#but then there's no payoff like the og series

[cypheragent]

i hate the rebuilds with the passion of a fiery suns, my hatred of them is far, far too much to get into but one idea at least from them that i do find interesting is the plot point in the final movie that misato would have a child... and abandon that child and continue to obsess over shinji. like yeah. she would do that. it's not out of character at all, unfortunately misato is largely just sidelined in the rebuilds so it barely has any impact, and the idea that misato can somehow "redeem" herself by sacrificing herself for shinji is some insane bullshit

[deus-ex-mona]

when the slowburn makes the ship extra cute~~~

[thethiefandtheairbender]

i think the biggest issue with natla is just like. they keep taking things from the original that worked and shoving them in, but devoid of the context that not only made them work in the OG due to development, set up and payoff, but in placing them just Wherever, it leads to a multitude of small but unfortunate implications that steadily add to the show buckling under the weight of itself

aang supporting the north's sexist bullshit by telling katara maybe she shouldn't fight is not a good look, fam. it doesn't matter that there were places in the cartoon (namely two) where aang felt like he had to do things without katara and sokka because he was worried about losing them (which were couched in making up for his mistakes as well, not just in grief).

wanting to protect your friend is not a bad thing; the concept itself is not out there and it's not bad. but the choice of where to place that line, within the context the series offers, is certainly a Choice and not necessarily a good one. and then it's not as though aang gets an Arc about learning to let katara fight even if she gets hurt, bc he's still up in arms about it the final few minutes of the finale, but they take a random break in the middle so he can encourage her to fight zuko one-on-one.

so it's poor contextual writing that leads to poor characterization, and ultimately inconsistent writing 9/10 times

[highfantasy-soul]

I think people underestimate the changes that need to be made to stories when adapting them to different mediums/structures and maybe if they understood, they wouldn't have such issues with scenes/character moments not being 1-1 adaptations.

The structure of episodes is really important when considering how the story will unfold and what to include in each episode. Every single episode needs struggles and payoffs, a goal and an accomplishment of that goal - especially in an episodic show like the animated ATLA. By necessity of this, each 20 minute episode is going to have a lot of stuff going on - and tons of issues cropping up where character can be shown. Also, it's common to only have one plotline being followed per episode per group of POV characters - often it's Zuko's plot (much less screen time) and the Gaang (more screentime).

When you only have 8 episodes, cramming all that in would make the episodes feel disjoined and cluttered. It would be a constant whiplash of 'small struggle, overcoming, small struggle, overcoming, small struggle, overcoming' and all those little struggles together might start to feel insignificant and like the plot is just trying to come up with something for the characters to be doing. An example that might have been frustrating is in the first episode of the live action, having Aang and Katara travel to go penguin sledding, then jump to the fire nation ship where they reveal Aang's been gone so long, then back to the village to yet again talk about how long Aang has been gone (to catch everyone up), then Aang leaves, then Aang comes back, then he's off on the ship, then Katara and Sokka have to figure out how to get Appa to work, then they go to the ship, they fight on the ship, Katara struggles to figure out how to waterbend, Aang goes into the Avatar state, they escape, they go to the southern air temple, Aang plays around, they figure out Avatar stuff, they chase Momo, Aang goes into the Avatar state again, Katara talks him down, then the goal of the narrative is introduced.

While that works spread across three whole episodes - episodes not meant to be watched back to back but rather week to week as well as the writers understanding that since this is a kid's show airing, it's possible the watcher has missed the episode before - it would not work for hour-long episodes intended to be binge watched. When the show is episodic and people might not be able to catch all of them, a unique issue needs to be introduced each episode and resolved that same episode (minus the few 2-parter storylines in the OG). It's just the nature of that sort of structure. Just like you wouldn't want a comic structure in a chapter book or a movie structure in a serialized show, different mediums require different structures.

 So how to resolve this? We've got one hour to do all that in - so instead of having all that time traveling (or gods forbid just jumping to the next setting without any establishing shots/travel scenes), things need to be condensed: which means, take several individual actions that share a common theme - say, how a character reacts to certain issues, and combine it into fewer actions that flow in a single sitting rather than three individual ones. Not only condense individual scenes, but also weave together multiple plotlines that might have been in separate episodes, but share a common theme, and have them all occur simultaneously. This means that specific beats from each of the 20 episodes might not all fit in the episodes, but the spirit of those scenes can be adapted to fit with the situation that's at hand - I think episode 3 in the live action does this masterfully.

A specific example is moving Zuko and Aang's first one-on-one fight from his ship in episode 2 of the animated series to episode 3 in Omashu - combining that with the epic fight between them at the perfume place. Episode 1 had already had many fight scenes and one more might have blended in with all the others - setting this big, impactful fight aside for the moment until it could be…well, a moment, I think was a good choice. It was different, an adaptation, but it held true to the significance of the interaction as well as weaving in to the other storylines.

So again, the change of medium is going to necessitate many scenes to be altered to 'fit'. Though many scenes can be translated pretty closely to the animated counterpart, all of them won't be and if you think every single character beat being shown is a must in order to understand character, then just go watch the OG, a different structure just won't work for you point blank no matter how well it's done. Trust me, you do not want to try to just shift a 20 episode season into 8 episodes with no structural changes despite the raw run-times being similar - it would be bad. Like really bad.

