#despite having a lot of gripes lol

[yume-x-hanabi]

So I've played enough Veilguard that I've finally recruited all companions. I've been enjoying the game so far, but ngl I really miss Inquisition in many ways. I think I'll replay it after this (but I need to finish Zelda too, aaah so many games, so little time).

Anyway, some thoughts so far. (If you respond, please keep your response spoiler free for anything that happens after recruiting the last two companions.)

The three main things I really miss from Inquisition are:

1. Exploration

Like I know, there's a lot to do on the areas we get, but... idk, it feels kinda linear and disconnected at the same time. I really loved how vast the zones in DAI were, like there's this meme about never leaving the Hinterlands but honestly that's what got me hooked to the game in the first place, there was just so much to explore, it felt like the possibilities were endless. Here it's a bit too much like Xillia lol, follow a path, maybe come back later to open up new zones, but otherwise it's pretty linear. (ik it's closer to DAO and DA2 in that regard so it's not like they're changing the formula entirely, but personally I preferred the DAI style and I really miss it.)

2. Skyhold

I know it fits the circumstances better, but... the Lighthouse feels so empty. I miss how bustling the homebase was. I miss going to the companions and talking to them about random stuff. I miss the NPC populating the area (you can find them in other cities mind you, but it's not the same thing if you have to travel to different places instead of just hearing their ambient dialogue as you run around your own castle). I miss the war table missions.

3. Getting a feel of your character from early on

I like Rook but gosh building up headcanon for her is a struggle. We're told next to nothing about her background, so ig you could feel like "great, a blank slate to headcanon in any way" except wrong, because you'll then get details that contradict it later on. I really, really wish they'd either been clearer about certain stuff in the character creator, or even better, let you set things up at the beginning through dialogue wheel choices. Like, one of my fave parts of Inquisition was to develop my Inky through the options given through conversations with companions or story moments. I played a Lavellan, and I had fun establishing her feelings about her clan and elf culture, how she hated the Andraste thing being forced upon her, stuff like that. With Rook, I made her a Veil Jumper elf mage, so I thought she was Dalish, picked vallaslin and everything... only to learn she's not Dalish when picking the option to comment on her vallaslin. But then she speaks elvish and knows Dalish cultural things (which would make sense for a Veil Jumper as she did spend some time with a Dalish clan but I'm told other faction Rooks also have that when it makes no sense for them). Also apparently she might have been in a Circle? Not sure, the game isn't entirely clear but seems to both imply it and not. I guess it's to leave stuff out for interpretation but I would have much preferred it if it was something you could define clearly through options.

Like take the Dalish vs city elf thing - quite easy, instead of that weird comment when picking the vallaslin option in the mirror scene, have several options, one that's like "I remember the day I got my vallaslin like it was yesterday" (cue more options like "I was so nervous/excited/happy/scared/whatever"), one that's "I got it when I joined the VJ", and one that's "I know I'm not Dalish but I thought it was cool". Or something like that. And based on those options you get slightly altered lines when your background becomes relevant later on. Like, please help me build my character, game. Don't just let me make stuff up in my head only and then spring details at me out of nowhere.

A few others things I'm a bit eh about:

Dialogues often feel very stilted. Could be due to the voice acting tho; the voice I picked for my Rook has a rather unnatural speech cadence in a lot of instances, I wish she sounded more like how a real person talks rather than a pre-recorded train announcement lol. Do English-speaking players have the same issue or is it just the French VO?

It feels weird saying this, but where's the discrimination gone? I'm playing an elven mage, and I've yet to hear a single "knife-ear", even in fricking Tevinter. The tension between all the races and mage vs non-mage etc was part of what made this world so rich, so it feels like we're in a diluted version of the setting, which as worldbuilding nerd is pretty disappointing.

The lack of continuity with your previous games' playthroughs. Like I don't need a full report on how my every choices impacted the current story, but I wish we could have carried more over, if only for throwaway lines and little world tidbits. Like talking to Harding about the Inquisition is frustrating compared to how detailed Varric was about the DA2 cast in DAI. And there are some choices I thought would be significant, like who is made Divine, Bull's fate in Trespasser (and whether he romanced Dorian ;p) etc. Like seriously I don't need much, just a throwaway line here and there, which is sad not to even have.

That said, there's a lot of things I like so far:

The little visual details. Like I'm obsessed with the way long hair falls off the shoulder when Rook moves. So cool. Also injured companion's scars fading progressively. Little things like that are pretty neat, I spend a lot of time just staring at the screen lol.

Some areas are really pretty. I also spend a lot of time staring at the scenery lol

The way you can set appearance independent from equipment. Also the personalization of the Lighthouse. Yeah ik I'm a sucker for fashion and interior design options XD

All the accessibility options. I don't really need them, and idk if they're well implemented, but looking at all the ways to customize your gameplay is pretty cool.

Also this is the first time I've actually heard "iel" spoken out loud.

The puzzles. Sometimes it's a bit frustrating to be stuck on a thing until you have more companions (can't help it, I see a treasure chest, I need it now), but otherwise figuring out how to get the stuff can be pretty satisfying. Sometimes I spend a lot of time on it, thinking I should probably come back later then, but end up solving it anyway. I wish there'd be more sidequests tho.

ASSAN. I'm tempted to romance Davrin just for Assan lmao. Also, petting cats and dogs everywhere. The cats purring. Gimme all the cats.

Overall I'm quite liking all the companions so far. There's still a lot to discover about them, but they're all compelling in their own way, and it's always hard to choose who to take along (while in Inquisition I had clear favorites rather easily). Also banter between them when exploring being more frequent really makes me want to bring different combinations to get to know them and help them get to know each other heheh. (Honestly I might end up shipping them between each other more than with Rook lol)

Varric's dramatic storytelling at the end of each story point.

The basic premise. Solas' 10-year grand plot to tear down the Veil being thwarted by a reckless dumbass knocking down a statue and him getting trapped as a result and being relegated to giving cryptic advice in her dreams is peak comedy. A+ execution, would do it again.

Bellara and Neve starting a bookclub. I think I'm more invested in this ambient subplot than in the main story at the moment lmao

[akkivee]

KR!!!!!!!!!!!!! NELKE!!!!!!!!!!! WHOMST TF EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LET ME IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET ME IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sopuu]

Hello tumblr user sopuu. Is there anything in mcsm series that you would change? Multiple things? If so, what?

under cut coz it’s long whoops,, tldr i wish the characters were more involved and fleshed out, both in backstories and their arcs bc there’s so much potential!! the groundwork is there!! but ig now it’s up to us to fill in the gaps 💪

hmm well most of my gripes with the game are mostly in character writing— like how some character arcs could be more consistent with the message the narrative is trying to give (ahem. petra)

there’s also some who are just tossed aside or are barely given arcs themselves. i’m mainly talking about olivia and axel here but lukas as well, bc a lot of the times he’s just kinda there to occasionally give a bit of dialogue or be the punching bag of the story— i mean just look at how many times he can (almost) die lmao. he doesn’t get to complain a lot despite what he goes through, and while i get he’s the type to bottle things up i feel like the narrative is too scared to let him get mad and have Emotions bc they want so badly to paint the picture of “fan-favourite nice guy pretty boy” and never deviate from it.

ig what i’m trying to say is characters in a story should feel like they’re actually involved in the world and in the narrative rather than be a decoration, no matter if they’re part of the main cast or just a simple supporting character. i just want more lukas pleas,,,

oh and other thing! i wish there was more backstory. ik dropping only small hints and nothing more is a good tactic to get the audience to theorise n stuff but i feel like there’s a little too little. like the warden, cassie, even the admins— they drop a few important lines of backstory and then it’s never brought up again... i’d love for them to have made side story episodes that are shorter but focus on one or a few characters just doing some slice of life-y things or to get a taste of the other storylines going on during the main one (like lukas’ rebellion era) just to expand on them more.

and yeah ig that’s all? i probably have more to say but can’t think of it rn. despite the criticism tho i still think it’s a fun game! otherwise i wouldn’t be here lol. just as it has it’s pros it also has it’s cons yknow

[omelepun]

General headcanons of mithrun and Kabru’s relations hip ? You can add some past!mithrun ones too 💗

Oooh sure!! Thank you for asking of course!!

- It would take them a couple of years to get together, Kabru realizes how he feels for Mithrun first but waits for the right time to say. Mithrun, however, after years of thinking “he’s a friend, a really really good friend who crosses my mind at least twice every hour, whose smile makes me feel warm, who i will die for” finally understands his affection for Kabru, blurts out his confession immediately.

