#even as someone who does NOT give a shit about fanservice!!

[ad-hawkeye]

its the way i don’t hate dom artem it’s just the type of dom themis made him makes me completely uninterested in the idea in the game itself that i hope they just shrug and bend him over rosa’s desk its what year one artem would have wanted anyways



HELPP THE WAY I'VE MADE THIS EXACT POINT BEFORE LIKE. HOLD ON.

legit like ignoring my thoughts on it being ooc and everything else in between, it's just... so boring. like really? we couldn't get anything else?

i could play literally any other otome in existence and find a daddy dom in a suit. why must we rob artem of what made him fun and unique. and like you said. being a dom doesn't even default mean being aggressive or like, possessive. omfg.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

childhood friend turned celebrity headcanons

DON'T ASK WHY OR HOW COME, JUST CONSUME THESE QUIETLY AND MOVE ON 🤡

Curiouser and Curiouser...

You never thought you'd see the day where your bestie makes it big in the world of entertainment. Ace had always been bright-eyed whenever he talked about those ambitions—to dance among the stars, to shine like them, to be gazed at by tons of adoring fans. He’s been training really hard to make it here, and you’ve been cheering him at every milestone.

He'd show you his latest routine (he's been practicing hard to be noticed at the upcoming auditions!), finishing with a flourish--breathless--as he looks at your expectantly for your feedback. "Well?" Ace would demand with a smirk. "Did that make your heart skip a beat?" It's been so long since then, and he still makes every movement look so effortless, like he’s not even trying.

He's currently known in the entertainment industry as a jack of all trades, a man of many talents. Besides the singing and dancing, Ace does some VA work on the side (you're not surprised; he's always been good at doing vocal impressions). On variety shows, he even pulls out a deck of cards to do magic tricks—tricks he has practiced with you time and time again. The nostalgic memories well up inside of you every time you're flicking through the channels and catch Ace doing a trick or pulling a voice he has tested on you no less than twenty times.

You heard his latest song playing in a store the other day. His voice had floated over to you as you perused the items on display, some cheeky pop song (Fitting for him, you think), the lyrics telling of distant love. Listening to it makes your heart ache with longing. If you close your eyes, it feels as though Ace is right there beside you, serenading, as he did all those years ago.

He still has your number, still texts you whenever he has a few minutes of break on set or backstage. Ace is hot shit and he knows it. He tends to brag about his latest projects ("I'm in high demand, you know!") or asks you've seen that one film or music video he starred in. If you have, he'll fish for compliments ("Sooo, what'd you think? Was I cool or what?"). If you haven't, he'll goad you to give it a shot. ("Who knows~ You might come out of it appreciating a whole new side of me!”)

He enjoys using his connections in the fashion world to dress well daily; Ace will send you selfies of new stuff he’s wearing for a music video shoot or whatever he got gifted from a fashion brand he worked with. He demands to know your opinion—he wants to hear you tell him how cool and handsome he is!

Ace will frequently tell you about his fans and how dedicated they are to him. It's not that he cares about them any more deeply than their relationship as an idol and a fan, he just does it to observe your reactions and to see if you get jealous when he mentions them.

Sometimes he'll play coy when you initiate the texts; he'll leave you on read and then respond veeery late into the day with a joking "Didja miss me? Desperate for my attention? Don’t worry, I know you’ll always be my biggest fan.”

He shamelessly saves you VIP tickets to his live shows (though he’ll claim he just “happens to have it” on hand). While he’s performing, Ace makes extra effort to throw fanservice your way—and while the fans around you squeal and insist he’s looking at them, you know deep in your heart that his heated gaze is reserved for you and you alone.

After those shows, he’ll of course insist that you come see him backstage. You’ll sit on the couch and wait for him to change into his plainclothes—complete with a baseball cap, sunglasses, and mask to hide his identity—then he’ll walk you home, an arm wrapped around your shoulder. “We could take my private car,” he mutters, “but I think I like having you all to myself, without the chauffeur butting in.”

You worry that someone might spot you, that there will be a massive scandal—but Ace takes it all in stride. “Yeah? Well, if it happens, it happens. Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have you as my partner in crime~”

This wasn’t the career path Deuce thought he’d end up in, but life works in strange and mysterious ways. You were out chilling with him one day when a recruiter came up to Deuce and offered his card. He wasn’t going to entertain it until you encouraged him, and well… from there, it snowballed into unexpected stardom.

A lot of his work comes in modeling, just because it’s simpler for him to not overthink about answers to give or how to act on set. Often you’ll be browsing a fashion magazine and stumble across a full page or even a spread of Deuce in a bomber jacket posed against a vehicle—a magical wheel, a car. Sometimes he’s staring wistfully at the scenario, his profile cutting a sharp figure, and other times his gaze is right on you, intense as the sun on the ocean blue. When did he become so manly? you wonder. It must be the professional lighting and styling.

Deuce has had to work twice as hard as his peers to get to where he is. He isn’t super coordinated, and he’s pretty slow at learning new things—but it’s his passion and his willingness to get back up again and again that’s admirable. You stay up late with him, clapping to the beat of the music and calling out numbers to help out, but really Deuce thinks it’s your company that’s motivating him to keep going.