[robxstar]

Hey robxstar, Ive gotten back into TTG and I have been dying to watch one of the shows. However I don’t know which ones to watch and where. Do you have any recommendations? :)

Most DC shows are available for streaming on HBOMAX (or is it just called Max now?), along with the usual single purchase streaming avenues like YouTube, and Amazon, and good news, the OG Teen Titans did get a full series blu-ray release just a year or so ago!

Which was good because my DVD copies were starting to literally fragment and stop playing properly. (They were much loved.)

I have not actually watched all of the live-action Titans so I don't have an opinion about it one way or another. Teen Titans Go! is a very Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) cartoon, I liked a good chunk of the first season that I watched but some episodes were also misses, it's surrealist and VERY bizarre at times, so just be aware you probably won't like everything about it. (I did greatly enjoy the crossover Teen Titans vs. Teen Titans Go! movie though.)

Def do the OG Teen Titans show, the one that aired from 2003 to 2005.

There is also the DCAMU (DC Animated Movie Universe), which were animated direct-to-video movies that share the shame New-52 inspired continuity, which have a lovely undercurrent/subplot of Dick/Kory that I do recommend. Watch Batman vs. Robin, Batman: Bad Blood, and Justice League vs. Teen Titans for the Dick/Kory hints and buildup and then Teen Titans: Judas Contract for the payoff, we were spoiled with that one.

Hope that's enough to get you started!

[atopvisenyashill]

I feel like Hugh and Ulf are one of the only interesting adaptation this season. They took very flat characters from the book and explored their background nicely. When for every other character, they become more and more irreconcilable with their book counterpart, which totally invalidate the it's the true story tell without bias for me. Hugh and Ulf are believable for now because, of course, maesters wouldn't let smallfolk be grey characters

Pushing back just slightly against them being irreconcible with their book counterparts - I think the only ones that are irreconcilable are Helaena, Rhaenys, Rhaena, and arguably Alicent. I think everyone else is more or less hitting the same character beats as their book counterparts, even if the writing is frustratingly opaque in some places (because we don’t spend enough time with the characters). And I don’t find the changes to Alicent’s character heinous the way I do find the changes to Rhaenys, Rhaena, & Helaena deeply annoying bordering on Me Accusing Condal & Hess Of A Few Isms. Especially imo Rhaena and Helaena - as you say, it’s hard to take this seriously as the “true telling” without bias when race, gender, and ability biases are very clearly dominating the way their story arcs have been crafted this season and for their specific cases, I don’t think my constant refrain of “this series just needs more EPISODES” explains the changes nor do I think the strike might have affected their writing the way I suspect it has affected other characters. For them, I really think Condal & Hess just like. Missed the point and didn’t find them particularly engaging in F&B and decided they were the perfect characters to give ~their own spin to~ but that spin is done in a way that is not particularly well thought out for Helaena, and just outright a complete departure from & destruction of Rhaena’s character and the themes she engages with.

But I high key agree that the MVPs this season for being adapted interestingly are Hugh and Ulf and I find some of the criticism and pushback to be obnoxious. @maegorsbignaturals said this when i was bitching earlier-

and i very much agree! i like how they’ve used hugh and ulf to really explore how the smallfolk feel about the war, because it’s clearly attempting to get the audience to understand WHY the smallfolk take such a huge step, take this risk and storm the pit. i think of that line in the og series where sansa is - rightly - traumatized by the riot and doesn’t quite understand why the smallfolk were so upset with her until shae puts it very bluntly - your horse eats better than their children. we get the meleys reaction that hugh is part of, the reaction to sheep being brought in for vhagar but not food for the people, the way rhaenyra (however sloppily written) leads a large group of innocent people to death without fully explaining the risk they’re taking, we see aegon attempting to help the smallfolk but only so far as it makes him feel good about himself, aemond straight up writing them off as necessary sacrifices, we get ulf really digging into the way the royal family treat flea bottom as their own personal playground, so he just Doesn’t Know if the story his mother told him is correct, and all the doubt that exists surrounding the low born and base born surrounding their own worth and how it affects their lives. all of this is leading to this HUGE payoff where the smallfolk, ulf, addam, and hugh are put in a no win situation and do the only thing they CAN do which is react with violence, because it’s the only tool they’ve been left after over a year of extreme subjugation and starvation. And people have the audacity to be like “leave baelon out of it” “leave saera out of it” they’re in it whether you like it or not because they’re targaryens!! they’re culpable!!!! they bare a partial responsibility for the way the smallfolk are treated!!!! nope doesn’t matter that’s someone’s precious pure valyrian blorbo and we don’t get to explore the way hugh and ulf might resent their targaryen ancestry for making them stick out in a crowd, we don’t get to explore the way the smallfolk might resent whoever’s ass is on that throne through sylvi and dyana because “well it makes my team look bad” WHO GIVES A SHIT BRO. A child just died in her parents’ arms for no reason at all and it’s just another tuesday for the smallfolk because while both teams will make an attempt to help the smallfolk at various points, ultimately, both sides see them as faceless unwashed masses instead of living breathing people trying to survive the hell world the royals have built!!

[alcalavicci]

This finale oh my God. So much to process.

One thing that sets neo!QL apart from the OG is its ability to pursue long arcs over a season. The OG had Trilogy and a few two-parters but opinions on Trilogy are very divided.

Martinez last season was pretty interesting but Hannah this season felt like a more rock-solid take on Trilogy. Have the leaper fall in love with someone while traveling in time? Yes please, but no creepy leaps from the person's father to their fiance this time! The people Ben leaped into were more removed from Hannah compared to the people Sam leaped into in Trilogy but they still made it work. And that finale takes so much more time than the OG could dedicate to make it work, with a better payoff. If you told me Sam leaped from the end of Trilogy directly into the middle of the Evil version of Project Quantum Leap and made the Evil Leapers go away, I'd think you were crazy. But that's pretty much what neo!QL did with Ben.

