#clearly i play 100% for the story so i always take these two because they're the most interesting to me

[bereft-of-frogs]

something that's extremely funny about knights of the old republic is assembling your little party. I've got my little trio, obviously I'm taking Bastila everywhere because there's just so much there. there's the lore. the force bond. also because it's been 20 years and I obviously know the ending, I've got some dramatic tension going on too, I feel like she's lying or at least hiding something, she has to know something more than she's letting on. idk I'm obsessed with her.

and then Carth. is just. there.

like he's the most interesting out of all of the other options right now which is why I keep dragging him along but it's also so funny to go from this like really intense backstory, shared dreams, shared history intriguing relationship to. Carth. There.

I also gave him an extremely silly looking visor thing. so it's like, the player character and Bastila having these intense conversations about sharing dreams and destinies and then Carth. Lurking. with his dumb little visor.

I'm having a great time.

[ladyloveandjustice]

List of "Does it Like Women" Results and whether I agree

I find the "Does it like women" blog fascinating, as y'all have probably noticed. I always tend to think deeply about this topic when I consume media, so I wanted to make a list of results I disagree with, because it interests me! I'll likely be updating this through reblogs if my interest doesn't wane, I'll make a note in the replies when I do!

Loves Women

I agree with all of these so far! Well, loves women might be a little bit of a stretch for the first Spiderverse movie (on the other hand...doc ock...hnnn), but I think the second does so yeah basically agree.

Likes Women

Kill la Kill- Man it's 2013 again and I'm seeing tumblr make powerpoints about how klk is deeply feminist and it's actually a super deep critique of harassment that Ryuko has to wear the ugliest outfit ever and Westerners Don't Understand (person making this argument is inevitably a Westerner).

Yeah, based on the part I've seen and everything I've heard, hard disagree. But I have not seen the whole thing, just those three, I do know the part I saw included rape jokes a plenty, a weird victim-blamey take on "not being ashamed" of being forced into a skimpy outfit and how if you're bothered by men ogling you that's your weakness, and a vagina wedgie. I'm not as mad about it as I was back then,and I can appreciate the show has it's good points later on. Not having watched it also means my knowledge is incomplete. However, I have listened to really in depth breakdowns of the series (mainly Anifem's podcast), so I know exactly what happens, and yeah, the treatment of women doesn't impress me. I'm on the dislike side, (holding back on hates because again, haven't seen all of it)

...could understand mixed feelings though, I guess

Madoka- I'd definitely go more towards mixed feelings honestly (especially if we're counting Rebellion) but I get the people who say "likes".

Yuri is my Job- it loves women, it loves messy women, it loves women who love women, it loves them so much, idk why it got a sizeable no vote. People who only watched the first ep? People who think yuri is "bad"?

Mob Psycho 100- Someone in the notes says "accidentally likes women" and that's the only answer in the "likes women" area I'll accept. It has 10 million prominent male characters and like three prominent female characters. ONE really really obviously has a hard time imagining women as powerful or action heroes. (this is reflected in One Punch Man too) (One Punch Man actively hates women and queer people though, Mob is infinitely better) Only one who ever gets to fight and play with the boys, and she's a low level mook, and we have to spend 75% percent of her limited screentime on whether it's actually okay to fight women, with her winning argument being "Well you're literally a child so I guess it evens out" (???) The little girl with the evil dolls gets even less screentime.

I do like that the series examines how Mob idealized Takane and how people not caring about the real her made her tired, as well as how it allowed her to reject Mob and was basically a lesson in the importance of accepting rejection. But her screentime is also really limited, and I feel like we could have dove into her a lot more. Tome is a wonderful weird girl and I liked her little arc, and I hear she gets more in the Reigen manga, but still not a TON of screentime, and even with her there are a couple jabs about how she doesn't "count" as a girl due to not acting traditionally feminine we're clearly supposed to find funny. Emi is...there I guess. There's that sweet scene with the writer girl, and the bully girl, but they're like, not reoccurring at all, as evidenced by how I can't remember their names.

And uh. the girls school episode.

Anyway. Hot take but I don't think "they're barely in the story but when they are two of them are treated pretty decently and have some depth, though there is some weird stuff about whether women can even fight men or whatever" really counts as "likes women". I'd go more mixed feelings.

Life is Strange-out of the two options I chose dislikes, but my feelings are a lot closer to "mixed feelings". I go into why here.

Gushing Over Magical Girls- lol. lmao even. The anime about middle school girls who look 8 sexually assaulting other middle school girls DEFINITELY doesn't like women. I go into more detail here.

Cowboy Bebop: Mixed feelings, probably. I chose dislikes because yes, Faye and Ed are great (you could def read Ed as nb though), but Faye also is repeatedly damsel in distress'd and treated as incompetent in her field when I don't think she should be, she can be a failgirl without being the sole woman in the action side of the group and also the least capable (there's also That Scene in the movie). also i just. it's fine that she's sexy but I hate her outfit. give her something nicer looking, it's so ugly. But my main reason for a dislike vote is the treatment of Julia. Girl is a textbook example of fridging. They really gave her so little. But yeah I could see mixed feelings.

Also do you remember that one scene during Faye's tragic backstory where she's hospitalized and the camera requires us to look down her super (painful looking? like idk how she's not screaming about it) squished boobs during this tense and important moment god that took me out. whenever anyone acts like Faye always owns her sexiness and the camera never does anything I remember that scene.

Ranma 1/2: I've seen read a good chunk of it, and this result is...surprising. Maybe by the standards of 80's manga though, who knows.

Better Call Saul- I did vote yes on this one, but I'd put it more at mixed feelings. Kim is a fantastic character, but there aren't enough women on the show at all. She's a major part of the show, but basically the only one of any note. I only voted yes because I finally remembered Francesca was a reoccurring character and she's all right, but the fact I had to think to remember...

Undead Unluck: I know it gets a lot better later but I'm not sure if a work that has it's female character continuously and comically sexually harassed for the first few chapters can ever get liking women privileges. I don't know enough about it but it might be a mixed feelings situation.

Akiba Maid War: tbh I'd probably give this 'loves women'.

Ducktales: For the second season specifically I'd say "loves women". The first season leans more towards 'like women' though, so it evens out.

Mixed Feelings

Dracula- IIII definitely think it dislikes women, sorry guys. Mina is a great character and you do have to take it in the context of when it was written. But there are surely contemporaries of Bram Stoker that wouldn't have randomly gone out of their way to scoff at the "New Woman". Not to mention again, really random sidebars about how men are so much smarter and cooler and women should be grateful to them. I could go on about Lucy and how Mina is treated and whether that's a critique of sexism or just playing into it and how it's so open to interpretation but I'll stop here.

also the book is hugely anti- Romani, immigrant etc and I think that ties into disliking women since some women are those Romani and immigrants

It really really felt like a case where a lot of people in the Drac Daily tag just wanted it to be super feminist because they liked it (you can like things without having to make them feminist! it's fine!), and the way they scoffed at feminist scholars who had "surface level readings" of the text (aka they dared to say it was sexist) still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The Lego Movie: dislikes women. what are y'all on. Even it's own sequel calls it out for disliking women. Wildstyle is basically the only woman with real characterization and she's the purest concentration of "hypercompetent woman must play second fiddle to Average Male loser who is the one who actually saves the world and also she falls in love with him because of course she does'. Then Wonder Woman got one line (in literally the first theatrical move she got to even be in) and Superman and Batman a lot of screen time.

Does not like

Scott Pilgrim- Don't get this result, I'd put it at likes or mixed feelings? It's literally about how Scott has weird issues with women where he doesn't see them as to full people they are, and it calls him out on that hard. The whole sixth volume is how he made up a damsel in distress scenario for Kim and always took her for granted, how he put all the blame on Envy for the end of their relationship when he played a huge role in that, Knives finally getting over him, moving on, and telling him he needs to grow up a little (highlighting how his grossness towards her was him refusing to accept that he was an adult now, and that he was horrible to her, and yes he does apologize), and accepting that he and Ramona are both messed up people and she's just as flawed as he is, taking down the pedestal he put her on. And having Ramona triumphantly confront her abuser. Scott acknowledges he has a lot in common with Gideon, the supervillain!

Roxy is a sticking point, the whole 'it was a phase thing' and her and Ramona's relationshipbeing unexplored was annoying (fixed in Takes Off) but even she had some moments of pathos and was definitely the (Ramona's) ex the story seemed to sympathize with the most.