His public image is that of a cool and tough beauty with a vulnerable side. In interviews, he tends to bring up being raised by a single mom and how tight he is with her, as well as his love of eggs and baby chicks—all things you already knew about him well before his era of popularity, That always gets the audience tearing up or cooing about how cute he is. When he trips over his words or stumbles, that only adds to his appeal. That clumsiness contrasts well with his coolness, and you’re just glad that the rest of the world can appreciate that about him.

His mom, Dylla, still chats with you! You remember her hosting you as a kid, offering cute little hard boiled eggs cut up into little white rabbits and gushing about how cute her son looks in the fuzzy bunny onesie she got for him with her savings. These days, Dylla doesn’t want for much but still keeps in touch. You’ve noticed that she’s been asking a lot about her son and what you think about him. You reassure her that you’re close, which makes her laugh in a boisterous way.

In one of the talk shows he’s on, Deuce is asked what his “type” is. He takes a long time to mull it over, taking the question very seriously, then settles on… “Truth be told, there’s someone I’ve had a crush on for the longest time. They’ve been with me since the start of my career, and I don’t think I’d even be where I am now without them. They’re always so kind and supportive, but… I worry about things changing between us. Every time I think about telling them how I feel, I chicken out.” The crowd awwwws and the host asks the viewers to hype Deuce up, turning the atmosphere in the studio electric.

He’s not totally sure how to deal with fans quite yet. He has confided in you that he doesn’t think he will ever truly get the hang of it. At meet-and-greets, Deuce will shake their hands, smile, bow at a 90 degree angle to thank everyone for their support. But then his face lights up when you make it to the front of the line, and his posture completely relaxes. “You came to see me,” he whispers in disbelief. “I wanted to surprise you,” you say, taking his hand. And suddenly, he feels warm and safe, right at home with you.

He gets so embarrassed when he sees that you own his merch and even save magazines with his image on them. “I gotta archive your journey to higher and higher heights,” you joke. “Hey, remember how I’d always tell you to remember me when you’re rich and famous? You stuck to your word.” But Deuce says he’s nothing special, that he only got lucky because you’re by his side. Of course he wouldn’t forget you. “To me, you are…” but his words hang there, not knowing how to finish.

Deuce is still careless at times when he hangs out with you. He will usually forget to wear a disguise, so you have to tut and help him sort out something on the fly. You lend him your jacket (wrong size), your hat (oof, it’s going to smell like your shampoo), even comb your fingers through his hair to try and get it to look different. Deuce accepts the items and swears he’ll wash them and return them to you when next you meet.

Despite it all, Deuce stays humble. The same old Deuce you’ve known since you were kids, the guy promises to beat up the schoolyard bully that made you cry and carries your stuff when your arms are full. He promptly replies to your texts and calls—and once, he left on his magical wheel in the middle of a gig when you said you needed him. (His manager wasn’t too happy about that, but Deuce gladly took the scolding.)

You tease him about how he presents in public versus in private. He comes off as so stoic in those glossy high fashion mags, but he’s always so earnest and open with you. He flushes and turns away, muttering, “I-I guess I feel comfortable around you. I don’t feel like I have to pretend to be someone I’m not.”

[spacerockfloater]

House of the Dragon, Season 2, Episode 1: Discussion

Overall, I did not like the episode at all.

First of all, am I crazy or was the whole scene at Winterfell and the Wall purely fanservice so that HOTD can gain the sympathy of old fans? I mean, it lasted like, 2 minutes, and added nothing to the plot. Cregan’s speech was amusing though.

Daemon didn’t let a single moment go to waste before he started acting like a king. Typical and at least consistent with his character.

Sigh. Preparing myself for the backlash I’m going to receive for this. I did not like the way Rhaenyra’s and Jace’s emotions were portrayed. Where was the shock? The agony? The horror? The pain? Too much silent grief for someone who just found out that their son/ brother was murdered. Hell, Rhaena showed more emotion than both of them combined and we saw her face for merely a second.

Good for my girl Alicent for finally getting some I guess, but the Alicole sex scenes were weak as fuck. No passion, no chemistry. It was robotic as shit. All that subtle tension between them during the first season led to nothing. Rushed as fuck and not at all what they made us think it would be. Provided absolutely zero context. Boring as hell, too. Thank fuck that it was leaked because it would have been a jumpscare. Nothing could have prepared me for it, it came out of nowhere.

Alicent standing her ground against Otto was surprisingly very good. I loved seeing her take the lead. And it was touching to see her light a candle for Luc, too.

Aegon II was very entraining. Refreshing to see him try to be a good king, actually care for his subjects and love his son. Distracts you from the fact that he’s still a stupid unseasoned teenager. Looking forward to some more character development on his part.

Now, what the actual fuck could Aemond ever possibly have to be angry about? Didn’t he just have his revenge? Who is he so pissed at?

Daemon and his murder cloak are the strongest ship in HOTD, which they should rename to “House of Misunderstandings” at this point.