- They would keep their relationship between closed friends, publicizing it means more trouble for the newly found kingdom and kabru’s prestige and position as the court counselor because people think elves are untrustworthy, they would be like “the advisor is banging an elf?! We’re doomed as a kingdom!” Lol. Kabru doesn’t really care because he loves that man to his grave, but mithrun is worried he will be the downfall of kabru’s career.

- They don’t argue a lot, but when they do Mithrun is usually the one to apologize first because it scares him to death whenever it crosses his mind that this trivial gripe they’re having might be taking up what little time Kabru has left with him due to the lifespan difference. They both desperately want to resolve the fight and get back to being lovey dovey as soon as possible lol.

- Mithrun’s parents know about his relationship, but they don’t care that much as long as he keeps it a secret and doesn’t disgrace his family’s name because in their eyes their son had died 40 years ago. He doesn’t see them a lot, once every 10 years or so, one time Kabru insisted on meeting his family if they are going to get serious, he begrudgingly agreed, a terrible idea as it ended with Mithrun teleporting his soup to spill it on his parent’s head and storming out holding Kabru’s hand after they made snarky comments about Kabru.

- Kabru likes to be the little spoon, Mithrun doesn’t mind this.

And here’s my headcanons for past Mithrun:

- Despite his arrogance, he was extremely self-conscious, always fretting over how people perceived him, how a strand of his hair was out of place. He spent a lot of time on the upkeep of his appearance like doing a 10 step skincare routine twice a day even though elves have naturally flawless skin.

- Most of his ex-lovers were people for whom his brother had feelings, he would specifically court them to “win” over his brother, trying to prove to himself that he is superior. These relationships didn’t last because his partners felt like his love for them only goes so far.

- Ever since he was a child he was made aware of his bastard identity, he was told that because of his silver hair and eyes he was lucky enough to be taken in and brought up as a lawful child. Because of this he hated (and loved) his eyes and hair, even though they were his ticket to life of luxury, he felt like he was reduced to less than a person, he was rather a replacement for their legitimate but flawed son. (Now that you think about it lol his situation was kinda the opposite of Kabru’s, who was literally almost killed by his father’s family for his eyes)

- Because of him being born from infidelity, he had to make up for it by surpassing his brother, in fact he spent a third of his life doing so only to be shipped away to the army in place for his brother. Just like that he was thrown away.

[acerikus]

What’s wrong with psoutertale <- has never seen it but wants the tea

Gonna put this under a read more bc this is about to become a hater zone. Anyone who doesn't wanna enter the hater zone this is your last chance to back out 🥰

Short answer (this might not look short but TRUST ME YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE ALTERNATIVE YET): the game was made with the intent of being 'undertale but wholesome' essentially. The dev has talked before about how they originally just wanted to make a lv0 ending for undertale (basically frisk is so Perfectly Nice And Wonderful that everyone loves them even more and they magically save Asriel AND save Chara and nothing is sad or bittersweet) and then decided people would probably rather play a full game, basing it on the outertale au and adding in neutral and several geno routes too. The murder routes are incredibly edgy yet at the same time, the Dev admits they didn't really care about them when developing them at all. (And there's. More of them than in undertale???? Like there's three separate murder route variations and even more neutral variations than undertale's 90-something versions. It's wild). They even went back and made a 'peaceful mode' that's just the same game again except you can ONLY play pacifist and they take the fight button away. I honestly think they should've just done this from the start and left it at that.

There's parts of ps!ot that are decent. The equivalent to the omega flowey fight is incredibly fun, despite the tone and vibes really not feeling flowey at all and kinda missing the point of his character (much like the rest of the game). There's a handful of really fun bosses amongst a bunch that just seem Hard And Unfun For The Sake Of It, but not enough for me to recommend it.

The characterisation is.... Really really bad. Everyone is flanderised pretty extremely, asgore is woobified, chara is woobified, frisk is woobified, alphys is treated like a cool badass and yet when you look beneath the surface there's nothing to her and nothing about her is alphys at all, there's absolutely no justification for floweys existence in this au (also they made him a star for no reason but establish in his backstory that they still injected a flower with determination. It makes no sense), and overall they just took away everything that made every character interesting and compelling and made them one-note, boring, occasionally just there for yaoi, and in some cases just treated certain characters like shit for seemingly no reason. (Mainly the women. Mainly toriel. Stinks of misogyny even if not their intent.)

There's also so many bits that just kinda feel like they're trying to passive aggressively 'fix' undertale in ways I really don't vibe with. It makes me sad.

Long answer? Here's an essay I wrote a few months ago going over my gripes with it (as well as some very good additions someone added in the tags). Be warned, it's incredibly long so you might wanna make sure you have time for it lol

The long answer breaks down every single main character and some of the minor characters and exactly what pisses me off about their treatment, I talk a lot more specifically about how they fucked up flowey in the narrative, the misogyny and the woobification in it so if you want more details on that, check it out!

[newx-menfan]

NYX #6 Review

*Spoilers!*

Kiddddeeeennn !!!

The issue starts with Kiden dancing in the rain while going to a “Dazzler concert”…(the scene is really GORGEOUS here!!)

Kiden is soliloquizing about people being a trap… (this is what being friends with Laura DOES to YOU lol)

Kamala is basically me at a concert… that was basically how I was when I recently went through security for Charli’s Sweat Tour…😬😂🤣 (I WISH I could be Anole 🤣🤣🤣🤣)

Does Sophie still have her powers when she says “Cuckoo”? (Idk, this plot point admittedly doesn’t make much sense to me…)

While walking through the venue (they should really be getting into the merch shop line-amateurs…), Kamala is worried she’s not taking the “no contact” with her sisters well…and apparently becoming addicted to video games…

Anole is basically eye-fucking everyone at the venue (GET IT VICTOR 🤣🤣!)

We get a sleight of hand from the writers- it’s NOT actually Kiden, but LOCAL, that Laura smells and is kind of fixating on! (sorry Kiden…you’re too good for Laura anyway!)

Local then shows up to basically hit on Laura/tell her to “stay out of his way”. (Playing hard to get- copied from the Hellion Playbook!)

The team FINALLY remembers the Mojo plot exists. (I get it… Hellion was WAY MORE exciting…)

Prodigy has of course the RIGHT reaction (“Oh Fuck” indeed!)…

Dante is promptly dent to the merch line while they deal with the baddie (finally- it’s 100% going to sell out of all the good items guys!) and Dante offers Sophie to come with and be in the “normie group”…she promptly declines…

Kiden narrates how Mojo has basically been taking homeless mutants and how she didn’t trust Mr. Friendly (and apparently DOES kind of think Laura is a shit friend too!)

The team springs into action while Sophie feels awkward on her secondary team with Anole (sorry Sophie!), while Local brakes into the sound booth.

Prodigy calls out Local and Co.’s evil plan to insert a subliminal message into the music to use Dazzlers fame to essentially get followers (so…TikTok?😂🤣)

Local argues that it’s the same as what they did at the protest (let’s not rehash that last issue, Local…) and that Mr. Friendly is the only one helping homeless mutants (which is TRUE- even BEFORE this event Xavier and Co. We’re terrible at helping the Morlocks…)

Laura talks sense into Local and Local admits to Laura that if he goes back Mojo, he will kill him…but sadly Mojo has already taken over Local’s body… (🥺)

Mojo works the crowd like a BOSS…while lamenting how generic this evil villain plot is (not your BEST work admittedly, Mojo)…

Kiden busts onto the scene to save the day and beats everyone (GO KIDEN!!) and decides to catch up with Laura…while they just…let Local escap? (But the CONCERT guys!!….Seriously though…I get it…I would probably turn the other cheek if I had TS tixs too lol)

Laura totally up and leaves with Kiden without saying goodbye to the rest of the group (AKA probably hooking up with Kiden😘😘!)

Back to the Local subplot…we see Mojo has apparently adopted parasocialism… (but has he read Mark Fischer???)

Review:

This issue was good- fun. Don’t have a lot of complaints.

I didn’t really LOVE the art- some panels, like the rain were gorgeous…some were a letdown…

Dante is still just kind of awkwardly there…but Anole is slightly better in this issue.

My biggest gripe is how NICE Kiden was to Laura and basically letting her AGAIN back into the fold despite Laura being a shitty friend (I felt similarly irritated with Jubes in X-terminators barely saying anything to Laura basically ignoring her for months) …but I feel like that’s potentially COMING in the NEXT ISSUE!

Theories:

Kiden is working for SOMEBODY… either the new Quiet Council or Mojo…and Laura just got kidnapped…

Her POV sounded way too bitter and Laura randomly disappearing, sounds like we are finally going to see someone TURN on LAURA…

I was kind of wondering if Lil Bro, Tatiana, or any of the others in the group are being held/controlled by Mojo…

It would 100% be HILARIOUS if Kiden, Synch, AND Hellions formed a group of basically “Laura’s EVIL EX’s” 😂🤣😈

[sunniedesi]

In Defense of Future Diary...

