausible deniability and outright disrespect. Jon cannot even pretend to fault him for that. Sasha’s own hunger for knowledge prevents her from following in Tim’s footsteps, while Martin’s overall efficiency hasn’t wavered in either direction.

Most of the time, though, they act like everything is fine. They drink tea and eat lunch and follow up on statements, they make jokes and smile and laugh – somehow managing to ignore the fact that all this work is in the service of a powerful, malevolent entity, that they are bound to an evil cult, that their own boss is holding them hostage.

And they ignore this: that it’s all because of Jon. Stupid, short-sighted, arrogant Jon, who damned himself to this life, and then damned his assistants, too. Who cannot do anything to save them. Whose breakdown was understandable, apparently, whose behaviour was unacceptable but everyone’s willing to move past it anyway, so long as he promises to be better in the future.

Except he doesn’t know how. He just doesn’t. And they know that, and he knows that they know, and every time Tim or Martin or Sasha smiles at him in spite of all of this, Jon just wishes they’d punch him instead.

“Tea’s up!” Martin says, after the timer beeps. He has his own little ritual, preparing the tea to everyone’s liking. Despite his best efforts not to stare or catalogue their behaviour, Jon realizes now that it calms him, that the faint tremor in his hands stops when he’s preparing tea, that his posture relaxes and the smile tips over from slightly forced to genuine. It’s—sweet. Worryingly so.

“Thank you,” Jon says.

“So what pissed you off earlier?” Tim asks.

“HR called about health check-ups,” Jon says flatly. “Apparently, we’re due one soon. They asked if I’d describe our work environment as ‘particularly stressful’.”

Tim laughs, a short, unpleasant sound. Sasha just frowns.

“Do you think HR knows what’s really going on here? Or Library, or Research? It can’t just be us and Elias, right?”

“Ask them next time,” Tim says. “Maybe we can get ourselves institutionalized if they don’t.”

Would it even work? Would a mental health facility, or even a prison, keep them safe from Elias’s prying gaze? Maybe that’s something to consider. Not an ideal solution, but…

“Speaking of Elias—shouldn’t you…?”

“Oh, let the bastard wait,” Tim says.

“Tim.”

“What? You don’t think he’s watching us all the time, do you?”

“I don’t know,” Jon says.

He needs to get them out. He just—he just needs to.

“You’re right though,” Jon says, rubbing his forehead in the faint hope that it’ll make his headache go away. “I should be going. Off to another pointless conversation.”

Sasha blinks at him. “Oh? I thought he was teaching you—you know—” she waves her hand around, in an abstract and vague manner.

“He isn’t teaching me anything,” Jon says. “Most of the time, he just sits there and stares at me. I just.” His shoulders sag. He curls his hands around the comforting warmth of his teacup and wishes, stupidly, that he could hold Martin’s hand instead. “I just don’t know what he wants from me.”

“Well,” Tim says. “For one thing, he probably wants to fuck you.”

Martin spits out his tea and starts coughing, violently. Jon narrowly avoids knocking over his own cup, while Sasha rushes to Martin, to make sure he’s not choking on the hot liquid. He is red in the face, weakly trying to get Sasha to stop pounding on his back, while Jon can only watch, in abject horror.

It takes several minutes before anyone breaks the heavy, oppressive silence. Jon is rather surprised to find himself speaking as calmly as he does.

“That joke was in poor taste.”

Unrepentant, Tim just shrugs. “Wasn’t joking.”

“Tim!” Martin yells, scandalized. His face is flushed, although it’s hard to judge if it’s from anger, embarrassment, or exertion.

“What?” Tim asks. “You all thought it!”

“I assure you,” Jon says, still perfectly calm. “I did not.”

“Yeah, but you’re not exactly an authority on the subject, are you?” Tim says.

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” Calm. Still.

Tim doesn’t elaborate. Sasha is fiddling with the sleeve of her sweater and pointedly not meeting anyone’s eyes. Martin is the only one who looks appropriately shocked and scandalized, with an undercurrent of rage that Jon cannot guess the source of.

“Tim,” Jon says. “What did you mean?”

He wishes there was something triumphant in Tim’s expression – a vicious satisfaction at getting the blow to land. At embarrassing Jon in such a crude, vulgar manner. Some measure of animosity or hatred that one could cling to. As retaliation, it was perfectly well-deserved; as a joke, Jon cannot handle it.

But Tim only looks at him, tired and—pitying? Is that it? Because as a statement of fact, Jon cannot even begin to consider it…

“I am sorry,” Tim says. “I know it’s not appropriate to speculate, because you’re my boss, and I don’t actually know about your preferences or anything. But you can be a bit oblivious to people hitting on you. I mean, you didn’t notice it when I did it back in Research, and I thought I was being pretty blatant.”

Jon’s mind tries to make sense of that statement. He thinks back to his interactions with Tim – they were quite friendly, definitely much more so than since Jon’s promotion. And Tim was quite flirtatious, sure, but he was like that with everyone. It was just Tim’s personality.