I dunno. this seems like a tumblr lacks media literacy thing again. Did you think the narrative agrees with Scott. Did you only watch the movie.

Succession- I'd go more mixed feelings? Dislikes is fine, I think it doesn't have enough women and often privileges male characters over them, but sometimes it's examination of the sexism Shiv faces is really incisive, and she's a complex character. But she should have gotten that abortion.

Watchmen: hates women actually. Pretty much anything written by Alan Moore does.

Persona 4: I think it hates women actually. But dislike is fine too.

Merlin: Everything I've heard about the show puts in in the hates camp rather than dislikes, but i never watched it (I did watch this video on it, and the bootlicking is out of this world if it's accurate) so I can't really comment

Fables: I cannot fathom how this did not get "hates women". Not just the fact it's written by a known misogynist. I will always remind everyone that I was literally there to see Bill Willingham say the female fans protesting the misogynist treatment of Stephanie Brown were annoying and he wishes he could shoot them. I was there. I heard him. This attitude completely shows up in his work. On top of that, his conservative, women hating idealogy all over this comic. Do you not remember all the random abortion soapboxes and how hard Snow White got sidelined????

And when I refreshed my memory, I discovered the reason Snow White had kids when she didn't want to was because a spell made her have sex with the male lead and she didn't even remember that happening. I also forgot that her backstory was the seven dwarfs raped her (but then she murdered them! Girl Power!) This is only the tip of the iceberg, I rediscovered way too many screwed up things he did to his female characters. Plus blatant Zionist propaganda and a ton of racism.

Like Snow White's backstory was some dark and edgy rape revenge and she's an Empowered Woman now, only to have her be raped by the man she will marry (in a mutual rape) but we don't call it that, and now she has kids she doesn't want, she can't get an abortion because It's Evil, time to quit her job she's proud of and move to a farm to have six kids.

iCarly-- It hates women! Dan Schneider. That should be all we need but some people in the comments insisted on separating the art from the artist despite the fact the artist is ALL OVER the art, and said art directly tormented Jeanette McCurdy! There was so much content in the show that was there to specifically torment her-- the fact her character has a food addiction/eating disorder while she had a real life eating disorder and they had to have known this, the fact after hearing she had a crush on an actor then they wrote it into her character to humiliate her, the fact they continually sexualized her while knowing her discomfort with it and with her body-- I have also watched the exhaustive basically minute-by-minute breakdown by QuintonReviews. Some gross shit happens on that show.

Hates Women

Agree with all of these so far!

[nighttimeebony]

One thing I adore about Buddy Daddies is the conflict between Rei and Kazuki in episode 7.

In fiction, it is so unbelievably common for one half of a couple in a family unit to do all of the work when it comes to the actual parenting. The cooking, the cleaning, etc. During the early decades sitcoms, the mom was always the hard-working and strict one while the dad was always the lazy, not-helpful one.

And that's the conflict.

Even though Rei and Kazuki are both men, Kazuki very clearly plays the role of the homebody in their relationship with Rei being sort of useless as a parent outside of being the fun one (at least initially). It's not waved off as a joke or dismissed as something you're not supposed to take seriously. That's a problem that they address in the episode that Rei needs to fix.

Marriage and relationships as a whole are partnerships, with both parties doing their equal share of effort to make it work, and parenting is just that but magnified times twenty. It takes mutual effort on both sides that Rei wasn't giving, and it infuriated Kazuki.

It's one thing for Miri to take Kazuki for granted, because she's still just a little kid and that's just how kids are, but it's another thing for Rei (Kazuki's partner), a grown adult who should know better, to treat him the same way. Their relationship couldn't continue functioning the way it was, with Kazuki putting in 100% effort and Rei barely doing anything.

Rei needed to step up AND HE DID!

He struggled initially, but once he realized that Miri needed him to be a parent and not a playmate, he stepped the hell up. When Miri got sick (due in part to his own actions) he didn't just wait around for Kazuki to come back and fix everything, he went to Kyu on his own to get the resources he needed. He stayed with Miri in her room to watch over her and wrote down a schedule for Miri's medication.

And it's not just for the one episode! In episode 9, we see Rei helping Kazuki cook in the morning while they're getting Miri ready for school! Rei has started to put in actual effort in his role as both a parent and a partner!

That's fucking great!! That's a conflict that I have never seen done before in a show like this!

Usually, this sort of trope would be treated as a joke, or the parents are just already good at parenting with a screw up or two here and there, but I've never seen this kind of active growth before in a story about parenthood.

Not only are Kazuki and Rei active participants in raising Miri, but they both have moments where they realize that they have to change in order to do their job as parents properly. They can't just half-ass it and they know this. Love is necessary in parenthood, but you have to put in effort too.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Motherlode

And here I find myself again, circling back to the same basic thoughts about this arc that really only stretched itself out to about double what I and most others predicted. You get my angle right? While the world's watching, while the fandom's watching someone not named Nico Robin give a little nuggie of Void Century lore...200 chapters after Bakura Town, 100 after Kiku's fall, in a chapter after one with a folk lore allusion title. Stussy breaks the seal. Speaking more or less the same trauma. It's even the same central idea of Wano; ensuring the Straw Hat's escape was Stella's final command. It all runs on that old school Japanese take on ideal feminity; "A woman's happiness is taking care of those she loves." Self-sacrifice to repay kindness towards you.

Bonney has so much to compare and contrast, you're a solid candidate for someone who could kinda fuse Kiku & Yamato, but Stussy? You're our Tamataebako buddy with the same eyes. A trans woman and a clone, can't say it isn't relatable and they both have a demonic facade without an ounce of action girl tomboy tropes. Stussy can nab that torch now just like Bonney could have. But you still exist in that space. Why are we doing you now, after the others? We still have cards unplayed from Wano. When their theme is subtlety one should expect waiting until the final phase.

This chapter gives me a lot that has me excited.

We have a whole theme this chapter of people responding again and doubling down on the idea these different faces we know are reacting differently to Vegapunk's speech. Things different fans are reacting to. Wano the Joyboy lore, Carrot the weaponry, but it's one of those simple tricks that fuel a big deception. None of it is really that much deeper than clarifying what we as readers sorta knew. Of course, for Wano...it isn't the full group but we see a group. It'd make perfect sense for Kiku to be smiling and holding a tray with the implication she brought the dango, she could appear any example of this cover serial...but this is how you have to look at things when strategic absence is an established motif. Oh, and I guess Shino just got to stay youthful. Rock on mature woman, enjoy it.

The world is merely learning more or less what we know. The real story is still playing out. Stussy, the escape, this time we aren't breaking away. It's almost like a good rap track where the first two verses are smooth and melodic leading into a rapid-fire third verse to really hammer the message. I think we'll stick with that as the message unfolds. But this arc has just enough gas it's the opening act not the final point in and of itself. What makes me feel confident this time? Glad you asked:

Nojiko caring more about the farm bolsters this and her alone would have me freaking the fuck out but...bruh. Miss Goldenweek? Goldie!? Marianne and her hilarious in hindsight apple hat? Peep the suitcase, they're leaving to find Cross Guild. But yeah! Miss Friggin Goldenweek and Nojiko have an interesting response to this worldwide message. I love it too. They don't really seem to care much. Nami's big sister and a mellow girl that was one of Luffy's most vexing opponents. She got a cover serial, this little lady was always an oddball waiting to surprise us. For now though this is dope. Don't let her demeanor fool you, she was clearly a top agent for a reason and the reasons really aren't that different than the archetype I see out of Kiku.

What specifically does it though is how she's paired with the reaction focusing on the common people killed as collateral damage. Now let's take it altogether. Because something else going on under the message brings us back to where this felt most powerful:

Uh-oh. The big cloud layer is under attack. The Elbaf ship is getting surrounded. What if they weren't enough? For all the talk about other stuff that could happen if the Giants are the penultimate surprise addition...is it just gonna be the Grand Fleet after all? They make so much sense big picture. Robonosuke is still hanging around at the edge of all this too. Because things are getting dire on Egghead underneath the lore dump.

All in all...I love this shit right now because it's exactly what I've been on about since Wano ended. Wall to wall this chapter. 1115 is a straight banger.