TW: lots of yapping.

Making a small essay for Future Diary is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Since my entire blog is dedicated to the series, it only feels right to put something like this out into the ether. However, I’m never sure of the topics that I want to discuss the most. Do I write a defense for the show? My reasons for loving it so much? Its relevance and importance for anime culture? An analysis of Yuno’s character? There’s so much I feel you could say, but I never find the right words to express my feelings coherently. Today, I’ll make the attempt, though. I’ll go over all of the aforementioned questions here, mostly focusing on my personal opinions and feelings regarding the show. I don’t have much experience writing essays or analyses of media, so sorry in advance if my yapping is all over the place.

To begin, I should probably address the elephant in the room: Future Diary, despite its popularity and almost cult-classic status, has turned into a show people love to hate. You see it everywhere, when it comes to reviews, comments, opinion pieces, you name it, if it has Future Diary on the title, people will let you know all the gripes they have with the show. And while I tend to feel defensive or even saddened when I see so much hatred directed at my favorite show… I don’t necessarily blame anyone for feeling that way. I don’t want to be one of those people who pretends to hold the intellectual high-ground, acting as if everyone else is media-illiterate and I’m the one who truly gets the meaning of the series. At the end of the day, it’s just an anime, it’s not that deep. Everyone’s gonna like what they like; we all have different tastes and interests, so it’s only natural we all hold such different opinions about the show, especially given its campy, gory and almost edgy nature. Future Diary is definitely a product of early 2000’s trends, which some people (me lol) appreciate, and others certainly don’t.

That being said, while I respect people disliking the show for personal reasons, there are certain criticisms I see thrown its way that are not necessarily warranted. These issues can be boiled down to the following categories: “plot-holes,” a weak protagonist and toxic pairings. I’ll delve into all of these in a second, but I must say, the amount of times I’ve seen these specific points parroted over and over again makes me believe that many of the people making these arguments are piggybacking off of one another. It’s almost like they’re following a trend, repeating how the protagonist “sucks ass” and that the plot makes zero sense, without showing any examples as to how. 

It’s really common to find shallow arguments like those in comments sections and forums, but since I don’t want to feel like I’m barking up a tree in writing this essay, I decided to look for a source that encapsulated all of the common criticisms, while also backing them up with examples. Now, there are many good video essays out there on Future Diary, my personal favorite is by The Hot Box. But as far as critical pieces go, the one I found that goes the most in-depth is by the creator NezumiVA, titled: Mirai Nikki is Garbage, and Here’s Why. I’ll be referencing the video as I go along, but please note that while I disagree with many of this creator’s arguments, I don’t intend this to be a personal attack. As I said earlier, we’re all entitled to our different tastes and opinions, I can respect them disliking the series while having my own criticisms to give regarding the video. Just a little disclaimer so my intentions aren’t misconstrued here. 

With that out of the way, let’s take a deeper look into the main three arguments I mentioned before:

“The plot-holes eat up the show”

If you’ve been in the fandom for a while, you know that this is probably one of the most common criticisms levied towards Future Diary, and perhaps the one that holds the most weight. Or at least it would be, if it weren’t for the fact that “plot-holes” aren’t exactly the issue people are pointing at here. To explain, I believe people who dish out this claim all have different understandings of the definition of “plot-hole,” so to clarify: a plot-hole is an inconsistency, a contradiction in the narrative. For example, Yuno’s diary is all about Yukki, if she were to have diary entries not about him, that could be considered a plot-hole, as it contradicts the original narrative. A smaller detail being unexplained or overlooked for the sake of pacing is not a plot-hole. A flaw, yes, but as long as it doesn’t contradict what’s already been established in the story, it’s not a plot-hole. 

On one hand, it is true that there are certain Deus Ex Machina moments that aren’t properly explained in the show (heck, the god of this universe is called that for a reason), such as: how does 5th acquire all of his booby traps? Or where did 9th pull that motorcycle from? Why are characters so quick to forgive/forget certain events? These are smaller details that aren’t properly justified on-screen for the sake of pacing and making the show more interesting. You could possibly count this more as a case of poor characterization, particularly with 5th’s character having a lot of knowledge despite his age or Hinata quickly accepting the coin toss challenge despite having an advantage. Given the show only has 26 episodes, it’s only natural that detailed explanations for smaller details are omitted to make the show flow quicker and be more entertaining. While this may bother some people, I don’t find it to be such a big deal, or at least not a reason to dogpile on the show, when many other animes with shorter runtime fall victim to poor characterization as well. 

Many deem the plot nonsensical for missing these smaller explanations, but again, I find that exaggerated as they’re much, much trivial details that the majority of people don’t think of or focus on when watching the show. The video I referenced touches on the plot being illogical several times, not necessarily mentioning plot-holes per se, but complaining that many of the justifications behind certain plot points are unrealistic or contrived, though let’s be real here… since when is anime realistic? Future Diary, I would argue, does a good job of balancing very unrealistic scenarios with some realistic characters (like Yukki, but we’ll get into that later), which is what makes it interesting to watch. After all, what’s the fun in watching a fantasy show if it’s completely grounded in reality? Not to mention that many of the points brought up in the video aren’t contrived, especially if you were paying attention to the show. For example, the scene of Yuno meditating to figure out Reisuke’s plan. This wasn’t a Deus Ex Machina moment, it was foreshadowing of the fact she has her first-world memories locked away, and the meditation was her trying to access those memories. Same thing with Bacchus having an overpowered diary, it isn’t for the sake of it, he literally designed it to be that way, because he was the one who presented the idea of the diaries to Deus in the first place.

I’m getting a little side-tracked here, but you get the point. Ultimately, the worst sin a show can commit is being boring, and while Future Diary has its flaws in pacing and characterization, it contributes in keeping the viewers hooked to the action, packing its small run of 26 episodes with quite a bit of entertainment. Moreover, a lot of people overreact to these so-called “plot-holes”, yet they also fail to pay attention as to why things happen as they do in the show. Many of these criticisms can be summed up as either: trivial details that are omitted since they have little relevance to the plot and/or people not paying attention to what’s going on. 

Moving on, let’s tackle another very, very popular argument:

“Yukiteru is a total pushover (to put it nicely).” 

This is, without a doubt, the most common criticism I’ve seen people have of the show. I’m not sure if this is because people are used to the upbeat, overpowered protagonist trope in anime, but people don’t realize that Yukki being frustrating, awkward and terrified is an important part of the show’s storytelling, not to mention relatively unique. Very rarely do we see a realistic portrayal of a teenage protagonist in anime, and it is important for the show since it serves as a contrast to the other characters, all dark, callous and obsessed with the goal of becoming a God. Yukki is the only character not interested in any of this at the beginning. All he wanted was to escape reality with his phone and imaginary friends, and he's now thrusted into this terrible and hopeless situation. How exactly is a young boy expected to react under these circumstances? 

Teenagers are naive, dumb, selfish, all characteristics portrayed in Yukiteru, and these characteristics are put under scrutiny by every one of the diary owners, constantly telling him to grow a pair and stop using Yuno. This is easier said than done when you’re used to avoiding every little bit of responsibility in your life, and a girl who’s self-reportedly “crazy good at killing people” suddenly thrusts into your life ready to do all the work for you. Yukki is indeed a very flawed character, but that isn’t an accident, it is an intentional addition. It’s what makes him interesting; it pushes conflict into the show, and most importantly, drives home one of the main lessons of the show with Yukki’s development: fear doesn’t mean you’re not brave, it’s having that fear and pushing forward that makes you brave. A little corny, I know, but a valuable lesson for the Survival Game. 

Every character has an incentive for becoming God, and they’re utterly consumed by it to the point of insanity. Even a character like 4th, who was originally concerned with the goal of bringing order and justice rather than more carnage to the game gets carried away when a proper incentive for God’s seat comes into play: saving his son. In a Survival Game where we're surrounded by the most cunning and twisted of characters, killers, terrorists, people in corrupt positions of power, Yukki stands out like a sore thumb for retaining his humanity throughout it all, unwilling to get his hands dirty, rather willing to see hope in everyone else. It comes across as naive and all-too trusting. This is especially true for his father, but considering how little people he has to rely on, plus his childish hopes of seeing his family back together, his forgiveness towards him makes sense. And the same can be said for Yuno, the one constant he’s got all throughout the game. Despite the abuse and manipulation, she’s ultimately got his best interests at heart, but I’m getting ahead of myself with this point.

