#especially when there's | never | going to be any payoff for whatever fucked up thing he endures when he's with the bats

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

Does he suck at being part of a family or does his family just suck

[eriexplosion]

Okay so. I cannot take it seriously when people say that we weren't led to think CX-2 was Tech. Because no we were not just having foreshadowing of the creation of an Evil Bad Batch. The clues led directly to Tech.

We have to start with the fact that they didn't kill him off definitively. Start with his survival being debated (and there's no way they didn't know it would be debated because I choose to believe they are not stupid) then introduce a character that lasts suspiciously long and has weirdly intense beef with Crosshair and you already are inclining people towards believing this is Tech.

CX-2 goes through a speedrun of Tech scenarios with 1. the leg crushed by a heavy falling object, similar to Ruins of War 2. knocked over by an explosion leaving him dangling above the abyss from a line like Plan 99 3. going over a waterfall and crawling out in a shot that completely matches the scene from The Crossing.

One or two of these is a coincidence, all three together less so.

Plan 99 notes mixed into The Battle of the Snipers. Which the Kiners only explained as the notes 'sounding good in brass' and nothing else.

He gets distinctly Tech like dialogue and no I don't just mean 'domicile' though we do have to acknowledge that no one else in Star Wars uses this word on the regular. We also have the exact match of 'Who are you' to Decomissioned, and the matching of 'I have simply cut off her means of escape' to Tech regularly saying 'I am simply-' when explaining himself, which again is something no one else in the show shares. Tech has a distinct way of speaking that matches CX-2, especially as of Point of No Return. (And CX-2 doesn't really sound like Crosshair, because Crosshair is just straight up not as chatty as CX-2 and never has been.)

He gets a long, unnecessary scene with Phee where he suddenly forgets how to be a murder assassin and starts playing soft.

He doesn't shoot Hunter when he has a chance and chooses to instead shoot his own man, he doesn't blow up the Marauder while Wrecker is inside, and when Omega surrenders he opts to just wait for her to hand him her communicator. He doesn't even shoot Shep when Shep starts talking back to him, all of which indicated that maybe for whatever reason he didn't want to, bolstering the Tech theories.

Getting into an opinion rather than analysis here but: Evil Bad Batch is a stupid fucking idea, it serves no purpose whatsoever other than a cool boss fight that adds nothing to the story. Having a CX be someone, anyone they actually cared about would have been interesting and actually played into the themes of family and forgiveness that were set up earlier in the season. Instead it's just more people to kill off to zero interesting payoff. It's stupid.

Every person I spoke to offline thought that this was Tech. All of them. People that have never looked on social media, watched a theory video, anything. All thought CX-2 was Tech and were confused when he was speared. This was not terminally online theorizing gone wild, this was a very widespread thought and assumption.

So, if they didn't mean to do any of that and at no point intended to imply this was Tech and were solely trying to foreshadow their 5 minutes of Evil Batch fight? They did it poorly. When the majority of your audience actively believes you are leading to one direction only for it to be some other direction that you meant to lead them to, the problem is not The Audience Didn't Read It Right, the problem is you wrote it badly.

[gilverrwrites]

Oooo don’t tempt me!! i’ll turn this whole blog into a captain cold lovehouse lol. it’s his season now anyways :) all the blue and cold weather juuuust for him… in my mind anyway! question for you, angel —do you have any thoughts on len & temperature play? or honestly any flash rouges & kinks, i’d love to hear! they never get near enough love ❄️🩵

If this account accidentally becomes a Captain Cold themed blog again, I won’t complain ngl. Okay, so, only mentioning characters who are/have been official members of ‘The Rogues’, and only characters I know well enough to have opinions on. Haven’t included Captain Boomerang, cause I already did a full NSFW Alphabet for him ━ [Link] Disclaimer: These are by no means comprehensive, and they’re just my opinion. Take what you vibe with, leave what you don’t. Trigger warnings: Mentions of dub/non-con, voyeurism, and overstimulation.

Captain Cold (L.S) – Temperature Play:

I’ve talked a little bit before ━ [link] about how Len likes to cool you down until you’re shivering. Then he likes sitting you in his lap, stuffing you full of cock, and having you sit nice and still while he warms you back up again.

He loves feeling needed while still being in charge, you know? So, he gets off on how you cling to him for warmth, how you shake in his grasp and quietly beg him for more. How you wither on his dick, pouting and huffing when he scolds you. Melting as he runs his big, calloused hands along your body, his tongue on your throat, your collar, your nipples. He’ll thaw every inch of you so long as you behave for him.

Of course, the payoff is the best part, when he finally grants you permission to ride his cock, and you go for it like a person possessed. Fervently bouncing on him, pulling at his hair, kissing any part of skin you can find.  

He does like more traditional temperature play as well, but he uses that more as a punishment. He likes watching how your muscles tense up and your voice gets high and whiny when he so tenderly abuses all your softest, most sensitive parts with the edge of an ice cube, or the muzzle of his cold gun.

He’d make you hump the barrel, rubbing your needy sex on it while you plead for relief, but he wouldn’t force it inside you. He would, however, and without hesitation, fill your tight, needy little hole with ice and fuck you with it until it’s all melted away and you’re desperate for more.

━ Also into: Edging, clothed /unclothed, degradation, and brat taming.

Heat Wave (M.R) – Praise kink

Despite being quite the hothead, Mick is actually pretty submissive, and fairly vanilla in the bedroom. Sure, he has his more excitable, temperamental moments where he’ll bend you over and take what he needs.

But more often than not, Mick is happy to sit back and let you take the reigns. He rarely instigates, but he’ll follow your lead happily when you drag him to whatever surface you want him on. All it takes is you to whisper, “I’ve been thinking about you all day.” or “Can’t wait to feel you deep inside me.” As you trail your hand down his chest, and he’s rock hard, already rushing to get his dick out.

He’d never admit it in a million years, but he’s hooked on your words, on hearing your praise. He has one hell of an unhinged smile, and it’s easy to hide his self-consciousness behind it, or else he burrows his face into a pillow and squeezes your hips, encouraging you to go faster, deeper, whatever will distract you from his swooning.

And Mick hates showing his body, his burn scars, especially early on in your relationship, but he adores your touch on his bare skin, and your kisses so so much. His scar tissue, muscle, and bravado; it all softens when you caress his arms. When you call him “beautiful” and kiss along his stomach. Fuck. Stop, you’re gonna make this grown man cry.

━ Also into: Pyrophilia, dry humping, cream pies, and white lingerie.

Golden Glider (L.S) – Worship

Lisa has spent all her life trying to prove herself to others. To prove to her father that she is worthy of love, to prove to the world that she was good enough to earn Olympic medals, to prove to Len that she could be an asset to his team and more than just his little sister, to prove to The Rogues that she is a force to be reckoned with all on her own.

So, with you, she needs to know that you know she’s a goddamn prize. She wants to see your eyes go wide with adoration as she approaches, wants to feel your lip quiver under her kiss, your skin to shake when she touches you.

She wants you to pamper her, kneading her body head to toe with your fingers, trailing your kisses along her skin until you’re kneeling at her feet, begging her to wrap her strong legs around your face and give you a taste of that sweet, sweet pussy.

She wants to hear you whisper her name like it’s a prayer as you fuck her with your tongue, or close your lips around her clit. She wants to see your eyes roll back as he pulls your hair, she wants you to power through your aching jaw and your denied core to keep pleasing her because you know she’s worth it.

━ Also into: Praise kink, blades/knife play, scratching and corruption.

The Trickster (G.G) – Bondage

James is a showman at his heart. All the worlds a stage, and he spends all day, every day, playing to his audience. So, sometimes it’s nice for him to be able to switch that off, or for you to flip the switch for him.

Sure, he could at any time escape his bindings, and unless gag him, he’s gonna run his mouth the entire time, but he’ll enjoy every second of not having to think about direction or the likes.

He’ll be frustrated, as you grind your hips against him, ghosting your lips against everywhere but the places he begs for and taking your sweet time doing it, “You naughty little tease” but it makes him weak.

Throw in a blindfold, watch how he twitches and keens his body, but never struggles against his restraints as you finally rub your thumb against the tip of his cock. “Oh James, you’re so hard, you’re practically dripping.”

“Can’t help it darlin’” He smiles wolfishly in reply, bucking his hips, wordlessly begging you to give him more, to make him feel good. “I want you so bad.”

“Well, sit still and be good. I’ll see what I can do for you.”

━ Also into: Hair pulling, facials, over-stimulation, role play, and sex toys.

The Trickster (A.W) – Oral Fixation

When Axel isn’t running his mouth, he has to find other ways to keep it busy. If he’s not chewing gum he’s biting his knuckles. He keeps sucking on the lollipop stick long after he’s eaten the candy, and he’s never borrowed a pen without returning it covered in teeth marks.

But given the choice, he’d always rather have his lips on you. There isn’t an inch of your skin he hasn’t tasted and committed to memory. When you’re cuddling, don’t be surprised if he randomly decides to clamp down on the closest patch of skin.

Not only does licking, kissing, sucking, and biting at your sensitive skin satisfy his fixation, but it also means he gets to leave his mark on you. Without even saying anything, he gets to tell the world ‘Hands off! I bit it, it’s mine.’

And he spends hours between your legs. He’ll stay down there in a dream state, eyes glazed, lips sore and swollen, hungrily lapping and sucking your sex for as long as you will allow. He’ll happily keep going even when he’s tired, resting his head on your soft thighs as his lids get heavy, but if you scratch at his scalp and tell him how much you’re enjoying yourself, he’ll go at it with newfound invigoration immediately.

━ Also into: Exhibitionism, praise kink, somnophilia, object insertion, and hygrophilia.

Mirror Master (S.S) – Voyeurism

Sam puts on a great show at being relatively normal despite, well, who he is and his line of work, which is why it’s quite the surprise to you that he’s actually such a depraved pervert.

Sam likes to watch.

He particularly likes to watch you through the mirror, late at night when you’re all alone, vulnerable and getting yourself off. His breath always hitches when he sees your naked body wither against your sheets, his dick aching beneath his boxers until he rushes to get his suit off.

He’s not afraid to come onto you, he’s not shy or jealous of any lover you might have, he just likes to stroke his cock in time with your own hands. He likes listening to your moans, and seeing how your hips jerk as you chase your orgasm. He loves cumming in time with you, catching the white-hot globes of his release in his palm while you come undone under his unseen gaze.  

He just loves seeing you exposed, it’s like a dirty little secret that you don’t even know he has over you.

━ Also into: Sensory deprivation, somnophilia, voice kinks, strip teases, and spanking (receiving).

Mirror Master (E.M) – Mirror Sex

Evan isn’t so passive. Evan sees something he likes, and he takes it. If you play hard to get, then it’s all the more fun for him.

Evan will twist your hair between his knuckles and hold you up, face to the mirror so that you can see your sorry-looking face as you lose yourself to him. He’ll make sure you can see him too, the hunger in his deep brown eyes as he drives into you, fast and forceful from behind.

Evan will pull you this way and that, allowing him access to grope your body. Alternating between feather-soft touches that make you feel cherished, and squeezing your tender flesh so hard you can’t help when your eyes start to water.

Evan will pull your back to his chest, still fisting your hair so that you’re forced to watch as he traces his other hand along your sternum. Evan will point out exactly how deep his cock is inside you, before pumping you full of his thick, hot seed.

━ Also into: Asphyxiation, spanking, breeding, objectification, and denial.

