#especially if the character is masculine as heck

[mk-wizard]

Top 15 Games that SHOULD get a 100% Reboot/Restart

Hi. I felt like doing something positive especially after my last post, so as a follow up, here is a list of games that I think should get the reboot treatment. And when I say reboot, I don’t just mean remake with fancier graphics and bonus features. I mean restart altogether with fresh new storylines that go their own way though in some specific cases, all they need is a new look. Note that this is my subjective opinion and nobody here has to agree with it. It’s just a fun suggestion.

1- Metal Gear - I don’t mean Metal Gear Solid, I mean Metal Gear in general. In fact, I think the “Solid” should be retconned entirely because it not only stopped being about Solid Snake who is the hero, he was done dirty with a pathetic ending and the only sequels we get now are prequels. Not to mention the constant drama and tragedy became nauseating. My advice is to restart from the beginning by rebooting the games that date back to the NES as are with better writing and then after that, only do a half-reboot of Metal Gear Solid and then go its own way while respecting Snake as a main character. Solid Snake is a staple in war themed games and set the standard of how we create them. He should REMAIN the main character and have his endings always remain open with him still standing with dignity.

2- Dino Crisis - I don’t think I need to say much here. Everyone is dying to see this game get remade and it’s not hard to see why. With the exception of the third game and the spin off, Dino Crisis 1 and 2 are amazing. They are dinosaur themed games that actually feel like survivor horror games and not like shooter games with the dinosaur gimmick. This series deserved a reboot and a third game that gives it proper closure.

3- Parasite Eve - Like Metal Gear, this series did dirty to its main character (Aya Brea) in such a way that they wrote themselves into a corner. Only the first game feels unique and special while the second and third instalments have an identity crisis, a confusing weapons and spell system, and a tank control that never belonged. Only the first game should stay as is with a simple remake and then, its sequels should actually be true sequels that keep the battle, spell and control system as are. Let’s just forget that PE2 and The Third Birthday ever happened.

4- Silent Hill - Let’s be honest. Harry Mason is the most underrated male protagonist in survivor horror because unlike all the others, he is not a man of action, not a badass and very relatable for it. He is a widower, a writer, a pacifist and one heck of a dad who literally jumped into the underworld to save his daughter. Now, while I like a lot of the sequels, this series lost its way. With the exception of Silent Hill 2, I think Harry and his daughter should have remained the main protagonists of the series. Harry is proof that real men come in all flavors and having one like him is different while still showing the best attributes of masculinity.

PS: I know Silent Hill 1 got a reboot, but it was bad. Period.

5- Turok - Before there was Dino Crisis (and I’m not discrediting it), there was Turok. The titular hero who might I also add is aboriginal which is a very underrepresented group in fiction period who literally kills dinosaurs with his bare hands. He is a badass and he while he has gotten reboots before, none of them hit the mark yet, but creators should not give up on him. He is worth the effort and if they keep trying, they will strike gold.

6- Castlevania - This series is ICONIC and nobody ever gets tired of it. It should make a comeback and it is one of the few series where being 3D would make it better. And considering that medieval settings in video games is all the rage now, it would be great to see Simon Belmont back in action. Heck, I would even be open to seeing a Belmont fighting evil in our modern times in 3D.

7- The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time - Now, I stand by that this series doesn’t need a reboot, I think this game specifically should get a remake because it is a great game that reshaped the series into how we know and love it now, but it was very buggy and the graphics were not that great even for their time. Everything else about it is great, but it does need a facelift.

8- Prototype - A forgotten gem if there ever was one. This series is unique in that it is the one game where you play as the monster who is also an anti-hero. Yet again, its series did its main character (Alex Mercer) dirty though on top of that, left too many questions unanswered. This series needs a reboot with a much better storyline. If you haven’t seen it, play the first game and you’ll see my point.

9- Tomb Raider - Now, we can all agree that this series has lost its way. While I am all for origin stories and I admit it makes sense for Lara Croft to not be hardened or toughened up from the start. Keeping her as a weak frightened girl doesn’t make her realistic nor does it make her a likeable heroine. And I am woman enough to admit that being athletic, confident, daring and badass is a part of Lara Croft’s character. I don’t want her to be realistic. I want her to be cool and fun to play. This series needs to go back to its roots when it was fun and Lara was allowed to shamelessly be herself.

10- Dead Rising - Another case of a game losing its way and its main protagonist becomes someone they’re not. The second instalment was the only game that felt true to what the series is supposed to be and even then, it felt like a spinoff not a part of the main story because Dead Rising is Frank West’s story. Another thing that also stood out about this game is that unlike most zombie themed games, the main character is not only not a fighter, he’s a total lover in all the great ways. Frank is (or rather, was) compassionate, honest and it isn’t for nothing that you only got the best ending when you would save everyone. Heck, he would save people who tried to kill him. This series should get a total reboot and a total rewrite after game 1. And can we please not give Frank a heart of stone? Him being loving is what made him great.

11- ObsCure - Another lost gem with a unique premise and group of protagonists. This game plays up our childhood fear of the dark because the monsters in this game literally are allergic to the light and the setting is in a highschool. It feels like Scream meets the Blair Witch Project making it a lot of fun, and the monsters are so delightfully creepy. Plus, the story was compelling. Sadly this series only got one sequel which was actually great, but never got that third instalment that would wrap everything up. I say we give this series a reboot, so it can finally finish what it started.

12- Resident Evil Outbreak - I know this is a spinoff series, but it’s one of the best in the series. It fills in a lot of gaps in the main storyline and any game that allows you to have your own tyrant fighting alongside you is awesome. It also has a multiple ending system which was well done and very rewarding when you get the best ending. I think this should get the reboot treatment and even have a third game that expands the aftermath further.

13- Resident Evil Dead Aim - Another one of the best spinoffs in the RE series because it expands the story specifically in how tyrants are made and how the variants work. And to be honest, I even liked the characters. I would love see new life breathed into this compelling game even if it just remains the only one of its kind.

14- Days Gone - I don’t care what anyone says. Any game that allows to play a biker with the spirit of an honourable warrior is badass. Also, can we talk about how this is one of the few games where the main protagonist is married and remains loyal to his wife even long after?! He may be white, male, straight and Christian, but he is still pretty progressive and embodies the BEST part of masculinity. The parts that drive a man to be romantic, noble and heroic. This game with extremely misjudged to the point of bigotry and it deserves a proper reintroduction because it was going places.

15- Half-Life - This series helped Valve get its jump start and it had the most unique and most iffy type of protagonist in an action/sci-fi game possible yet worked: a scientist. After all, who expect the skinny nerd with the big thick glasses to save the day? Yet, it worked and this game has tons of monsters that became iconic in video game lore. What’s really sad is that a third game was in works, but never saw the light of day. I say we reboot this series and give it the chance to honour its promise to give that third game at long last.

Bonus - Other honourable mentions here are Left 4 Dead because Back 4 Blood stinks, Alone in the Dark though I hear a reboot is in the works, Doom, Devil May Cry and the right way please, Bloody Roar, The Suffering, Fatal Frame, The Evil Within and any other fantastic game series that either went bad due to bad sequels or never got the chance to keep going.

[rubykgrant]

(Sorry I should've specified rvb lol) I'm confused on the anxiety explanation. This might just be a me thing, but as a kinda chubby AMAB person who is genderfluid, I get serious gender envy towards thinner girls (think Maylene from Pokémon or DVa or Juno from Overwatch), tomboys (like Connie from RvB), or androgynous characters (like Rika from Pokémon or Venture from Overwatch), as in I wish I had a body and appearance more like these characters.