I nearly pissed myself when Cheese’s super secret hidden path through the castle, that only he as a specialist knows, was crossing the fucking throne room on their tippy toes. Did they sneak back outside to meet Daemon the same way while leaving a bloody trail behind them? Are the writers actually insane? Who gave that shit the green light? Why does the door to Aemond’s room open by a lever? Is he Batman? Where the actual fuck was literally everyone? The guards? The servants? The ladies of honour? How was the fucking queen all alone?

And lastly, speaking of the queen… Oh my God. This was the most anticlimactic scene in the whole episode. I nearly fell asleep. I don’t know what’s Helaena’s deal, like is she neurodivergent? Is she just not fazed by anything because she has already seen everything play out in her head before it actually happens? It’s never explained and it makes it so infuriating that she looks just… concerned. Not traumatized or shocked, just perplexed and worried, lol. She pointed to her son faster than lightning. Did she just want all of it end as fast as possible? No idea. All the tragedy of the situation was removed. Luc’s death was much more impactful and shook the audience. This seemed so underwhelming and stale. And then Helaena quietly goes to her mother’s room, walks past her riding Criston like this happens to her every Tuesday, sits down, refers to her own son as “the boy”, and looks slightly distraught. Dian Doesn’t even shed a single tear. Nothing like the mourning woman gone mad by grief we saw in the trailer, though maybe we just have to wait I suppose. Like, lol okay. This was not giving like y’all promised it would. The only grotesque thing about it was listening to them sawing Jaehaerys’ head off.

The episode felt rushed as fuck and has severely reduced my interest in hating or loving any of the characters. There’d better be some top notch acting next Sunday or I’m dropping the show.

All opinions are welcome, just please be civil to one another!

[rainbow-crane]

Best and worst danganronpa trials/chapters?

Oh gosh, I don't know. There are so many to choose from, and while one trial might be total ass, the rest of the chapter can usually hold it up, or vice versa.

Trialwise, I think the best one is definitely 2-5. There's basically no time lost on petty filler and the Soda horniness, while present, is kept to a minimum. Mechanically, it's a pretty decent one to my memory(Hangman's Gambit excluded but face it, that's always the case). The trial remains engaging all the way through, even if you've already figured out the identity of the traitor, and the performance of each of the involved characters is incredible. I'll never get over Chiaki willingly sacrificing herself in the end, or Nagito's plan to kill all the despair by betraying the class, or the insistence from everyone- Sonia, Soda, Akane, Fuyuhiko- that Chiaki couldn't possibly be it, all unconsciously trying to save her since they couldn't last time. #1 trial for me, always

On the inverse, there are 2 candidates for worst trial, and it depends on what you mean by 'worst.' On the one hand, 2-3 is literally physically impossible. I mean, not only does the provided explanation for Mikan's coverup require a level of speed, focus, and dexterity uncharacteristic of a klutz with a deadly disease, it's also just generally physically impossible given the timeframe. I mean, what, you mean to tell me in the time it took for Hajime to sprint to the immediately neighboring motel, scream for help, and turn to leave, Mikan was able to:

tear a ring of wallpaper away from Hiyoko's corpse

fold it and tuck it into the back room

destroy the camera

break and drop the drumstick

line the doorway with glue and let them shut, with enough time to dry and stick together

sprint back inside the hospital before Fuyuhiko got there

and the infuriating one

WALK the perimeter of the island THE LONG WAY AROUND to meet Hajime and Chiaki outside the motel?

Yeah, I call bullshit. It makes no amount of sense no matter how many times you say it. Also, Mikan is treated like shitty fanservice just generally, so a trial in which she's at the center/is the killer should really center on her reclaiming her agency, especially considering her two victims were a) the girl that wanted to take pics of her whenever she tripped into inappropriate positions, and b) her greatest bully on the island. Instead, the whole trial is just about "woah Mikan was crazy ALL ALONG???? OOoooOooOoOOOoooOO scaaaawy disease thing." Which is just plain fucking lazy. And hell, that execution??? What the fuck is that???? One final parting fanservice gift that NO ONE WANTED? Thanks I hate it.

On the other hand, 1-2 is straight up offensive on multiple angles. The introduction of a blatantly ableist DID stereotype with the confirmation of Toko and Genocide Jack, along with the inherent transmisogyny of Chihiro's story and the way all her agency in the narrative is totally stripped from her is egregious. As a trans person, a person with DID, and/or someone who gives even one shit about either/both types of people, the whole thing just makes you wanna throw up. In that sense, it's worse, but at least there, the murder case itself made logical sense. So ultimately, when push comes to shove, I still say 2-3 is worse. I'll take the one that's only offensive over the one that's offensive AND nonsensical. Doesn't treat its victims or killer with respect at all, offensive execution to any victim of SA, and just a fucking PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TRIAL THE HELL-

In terms of overarching chapter, I'm gonna say 2-4 was the best one imo. I quite like the funhouse motive and the conflict it presents, and I think there's a lot of good packed into the chapter as a whole, both in the progression of the story, character development for all involved parties, and the relationships found in it. I think being forced to slowly drag your way to the Final Dead Room as Hajime is great, and Chiaki saving us later becoming the proof against her is just *chef's kiss*. Fuyukane platonic besties 4 life???? Sign me tf up. The fact they were willing to perspective-shift us to Nagito for part of the investigation was incredible too, I love that shit. Also, there was a statue of Sakura. Real shit.