[crehador]

brother crab's winter 2024 parting thoughts: high card s2

WHAT THE HELL

HIGH CARD IS GOOD?!

tl;dr very flashy and aesthetic, consistently good in that regard, but the story was not always gripping to me. however, with the ultimate payoff in the last three eps, totally worth it imo

full review:

wow wow wow i'm kind of glad i fell way behind on anime and had the last three eps of s2 to binge all at once because hoooly shit i enjoyed that immensely

at no point did i think high card was bad, but it definitely had moments where it didn't fully grab me. there were times when it felt like all flash, no substance

and it's definitely not perfect, i have some serious and fairly significant gripes with it. mainly i'm really bummed that leo, wendy, and vijay never really got fully fleshed out. i mean i get it, finn's the main character and chris is the thinly veiled love interest also important so obviously they're going to take up most of the time, but i really feel like the other members of the crew had so much unexplored potential (especially wendy and vijay, because leo did sort of get his moment as a factor in the old man yaoi situation)

speaking of which THE OLD MAN YAOI!! man there were a lot of moving pieces in this show, and sometimes they came together in messy ways (or didn't really come together at all... some bits do still feel pretty disjointed and jumpy to me, tbh)

but overall the payoff of the s2 finale was absolutely worth it to me, particularly since it dealt with my favorites of those moving pieces: the old man yaoi and the sudden YANDERE ONIISAN ARC

i find myself really wishing the show had gone harder on both of those threads sooner, but like... honestly i'm not disappointed with how they played out. the whole theodore and ban thing could not have been more tropey (YEARS of loathing only for a "the one i wanted to protect all along was... you" and then dying for each other like HELLO yes an absolute tropefest BUT TROPES THAT I LOVE. GOOD FOR THOSE TOXIC DOOMED YAOI MFERS)

tilt has always been fascinating to me right from the character design and i am more or less satisfied with how things played out for him too, though i kind of wish we'd had more of this development spread throughout the series. i guess it was there, but... i dunno. in some ways feels like there could have been More (but i may be biased)

like you gotta feel bad for him, it's a sad story, but also that extreeemely creepy unhinged yandere oniisan "i have been stalking you i literally have a wall with giant blown up photos of you i hate the other guy who is calling himself your brother" sequence was SO FUCKING DELICIOUS LIKE WTF??? stunned and absolutely blown away by how hard they went on that, what a delight

(ironically it makes me think about how unhinged matakara in bucchigiri?! just doesn't work while unhinged tilt in high card works super well, but this is not about bucchigiri?! so i won't get too into that)

i am still admittedly just. kind of like. idk. i go back and forth on finn and chris, as characters and as partners. i don't dislike them but they aren't always all that compelling to me. sometimes they definitely are, but sometimes they just fall a bit flat to me. this probably isn't an issue with them as characters, though, just a matter of taste. i occasionally found the chemistry between them lacking as well, but sometimes it was really on point

same feeling about the crew dynamics in general. i looove a good like heist crew or spy agency crew, whatever it is, when the dynamics just click. and sometimes they didn't, here. i am too sleepy to articulate it properly right now but it just felt like there was something missing, some pieces not really fitting together. i didn't dislike any of the characters, but just... i guess wanted more team shenanigans? maybe there was no time for that but it would have been nice (like this is one show that could have done with a few filler and/or fluff episodes, imo!)

anyway. christ. my eye emoji-ing at tilt based solely on his character design finally paid off after two gay ass seasons lmao. good night

[pilotheather]

LOL

not to rant about it further. cuz this is pointless bc lol itds not even what he did. but im still seeing ppl so angry at it cuz "SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN RIVERRRRR" and again its not just the fact its so cheap and overdone, but... like agan. in the firstplace, i do not like it when a companion is meant to be some special little enigma. so many reasons why thats fucking annoying. but like the fact that theyre a special little enigma becAUSE they MIGHT BE the CHILD of ... another character we already know! like its everything i find most irritating fucking coalescing. like i fucking hate the implications it has just in general that theres some sort of birthright and that blood and relation is what makes someone special. i dont ufcking get it. and its like i feel like the new character, whoever they are, just end up livingin their other familial relation's shadow. like theyre always the daughter of x or the sister of y or fuckin whatever. and yes you can break out of that mould you can. but when, like, the entire MYSTERY OF YOU and who you are is like OOOOOHHH LOOKY LOOK, AN OLD FAN FAVOURITE POPPED ONE OUT ... like Ok. and its like. everyones likie "BUT THERE WAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL" - LIKE, TO DO WHAT? CUZ EVEN IF YOU DONT MIND ALL THAT STUFF... THIS IS LITERALLY SO OVERDONE. ITS SO FUCKING BORING. ARE YOU NOT SICK OF IT. DO YOU NOT WANT A SHOW TO LOOK TOWARDS THE FUTURE. DO YOU NOT WANT A MYSTERY THAT'S MORE THAN A BIG "LETS SEE WHICH OF OUR FAVOURITE TOY THIS IS!! xD"

AND ITS LIKE. IM ABSOLUTELY NOT GOING TO PRETEND RTD DID A GOOD FUCKING JOB OF EXECUTION. I ABSOLUTELY SHANT. i dont think he should have even faked out with it. but i am absolutely relieved thatshes just a normal woman even if it just falls flat. and that the whole POINT is shes normalbut we fucking hype shit up to deaht when its literally not that or anyhting like that. god. anwyays.

oh and. AND NOT TO MENTION. FULLY RESPECT IT COULD GO DIFFERENTLY THIS TIME. BUT LIKE... WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE REVEAL. IF IT WAS RIVER, OR 13, OR WHO KNOWS WHO WHAT HAPPENS THEN. THIS IS WHAT I FUCKING LOATHE ABOUT S6. I FUCKING HATE AMY SO BADLY BUT ALSO JSUT... moffats whole take on her being pregnant and horribly violated (i wouldgenuinely. think this akin to something like rape because god knows WHAT they did to her body) whilst she was unconscious for months for a shock horror woohoo! she's pregnant and wow! shock again! it's river! when like once the payoff was said and done its like... never really mentioned or reflected on at all aside from silly jokes. like haha hi mummmmm. like we see rory and amys relationship break down for an episode cuz she cant have kids any more. fantastic. but like theyjust had a whole fucking child that ... JESUS CHRIST. and i jsut have to fucking sit there and wonder what was all that mysteryt even for what did you fucking do with it in the end. you dragged it on and on for a reveal and bang now what. cuz look im not saying season long mysteries have to have any sort of impact. and this is what happens with MOST doctor who mysteries- hell its what happened here. but once youre bringing in crzy dynamics with that amongst characters......are you not gonna sAYYYY ANYTHING. HELLO? HELP ME? LIKE . I JSUT DONT THINK DOCTOR WHO CAN DO IT JUSTICE, SORRY. I DONT THINK IT CAN. ESPECIALLY NOT WITH THE CURRENT WAY ITS HANDLING THINGS. AND I LOVE THE SHOW, I DO. but like 8 episodes long with scant development and lots of ... really superficial relationships and dynamics right now.... which is such a shame because the cast has chemistry but its barely COOKED ENOUGH to handle even THAT nevermind whatever heavt shit people supposedly wanna bring in

like i feel like when ppl beg for twists in tv shows they dont sdit there and think they just want the biggest craziest twist ever. why dont we all wake up and its just a dream. stfu

[otomebanshou]

Charade Maniacs -- opinionated piece

Just gonna leave my thought's here. Be warned this is an OPINIONATED piece. No means a *review* of any sorts but this was how I felt about Charade Maniacs. THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS SO PLEASE DON'T CONTINUE TO READ PAST THE LINE!

So, after a very trialing journey, Charade Maniacs has been cleared. Defeated like the annoying final boss that drags on just a little too long.

Based on that, you might think I hate the game. Honestly? Yes and no. I think the game's biggest flaw is it wants to accomplish so much but accomplishes so little due to the fact the writing is pretty much atrocious.

Beware of spoilers below.

This otome... should've just not been an otome. I like "among us" plots, but this is probably the most poorly executed one I've ever read (otome or not). I just think there are better ones available as the routes themselves are rather short and you (Hiyori) are practically in love with them before you even blink. Also the LIs almost all fall flat. Minus a few of my personal faves: Ebana, Futami, and Iochi. These three stand out as the most intriguing cast members, Ebana especially once you let the story cook for once. Ebana being my #1 as his route felt like it offered the most payoff and balance. Hiyori's a bit insensitive and makes a very SUS comment about his trauma so I got a bit a beef with her. Futami is also a very interesting cast member as you come to learn he's not quite sane haha. But it made it interesting, plus he's one of the few to not be so weirdly quick to fall in love with Hiyori. Their relationship seems to rely on trust and working with one another which is a lot more believable than a majority of the cast.

Iochi, minus the questionable FBI flirting and suggestive comments with a minor, their route was pretty fun. Heart racing moments, but I found it quite predictable.

As for everyone else? Boring, forgettable, or just whatever.

Honorable trash mentions because I'm still mad!

Chigasaki, my first introduction to the game. I was EXCITED. Just to experience one of the WORST otome routes I've ever played. I've never felt so insulted by the blatant piss poor writing. Chigasaki goes from super sweet and feeling safe around him in the entire common route to colder than the ice in the Antarctic. No seriously, he even gave Hiyori some attitude. And omg don't get me started on the Arcadian father subplot that they just brought up then dropped in the next scene. Absolutely shocked that was given a green light to keep in the game. Wow. Gyobu. Just delete him. I'm ok with flirts (I love flirts actually), sexual comments, anything considered trashy in otome games. It's fiction. But I enter this weird area when it involves the MC being a MINOR. The difference between Iochi's and Gyobu's comments: multiple things really but Iochi isn't doing it EVERY FUCKING SCENE. Scene changes? Gyobu has to make some comment about Hiyori should kiss him, hold his hand, and the sexual harassment he would do to her. Dazai even remarked that he was a sexual harasser. It wasn't funny, it was cringe. And annoying. If he did this once or twice every few scenes, I'd probably not rank him as the WORST LOVE INTEREST ever to exist, but like... he doesn't even change once they confess their absolutely unbelievable feelings. He just stays true to being a sex offender! I'm sorry to be so heated over this but like wow.

Now what did I think about the Other World Stream and Producer, Sponsor and Fanatic and.. everything else? Honestly. Confusing. I think everything ended up blending together to the point I was getting confused of who we were actually going after. Sometimes the Director was nice in the routes or he'd just be unfair (which I expected him to always be unfair) and other times he just was like "yeah u win! lol u can go home with ur boyfriend and they can stay" or they'd change it and be like "oh 9 of u can go but 1 has to stay" which honestly drove me a litttttle crazy.

I only played 2 routes before I took a break for Virche Evermore's release as that was a priority for me to play so it's not like I really forgot bits and pieces.

Then this past month of December I pretty much binged the game so you would think a lot of things would make sense, right? Wrong. It doesn't. It feels like the game wanted each route to be some different among us game. It drove me bonkers bro. So like are you telling me, there are different sponsors??? Why? My head legit hurts even trying to make sense of what I just went through as I write this hodgepodge mess of a piece. I literally just want to make sense of it all. The only positive(s?) I can really say is: This game is only worth really playing for Ebana's route. He truly had a wonderful story and as someone who has experienced some trauma and unwanted touching, I really felt for Ebana and appreciated his story being told (minus Hiyori's awful thought comment wishing she was the pedophile who kissed and traumatized Ebana. absolutely WEIRD of the writers to even put that in, but OK I GUESS!)

I really wanted to like this game. I kept going and pushing because I wanted to find something special about this game. I love Period Cube a big amount but even I will tell you the game is bad, but I liked it because it had charm and still brought something different to the table. In my opinion, this game does none of that, sadly. Especially since Otomate already has an "among us" otome (Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly) and mystery titles that are just... better. But luckily I did find one gem: Ebana. Which is why: This is NOT my worst otome game but, it is in fact, my 2nd worst otome game I've ever played. (#1 worst otome is Cafe Enchante if you're curious lol)

Rating: 4/10, only recommend if on a big sale. Take breaks in between routes, maybe even write down some of the plot points and who ends up proving to be SUS AF. That opener is a BANGER tho!! P.S. Futami's route is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. In fact, it's fine. The two routes I've listed as honorable trash are in fact way worse and more frustrating. Futami's was at least enjoyable, not creepy on a minor MC, and at times he was the most romantic of the bunch. The ring scene is one of the most heartracing scenes and felt very meaningful. I just think the hate is a little mind blowing. Sorry I'm on the Futami Protection squad! P.P.S RIP PALT WAS NEVER WISHED TO BE REVIVED! WE FORGOT THE AA BATTERIES MOM TURN AROUND!!! lol P.P.P.S the "Truth" ending is absolute ass and way too damn long. It's just 2-3 hours of a plot dump that still leaves you feeling "wtf". Abysmal.