Haha, again, no worries~

I guess to expand a little, it gets a little blurry with some of the RVB characters, because; depending on what their gender identity is (and this is also nebulous, the actual series is what it is, but many fans will see the LAYERS in there), is there an "ideal" they aspire to physically or as an attitude, etc (Simmons DEFINITELY has a whole mess of "manliness" issues to unpack thanks to his dad, and I don't think anybody can deny he IS a trans dude... I imagine he wanted to be stronger/more athletic, but he also has a whole classy/sophisticated ambition for himself... but any guy he ever saw who looked comfortable with themselves made him "envious". even Grif- heck, especially Grif. Tucker has been described as having "metrosexual good looks", which most people have translated as him being a pretty boy, and he's VERY comfortable with his appearance... but he gets a little awkward about being seen as "less masculine", at least early on when he isn't as secure. when he just kinda lets himself chill, he actually has an attitude that can lean toward flamboyant or soft. then he feels insecure, and has to posture again). I guess the only reason I have trouble answering the "gender envy" question with much depth is- I'm not sure WHO they may each feel than envy toward (as you have described your feelings with certain characters), but I CAN imagine what makes them sort of insecure (and that ranges from gender/gender presenting, and general physical appearances). Sorry for not being more clear! I'm sure a LOT of other RVB fans have had thoughts in this regard that actually answer the question better (and any thoughts of your own are obviously as accurate as any others~)

[grayrro]

Finished Blue Eye Samurai. Some thoughts, especially on the trans allegory

I actually really expected to like this a lot, so I’m a little bummed that I didn’t actually love it like I wanted to but have complicated feelings about it

If you’re trans masc and dysphoric, I recommend skipping some scenes because you definitely get a full eyeful of Mizu. Which, yeah, a lot of that basically felt like, look! She’s a woman!! Not a man! She’s got breasts and everything

(More on this under the cut + major spoilers)

And if you combine that with the “official” story where the mother who raised her forced her to always “look like a boy” because the “bad men will be looking for a girl”, you get the impression that she’s a cis woman who was forced to be a man for survival. Except I just don’t see that, personally. Just seeing it from a trans perspective—heck, even a cis one—where is the dysphoria? If she was a woman, we don’t really ever see her distressed about dressing as a boy and looking like one. We don’t see her really mourning the loss of her hair or even trying to explore her femininity (appearance-wise) when she begins to hit puberty. You don’t see her comparing herself to other girls and seeing what she “could have had”

Nah, when they start developing breasts, they start binding with bandages and that’s such a trans masc media staple you can’t help but snort. When Mizu gets a husband and becomes a wife, you don’t even see her use that newfound freedom to explore “finally being a woman”. You don’t see her awe at her new silhouette with the more feminine hairstyle and kimono. The most you see is her trying to learn to cook (which, still, is a stretch since that is more her trying to fulfill wife duties), letting down her hair, and having sex with a man with her tits out and all (more of the tits out, frankly, but how much of that is her being a woman vs the show’s addiction to showing boobs).

Also, while you do eventually see Mizu as a “wife”, as properly as she can be, I can’t help but think it looks so… awkward. On her. With the odd-looking makeup and the still-masculine-looking torso covered by a feminine kimono, I can’t help but think she resembles many of my butch and trans masc friends who have been forced into makeup and a dress. Who lower the cinch on their waist down to their hips or flatten their chest to emulate a more masculine silhouette until it looks a little goofy, and like you’re forcing a square peg into a round hole. And that Mizu looks infinitely more comfortable in their own skin as a very male-passing rogue samurai. But maybe I’m just projecting hard

But laying all these side-by-side make it a pretty confusing picture. Freaking Nimona was a more straightforward trans allegory and the character in question is not even human

If I had to conclude anything, though, just based on my opinion, I wouldn’t say Mizu is cis. But maybe not strictly a trans man either. While they do bind, it’s not suggested to be because of any dysphoria reasons—in fact it might be pure practicality. I mean, imagine posing as a man with your chest out in full view or doing all those epic fights without a sports bra. Basically, agreed with other posts that Mizu is probably just very disconnected to gender. Man or woman, they don’t care. Revenge comes first, after all. Gender crisis is further down the ladder of priorities

[nerissalmao]

Unlikely Genderfluid Icons- Anastasia Romanov

So, we all know Nimona, the main character of my hyperfixation movie, is a genderfluid icon. We all know Acht from Splatoon is a non-binary vibe and icon goddess. And that’s not even to mention the rigid-looking dominatrix of gender euphoric femininity that is Callie Cuttlefish (also from Splatoon). Don’t make me mention Shiver from Splatoon! Or Camilo from Encanto! FREAKING LOKI FROM MARVEL!! As someone whose gender is a bit fluid, I’ve always loved characters like that, and it’s natural I’ve been looking for more of these characters I can project my juicy headcanons onto. And it so happens a friend of mine is in the musical “Anastasia” right now, so..

Anastasia Romanov is a genderfluid icon. Yes, you read that right. It’s not because she necessarily has to be genderfluid— it’s because she pulls off both feminine and masculine looks so well, which all fluid peeps have been wanting to do since forever. She’s an inspiration, honestly. And I’ll prove it with some delectable photos!!

See, here she is killing the newsboy look, short-looking hair included..

She may not be entirely masculine, but the baggy clothes and raggedy appearance certainly give newsboy vibes.

BUT! She’s also killing the “tomboy of your dreams” look, with a ripped up dress-that-isn’t-really-a-dress, the spiky ponytail, and in this scene specifically the bike.

Just a girl who happens to be a princess, biking with the commoners in baggy clothes, looking like Jo March from Little Women if she was a redhead with a dog.

So far she’s killing the tomboy look, but you know what else our villain-life-source-stomping not-Disney princess can pull off? That very specific kind of not-super-girly-but-also-very-pink look that was basically invented by that one god-awful pink polo shirt worn by Cady Heron in mean girls!

She’d make a great Plastic. “My name is Anya Romanovvvv, and I am a massive deallll! I will grind your reliquary to sanddd beneath my fancy heeeellll!!”

Don’t forget that she also can be the most feminine, glittery, sparkly roaring twenties icon in the entire world..

How is it possible that she can go from looking like a newsboy to looking like THIS?! And her hairstyle shifts more than Nimona herself!

I could share more pictures, but then I think we’d be here for hours. Especially more pictures of girly’s constantly-changing hairstyles, because heck! She has so many hairstyle changes, she’s genuinely a hair chameleon. And I’ve often wished I could just change my hair on the dot like that, so I’m pretty jealous. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think she’s a genderfluid icon. Or at least an icon in general, crushing gender roles by being the one to save her prince from Rasputin and slouching openly and being a scrappy badarse who knows what she wants. So yeah, respect for Anya, that movie is underrated, the musical made me cry, buy gold, byeee!

[ryuichirou]

I was the anon asking about chap 6!! Omg I loved reading ur response so much. I feel the same about pretty much everything you said, especially your thoughts on Ortho, on how he had much more love for idia than originally programmed. So now taking the opportunity to ask about ur thoughts on the pomefiore trio!! I love rook and vil's relationship so much too so I can't wait to read what you'll say about it!!!