[kimberlyannharts]

LAST TIME ON RANGER ACADEMY: Sage, Mathis, and Lindy are taking a little break from their demon-infested school to hang out with Sage's dad, who's way cooler and hotter and way less demon-infested. And as a bonus, turns out Tula had the same idea, so everyone got to be there for Rhianth's story hour, where we found out that ten years ago Dark Specter thought baby Sage was the perfect vessel for murdering with and caused the deaths of her biological parents and the shuttle Tula's sister was on, until Zilan sacrificed himself to cure Sage's possession with an anti-Dark Specter machine. And like all sad widows to Green Rangers do, Rhianth kept that machine all these years, so hey, maybe that could be helpful in the final fight against Dark Specter's return. We only have two issues left, after all; we gotta wrap this up!

It's Ranger Academy #11!

= Well, it's a device that's made specifically to defeat Dark Specter introduced in the final story arc, so................probably not

= I'm sorry, what do you mean friends NOW? Did Nugget mean NOTHING to you!!!!!!!!!!

= oh sweet they're really expanding on the Black campus

= Sorry to say it but Headmaster...if you don't survive your possession that's fine with me. Honestly I always kinda hated your vibes. Especially since I have......no idea who you are or how you came to be (like since she's possessed, we have to assume she's IN the tube like Zordon was rather than just transmitting herself via the tube like the guest Rangers? but like......WHY is she in the tube. They say she's connected to the Grid, but that's it. Zordon was kind of a special case, and even with the (frankly stupid imo) reveal that all Eltarians end up doing the face-in-tube thing, she's clearly not Eltarian. eh, maybe they'll explain it next issue. maybe

= Okay maybe the Bandorian Monks were playing the long game with not giving Lindy her own color yet. They knew Lindy would be the one to save us all

= Flirting like this when everyone's about to die GOD gay people are SO ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

= I will say though this is more flirting and chemistry than Rocky and Adam had in Darkest Hour and I don't even know if they're supposed to be legit romantic

= Why don't you guys take some of that Morphin energy water and just spritz Dark Specter with it

= Imagine getting possessed because Dark Specter double-dog dared you to attack him

= also i have to laugh a bit at "a handful of professors and junior rangers were possessed" because yeah, just a reminder that we don't know anyone's fucking names

= Something they don't really elaborate on in this issue is how EXACTLY the machine works, or why you have to morph in order to use it, which is kind of another point in my "the machine won't actually do anything" theory. It's like how in Issue #100 Billy had that anti-Death Ranger gun out of nowhere that didn't do anything. "Chip, what anti-Death Ranger gun????" exactly

= I'm sure they'll be fine

= well shit

= QUICK SOMEONE GO INTO LABOR!!!! IT'S HOW WE GOT THEIR MOM TO STOP BEING EVIL IT'LL WORK FOR THEM TOO

[brainlessbaguette]

Okay I'm doing a Fionna and Cake ep 2 ramble, because there is so much Finn slander rn and after binging all of Adventure Time I'm losing my marbles over this.

So heavy spoilers below

This is probs gonna be a mess and idc if nobody reads this, I just want to chuck my feelings into the void of the internet.

First and foremost I genuinely DO NOT believe Finn is using Jake's kids to replace Jake. Finn has always been very extroverted and has been shown to have separation and abandonment issues (remember how fast he freaked when fern ditched him or how weird finn sword started acting after grass sword shattered it, and just Martin). It makes sense for his character that'd he'd continue adventuring with other friends and family after Jake. We also have to remember PB and Marcie are out being together, so while I'm sure they still hang out its not as much as it used to be. I genuinely see him turning to his remaining family to see if they want to tag along. Like I could 100% be wrong, but I feel if he was using Jake's kids he would've pushed more to get TV to follow them, but instead he just asked once and then just accepted/respected TV's decision to dip.

Okay now Simon and Finn are both grieving, and neither of them are dealing with it well. Finn has clearly emotionally regressed a bit and is struggling with the loss of Jake. There were numerous times where Jake showed to be really cool with death and Finn not at all be cool with Jake dying. I wouldn't be surpirised if they never really made any progress with that problem, again pretty sure Finn has abandonment issues, so its very easy to see Jake's passing setting him back years in emotional growth. But people have been saying things like "Finn's being ignorant to Simons feelings" "He's in complete denial" "He needs to learn to be a better friend" "He's lost all of the character growth he had in the show" and I cannot deal with this. These comments are the reason I'm making this because shenanigans.

A quick play by play of the very important interaction that people seem to gloss over.

Finn meets up with Simon starting to lose his shit in the bar over Fionna and Cake. He immediately tries to calm him down and Simon freaks out a little more. Finn acknowledges this isn't about the stories and gently asks him whats wrong. Simon proceeds to tell him while clearly having a breakdown, Finn tries to calm him down and even tells him he's sorry. Presumably a "I'm sorry your feeling this way." Simon then admits some really heavy stuff and at this point Finn realizes hes way out of his comfort zone and asks if he's talked to Marcie, i.e. the person that would be able to provide more/better support. Simon brushes that off, Finn basically hits him with a "there's so much more to live for" and Simon says some even darker things, Finn looks around for help, and at this point decides to play the distraction card.

Thats still our boy! Hes damaged but not completely emotionally unaware. He also knew his limits, he looked for help when things got dark and then began to try some stuff that helped him. Like honestly if a friend was saying some of the things Simon was to me and I had no backup I'd also play the distraction card. Were they good distractions? No, not for Simon. But he was genuinely trying. He's not happy but he's staying cheery to try and get Simon in a better place. He also isn't intentionally forcing Simon to go with him, and takes him home as soon as he expresses that he's done.

Its a mess, they're a mess and are absolutley not the ones to help each other. The blindfolds in the forest or "the blind leading the blind" is the perfect expression for what this trainwreck is. They both need outside help and I think thats what we're going to see in this show. This was the first two episodes that set the stage. I imagine there will be a "Finn Mertens" episode, so like lets chill out and cut our boy some slack, at least until we see the whole story, he genuinely tried. Honestly, having just rewatched the whole show, I have a fair bit of faith in the writing team, I highly doubt they'd butcher Finn's character like that.

Anyway I'm loving this show so far, just bugged by some of the hot takes to come out of it. This is all my opinions, so I guess my hot takes? But I just wanted to stand up for the boy.

Also also, people better not be blaming Marcie for being neglectful. Shes barely been seen yet, and currently has no idea whats happening. Give it a bit.

I'm also under the impression Finn's got a separate arm for adventuring, soley because getting another major injury off camera is just kinda out of charcter for the show. But Idk maybe they're just trying something new.

[doomed-era]

also. i was going to ask this before but i didnt know how to word it: any zelda tropes you like/dislike? stuff like fairies being guides for link or the concept of sages/Legendary Sword or how link and zelda are always depicted or reoccurring characters like impa or beedle or epona. though theres probably not. a lot of tropes considering most games are vastly different from each other. uhh yeah if youve got nothing . things that were done from a zelda game that you liked?

OOH. tbh I had to think about this a bit (my gripes are usually with the fandom and how they depict the tropes as a Strict Narrative Rule) but! I do have some

UH ONES I HATE. this is gonna be long no matter what so it's going under a cut

Number one has got to be making link into a super special boy for basically no reason!!! being from a special type of knights is. so irrelevant to everything else about alttp link that I think a lot of people legitimately forget this. it barely ever comes up and it's honestly not that important to the story except as an excuse for why link's the only one that can grab the pendants and pull the master sword, which. why not just have him be the one to do this because he's just really determined? Ocarina of Time...tried this, sort of? almost completely irrelevant AGAIN. in twilight princess and wind waker they are just some guy basically and this is the best direction they could have gone with his character. except they ruined it in botw and ss and I will neverrrr forgive them for this. botw link beats up grown men at five years old he's like superbaby instant knight and I HATE it. it's just stupid. I don't even care that it applies pressure to him as a character and seems to affect him; they could have just made it an in-universe lie and it would have had the exact same effect so genuinely screw that trope

number two is calling random soldiers knights stop fucking doing this. i dont care that its fictional fantasyland it annoys me

number three! the 3D games' great fairies! I hate almost all of them the oot/mm great fairies are freaks, botw ones are so pretty but they're creepy as hell, and twilight princess is just a naked lady and it's stupid I hate her. wind waker minish cap and alttp fairies are gongeous though

number four. everyone thinking link is cool and or hot. I hate this in universe and in the fandom. I don't care that the devs wanted to make him """"cool"""" he's 100% always a LOSER!!!!