[wantonwinnie]

The Bacta War Review

7/10. About halfway through I was feeling “eh,” and while it got better toward the back half, I think it still warrants a lower score than I have usually given for Star Wars books so far. I have a lot to say on this one because I'll be covering the first three books in the series a bit, as well.

To preface, I generally like canon better than a lot of the older legends stuff, but I still enjoy much what I’ve read so far (I also loved playing the KOTOR games). My main experience, albeit limited, is the first four novels of the X Wing series, and overall they were great! I really like the first three (Rogue Squadron, Wedge’s Gamble, The Krytos Trap). However, I think this one kinda suffers when compared to those.

Since they’re all a part of the same series, I’ll talk about what I liked in the first three. Rogue Squadron had excellent starfighter combat and engaging tactical discussion; Wedge's Gamble had interesting military strategy and related controversy, as well as espionage; The Krytos Trap, perhaps my favorite in the series, had questions about judicial policy, mysteries related to Isard and Corran, and Imperial subterfuge.

This begets a problem for The Bacta War – it has to wrap up whatever was left after The Krytos Trap, which wasn't much, without starting much new stuff. Most of the important mysteries were already resolved, including Corran's past, the main betrayal, and Isard's plans. And it’s totally okay to just want to continue the story with another fun adventure! Not every book will keep the same mysteries going, and the payoffs in Krytos made that a stalwart favorite of mine. People will read for the characters they came to know and love, which is totally cool.

__________________________________________________

Spoiler from here on

However, that leaves me in a weird position. I like the characters just fine, but I don't have the same attachments to them as maybe others do, nor do I find them especially compelling. Corran is courageous, cunning, talented, and charming, but is also just an ex-cop who half the time is lamenting Booster Terrik as a hardened criminal or whatever. Booster himself is fun but straight-foward. Mirax is fun but ultimately felt like Corran's love interest more than her own character in this installment. Wedge is Wedge – hardened fighter who always gets the job done. I liked Ooryl and exploring the Gand culture.

That brings me to the main problem – while it didn't need to start anything new, I think it lost a lot of the political dimensions that made Wedge's Gamble and Krytos so awesome. Maybe it wanted to return to Rogue Squadron's focus on space combat or something, I don't know. But I was pretty disappointed in the lack of attention in the 12-hour (audiobook) read to interesting political questions that got asked and were left unanswered by the story (other than to say that they're irrelevant). I mean, they mention the New Republic can't get directly involved because that would be a violation of Thyferra's sovereignty, thus leading to other worlds leaving the NR. This is stated as fact without the perspectives of the Provisional Council or Thyferran people, and even less, barely weighs on any of the characters (and why would they care when they already decided it was a worthwhile venture?). Of course, the in-universe angle justifies itself; Isard is definitely evil, and making sure she doesn't control the Bacta cartel (+ liberating the Vratix from human oppression) is undoubtably good. But Rogue Squadron doesn't have to worry about sovereignty, and they honestly barely care about liberating enslaved workers (it’s more about Isard = evil). And that makes sense. But since we are only given their perspective, we never develop the political issues involved here.

Moreover, after defeating Isard, the establishment of a new government is an afterthought in the story and pretty fucking simple somehow. It’s literally turn the page and now Thyferra has a provisional government joining the New Republic. Blink and you'll miss it.

I think the most dimension The Bacta War gets is from the economic disruption of Isard's bacta supply, which is interesting, and definitely necessary to make the book a more worthwhile read.

I don't feel like the major characters had much development in their story arcs here. Corran is slightly more aware of his force abilities, though highly limited. He and Mirax grow closer. Corran gets over Booster a bit. Wedge gets more tired. Tycho tries to let go of his past trauma for a bit. That said, I don't think the characters are the strong-suit.

Speaking of, diversity is a big issue in this book (as with the first three, where most of the characters started). It’s human-centric, which isn't a big deal (Andor was probably the best show Star Wars has made yet, and that had an extreme lack of non-humans). However, this installment was even more human-centric than the others in terms of the characters given sufficient time, though non-humans were still relevant (Vratix, Ooryl). But more important – I was BEGGING for some non-white humans. I mean, holy shit. Corran? White. Wedge? White. Mirax? Booster? White. Isard? White. Tycho? White. Iella Wessiri? White. Gavin Darklighter? White. Pash Cracken? White. Elscol Loro? White. I just named almost all the major characters in this novel (and many are major to the first three).

There are exceptions (Wookiepedia doesn't say the skin tones of humans Erisi Dlarit or Fliry Vorru, who are both major characters, and Winter is described as "tan," though she's a minor character). I don't want to belabor this point, but I think it’s an important one. The author could have stood to make a few more non-white characters in the first place, especially considering how many non-legacy character options there were. And I've always thought it was so weird that, with Luke Skywalker being a white man, and Wedge Antilles being a white man, the author decided to make the titular character of the series (Corran Horn)... another white man? Not to mention the second new and important character, Tycho, another white man? I think we have enough of those in Rogue Squadron alone to cover our bases here lol. I can only speak for myself (another white man), but I have to imagine it’s difficult for non-white readers to see themselves in this series and especially this installment.

Of course, any relationship or potential relationship in this series is depicted as heterosexual, and all the characters have binary pronouns, though I never had any expectations in that regard. I'm really spoiled by The High Republic and other modern canon books, because those do a much better job than 1990s legends, which is both hopeful and unsurprising.

So, ultimately, how did I feel about this novel? I think the most important question for any novel is: did I have fun while reading it? Yes, I did. The space combat was exhilarating, tense, and surprising; the tactical questions were interesting; and the story had its moments. I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it. However, at the end of the day, I think it’s pretty, erm, skippable. It’s another story with the same characters, and I totally jive with that, but I think the missing elements made it a bit of a letdown compared to the first three books, which got better with each successive one.

I think next on my list is either the Doctor Aphra audiobook or Shatterpoint.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Character bingo for Ortho and Jack?

***Standard disclaimer: These are just my personal opinions of the character(s); regardless of what I may think of them, sharing my thoughts is NOT meant to offend or to shame anyone that thinks differently.***

***CONTENT WARNING: mentions death!***

This is going to sound so bad out of context, but I LOVE dead children.

... in fiction only, of course! It legitimately opens up many interesting avenues of discussion and exploration within the stories they exist in. This holds true for Ortho and the role he plays in Idia’s life, and especially in episode 6′s main conflict. Episode 6 didn’t really focus as much on Ortho’s inner thoughts as much as it did for Idia’s, but I could only imagine what kinds of existential questions and dread were swirling around in Ortho’s circuit boards before and during his decision to act outside the bounds of his programming.

I think that a lot of people underestimate Ortho because he’s technically younger than everyone else at NRC, or because he’s a robot rather than a living being, but it’s because of his youth and his status as an inorganic being that makes him so much deeper than you may think he is. Imagine being Ortho, who exists solely as an entity to help someone else cope with loss. You’re hyper aware of what your purpose is, that you’re just imitating someone else, that you’ll never truly be loved and never truly be able to replace what was lost. And yet... you still want to help that person you call your creator and your brother, because you just want to see him happy, because even if Idia doesn’t have faith in his future, Ortho always will have that faith for him. MAN, IT JUST BRINGS A TEAR TO MY EYE WHENEVER I THINK OF IT 😭

Pre-episode 6, I still loved Ortho because having a little kid in the cast really shakes things up! I He has an air of innocence and the curiosity of a child, but also processes data in a very cold and calculating way... like the robot that he obviously is. That contrast is just so cool, and it made me get really invested in learning more about Ortho and why he is the way he is. DJIASBSODIABD S THIS MIGHT ALSO SOUND KINDA SUS BUT I THINK IT’S HILARIOUS THAT HE HOLDS THE SCHOOL AT GUNPOINT JUST TO SAVE HIS BROTHER 🥺 That’s how you know it’s true familial love, when you threaten to laser beam a building full of innocent bystanders to the ground to force them to rescue your family 💞 And because Ortho is a kid, his mischief comes off as cute, well-intentioned mistakes rather than the purposeful dick moves most of the rest of the boys pull off. I WOULD HAPPILY EXCUSE ORTHO OF ANY CRIMES HE COMMITS 😤 BUT FUCK EVERYONE ELSE. I just wish people would overlook him as a character just because he’s a kid 😓

If there’s one major gripe I have about pre-episode 6 Ortho, it’s that he didn’t seem very... well-defined, if that makes sense? Like, the vast majority of the time I saw him, it was in some relation to his brother. It felt like Ortho couldn’t really act or do anything on his own without somehow being tied back to Idia or having to ask for Idia’s help (and in hindsight, I completely understand why this may have been intentional, because it made the payoff in episode 6 so much more impactful). I’m SO glad the Ortho-Idia dynamic was improved and that my precious robot son can finally be free to do whatever he damn well pleases 🥺 When I saw Ortho in his College Gear for the first time... man, I felt like a proud parent that had just witnessed my one and only child’s graduation ceremony................................

JUST SO I CAN END MY THOUGHTS WITHOUT SOBBING ON MY KEYBOARD, I want to say that Ortho has some of THE best outfits in the entire game. I don’t care what anyone else says, the fact that Ortho is a robot adds to (NOT detracts from) his wardrobe. He can’t wear “normal” clothes like everyone else, so it forces the TWST devs to get very creative when designing Ortho’s equivalents. He can have all these extra functions and attachments that no one else has because he’s a robot, and that really enhances his ensembles. His coolest look by far has to be the Fairy Gear; it’s so fancy ✨ Plus, the outfit holds a lot of character significance, seeing as 1) it’s designed by Crewel rather than Idia, his usual designer and 2) Ortho puts the outfit together himself AND comes up with a special addition to his routine using it, all WITHOUT Idia’s help. The Fairy Gear helped cement Ortho’s new identity, and his special place in my heart.

“I don’t really have much to say about them.” **PROCEEDS TO GO OFF ABOUT HIM ANYWAY**

I apologize to all Jack stans, but he is just not that memorable to me. I think part of the issue is that Jack doesn’t have a clear connection to a particular Disney character or even a group of characters, unlike Leona (who is twisted from Scar) Ruggie (who is twisted from the 3 hyenas). For a game that so heavily markets itself using the Disney logo and its properties, it’s so odd to me that Jack doesn’t seem to be based on any particularly prominent wolf characters across the plethora of things The Mouse owns. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course! It just makes it difficult for my brain to remember Jack 💦 especially when he’s competing with Leona, who has the most powerful presence in Savanaclaw, and Ruggie, who I find to be much more adorable.

Inspiration for Jack aside, I don’t care for his design. I don’t mind a character with an intimidating looking face, but I don’t like how muscular he is or the weird spiky haircut he has (which???? I think is a mullet in the back????). To me, Jack’s best physical attribute is his fluffy tail, but I stop short of wanting to actually touch it or to pet him because he’s a wolf 😔 which is closely related to dogs... and I’m scared of dogs asdhlabyafibifabispfossdipb SORRY JACK

In terms of his actual role in the main story, I thought that he was severely lacking and didn’t fully meet my expectations. I was under the impression that the first years in particular would play major roles, with Ace and Deuce being the main duo tagging along with MC. However, to me it really felt like Jack was just... there, not contributing much and not saying much either. He did do important things in episode 2 (namely telling MC and co. about Leona’s plans), but I thought the way his unique magic was introduced was kind of ham-fisted and could have been executed better. It also did not help that episode 2 had the weakest storytelling out of the entire main story, so whatever Jack did happen to do didn’t get the proper chance to shine because of how poorly constructed the events surrounding him were. I don’t know, maybe Jack just generally came off as having no presence because he’s more of a stoic character that prefers to keep to himself rather than actually interact with others 💦

When Jack returned in episode 3, I felt that his role was greatly diminished and he didn’t offer much to the team despite being present. Ace was the distraction while people snuck into the museum, the Savanaclaw mob students helped overtake the Mostro Lounge while Ruggie swiped the key they needed off of Azul, and Leona stole the contracts. Compared to all of that, Jack kind of felt like more of a detriment than a help (for example, Azul spotting Jack’s tail when the were hiding after breaking into his office), or just generic extra muscle they needed around. I know there’s more to Jack’s character than that, but the main story certainly isn’t doing him any favors. Epel not only got more screen time in episode 5 AND episode 6, but also actively contributed to the VDC team and the rescue team; I wish that Jack had been allowed to do just as much.