I’m so happy you’ve read and liked the reply, Anon!  I’m glad that we agree on the Idia and Ortho topic.

Thank you for being patient, reading it and even asking about the Pomefiore trio, you made my dreams come true lol So I’ll do my best to convey my main thoughts…

Pomefiore is another group of characters that I didn’t expect to love as much as do now. Boy was I wrong; ch5 ended up being one of my favourites for the topics it handled and the relationships between the characters. We didn’t hate the ending (we’ve heard that people generally don’t like it), in fact, I personally think that if Rook voted for Vil’s team it would’ve been more of a betrayal than what actually ended up happening, but that’s a hot take and a story for another day.

Starting with Epel, I am so proud of this boy lol His relationship with Pomefiore (well, with Vil in particular) started on such a bad note, but he managed to develop such a good connection with them. I love how their conflict in ch5 was handled: it was obvious that both of them were both right and wrong. Yes, Vil was harsh with him and was basically acting like an overly strict step-mother that wants a child to succeed in a way that she envisions; but Epel isn’t really an angel either and he is quite close-minded when it comes to him protecting his fragile feeling of masculinity. And, as weird as it sounds, for a good reason: even though you might roll your eyes when you listen to Epel’s reasoning, his mindset is perfectly understandable when you think about his upbringing and the fact that he constantly had to fight people for underestimating and misjudging him because of how he looks. Isn’t it ironic that Vil is dealing with the exact same problem, but in a different way? Anyhow- I really love how twst handled this conflict and that Epel ended up becoming more comfortable in his own skin without fully copying Vil, so to speak, and that he ended up having a lot of respect for Vil. To the point that he chased Rook when he ran away alone to save him lol

In general, we don’t really like the “awww they’re family” or “he is their son” jokes as they tend to become tiresome really quickly, but with these three I just couldn’t stop joking about it for the entirety of ch6, I don’t know what is this magic lol But the way Rook and Epel just couldn’t sit without helping Vil, the way Rook and Vil were celebrating Epel discovering his unique magic (while giving him advice and supporting him and teaching him about how not to overdo it and stuff), the way Epel was so eager to learn how the heck Rook and Vil met god it was agonizingly long wait before we finally heard their story fully.

… And what a story that was sigh I love them so much. It was very nice.

I think it showcases what they love the most about each other, because this is exactly what made them drawn towards each other in the first place: Rook is brutally honest, but also surprisingly insightful, so his remarks are actually quite useful and constructive; Vil is a perfectionist who is always open to listening to other and paying attention to what’s being said in order to better himself and his craft. And, what the most important thing is in my opinion, they share this burning passion towards theatre, acting and art in general. And this is, like, Vil’s entire life, so of course someone like Rook would be quite special. I am very biased, because this does hit close to home, but still I feel like Rook and Vil found themselves a perfect partner in that regard.

I love all the other aspects of their story too: the fact that they did just sit and talk way past their curfew and during cold winter days to the point that they got ill… If you enjoy a conversation so much you completely ignore the fact that your ass is freezing, this is serious lol

The fact that Rook decided that pursuing the concept of beauty and seeing Vil every day is more important to him than hanging out with beast boys is up there too. There is too much stuff to list everything, I had a minor crisis every time they dropped a new piece of information, which is why it took me two days to watch this part. This is a little bit embarrassing to admit lol

(I also want to mention that I really appreciate Vil clowning Rook every single time he had to speak as him while telling their story, this was hilarious)

Oh and of course we can joke around for ages about my man Rook running away from his responsibilities because bringing skincare to his queen is more important, but the fact that he just couldn’t sit still and do nothing is amazing and even inspiring to a certain ai-robot boy who feels like he also wants to save his loved ones, you know what I mean, you’ve read my post from yesterday lol

And Vil… I love Vil so much it’s pathetic at this point, I love how at the very beginning of ch6 he took full responsibility for what happened in ch5; out of every character that has overblotted so far his reaction to it is the most mature, and the way he handled all the ch6 is also quite mature. I love his kind-of-antagonism/kind-of-not towards Idia: he was his counterpart for the entire book and even though he never agreed with his and Ortho’s plans, he kind of very quickly understood where they were coming from. It’s like he’s been empathetic towards them this entire time, ever since he saw Ortho being super happy after he got compared to Idia.

Pomefiore, and especially Rook and Vil together, are kind of unhinged and surprisingly wise at the same time. Like… they are wholesome but not in a way that would become boring: their craziness and love towards what they do helps to balance things out for us.

Thank you again for letting me rant about how much I love Pomefiore (and book 6 for that matter) and for reading <3

Have a great day!

[katyspersonal]

3, 4, 6 for some VIOLENCE please

Yeah don't worry, I always default to Bloodborne when not specificed, it is my main qualification in the series after all! (Ask from this ( x ) meme)

3) screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

They're kind of becoming a blur, and usually come down to the same complains and topics, but one of them particularly stood out! Granted I should not have been exposed to it because OP blocked me over that time I talked back at a Gehrman-hater that went as far as bullying other fans (oh how rude of me... :/ ) , but I have been anyway because a new mutual shown it to me over featuring "theory that Fauxsefka got pregnant like Arianna is MiSoGyNiStIc uwu" bit because they wanted and explanation!

Basically, a lot of bashing Bloodborne as misogynistic piece of garbage for featuring themes of motherhood, portraying motherhood as a good thing, something about how it was a bad thing that "even" Maria ended up having compassionate side and that "we as fans had the power to change that", Fauxsefka bit I've mentioned and so on. Ending with the "well but don't think that I dislike Bloodborne, it is still one of my favourite games" that gave me severe abusive talk vibe for some reason. "Yes you are so ugly and stupid and useless but don't worry, I love and accept you and will fix you :3".

Like... it requires a whole separate essay to disagree with that logic, but that is not even relevant! Because even under assumption that Miyazaki is a misogynistic freak for putting emphasis on themes of motherhood in his work, I absolutely abhor the logic of "We as a fandom have the power to disrespect the author's intention (that I made up btw because I am eager for reasons to be mad) and make our own ecosystem of headcanons and interpretations that is better". Of course not everyone will accept the creation unconditionally, especially if it has problems or bigotry, but that is on them, and making it a problem of the fandom is just terrible! Spreading that attitude creates that clique/fandom leaders dynamic, which brings me DIRECTLY to one of the questions, so I'll skip ahead:

6) which ship fans are the most annoying?

Mariadeline fans.

^ Lmao ya'll probably fsdgsdf But it is not just because of how they generally treat characters or other fans, but even how they treat other Mariadeline shippers! I've noticed that whenever there is a Mariadeline shipper who is very nice, level-headed and quiet, a type to 'just enjoy their thing', they get obnoxiously neglected.