The worst chapter is 1-3. I do not like 1-3. I do not like their lazy asses not even bothering to let us have FTEs with Kiyondo, I do not like turning Hiro and Hifumi into pathetic little jokes and refusing to do more with them in their own chapter(the flashback of Hifumi thinking SA bad is the bare minimum). I do not like the severe tonal whiplash from the emotional turmoil and dark mystery aspects with the Robo Justice "Stand Tall, Galactic Hero!" overly flashy nonsense. I don't like that this was all they wanted to do with Celeste, who objectively would've had more thematic purpose if they'd let her be an overarching antagonist. Hell, the stageplay understood she had more potential, and that shit severely cuts down and rewrites the content for time!

[coldgoldlazarus]

One of the arguments about any sort of long-running media franchises/series, that almost always instantly raises my guard and calls into suspicion anything else the person making that argument has to say, is "the older stuff was better and everything after X point has been worthless dogshit with no redeeming value."

It's not like this is an alien perspective to me, either. I've been there, I get it. Where My Little Pony is concerned, I think I will always be at least a little bit of a seasonwunner, despite my best efforts. But this is a mindset that must be actively fought back against, and even if I can't really bring myself to watch the last few seasons, I recognize it's not that the show got worse, it just had different priorities there than what appealed to me about it originally.

And sure, sometimes stuff does just objectively shit the bed after a certain point. But honestly, I think that happens most when a series stops trying to explore new ideas, and falls back on shallow pandering fanservice about the earlier beloved entries. Looking at you, Rise Of Skywalker.

So point is, I do get where the mindset comes from, but it's still an extremely toxic impulse that I think needs to be confronted and dismantled with maturity and perspective. And talking with people who have failed to do that, and don't seem remotely interested in trying, is my personal hell.

But probably the most baffling instances of this mindset are when someone is like "everything before this point was good and everything after this point is bad!!!" but the actual argument makes no sense. Everything you say you hate didn't start after this arbitrary point, it started with the ones you uphold as the best in the series. If instance Y and Z are apparently utterly dogshit writing, why are you giving it a pass with instances W and X? It isn't even the repetition or differences in execution that seems to be the problem, it's just that it was good because it was before this arbitrary cutoff point, but bad because it was after it! (One especially galling example of this hypocricy was where the cutoff point between the 'last good' entry and 'first bad' one was between two releases... that came out simultaneously. Make it make sense.) Or else just pretending that this thing you dislike started later than it did and outright ignoring its presence in those earlier entries.

Like yeah, you are entitled to your feelings, at the end of the day; like I said, I get it to some extent at least. But if you're going to try to argue your feelings as some sort of objective fact about the quality of the series, at least put together a coherent and internally consistent argument. Or else, really reexamine if the reasons you're giving are the actual reasons, and it's not just nostalgia talking. Maybe the older entries don't hold up to your particular sensibilities as much as you think. Or maybe, you're refusing to give the newer ones a fair shake and reading them in bad faith.

[chevelleneech]

Now there's the whole issue with peopleg giving AYS bad ratings on purpose. It just makes me so sad, how Jimin and Jungkook can never be enjoyed as a duo the way the rest are in BTS. And then Taekookers (and some ARMYs) have the audacity to say the company uses Jikook for fanservice because they make money off of them as a duo very easily, and I'm just like "where??". For who are they doing all this when a majority of the fandom are Taekookers and ARMYs who prefer Taekook together the most? We see it with the views all the time.

I don't know when people are gonna open their eyes. It's not HYBE's fault that Jikook have the kind of dynamic they do that they (the antis) obviously notice but hate for some reason.

Poor Jimin and Jungkook. I feel so sorry for them for real. I don't even want people to see what I see in them as someone who ships them, I really just dream about ARMY reacting to them the way they react to Vmin, Minimoni, Sope, Vhope, Taejin and literally any other duo in BTS. I just wanna come across a Jikook video and not come across weird, delusional and mean comments about them all the time that dismiss them having anything that goes beyond a co-worker relationship.

Do you think it hurts them to see how much the fandom hates seeing them together, or used to at one point?

My main takeaway, that proves these reviews are being left by people who are Tkk shippers and nothing else, is how hard they are trying to word things so they sound like unbiased, casual dislikes.

I’d usually say they don’t view the members are real people, but using things such as, “the script”, “the protagonist”, “falling flat”, “forced acting” makes it clear they actually do, and are aware that they have to twist things into fiction to come across as more “honest”.

They have to use words and phrases that don’t ping as being unnecessarily hateful, but to do that, they have to paint AYS as a scripted/forced project. Because how do you unbiasedly say, about a band you supposedly love and understand do skinship with each other in general, “I don’t like that these two members specifically are interacting.” without it coming across as you being hateful of those two members specifically? You can’t.