number five I hate the hijacked by ganon trope in zelda games so much. STOP ffs please let ganon/ganondorf take the spotlight we all love him. or let another villain be the main baddie

ok now for ones I like :)

nunberone...SENTIENT MONSTERS SENTIENT MONSTERS BABEY SENTIENT MOSNTERS ILVOE SRENTIERHSDJKFHSFHAAAAA

GRRAAA ITS A SECRET TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOE THE MOBLIN!!! KING BULBLIN SAYING HE FOLLOWS THE STRONGEST SIDE!!! THE ENTIRE DARK WORLD ITS SO

two. npc companions...rips off my shirt to reveal another shirt that says I LOVE MIDNA AND TATL AND EZLO AND KING OF RED LIONS AND GHOSTIE ZELDA AND MEDLI AND MAKAR AND TETRA AND SIDON AND YUNOBO AND

number three...I love random gods and spirits that are just hanging out because. keaton malanya zephos satori light spirits what have you. theyre great I need more of that.

number four incredibly weird npcs. need i say more

number five soldiers being extremely incompetent and dumb or getting possessed. soldiers as enemies or easily corruptible people

number six that one character that doesn't like link. you know what i mean (revali. groose. mido. iirc ralph? maybe? I haven't played much of the oracle games)

number seven hyrule with a dark and bloody past. and not only that but a fairly simple presentation of it that's clearly hiding a more complex underbelly. its just neat to see simple, clear-cut writing tell you so much with so little. it's a big reason I love alttp; it's simple but there's so much grief in it

number eight uh. clawshot/hookshot :] good stuff

[remastered-feedback]

A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action: Don't Delay Player Agency

(You can also read this post on my blog/personal site!)

Recently I've been picking games I play not just because they seem like they'll be fun, but also as something to mine for ideas and inspiration. I've been teaching myself Godot, and while I'm a ways off from making any game that's ready for a market release, I'm approaching them more from the perspective I've always approached music with as a musician; not just a work in a medium that I enjoy, but as something to analyze for ideas and inspiration for my own work.

Consequently, I've been playing a lot of older, retro games, as well as a lot of handheld GBA games and indie games. Part of this is for their charm, but part of it is also because those are much closer to what I can accomplish singlehandedly; where modern AAA hits like Baldur's Gate 3 and Elden Ring notch thousands of dev team credits, older NES/SNES games, as well as GBA games and indie titles, rarely have staffs above 50, and typically cap out just past 100 at their absolute largest. Those AAA hits are great games, but if I want something I can use as a reasonable estimation of the targets I can hit solo, they're not where to look.

Two of the games that I've been playing on this old-school kick are two highly touted JRPGs: Golden Sun for the GBA, and Chrono Trigger for the SNES. While both are very good and I'm enjoying both, there's a contrast that's hard not to notice, and it's one where Chrono Trigger is a clear winner. (Yes, I know comparing any JRPG to Chrono Trigger is totally unfair. I'm not using this to take shots at Golden Sun, I'm just using it to explain my point. Again, I'm enjoying both, please do not be unfair to Golden Sun and read "Chrono Trigger did it better" as "This is a bad game" because "Chrono Trigger did it better" applies to 90% of the genre!)

In Chrono Trigger, you almost immediately gain control of Crono. You are somewhat on-rails, the game is clearly directing you to the fairgrounds, but you have the control to decide where you go. Want to run off to the forest before you even know the game's mechanics? You can do that! Even once you go to the fairgrounds, you have control over what you do, where, and when. That's good! Giving the player immediate control is a good thing! Letting them immediately be in control of the player character, and immediately having a say over what happens, gives the player instant agency and engagement. You're not sitting and waiting for the game to start, the game has begun the moment you hit "New game."

Golden Sun, on the other hand, is extremely on-rails for the start of the game. Your home town is flooding, and every time you try to head in a different direction, your previously open pathway is immediately blocked by a falling rock. There's one way for you to go, and all other options are walled off. Even once the flood is over, you're still going down a linear path with no real say in what happens, because there are multiple conversations you need to have, multiple encounters and confrontations you're required to engage with no matter what, and while this is understandable for the very start, it's this way for well over 45 minutes. You're approaching an hour into the game before you can make any kind of meaningful decision, and that kills so much of the draw of RPGs. Story is a staple of the genre, but if I feel like I'm not actually getting any say in the story, I don't feel like I'm playing an RPG. I feel like I'm watching a TV show. And while I like TV shows, that's not what I play a video game to experience.

This isn't to say you can't have a tutorial or an opening cutscene to draw players in, but the sooner the player is making the decisions, the better. People play video games to experience something interactive, whether it's something story-heavy like a visual novel or something gameplay-intensive like a puzzle game. If you're giving the player a full 30-60 minute saga they have to sit and watch before they can make any choices, you've done it wrong. It doesn't need to be any big choice either; "Do you want to fight the combat cat bot or try to hit the bell at the faire?" is enough. "Do you want to go recover Harry's shoes or not?" is enough. "Do you want to check the Mind Flayer nursery for any clues or press onward?" is enough. It's not about immediately being in a position to change the world, it's about having agency and control as soon as possible. Being the active participant driving the events, not just a passive passenger.

You don't have to send the player into immediately engaging with life-or-death without any preparation or preamble. That would be almost as dangerous as giving them a feature film before they get to make any decisions. But as soon as you've established the basic fundamentals, get them engaged and making decisions. The sooner the player has agency and is able to make decisions, no matter how small they may be, the better for both your game and their experience.

[egg-emperor]

It's funny when people that don't like my takes and analysis on game Eggman always try to say that I actually just like some other version that isn't game Eggman and just want him to be the same as it, as if I don't actually only like a very small amount of versions.

"You just want him to be like SatAM Robotnik!" "You just want him to be like Archie Eggman!" Bro the only other versions I really care about or pay attention to besides the games is Archie, IDW, X, and maybe Prime if he comes back. I like Boom Eggman but not as much and I'm not the biggest of the Boom series as a whole but that's the only other one that counts.

And I don't like loads of Archie, only the parts that feel accurate and true to game Egg. And I only like the parts in IDW where that also applies, same for X. And what draws me in initially even if they aren't 100% game accurate is their designs when they're classic/modern because they match his game designs

I'm personally not a fan of SatAM Robotnik because he's missing not just the design but also the charm and silliness I clearly like in game Egg as much as his evil and sadistic side. And I only like Archie Egg when he feels accurate to game Egg, specifically for that reason

So how am I apparently such a big fan of other versions over game Egg that I just want him to be exactly like them? Game Egg was my first and has always been my favorite no other will ever come close in my eyes. Because he's the original, the source, and what Sega of Japan actually work on.

I only like other versions when they're very close or exactly the same, minus the vastly different Boom Egg but even then the reasons I don't like him as much is because he's not like game Egg. Same feelings when it comes to SatAM and any other media that's missing assets of game Egg.

When I compliment, analyze, share facts about his character, and create my own hcs and story based on it, it always comes right from his portrayal in the games itself. It always has a canon basis that supports it. I don't pull shit out of nowhere or completely non canon media to make my point. Sometimes my stories will take tiny inspirations from other media (where it feels accurate to apply to game Eggman again) but my analysis and fact sharing never does.

It's frustrating when people try to tell me I don't actually like or understand game Eggman and just want him to be like some non canon versions that I don't care about anywhere near as much in comparison, specifically because they aren't exactly like game canon Eggman. People twist my intentions, tell me how I feel, and put words in my mouth a lot.

And well two can play at that game because it seems to me like you just want game Egg to be one in the same with Boom Egg. :P Because he has a lot of those traits and the not so evil thing going for him that you want game Egg to have but doesn't. Also I'm pretty sure a looot of the people that say stuff like do admit game canon isn't their favorite version unlike me, so it's pretty ironic

Personally I love to acknowledge and explore the sometimes very huge and sometimes subtle differences between the versions. Hell one of my biggest most passionate fan projects is an AU multiverse thing where different Eggmen meet and interact and I explore their differences! I only think they should be 100% the same if they're supposed to be canon to the games, or it's supposed to be using an Eggman that they claim to be fully accurate to the games.

You can critique, disagree, and debate with what I say but you shouldn't twist my words or intentions to try and do it

[insomniaccipher]

EDIT (24/3): so um, I posted this way way too early. In my sleep deprived state I guess I posted it rather than save it as a draft, since it's clearly not done. I'm not going to private it, people have already seen it so expect this to be updated with the remaining notes. Sorry and thank you for understanding!