Look, I WANT to give it benefit of the doubt and say that maybe it is coincidental, but it doesn't seem like it. Mariadeline shippers are a clique of very popular artists and writers that always support each other's creativity and instantly pull in new Mariadeline shippers into a hug, regardless of art skill. ....EXCEPT for the times when the fellow fan doesn't constantly bitch about "wrong" interpretations of Maria or Adeline, doesn't start Maria's masculinity disco horse every other weak, doesn't put a focus on how Adeline had no agency over her choices and was 'groomed' (even though everyone already knows that 'grooming' of Blood Saints was a translational mistake but okay fine), doesn't portray is as perfect lovely cottage core fluff while only faking the possible problem(atic moments), doesn't-

Like, it can only happen so many times before I start to see the trend of the "leaders"/chosen spokespeople/whatever conveniently excluding fans who sees the characters and the ship the "wrong" way. They've decided that this dynamic can only work like this and the characters in it can only be like this, and any varied take is not celebrated as refreshing with the novelty but passively-aggressively side-eyed as disturbance of their peace of rinsing the same exact thing over and over for years, unaltered. Heck, not even novel takes. Novel approach of the person. I swear, they GOTTA be side-eyeing fellow fans that don't constantly start discourse, because why else the 'chill' Mariadeline fans are left in the dust? It feels like hatred is the part of the requirement for the clique, the 'cool kids' and only those they've 'blessed' with their approval, and this ship never SHOULD have gotten into claws of the clique in the first place!

In other words, making the groups of 'cool kids' to look up to is one way to ruin a dynamic/ship for everyone else, and ruin fandoms in general. Like, one of my mutuals ended up disliking the ship because of its prevalent association with the most toxic fans, and I kinda helped them to like it again, on their own terms and with their own (based) headcanons! The illusion of "supportive wholesome community" falls at the seams here and there if you just stand aside and watch for 2 minutes, and how this ship is supported and perpetuated is one of the biggest examples.

4) what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

To be honest, it is ridiculously hard to make me block someone. Usually people whose stuff I don't really want to see coincidentally block me first because, again, there is always a big chance that I pick a very strong language to disagree, so the problem solves itself! Even when I do block someone, in 90% I unblock later for this or that reason!

But yeah, there were a couple of exceptions. Only one of them qualifies as 'annoying' to begin with, though 'petty, smug and insecure in the worst way' fits more? They already gave me enough signs of the mean girl (gender neutral!), and what really sealed it was when they acted as though I grossly disrespected them over pointing out a piece of dialogue from the canon when in NO way I was rude or Redditor brand of condescending. Even told me that I "baited" them. They didn't block me, but I blocked them. Not instantly, but the next time I saw their art on my dashboard. The thing is, earlier during that mess of a "conversation" they've admitted on not actually caring about Bloodborne lore but just collecting prompts from it to create their own thing. It just changed my perception of their creativity and it felt empty all of a sudden, like just a lot of glitter and lights without any actual substance within. I can be unhappy with someone while still liking their creativity, but I decided it was better to not invest any admiration for works that had no real care and passion for the source material within. Normally when I realise the gap between me and another fan's level of investment I simply don't follow, but they were frequient presence on the dashboard, so..

[smokestarrules]

What the heck is a "mean lesbian"?

…I’m assuming you’re looking for an answer other than just “a lesbian who is mean.”

I mean, essentially, it’s a literary trope, and it’s a somewhat outdated and stereotypical literary trope at that. It’s the idea that if a female character is particularly aggressive towards other characters, especially men, then a lot of people will headcanon her as a lesbian, and often in canon, she is one. There’s probably some age-old queer theory behind this phenomenon, but all I can think of is, like. something something masculinity. That’s about all I’ve got.

Now, this trope is not necessarily a bad one, it’s just a tad overused at this point, and if you’re declaring every girl who snaps at people as a lesbian, it’s just. a little weird. I think. But that’s just my opinion.

[bellybiologist]

More Advance Wars Reboot rambling!!

I just finished the AW2 campaign! So i have more thoughts! (Possible Spoilers below!)

-Sensei's Theme's did NOT need to SLAP that hard!!!!

-Colin's co power song slaps too.

-I also really like Flak's, tbh.

-Adder's features seem very "round" compared to how jagged his original incarnation is. I think it was so he fit in the style better, but his vibe is definitely a lil different (not that im complaining! His movements are so smooth, and that gives its own kind of appeal). His CO power animation is A Lot, haha.

-Hawk's theme feels a little weird... but i wasnt really a big fan of his theme in the first place.

-I'm sorta mixed on Jess's redesign and theme remix. She had a specific, masculine vibe i really liked in AW2 and AWDS especially, and now she has a very strong Power Lesbian feel in a different direction. Which is good! I still like it, but it's different. It feels like they decided on making her pretty, which wasnt really her thing? I think part of her appeal to me was she was pretty androgynous, and that isnt there in this design. her theme Has all the parts I like, but has some additional things that I think i just gotta get used to. 🤔

-What the heck is Sturm doing with ANOTHER special last boss theme? Geez, this game has so much music!

-I also forgot how insane Sturm's stats were in the AW2 campaign. my god, this guy.

-I'm glad they animated Hawke blowing Sturm up, lmao.

-Oooooh New design room pieces 👀 I can make the 3v1 final boss map i always dreamed of when i was 13, lmao! This is awesome~

This remake makes me insanely happy. The past week has been pretty productive cuz the Brain chemicals released from playing has been doing me good for my mood (though they are tapering off now. Good things dont last forever!)

Ultimately, i do think the Voice acting was probably the weakest part. The awkwardness i mentioned in my last post aside, It still feels very weird for Andy to be sounding like OG Ash Ketchum (Veronica Taylor), and a lot of the voices arent what I originally imagined them to be. But that's sorta expected when a game has had 20 years to kinda fester in your brain :P

I really hope they remake Dual Strike in the future, or even just had Updates/DLC that added new stuff! I honestly miss the units from Days of Ruin, cuz the Anti-tanks, gunboats, rebalanced Carriers, and bike infantry were awesome, and it'd be really neat to see how they interact with the older cast.

I still gotta go back and 100% the campaigns, buy all the characters, art, and music, and maybe do some war room maps. Lots to do still :V.

[sweetescapeartist]

[Sorry in advance if this gets too long]

After your post about Sonic Frontiers, and especially after reading your favourite character is also Tails, now I'm curious about the rest of your "Sonic opinions". Have you considered posting more of your thoughts on the Sonic series as a whole? Not necessarily multiple posts, it could be just one post with a compilation.

Regarding Tails's role in the series, there have been a few debates for a while after most Sonic fans' disappointment at his role in Sonic Forces. The big problem is that there seems to be quite some overlap between "badass Tails" fans and those Gohan fans who think he was ruined during the Majin Buu saga (the Dragon Ball fandom's endemic toxic masculinity is also added to the mix), while other fans genuinely believe Tails is more compelling when he only fights through gadgets at most and strictly stays an underdog as the story focuses more on his friendship with Sonic and Tails being raised by him. I wrote a post with my thoughts on that debate the night before the Sonic 2 movie was released [https://mashounen2003.tumblr.com/post/678734119366213632]. This is indeed a very complicated topic, with both sides being a bit hypocritical sometimes.

On an unrelated note (sort of), I've been working on a summary of ideas for a Sonic fanfic... although I barely progressed on it this year; also, I must warn you it's not set in the videogames' universe but in the SatAM cartoon's universe with elements from the Archie comics, and the SatAM & Archie continuity isn't everyone's cup of tea. Anyway... Both your Dragon Ball posts and those of DBMeta inspired me for many things I already added to my story or I'm planning to add in later chapters. Sonic does take a lot from DBZ after all, so why not fully embrace that heritage while also applying those analyses of yours in order to provide a refreshing experience instead of the average crossover fanfic?

And that's it for now, I guess. I hope you're doing well, and feel free to answer whenever you can.

(You're okay. I'll try to keep my answer short since I am often ling winded.)