Eventually, the circumstances that Yukki goes through (namely his parents’ death) put that humanity, kindness and mercy, the staples of his personality, to test. It’s a testament to how desperate situations can corrupt even the most innocent of individuals. Yukiteru goes from a hopeful individual to a callous killer, no different from Yuno and equally as selfish. Similarly enough, we know thanks to her third-world-self that Yuno was originally a normal, happy girl with the hopes of finally having a loving family taking care of her. All of this, to then be tortured by the people who were supposed to bring that peaceful family life to her. 

Yukki being a weakling may be frustrating to some, it is certainly brought up many times during the video essay, but it’s an important factor that drives the plot and many of Future Diary’s lessons about growth and accountability. Besides, the anime certainly wouldn’t be as interesting to watch if every character was just an OP know-it-all like Akise. Which no hate to him, but the show wouldn’t be the same if every character were like him.

And speaking of Akise, I’ll take the opportunity to mention a point in the video essay that bothered me a bit. The creator says the show is “queerbaiting” with his character, because Akise’s attraction towards Yukki is forced, but I don’t see exactly how this is queerbaiting. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t queerbaiting when a character is insinuated to be gay, yet it’s kept ambiguous enough to never address it? The show straight-up explains the reason behind Akise’s attraction to Yukki. His love is forced because it was created by Deus to further his investigation about Yukki and Yuno. Akise himself is a fabrication of Deus. It is literally explained in episode 23. You can’t bait the audience into believing a character is gay if you explicitly tell the audience the character is gay lol.

But that’s one of the smaller issues I had with the video’s criticisms. My biggest gripes were actually the following: at the beginning of the essay, this creator talks about how many of the plot points in the show are contrived and illogical, but at the same time, they dislike the characters having tragic backstories that explain how they went on to become twisted individuals. Isn’t it a little contradictory that you complain about a character acting unnatural, yet when the explanation for their behavior comes up, you completely disregard it? They go as far as to say Esuno hates women and is misogynistic for his portrayal of female psychosis, and the use of SA as a tragic backstory being distasteful. Because, according to this creator, people who have been victimized never go on to become terrible people themselves, and that this is a “problematic stereotype.” 

To say that this worldview is incredibly simplistic and naive is putting it mildly. Being a victim doesn’t exempt you from the capability of hurting others, and in fact, the opposite is often true. Hurt people hurt people, that is another main theme in Future Diary, and one of the things I love about it so much. It doesn’t make its characters victims of terrible situations for the sake of pitying them, but to portray their natural descent into madness from being corrupted by a cruel and unrelenting world. Yuno, Yukki, Minene, Tsubaki, these characters all started out as normal until life turned them into the nihilistic monsters they became. They’re morally gray, an example of what you can become when your ethics and moral worldview is tested by society so many times, it ultimately turns you into a societal outcast. Which only makes it funnier that one of the questions asked in the video is “are we supposed to like these characters?” Yes and no, that’s the fun of writing morally gray characters.

I often see these takes with people who fail to understand that the portrayal of something in media ≠ endorsement. It’s the crux of people who lack media literacy, the failure to understand morally gray or just straight up evil characters as protagonists. The media itself isn’t telling you to repeat their actions, it is an exploration of how these actions manifest in the first place, a cautionary tale, if you will. I know that having evil or twisted protagonists isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but to accuse the story or the author of malicious intent would be completely missing the point of the story’s purpose. Not to mention, that it is important for stories like this to exist, to put us in the shoes of those who enact harm, to understand why they do it and keep us from becoming like them.

The show doesn’t justify any of their actions, in fact, it often shows them for what they are: twisted and morally corrupt; it is on the characters themselves to bear the burdens of these actions. A clear example of this is the confrontation that Yukki has with his friends nearing the end of episode 22. It is probably one of my favorite scenes in the entire show: Yukki being forced to face all of his demons at once, realizing just how much damage he has caused, damage that he later has to mend in his final confrontation with Yuno to finally put an end to everyone’s suffering. It is dense, crude, and it is certainly necessary for both him and Yuno. 

Funnily enough, this youtuber goes on to say the following about Yuno’s background: “I really don’t care what her (back)story pans out to look like… her actions are still not excusable.” Which is true, just because someone was abused doesn’t justify them perpetuating the same abuse later. However, they then crush their own point by claiming that Yuno’s obsessions started all because of “a passing conversation.” I guess they weren’t lying when they said that they didn’t care about Yuno’s backstory… because chalking up her obsession as solely a result of that scene is completely disregarding her background. That conversation in the classroom did start Yuno’s fixation towards Yukki, but it is not the root of her obsessive tendencies. Yuno herself believes it to be, but this is an idea that is squandered by Yukki in his final confrontations with her. Moreover, if you paid attention to her backstory, you would understand it is all due to her childhood neglect. And similarly, Yukki’s attraction towards Yuno stems from this as well.

This brings me to the final criticism:

“Yuno and Yukki’s relationship is problematic, toxic and makes no sense.”

There is no denying that Yuno and Yukki start out as an incredibly toxic and troublesome pairing, using each other for their own selfish wants instead of working with each other. This is the Achilles heel in their dynamic, and it is often the cause of their troubles. Yuno acts impulsive, unstable and manipulative towards Yukki due to her insecurities and debilitating obsession, while Yukki pushes all responsibility to Yuno due to his own lack of a spine. They hurt each time and time again, yet they can’t help but be with each other. And this is because, in a twisted way, they compliment each other. 

On one hand, we have a social outcast, ignored by everyone including his family, visibly alone and afraid of being hurt by others, but still seeing the best in people. Then on the other hand, we have a popular girl from a prominent family, visibly perfect, but in reality just as alone due to abuse she experiences at home, making her view people as fundamentally cruel. On the outside they’re opposites, but deep down, they’re both lonely, and terrified of said loneliness. It is only when they meet, when Yukki shows her the kindness she was missing for years and when Yuno gives him the support he had always craved, that they fulfill each other’s needs. By becoming acquainted with Yuno and the Survival Game, Yukki becomes increasingly darker, eventually maturing at the end of the show, while Yukki awakens Yuno’s empathy and pulls her back from the darkness, as we see when she falters to hurt third-world Yuno and her parents. 

Their complementary personalities are even referenced by their diaries, which only work seamlessly if paired. They balance each other out perfectly, bringing out the best of each other, but only after learning to push back on their worst characteristics, which is also true for real-life relationships. In truth, just like these two, people are flawed, traumatized and generally toxic to one another. There’s no such thing as people or relationships that start out perfect from the get-go, they need to learn to grow together. 

In that sense, this is what makes the ending of the show so powerful to me. Yukki isn’t set on killing Yuno or becoming God anymore. He’s finally taking responsibility, coming to terms with the awful deeds he’s done, and the fact that he can’t undo them. Instead, he wants to help Yuno come to terms with her own demons, finally giving back to her what she needs and not something for his own benefit. Similarly, Yuno realizes just how off the deep-end she’s gone when she meets her past self, acknowledging that she’s lost her original goal, and that repeating the cycle of hurt won’t fix her already broken spirit. That world isn’t for her, and so she finally ends the hurt, giving her and Yukki the peace they need. 

Many people don’t like Redial because they see it as an undeserved Happy Ending for two awful individuals, but the way I like to see it is as a form of redemption. Both characters, in the end, do what they have to do to restore order in the world. Yukki pays for his sins in the void, finally a God but at the cost of mourning what could’ve been. First-World Yuno ends the suffering she’s putting herself through so her new self can thrive, almost akin to breaking free from her past traumas to finally heal. The new self regains those memories, not to sulk, but to build from them, going back with Yukki to start a new world that isn’t characterized by their original hurt. In a way, it's a story about how the most downtrodden of individuals can find solace in love, break from their past and learn to heal together. For me, it’s cathartic and fulfilling to watch.

To finish this lengthy post, I feel it’s appropriate to mention the importance of Future Diary’s characters, and more specifically, Yuno. The video describes her writing as shallow and contrived, but I’ve already addressed that in the previous paragraphs. Many people love chalking her up to “cRaZy YaNdErE gUrL™ 🤪​,” but she’s so, so much more than that. Her character actually has a lot of depth if you pay attention to her story: she’s a girl, an orphan who went on to be neglected by her foster father and abused by her foster mother, resulting in complex trauma, insecurities and fear of abandonment that she tries to hide and overcompensate for in her overly aggressive tendencies. Her obsession in avoiding the loss of the only person she has becomes her demise, as she lives in a loop of torment all for the sake of not being alone again, a cycle of hurt only she has the power of breaking if she finds the strength to do it. Whether it was intentional or not, Yuno portrays a lot of the issues people with mental illness, such as BPD, struggle with. 