They can’t give real Anders to how or why JM and JK seem scripted, because doing that requires listing all the things they do and why it is fake, without also presenting a case for why it’s fake for other members including Tae and Wooga. Because doing that would also require proving Jimin and JK’s actions have been fake this entire time, which is delusional. No one is going to believe that 10+ year long best friends are doing scripted friendship shit now, but weren’t in the last. Not will anyone believe for a second that two people would fake being best friends for TEN YEARS. No paycheck is worth that, when it’s not an actual fictional tv show or movie.

As for whether not Jimin and Jungkook see it and are affected? I don’t know. I’d hope not, but they have access to the same internet as the rest of us, and have proven time again they know what’s going on in Armyland. So I would say yes, they do know there’s a certain faction of this fandom who hates them being a Them, and they likely do also know how little is done on the overall fandom to stop it.

Does it affect them? My guess is no. They’ve been a Them for a long time now, be-it platonic or romantic, and they haven’t changed their behavior. They know people think they’re dating, they continue to act like they’re dating. They know people don’t like seeing them together. They continue to be seen together. They know people think their friendship is forced by the company. They continue to call each other best friends.

So my take away is, if they do care what people think, they have worked very hard on making sure it doesn’t change their thoughts and feelings for each other, whatever they may be.

All that said, it is incredibly fucked up that Jimin and Jungkook being friends is disliked as much as it is. They don’t do anything but love on each other and love on the other members, yet one stupid group of fans are loud enough to put such a damper on that. Those people need help.

[not-goldy]

The more people bitch about Jikook, the stronger and closer they get. Its like seeing your kid date someone you don't like. The more you bitch and moan, the more they develop this us against the world mentality and before you know it, they're eloping. It really doesn't cost a thing to be respectful of their bond. If you were, we wouldn't be here every year hearing the same tired old fanservice excuse. Like are you bitches blind? Tae told you Jk was basically living in Jimin's room. Jimin is telling you that and you see it. They are together eating, chilling, staying for rehearsals, together in their bedrooms, off camera, on camera, in their cars, up each other's asses all day and you wonder why your favs aren't being shown. Cause they aren't hanging out like you think, that's why. Like how do you expect Jk to squeeze in five minutes for your fav, when he's up Jimin's ass and marking is territory in his room all day? Like he ain't even on facetime with whatever partner outside of BTS you have him paired with either and making room for her or him. How can they have room, when its all occupied by Jimin? This isn't about shipping. Its about two people who MUTUALLY AGREE to spend all their time together and you wanna cry. Instead of sucking it up and just being happy they have each other.

And Jikookers were called crazy when we said the reason Tk were hanging out was because Jimin was busy like hell and Jennie was touring. Now that Jimin's schedule isn't so hectic. Where is JK now at this very moment and who has he been pinning for and with now vacationing for months? Jimin. Going around telling lies that your favs are the closest, cause they occasionally hang out like once a month. Jk told you from his own mouth, I don't keep up with Tae, when asked where Tae was and that was like 4 months ago. He loves Tae. He enjoys hanging out with him and his friends. No one can say he doesn't. But if given the choice, he's gonna wanna be with the one he's attracted to and THE ONE HE IS IN LOVE WITH and the one who can give him what he needs if you catch my drift and that is Jimin. Get a clue already.

It's the ow ah eiish they feeling in their chest for me

But it's also the way I don't care bout much these days 😂only God knows.

Jikook is real. In this day and age no one can convince me otherwise. Whatever anyone says and does it goes right above my ear like a lost air plane 🙃

Tuktukkers are senseless

Anti's have lost the plot

Doubters are just dumb and corny

Anyone who thinks they know anything bout Jikook post solo is playing themselves for fools we ain't know shit. We've been made. Jikook made us out. They pulling the strings like the masters of chaos they are.

Some said I drink too much these days- you ain't shit.

If I come for!!! No! Like fr IF I COME FOR YOU!

[finitefantasy]

LATE GAME VEILGUARD SPOILERS BEWARE

"Actually, Varric was dead the entire time" is the dumbest fucking plot twist they could've done with this game.

This has no emotional impact for new players who this game is CLEARLY trying to cater to. Why would they care an old man was a hallucination the whole time?

It's a zero impact way to affect the veteran players. it feels like he was "kept alive" in Rook's brain just to have Varric be fanservice for people who liked him. Except the fanservice was shit. Watching him sit around and give rote, context-free lines does... nothing?

Watching him "survive" Solas and then be killed by Solas in the same scene, 60 hours later removes all emotional reaction

We never see Rook spend time with Varric so... Rook's grief doesn't even work here? A cut scene where Rook finds out Varric is really dead being put in the fade where "processing your regrets" can help you escape (which is STUPID and is such a weird take on the fade/the fade prison that it pisses me off) means Rook processes Varric's death the second they find out about it. I don’t care if the game says it was weeks… it was minutes.