Spoiler warning... I didn't keep it short. 😅

I haven't really considered posting my thoughts on Sonic stuff because I don't really care for the series after Sonic Unleashed in 2008, then 2009 when Jason Griffith & the other Sonic voice actors were recasted. Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed & Sonic Mania were fun tho. Sometimes read the IDW comics too. Mainly after Sonic Unleashed, the series lost its charm for me. But I will keep it in mind to make a post(s) of my thoughts about the series.

Thats another thing... Making Tails and other not playable limits the storytelling. They cant be involved much in the story besides being a charafter Sonic bounces dialogue off of and has to save. These characters could save themselves. Heck! They have saved Sonic! Tails has done so multiple times. From the classic games to the Adventure games, Heroes, 06, spin off games, ect.

As for the "badass Tails" that some fans see? I don't see that and never saw that. That's an exaggeration. Tails was never a "badass." Tails falls under a different category of cool. Here's the thing about Tails that differs from Gohan; Gohan didn't want to become a fighter, Tails wanted to go on adventures. And furthermore, Tails originated as a high-speed adventurer & combatant of sorts. Sonic was fine how he was, but Tails needed something to make him stand out more. Later, to make him more unique, Tails was made into the brains of the group ALONG WITH his adventurous & combat experience. So we have Tails originate as a fighter, then become the tech-fighter who would often go on his own adventures when Sonic was on his. So thats one point I think we disagree on. I do not see Tails as a nerd Sonic. Imo, thats similar to saying Knuckles is a strong Sonic. These characters are unique enough and have their own personalities that they are not clones of Sonic. Tails being similar to Sonic is fine because brothers often share similarities. But they are still very different in tsrms of personality and gameplay.

The new stuff from 2010 to present that was written by Pontac & Graff is bad. It made Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles behave more like the Babylon Rogues than themselves. Th games of the 2010's stripped Tails of what was always an established part of his character and only left the "gadgets guy" part of his character. That's like taking away Knuckles strength or Sonic's speed. And they did so just to have tails sit on the sideline. This was because SEGA heard criticisms from critics and some fans that they hate "Sonic's stupid friends." so SEGA stupidly sabotaged their own characters. So how should Tails be? Like he was in Adventure 2, Heroes, the Sonic Advanced games, Riders & Zero Gravity, Sonic 06, Sonic Unleashed. Tails was not always playable but he was going on adventures of his own and just happened to meet up with Sonic sometimes. And he may have been scared of what are basically demons in Sonic Unleashed, but he fought Eggman robots right along with Sonic during the flying stages. And in the meantime he was gathering intel or actively helping Sonic when he was playable. They took away a critial part of Tails' character and that is just dumb. Sonic Movie 2 understands Tails much better. (Which is why Sonic Team is trying to make Tails like that now, which is simply who Tails was in the 2000's. In Frontiers, Sonic says to Tails that he is fast like him.and smart like Eggman. The games of the 2010's took the speed and aventure away from Tails and left him with only brains. The Sonic Movie 2 captures both his speed and intelligence. Sonic Team has lost their way and are now relying on a movie to correct their own characters...)

The love that Sonic Team had back in the day is gone. Its saddening. The characters were awesome back then! They were inspirational and relatable. I feel that things started going further south after Yuji Naka left and SEGA made Sonic Team release games before they were ready just to have a holiday release, & kept splitting up the team for stupid reasons.

Even with Frontiers, I felt that Sonic Team is trying to copy what made the recent Sonic The Hedgehog Movies so great. The Sonic Movies looked to Sonic's past in order to make an enjoyable movie for the fans. Why can't Sonic Team do that? Becauae the love isnt there anymore. Not like it used to be. Frontiers has Sonic dancing more, give him blue lightning and eyes temporarily turning blue, Frontiers has "Don't Stop Me Now" by Freddie Mercury for their launch trailer music because Sonic Movie 1 had a scene with that song in it.

I think we might be better off if Sonic Team just made a game based off of the Sonic Movies and written by somebody else. The characters and story would at least be fun.

And as a comparison, Luigi is more iddntical to Mario than Tails is to Sonic. Yes Luigi & others are playable while SEGA made the mistake of limiting their cast in most of their games after 2010. If SEGA wants to copy Nintendo, copy their usage of characters & use that to seel merch which results in more revenue. Dont copy Mario Galaxy like they did with Sonic Lost World.

I do like the SatAM Sonic series. I dont remember much of it but it was enjoyable and fun. A fic anout that sounds cool. I used to write my own Sonic fics & even had ideas for games. I might need to read more Sonic fics tho. Been many years since I read them. (One I remember was a Tails and Blaze adventure which made me ship the two lol.) Curious as to what you write. I wont remeber everything from SatAM but I can still enjoy it. And I'm also a fan of DBZ elements in Sonic. That why I liked the games up to Unleashed & Sonic X. They kinda felt like anime stories. Best of luck to you.

And lastly, Gohan is not a badass like many fans think. Those moments are when he is out of control and regrets becoming arrogant/too prideful.

Also, I'm working on "translating" the images of my Non-Self State post to Spanish. That way when you translate my post, its easier for you & you can use the images I'll send you. I'll let you know when I'm done. 👍 And once I send you the images, you can add a link to my post within your translation like this...

Gohan is a scholar who fights. He's not a badass, he's a powerful goofball. Which is basically like Goku & Krillin. Gohan actually takes aspects from both Goku & Krillin for his character. Thinking he's a badass or just a weak nerd is silly. Those are fans who only have surface level knowledge of the characters or are fans who have been misguided by the fandom's inaccurate and beta male ideas of what masculinity is. A man takes care of what's his & will do what he needs to do to protect them. Not simply "fight fight fight." (Most ppl in the DB fandom are illogical "beta males" who think they are "alphas" or are women who are fooled by their own illogical thinking that "beta" characteristics are desirable "alpha" characteristics. Kinda funny how backwards so many ppl are.)

So, unlike Tails, Gohan did not want to get involved in combat. He was forced into it while Tails made the choice to fight along Sonic. Neither are badasses. But both are reluctant to fight at times. They are peaceful people. I never seen either of them as badasses. Just intelligent people and intelligent fighters when they need to fight.

[abri-chan]

Hey again

I agree with most of what you said especially with the fanart depicting Shunuki first love in the academy. I mean of I were to ship them I would assume that maybe they fell in love after they graduated or during that time they became captains.

Oh and I also think that Juu has a more masculine aura than Shunsui. Heck he even uses the pronoun 'ore' (which is used in a rough or manly manner) whenever he refers to himself and Shunsui uses 'boku' (used by younger men or men who are humble something like that). Yeah Shunsui would be a lot of work on a daily basis.

One more thing I would like to point out is how good Juu would look like pregnant. I know he would want to have a family with wife and kids but it would be nice if he had that option too. Personally, I don't ship him with any of the shinigami females. I did see potential between him and Yoruich in the beginning of the SS arc and that omake where he was stripped half naked by soifon and Yoruichi found him like that later. She also helped free him from the tree so I wonder how the convo went at that time.

Yeah Nanao deserves someone who will not make her work as tho she's his mother. She needs to be protected 😔 I don't have anything much to say about her mother tho except for the fact that I want to see more scenes of her when the episode comes out

Reminds me of one of those brave souls events with the umbrellas, he looks so pregnant in that kimono he was wearing. (Women please get this man pregnant asap thank you.) I can see why people ship him with Shunsui because they're best friends, and also I suppose it is suspicious to be hundreds of years old and single. A male bachelor was considered gay. But let's remember women had no choice but to marry, so unfortunately we forget how gay women lived in Victorian times. (There is some good fanart or doujins out there of juushun tho, gotta give credit when credit is due.)