Now, claiming that Yuno is a perfect, one-to-one representation of BPD would be reducing this disorder to a caricature, there’s obviously so much more to BPD than what you see in this portrayal. But, I feel like out of the huge list of characters that fall under the “yandere” or crazy girl trope, she’s probably one of the best written ones in anime. I know she’s often dubbed the “yandere queen,” but seriously, it’s rare to see media committing to this trope and properly characterizing it. I would go as far as to say she’s the best character I’ve seen written in this genre, only sharing that spot with another character from a certain game (but given that the mere mention of its name is enough to ensue controversy, I’ll abstain from talking about it here 🙄​). A big portion of characters within this trope are quite two-dimensional, without clear motives for their obsessions, or having their issues played up for laughs (I’m looking at you, Anna Nishikinomiya). Heck, many of the characters associated with the trope aren’t actual yanderes, like is the case for Shion Sonozaki or Lucy from Elfen Lied. 

Yuno’s character is rich and interesting to watch, she isn’t just some “crazy girl” for the sake of it. She’s a product of tragedy, only motivated by the hope of finally having Yukki alleviate all of her insecurities and sorrows. I’ve always found the “yandere” trope interesting since it delves into the lengths people are capable of going over an obsession, and how these form to begin with. Given how complex, sensitive and even personal this topic can be, it’s important to have characters like this be properly written, and I’m glad that Yuno set a standard for this back in her day, even if many people don’t take her character seriously. 

I think it’s important to close up this post repeating the sentiment I had at the beginning. My purpose in writing this defense isn’t so much to force people into liking the show, and even opinions I disagree with like the ones in NezumiVA’s video are valid in their own right, as everyone has different perspectives in interpreting media. This is simply my take as someone who’s been a fan of the show for a really long time, since I don’t see many in-depth essays for Future Diary out there. It is a show that has stuck with me for its lessons on learning to be brave, healing from the past and selfless love. As silly as it may sound talking about an anime, it’s something that I can always look back to and smile, laugh or cry along with. Despite people’s conflicting views and endless criticisms, it will never fail to have a special place in my heart. Given how much time I’ve dedicated to this series, it’s only fair I dedicated a little bit of that time explaining my love for it too. And if you made it this far down the post, I would also like to thank you for dedicating a little bit of your time to my shower thoughts as well!

[mali-bee]

there's something really fun about LO critical stuff btw, like it's beyond just hating a comic (I don't even fully hate it either! i love the art style, at least in s1, and I enjoy several characters, and honestly, the concept at the time was so novel to me)

but its like, far more than just "hating a comic", it's seeing other people redraw panels or redesign characters and add their own flair, it's learning more about rs and sorta being able to connect the dots on why certain choices were made (for better and for worse), it's researching the myths and characters themselves, there's so much learning that goes into "hating LO" and i actually really love it

there's also so much creativity that goes into this community, i mentioned people redesigning characters but you also get people reworking the whole comic like LO rekindled by genericpuff (highly recommend btw, it really hits the nail on the head with a lot of the critiques a lot of us have lol), it's just really cool to see

i also love the community here, it's such a positive energy and I feel like it's *because* we all see what LO could have been, despite our gripes, we see it for its potential and I think that's neat. i think despite LO ending, I'll be in this community for a long while, because I love seeing others creations and takes and analysis and because it inspires me to create my own

[anonzentimes]

hi ur like the komaeda phd on my dash so i was wondering something that might be a dumb question but idk

i’m chapter 2 komaeda gives this big speech about how people who aren’t “chosen” to be talented or symbols of hope will never become worthy. how would that connect to how he sees izuru kamukura, and the kamukura project as a whole? because that project is essentially artificial talent— an Ultimate Hope created in a lab.

I just see most people assuming that he’s worship him or something as an ultimate hope, but it’s something I think about a lot idk

OKAY, SO, I'VE ACTUALLY BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT RECENTLY TOO LOLOLOL??? Also it is an honor to be called the komaeda phd on your dash LMAO

People hearing this probably would assume he'd hate Izuru for disrespecting the hierarchy, but that doesn't seem to be the case? Unfortunately we don't fully know if in Chapter 4 Nagito knows the full extent of the project, and in the anime he has no clue who Izuru is until he shows up and gives him gay panic which doesn't give much clarification lol. Like, It's implied he knows about the project but it's never really clarified to what extent which is a little confusing. If he does know he still treats Izuru fine after waking up, so I don't really think he has any gripes Izuru's existence?

In fact, Nagito is shown to be extremely fond of Izuru and this idea is pushed often?

If he had any gripe specifically with the person being tempered with maybe he'd be upset with Hajime for messing with the hierarchy? He's more upset at Hajime in Chapter 4 because he feels betrayed and is conflicted. He's confused on why he cares about a despair inducing terrorist, let alone a person who barely means anything.

He could be upset about him disrespecting the hierarchy too, but that's never really clarified and may not likely? There's nothing really implying he has distaste for the project at all honestly. I wonder if he doesn't really see any issue with it or if he just somehow doesn't know the finer details. If he has no issue with it maybe he thinks it's an exception or special case because he is a lab rat for hope's peak and they're very capable?

Basically in short, we have no clue what he thinks about the project specifically or if he knows all the details. If he knows, we don't really see him be distasteful or positive about that specific aspect of it and he might not even care too much? It's a little messy with the details overall. At the end of the day he seems to be extremely fond of Izuru and care dearly for Hajime, despite everything I don't think the concept of the project interrupts or overrides any of that Lol.

Thank you for your ask!!! Hopefully this answers your question enough to be satisfactory lol <3

[dr-spectre]

So brainwashed Callie in official content is cringe. Do you feel the same about it in Fanfiction? Have there been any takes on Hypno Callie that you enjoyed?

Honestly? I don't feel the same way about it in fanfiction. There's a lot of information and different takes floating around about certain things in the franchise so I dont necessarily blame people for using the word "brainwashed" for Callie in their fanfiction. The English localisation of Splatoon has said she was brainwashed despite other languages and the original Japanese version not using the word. At least from my own knowledge. So I get why most fans would take that information and immediately believe it's true.

Plus there's more people talking about what actually happened to Callie on twitter and tumblr which is really incredible to see!!! Im so happy to see Callie being treated with more respect!!!!! It is a night and day difference compared to the treatment in 2017 to 2020.

Surprisingly enough I don't actually consume a lot of fanfiction. I can read my own writing easily but I can't read others that well and... I feel really bad about it... but I have read a bit of this one fanfiction that got Hypno Callie 99% right. I fucking forgot the name but i was recommended it by someone in the past, it had "dome" in the name? It was about DJ Octavio and the Octarian domes.

The way they explained the shades was actually really interesting and unique! It's basically shades that play catchy music and that's how Callie got hypnotised. It fits in line with DJ Octavio too as he's well... a DJ. Plus daydreaming and listening to music goes hand in hand so it has some basis in reality too. Everyone at some point has been put into a daydream state when vibing out to music.

Although I say 99% because there's this one line that Callie says, "Are these shades brainwashing me?" And it was so clunky I'm sorry LOL. And there's this implication that its also doing something further to Callie's brain but it's not that explained well, which i really dont like. Other than that, my Hypno Callie content is mainly fanart and 99% of that has been phenomenonal and powerful stuff.

However.... my biggest fucking gripe in "fan content" if you wanna call it that is... timeline videos and people going over plot details and stuff like that.

These people actually do RESEARCH and spend a lot of time analysing the story of Splatoon and trying to put the pieces together. Yet for Callie it feels like they just do a quick read through of Inkipedia and that's it because they dont give a flying fuck about her character. It drives me fucking psychotic and i cant be safe watching Splatoon videos anymore. How hard is it to say hypnotised? HOW HARD IS IT?!?!?! JUST USE THAT WORD!!! THATS ALL YOU HAVE TO DO!!! GOD DAMN!!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD BRAINWASHED AT ALL?!?!?!

It's really disappointing to me that this outdated timeline video is the ONLY VIDEO to say Callie was hypnotised and not "brainwashed." And that... makes me kinda pissed off.

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!

YOU TOO!!!!

I can't even watch these videos anymore man. I'm sad. I'm not even trying to send hate over to them, they put in a lot of work... except for a character I really care about....

Imagine you like a particular character and you feel really strongly about them. Now Imagine people saying wrong or yucky things about that character and treating it as fact despite you knowing "Hey something is not right here. I think there's more here than people realise." And all the most popular and well liked content is spreading that kind of information around about your favourite character. It would drive you crazy yeah? I'm sure everyone has that one character in every fanbase.