This is AFTER hallucinating Varric is alive.... for months. Seriously, no reaction to that besides "Oh no :/"

HIM BEING A HALLUCINATION MAKES NO SENSE! We see Rook interact with Varric/Varric speak in SEVERAL group scenes. Did everyone else just... watch Rook stare into the air for 30 seconds and just go "LMAO THAT ROOK THEYRE CRAZY" like??

Neve goes "I'm sorry I didn't notice Solas did this to you" but like... HOW DID YOU NOT NOTICE? Did no one try to talk to Rook abotu it? ZERO conversations were had about ABANDONING VARRIC'S DEAD BODY? OR WHYROOK KEPT GOING OT THE INFIRMARY? Rook never spoke to anyone about their convos with him?

"Oh but Solas mind control maybe kept Rook from discussing it" Okay onto the Solas mind control front... why does Solas have this power now? Why does Solas ONLY use it to make Rook hallucinate Varric??? WHY DOES NO ONE FREAK OUT AND WONDER WHAT ELSE HE COULD'VE DONE? Why is there NO emotional reaction to this? Why is it not a logistical nightmare?

Putting the sex/main romance scene RIGHT after this realization makes the lack of emotional reaction even more insane. You think I want to eat snatch when someone died in front of me, someone else MIGHT have died in front me, AND I just realized I was hallucinating aNOTHER DEAD PERSON? The emotional whiplash is ugly and non-romantic. He’s like a weird footnote to a scene about two unrelated characters

There is no narrative or emotional processing of a MAJOR CHARACTER dying. He's reduced to fanservice and bad fanservice at that

At one point, Isabela refers to the Kirkwall crew as family. Did... no one tell her some of her family died? If they did... did they do that when Rook wasn't there? Why does Isabela never react? Why is Isabela fine being so minimally involved with the Solas thing if she knows Varric was MURDERED by Solas? HE WAS HER FAMILY!

I'm not even a like hardcore Varric fangirl. I thought DA was overplaying their hand by puttig him in a third game and he did best when he was Hawke's bestie. I wanted him to retire. I was even fine with the idea of him dying. But this was the worst way to do it. It's not what he deserved but also it's just fucking stupid.

[spinningbuster98]

Since yesterday we talked about my *favorite* story: I think what really confuses me about the NFCV fans who defend Hector's writing by praising his final action, letting Lenore go, as the rightful conclusion of his character arc... is that it only works if you completely memory hole S3.

Hector is introduced as someone who burned his own parents alive after a childhood of abuse, bitter enough to believe humanity needed to be culled. From this perspective, him learning to forgive Lenore, or at least granting her mercy and dignity, could be a good character development. But Hector through the show was not written to be bitter, vengeful and violent: that was Isaac.

Or alternatively, Hector's biggest flaw is that he needs to be loved, so much that his favorite spell is reanimating dead animals so that they could love him unconditionally. He forces those creatures to him. He keeps this behavior by clinging to Dracula, then Carmilla (he could have ran away, he chose to stay with her after Dracula's death), then Lenore (after Carmilla's death and Isaac making him live, Lenore became his only certainty in life). From this perspective, him not forcing Lenore to live an existence she didn't want to live, but accepting her decision, could be poignant. But Hector never actively sought anyone: he was swayed and lured in. Besides, his pets stopped being relevant after S2.

Hector's arc was one of passivity. You can't miss it: even Isaac points out that Hector lacked agency. Hector spent his entire arc being thrown around left and right, lied to, beaten, humiliated, dehumanized, and he simply... existed. He has no objective, he barely has any negative emotions. Hector in S3 was a blow up doll, and we audience were meant to laugh at his stupidity while jerking off over the submissive and breedable peggable guy being called "good boy". S4 pretends he grew, with his working behind the scenes to resurrect Dracula, but it's not enough, for all the reasons we know. That's why him letting Lenore go feels like the last spit in the face for him: not only Hector is the only character in the season who is left with a bittersweet ending at best, but... he didn't do anything to affirm himself. He didn't choose to leave Lenore: Lenore chose to leave him, and he simply nodded to that. He didn't talk to her about their problematic relationship, now that nothing was between them. He didn't take the chance to recognize his own self-worth in the same way Isaac did. We don't know what he plans to do with Isaac, we don't know if he plans to leave the castle at some point. The pattern of him going "sure why not" at everything thrown at him was not shaken.

(I don't need to tell you that as someone who loves the original Hector's story precisely for the way he seizes agency for himself, this pisses me off something fierce. More idealistic? Maybe, but also encouraging.)

I'll be honest: Hector as a character is so empty that I feel his fans simply project themselves into him, especially victims of abuse who see the way he crawled back to Lenore and think that it was an intentionally nuanced representation of the way abuse twists your mind and priorities. And if his story resonates with you, I can't take it away from you, but I can assure you that the guy who spent a whole episode writing his puppy fetish for no reason other than fanservice does not give a single shit about the realism of abuse, let alone the things he was accused of.