Outside of the main story, I still don’t find him to be very interesting. Like... yes, I get that he’s a Good Boi (TM) beneath his scary face and standoffish “lone wolf” attitude, but I don’t find that alone to be compelling. I’m just not a fan of the “looks like he can kill you, but is actually a cinnamon roll” trope in general, so ashdbasoidbapds Jack unfortunately hits a lot of the points I dislike.

If it’s of any consolation, I do think that he’s substantially more interesting when he’s interacting with others (particularly when it’s a really REALLY shitty person, because then we get to see their personality and Jack’s clashing). One of the few things I do like about Jack is his strong moral conviction; it’s fascinating to see how that plays out with the scummier characters in the cast and how Jack vows to stick to his moral compass and live up to his promises even if they are for people he thinks are sketchy (like when he works for the Mostro Lounge to atone for trashing some of Jade’s mushrooms). Jack also has no issues calling others out on their bullshit (ie fake Octavinelle’s crying, Ace heckling him, Leona’s foul play in episode 2, etc.); it’s these moments that I really enjoy and wish that we got more of. I don’t necessarily think Jack is “wasted potential” (which is why I didn’t check that box off in the Bingo board for him), because I can’t think of what exactly is “missing” or could make him ‘better” in my eyes. I think the TWST team definitely did try to make Jack loveable but it just fundamentally does not appeal to me.

[angrelysimpping]

lolol but imagine taking cat bailey to your nightly docks heist. kitty just wouldn’t stop being a grumpy butt whenever you tried taking him off your shoulder to get ready, and you figure he’ll probably be okay and can run if need be, and kitties need stimulation to stay happy! so there you are, sneaking around the docks, pocketing and stealing whatever you can find. you can feel kitty judging you, especially when you sacrifice most of your clothes to create diversions. but after you make it out with your haul you take a moment to twirl the kitty in the air and rub your noses together, thanking him for being your good luck charm.

i’d say the same about the brothel but i cannot picture you bringing the cat while you whore your way to riches 😂

Do you do this every night? Bailey thought you had been whoring yourself out. It was the logical conclusion when you would sprint through the orphanage late at night with hardly any clothes on. With the way some people look at you on the street, maybe you were prostituting yourself. But that's not what you were doing tonight.

No, tonight you decided you wanted to play sneak thief and creep around the docks.

He's a little impressed. You make it all look so easy. Of course, it's really fucking stupid that you're going through so much for such little payoff. He'd started to think you were smart, but apparently not.

Especially when you decide it's a good idea to start stripping off your clothes.

This is why he's had to witness you nearly naked, running to your room at three in the morning? Why he had to take cold showers at the ass crack of dawn? This?! For maybe £200 and some fertilizer?

He tries to stay annoyed with you as you lift him, brushing your nose to his. Tries to fight the low purr that starts up as you mumble about how he was a good luck charm. If he wasn't in a cat body, he might have even laughed at the thought that you considered him lucky.

Bailey situates himself on your shoulder, prepared for the long walk back to the orphanage. The trip was bound to take longer than normal, you would have to hide any time you even thought someone was approaching. The odds of someone spotting you half-naked on the street and not trying to take advantage were slim to none.

Bailey's concern about you- about his property left him tense on your shoulder, scanning your surroundings continuously.

But he never looked down.

Never looked at the small creature following you from shadow to shadow as you snuck home.

He never noticed the fox trailing behind you.

[ladyloveandjustice]

I’m going to post this late at night so no one can see it because omg criticizing a sacred cow

( and I especially don’t want to come off as trashing Nobumoto (only one of the parts I’m even talking about would have to do with her writing actually and I have no idea what was her idea and what wasn’t anyway))

... but I still just need to vent about it, but I’ve seen a lot of people, even other feminists, claim Faye’s character design in Cow/boy Be/bop is “progressive actually” because she ‘uses it to get back at a system that exploits her sexuality’ or even simply saying that she’s a ‘cool femme fatal’ and I rewatched the show recently and she...absolutely doesn’t do that?

She does TRY the femme fatale thing a couple times, but she’s generally not successful. It doesn’t work on Spike or Jet, it doesn’t end well other times. I can’t really think of a time she successfully utilizes her ‘sex appeal’ to capture someone, or where her sexuality is framed in some kind of ‘heck yeah you go girl’ way.

And the two situations that stuck out to me as the most fanservice-y with Faye are situations where she’s completely helpless that leave you with an icky feeling. When she wakes up from cyro sleep, she’s completely naked and her boobs are pressed down super awkwardly and the camera leers at her. There’s no payoff for that, it’s not from the POV of the doctors to show how predatory they are iirc, there’s no commentary, it just happens. Then there’s the part in the movie where the villain assaults her and the rips her shirt open, but it turns out the force kiss was to save her from poison or something, and the shirt rip open was...because he’s a creep? I guess? It’s honestly completely unnecessary, it never comes back in any way, it’s there just to be there, and Faye is clearly very helpless in the situation and very unhappy about it (she even makes a comment about not wanting a peeping tom to see her).

And honestly, those two moments aren’t great. They don’t serve anything. The anime is gross occasionally about Faye and how it frames her body, and I don’t think it does anyone any favors to pretend it isn’t. I do think NetflixBop’s “ now that we’ve made the costume functional and de-damselfied her a bit which means we’ve achieved perfect feminism, nothing else to do, boys” approach is reductive as hell, and the fact Faye had a nuanced character arc and is a disaster and her backstory had some commentary on medical debt and being taken advantage of by the system that was apparently neutered in that show is a good point to make.

(Also I think leaning into the “she tries to be a femme fatale and fails”  to highlight even more how each member of the crew is a hard luck loser would be a valid approach for an adaptation! But I don’t think her skimpy outfit or sexy vibes are deeply tied to the core of her character, or key component that she cannot be Faye without, unless you go with that angle. You can make it about how she’s a fuckup. She puts on a front of being the cool femme fatale, but she isn’t good at it when she tries, and she’s just sad and lost, that’s our twist on the archetype. Otherwise, yeah, it doesn’t add much.)

(I mean honestly, the idea of “weaponizing your sexuality” to get information from men or trick them or whatever is pretty dangerous for women if they try it irl which is why I’m shocked I’m still seeing it talked about unironically as something deeply feminist when used in media, because it’s a. used all the time, it’s not rare and b. rarely done well. And again, not actually ever done successfully much in the anime we’re talking about!) 

So yeah, pretending her design and whatever is something empowering actually, or that she’s even remotely??? successful??? as a femme fatale is something I don’t get. 

(And remember, the movie literally implies Faye doesn’t wear a fucking bra, yet is jumping around shooting people, so whenever anyone’s like “I’m disappointed it wasn’t accurate it’s missing the point of Faye” if her costume makes more sense in a live action adaptation, it’s literally a real person with big boobs couldn’t wear what Faye wears and get through a cartwheel, much less an action scene.)

[lazarus-lazuli]

What are your opinions on people in The Magicians fandom being gatekeepy about Quentin’s relationships with Alice and Eliot. From the beginning Alice and Quentin were made for each other and so were Quentin and Eliot! Alice and Quentin had an intense relationship, they loved each other so much, and even in times they weren’t getting along the love never died. Quentin sacrificed so much to bring Alice back even though he knew it would damage their relationship! Same thing with Eliot and Quentin! From the beginning Eliot was such a supportive friend to Quentin while he was with Alice. And when Q and Alice broke up his relationship with Eliot started to blossom and they had a beautiful life (that we didn’t get to see unfortunately) together. Quentin spent an entire season trying to bring Eliot out of that possession! It’s obvious that Quentin was in love with Alice and was in love with Eliot too! I’m sick of people trying to pretend like Quentin was only in love with Alice or he he was only in love with Eliot. Bisexual men exist for fucks sake! What do you think?

I don’t think Alice was in love with Eliot per se (show canon wise), but I think they have a very interesting dynamic and it’s pretty garbage that it wasn’t explored more outside of that one episode in season 5 and a few interactions in season 1. The fact they both are in love Quentin is a good jumping off point but they never went much further than “Yep, we both love him, that much is true”. They could have been great friends but nope, we’re not allowed to eat good food in this house. Not after 4x10 aired, anyway (save for 5x05 and 5x06; I will die on my sword for those episodes). 

I think both relationships got the short end of the stick in regards to writing (in fact most of the relationships on The Magicians don’t really get a chance to flourish; the ones they established early on ended up crashing and burning and then the ones they established later on that were frankly really strange writing decisions without much thought/development that ended up being endgame... and I do say this despite my soft spot for Margosh). With Eliot it’s obviously way more egregious because he’s a gay character that never got a proper love story; even the one that was established with Quentin was taken out by the knees just when the writers confirmed that there were mutual feelings there. It was never a matter of queerbaiting, it was a matter of they WERE queer and they WERE in love and the writers decided to fucking take the plotline out back and shoot it anyway because they just HAD to kill the main white male lead despite the fact he was bisexual and mentally ill. If Jason wanted to leave/his contract was up and he didn’t renew it then whatever, his prerogative, but the writers could have done literally anything else to sideline Quentin. At the very least, they could have given him and Eliot some closure. But NOPE straight to Superhell for gay crimes. That’s how they decided to end his nearly completed arc.

However, I feel like his relationship with Alice got treated with the about the same amount of respect despite it being a “Straight” ship. I think that’s why people are pretty shit about it (that and some people are just highkey misogynistic and hate female characters, especially ones that “get in the way” of mlm ships); they just kind of dropped the ball and made it almost uncomfortable to watch. 

Their relationship was not nearly as healthy as the one between him and Eliot; in fact I would argue it was pretty toxic. But they still loved each other and still fought hard for each other, even to each others detriment (namely how pissed Alice was when Quentin made her human again).  I have no idea what the writers were going for when towards the end they threw him and Alice back together. Seriously, in my opinion they should have just been friends and supported each other because they do love each other very much, they just weren’t in the right place in their lives to work as a couple unfortunately. And honestly that would have been much more realistic than Alice running back into Quentin’s arms and Quentin taking her back. It’s like she wasn’t allowed to be an independent character outside of her relationship with him (but that’s a whole other discourse and I have enough to say about this aspect of it alone).

Then to add insult to injury he didn’t even so much as LOOK at Eliot when they brought him back, which makes absolutely NO sense considering how for the whole season up to that point he stood up to a God-powered entity that could have snapped his neck on a whim on behalf of the man he loved. Then the writers were like “lol cool, anyway we’re killing Quentin so he doesn’t get to have any meaningful relationships or even interactions with his love interests or even his best friends today” and threw it all out the window. Like, you wanna talk BAD finales... 

Sometimes I wish I was a fly on the wall in the writers’ room while they were working this shit out because honestly what level of brain rot do you need to have to take all these interesting characters and relationships and do the worst things possible to them? It’s like they WANTED everyone to ragequit the show. Long story short the more I think about the way certain relationships on the show are written the more I wanna slam my head through drywall. It was so good in so many ways but then they completely bungled within the span of like THREE EPISODES!