(tw for mention of depression and a depressive episode)

After a few days of me being absolutely fucking drained and progressively chipping away at this, and having a surprise d3pr3ssiv3 episode

(seriously though, don't do what I did and work yourself into a depressive episode. I'm okay now, but I should have rested before I crashed.)

And I can finally present the original sketches, notes (internal dialogue included) and with additional notes provided by present me.

Thank you to the few people who showed interest in my little character for being patient with me, I know I wasn't super loyal with the time frame and kept having issues arise but here it is. I apologise for not having a full illustration of them, It's one of those things that I have to be 100 percent satisfied with and right now, it's not there.

Thank you so so much again and I hope you like them, please feel free to critique them or ask questions but try to keep it polite please. Love you all!

Page 1 (left) - Bits and bobs

- Originally I was thinking of giving Arc moving tattoos. This was because I wanted them to have a more clear connection to ink since they would already be around it quite a lot also I imagine it would have been funny for Arc, who is a very calm and collected person, to be in a frustrating situation but can't express it so their tattoos just fucking loose it showing that they are fucking fuming but looks calm as can be.

After I decided on the hat with a veil however I decided to scrap the idea, or at least save it for a different character, as I realized the character would feel too busy and between the two ideas I liked the hat and veil more.

- There was a short-lived idea of them having blackout tattoos but after a bit of research I decided not to ask I wasn't sure if they had any cultural significance, so better safe than sorry.

- Arc, as stated in the notes, is seemingly always calm. That doesn't mean they can't feel frustrated, sad, embarrassed it just means they can keep their composure and level headed. They're like one of those people that if you upset them they'll walk out the room yell and throw shit and walk back in calm as can be.

- Their role has by now developed more than just being an archivist, as now I see them as just a general records keeper. They find and keep old records and text organised, while also writing down new information and such. I'm not changing their name though, cause honestly I've just grown attached to their nickname.

Page 2 (right) - the first note and ideas

- Weirdly enough, the very first idea I had for this character wasn't their story or personality: but their hat and veil. Yup. I just liked the idea of a character with a big halo hat and a veil hiding their face.

- There was another character at one point or they might have been the same, I don't exactly remember and the details between them were similar enough that it's possible that they were just the same character just with minor tweaks. But that character was more connected to the band (again as in the personas/characters they play, not the irl people) while Arc is more of a solo unit.

Mentioning this other character is relevant because, and this is purely based on memory, I think the whole reason they were reworked/scrapped/whatever-the-fuck I did with them was because a hat and veil wouldn't be practical on stage.

- Anyway whenever they do take the veil off, either for more delicate work or they have to be in public, they'll put on a basic mask that covers the majority of their lower face.

- A lot of stuff I see, so forgive me if it's not actually a popular concept, seems to make the band members some form of inhuman. Which I fucking love, however to be honest the inhuman stuff was always kind of going to be part of them no matter what, even if I hadn't chosen the hat and veil concept (See top bullet point for the moving tattoos concept).

[johnnyreincarnated]

Just out of curiosity, what's your favorite Johnny au and why?

OOO THAT'S A TOUGH ONE

I genuinely don't think I can pin down just one favourite because I'm fond of a good handful of them. So I'll just pick out a bunch lol

Gonna put this in a read more

Also like all the little codenames are just names of the au or nicknames to refer them to, not their actual name

Aside from the main headcanon au

Im quite fond of the older Johnny au (like adult. he's 27) I've got simmering in my head. I just like thinking about of how a more adult Johnny continues to interact with day to day life and how relationships have changed and grown. And how he's changed and grown himself and healing from the past (also he does have a significant other AND adopted child :3c) older Johnny is significantly different looking. Recognizable, but clearly older. Mainly being almost 10 feet tall and covered with markings. He also has electrokinesis and heterochromia ^_^

Blossom is another one I like, mainly because she started out as mainly a vent au but trying to give them a little bit of lore for funnies (also yeah she/they/it Johnny here, she gets to be different). It's mainly just covered in flowers and vines and very noticeably has a large flower that outright replaces one of her eyes. She can also photosynthesize.

Revenge is another one, mainly because its more of a "what if [x] happened instead and outcomes were different". Here, whisker actually dies and Johnny goes in a grief fueled mega meltdown, and becomes absolutely spiteful towards sonic and co. he takes remains from whiskers body and alters them to fit him. Between the time frame of these two events he almost outright kills blaze and leaves her very physically scarred. This Johnny is not one to be taken lightly as he is highly intelligent, a very skilled fighter and thinks of every single last detail and is on the verge of actual immortality. He knows how to multiverse hop too. I just like evil Johnny :]

JOHNNY NUMBER FOUR WOO. I'll. Keep this one brief because it is a bit of a darker scenario. If you dont like the mention of eternally hungry robot eating other people then it's a good idea to try and skip this segment, or stop reading entirely

-

Devour is a Johnny that feels eternal starving hunger, no matter how much he eats. He's very instinctually driven towards consuming the living, but he'll eat virtually anything, including other robots. He does not speak and is virtually expressionless. Not 100% sure why I like him so much, but I just do like to experiment with scenarios and have always been a fan of darker things ig.

OKAY LAST ONE GAHDGAGA

Twisted paradise is my most recent Johnny, and I'm still working out the story itself and how exactly he's like. But the general premise that those who die early, an undeserving death, or are seen as special, will be granted another chance at life in a whimsical world, in another body. The world has very very many layers, that shift, change, appear and disappear and get weirder and weirder as you go. When alive, Johnny was known as Kyle, (figuring out what he looked like) and takes on both of these names. He's essentially the main character. Whisker (also known as Mark when he was alive) is pretty much his partner, they stick closely together most of the time. (they're both distantly related, being uncle and nephew, a fun change from father and son like most of my aus depict them as). I really really like things that are just out of the ordinary and just plain weird and almost supernatural, so i can play around with fun and odd concepts

[sweettsubaki]

J'ai publié 8 262 fois en 2022

C'est 4 089 billets de plus qu'en 2021 !

138 billets créés (2%)

8 124 billets reblogués (98%)

Les blogs que j'ai le plus reblogués :

@spongebobssquarepants

@yramesoruniverse

@renecdote

@kitkatpancakestack

@rantblog-no1

J'ai étiqueté 5 940 billets en 2022

Seulement 28% de mes billets ne comportaient pas de tag

#911 fox - 2 708 billets

#eddie diaz - 1 372 billets

#evan 'buck' buckley - 1 329 billets

#buddie - 953 billets

#miscellaneous - 337 billets

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#911 parallels - 273 billets

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Tag le plus long : 139 caractères

#i'll be honest i first saw him in hana yori dango in which ...well his nickname was 'tête à claques' which is a french expression meaning :

Mes billets vedette en 2022 :

n°5

I would like to congratulate Mochizuki Jun for taking 2 romantic moments from Princess Mononoke and merginf them into one romantic moment between Vanitas and Noé (plus another one not that long before).

Just... Congratulation

49 notes - publié le 9 mai 2022

n��4

Natsume Yuujinchou / Natsume's Book of Friends / Le Pacte des Yokai chap 100

Look at how adorable he was as a kid. I just can't.

57 notes - publié le 31 août 2022

n°3

Homura Arc (chapters 100-104) - How Ban's character highlighted Natori and Matoba's bond/Frienemieship/Whatever it is they have through cats

@joelleity here's the thing I was talking about

Heads up I haven't read the non translated chapter so this is only resting on the canon we have up to chap 108.

I've always considered NatsuYuu to be a cat people story in part because most characters have cat-like tendencies (especially if they're Ayakashi related, whether because they're Yokai or because they can see/feel them). This show is about the importance of interpersonal relationship and those are treated very much with a cat themed thesis of "even if it's just for a second and you find happiness with other people, it doesn't make its impact lesser than"...Also Natsume punching creatures bigger than he is and running away immediately is peak cat behavior u.u.

Generally speaking there are very few humans in this show who give the cat vibe as much as Matoba Seiji does.

However I didn't expect Midorikawa sensei to play with it this literally instead of just jokingly (if one day we get a chapter with any character, but especially Matoba being turned into a cat I'll die)...