As for Elias—no. It doesn’t even bear thinking about.

“So? You think I’m sleeping with Elias?”

He cannot stop himself from asking the questions, and it seems that Tim cannot stop himself from answering.

“I never said that. I just think that he’s interested in you.”

“Based on what? That he made me Head Archivist? That he wants to sacrifice me to his God, or whatever it is he’s planning?” Jon is laughing now, and it sounds jarring and unnatural even to his own ears. It sounds more like Michael’s laughter than anything that should be coming out of his mouth.

“No, based on the way he’s always looking at you!” Tim says, louder. “And it’s not just me who thought as much, mind you. When you got promoted—”

He stops abruptly. Jon laughs and laughs, until he feels the sharp sting of tears in his eyes. Martin and Sasha stare at him as if he was going insane, which is honestly rather hurtful, as he isn’t the one spouting absolute nonsense right now.

“This isn’t funny, Jon” Martin says quietly.

“I beg to differ,” Jon says. Then, struck with another unpleasant thought on top of the other unpleasant thoughts, he turns to Sasha. “Is that what you thought, too? That Elias didn’t make you Head Archivist because he was involved with me?”

“No!” Sasha bites her lip, before she carries on, the words seemingly dragged out of her throat. “I mean—yeah, okay, it crossed my mind once or twice. But that was then. Before we learned what this place really is – who Elias really is.”

So people think Jon slept his way into a position he is obviously unsuited for. His own assistants thought that. And it would be insulting if it wasn’t so utterly absurd – aside from Jon’s own aversion to sex, he isn’t particularly attractive. If that was Elias’s only criteria, there were plenty of better-looking people to choose from. To think otherwise would be arrogant, borderline delusional.

Not for the first time, Jon wishes he could be normal about this. Had he been in a stable relationship, no one would think to entertain such ridiculous rumours. No one would whisper behind his back about his preferences, or wonder just what the hell was wrong with him. Was he just frigid and unpleasant, or was there something deeper? An unresolved trauma? Something vile, unnatural, wrong?

All things considered, maybe he’s getting off easy. There are worse things people could be accusing him off.

He is tired, Jon realizes. Exhaustion weighs heavily on his limbs, slows down his thoughts, blurs his vision. And he still needs to talk to Elias today.

“Look. I’ll—I have to go,” he says. He looks down at his hands, splayed on the table, and tries to push himself up. Wills his legs to carry his weight. Get him where he needs to be.

“Jon,” Tim says. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Sasha says.

“Don’t be,” Jon says. “It’s fine. Nothing happened, right?” It’s not as if their opinion of him can get any lower. It’s not as if it wouldn’t be warranted, if it did.

“But what if something does happen?” Martin asks. The terror in his voice is enough to sap whatever energy Jon has left, leaving behind pure, impotent rage.

“What exactly do you think I’m going to do, Martin?” Jon asks. “Fuck Elias in exchange for letting me go? Promoting me further? Bestowing some of his powers upon me? Please tell me, because I am very interested in what you think I could possibly gain here!”

They are all so very, very quiet.

“Jon, this isn’t—this isn’t about what I think you’re going to do,” Martin says, softly. “It’s about what Elias might plan to do to you. You get that, right?”

No, Jon doesn’t. He doesn’t get Martin’s horrified, pale face, or Sasha’s grim expression, or Tim’s vaguely nauseated one. This feels like a step too far. And he wants to laugh again, or scream, or maybe even cry, because of the ridiculousness of it all. But he is still their fucking boss, and he promised to be nicer.

“Look,” he says, choosing his words very, very carefully. “I appreciate your concerns. I really do. But what you’re suggesting here is beyond ridiculous. Especially compared to everything else that’s happened. So, please. Let’s all go back to our actual jobs and never, ever mention it again, okay?”

He doesn’t wait for their response. They’ve already said too much.

[pubbee]

i can't remember if you've ever said anything about it before but as the resident Ronin Enjoyer do you have any thoughts on some of the more irredeemable or straight up bad parts of his writing (i.e. what he did to zane in skybound and possibly ToE? but mainly the one thing with nya. like i'm not gonna fault anyone for not liking him but i personally feel like that never should've been written in in the first place and it sucks seeing people act like liking him is a sin. you know :/)

Ronin my guy my scrungle he is not the best man but also he suffers from bad writing lol. The Nya thing.... As much as I personally prefer to pretend it didn't happen because it feels like in the early days of Ninjago the writers consistently kept forgetting that she's supposed to be a minor (SKYBOUND) as well as making her face the occasional casual sexual harassment/assault (evil Jay forcefully kissing her), this is actually consistent with Ronin's character because:

Yeah.

Granted, the reason I prefer to ignore this aspect of him is because it's just plain stupid and he gets no real backlash from it in canon. And with Misako it's very much out of nowhere and Ronin doesn't even seem like he's interested. He erased her memories to pit her against the ninja and nothing else, but for some reason it was decided she should be putting her hands all over him like that 💀 However, I don't blame people for looking at this and deciding he's unlikable for it.