Yaoi also has this issue of roleplaying hetero relationships at times, and making the uke (stand in for the woman in this case) smaller than they are in canon, so the seme can look larger because they're the stand in for the man... I do not like that very much. I can see why Ukitake is thinner than Shunsui because of his disease and all, but I've seen yaoi that will remove all muscles from a man who's muscular in canon. It's like they're feminizing him or whatever, and sometimes they remove feminine traits from the seme that exist in the original.

Do you ship Juushiro with any male characters? Or if at all? (Well there's also reader and OCs out there, so we can find someone for him. )

That's why Jugram is perfect for Nanao, he will serve her and not be a burden. And he's the opposite of her uncle both physically and in personality lol, it's like light and day. I also hope to see more of the mom; it seems my reading of her is quite different from the fandom.

***

I wonder if Shunsui's speech has to do with him being a younger brother/son, that's interesting. He's not humble, well at least not as a young man. He starts off cocky then trauma gets to him. So it's interesting if he uses that speech pattern to be cute in some way. He seems to care about peacocking to women.

I laughed my ass off when he acted bratty to Ukitake: once the spar ended up a tie, he said "nice going buddy, you're not bad". Shunsui you got your ass handed by a sick man who would have won probably if he weren't sick. And you still have the audacity to be cocky? Emotional or mind games are truly part of how he intimidates his opponents fr.

[pedge-page]

Hello!

I hope this isn’t weird but I think you and Romana are friends, or at least mutuals.

Have you ever read The Wrong Way by her? Whenever you post about musk and liking Joel’s smell I think of the mc in that story. She was so obsessed with Joel I can see her loving his smell after a long day because she seemed really into licking him like after he killed the guy 🙈

I wasn’t sure how Romana would respond to this sort of ask or if it was rude to say, but I thought you might agree.

Hello there!

Firstly, I LOVE Roman, and I ESPECIALLY love The Wrong Way. I may have said it before but it was one of the catalyst fics/series that inspired me to start writing. Roman is also such a wonderful person so if you haven't checked out his blog or heck, haven't even read TWW, wtf are you doing here still.

On that note, I think that's an interesting idea! I actually mentioned this to him (and he also said he wouldn't take any offense or weirdness to a question like that!) Here's his consesus:

" I think there’s two ways that it could go. I am inclined to think that yes she would be all about smelling Joel especially if she knew it made him happy. She would never complain. Of course I think a lot of what attracts her to Joel is that Pure masculinity. Like the fact that he is strong, can and will protect her from bad men, and as long as she is good to him, she will be safe.

However, I do think there’s a part of her that might not like it. Considering the abuse she grew up in the smell of rough and tumble. Men has never bode well for her, and it may trigger memories of abuse. "

I do love this analysis as it's a double sided coin for Little One.

If you do have any questions related to TWW, Roman is super chill and LOVES hearing all of it. Thats his baby so he loves to think about all scenarios and situations involving those characters. I'd go on about all his other works as well (GUARD DOG JOEL IS RIGHT UP MY ALLEY) but you should all definitely catch up on their masterlist!

[hnnny]

The purpose of this poll was not to bash on all male Revan interpretations, just to bash on this one specific interpretation, which stems mostly from mischaracterization in both SWTOR and the Revan novel if you know of the horrors of that book, and then topped off with a really weird looking character design. I'll also add that it's definitely valid to be upset at the oversaturation of white male protagonists in just about every medium even still.

Revan can be a woman and nonbinary or other queer gender identities, but they can also be a man. I know a lot of y'all are really just frustrated they defined Revan's gender in general, and I respect that, but the answer is to not place someone's individual choice for their Revan above another's.

There are some great male Revan ocs out there, same with female and nonbinary/genderqueer Revans. Heck, my Revan is a woman and I love her with all my heart.

In this house, many of us just think this design or his characterization in the Revan novel especially does not do him any justice when Revan is a really awesome and beloved character.

There's something to be said about the automatic assumption that cool armored characters are perceived masculine and such and how that rightfully sucks, how Kotor 1 flipped that assumption on its head only to turn back and feed right back into it. But again, the answer is not to say "men bad, women better", because that can invite others to then say "Women better, nonbinary bad" or any other manner of hateful and close minded ideas for people who resonate with Revan in different ways than we do.

Not trying to come after anyone, just trying to make sure we're careful about how we're arguing our preferences here so this post can remain lighthearted as it should. Go ahead. Enjoy ragging on the man a little :)

Thanks for reading :)

Edit: This reblog is meant specifically for being open-minded about Revan ocs for the most part. I am perfectly fine with criticizing the fact that white male protagonists definitely oversaturate the market in just about every medium, as can be seen here. It's just not the point I'm trying to make in this. Again, still a valid and well-founded argument.

I also edited my argument to be a little less all over the place and to not accidentally accuse probably well meaning people of being something that I have really no cause for concern over yet. Sorry to anyone I may have offended. Truly, I did not see much wrong, just wanted to quickly course correct on something I saw

If this is your first time seeing him, I'm so sorry for your loss, the loss being that you have now seen him. Please vote based on your initial reaction to him.

Behold:

[subbyfoxelf]

[book review] blood and chocolate by annette curtis klause (1997)

this is really messy ya fiction that goes to some fucking intense (and i think, occasionally, irresponsible) places. i know i say this a lot about books like this but it really does feel like a similar energy to the kinds of writing i always really vibed with in fanfic but never really intentionally seek out in profic and i really do need to do something about that because i frequently end up loving it.

also it does that super fanficcy thing where it refers back to characters’ backstories in a way that makes you wonder if you missed a previous book or something even though this is the only book in the series. perfect. exquisite. i’ll take three.

i just fucking adore this kind of heart-on-its-sleeve bullshit. and this one also does that thing where it feels like a pretty restrained, conventional narrative for a good long while and the intensity just very abruptly spikes and it’s like “oh! ok. we’re doing this now i guess!” for the rest of the book.

that kind of thing can frankly actually be detrimental if it just doesn’t land for you for whatever reason, and for me at least i find my reactions to this kind of thing to be pretty fickle, and in this particular case i actually found myself completely onboard with the abrupt shift (... heh, shift).

like there is for sure shit in here that i could be obstinate & complain about if i really wanted to, and i wouldn’t even be wrong because i actually do think a lot of it is big-P Problematic, but for whatever reason this particular book just really lulled me into enjoying it anyway, and i like liking things so i’m just gonna go ahead and let myself like this.