Anyways, thanks for the ask! Sorry if it was long... I tend to ramble about Hypno Callie LOL! (Autism)

[acotarfrustrations]

An ongoing list of acowar grievances I'm keeping track of while I read (because there's too many to make a post about all of them)

1) Feyre's constant edginess. It's such a bizarre and ham-fisted shift in the voice of the character from the previous book. Too much tell, not enough show

2) "that they thought Rhysand could ever force someone . . . I added that to the long list of things to repay them for.".........lol OK girl

3) Feyre all of a sudden knowing how to use every power she has despite her very limited "training"

4) constant mention of Lucien and Elain's mating bond. Not only do I not give a damn, I REALLY wish it wasn't a thing all together

5) CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MORTAL QUEENS TO ME? WHO TF EVEN ARE THEY?? It's so stupid that they don't get brought up until feyre is a fae like we have no clue the humans even have an overarching government until she's not human anymore. Why are they turning them Fae? What possible advantages can they grant the fae that they don't have already? How tf are there so many queens when the human territory is so small? For that matter, why tf is Hybern going to war over a tiny handful of humans? Why involve this convoluted plot with turning the mortal queens into Fae when it seems like the humans don't even know of their existence so they wouldn't listen to or follow them in the first place

6) this should be dual pov. I would LOVE tamlin's perspective or even lucien's

7) I need WAY more information about the cauldron because it makes no sense

8) this isn't a gripe but I just have to mention how bad I feel for lucien

9) somehow ianthe became 10x MORE boring as a villain. Like you could replace her woth Regina George and the book would be more interesting

10) WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SEXUAL ASSAULT, OH MY FUCKING GOD

11) this whole spying on the spring court thing is stupid, inefficient, and childish. The NC is risking the lives of all the courts doing this shit when they could easily just ACTUALLY TELL THE OTHER COURTS WHATS GOING ON TO GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO RALLY TOGEYHER AND DEFEND THEMSELVES, form an alliance, and reason with tamlin or attack him if he refuses to listen to reason. Most information they stand to gain from what they're doing is useless in light of how many fae and human lives stand to be lost or displaced

12) WE FUCKING GET IT FEYRE! THERE ARE TWO WOLVES INSIDE YOU! BENEATH YOUR SKIN YOU ARE A WOLF, A MOUNTAIN LION, A PANTHER, A COBRA, A TARANTULA, A BALD EAGLE, AND EVERY OTHER KIND OF PREDATOR UNDER THE SUN!!!!! JFC I GET SYMBOLISM BUT ITS GETTING CRINGE IN HERE

13) that entire ridiculous summer solstice scene in chapter 4

14) FEYRE COMPARING TAMLIN TO ARAMANTHA?! HELLO???????

15) the whole situation with using Lucien to make tamlin jealous is just....icky, idk

16) I almost regret wanting more political intrigue In these novels as it is by far Sarah Janet's weakest suit

17) framing jurian a villain is one of the dumbest decisions ever. Wish he had more screen time though

18) feyre's badass scene w/ the children of the blessed makes me wish that after she became fae, she returned to the human lands, killed/overthrew the mortal queens, said fuck you to tamlin and rhys, and just became queen of the mortal realms, having to earn her people's trust as a fae, protect and defend them, and come to terms w/ her loss of humanity. That would have been so EPIC

19) the entirety of chapter 8

20) the fact that acotar was written. If the series started w/ acomaf I would have a lot less problems. All the constant retconning and inconsistencies in canon and worldbuilding just keep pissing me off, idk I can't look past it

21) I'm losing count and I'm only on chapter 9 so I'm just going to keep reading for now. Might make a part 2 idk

[caelum-in-the-avatarverse]

ive been a fan of ATLA since it came out, and I think I stopped reading fic for it once Korra came out. So (luckily?), I escaped Embers, but im curious to know what is its influence in fanon. Do you know any examples off the top of your head?

Whoa, that's impressive that you managed to skip it if you've been a fan that long. It started in 2009.

And yeah, I do. Admittedly I do not read ATLA fic often these days, so I'm probably behind on current trends. But if you know what you're looking at it's pretty obvious that lots of Zuko-focused fic is influenced by Embers. Granted, oftentimes the writer may not realize they were influenced by Embers--they may have been inspired by a fic that was inspired by a fic that was inspired by Embers. The fic is 14 years old, and the rabbithole runs deep.

So the effects Embers has had, off the top of my head:

The Wani. Zuko's ship does not have a canonical name, but so many writers have used Vathara's name for it that people are surprised when they learn it's not canon. Even I'm guilty of this one, it's such deeply-entrenched fanon that I figured I might as well use it in a throwaway line (tho I'm seriously considering going in and editing it out of the one fic I mentioned it in).

Dragon!Zuko. If Zuko or Fire Nation people are turning into dragons, that idea probably came from Embers; I don't recall ever seeing that trope in ATLA fic before Embers made it a thing.

Certain Aang-critical readings of canon. There are multiple ways people criticize Aang (fans have complained about him not killing Ozai since the finale aired, and shippers have their own gripes), but there are certain arguments that either originated with Embers or were popularized by it. The concept of "Aang told Zuko he'd come with him if he left the SWT alone, then Aang escaped, therefore he broke his word and lied and he's lucky Zuko is such a good person that he didn't turn around and burn the village to the ground because he totally would've been within his rights to do so" is an Embers original. Then there's the "Aang has totally killed people and is therefore a hypocrite and/or idiot who doesn't realize he kills people" criticism, which may have existed before Embers brought it up, but Embers definitely popularized it. (Canonically Aang has done things that would definitely result in people dying, but also canonically we never saw the bodies so the narrative didn't confirm or even acknowledge it, therefore there's plenty of room to interpret Aang's kill count and still be canon-compliant. I'll admit this is a pedantic argument if everyone else admits that some fans are overeager to give Aang a kill count and call him an idiotic mass murderer, especially when they point at the Siege of the North, where the only people he would've killed were enemy combatants). And apparently now there are stories where Zuko is very knowledgeable about Air Nomad culture and teaches Aang about it, or preaches to him about patience or maturity or morality--I reblogged a post about this recently. That entire mentality definitely came from Embers.

Hyper-competent Zuko. This is not solely Embers's doing, but let me explain. Zuko is the fandom's favorite, we love him, he ticks off a lot of boxes people love to see in a character. It is perfectly normal for a fandom to heap all sorts of awesomeness on their fave, and in fanon they become a super-competent badass who puts up with so much and fights so hard despite the odds, they are knowledgeable and intelligent and strategic, they are confident and compassionate and have iron-clad morals. (am I still describing Zuko or Obi-Wan Kenobi? lol) So this version of Zuko probably would've become a thing eventually; Embers was just the starting point. But things have to start somewhere, and in this case, it started with Embers showing off just how to make Zuko a hyper-competent badass. And Zuko is indeed a badass, but canon gave no indication that he'd actually be good at, like, politics, aside from the narrative implying it by saying he was the best person to become Fire Lord. There are takes on Zuko where he's politically astute, spiritually attuned, brilliantly strategic, extremely knowledgeable about all sorts of random things--none of which have much basis in canon, but they aren't necessarily contradicted by canon either. And again, this is just regular fandom behavior--but in the ATLA fandom these takes were sparked by Embers basically laying the foundation and creating the template for how to write Zuko.

Well-researched fic. Like the previous point, this is not solely Embers's doing. Researching stuff for fanfic has been a thing since forever. But Embers was huge, and Vathara talked a lot about the things she knew and the books she'd read, and people were very impressed and praised her for it, and it inspired them to do and show their own research for their fics, too. Unlike the other things on this list, this actually isn't something that annoys me--even I was inspired by this aspect of Embers, in conjunction with the racebending movement and cultural misappropriation criticism, to make research an important part of my own fic. I'd looked up information for my writing before, but Embers really showed how research could make a fic incredible. And frankly, I'm glad for it, because looking up stuff for my fics has proven to be a fun and rewarding pastime, and I love sharing my research with my own readers (tho I really hope my own author's notes aren't as condescending as Vathara's). Now, granted, given some of the opinions in her author's notes and things she's said elsewhere, I consider all of Vathara's information and reading recommendations to be suspect. But I'm glad it's inspired other people to do lots of great research and share it.

And that's all I can think of, off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more, but I haven't read Embers in years, and I don't read much ATLA fic in general these days, so if there's more I'm unaware. If anyone else can think of anything, please do chime in!

[fairyboygenius]

everywhere, everything

simon “ghost” riley x original female character

a/n: this is short lol but it’ll introduce some conflict. this does have a plot despite me knowing like nothing about the military

no warnings!

yk the deal

When they walked into the meeting room, the first thing Task Force 141 saw was Allie sitting with her feet up on the table, petting Lola with one hand and messing with a fidget toy with the other, laughing at something Laswell was saying. She was still in her scrubs, braids pulled back with a bandana.