All that being said, I don’t blame some people for being weird and gatekeepy about certain ships because of the end of season four. However, I feel like everyone has a good dynamic (or at least a dynamic that was good at one point or another) and people have the right to ship who they want. SO much setup with so little payoff; if people wanna fix it via fanfiction or just straight up ship it anyway they’re allowed to. Like you said, Quentin is bisexual and he loves both Eliot and Alice; one love does not invalidate the other regardless of personal opinions on which should have been endgame/how well the respective relationships were handled writing wise.

PS while I personally prefer Marqueliot but Alice/Quentin/Eliot is valid too. 

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Parallels | Chapter 20

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist! | Parallels Masterlist

Characters: OC! Violet Grace Dawson, Luke Patterson, Julie Molina, Carrie Wilson, Bobby Wilson, Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer, Flynn nolastname, Willie nolastname, Nick Danforth-Evans, Dirty Candy 

Guideline: Sunset Universe is the universe in which Sunset Curve is famous and Violet is friends with Carrie, Julie and Flynn. Candy Universe is the universe in which Dirty Candy is more famous and Sunset Curve has broken up. 

Song(s) used: Perfect Harmony - Julie and The Phantoms

Warnings: Bit of cursing

Words:  2,777

The knock on Alex’s door startled him a little. He was getting ready for the day, not expecting anyone to knock on his door before nine in the morning. None of the boys were ever up that early. 

“Come in?” he called, making it sound more like a question than a command. 

The door slowly inched open, revealing a shy-looking Violet in the doorway. He wasn’t used to this version of Violet. He’d befriended the confident, sassy version of her. The one that just barged into rooms, owning her place on this earth. 

“Vi, hey!” he greeted, a little surprised to see her there. 

She chuckled slightly, nervously fiddling with her handbag. “I don’t know why I’m here, but something told me this morning that I should come and have a chat with you…” 

Alex’s head tilted slightly. 

“I had a dream about us talking about a song you wrote. It felt more like a memory than a dream, so I felt like I should… I don’t know… Come and talk to you?” 

A chuckle erupted out of Alex. “I had a conversation with Violet before she left. I showed her a song I wrote.” He turned to his nightstand and grabbed the notebook he had left on it. Opening it on the right page, he showed it to Violet. 

Something inside her shifted. She hadn’t worked on any music since getting back, but she felt as though Alex did need her help a little, as though he was asking her for some help. With more than just the song. 

Her eyes skidded across the page. She could feel the hurt and melancholy seep off the page. She could only imagine what it would sound like with the music added to it. 

“You should show this to the boys,” she whispered, amazed by the power this song held. 

Alex shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not today, at least. Our manager is coming over soon for a meeting.” 

“All the more reason to show them!” Violet exclaimed excitedly. This was the most joy she had felt since returning to this universe. “I know what this song is about, Alex. I know about Willie…” 

The mention of the boy’s name caused Alex’ head to snap up in surprise. “How do you know about Willie?” 

“You guys are actually in a relationship in the other universe,” she told him with a small smile and she could see the relief on his face. “Why’s it you’re not out in this universe?” 

“Management,” he replied angrily. Violet decided not to push it. She could feel the frustration around the topic. “That’s why I can’t show this song today. Not when our manager is coming over.” 

A burst of confidence coursed through Violet as she spoke the next words. “Do you mind if I sit in on this meeting?” It surprised herself a little, but she went with it anyway. 

“Why?” Alex questioned, shutting his notebook and placing it back on his nightstand. 

Violet shrugged. “I feel like it’s a good day for a meeting.” 

While Alex went to wake up the boys, Violet occupied herself in the kitchen, getting some breakfast ready for them. In her mind, she went over the things she would say to their manager. There were a bunch of things she wanted to say. A bunch of which were things she knew the other Violet would say. 

“What are you doing here?” Reggie asked when he entered the kitchen, a surprised smile on his face. 

Violet snapped out of her thoughts, facing the boys that walked in. “Getting you guys prepped for this meeting with your manager,” she replied and handed them plates with stacks of pancakes. 

The boys happily ate the breakfast she’d made, no questions asked. Not even when she joined them in the music room when their manager had arrived. All five of them settled on the couch while their manager sat on the armchair. 

“Okay, I’m gonna cut to the chase. Here’s what we’re gonna do to promote your new album; a launch party at the mansion, like we’d done last time. After this, all four of you will be seen with at least one girl on your arm.” The boys stirred in their seats when the manager’s eyes landed on Violet. “But I can tell one of you is already on that.” 

Violet couldn’t help but roll  her eyes at him. “Seriously?” she spoke up, surprising everyone in the room, including herself. 

“Excuse me?” The manager challenged. 

“I’m gonna cut to the chase,” she started, mimicking the boss himself, “Here’s what we’re gonna do for the promotion of their next album;” she raised her voice a little when saying the next words, “actual promotion of the album.” 

“I’m sorry?” he scoffed. 

“Yeah, you should be sorry.” Violet’s heart started beating faster as she continued. “You’ve been living off these boys’ lives without asking them what they wanted. They wanna make music. They wanna love who they wanna love without any restrictions. They wanna live their lives and be them. Authentically. Unapologetically.” 

The boys stared at Violet with wide eyes and surprised smiles. This was the Violet they had come to know. The Violet that had lived here over the summer. Had they switched again without them even noticing? 

“I’m sorry but who are you to tell me how to run my business?” 

Violet stood up from her spot on the couch next to Alex. “I’m Violet Grace Dawson, and I’m gonna need you to step the fuck up and let these boys do whatever they wanna do. Let them make the music they wanna make. Let them love who they wanna. It’s not gonna affect their music or their success. If anything, them being true to themselves will attract even more people because they’re gonna be able to identify themselves with them. The whole world is queer, why not let this band be queer?!” 

“It’s been proven that straight white men have more success than the queer,” the manager objected. “And what are you gonna do against me, huh? Little girl?”

Violet scoffed. “If you’re not gonna be a good manager to them–” she thought about what she was gonna say next and eventually settled on, “I’m gonna do it myself!” 

The man let out a bitter laugh. “As if a child like you would ever be able to manage a band like this one!” 

“This child has her connections. My mother happens to be a lawyer and my father is a manager himself. Used to be pretty good in this game. So either you step the fuck up or I’m gonna get this band the manager they deserve!” 

Her face had gone beet red, her hands clammy and her heart was pounding. That was exhilarating and scary at the same time. But the payoff was more than worth it. The manager got up from his chair, regarded Violet once more before turning to the boys. 

“You’re fired,” he said to them, but all four of them shook their heads. 

“You can’t fire us,” Luke said and got up as well. “Because we’re firing you.” 

Everyone held their breath as the guy opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and turned to leave the room. A collective sigh echoed off the walls before the gang erupted into cheers while wrapping Violet up into a group hug. 

“Did you switch places with the other Violet again?!” Bobby questioned excitedly. 

Violet giggled. “Nope, still me… Gosh that was scary!” 

“Your parents really can help us though, right?” Reggie queried anxiously. 

“Obviously. My dad owns a chain of supermarkets, but he used to be a music manager back in his days. I’m sure if he knew he had a band as great as this one, he’d get back to that world asap!” 

“You’re amazing,” Luke told her, shaking his head. 

“Thanks for doing this for us, Vi,” said Alex. 

She smiled at him. “Don’t miss the gun at the starting line.”

   While the boys tried to figure out a way to switch the two Violets back, the girl herself kept her mind preoccupied with Dirty Candy rehearsals. Though she wasn't sure what to think of the new route the band was going into, especially since she had no clue how to play the drums. 

She asked the girls to focus on choreography right now, stalling every possible instrument-rehearsal for as long as she could. Thankfully, Carrie helped her out and came up with new excuses every single day. 

“Are you okay?” Carrie asked Violet at the end of the Dirty Candy rehearsal. 

“Yeah,” Violet breathed out, “I’m really feeling it today, you know? Keeps my mind off of things.” 

Carrie knew what she meant by ‘things’. It was Luke. She knew that if Violet stopped, she’d be thinking of the boy she had fallen in love with. The boy from the alternate universe. 

“Should we try and find a way to get you back?” Carrie then asked. “We did it once, I’m sure we can do it a second time? Which is technically a third since  the first was accidental…” Carrie’s blabbing reminded Violet of other Carrie. She was this intense, this excitable. 

“I’m sure that, if the universe wants me back, it’ll do its job.” 

Violet knew there was nothing she could do to switch them back. The universe had to figure this one out by itself and all she had to do was wait. Wait and wait and write. That same night, she picked up a pen and her notebook. 

“Don’t blink, no I don’t wanna miss it One thing and it’s back to the beginning ‘cause everything is rushing in fast Keep holding on, never look back And it’s one-two-three-four times That I’ll try for one more night Light a fire in my eyes I’m going out of my mind” 

Then the melody in her mind switched, as though someone had switched the radio station. For a second, she heard Luke singing. She heard his voice, singing these words to her that she had never heard before. Words that were meant for her to hear. Words she needed to hear. 

Not wanting to forget those words, she flipped through to an empty page and started jotting them down while her heart bled and beat faster at the same time. These were Luke’s words. She could feel it. This was from him, to her. 

This was the perfect harmony. 

After Reggie, Alex and Bobby had left the rehearsal space, Luke and Violet were the last ones left. There was a comfortable silence wrapped around them as they sat on the couches, basking in each other’s company. 

“How did you do that?” he asked, “With the manager? Back in the day, you barely dared to say ‘hello’ to strangers, let alone give off on our manager like that.” 

Violet shrugged, “I may have learned a thing or two about confidence from Carrie and Luke – the alternate universe versions of you.” 

Luke couldn’t help but smile at that. “If you could, would you wanna go back?” 

The question had taken Violet aback a little. Would she want to go back? She did miss Carrie and Bobby’s bickering. She missed Reggie’s smart ass and Alex’s sass. She even missed Dirty Candy a little. 

She missed Luke. More than anything. 

“If I could, yes…” Luke tilted his head slightly, urging her to elaborate. “I felt right, there, you know? Like a fish in water. That was my place, my home. More so than this has ever been…” Luke shot her a tight-lipped smile. “But there’s no way I’m ever gonna be able to get back.” 

There was nothing Luke could say to that. He wanted to help her. Somehow. Someway. If it would mean this Violet could be happy. If it would mean he’d get his Violet back. But there was nothing he could do about that. All he could do was make this universe as bearable as possible for this Violet. 

“I started writing a song, by the way,” Luke announced and got up to retrieve his songbook from the piano wing. He opened it to the right page and showed it to her. At first glance, Violet could tell this was a song he’d written with Violet in his mind. 

Something this Violet had wanted him to do for years. 

Violet got up from the couch and made her way to the piano. She sat down and started playing the keys, a sweet melody floating out of the majestic instrument. Her eyes quickly found Luke’s, urging him to start singing. 

“Step into my world Bittersweet love story about a girl Shook me to the core Voice like an angel, I've never heard before”

Violet smiled to herself. Who’d have thought that this guy, whom she was convinced was the biggest jerk on the planet, would write this song for a girl? A version of herself. A better, more confident version of herself. But that was something she needed to shake off. 

She took the next verse, just to preoccupy her own mind with something other than her alternate self. 

“Here in front of me Shining so much brighter than I have ever seen Life can be so mean But when he goes I know he doesn't leave”

Their voices blended together on the chorus and it reminded them both of each other’s parallel self. Though their personalities were completely different, their voices still sounded the same. Their voices still worked so well together. 

“The truth is finally breaking through Two worlds collide when I'm with you Our voices rise and soar so high We come to life when we're In perfect harmony”

“Whoa, whoa Perfect harmony Whoa, whoa Perfect harmony”

Luke grabbed Violet’s hands, pulling her up from the piano stool and guiding her towards the middle of the rehearsal space whilst they alternated lines. 

“You set me free”

“You and me together is more than chemistry”

Holding her hands close to him, the two sang to each other, almost forgetting this wasn’t the song for the two of them, but rather for their alternate selves. 