(spoilers, cw: suicide mention, age gap relationship)

if you’ve followed my reviews for a while in one form/venue or another you might be thinking, “wait, robin, it sounds an awful lot like you’re describing a guilty pleasure, you said those aren’t a thing.” but i promise you that is not what’s happening here? nor am i “enjoying it ironically” (something i basically refuse to do, heck something i might be incapable of doing). my enjoyment is genuine. i will certainly allow that this is a “problematic fave,” which i suppose some people consider synonymous with a “guilty pleasure,” but i still think there’s an important distinction to be had there.

enjoying (or not enjoying) art is an inherently dialectical process and the meaning isn’t produced wholly in the media itself or wholly in you yourself, but rather in the relationship between those two things. i do not feel guilty about enjoying blood and chocolate. (wow that sounds like a whole thing out of context lmao.)

i am uncomfortable with some of the messages that can be derived about relationships from gabriel’s 180-degree turn from a guy made of literally nothing but red flags to the embodiment of gruff but tender masculinity, given the patriarchy-shaped patterns of abuse many women are subjected to in their searches for mates, and i think especially for a book marketed largely towards young women this does them a serious disservice.

but i’m an adult and i know better so i can separate my enjoyment of this from its problematic elements as long as i responsibly call them out when discussing the book. and against what i thought were pretty long odds when i realized where this story was going, i do like gabriel & vivian’s romance. i do like the guy he turns into later in the book, no matter how blatantly unearned that turn was. and i’m perfectly willing to just allow myself to enjoy that, in spite of all the fairly obvious reasons why i “shouldn’t.”

hell, his ideas about werewolves having an instinctive need to dominate & protect are fucking hot and i could easily see them being rewardingly incorporated into a power exchange relationship? and also like… even in the context where they came up in this book, they actually aren’t horrible? he’s basically explaining why relationships between werewolves & humans are inherently unsafe, but he’s doing it in a very empathetic, nonjudgmental way. and just… if that really is how things work in this world, i’m actually super behind his take?

but what really helped the most is that it wasn’t until vivian had been through something similar to what gabriel had been through, and he shared his story with her, helping her begin to recover from her trauma, that i was really sold on them. because their relationship really is built on them being kindred spirits.

i’m deliberately ignoring something rather huge here, and that’s the fact that vivian is 16 and gabriel is 24. and, i mean… some of the discourse about age gaps in romantic & sexual relationships can be overly rigid. like, as someone who was simultaneously being emotionally abused & manipulated by someone roughly my own age in a “romantic” relationship while also being in a much healthier fuckbuddies-shaped relationship with someone who was almost twice my age, i just don’t see how so many people can see this as such a one-size fits all kind of thing? but in the case of a 24-year old adult man and a 16-year old high school girl, i feel pretty fucking okay saying that this is one of the clearest-cut cases of “that shit is not okay.” and again this is an aspect of the story where i think the book pretty clearly fails its target audience, because holy shit should you never be drilling into people’s heads that that kind of thing is normal.

for the record, i also will briefly mention that i also don’t really think the way this book treats suicide is responsible at all, again especially in view of its target audience. i don’t super want to get into it in any more depth than that? and i am sorry if anyone feels let down by my bringing it up but not really feeling super comfy getting into it in depth, but i frankly just wouldn’t feel responsible if i didn’t mention it at all.

but, again, that really isn’t what decides whether i like a given story or not, it’s just context that i feel responsible to put out there. because in spite of all of that, i really like this book.

it really helps that vivian is actually super into being a werewolf? she isn’t all angsty & self-hating, she thinks her werewolf self is beautiful (because it fucking is) and she is hurt & confused & angry when aiden can’t see that. and gabriel seeing that & understanding it and talking her through it was a pretty huge breakthrough for me with that character. but really i just love vivian as a narrator, and i actually got pretty fucking miffed when a reviewer i usually like found her annoying because she really is my favorite thing about this book.

this is not only a problematic fave, it’s a problematic fave that has me excited to branch out and discover whole new problematic faves in this genre, because i understand that both a lot of the things that i found uncomfy in this book and a lot of the things i liked about it are basically genre staples. and yeah, i can for sure deal with more of this.

a-rank

[roostertuftart]

Obligatory green hat kid ask

GOTTA do kyle yes ofc.

Ask meme

Sexuality Headcanon: I'm so divided on this for Kyle! Really love him being gay, but also I love making like. Every character bisexual for maximum shipping potential- Plus like!! Kyle being a biromantic demisexual makes me so happy :)) He's definitely demi for me no matter what!!! And I think he has a male preference if he is bisexual. I have the headcanon that he actually thought he was gay for a long time because he only really had crushes on his close friends, all of them being guys, until he becomes friends with like, Wendy or someone and realizes "oh shit, I like girls too???"

Gender Headcanon: Another thing I'm mixed on. But I think I'm leaning a binary man (I can see him as both cis or trans) and he doesn't really care about it that much. He seems extremely comfortable with his masculinity which has always been one of my favorites traits he has! Overall I just see him being mostly masculine presenting but not minding being gender nonconforming and not really being super troubled by the thought of gender or gender presentation. Like, oh, his friends are all cross dressing for fun? Sure, he'll join in just for the heck of it. But it's not something he thinks deeply about at the same time, if that makes sense. I like agender Kyle too :)

A ship I have with said character: My favorite favorite favorite ship with Kyle is Stendylenny but to go for more of the popular ones, style and K2 both are pretty good and I think about them often. I love Kyle's dynamic with those two! K2 is always really wholesome and loving and I really like how spicy and complicated style can be! I could go for like an hour listing off rairpairs and crackships I like for Kyle because he's so shippable, but some of my other favorites for him are cryle, kyndy, and one sided kyman

A BROTP I have with said character: Kyndy probably? When I'm not shipping Kyle and Wendy, I love them as best friends. There's this popular trend of them hating each other in the fandom and that's fine but I just cannot see it, they're so alike and they've only ever gotten along, you know? I think they'd be even closer as they got older, especially with how they've both shed a lot of their more toxic traits with time. Idk if it counts but Kyle and his relationship with Ike is also iconic and deserves way more attention.

A NOTP I have with said character: Kymannnnnn I'm sorry lol. Really love it one sided and I have had AUs and stuff where I've been able to stomach them both being romantically involved but overall something about the ship just tends to make me extremely uncomfortable. I can see the appeal but as I've said before, I just cannot fathom Kyle having returned feelings for Eric Cartman unless it was from some sort of fucked up trauma response, which is interesting for plot but if that's as far as it can go for me, I don't think I count as a shipper.

A random headcanon: Kyle has freckles supremacy!!! Also he's autistic and has cPTSD. And he gets a cat at some point even though he's lightly allergic.

General Opinion over said character: Favorite boy love him so much. I want to pick him up and throw him as far as I can

[trikis-turntables]

Dislyte Chinese Names pt. 2

After writing my long ass post about the Chinese Espers’ names I did one for the other Espers too, here you go

Generally, the non-chinese esper names are just phonetically sinonized. Conventionally, pinyin is does not use capitalization so ignore the capitals cause i can’t be arsed to change them lol Note: most of their names are conventional Anglophone names, so there’s a corresponding conventional translation of their names, i think it’s just interesting to note that some are changed for whatever reason