And I wonder if the same can be applied to other aspects of the show, like Trephacard's friendship that straight up doesn't exist on screen, or Isaac's "development" which might resonate with people similar to him. Just a lot of projecting and filling in the holes, of which the show has plenty because it would rather waste its time with pointless filibustering and people being mean and crass to each other or piss jokes.

This is gonna sound very cynical but the main reason for the show's success is, essentially, that it's superficially deep and insightful.

Superficial presentation can go a very, very long way in hiding very egregious writing flaws, stuff like great fight scenes, emotional music and dialogues that sounds very cool, philosophical and deep can easily convince people that what they're watching is far more than it really is. These are cases where, if you don't pay attention to the finer details, you would really be led to believe that it's exactly what the show is presenting itself as

As another example: Sonic fans, even after all of these years, still like to parade Mephiles around as the best written villain in the series, even though his plan makes less than zero sense. This is because he looks cool (?), has cool powers, has a cool voice and the game consistently presents him as a mastermind...so folks fall for it, it's all about the vibes and how they emotionally impact the viewers, who in turn don't tackle the material with actual critical thought. Some seem to do so, given the plethora of in-depth analysis of characters like Isaac, but, and I know this is really offensive of me to say, I think they are still being influenced by the emotional impact of the way the story likes to present itself, preventing them from truly being 100% objective

People see Hector's pseudo philosophical speech to Lenore, they see her killing herself with the beautiful cinematography and music, and they mistake it for actual art, because it makes them forget or reinterpret the likes of S3. The reason why so many undermine or even justify Lenore's treatment of Hector in S3 is not, I believe, out of genuine rape apologism, but rather becaus people have a subconscious need to have everything neatly fit into their view of events

The ending of S4 looks so beautiful and deep and meaningful, but their relationship in S3 is in direct contradiction of that, so instead of recognizing that they twist the facts in their own head in order for all of it to make sense, because if you admit the existence of S3 as it truly was to yourself, then S4 and it's "beautiful" emotional impact falls apart like a ton of bricks

This is sounding very arrogant if not downright misanthropic I know, as I'm essentially saying that people don't know how to consume the media they like and that they don't even truly know what it is that they like. I feel a bit ashamed in saying this because it's the type of reasoning that would anger me usually, especially if directed at me, so in a way I guess I'm being hypocritical...but I truly don't see any other way to explain this phenomenon

Isaac is, of course, another good example: it's "easy" for most people to forget his hypocrisy because the show puts such a laser focus on his "development" and emotions and philosophy etc. It's like dangling keys in front of a toddler in order to distract them from some other thing

Something like Other M could have had the same effect, but the difference I feel is that Other M is far more egregious in its superficial dialogue: Samus sounds boring and stupid even at a surface level, she can't fool the audience, and Adam's character doesn't feature nowhere close as many "distractions" from his shitty behavior, especially since the authorization mechanic is pervasive throughout the whole game, so people immediately see what a douchebag he is and how self contradicting the story is about him.

[white-weasel]

Eleanor trapping Logan is SUCH a delicious concept oh gosh

This woman recreates Jigsaw traps for fun!! She has the skills and the creativity to make some for herself!!! I get the point of her character was supposed to be the fake out and maybe making her someone who *actually* traps people undercuts that but idec!! I think it’s interesting if she doesn’t do like. Full scale Jigsaw activities, but does want to keep the legacy preserved and if that means trapping the new Jigsaw killer, by God she’s gonna trap the new Jigsaw killer

And honestly I know a lot of the fanbase has issues with Logan being an apprentice/the way the movie frames him as being, like, The Best Apprentice Ever in that he taught John his philosophy and also followed it after his death which arguably he doesn’t! John’s whole thing was that his games are rehabilitation, while Logan wanted revenge for the murder of his wife. We can talk about John’s philosophy vs his actions and the hypocrisy of a lot of his traps of course, but at its core he at least *believed* he was giving his victims a shot in his games. Logan, on the other hand, *knows* that he’s not giving Halloran a “fair” game as evidenced by the raw ass exchange of “John Kramer gave people a chance to win the game, a choice.” “You have a choice, scream or don’t”

This then ties into how we get the Saw fanbase back on our side with Logan as a character: instead of that flashback he narrates at the end of Jigsaw being actual canon, we show that that was his *perception* of his time and interactions with John Kramer, but really he’s an unreliable narrator. Something interesting to me about Jigsaw is that Logan is the one who is literally narrating the twist to his victim! I’m pretty sure none of the other mainline films do this (though of course correct me if I’m wrong). This means that everything Logan’s saying could be wrong! I don’t think hes purposefully lying, but I really think the philosophies he picked up and what he took out of his apprenticeship were maybe not what actually happened. Perhaps it got warped and distorted even further when he was a prisoner of war and endured torture. Just!!! There’s something compelling to me about Logan being an unreliable narrator AND I think it could fix some of the issues fans have with him