Like, y'all. Neo!QL gave us a much better take on Trilogy this season and I'm so happy about it. Also, Janis (who was positively affected by Sam) helping out Ben with Jeffrey (who was negatively affected)? 🤌

It's fascinating that Addison remembers both timelines, confirming in canon that Al also remembers everything. I want to say the OG was a bit more murky on this so it's nice to have some confirmation. And double leapers!!

I would love a season 3. But if we don't get one (curse you NBC!) I'd be okay with this as a series finale.

[sapphire-weapon]

THEY FINALLY PAY ATTENTION TO LEON AND ASHLEY'S RELATIONSHIP!!

I mean, to be clear and fair, my last post was hyperbolic LMAO my tone was exaggerated.

The reality is that most non-shippers and casual RE fans probably will point to Leon and Ashley's relationship as one of the best, if not the best in RE. And not for romantic/ship reasons (though I'm willing to bet a lot do see it that way), but simply because they:

A. Are the leading hero and heroine who

B. star in what is widely considered the best game in the series, and they

C. have shared character arcs which are tied inexorably to the overall plot itself and its themes, and

D. have a very clear beginning, middle, and end.

That last one is the most important one. People don't realize that that's why Leon and Ashley's relationship scratches a very satisfying itch in their brain that the other relationships in RE don't, but that's why. The development of their relationship has the basic structure of Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. Their relationship feels like a story in and of itself.

This was one of the major, major benefits narratively of turning RE4 into a fairy tale. The story is the relationship, and the relationship is the story. You can't have one without the other.

No other relationship in RE plays out that way. Every other RE game deals with good guys going after big bad corporations because it is RIGHT and they are HEROES!!!. Chris and Jill didn't need each other in RE1 to escape the mansion. You could have gotten both Leon and Claire into the Umbrella lab in RE2 without them ever having met Ada or Sherry, because that was the natural endpoint for both of them trying to find the answers they wanted. Jill and Carlos absolutely do not need each other to be convinced to get out of Raccoon City. Chris does not at all need Sheva or even Jill in order to be incentivized to go after Wesker. And so on and so on.

But Leon needs Ashley in order to justify invading and slaughtering an entire community of people, and Ashley needs Leon to do that in order to escape. You can't take either Leon nor Ashley out of RE4 and have the story still work. It doesn't. Their relationship is driving the plot, and RE4make made it so that it's also driving the emotional payoff and catharsis, too (which wasn't necessarily the case in OG).

So it makes sense that that Game Rant article singles them out as unique, because they are. It's very easy to make the case that Leon and Ashley are objectively the best-written relationship on the series, because from a technical standpoint, they absolutely are.

[aotopmha]

i totally get your point of view and i too wish that we got more of historia, not only in the final episode, but throughout this final arc. but that doesn't bother me as much because in my mind historia's arc is complete. and while i do wish she did more in these final chapters, i'm happy with everything she did throughout the series and how she ended up in the end. i don't think she ended up in a bad place. sure, she could have been more on-screen, prominent etc. but i'm just happy to see her happy. i think all the characters got a good conclusion. some better than other, though, for sure.

I just really disagree with that.

The very specific idea behind her character to me was that she was no longer her passive persona Krista Lenz.

I, not for once, thought that was her actual "true self", but that's what I feel like she reverted to for the minimal amount of time she was on screen for the last arc.

She complied with her position as a baby machine and took all of Eren's bullshit while for some reason deciding to have a child to simply basically "save herself and stop the 13-year cycle".

We had chapters of character exploration of why she wouldn't doom another child to save herself.

Her father only wanted to use her for his gain and she denied it.

*SHE OPENED AN ORPHANAGE TO GIVE PURPOSE AND PLACE TO THOSE WHO DIDN'T HAVE ONE.*

I 100% think she would not doom another child like this no matter what, even if it ended up "okay" in the end. Even if it is "the only option" to save herself.

Ymir, who is the most important character to her for most of her journey, doesn't even get the tiniest of nods in relation to her at the ending.

Who even IS the Farmer Guy?

If you know anything about how gay-coded characters are treated in fiction, you know how common it is to pair them off with random straight partners without any work put in the character writing.

And okay, let's make the argument that Historia only had a strong friendship with Ymir, she's bisexual and all of the usually weak excuses people give when (even potentially) gay characters are denied a full on relationship by the writers pretty blatantly.

I don't know Farmer Guy. He doesn't even have a name.

As much as I don't care about the romantic aspect to Annie's and Armin's relationship, both also actually have talked to each other on screen. It was there for a long time.

For Farmer Guy, we just have a blurb of saying he used to be one of her bullies who wishes to make amends.

*SO MUCH TIME* went into building her character and this is the payoff?

Her end is "happy" and "complete" only in the most surface-level sense. She and her child are okay. It's not even that I want more, it's that I want something that isn't a bunch of nonsense.

But in reality she has basically zero characterisation in the last chunk of the story and most of what she does is only explained in a couple of lines – so much of the meaning of which is gleaned from other characters talking about her. And because her own words are so minimal, reading her motivations is based on a bunch of conjucture, too.

It's a vague mess.

You can *assume* she had the child because she was pushed into a corner by Eren and the threat of repeating the 13-year cycle. But we never get anything from her beyond this. It's a really massive reversion with very minimal explanation to me.