“Love me as I am I'll hold your music here inside my hands”

“We say we're friends, we play pretend You're more to me, we're everything Our voices rise and soar so high We come to life when we're In perfect harmony”

“I wrote a song,” Violet had told Luke. She had written a song and now the two of them were dancing together. As though they’d forgotten all about the parallel universes and they were singing to the person they had fallen in love with over the past few months. 

“Whoa, whoa Perfect harmony Whoa, whoa Perfect harmony”

It felt so natural, dancing and singing together. Like they had been doing it for years. 

Luke then stopped, holding her hands in front of him as they sang the bridge together. They were all smiles and glistening eyes. In a dream-like state, hoping their parallel selves would feel what they were feeling. 

“I feel your rhythm in my heart, yeah You are my brightest, burning star, whoa-whoa I never knew a love so real (so real) We're heaven on Earth, melody and words And when we are together we're In perfect harmony”

Luke then swayed her to the left, then to the right. She twirled and they shuffled along to the music in their heads. 

“Whoa, whoa Perfect harmony Whoa, whoa”

Violet almost felt like they were in Dirty Dancing, her favorite film, and they were having a moment like Johnny and Baby. Intimate. Sensational. Craving the wrong person. 

“We say we're friends We play pretend You're more to me We create”

Luke had twirled her inwards before twirling her outwards, letting her turn and turn and turn until she returned to him from the other side. 

“a perfect harmony”

The girl that had just been in his arms seconds ago, had gone. She’d disappeared and instead, reappeared on the other side. He knew right then and there that it wasn’t the same girl. He knew who he had caught in his arms. 

“Violet,” he whispered, looking into those brown orbs he’d come to love. “It’s you, isn’t it?” 

The girl looked around her. Seconds ago, she was dancing with Luke in the rehearsal space in Beverly Hills. Now, she found herself in Luke’s arms in Julie’s garage. She was back. She was home. 

“I’m home,” she whispered before Luke kissed her. Sweetly. Hungrily. Lovingly. 

She was back home. They managed to switch them back. Once more. 

To the universe where she felt most herself. 

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[maxgrayarchived]

6 Tips for Teen Writers

    If you’re a teenager and you plan on becoming a full time writer, I’m certain that you’re making things way too hard for yourself. I recently graduated high school and I have a very clear perspective on all the stupid shit I used to do, and all the ways I made things way more difficult than they had to be. If you care about yourself, you’ll read through this post. 

    1. You don’t have to choose one thing 

    When I was in middle school, I started drawing. I didn’t get very far into the process before I was put under the notion that I wasn’t allowed to do multiple things- That I had to put my focus on one thing and centre my life around that. I’d been writing since the first grade, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life, so I assumed I was wasting my time learning to draw. 

    Now I’m eighteen years old and I’m getting back into it, and it’s really frustrating. Getting over creative learning curves is so much harder when you’re older, because you’re more cynical and you judge yourself harder. I could have done that when I was younger, and not been so frustrated today. 

    When you’re in school, you don’t need to decide that you want to be a writer, and only a writer. You can dabble in whatever creative hobbies you want, however much you want. 

    2. Don’t take yourself too seriously 

    This was definitely my biggest mistake. I scrutinized every decision I made, whether it had to do with writing or not, and put myself under the pressure of only making decisions that a professional, full-time writer would make. I played far too little video games in high school, I watched far too little movies, I spent too little time with family, and I had too little friends. I sacrificed way more than I had to or should have, which almost definitely did me more harm than good. 

    And I still have that bad habit. 

    Your goal should not be to publish as soon as possible. Even if you do publish a novel at eighteen years old (which you almost certainly will not), you’ll probably regret it within six months. 

    And you should not scrutinize the quality of your work too much. Write because you enjoy writing and let that be it. It’s not that serious right now. If you get critique partners, do it because you’re excited to meet and work with other writers, and see the increase in quality as a plus. 

    3. Don’t focus on marketing 

    Have a writeblr because you love talking about writing. Have an bookstagram because you love taking pretty pictures of books. Write because you love writing. 

    I know it’s hard, especially if you’re like me and you actually love marketing, but don’t put yourself on some strict, rigorous marketing schedule when you’re fucking fourteen years old. Have a note on your phone or a notebook to write down all the things you want to do with your platform, and maybe passively play with some of those ideas, but calm down. You don’t need a huge following right now, and just by being active and loving writing, you’ll slowly but surely build enough of an audience that you’ll have what you need by the time you’re ready to start marketing for real. 

    4. Choose life over writing

    I mentioned earlier that I made way more sacrifices than I should have. If a group of friends invites you to the movies, and you want to go, then go. I don’t care if you’ve written that day or not. I don’t care if you’re written that week or not. If you want to spend a few weeks around Christmas time not even thinking about your current wip, then do it. 

    You don’t need a reason to live your life, or an excuse. Life experience is vital to being a good writer and you don’t have any deadlines.

    Jenna Moreci says a lot that you have to give up a lot of your personal life to be a full time writer- And she’s right. But that girl is thirty fucking years old. You’re allowed to hang out with friends, and you’re allowed to play video games.

    5. Choose a job you can settle for 

    Sacha Black mentions that the job she had before she switched to writing full time was something she could ��do in her sleep.’ She was even actively avoiding a promotion because she didn’t want to lose that aspect of the job. 

    If you can help it, you should get a job that you can do in your sleep, so that you can come home every day with as little energy expended as possible so you can spend it on writing. You need a job that you can comfortably sit at for probably around ten years while you work on your platform and your story/ies. 

    And remember: No matter how easy it is, if it doesn’t pay the bills, it’s not the right job. 

    6. Take risks 

    You’ll never again be in such a perfect place to experiment than you are while you’re in school (that’s not to say you can never experiment again, but this is when you’ll have the most payoff). If you call yourself a contemporary writer, but you just got an idea for a high fantasy novel, poke around at it a bit! You might find yourself really excited about it. If you exclusively write novels, but you have an idea that’s just perfect for a short story, try it out. You never know what you’ll enjoy until you try it. 

    At the end of the day, my biggest tip is to not put so much pressure on yourself. As ShaelinWrites says, your writing is at its best when you enjoy it. 

[spiders-hth-is-an-outlier]

Today in Strongly Worded Opinions (That You Didn't Ask For), I'm going to assert that there are too objective ways to measure whether or not a relationship is strong in story terms – by which I mean, unrelated to whether or not readers/viewers personally like the dynamic or the chemistry of the actors (in such cases as there are actors involved).

So for the sake of clarity, be ye advised: this isn't about shipping, fuck it, ship whatever you want idc.  Shipping a strong relationship isn't inherently better than shipping a weak one – heck, you could just as easily argue that it's the lazier, less creative route.  Also, I don't care?  I don't care, it's just fandom.  Follow your arrow.  This is about ways to discuss whether or not a relationship introduced into a text succeeds or fails as an element of the story – or really as I'm going to prefer calling it, if a given relationship forms a strong or weak story element.

For this I'm presuming that you're creating a relationship between a protagonist and a secondary character introduced as a piece of the protagonist's overall story – protagonist/protagonist relationships aren't really a different situation, but they do have more moving parts, so for simplicity's sake, let's   stick with a Main Character (we'll call that M) and a Significant Other (S for short).  Also, these relationships by no means have to be romantic; any relationship can be measured as weak or strong in story terms.

Also, I'm going to say everything here as though it were factually true, even though it's just my opinion, which is correct, but if you disagree then it's only my opinion, but I am correct.  Ready?  Okay!

Strong relationships have story functions; in reality nothing means anything and people just like each other because they do, but fuck reality, it's a huge narrative mess.  And my basic premise here is that the story function of a strong relationship falls under one (or more, if you wanna get real fancy) of these three categories:

The relationship can unlock under-explored elements of M's story or character through mirroring or intimacy (often shows up as “friends to lovers”).  There is backstory that hasn't been unearthed yet, or some reaction or experience in M's life that could advance the story, and S can serve as a means to get at it.  Maybe M and S share a similar trauma or life story; maybe S is the first person M feels able to open up to about something profound and relevant.  Maybe part of M's story is a conflict between how they seem to others and how they see themselves or their own potential; maybe S is the person who sees them the way they see themselves...or sees M as the person they're afraid they'll never be.  The story goal being met here is giving M a boost toward successful completion of their story arc, so even though there could be conflict, S is fundamentally pulling on the same side as M in the major story conflicts, in such a way that by the end, the reader should feel like M's success is at least in part because of what they gain from their relationship with S.

The relationship can function as a piece of the story's overall conflict, or as a secondary subplot conflict (often shows up as “enemies to lovers”). Traditional romance novel plotting effectively slots the love interest into the role of “antagonist,” because the romance's conflict is generally driven by people not getting what they want from each other until certain win conditions are met.  In this kind of relationship, M and S might be actual-facts competitors, or be divided by ideological concerns, or they might be forced into proximity by the plot but clash on some personality level.  The arc of this relationship is typically going to be about the M softening up as the relationship develops – if M starts out ruthlessly single-minded, maybe realizing that they're running roughshod over S in the process is part of their character breakthrough; if the story is about M realizing that they've underestimated the complexity of the world around them, maybe coming to recognize S as an equal is how that gets concretized for the reader.  Basically this is a story where S presents a problem that M has to solve, and the more central to the narrative solving that problem is, the stronger the relationship is.

The relationship can serve to divide M's goals (often shows up as “love versus duty”).  This is a story where M has to accomplish two separate things in order to fulfill their arc, but those two things aren't easily integrated. One of M's goals might be fulfilling a vow, or filial duty, or seeking revenge, and the other goal is some form of protecting or obtaining S.  If the story puts M in a position of having to choose, then the relationship is inherently strong; it's providing narrative drive, whether or not S is especially well-developed as an individual character.  This one can be tricky, because a very weak relationship can serve a superficially similar purpose, by demonstrating M's devotion to duty or obsessive pursuit of whatever when M rebuffs S to keep them out of harm's way or to avoid distraction or whatever. The difference is that in those superficial cases, the audience is meant to recognize that aw, that's sad, M has really had to Make Sacrifices – but there's really no dramatic tension involved; we know all along that M is going to Make Sacrifices in purusit of the real goal.  When this is done seriously with a strong relationship, the audience is meant to feel divided as well; Romeo and Juliet just doesn't work as a story unless the audience likes Juliet and Mercutio, unless they fully identify with the dilemma that Romeo is in when he has to either avenge Mercutio's death or spare Tybalt for Juliet's sake and the sake of their future together. That's a big fucking story moment, and it only works because the audience buys both relationships – Romeo's with Mercutio and with Juliet – as narratively strong, to the point where Romeo's choice is not a forgone conclusion.  This one is much easier to get wrong, I think, than the other two are!

What I'm saying here is that a strong relationship isn't really determined by how personally compatible two characters seem to be; a lot of movies that fridge a character's wife, for example, rely on actors convincingly portraying, in a brief window of time, two compatible people who care for each other – I'm thinking of, like, Richard Kimble and his wife in The Fugitive, who I think do sell the idea of a loving and happy marriage, but the relationship itself is a weak one.  The story only really needs the bare fact of it – “Kimble had a wife that he loved and then this happened” – to kick off the actual story; the relationship between Kimble and Gerard is a stronger one narratively, because much of the emotional tension of the movie, what makes it more effective than just a series of chase scenes, is the way their mutual respect evolves as they compete against each other, and the story question of “Kimble really needs an ally, is this the right person for him to trust?”  It's such a strong relationship that it comes as a huge relief of tension when he does make that gesture of trust and it turns out to be the right choice.  The audience is happy that Kimble will be exonerated, but the audience is equally happy that the conflict between these two charcters is over – we didn't like them being at odds because we didn't want either of them to lose!  Now, would these two people ever be close friends, let alone come to love each other?  No? Yes? Who cares?  Kimble loves his wife more, but has a stronger relationship in this story with Gerard. From a writing perspective, it's trivially easy to introduce an S and say “M loves this person,” but it means relatively little.  It's harder to introduce an S and say “some part of this story now hinges on how M navigates knowing this person,” but that's kind of what has to happen in order to create a payoff that's worth the effort.  A strong relationship provides skeletal structure for the story; it can't be stitched on at the margins.