“Great of you to finally join us, boys.” Laswell sounded bored in her signature way. She checked her watch, then got up and moved towards the front. “Feet off the table, Al. We’ve got lots to cover.”

Allie flinched, a chastened expression flashing across her face before she took her feet off the table and sat up. The seat she had chosen happened to be right next to Simon’s usual seat- and he liked his little routines as much as the next person, so why move away from her? Lola nudged his hand as he sat, and he hummed, reaching out to tentatively pet the top of her head. Allie gave a little nod of approval before settling back in.

She smelled like lavender. Definitely non-regulation soap. It’s his new favorite scent in the world.

“Okay, so, we’ve got some updates on the Konni. It seems they’re setting up a club somewhere in Chicago, which’ll of course just be a front for the weapons and drug dealing. They’re planning an attack on Chicago with the help of an American group.”

Allie visibly winced as Laswell said the next part. “Shadow Company.”

“You can’t be serious,” Price huffed. “Thought that whole operation fell apart after Graves was killed.”

Laswell clicked to the next slide, a picture of the last time the group saw Phillip Graves in some warehouse. “See, that’s what we thought.”

Groans erupted around the table. Allie blinked, and genuine distress seemed to appear on her face for a second. “Ma’am, please tell me you’re joking.”

Laswell shook her head. “Apparently he’s been convening with Konni for several months now. Faked his death after Las Almas to avoid the inevitable consequences.”

“So where do we fit into all of this?” Gaz asked. “We go on, infiltrate the club, take down Makarov and Graves?”

Price grimaced. “What, you got a better plan? Can’t exactly jus’ sit in here and gripe about how we fucked up last time. We need to get in there before more innocent people are killed by that whole group.”

Laswell gave a thin smile. “I hear Chicago’s nice this time of year.”

“We’re leavin tomorrow, then?” Soap spoke up. “Whit time?”

“Heli’ll be ready at 2030. Don’t be late.” Laswell looked at each of them, her voice slipping into professionalism mode as she looked at Allie. “Lieutenant Bishop, I’ll have one of the other medics walk you through what’s in your kit. Anything bigger than basic first aid the boys come to you. Doesn’t matter if you need to drag them, kicking and screaming. Yours and Lola’s ear protection will be delivered to you by lunch tomorrow.”

Allie nodded. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“We’ll go over the itinerary after dinner tonight.” Laswell looked at Price for confirmation, and he nodded. “Dismissed.”

Everyone filed out, but Allie was quiet. Still early enough on that she wasn’t comfortable with them, necessarily. Still not exactly a social butterfly.

“Ye alrigh’, lass?” Soap nudged her. Lola booped her snout against Allie’s hand, which helped to ground her.

“Yeah. I just… the fact that this is my first mission with you guys is kind of crazy. Considering I used to work with Shadow Company. I wasn’t involved directly in any of their shit, but I was a team medic, kind of like I am for you guys. I’ve heard how Phillip- Commander Graves- kind of screwed you over.”

“You know Graves well?” Ghost’s voice was gruff. Something flashed in his eyes- was it jealousy? No, surely not- before his expression settled again.

Allie sighed, just deciding to drop the bombshell. What’s the use in keeping the secret?

“He’s my ex boyfriend.”

[campbell-rose]

Helluva Fucking Rant: S2 E6 

OKay I’m a big fat liar and my pants are burning my ass rn, I know I said I’d do Rwby designs next but then the whole leaked episode drama happened and now it’s out and I need to complain. 

*Off the bat, I’m not going to talk pacing mainly because I have little experience with dealing with pacing (having never written anything more than comic strips lol). The episode didn’t feel too fast but anyway 

I’m going to organize this based on gripes I have per character. 

Fizzarolli: He is my baby. He's like kind of babygirl if that makes any sense. “Maybe I could burn the milk this time” 

I adore Fizz as a character. He’s not babified or infantilized like a lot of Viv’s other gay men. So far. Who knows, the writers have proven how adept they are at contradicting and retconning characters. But uhhhh what the fuck was he doing in Greed? Am I stupid? Like, it’s never spelled out. Is it for pr? Is it a deal with Mammon type thing? Is he promoting something? If he had somewhere to be why did he let his dogs run him all over creation??? Like, bit of an issue there as it’s only vaguely mentioned that he was practicing something. 

His backstory is like... acceptable I suppose. Not what I was expecting. I was expecting like, what we got, and a combination of some other theories I had personally. See, my issue is the fire and how imps have been shown in previous episodes to be, ya know, IMMUNE TO FIRE. Imagine if, and bear with me here huge stretch I know, imps are immune to fire and hellfire – but not holy fire. Like, shit straight from the angel’s burning halo type fire. That would make sense, since hellfire is a thing in pop culture and biblically accurate angels are all gold and flames! 

I do like the idea that fizz’s entire body is white from scars, however I think his scars need texture for the idea to sell. Maybe in full costume it’s covered with makeup, but come on people he was lit on fire, you ever seen a healed burn? Fizz being scared of the flames legit made me sad, I love him so much. However they’re trying to show he’s got like ptsd (maybe not exactly but still) from it, but it feels inconsistent to me for some reason. On a final note, he never should’ve forgiven Blitzo in any way, shape or form tbh, I would’ve preferred what Barbie did just straight up, I don’t like you, I can’t forgive you please leave me alone.  

Asmodeus: This cemented for me how much I fucking hate his design. His stupid head is so tiny and his body is built like a brick shithouse like, it’s so unbalanced and weird looking. I like his character here I suppose. No noticeable inconsistencies from his first appearance. His va is killing it tbh, love him so much what a king. 

I’m fine with his character, what I’m not fine with is the weird consent angle their going with. Like... he is the SIN of LUST??? Valentino is more of what I’d expect as the sin of Lust compared to Asmodeus. Also, the WEAKEST and most NON THREATENING SIN??? KESHADOG IS RIGHT THERE 

Crimson: He should’ve been hired by Mammon to get back at Asmodeus. Maybe Asmodeus has an unpaid debt with Mammon and has been shirking him so Mammon is like ‘i have your fucktoy now, give me my money or you won’t get him back’ 

Like his little video chat could’ve been context, like “You don’t know me, but you may know my employer – Mammon?” 

The paperwork would make sense then, Mammon is sending over contracts and bullshit Asmodeus has to sign. The importance of reading the fine print would be even more present because Asmodeus is dealing with someone on his level who can actually fuck him up, not some nobody imp he could kill with a glance! Crimson’s motive could be that Mammon offered him a share of Ozzie’s stock and would let him run some shit because Crimson has become a prominent member of higher society despite being an imp, which is the only reason Striker is partnered with him. 

Striker: Striker baby doll, please just fucking kill Fizz. Like, stop fucking standing there, kill the fucker. Omg I was so annoyed with his lack of action this episode. Both Fizz and Striker are incredible agile and snake like characters, this whole distraction song should’ve been a mix of striker trying to kill Fizz/Fizz avoiding him and Crim’s gang being just flabbergasted by the bullshit they’re witnessing. It’s been shown before that Crimson ony ever sits on the sidelines while his goons get killed so like????  

Anyway, Viv can try as hard as she wants to paint Striker as in the wrong and a bigot, but it won’t work on me. He’s completely in the right because imps are literally the slave/working class in this caste system. Fizz is (to imps in the slums and less fortunate) probably the epitome of a pampered lapdog plaything of the upper class. ANd that could’ve been something interesting to explore. Why not show the perspective of other imps that think like Striker, maybe have them be antagonistic to Fizz because he’s Asmodeus and Mammon’s pet, or maybe Fizz finds out that’s what people think of him and he’s horrified and that’s why he’s mad Blitzo calls him a whore. But no, because Striker is an evil bigot who sides with the evil woman Stella so nobody else thinks like he does. 

Also, his new va has the sexiest voice i've heard since live action Buggy or sub Crocodile so I'm not complaining about him taking up screen time

Him all disheveled is straight up working for me

Blitzo: Once again he gets away with being shitty and stupid and awful because he’s a woobie. Why the fuck was the crux of their hatred based on a birthday cake and the miscommunication trope??? I hate this so much.  

Was Blitzo in love with Fizz? Is that what that blink and you’ll miss it letter was? I’m getting very tired of this show having blink and you’ll miss it plot beats. That isn’t showing not telling, it’s like sweeping shit under a rug. Its like they think just because it was on screen for a frame the audience will catch it and be like ‘omg it happened’ or feel smart for catching something. Stolitz making up through text shouldn’t be a pause the video and read moment for fuckssake. 

I’m finding it very ahrd to tolerate Blitzo. On the topic of him though, I saw the leaked episode. WHY was Barbie taken out of the final flashback???