Aside from the base thematic issue of her taking away the freedom of another child, I think Historia, just like Eren, would be able to be immune to the "influence" of King Fritz (which is actually all OG Ymir herself). I think she would stand against the Rumbling in a way that doesn't involve being a passive pawn because she found her meaning in giving meaning to others.

She wouldn't just forget what she wanted with a snap of a finger and I do not think she was so bound to Ymir emotionally her death removed all of the actual fight from her.

I'm sorry, but I just deeply do not like this take. To me a good character ending isn't the most surface-level happy or sad ending, it is payoff to all of the work the story has done with its characters and themes.

And regarding Historia, I deeply disagree with how she was written in the final arc.

Thank you for the ask!

[charthanry]

OurSkyy2xBBS: My Initial Reaction to EP13

This will be full of spoilers, so please watch the episode first!

Ohm and Nanon seemlessly transitioned back into being Pat and Pran. Their chemistry was alive and thriving! 

The passage of time was well done. It felt like Pat and Pran continued on with their lives without us. These specials are just a peek into what they’ve been up to. Kudos to Ohm and Nanon for living these characters so believably. It felt like they were never gone.

The scenes felt a bit recycled from the series. I guess if it ain’t broke, why fix it? 

We got the fake fight with Pat ending up with a shiner and Pran there to nurse him back with some healing lovin’ instead of pharmacy bruise cream. Also, shout out to the curtain drop only this time much less dramatic and more comical. I loved the curtain-shadow misinterpretation by their dumbass friends, ha! Well played, BBS.

Pa’s uncanny skill at bad timing is hilarious and I love that Pran is the one who points it out. Pat’s not the only one getting thwarted here, though he consistently shows otherwise, Pran wants that loving from Pat too. It’s so in-character of them both.

Ohm’s high-pitched “Hia Pran” made me LOL, I had to replay it several times. Ohm really has awesome comedic timing. It’s more difficult to pull off than it looks and relies heavily on delivery.

They’re still competing with each other, but more so due to their environment than any hidden animosity between them. Just like in the OG series.

They consistently help each other and their open communication is still relationship goals. I love that this time it’s Pran that allows Pat to see things (e.g. the bench) in different ways. This calls back to their EP3 bus stop scene. I love how the communication and help goes both ways. Their’s is a true partnership. Neither taking more or giving less.

Pat still gives into Pran, but now it’s more thoughtful. It’s less about Pat winning or beating Pran at something and more about Pran’s success being Pat’s success. They are a team. When one is happy, they are both happy. Again, this shows maturity and relationship goals.

The livingroom tent camping called back to the end of EP4 only with happier results. Their conversation also calls back to the EP3′s bus stop scene where Pat asked Pran if he liked -it- and EP4′s “would you like me?” and now we get Pran’s answer: “I like you. You’re always there for me.” This might’ve been my FAVORITE call back of the episode.

Pat’s friends still gets Pat into shitty situations. The amount of times Pat got kiss-blocked in this episode alone can be its own drinking game. I love this running gag and feel like it’s leading up to a BIG PAYOFF.

Anyone catch Pat saying “you called me out for this” and Korn says “how else would I get you to leave your BOYFRIEND” right in front of Mo and Chang? Was that an NG because at this point Mo and Chang should still be in the dark about Pat and Pran, right?

Pran waiting up for Pat to come home from a night of drinking, did anyone else get EP5 vibes here? Where Pat sat in front of the dorm building waiting for Pran’s return? 

Pran calling Pat out on publicly shunning him while secretly apologizing was A+. There’s no repression of hurt feelings here. Open communication is the way of it. And I absolutely LOVE this for them.

Pat makes everything more fun. I imagine the trek up that hill would have been more entertaining for Pran if Pat were there teasing him and calling him an old man. They’d probably race to see who could get to the top first.

Unless it was mistranslated/subbed, they finally changed their caller IDs to each other’s names instead of “just a friend”. End of an era, sadly. But also, I wish it was more creative naming, like LOML or That 5-minute Guy or the one who FEEDS me, hell, I’d even settle for Dimples and Fierce Eyes.

Overall, the episode went by much too quickly. I wish we got a little bit more domestic Pat and Pran. I missed Pat’s scent kink except for the little mention of it in the elevator scene. I want to see them both waking up and getting ready in the morning as well as them turning in for the night. I want to see shared PJs (where Pran wears the top and Pat wears the bottom and nothing else). Them dividing the household chores where Pran comes up with an entire chart with a whole smiley-faced sticker reward system and Pat just stares at him lovingly like, that’s MY MAN with his charts. Going grocery shopping together where Pran has a checklist and Pat is throwing things willy-nilly into the cart. Making dinner together where they get distracted making out and dinner ends up ruined. I guess I’m greedy and want MORE.

I’m happy we got these specials. But I’m a greedy bitch and WON’T say I’m SATISFIED with what we were given (at least not yet). P’Aof has a special way of ending his episodes so my expectations are high, my hopes even higher, and I have zero doubts this team will stick the landing. They’ve been here before.

Also, I thought Ohm’s hair would bother me more than it did, but it grew on me. Ohm pulls it off. I’m a fan. Also, Ohm’s singing is so much improved, so proud of my guy for working on it because it shows.

Post-credit scene to beat the “Pran, it’s not a Porno!” in the works?! PLEASE. Have a feeling this is where we get Pat licking Pran’s finger from the promos.