More seriously though, the focus of this story is Maneki Neko exorcism tools and the fact that Ban wants to capture them for his Master who happen to be Matoba Seiji's Sister (whom I will call Lady Matoba from now on for practicality). Which actually give us these two as foils

through the Matoba siblings feud(?).

Surprising, I know. I actually don't know the point of this, I've mostly noticed a pattern and am trying to write my thoughts down.

First let's take a look at what we know of where Matoba Seiji and Natori Shuuchi are at, at the beginning of this story.

So far in the main story Matoba and Natori have been established as people who know each other through having clearly worked together before which brings some level of knowledge about each other that's common between colleagues and Natori is particularly distrustful of Matoba. They still both acknowledge the other's skills.

We've also got to know only a few chapters prior that they have known each other since high school and had moments which they remembered differently. Natori remembered not liking the loquat he tried meanwhile Matoba remembered being offered loquats only because he was with Natori and remembering the context as well as remembering Natori's experience too.

The flashback chapters, which we have had for longer, give a lot more depth to this. We know that Natori's distrust is caused both by Matoba's attitude toward casually using others (well, him specifically) AND because of Natori's family rejection because of who he is. Basically Natori has a huge inferiority complex and doesn't know how to have interpersonal relationships.

Meanwhile Matoba seeked him out regularly 'cause lonely teenage boy, and because he too sucks at interpersonal relationships, he tried to find a pragmatic reasoning for why he was there. Since he was basically raised to live, breathe and die for his clan his pragmatism is inherently linked to that. Whether he was trying to find use for his clan and took the opportunity to find a friend or he wanted a friend and took the opportunity to help his clan is left unsaid. Either way he tried to get both.

It generally seems mostly one sided in the fondness department. with the exception of that one time Natori woke up after being possessed, Matoba seems to be the only one trying to turn this into an actual friendship.

So on the one hand we've got Matoba seeking Natori out and trying to befriend him but unable to be vulnerable because that would make his clan vulnerable. Matoba even tried to get Natori to come to his clan so he'd get a talented exorcist and get an actual friend out of it (vulnerability would not be as much of a problem if it's from the inside. Granted I doubt he though that far ahead). Matoba who is used to being rejected and still tries. Though he stops trying to recruit Natori he still seeked him out. Until he stopped which we don't know a thing about.

On the other we've got Natori who doesn't want to be vulnerable out of fear of being rejected, who takes Matoba at face value and never really tries to see past the Clan Heir to who Matoba is because Matoba's front gives him an excuse to fear vulnerability.

The one time he tried, Matoba got cold feet because while hoping, he's never actually had anybody try to reciprocate a genuine interest in him as a person and didn't know how to react so he fell back on known mechanisms.

This is represented by their names. Matoba calling Natori by his first name and getting him to call him Seiji and them arriving at adulthood using their last names with a polite distance.

Neither was in a good enough place to actually manage to build strong foundations so there are foundations but they're kind of just...there waiting to be reinforced and built on.

So that's it for the run down.

But why does that matter ? Well this chapter nuances everything through more or less subtle additions which hasn't really happened yet in the main story, at least not on such a big scale.

Natori's familiarity with the Matobas

We start the arc with Natori recognizing an object belonging to someone we don't know. Just that they make him shudder. We learn at the very end that this is Lady Matoba. Which brings some behaviors to a different light.

For example when explaining who Ban is and what kind of person he is sevring, we get this:

Voir l'intégralité du billet

57 notes - publié le 29 août 2022

n°2

Natsume Yuujinchou / Natsume's Book of Friends / Le Pacte des Yokai chap 101

Matoba is such a nerd.

72 notes - publié le 3 septembre 2022

Mon billet n°1 en 2022

OK but Eddie's announcement about leaving the 118 and putting Buck on the spot at the end of 510 is sooooo similar to the way he chose to enroll in the army leaving Shannon behind.

In both cases he's running away with the excuse of taking care of his son (both were fully valid, but still excuses).

He admits to Carla that the shooting and the kidnapping both impacted him, the same way he admitted to Buck that he left for the army because he was scared.

Except now he clings to his son instead of leaving him behind. But he still leaves his partner behind without discussing with them the fact that he won't be able to have their backs first.

If there was any moment Eddie needed to get Therapy... It's now.

141 notes - publié le 3 mars 2022

Obtenez votre année 2022 en revue sur Tumblr →

[katatonicimpression]

One of the things I love about Shinobi objectively being stupid and weak and lazy and ineffectual is that I feel so many abuse narratives focus on showing the victim ISN'T the things the abuser said and THAT'S why they shouldn't have been abused, whereas with Shin yeah he IS these things and guess what STILL DOESN'T DESERVE ABUSE. I don't think that was the authorial intent, the text is rarely at all sympathtic to Shin, but it's how I choose to handle it. That yeah, he is a big stupid screwup and vain and obnoxious and objectively not a good person and still 110% worthy of sympathy and compassion and should never have been hurt because there's never any justification for that. SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE just I in general love Shin being dumb bc it's funny but also this!

YOU'RE SO RIGHT! I enjoy making fun of him but it's worth saying this!

I'd also add that, if we set aside the times he's written as (or coded as) perv-y - those moments are 100% there for racist and biphobic reasons - his other character flaws are clearly there as a result of Sebastian. They're not the "reason" for the abuse, it's the exact opposite.

And yeah the framing is weird because it's not at all actually sympathetic to him, but also very reluctant to have him actually be the biggest baddie in the room at any point and will constantly have shit things happen to him while he achieves no real villainy.

I think it's mostly coming from a (racist) desire to emasculate the character at every turn, but it winds up making him just not seem that bad and oh my god this got out of hand have a "keep reading"

OK right by my reckoning there are only 2 shin appearances where he's actually the main villain. The one where he kidnaps Warren and Betsy, and the x-force one that is a blatant rehash of it.

The betsy and Warren issue dedicates itself to just listing his damage and, while firmly not on his side, its still a pretty sympathetic take... or is it?

Maybe this was supposed to be an own and they just failed at that.

The x-force one is much more simplistic. He doesn't really get pathos, kidnaps some children and actually murders someone directly with his powers (for I think the first and only time?). It's genuinely ooc how he's actually a straight forward, mostly competent villain here.

So thats TWO issues where he's actually the main bad guy and one of them is a deep exploration of his trauma.

His other appearances are either a story where he's in opposition to other villains, or he's just fucking about (e.g. marauders). With the former, it's that desire to emasculate him again. He's almost always shown as a complete mess next to these other, scarier villains.

Shout out to this very brief cameo where he apparently does some behind the scenes scheming with the Mandarin. Apparently he can be a competent villain so long as he's off the page.

But the rest of the time he's:

Failing at being a super villain in japan

Ignoring Cordelia Frost's weird plans

Being ghosted by the British hellfire club

Failing at being an Upstart

Playing chess with some guy

et alia...

None of this makes me hate him I'm sorry.

The absolute weirdest one framing wise is the storm thing. Shin is coded as a predator. He invites ororo for dinner and drugs her drink. Coding-wise, they're not being subtle here.

But then we immediately find out that it's Candra's plan AND that she's also drugging/otherwise manipulating Shinobi. AND it's implied that they have a physical relationship. So... that's not consensual. It literally can't be.

So, in an issue where he's unambiguously coded as a date r*pist, he's implicitly being sexually abused.

And like..... um???? What am I supposed to take from that?

My best guess it's that it's a 90s "haha man under a woman's control how pathetic of him" but like.. I am incapable of reading it like that.

It's just throughout: this character is intended to be seen as bad but for toxic, racist and queer-phobic reasons, but if you read him without that lens, it's just: "Oh, he's kind of a dumb jerk I guess. He should probably quit drinking."

Basically, if you think a man being weak and ineffectual makes him worthy of scorn, then he'll come across as villainous.... which is kind of ironic I guess.

...........................

..um so this got off topic from the original ask. I just started typing about how his characters framed and it became a whole thing sorry.

[irlwakko]

Can you talk a bit about the ocs you just posted? They seem neat I'm interested to know about them :]

*sobbing* ghjhghfhkffkfggkjf,,,,,, /pos

(This first part gets very rambly, so if you want to skip to story stuff, I put a cut so you know where it is!!)