This is an even tougher sell in something like a television series, where the introduction of S may come in well after the story is underway and the bulk of M's characterization is already in place.  That's why introducing a late-season love interest is a notoriously dodgy proposition!  To demonstrate weak vs strong relationship in action, I'm going to take an example of what I think was a failed attempt and pitch some ways to doctor it up into a strong relationship: Sam Winchester and Eileen Leahy.

This is objectively a weak relationship.  She doesn't materially affect the metaplot of the series, or drive any major choices, or reveal anything about Sam's character.  She's just, you know, generally nice and attractive and Sam likes her, which is a fine start, but then the writers just leave her idling in the garage forever.  But it didn't have to be that way! Say we wanted to make it a Type 1 relationship: super easy, barely an inconvenience!  Eileen is very like Sam, actually, in that she lost her parents as an infant and then had the entire rest of her life shaped by the trauma and the pursuit of revenge.  That's amazing.  How many other people, even hunters, share that specific experience with Sam Winchester?  Sam was physically changed by drinking demon blood in infancy; Eileen was physically changed by being deafened by the banshee or whatever it was in infancy.  Even just allowing them to talk about that would have made the relationship stronger.  Sam is affected by the fact that there is no Before Time for him; even now that they've long since had their revenge on ol' Yellow Eyes himself, he grapples with the fact that he's forever robbed of any memories of innocence or safety or a life that wasn't lived in the shadow of this killing.  Eileen also has had her life's quest for revenge fulfilled, and also has to reckon with the fact that it doesn't actually give her access to the innocence that was stolen from her.  Maybe she struggles with that.  Maybe Sam can open up to her because she knows what it's like to look back on your child self and feel that however strong you've made yourself, you're never strong enough to protect that child.

What if you want to write something spicier than Sam and Eileen talking about their sad feelings?  Okay, let's take a Type 2 story.  Eileen has been a lone hunter with a disability all her life; it's fair to guess that even if she can't match Sam's physical strength, the fact that she's survived at all means that she's pretty indomitable.  Maybe she's had to be ruthless, even brutal in her hunting style; maybe she has a shoot-first-ask-questions-never approach to hunting that she credits with her very survival, but that Sam finds excessively rash and bloody.  Maybe they fight about it.  Have her kill some ambiguous, maybe-not-dangerous monstery types, a werewolf or something, and Sam's like, hey, we really can't just-- and Eileen is like, look, I hunt how I hunt, come with me or don't.  I mean, this is a retread in some ways of early season conflicts about who to kill and when, but everything in the latter seasons is a retread anyway, so whatever, and it provides something interesting to have Sam deal with this whiplash of how there seem to be two Eileens, the smiley, jocular sweetheart who eats pancakes with him and the one who kills like she's swatting flies.  What if he wants one but not the other?  It doesn't really work that way, does it?  Is this something he can dismiss as a foible, or is this a dealbreaker? The dude is almost forty, if he distances himself from Eileen, how many more hunters does he think he has a chance to meet and marry?  If she won't even listen to his concerns seriously, is it really a good relationship anyway, or will Sam's needs always end up taking a backseat to Eileen's?

A Type 3 fix could just come down quite plainly to, what if Eileen is ready to retire?  She's had her revenge.  She's lived her life on the hunt.  Maybe she's done, and maybe she wants Sam to be done with her.  Doing this in season 15 would circle Sam back to his season 1 story conflicts in a nice way, I think – why does Sam do this at all, if it's not for revenge any longer?  Does he feel personally responsible for every dead person he could've saved but didn't – is that a reasonable boundary, or lack thereof, to set?  Is a compromise possible – could he continue to coordinate hunts while also getting out of the field and starting a family, or is that still putting his family in the shadow of too much violence and danger to tolerate?  What's Dean going to say?  He's pitched a fit in the past when Sam said he wanted out, but he's mellowed with age, hasn't he?  Maybe he'll get it now?  But maybe Sam also feels guilty and fearful, because he knows Dean will hunt without him, so now he's in more danger because of Sam's choices, if Sam makes this choice.  It's a little heteronormative, as story conflicts go, but it's thematically appropriate to Supernatural, and the fact that Eileen isn't speaking out of timidity but out of the same weariness that Sam has so often felt about the whole endless cycle makes it feel a little less “the little lady won't let me go on adventures anymore.”  This might not be my pick of the three, but the point is that it makes for a strong conflict, a legitimate divided loyalty for Sam to wrestle with, and one that doesn't have a clear right answer.

Anyway, hopefully that helps illustrate what I mean when I say that the narrative strength of a relationship doesn't have anything to do with how likeable an S character is – Eileen is very likeable! But that doesn't substitute for building her into the fabric of the story in some way.  My expectation is that a serious protagonist relationship should bend the story arc in a way that requires response, and if it doesn't, I don't take that relationship particularly seriously.  Canon can declare a relationship real by fiat, but it can't automatically declare a relationship meaningful without, you know, making meaning of it.

Oh, and there's not anything really wrong with weak relationships – most M's are going to have several in the story.  My point is just that the difference between a weak relationship and a strong one isn't really a matter of taste or preference, but has a functional meaning that can be tested and measured, and if there's argument to be had about it, the argument can take place on evidentiary grounds.  Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

Hello! Love your blog. I was wondering if I could get some typing help? I have a general idea of what I am, but that’s not saying much since I have a tendency to hop between a few of them (INTJ, ENTJ, ESTJ specifically). Either way, hopefully you can help me settle it.

I’m 22 and about to graduate from college. It’s been a journey, because I’ve transferred twice and changed plans a few times, but that’s the proper college experience, I think. One transfer closer to home can be owed to depression and Covid, while the first was simply me not meshing with the campus. I’m not too worried about how it’ll affect my grad school apps due to good grades and valid reasons.

Despite the schooling-related indecision, I tend to get an idea of what I want, then fixate on it heavily. Example: I recently tried to publish a novel I’ve been working on for years now. Realistically, I know the odds of getting your first work published and making enough money to start a career on it are beyond low, but a big part of me thought “yeah, except I worked on this draft consistently all these months and this feels right, so it has to pay off” – of course, it didn’t. That’s not to say it wasn’t worth it, but I’ve come to accept it won’t be that easy, so I’m going to focus on a job with more security first lol. That means proceeding with law school. Some friends might think I’m selling my soul by putting my dreams on the back burner. I disagree, though, because if writing is meant to be I can still make it happen this way but with more security. Plus, I’m used to having some higher objective to motivate me through each day, and I don’t like feeling aimless. To me, that would be settling for less: wasting time working next to minimum wage at some place I can’t see myself staying.

I’d like to think of myself as spontaneous despite knowing I’m really not. When I’m with friends, maybe, but I’m more than happy to do nothing on Friday nights, knowing I’ll be able to wake up early tomorrow and do whatever I’m doing at a decent time. That being said, I would be happy to hop on a flight across the world if someone offered to pay the way. I love travel, so I’d hope to find a career that makes that possible. The same goes for whatever work I’m doing. Ideally, I could move from place to place as I do my job, because I fear being rooted will keep me from seeing everything I’d like to see.

I’m definitely an introvert dichotomy wise, but if group work appears, I’m happy to make a plan and remind everyone when a due date is near, and I expect them to follow through or provide some forewarning. I’m not outright nasty when someone inevitably slips up, but I’m not going to give them an excuse either. Can’t relate since I’ve never had a problem with procrastination. Like, I’d say I’m procrastinating, but to me procrastinating is choosing not to get ahead on the project due next week while I have spare time now. That makes me sound like a robot or a liar, but I’m mostly just very aware of my limitations and have learned how to manage work in a way that keeps me from having to stress.

I have no idea how to end this. Quick notes? I’m ambitious but not competitive – literally cannot relate to envy, because I don’t think someone having something means you can’t have it too – you just have to work on/for it. I’m not very curious lmao. Like, I’m as curious as the average person, but I don’t care about how things work (Ti slacking?). Uhh, fandoms annoy me. Like, seeing fans distort characters and needlessly project onto them in cringe ways makes my brain itchy. I’ve been called insensitive. I can easily cut someone off after finding, for a fact, that they’re being manipulative. Whatever baggage they have, I don’t care. I don’t see the point in fighting for a relationship when a “friend” is working against you. I’m also the “advice friend” because I don’t have drama and seem to know how to diffuse it easily or cut it out completely. Now that I think about it, all of my closest friends have a lot of anxiety, so maybe I collect them and care for them a little since I have none.

Hopefully that wasn’t too much useless info. I think I’m mainly struggling on differentiating between lower Ne vs Lower Se. My indecision comes in rare bouts, so maybe that’s the weak Ne manifesting. Or maybe I’m lower Se for forgetting the larger scheme by focusing on material things like getting to travel and making a high salary? Whatever. These are things most people prioritize, though. Let me know if you need any specifics. Also, thank you for taking the time to read this! I really appreciate how informative your blog is and all the resources you share.

Hi anon,

To be honest I am really not sure based on this, and it might be good for you to revisit this after a little bit of time out of school. I would rule out the Ti-Fe axis, but I can actually see arguments for either high Te or high Fi My guess is high Ni if you have high Te you don't really sound like a high Si user - and part of what is tripping me up the most is that you said a lot of things that make me thing of high Fi and the spontaneity of Se or Ne, but there's a lot here that really sounds intuitive but distinctly not like an Ne user. So I actually think there are arguments for either INTJ or ISFP, and I actually lean a little more towards "ISFP with good discipline/time management" than INTJ.

Here's my thought process, which hopefully can get you started.

I do feel like transferring twice is a little abnormal (not bad, just more than the typical college experience of maybe one transfer and changing one's major once or twice) but COVID did fuck with things more than usual so no conclusions there.

The fixation on writing a novel and the long-shot of gaining enough success to focus on that full time - particularly right out of school or even before graduation - is either intuitive or possibly high Fi. I really do not think an ESTJ would have that idea - not that they wouldn't be a writer, but I don't think they would have had the same expectations surrounding payoff and would have assumed from the start that this will not be their career initially. For that matter I have my doubts on ENTJ, but it could be possible for INTJ.

The part about spontaneity actually fits really well with auxiliary Se or Ne, in that those types at your age will have moderation from Ni or Si respectively and will often want a combination of stability but also the ability to travel a lot and move around. The example you gave actually still seemed very spontaneous; a lot of ExTJs for example might really dislike doing nothing on a Friday night and would instead have something planned. What you describe sounds very go-with-the-flow, just in a low-key way.

The part about procrastination indicates that Ne is probably off the table but Se is possible; some SPs are pretty good at being realistic about getting things done and it sounds like you don't have the high Te motivation of "I must get this done early" (not that high Te users can't procrastinate or do things on time but not down-to-the-wire).

I often tie ambition/competitive nature to enneagram more than MBTI, but I will say a lot of Te users and especially Te-doms tend to be both. They don't have to be (and if they're only one, usually it's ambition over competition), but it's pretty common. Curiosity is complicated but not caring about how literally everything works does seem like it would rule out Ti and I'd fully agree there. The part about being frustrated by fandom distortion of characters is relatable to me and I feel that comes from a place of sensing, ie, were you not paying attention to canon, so that seems like a point towards high Se for you. The parts about advice and interpersonal relationships mostly just reinforce that you sound more like someone on the Fi-Te axis, which you already suspected, but again...being the advice friend, particularly from a caring position, seems more high Fi to me than INTJ; a lot of IxTJs (and definitely ExTJs) at your age are just not emotionally ready for that level of patience with anxiety. I know I wasn't.

I would also say focusing on the material things (travel, a liveable salary) is more in line with higher Se! Te users do have a measure of pragmatism, so again, can't rule out INTJ, but the travel especially is what's making me think Se is pretty high in your stack.

All in all? My guess is an ISFP with good time management skills, possibly with an enneagram 6 adding to the stability/pragmatism. That said I wouldn't totally rule out INTJ (possibly also enneagram 6?); I just think it's less likely.