[muninnhuginn]

Hi again.....If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 7 favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc) and your top 7 favorite (fictional) characters from any media? Why do you love them all? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Hi! Sorry for taking so long on this. Thought of waaaay too many options here, but think I've mostly narrowed it down now.

If you want me to expand on any/if I've been confusing about any of them, feel free to ask

Fave Media

Nirvana in Fire (cdrama): One terminally ill guy taking the capital by storm as he trolls and schemes his way to the truth of the case that got his family and comrades killed. There are so many moving parts at any one time that you need to have your brain on, but the payoff and the slowburn on some of the plots is beautiful

Stranger/Forest of Secrets (kdrama): Plot that keeps you guessing all the way through with super strong character development in the background. In theory it's a standard kdrama about tackling corruption, but the execution entirely won me over and both of the main characters are so charming to watch. They're coming from such different places but are able to reach across the divide to understand and trust each other

Spy x Family (manganime): It's the genre blending, okay. A family defined by lies and yet still their true selves with each other against the backdrop of a Cold War-esque setup. Most of the time it's fairly light-hearted and comedic, but it does not pull its punches at all when it comes to topics of war and propaganda and how they impact *everyone*.

The Locked Tomb (book): Lowkey surprised myself with putting this one here, but it has so many *layers*. Ridiculous levels of foreshadowing that would take so many rereads to fully untangle. The characters at first glance may not be the most relatable, but once you get further through you realise there's still a lot to unpick about what makes them *tick*

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (anime): Recontexualisation central. I love how first watch gives a different story to second watch and so on. How the themes are still ultimately *hopeful* despite all odds. And the directing/music/designs of witches/labyrinths all come together to tell the best version of the story

Link Click (donghua): This also has some pretty solid recontextualisation (I'm a big fan of that if you can't tell, same with time travel). But my favourite aspects are the individual stories of average people. And the intertwining of that with the time travel aspects to create a story that works both on the client level but also resonates strongly with the main characters. Season two also has some very strong mystery elements and is big on parallels between different characters.

Joy of Life (cdrama): This was lowkey a 'free space' option because I was torn between Arcane (the art/animation alone is so gorgeous even before you get into the intergenerational parallels)/Severance (it's like a workplace psychological horror with shades of religious cultism and some amazing humour)/Skip and Loafer (it's simultaneously so soft and so heartbreaking). So, I went for this instead. And yes, I'm biased because I'm watching JoL s2 rn, but I had missed the comedy so badly. This show is like a cdrama isekai complete with scheming and anime references. Also, Fan Xian's mum fascinates me in a similar way to Rose Quartz. The implications that she was so like him that she also lowkey spawned a harem and modernised ancient China in ridiculous ways? She was *the* og isekai protag. The fact that her death is still an omen over Fan Xian's life about why he needs to be careful who he trusts?

Fave Characters

Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries): I don't think I can explain this any better than I do here

Shen Wei (Guardian cdrama): See above, but also, he's just generally hilarious in how he goes for blatant lies. At one point, I was just watching the series for him and Zhao Yunlan alone ngl

Yan Wei (Couple of Mirrors): She's an assassin with war trauma who has decided she has imprinted on Xu Youyi and will protect her by... committing more crimes? She comes off aloof and she's not big on words, but her actions speak for themselves and they are loud. Also, she uses a helmet as a shower head which gives her many points in my book.

Cheating here but Pearl and/or Steven (Steven Universe/Future) (Also Rose entirely fascinates me from what we do know about her): Pearl in the main series and Steven in Future. So, Pearl in the main series starts as this grief-ridden wreck who's trying to keep it together and barely succeeding, projecting her issues onto Steven and Connie, etc. But over time, she's able to work through a lot of it. Not everything, of course, but by the time of Future she's doing well enough to consider dating again which for her is such a huge step. Meanwhile Steven is the chronic helper type, so over the course of the main series, he's the one who acts as therapist to try to solve everyone else's problems. And by the time Future rolls around, that's lowkey how he defines himself. His whole identity is what purpose he holds to others. So when he ends up in the situation where there's no one left *to* help, he crashes and burns in the most spectacular way

Li Lianhua (Mysterious Lotus Casebook cdrama): One of my favourite lying liars who lie and cough up blood (alongside Shen Wei and Mei Changsu). At the same time, his whole conflict between who he "was" and who he "is" is so juicy and the way he tries to avoid attachment and yet cannot help himself? He's constantly running after and chasing his past in different ways and for the most part he is both hilarious and heartbreaking in the process

Himemiya Anthy (Revolutionary Girl Utena): It's really hard for me to explain what I like best about Anthy, but her writing is impeccable. She's a character who has been stuck in stasis for the longest time with no escape in sight. And within the box she's stuck in, she acts out in the ways she's able, bitterness and pettiness and everything else. She thinks she's past the point of caring, but it turns out that that's not the case. She's also a character that a lot of people in and out of universe try to limit to an archetype, but there's no single box she *can* be contained in. Also! She's a great troll. Very entertaining to watch her pranks

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney): He has such a great character arc across the main trilogy and investigations games. Even though he largely settles down by the later games, it's still so fun seeing his interactions with Wright. He's got this history with him that colours everything. Also, he's got this whole thing where he comes off as though he's glaring at everyone in the world whilst clearly just being socially uncomfortable half the time. He *is* genuinely rude at times (rip Gumshoe especially) but he's such a well-rounded character, from his traumas to his later fond bickering with Wright that the end result is just charming. I think the games themselves trained me to miss him too by drawing out the times between his appearances

[meimi-haneoka]

First of all, thanks for making all these translation posts. They really helped in clearing up the confusions the official translation produced. How they managed to pass through editing is beyond me.