With the Zane stuff, I look at him taking Zane and Pixal to Chen's as something he had no other choice to do. It's kinda confirmed in the book Way of the Departed that it's the case (though my own reasoning is a bit different compared to the book), but at the same time, this was during a time he was a bit more eviler lol. So if he did this with evil intent then well he's grown since then at least.

As for what he did to Zane in Skybound, tbh fucked up and I'm glad it was technically undone. But Zane and Pixal were also kinda treated like objects that season in general too. The way Zane treated Pixal, the general existence and then complete dismissal of Echo, and whole thing with the Mechanic.... not great.

For me, personally I see Ronin as a tech lover who loves R.E.X so much he considers it a person, and by extension would respect Zane and Pixal in that regard, especially after befriending them but that's just me 🤷

But tbh there is something Ronin has done that is far more heinous than being robophobic and a creep, and that's what he did to the Islanders. I do not like season and what it did to him. Of all the people he goes and robs, it's the isolated people no one knows exists lmao. He doesn't just take their money, he takes their food, and takes so much they resort to human sacrifice. Like what the fuck. This felt more like something maybe SoR Ronin would do. And he was treated more like a common villain with no real history with the ninja at the end, too.

I don't wanna fully say it's out of character for Ronin to rob an entire island of people though, because I do feel like if desperate enough, he would go back to how he was before. I don't think he's above betraying the ninja, or hurting innocents because we've been shown he's afraid of dying (or at least going to super hell lmao) and is overall untrustworthy. But the thing is, he was fine! He had a deal with the Commissioner and was doing fine! Why make him do this, and then arrest him with the very people he used and put back in prison himself and then have him be just.... totally fine and friends with everyone again, prisoners and ninja alike lmao. It's bad writing to me. And after his development and and his relationship with the ninja, it seems very ill fitting to have him be the one lead the prisoners on the island when the Mechanic and/or Ultra Violet are right there.

So yeah I mean, if people don't like him I get it. At face value he is not a great guy lol. But for me there's a lot to like about him just because I really like his type of character when done well. He was a great influence for Nya and I love their relationship. He just suffers from poor writing just like.... every other character in this show 💀

And people better not be harassing or hating on others for liking a goddamn LEGO of all things. Please there are real problems to have. I'll continue loving Ronin regardless if others consider it a crime to lol I'm a grown bitch and can do whatever I want ❤️

[scrapyardboyfriends]

2015 was golden, 2016 was great and solid though it had its weak points, but we got the abuse storyline and soap week, 2017… was a lot of hooey but while I may not have liked a lot of what they did, the characters still felt relatively well-rounded even if everything went to shit, and we got to see Robert go off the rails, which was kinda fun, 2018 gave us the lead up to the reunion and the actual reunion, which were masterpieces, and then we got serial killer Lachlan, which did drag out a long time and we got all that weird and awful “Rebecca’s been kidnapped! Rebecca’s being held captive in the woods! Rebecca’s dead! No wait she’s being held captive by an evil nurse!” bs but we got some cute character moments before that and Robert in the conclusion was fun. I think that’s the last time I remember liking what they had going on

Kate Oats had her problems but overall her storytelling style was much tighter and better paced than anything that has come after it. She overused her favorites and had her insane Thursday doubles and Robert got a little too 2D villain sometimes but still, the show was solid in those days. 2015 represents that well.

2016 struggled in the middle due to Kate leaving and Iain coming in, while he got his ideas going. But the lead up to and the main event of ssw 2016 was amazing.

Now while I certainly think Iain's time was better than the terrible trio's, I do think he had a lot more faults. But at the very least you could always count on his spectacle stuff to be pretty good. It was his day to day storytelling that often got super repetitive because he really liked to drag his stories out until he could do his big climactic conclusion. It's just that those conclusions did a lot to make up for the slog before it.

The terrible trio wouldn't know a good climactic conclusion if it fell on them like a caravan.

But the show definitely suffered under Iain's time. 2017 was a bit of a mess overall and 2018 was a slog when it came to having the Bails story, the Grace story, Sarah's heart story and the Lachlan serial killer story all running concurrently.

From a Robron standpoint, 2015 is just a lot of insane fun. 2016 bookends with great stories with the first chill period in between during the producer transition. 2017 is messy as hell but I still like the Hell Plot overall from a Robron standpoint. Rebecca sucked but whether they lucked into it or not, Robron had a great arc that finished up in 2018. Robron definitely got lost in the middle portion of 2018 because all of those other stories were going on and they weren't the center of attention anymore...sadly. But at least the reunion and the wedding were lovely and perfect.

And then the terrible trio took over and everything fell apart. They don't know how to pace a story. They don't know how to craft a character arc. They're way too focused on the next headline and generating hype and buzz to actually care about the characters. It's why everything feels so random and out of the blue or gets dropped abruptly only to be suddenly picked up months later. It's just a disaster. I'm thrilled Jane is gone now but the other two need to go too. And they need to bring in a new person in general because this show is crying out for a new creative vision.