5 Stars// Legendaries: Donar 多纳尔 duō nà ěr Tiye 泰伊 tài yī Lewis 刘易斯 liú yì sī Raven 瑞雯 ruì wén (notably, her name can be a common given chinese girl's name) Narmer 纳尔迈 nà ěr mài Triki 特里基 tè lǐ jī Hyde 海德 hǎi dé Biondina 翁迪娜 wēng dí nà Gabrielle 加贝莉 jiā bèi lì (note: though it would be more accurate phonetically to use 加贝尔 Jia Bei Er for Gabrielle, to keep that feminine -elle form, they used li 莉 instead cause 加贝尔 Jia Bei Er is the usual sinonized form of masculine Gabriel) Sally 萨丽 sà lì (note: 萨 Sa here is the word used in 菩萨 Pu Sa, Bodhisavatta/Buddha, possible association with the fact that she's a saintly healer figure)   Ollie 奥利 Ào lì Unas 乌纳斯 wū nà sī Lucas 卢克斯 lú kè sī (usually Lucas is sinonized as 卢卡斯 Lú kǎ sī, but by using  卢克斯 lú kè sī instead, it reads as "Lux") Clara 克莱拉 Kè lái lā Cecilia 西西莉娅 xī xī lì yà (Pronounciation of Xi Xi is close to english 'sissy'; her nickname in chinese circles afaik is 西西 Sissy which i think is kinda cute) Sienna 席安娜 xí ān nà Tevor 崔佛 cuī fó (okay. so. There's not really a "Te/Tre" sound in chinese with the soft ‘e’ sound; Cui Fo is the conventional sinonization of Trevor) Ahmed 亚罕莫德 Yà hǎn mò dé (Ah- sounds are usually translated as 亚 Ya for proper names, especially in the front; another way to sinonize Ah- sound is 阿, but it risks reading the name as a nickname bc 阿- is a common way to dimunitivize someone's name) Zora 佐拉  zuǒ lā

4 Stars// Epics: Asenath 安瑟尼斯 Ān sè ní sī Djoser 左塞尔 zuǒ sài ěr (I’ve mentioned, but Djoser’s name follow CN naming convention with the surname-given name,  左 is an uncommon surname tho!) Mona 莫娜 mò nà Celine 席琳 xí lín Kara 卡拉 kǎ lā Eira 艾拉 Ài lā Falken 佛肯 fó kěn Fabrice 法布里斯 fǎ bù lǐsī Arcana 阿卡纳 Ā kǎ nà Sander 桑德 sāng dé Alexa 阿莱莎 Ā lái shā Chloe 克洛伊 kè luò yī Catherine 凯瑟琳 kǎi sè lín Pritzker 普利兹克 pǔ lì zī kè Jacob 雅格 yǎ gé (Jacob is usually translated as 雅各布 Yǎ gè bù, so it's interesting that they used 雅格 yǎ gé, which reads more as Jager) Lynn 琳恩 lín ēn (also can be a common cn girl given name) Anesidora 安妮斯朵拉 Ān nī sī duǒ lā Bonnie 邦妮 bāng nī Dhalia 达利亚 dá lì yǎ Taylor 泰勒 tài lēi Nicole 妮可 nī kě Laura 劳拉 láo lā Meredith 梅丽达 méi lì dá (reads as Merida rather than Meredith) Kaylee 凯丽 kǎi lì Aurelius 欧雷尔斯  Ōu léi ěr sī Stewart 斯图尔特 sī tú ěr tè

3 Stars// Rares: Bardon 巴顿 bā dùn (also same sinonization as Patton lol) Brynn 布琳 bù lín Drew 德鲁 dé lǔ Q 丘比 qiū bǐ (lit. Cupid, interesting they changed it to Q but explains his design fr; also also, it fits the chinese naming convention, 丘qiū is a surname) Melanie 梅兰妮 méi lán nī Zelmer 赛默 sài mò Hall 霍尔 huò ěr (no note, i just had to dig out my old dictionary cause i had no idea what the heck that first character was lmao) Freddy 弗雷迪 fú léi dí David 大卫 dà wèi Lauren 洛伦 luò lún Chalmers 查尔姆斯 chá ěr mǔ sī Berenice 贝蕾妮斯 bèi lěi nī sī Layla 莱拉 lái lā Leon 里昂 lǐ áng Helena 海伦娜 hǎi lún nà Jeanne 雅妮 yǎ nī (another instance where 珍妮 zhēn nī might have been a more direct translation for Jeanne's name, im inclined to think the dislyte dev Team reads Jeanne's name as Jean-nie rather than how the fandom reads it as Jean)

Bonus: Sieg 齐格 qí gé (which reads more like Zig than Sieg, usually Sieg is translated as 西格 xī gé)

[lacrimosathedark]

I am sick of DC killing off their heroes

I'm also sick of them keeping the same heroes and having them in like stasis age. It's annoying, especially as new characters are created.

You know what I want instead?

Let them retire.

Let Bruce hang up his cowl and hand the mantle to Cassandra, and maybe Terry later. His boys are already taking after him in other ways; Dick's become a wealthy philanthropist, Jason's probably gonna be the one to adopt 50 kids just by who he is as a person (Tyler, Bao, my personal headcanon for Shoes/Lian), and Tim is the world's greatest detective. Damian is...Damian. But he's finding his way. Let Bruce's children take an aspect of his and surpass him in it. Let him grow old with Selina!!! Also GIVE THEM HELENA!!!!

Speaking of Selina, let one of the Strays or eventually Helena take up her mantle. Maybe Lian can take her mantle, considering Emiko is Red Arrow and Roy is active...sorta. Just more cool cat ladies who aren't freakin Jade Nguyen please (no offense to any fans I just don't like her).

Let Clark be a guide and a guardian for Kon and Jon but sit back and be a person with a family unless there's a crisis. Let him just be a dorky reporter/farmboy with a loving wife looking after his aging parent(s? Is his dad alive? Continuity is weird) and being with his son and actually treating his other son like a son. Because Kon deserves it.

Let Diana stay in Themyscira or make a home on Earth. Or both! Let Donna take up the Wonder Woman mantle! Heck, let there be more than one! Nubia is a cool WW. And imagine Artemis! Maybe Cassie one day!

Fucking retire Hal Jordan. There are like 10 other earthbound Green Lanterns. John Stewart and Guy Gardner and even Kyle Rayner have had a shine in the limelight (heh limelight). Let people like Jessica Cruz and Jo Mullein and Keli Quintela get a little spotlight!

Let Arthur be a fucking king-dad. Let him just live a happy, mostly peaceful life with Mera. Let him have weird father-son bonding with Garth and Jackson. Let him raise Andy! Let him have Jr.!

Ollie will be a stubborn bitch until he fuckin dies, but put him on grandpa duty once this whole "Shoes has amnesia" thing is sorted out! He loved that when Lian was little and it was so fuckin cute. Imagine him teaching her how to shoot and she continually one-ups him because she's definitely Jade and Roy's kid, well-trained by Selina, and constantly reminds Ollie he's getting old. Once Connor's shit gets sorted, let him take up the mantle of Green Arrow again! Heck, he could do it just to prove he's better than Ollie and it'd be great.

Let. Dinah. Have. A. CHILD. She is such a good mom to Roy and to Connor even when she and Ollie are at odds, let her have her own child, even just by weird science! Give her a kiddo that can scream just like her, BAM new Canary. Bonus points if it's a boy or otherwise generally masculine kid and they still wear the fishnets as an adult. Power move.

Can Barry Allen have a break? Please? Heck, give Wally a break too, just for a bit! They've been through so much, let them chill with their wives (and maybe a boyfriend in Wally's case, I see those Nightwing crossovers) and kids and have normal-ish lives. There's so many cool speedsters! Don and Dawn Allen! Bart Allen! Wallace West! Jai and Irey West! Our enby Jesse Chambers! And that's not even all of them, there are so many fuckin speedsters.

I admittedly know next to nothing about J'onn J'onzz, but like, he's been through some shit too. M'gann can take over she seems pretty badass.

Like, just let the old heroes grow old. They don't even have to die, they can be weird wizened mentors with a running gag of 'how the fuck are you still alive?' and they just yknow, stick around. Like Alfred. (Fuck you he'll be back)

The new blood can shine without obliterating what came before.