Okay so backstory on the creation of these OCs: in 2020 some of my friends and I kinda had this little like... RP and AU project on Twitter where parts of it were like a half-joke but it also all had its own story (I don't wanna say a WHOLE whole lot bc that whole thing's kinda over and the accounts we did it on are all privated/deleted/dead now and I don't wanna drag it all back up without talking to all those people about it first)

(but I did want to mention it because like... though we've all talked a bit about taking some of the characters we played and tweaking them to make them our own, I don't wanna totally be like "HEHE THIS IS MINE!!!! >:)" without giving credit where credit is due to my amazing friends)

(and also obviously because............... uh if you take one look at them you can tell they're not 100 Percent Out of my Brain Original so I wanted to. explain that this started as an AU. a very convoluted and complicated AU that only like 20 people knew the inner machinations of)

ANYway due to this being a convoluted and complicated AU which relied on plot points from a now-dead pandemic-era Twitter RP group, I haven't got their story figured out COMPLETELY yet and some things are due to change (if I ever even get around to planning and writing this kjdhbksdfj) so bear with me. also I can't draw so all I have are those picrews

--------

Sawyer/Summers and his brother Alexander/Almanac (the two name thing will become clear later) were inseparable growing up, and everyone around them knew they were going to grow up to change the world-- presumably together. That is, until an unexplainable tragedy struck their senior year of high school. (I will be honest I haven't nailed down what that unexplainable tragedy is yet.)

After the tragedy, Sawyer remained optimistic. Things had clearly changed with him-- how COULDN'T he have changed, after something like that?-- but to the people around him, he seemed incredibly resilient in the face of what he'd witnessed. Alexander, on the other hand-- always the more reserved of the two-- withdrew completely into himself.

And behind the scenes? When it was just Sawyer and Alexander alone? Well, nobody knows exactly what happened between them. Only that they had gone from being an inseparable duo to barely speaking. They went off to separate universities at the end of that year, and that was it.

Fifteen years later, Sawyer's already changed the world. His genius quickly became apparent to his professors and only grew from there, and his inventions have already advanced the world to a technological age previously thought impossible-- and he's only getting started. And Alexander? Well... nobody's heard from Alexander.

Behind the scenes, Sawyer's been working on his magnum opus: time travel. It was a prospect he'd always daydreamed about as a child, and now the dream is almost realized. He's not ready to go public with it yet, or maybe ever-- the only person who knows about it is his husband Owen-- but he just needs to know that it works, after all this time trying. And he knows exactly where to start.

--------

It's the start of Sawyer and Alexander's senior year. They've got big plans for this year: dominate in their final year of high school, become joint valedictorians, and head off to university together to change the world. It helps that they both got into the advanced class taught by the new science teacher, Mr. Summers. His class is challenging, but nothing they can't handle... and besides, they can't even remember the last time they've actually been challenged in school. Yep, this year should be fun. (Even if Summers does keep sneaking out of class to flirt with their dorky history teacher, Mr. Owens...)

Oh, also they've been running into this guy with green hair and a black trench coat like, everywhere they go. It's getting kind of creepy. But they're pretty sure that's nothing.

[seahorsepencils]

@shippingsincebeforeyouwereborn 😃 Well, if you insist...

Disclaimer: obviously I realize we can never be 100% sure how a scene was directed since we weren't there, didn't see the other takes, some stuff is heavily dictated by the script, etc. This is just an educated guess. I think of the director as the person responsible for making sure everything comes together to tell a clear and compelling story - the person who ensures that the narrative arc is cohesive and clearly articulated, that the scene is shot and cut together in a way that communicates characters’ emotional states and reactions - and the person who helps nudge the actors’ performances in the right direction. All that said, directing is super hard, especially when you're on a tight timeline, so I try not to be too judgmental. But this scene is so high-stakes, and so much about it doesn't click.

So, Bernie’s narrative arc in this episode is fairly significant, right? When she first arrives and in this scene with Serena, Jason, and Sacha, she seems to be struggling with something. Her later conversation with Donna implies this is about the fact that Cam blew up AAU. Then we see her save Kylie in the parking lot, and afterward she seems calmer, like she’s settled into herself. That’s the before and after - so it’s key that we see a "before" that will provide context and help us understand what’s changed.

This earlier scene of the "before," however, doesn’t coherently communicate a "Cam blew up AAU" vibe at all. Bernie's vibes are more anxious, with her eyes darting around the room in different directions, moments of being spaced out and inattentive, etc. She looks uncomfortable both in general and specifically when Sacha is asking about her and Serena’s engagement, with occasional flickers of other affects that almost read as mild annoyance and confusion.

Based on that conversation with Donna, it seems we’re meant to assume that she’s anxiously glancing around at people she thinks are looking at her with judgment or curiosity because of what happened with Cam - but we don’t see any shots of people glancing at her to justify this. We don’t even really get close-ups of her. We just get these random fidgety glances throughout the scene, without any editing/blocking choices to suggest a specific source or object of this anxiety. One could make the argument that this is anxiety from her PTSD stuff and not related to the Cam thing, but Jemma’s performance doesn’t quite communicate that either - Bernie’s emotional state/vibes are somewhat muddled.

Jemma is a ridiculously talented naturalistic actor whose biggest strength, arguably, is her ability to respond authentically to other actors and to the given circumstance at any moment. Usually when naturalistic actors imbue a character with a muddled emotional state, it’s because they’re showing actual authentic human emotions - and real-life emotions transition between each other much more quickly than film emotions. You can see this in the gif above - there are 2-3 emotions happening pretty much simultaneously. But I always think it’s a director’s job to help the actor de-muddle emotional reactions onscreen. Ideally, they should be getting multiple takes that hit emotional beats slowed down enough to be clear to the audience - and making sure that what the actors are doing is being clearly represented on camera, using close-ups when applicable. And sometimes this comes down to technical things, like making sure their eyelines look accurate for the characters they're speaking with, given the size of the lens and the placement of the frame, etc. A lot of that is not really pulled off in this scene - the eyelines in particular are bizarre.

Anyway, if it were me, I'd either have her play the scene closer toward that numb/spaced out affect that she shows a few time and that we saw in her previous two episodes, maybe giving her an object to focus most of her attention on (i.e. fiddling with her bracelet) - or I'd settle on a single visual stimulus for her anxiety in the scene, make this more of a focal point and use editing to make its presence clear. I'd also work toward a clearer articulation of the vibe when she and Serena are talking to Sacha about their engagement, to give space to the reaction that later compels her to bring it up on the roof - because this is one of the most interesting kernels contained in the scene, and it's very unclear, especially because it's blended with all the other stuff happening. In fact, I'd say the priority would be to make sure the discussion of their engagement can be distinguished as a separate emotional beat - and if this isn't something that can be done intuitively because the script glosses it over, I'd want to find a way to pull it off.

Also, @starfleetwitch has some really good insights into the later scene with Donna, which are now making me see how the muddled vibes are entangled with some awkward plot choices in the episode as a whole. Y'all should absolutely bug her and ask for her thoughts.

Bernie & Serena in 23.43

[alliterative-albatross]

So, I sent you (@disgruntledspacedad) a pretty long ask a while ago (back when you had anon on) and I'm decently sure Tumblr ate it (or maybe you ignored it, in which case, feel free to ignore this one as well). But then I saw one of those "writers appreciate feedback no matter how long" posts, so I'm back here. Here is my mediocre attempt to rewrite my original review of your work. Bear in mind that English is not my first language, so if at any point my phrasing sounds weird to you, you know why. Mandatory disclaimer/apology: this might get a little too long 😅

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

I remember being SO mad at myself for not finding this sooner. I binge read it one afternoon with no thoughts for any real life responsibilities I might have had (and no regrets). Javiears is one hell of an unconventional relationship in the beginning, and I really love what you did with them. The whole premise of your story is quite refreshing, and you somehow manage to convey the trust and mutual respect there two feel for one another without explicitly showing us the beginning of their "entanglement".

Also, fuck you for what you did to poor Emilio, that man was a saint and he deserved better! I honestly can't believe that I got so attached to a character that appeared so little in the story, but it happened, and his death kind of broke my heart.

But the Javiears reunion + mild confession was lovely, and felt completely deserved. And of course the sex scene. I won't lie, I expected a bit better from Javi there, but I did like how utterly /human/ it was. Capturing that humanity, the imperfections in each character is something you're really good at (more on that later).