What the actual fuck???? Like... once again the women in this show are just shoved away and forgotten this is like Naruto level female character writing guys. Naruto had one good female character and she was still sidelined half the damn time. 

Also i fucking hate how this show can't be serious for more than five seconds like when Fizz and Blitzo hug and Blitzo is like 'haha wanna make out' i hate this but it isn't as egregious as having dildos during an abuse scene

Conclusion: Animation was amazing (also one of my fav animators KittenSneeze is an animator for Spindlehorse now like i love them so good for them), plot was whatever, characters are where the story falls, this won and I can’t anymore. 

Actually no, not conclusion. You know what really makes me hate Helluva Boss? It isn’t fair. I know that sounds childish and stupid, but who cares I’m childish and I’m stupid. Why is it that someone like Viv, who consistently doesn’t take criticism and is just a shit person all around gets rewarded for doing dogshit all the time. Yeah it’s a bit step for indie animation or whatever but she literally has Alex Brightman in her fucking pocket I don’t wanna hear it. Lackadaisy has earned it’s time in the goddamn spotlight, not Viv and her stupid creations. It’s so unfair. She got popular off of happenstance for her kesha sparkledogs and now she’s off bastardizing demonology and writing borderline backwards gay and female characters and she’s getting praised as the patron saint of queer rep and indie animation. Like, she doesn’t deserve it. Genuinely. I wish I could just post my demon story and people would just flock to it like flies to shit and shower me in praise and protect me from any criticism. But that’s not how real life works, but for some reason it is for Viv. Its just... I hate it. 

Anyway, baby rant over. This episode was like 7/10 tbh. It wasn't amazing but for Helluva Boss it was good. Sarcastic Chorus made a video about it that I'm gonna watch because honestly his takes could convince me this show is on Arcane's level lmao. Bye bye <3 

[bunnakit]

hellooo i love reading your opinions but im too shy to ask you this off anon so here it is. I’m like you enjoying the sign and loved the direction of the recent ep so I don’t really understand the divisive reactions on tumblr esp since twitter seems to always heap praise on the show. what are your thoughts on how phaya tharn’s relationship has been paced? and how do you think it may be concluded? I saw some people on here being disheartened and expecting a sad ending but I don’t really see that to be the case and I for one have loved their r/s pacing and also the mythology (my main gripe would be some of the way the cases were handled). but what’s your opinion on that and why people here are more divisive about the show? (While all opinions are valid some of the criticism almost feels nitpicky but I would love to hear your thoughts on this!)

QUICK NOTE- ANON SENT THIS BEFORE THIS SATURDAY'S EPISODE, SO THIS ABOUT EPS 1-8 hello love!! sorry it took me a bit to put together my thoughts and feel like my brain was put together and, well, i still haven't accomplished that but i didn't want to leave you on read any longer. also you're ALWAYS welcome to DM me here or discord or wherever! but i totally get being too shy lol despite how i am on the dash i am also very shy

so, i can kind of understand where people are coming from in that there wasn't a lot of courting between phaya and tharn which may make it seem like their relationship was fast tracked. idk, i'm not entirely sure what other people's thoughts are on it, i've kind of just been scrolling past posts that have complained or seemed like they didn't like it. i welcome everyone's opinions but i don't always want to read all of them (and i expect people not to read mine if it's not for them.)

i think it's important to keep in mind that courtship can look different for everyone and while they didn't go on dates, didn't overtly flirt, etc. they've been performing a delicate dance between each other and flirting very much in their own ways (from the hat tugs, the sparring, the attitude.) sometimes flirting is being obnoxious, getting on someone's nerves simply because you know how. half the time my husband flirts with me is my driving me fucking crazy because he's the only person in the world that knows exactly what makes me tick.

i think it also helps to keep in mind the fantasy element here; that wansarut and sakuna live inside tharn and phaya and are drawn towards each other and i think sometimes tharn and phaya's own feelings and attraction have to play catch up. i think some elements of their dynamic were very much both tharn not wanting to get close because of his fears but also not fully realizing the depths of his feelings because they seemingly came out of nowhere (wansarut.)

overall, i've really enjoyed the pacing, enjoyed how they've fallen together through various circumstances, how we've seen tharn's resistance dwindle until he finally had to let himself have the object of his desire. i also think it's a very adult relationship, it's really not all that messy or complicated once you remove the fantasy elements. sometimes desire comes first and love comes later. sometimes things begin physical and end in love.

there is no set roadmap for romance or relationships and to pigeon hole BL couples into a set pattern is a little silly in my opinion. their journey just looks a little different, it doesn't mean they aren't in love. we also have to keep in mind that there's so much going on in this show plot wise that to focus more on romance and courtship would steal time away from other elements that are already struggling to get addressed.

"but doesnt that mean the show is trying to do too much?"

sure, but i'd rather a show strive to do too much than do too little. i love to see the ambition and the passion behind it and even if things aren't concluded perfectly there's so much the sign has done right (addressing that men are also victims of sexual assault, constantly reminding us that tharn - while smaller and seemingly more 'effeminate' - is still every bit as strong and capable as phaya, the continuous reminders that they are a switch partnership, showing us that sex can be goofy and funny with khem and thongtai, etc.) i'd much rather all of this than to watch a show that made me feel nothing at the end of the day and the show has done SO much to educate foreigners on Thai culture. (the copaganda could go tho, we all know i'm an ACAB bitch so i DO have to wear blinders during those scenes lmao)

sorry- i got a wee bit off track. ANYWAY how would i like to see it concluded?

i'm a little torn because there are so many ways i'd be happy. i'd be happy if they finally rid themselves of chalothorn forever and were finally able to be together in peace. (i think everyone's ideal ending)

i'd be happy with a timeline where phaya dies to protect tharn in a reverse parallel of their first life, with a renewed promise.

i'd be happy if they died together and began the cycle once again.

two of these i recognize are HELLA unpopular opinions, but there's really not much this show could do to make me unhappy as long as they stick to the story and the narrative foils they've put in place. i think the only thing i would be unhappy with is if something felt like it came out of left field.

thank you SO much for this ask. i was so flattered i read it out loud to my husband the other day. i'm always SO open to asks like this and really find it so sweet that anyone out there values my opinion at all, i'm just a silly little guy

[weirdofish]

Sonic X Shadow Generations Spoilers

So, thanks to SillyEwe, I got to play Shadow's campaign in Sonic Generations early and I beat it last night. Despite it being really short (which doesn't surprise me at all), I still enjoyed it. The Doom Powers were fun, the levels were solid, and the boss fights were pretty epic. I'm especially fond of the fact the Biolizard looks more like a lizard this time around X3 (I love reptiles), even though the way its gills move disturbs me a lot.

With that said, I do have a few gripes with it. I don't want to sound ungrateful, though nothing is perfect. One gripe I have is how I felt that story-wise it was unnecessary. Like, we've already seen Shadow grapple with his past and Black Doom trying to make him his personal super weapon, we don't need to see it again. If this was released back in the mid 2000's, maybe it would have been fine. But now? We've been there and done that already. I understand that that's why he's so popular (even for me), but why not see our boy tackle a new adventure that has nothing to do with his past a la Forces? I've love to see that, honestly (maybe I could learn how to make games and do it myself (though I most likely won't since I'm too lazy lol )). Every other complaint I have is pretty minor.

I'll admit it was nice seeing Gerald and Maria interacting with Shadow, which in hindsight reminds me a lot of that one Archie Sonic story where Shadow went inside of Gerald's diary and learned about the Black Arms. That makes sense given that Flynn wrote both that issue and the story for this campaign. I'll admit when I first read it back when it was new I got super emotional seeing Shadow so sad saying good-bye to Maria :'(

Other things:

I kept wondering whether or not the Doom Powers would be temporary, which I figured was the case once I realized this takes place at the same time as Sonic Generations and that he never used them since. This was further confirmed for me when the Doom Wings disintegrated after the final boss fight.

I actually unironically love Black Doom's voice. He sounds so cool! I'm not used to him emoting while talking (or having human fingernails for that matter) since he was largely still in Shadow the Hedgehog, but I can adjust.

I initially complained about Gerald being skinny until I remembered that that's how he looked back in SA2. I was so used to him being fat that seeing him slimmed down was a shocker. I still prefer him being extra thicc, but oh well.

I love how Shadow gave Sonic the fake emerald at first but then switched it with the real one before the Time Eater battle. I also love how he was shown with both emeralds at the beginning (Chekov's Emeralds, anyone?) That's one of my favorite literary devices, hence why I love it so much.

Thank God that tear didn't land in Rouge's eye XD

I got so excited when Big the Cat first appeared that I started my cats

Fun fact: the 3DS version was my very first time playing Sonic Generations at all