However, forgive me for asking this kind of a negative (?) question here, because I know you're such a staunch fan: What would you consider as legitimate criticism of Clear Card? I'm not asking for those that are also present in the OG series (such as CLAMP dragging the mystery for various reasons), I mean those that are only specific to this arc. Because when I reread the entire arc in preparation for the final chapter a few days ago, I noted some missed opportunities and details that never had quite a payoff in the end, but I'm currently debating if I should really analyze why I felt that way or I'm just being nitpicky. (And for the record, I don't have much nostalgia goggles for this series. I only started following this three years ago.)

Hello anon! Thank you for reading my translation posts and I'm glad they were useful to you!

Hmmm I think we should always consider and try to understand if the complaint we have is something that affects the plot to a greater extent or if it's just a wish we have, to have seen more of something, but that in the end -doesn't- really change things on a structural level. Like, I dunno, the kiss everyone is complaining about 🙄🙄🙄 And even when we find some, we might need to think hard if they *really* didn't give an explanation (even an implied one). Also it's good to keep in mind that what we might not have liked, maybe was the favorite thing of somebody else, so we shouldn't label it as a "flaw" in absolutistic terms. Just always keep it on the personal, subjective view.

I'll make you an example of what I think it's a missed opportunity that reflects on the plot, in some way.

The cause of death of Lilie (and her husband, at the same time).

Even for this, I have a hunch or two about why they didn't talk about it (my theory is that the cause was a violent one, and they were betrayed by the Association just like little Kaito had been warning her during chapter 60 - maybe they tried to abduct Akiho, thinking she would be super powerful), I've had this theory since long time and honestly now that they ended the arc without explaining it, I can't help but feel that I was right and that mentioning it would've crossed CCS boundaries.

I see many people complaining "why Nadeshiko died, we never got that explored" but I mean, they told us about it, they gave us a reason? Why no one wants to believe that she simply died of illness? Why does it have to be a magical reason?

For Lilie, however, we only know that she died while protecting her daughter in an "accident" (see, my theory?), at least if we have to trust what the Clan told Akiho. I would've liked to know the reason, just a little bit more of it, because honestly....there are people who wonder why she decided to do all that she did in order to help fixing things in the future that would come many years later, instead of just focusing on staying alive and not leave her daughter alone, unprotected, at the mercy of her horrible family? Since she's a yumemi and could foresee her death? Because we could say that if Akiho ended up being abused in her childhood, it's also because she was completely left on her own. Couldn't she avoid death? That would make sense, so she decided to take care of "damage control" instead, meeting her daughter's future soulmate, the one who would give his life to protect Akiho and bring her out of there? And meet Sakura when she was only 13? But I would've at least liked a mention of that because, if we have to be nitpicky about it, this reflects negatively on Lilie's character. And I'm absolutely sure that she's a decent character and was a wonderful mother in the months she could live with her daughter. I don't think she did all that she did recklessly. But you see, I have to make up theories in my head to fill that gap, I would've liked a helping hand from canon, in that sense.

This is different from another comment I often see "couldn't Kaito just *ask Sakura* for help?" because no, even if they didn't spell out with words why Kaito didn't ask for help, they gave us plenty of hints and portrayals of his personality, which make completely reasonable the way he went about it.

For Lilie, we really have little to go by, in the end.

This is just an example, there are other things that I go a little bit 😐at, but all in all they're little things that might be slightly annoying at worst, not stuff that would impact my love for this series. Hence why you see me so staunch about it. 😊

[redundantz]

What are your thoughts on how the characters were written for stampede? You sounded kind of :/ about Meryl at one point.

Hello! Yeah it was a bit of a rollercoaster for me personally. ⚠ STAMPEDE SPOILERS ⚠ BUT they really pulled it together in the end i think (for the most part) Since we now know for sure this is a prequel and where its now going after the finale it puts more perspective on things. I have OG Trigun brain so take my own opinions with a grain of salt. I think if people enjoy this new series on its own merits thats wonderful. HOWEVER I still think the series has severe pacing issues and we miss a ton of important character moments imo. And I wish we got to see more interaction with uhh actual humans. After the first 3 eps and then the one with Rollo we basically dont interact with any other humans who live on the planet and its so weird. (also my god we need more fun time in this show was a depression speedrun istg) Have a graph of my emotional journey:

Vash: oh man haha this one is tough. now that the season is over and we got a HUGE payoff with him so I am very happy now but yeahhh. Some parts I was like wow this is Vash he's perfect. But then as the episodes went on I was getting so frustrated. Because he just would stand there giving everyone UwU eyes and not do anything. Especially for his flashback with Knives. Which I understand it was "shock" but he basically stood there with a blank expression the whole time and it was so...??? Being a pacifist didn't mean he is a limp noodle and doesn't take action. Like don't get me wrong he did have a few moments where he fought Livio and the Badlads but that was about it. I think a lot of my frustration might be because he kept using hand to hand combat compared to using his gun which I am used to. again though, they really brought it back in the end 10000% and brought it into perspective so I can forgive some of the previous stuff. Meryl: She was made more cutesy and naïve. Which definitely got on my nerves here and there. But I was okay with it for the most part ( im not immune to cute lol) They got the most important part of her character where she is touched by Vash's convictions, and his love for humanity. She didn't start off jaded and roughened by the planet this time so I think it has a bit less impact in that regard. But I think the best thing they did for her is she is basically the stand in ambassador for humanity and its strength of character. Wolfwood: I don't have to much to say for him personally. but dude needs to have some fun. First ep with him was pretty great but after that was just a lot of angry yelling and nasty looks. Like...for awhile I couldnt even see how him and Vash are friends besides the fact that Vash is nice to him. Him and Meryl almost had more nice moments than both of them. I LOVED finally getting to see more of his backstory though esp with Livio that was so great. But I really wish we got to see how much he cares about kids and him interacting with them. All we would get is NOT THE ORPHANAGE!! but we never get to see it in action really. Besides him giving Zazie a lollypop that one time and the flashbacks but those only included Livio for the most part. Roberto: NGL I loved him he was cynical and grumpy LOL I was pretty offput at first because it felt like he was replacing Milly. I dont think he wasnt really utilized to his full potential though. Especially because he dies later. I feel like we didnt get enough time with him or character moments. I think it could have made his death hit harder. Also just a shame that he was just there to further Meryls arc. But i think he was meant to mirror Meryls drive to help against his pessimism. Milly: millyseason2millyseason2millyseason2!! That's the main group anyway. Thank you for the ask!

[retrograderesemblance]

“top 5” 80s shows, top 5 characters and why

tops 5 things! // @timeguardians

80s shows

1. The A-Team (1983-1987) This is the only show on this list that I've finished. It's horribly cheesy when it wants to be, and when you get a bad episode, it's a legitimately bad episode... but I'm weirdly fond of this series. The way the writers sort of drip-feed (?) you overarching storylines and character backgrounds is done in such a strange way that I'm not sure that original viewers would've gotten the same viewing experience as modern viewers who are able to binge the show. The Vietnam War veterans angle isn't something that starts to take proper shape until s2, but from s2 onwards, the episodes that allude to the characters' war experiences are done in good taste and I think make the characters feel more complex. Granted, there's no real payoff for these references, but there's also a sort of silent understanding among the main characters. They all worked together during the war, and they all understand that they don't need to talk about what happened. I think there is an argument to be made to the fact that even tho the characters left the war behind, the war is something that will continue to follow them for the rest of their lives.

2. Remington Steele (1982-1987) I haven't watched past s1 mostly bc I'm not ready for the show to abandon Murphy and Bernice and double-down on the Laura/Steele romance. I really like this show tho. Decent set up, decent episode plots, a good balance of humor and seriousness. For as much crap as I put Laura through on my blog, I seriously do really like her. She was apparently the first female private eye on television too ?? and this show became the blueprint for what would become Moonlighting. So that's cool!

3. Magnum P.I. (1980-1988) This show is at it's best with the Vietnam War-based episode plots. Apparently this was the first tv series to show Vietnam War veterans as protagonists in media; everything before this showed veterans as some trauma-possessed mass killers ?? which feels very '70s, honestly... While you sometimes have to power through half a season of cheesy monster-of-the-week-esque eps, it's worth it for the more serious performances. Tom Selleck was literally the perfect casting choice for Magnum.

4. Booker (1989-1990) Even tho I didn't finish s1, I liked this more than 21 Jump Street. While I like the og series, the concept becomes very wash and repeat after about 20 eps in when you consider the implications of how many high schools exist in the same city. The acting in Booker is a lot better, and it's an interesting setup for a private eye plot.

5. MacGyver (1985-1992) This is not my favorite 80s series by a longshot, but I watched the first 4 seasons and the tv movies, so I feel like I need to mention it. The pilot is the best episode, as weird as that sounds. MacGyver is known for things like being able to escape a locked room with a stick of gum and a lighter... but weirdly he only does that in the pilot ???? The series overall is... not good? *snorts* The plots are half-baked at best, the supporting cast makes you groan when they make appearances, and for some reason every single woman that MacGyver is friends with or in a relationship with, dies in some horribly tragic accident. While I would recommend this, dO NOT watch it expecting some cinematic masterpiece.

characters

1. James Bond (from the book series, not the movies, tho Timothy Dalton is closest to book!Bond) Oh my beloved James Bond, always on the verge of turning in his resignation letter akjdnakjbfajbf. I've only read about half the books so far, but I've jumped all over in the timeline and Bond is honestly a very jaded character. He's the epitome of a workaholic, but at the same time he knows he's not happy. Every time he tries to make some sort of change in his life to seek happiness, all his plans blow up in his face and he's often left lonelier than he was before. It's very interesting to follow a character who sort of just lives in the present, bc he fully expects not to live past the age of 40.

2. Sonny Corleone from The Godfather Love me a slightly unhinged male character who supports women's rights. There's a whole thesis I could write about how Sonny and Michael are essentially foils in the plot. Their father assumes that Michael is the more "Americanized" of his children and they butt heads over that, which is so hysterical bc Michael ends up proving that he was the most traditional of them all; Sonny was the one who was the most "Americanized" despite being g.roomed to take over the business from his father. Hate what the sequel films did to his character and background, but alas, book!Sonny will always be my favorite.

3. Janis Ian from Mean Girls I like Janis for the simple reason that's she's petty. She sees through a lot of the bullshit, but she's also self-aware enough to know that she's not above bullshit of her own.

4. Fanny Price from Mansfield Park I like how she made up her mind and stuck to her decisions and didn't let herself be bullied into changing her mind.