[retphienix]

I Have A Lot To Say So I'll Read More This.

The short of it?

I'm glad I played Joker- I played it because I wanted to know how DQM evolved when it reached the DS and I got my answer.

It's mediocre. Not bad exactly, I enjoyed playing it, it adds some REALLY appreciated features to the DQM series and if you were playing it at release it had online play which plays well with the post game content which I haven't touched by the time I wrote this:

-but there are some engine/console specific things that made it a drag and there are some parts of the game that are just weaker than the previous games which is amusing since the previous games were simple GBC titles.

And finally, I don't really recommend playing through Joker 1. Can't speak on the sequels, but Joker 1 was a pretty middling experience for me so I'm the wrong person to get a positive recommendation from.

And since the opportunity presents itself: If you like monster RPGs and haven't tried it- go emulate Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 for the GBC, it's really good and also if you emulate you can fast forward the GBC era grind if that's your taste- really a win all around.

On to my rambling:

I debated on writing, rewriting, rewriting, and better presenting my thoughts on this game and the series as a whole but nah, Joker ain't getting that, I'm ramblin'- lol

I will split it slightly between "The ending" and "The game as a whole" though.

Ending:

1:07 - This is slightly a 'game a a whole' thing but honestly it's funny to me that you unlock a permanent repel in this game by doing the main quest. I entered this dungeon feeling strong enough to beat the game, so I just avoided 90% of encounters entirely.

5:00 - I genuinely got a laugh out of Sparkpug's whole deal in this finale. Not story wise, that's fine, no complaints- I mean that Sparkpug is clearly built to be a monster that can carry an ineffective team. He's clearly meant to be bred a few times and a god tier member of a potentially inexperienced player's team- but I literally never used him after the intro.

So during this scene it's supposed to be like "I'm a demi-god monster, you can't possibly beat me" and I'm thinking "Dude, you're like level 10 and shit tier, you can't win, this is hilarious."

Obviously it's a real boss fight and not 'face the monster you once had' but I was having fun roasting him behind the scenes of this recording.

45:00 - What an entirely unexpected change of pace.

Like, I had it spoiled for me by a screenshot that Dr. Snap becomes a monster or something- but I thought maybe he was always a monster or something, and also I got a bad look at him.

HE TURNS INTO A BODY HORROR BEAST, THAT'S NUTS.

Genuinely a highlight of the game.

52:00 - I fucking laughed what a meaningless exchange where the payoff is saying "He was stupid!", it's honestly just silly and dumb but not necessarily bad just dumb lol

55:00 - Not a great 'you won' victory lap. Like at all. Kinda feels like they should have just made this all a cutscene where I appear back at town and see that Solitaire is the leader now etc etc.

I kinda don't understand why it's a victory lap at all? Because all anyone says is "They picked a weird successor to Snap >:(" or "Snap went to the island? I bet he was stopping the calamity :)"

If you have 2 lines of dialogue prepared, maybe don't make a victory lap???

1:00:00 - What a fucking stupid payoff lol

Like sincerely, Solitaire does NOTHING the entire game! She's meaningless from start to finish! And the 'surprise' is that she's the new commish??? And she got the position because she's a rich spoiled brat??? Like LITERALLY that's why????????

What a stupid fucking ending lol

Now her proposed evolution of the contest is fair enough, I mean it's childish as hell, but to be fair- more contests is a fine idea especially since prior games and this game demonstrated the public's interest in watching monster fights. And the goal being to fight her as the final fight is fucking egotistical and stupid- BUT- it does play into the fact that the player didn't get to fight her the whole game so it's whatever?

1:03:00 - This is both the best and worst lol.

This game has no story, like at all, it's fucking empty front to back, and only explodes with like- 1 event at the very end.

This moment is a montage of memorable moments with your 'best friend' Sparkpug. It's cinematically very nice to be honest! Even includes a moment I don't remember at the arena which probably didn't happen lol.

So visually it's cool- I dig seeing the camera zoom out as we run across the beach, and the flashback moments intersplice over us making our way to the scout memorial- that's very well done.

The content is empty lol

As I said there's no story, these moments are nothing lol

And that's that.

All said the ending was a very nice challenge to face with my team- I had to abuse items like mad but I MADE IT! It was a GOOD fight.

The rest I've already said.

On to the game as a whole:

I have issues with this game, but there's good too. It's really like 4 steps forward 6-7 steps back it's weird, it's really weird.

Positives are neat!

> First and foremost- TRAITS!

Monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters have always had a problem with keeping their identity for long. The way I'd explain it to an outsider to the series is that Monsters DO have special stat variance and intended movesets and all that jazz- but the breeding system completely and entirely destroys that relatively early into the game.

While a monster might normally have really high defense and low other stats while knowing buffing magic- breeding, EVEN UNINTENTIONALLY, will have that same monster come out with 9 billion attack and all ice magic.

Monsters in DQM have a habit of becoming canvases for the breeding effects rather than their own mons- and this is undeniably a downside. It makes the game feel unique, it doesn't 'hurt' it, but when by mid-game monsters are more easily identified as sprites rather than strengths and weaknesses or even types (family) it's a slight downer on the series.

Traits fix this a lot by making every specific monster have unchangeable traits which offer things like "immunity to x type of damage" or "higher crit chance"- it's small, but it gives each monster more identity.

> Second and secondmost- SKILLS!

The older games didn't use trees, it used each individual spell as a potential pass on during breeding.

Each monster could have 8 spells, and when you breed two monsters you pass on all 16 spells to the offspring (they don't learn them all at once, they learn them as they level up) as well as the natural spells the monster would learn by level up.

So in the older games it is really easy to end up with a refined and overpowered list of 8 spells on each of your monsters.

Now spells are tied to Skill trees and your monsters can have 3 skill trees total (which are passed on as OPTIONS when breeding).

All to say skills do a lot for removing the "Master of all, weakness of none" spell lists that the older games made trivial to make, now you have to limit your builds and be more specialized- also they added skills like "Attack up" to add more variance to a build- instead of having spells you might just have high stat buffs as skill trees.

Overall I think Skills are an improvement because coupled with Traits it makes each monster feel much more specialized and unique and less like a sprite with no identity.

> Breeding is improved.

This is very much because of skills and traits- again- but also the system is just improved in general. Instead of being told "That's a monster you haven't had before!" and judging your decisions based on the name of the offspring breed, now you get to see a small sprite of the resulting monster to help you decide- ALSO instead of getting 1 result for every combo (to the point where you have to back out and choose Monster A + Monster B and Monster B + Monster A as separate options), you now get up to 3 results to pick between for every breeding opportunity.

It's just better.

> The engine is impressive.

At least to me. This is a DS title using (from what I read) a rework of the DQ8 PS2 game's engine- it certainly looks like it.

Combat models are nice, using moves looks nice, overworld exploration looks nice- it looks nice.

Now for some negative and general nonsense- all of which is more often than not 'weird'.

> I gotta be unfair and say "The Story" first and foremost.

DQM 1 and 2 are not intense story games. They aren't.

But they both knew how to handle their story well for what they wanted to tell, I can and will praise both for their narratives because they know what they are and do it well.

DQM:J does not. It's fucking bad.

Basically: The overall story doesn't exist- you're told to be a spy, but that comes up 1 time towards the end of the game and LITERALLY doesn't matter at any other moment INCLUDING the one time it comes up.

You have NO meaningful objective from the start up until near the end of the game. You show up and have no goal- so you get told to get some crystals with no meaning behind it (not even a lie because they are clearly evil- not even a lie to motivate you! NO MEANING IS PRESENTED! JUST DO IT! TO DO THE CONTEST I GUESS! WHY? SHUT UP!)

So 90% of the game time you're not doing anything meaningful. So what about the islands? Any small narratives to keep things moving?

NO!

NOT AT ALL!

So you go 90% of the game having no real objective, just kinda wandering forward mindlessly- and then the game suddenly goes "Oh! Guy who seemed sus! He's evil! He's gonna unleash the calamity that you were 'kinda but not directly' working towards with your dog! You know, that plot point that's kept vague and paid 0% attention to the entire game? Yeah it's happening! Aaaaand you're done! GG!"

Basically there's just nothing going on in this game, it's all background noise until the last 10% of the game. And that's lame.

DQM1 had a light story- but from the very intro cutscene you have a clear objective which makes every action you do seem relevant as you are working towards that goal.

From the start of the game you know "My sister is gone! The king says a magic wish can get her back! I'll go do that!" and then you do!

DQM2 has a much better story!

You have a goal from the start (The kingdom is physically dying and you have to save it by getting a new plug!) AND it has stories for each world you visit!

THAT'S MILES BETTER! THIS GAME COULD HAVE DONE THAT FOR THE ISLANDS!

Anywho. Story is lacking and empty and lame especially when DQM2 has a similar format but does every part better- you have a clear objective you're working towards AND side stories to keep the light narrative moving!

WTH!

The spy plotline doesn't matter! It could have been used to build suspicion on who's the good guy!

The islands are so empty of story!

DQM2 has a fun mix on how a rival character works which makes every world interesting to see how they get involved!

This game has a rival that does NOTHING!!!!!!!!!

It's just such a step back from the previous games, it's weird to see DQM 1 land a solid simple story and DQM 2 build a great format to expand the story going forward- and then DQM:J just slams its head into the dirt and wipes out.

> Game's slow.

The engine switch is a good thing overall, but it makes combat slower (a lot), adds loading screens to combat (primarily), and they didn't bother speeding up the grind from previous games.

Because of the grind still existing which isn't a problem in and of itself- the game becomes SLOW AS HELL because the engine makes that grind take longer.

Also world exploration is slow which is to be expected when moving from 2d to 3d, but this is countered by adding things to the world to find or do- and Joker tries but it's still noticeable. The world exploration isn't a problem, it just stands out alongside the combat being slow as hell.

The engine change was a great thing- but it feels like they should have put more work into speeding up combat to counter the slowdown of load times and flashy animations.

A GOOD WAY TO FIX THAT MIGHT BE XP!

> Music ain't great in my opinion.

DQ has amazing music. This game has some weak renditions in my opinion. The CELL HQ theme song is a pretty good poster child for the worst there is, but just in general even the better music is lacking compared to the chiptunes of the GBC or the better mixes of the main series.

Maybe it's unfair, it's a DS game, I don't know, I just know I ended up just muting most of the game because it didn't sound great. I played the GBC games OSTs instead for a large portion of my playthrough. I listened to videos instead for the bulk of the game.

It's just not pleasant to me, sorry to say.

> XP!!!!!!!

I'm being a spoiled ass on this but yeah!

XP SUCKS IN THIS!

There aren't good placed to grind until you beat the game! (apparently)

The first level blatantly has too low xp which makes you grind before you can tackle the boss of the island- and the late game has you mindlessly grinding low xp rewards in order to be ready to face the final boss.

It's WEIRD!

Why is it so low!

> Tech is weird!

I could ramble on this alone but here's the short version:

DQ has a unique fantasy world aesthetic that each game has explored in its own way. It's basically "swords, magic, monsters, and charm- things feel light but aren't afraid to get scary sometimes :)"

This game... doesn't.

This game has fuckin' tech watches, jet skis, TOWER PCS????

This ISN'T dragon quest on a world building level.

It's like, contemporary modern world but with slimes.

And that could be good I guess, but it feels so fucking weird to see PCs right alongside swords and axes and a dracky.

Like... why?

It's a poor aesthetic according to my tastes. Maybe I'm an ass for that. The tech is weird.

All to say, in a poor rambling "I gotta get this out of me" kinda way, is Joker was fine.

I enjoyed breeding. I enjoyed seeing the engine. I enjoyed the unique additions like a 'hero monster'.

But I also had to grind mindlessly on a slower game.

I had to endure a story that forgot to show up until the very end.

I sat there thinking about replaying the older ones the whole time.

It was fine.

It's mediocre.

I'm glad I played it.

I'm done now :)