AFTERSHOCKS

Ah, my emotionally constipated babies who really need to work out their communication issues. I do love them, though. And this short series did a really good job of delving a bit deeper into Ears's and Javi's psyche. Kudos to you for dealing with the medical "aftershocks" of living through an explosion AND using that experience to move your emotional plot forward. These two need to grow a lot before they can get to a stable point in their relationship, and you really manage to convey their insecurity and fear of commitment/intimacy while making it clear that they're in it for the long run and that theirs is a relationship that WILL work out so help them God.

IF I FALL

Ouch. Punch me in the gut while you're at it, why don't you?

But seriously, "If I Fall" is SO FUCKING GOOD. Don't get me wrong, it's angstier than an image of Jesus on the cross (don't judge me, it's Holy Week and I just got home from accompanying my grandma to church), but it somehow works beautifully. You, my dear, play heartstrings like they're a fucking guitar and I AM HERE FOR IT.

You're doing an amazing job at making me feel everything these characters are feeling, which is both awful (bc pain) and impressive.

Also, if anything happens to Ana I will cry, because she is adorable and wonderful and has suffered way too much already and really deserves a break and some cookies.

Also also, if anything happens to Ears I will cry, because she is badass and wonderful and has suffered way too much already and really deserves a break and some cookies.

Also also also, if anything happens to Javi I will cry, because he is loving and wonderful and has suffered way too much already and really deserves a break and some cookies.

Basically, I am really invested in the well-being of these characters and can't wait until they're happy and safe again (please tell me they will be, my heart can't handle much more pain).

A quick note on the angst complaints: yes, this story is way angstier than most other fics out there and it can be a bit too much at times, especially considering how many chapters of pain it's been. BUT it's obvious that "If I Fall" NEEDS this amount of angst to get where it's going, to send the message it wants to and to properly develop its characters. The pain is as important to this story as flour is to bread. You may not like eating flour on its own (I don't think anyone does), but you love bread (because bread is amazing) and you must recognize that bread NEEDS flour to work. It wouldn't be bread otherwise. And eating the flour as part of the bread even makes you like the flour because the bread is just DELICIOUS.

I fully understand and sympathize with the people who have elected to table "If I Fall" until it's completed so they can binge read it knowing there's a happy ending in sight, but in case you're feeling a bit self conscious about all the angst, please know that your story is beautiful not in spite of the pain, but rather /because of it/.

PS: No, I'm not high/drunk, I just really like bread

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Silly thing to comment on, I know, but I do feel like it's important that you know how useful your ANs have been. There are many details in the story that I simply wouldn't fully get without reading your comments at the end of each chapter, and I appreciate your writing a hell of a lot more knowing how deeply you understand and care for each one of your characters. Plus, it is obvious how much work you've put into researching a country and a time period that are (from what I gather) unfamiliar to you, and I really do believe you've done an amazing job of it.

JAVIER PEÑA

My boy. I love your characterization of this complicated character, and I have eagerly read each and every one of your headcanons about him. I can't really say if your version is fully faithful to the source material because it's been a while since I saw Narcos, but your Javi most definitely reads like a real person. He's fairly consistent as a character, and I feel like everything he does is perfectly natural for him to do as a character. He makes for an unconventional yet deeply interesting romantic lead, and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed all his POV chapters/scenes.

OCs

I know you've gotten some flack for making her into an OC halfway into the story, and while I get why the sudden change may have felt like a disappointment for some, I don't share that sentiment. I firmly believe that this fandom is unfairly harsh towards Original Characters and their creators, and I don't really understand why. Listen, I love Reader fics, and consume many Reader fics. I have read dozens, maybe even hundreds, and I can safely say that I've only ever "inserted" myself in approximately 10% of those stories. Reader characters are not as blank as their writers may want them to be. They can't be. They're characters, and character have personalities and moral values and senses of humor and a bunch of other things. Reader characters may not have a backstory or a physical description attached (and even that's not guaranteed), but they're still characters.

And on a more personal note, pretending they're actual blank slates is naive at best and insensitive at worst. Reader characters are American coded 99% of the time, and white coded 95% of the time. Not every readers is white nor American, even if that's the predominant demographic on Tumblr. When I read a JavixReader fic about a woman who speaks exactly zero Spanish, I know she's not me. The story may be beautifully written and have an amazing plot and character development, but the Reader *isn't me*. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and some of my favorite xReader stories feature a "reader" who couldn't be more different from me, but it's something that enemies of OC fics should take into account. Particularly if they are white and/or American. But I digress.

HANNAH AARONS

Your character is amazing. She's strong, smart, confident, independent and an all-around badass. She gets kidnapped while pregnant and still focuses on problem solving and survival. But she's also overly guarded and mistrustful, and really needs to work on her communication skills. There are times when I absolutely love her and even admire her, and other times when I want to whack her with a slipper. She's no Mary Sue, but remains interesting and likeable throughout the story. She feels wholly human and real, and that's no easy task. I like her, I am invested in her, and I can't wait to see what's next for her. She's a compelling and three dimensional protagonist in a complex story who never fails to draw me in. I love her. She's your baby, and you should be proud of her.

Also, quick question about personality types: I know you've typed Javi as ESFP and Ears as ENTP (100% agree on both, btw), but have you given any thought to their enneagram types? I personally have always seen Ears as being somewhere on the thinking triad, maybe a 7 or even a 6w7, but I'm not too sure about Javi. 9w8 maybe? He could also be a 6w5 🤔

PARTING THOUGHTS

Basically, I love your story, your characters and your writing in general. You are a fantastic storyteller and wordsmith. You get into the heads of incredibly different characters personality-wise (Ears, Javi, Berna...) and manage to capture all of their complexities and quirks every single time. And it doesn't feel like it's something innate for you either. To me, it seems that you have put a lot of work and effort into understanding each and every one of your characters, who they are, why they do what they do and what they want. And let me tell you, all that effort has been more than worth it. "Better Love" is a fanfic, but it wouldn't be out of place in a regular bookstore, if I'm honest. I don't know what you do for a living or if you've ever considered writing professionally, but you clearly have the skills and the drive to create some masterpieces.

You are amazing and your writing is a gift. Thank you for sharing it with us, and have a nice day! ~ 🍪

~

My friend, I apologize for hoarding your first ask. I’ve been sitting on it because I’m not gonna lie, I enjoy going back and rereading it. It gave me a lot of comfort when I was in a pretty dark place, both personally and in regards to my writing, and I was reluctant to send it out into the the abyss of Tumblr where I might never see it again. 

That’s not fair, though. You put just as much effort into sending me that review as I put into my writing, and I apologize for never responding to you.

Okay, anyway, so twice now, you’ve made me cry. In a good way, I promise! 

I absolutely love your bread/flour metaphor. It made perfect sense. I want the emotional release of Javi and Hannah’s reunion to be earned, and in order to do that, the angst has to come first (there are also a few plot “ingredients” that have yet to make their appearances). Thank you very much for understanding that, and for voicing it so eloquently.

I appreciate your comments on my research and characterization. You’re correct that I’ve put a lot of time and effort into crafting a universe. In a lot of ways, I’m doing my best to stay true to the source material (regarding culture and timelines in particular), and in others, I’m branching into my own territory. 

On that note, I’ve never once regretted fully embracing Hannah Aarons’ identity as an OC. She’s stayed consistent in my mind from the beginning, and it was a relief to finally share my vision of her with the audience. And for the record, I totally agree with you regarding “reader” characters. Every reader insert echoes the perspective of their author, no matter how vague the physical description. I can only imagine how grating that must be from the perspective of a non-white, non-american reader. Thank you so much for sharing your insight! I will certainly keep it in mind the next time I write a “reader insert” fic.

Okay, enneagrams! I am much less familiar with enneagram than I am MBTI, but I agree 110% that Javi is a 9 with a strong 8 wing. I waffled back and forth on Ears a little, but eventually landed on 8w7 for her. It came down to the eight’s deepest fear, which is being controlled. That’s Ears all over, and the fact that she and Javi share that eight willfulness means that they might butt heads a little, which also seems very appropriate for them. Big thanks to @remusstark for her insight into the eight frame of mind - our conversations helped solidify my decision on this. :)

Anyway, I’m just rambling now. The big take-away point that I want you to get is that I am so, so grateful to you, both for your insightful feedback and your dedication in making sure that I actually saw it. You are an absolute gem and a deep thinker, Cookie-Anon, and if you ever feel like sliding into my DM’s, I’d welcome the opportunity to get to know you better.

Mad love and soft hugs, 

~ Jay