5. Ed Chigliak from Northern Exposure I think his character is really well done, showing sort of a modern Alaskan indigenous experience through the eyes of a character who's half-Tlingit, half-White. He's a nice person and enjoys his hobbies and wants to tell stories. He's not bitter like other characters on this list; he's just happy to be here.

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (22/10/23)

next week is gonna have another big catch up, I was actually gonna do it the week after I did jujutsu but then realized next week it'd be the 200 chap for this series so decided to postpone it until then just cause it's a cool big round number, tho today's chap 199 woulda been fitting too since it was the colour page for the serie's 4th anni but anyhoo also starting from now the stuff I talk about will be bolded as seen below, yeah I shoulda done this from the start cause it's way more readable and stuff but the other thing I did made more sense at the time I started it, but this is better overall now

Anime

Hoshikuzu Telepath Ep2

nice epiosde mostly just introducing the 3rd member of our main group, next ep is gonna be aoki shiki's chara so that should be good

Frieren Ep7

very good ep like usual, the demon story in the middle was pretty obvious but it was still good. very excited for the next episode considering the cliffhanger and the title for it, hoping for some more sakuga 🙏

Undead Unluck Ep3

great episode all around, loved hearing my queen yuuki as gina, too bad we won't see much more of her til cour 4 or 5 (depending on how fast adaptation goes) but it'll be worth the wait. also, since I read all of UU from start to just some months ago, in just a couple days I had things very fresh on my mind so I noticed it easily, but it's really crazy to see how early tozuka set up seeds for future payoffs, I won't mention what exactly cause spoilers but there were 3 ones in this episode and it really is great writing and storytelling to be able to pull that off

Pokemon Horizons Ep25

nice and action packed episode, fit for being the end of this initial cour/arc, which we only found out about earlier this week. should be getting a new op along with the new subtitle and stuff but we'll see. we also got some lore like the full team of the ancient adventurer and that the evil organization was related to him in some way. the goal now is to find the rest of the team so that should last for 25 more eps probably but we'll see, there should still be gym stuff along the way and all that

Adult Precure Ep3

nice ep, lots of karen x kurumi moments which this artist I follow on twitter was certainly going hog wild for. saki and mai from splash star showed up at the end of this episode, and next one is gonna be about them, so that's cool since I didn't think they'd show up until the yes 5 girls had all gotten their transformations back

Imas Million Live Ep3

good ep as you'd expect, really enjoyed how much yuriko there was since she's one of my favs from ML (mikku 🙏), next episode is gonna have at least a crumb of rio so looking forward to that too they said the teather will take 2 months to finish building, I hope that it'll be finished after next episode just so we can move on to other stuff. not having this following the structure of the og anime/U149 makes it harder to predict what'll be happening

Manga

Ice-Head Gill Ch17

as expected it's ending soon, and as part of the U19 club as well, hopefully ichinose ends on the same week too, but I'll give more thoughts when it actually ends

Jujutsu Kaisen 239

I was looking forward to see how yuji and co were going to take on juiced up sukuna but we're taking a detour to have kenjaku fight, but with the twist that it's one of the most (unknowingly) op charas fighting him. I really like how goofy his power is so looking forward to this fight. tho I don't think there's any way he'll win

Undead Unluck Ch180

I could see this coming cause of fuuko saying all that earlier in the chap but it's still EXTREMELY POGGIES to have andy back after all this time, even if just temporarily, looking forward to them having a crumb of time together next chap

[cadybear420]

Cadybear's Reviews- It Lives in the Woods

Welcome to the fourth official Cadybear's Reviews post! Today I'll be talking about It Lives in the Woods, which I have ranked on the "Diamond Tier" at 10 stars out of a possible 10.

Honestly, there’s not much to say that hasn’t been said already by everyone and their skeleton dog in the fandom. Just about everything in this one is well done. 

Choices that actually matter and have hard potential consequences. A wide cast of memorable characters. A strong and highly compelling story. A proactive and fairly flexible MC, with some pre-set backstory that’s actually established well. 

Although I consider OG HSS to be my favorite Choices series, I’d personally consider the It Lives series to be the best made Choices series. As in, the closest to being “perfect”. I’m having a hard time deciding whether ILITW or ILB is better, but I’ll save that for the ILB review and possibly an “ILITW vs ILB” post. 

Now I generally don’t care much for the horror genre, as most of it always seemed very cheap. But this story blew me away. I can definitely have respect for horror that is actually nuanced with its storytelling rather than just being cheap jumpscares, yet still being able to be bone-chilling… and ILITW is just that. I love the focus on psychological horror and how Mr. Red (or rather, Jane) plays directly on our characters’ fears, struggles, and insecurities. The CG in chapter 1 was terrifying, and it was enough to give me this lingering feeling of dread through the story. And there is payoff for it in Chapter 15, particularly if you get mostly Haunted nerve scores. 

Andy and Lucas are certainly some of my most favorite LIs of all time. It’s really hard to choose who I love more. I’d say I relate to Lucas more, but Andy had the strongest arc. Ava is pretty damn great too with her vibrant and witty personality. 

I also love the trans rep with Andy– he’s the only trans character in the cast, but he never felt like he was just a token. We see some of the challenges he faces as a short Asian trans male athlete, yet he also has a lot of personality outside of that too. In spite of what he goes through, it’s just normal in the narrative for Andy to be trans, and not sensationalized or pathologized. 

There’s barely anything to criticize here, which is why I consider it the Choices story that’s “closest to perfect”. Most of what I can think of are very minor nitpicky things. I’ll probably save it for the “ILITW vs ILB” post.