Then of course going back to Eleanor, she’s engrossed in the world of John Kramer and Jigsaw. She knew shit that the general public couldn’t even think of. This is a bit fanservice-y but I’m imagining she somehow was able to figure out the existence of Jigsaw’s third (or I guess fourth?) apprentice who the audience would know is Lawrence Gordon. Sure, she doesn’t actually know the identity of this apprentice, but she’s heard rumors that John Kramer had a fail safe to go after his other apprentice, Mark Hoffman, when he stepped out of line. And maybe Eleanor sees herself as having to step into this role now towards Logan - he’s not following the path he was taught and needs to be corrected. Plus, like I said in the tags of that poll, technically Logan never completed his test. She thinks that if he gets through this one she constructed, he’ll see the true purpose of traps and get back on the straight and narrow. And if he fails, well, he’ll stop perverting the Jigsaw name and what it *should* stand for

This is all just a LOT of disorganized rambling that probably makes zero sense, but hey Twisted Picture, if you ever want ideas for how to continue the Saw movies without being constricted to the I - VII portion of the timeline, I will dump them on you

[lilithfairen]

Bet you can’t criticize this FRWBY post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBYcritics/s/QuqWXp1RMQ

I bet I can!

So it starts off by saying that the Malachite twins as Cinder's sidekicks, having Yang listen to Blake's backstory instead of Sun, and having Roman be Ozpin's vessel are good changes. Except none of them are, whatsoever.

The Malachite twins are an unnecessary addition to the story. As of V6, they exist as another instance in which the majority of Fixing RWBY revolves solely around Roman.

Yang listening to Blake's backstory gives no opportunity for character development between Sun and Blake, nevermind the fact that Blake opens up to Sun because he is a Faunus.

And lastly, Roman as Ozpin's vessel. This is purely about the white guy Celtic Phoenix adores replacing a PoC character. Now, the post you link whines about "character bloat" (while acknowledging Fixing RWBY dragging up Cardin fucking Winchester of all characters), except Roman's role in both the original show and Fixing RWBY highlights the idiocy of said complaint. Roman in the original show is a minor character. He's a villain of one story arc, then no longer plays a role beyond that story arc. That's not "character bloat", that's how stories work.

But people who write and adore stories like Fixing RWBY want "character bloat", in that they want all of the white male characters to permeate the story and remain constant fixtures of it. Roman isn't a fitting vessel for Ozpin whatsoever, nor does Fixing RWBY even utilize the contrast between Roman (a largely selfish individual who only gives a crap about himself and Neo) and Ozpin (someone who isn't "morally grey" no matter how much douchebags want to feel smart, but someone genuinely trying to do good despite his mistakes and flaws). Heck, Fixing RWBY's Roman Torchwick isn't Ozpin, nor is it even Roman Torchwick—he's just a bland jerkass who's made special so the actual protagonists of the show have to be subservient to him, with the main character treated as his sidekick.

It also completely misses the point of why a new character became Ozpin's vessel, rather than an established character—so said character could be inexperienced and untrained, not overshadowing the actual protagonists. In the case of Fixing RWBY, the entire point is to have Roman be treated as the main character even by the titular heroines of the show.

Then the post you link to claims the show better develops the characters, except it fucking doesn't. It wastes time on minor and inconsequential characters (because the creator likes any white male character more than the lead heroines). The perfect example of this is how the post fawns over Vernal, a character who's written to be Celtic Phoenix's underage-fanservice cultural-appropriation daughteru, a character whom the protagonists barely know as an enemy and then come to care about more than their own family members.

And of course it touches upon Adam, a character losers like Celtic Phoenix and his stans wanted to be a more important villain than he ever was in the show, purely because Adam is white and male. They can't stand the fact that he wasn't the most unstoppable badass in existence, because they can't stand a white male character not being just better than everyone else.

Along with more stupid claims (like saying Cardin/Velvet is good writing, when as we all know it's about a white man believing people like himself deserve love from non-white women just for not being a racist piece of shit to them), the post claims Bumbleby is better written. To note, Blake and Yang have barely any interaction that isn't caustic throughout the entirety of Fixing RWBY V6, and the "mending" of their relationship that courses throughout the original V6 is hastily thrown out at the last second in FRWBY V6 (because the story cares more about Adam having an impact on them than each other).

The post does acknowledge glaring flaws with Fixing RWBY (the incredibly poor job it does at foreshadowing anything, the random and stupid character antagonism, the way Adam is written to be invincible against Team RWBY and instantly jobbed by anyone else, the fact that a "fix"-fic still rips off 95% of the plot and lore), but then proceeds to complain about complaints it thinks are invalid. Such as:

Faunus heat cycles (it doesn't matter how briefly it's mentioned, it's stupid garbage purely for fetishy fanservice)

Roman as Celtic Phoenix's self-insert (it's fucking obvious)

the queerphobic "jokes" aimed at Ren (yes they are queerphobic, much like Celtic Phoenix minimizing the presence of queer characters and treating a queer woman of colour who prevented a massacre as less sympathetic than a straight white man who committed a massacre)

All in all, it's a shitty "review" written by someone who highlights how the audience for Fixing RWBY is white men who hate stories where anyone but white men matter to the story.

[xviistrings]

if you had to punt exactly one playable persona character into the sun, who would it be and why?

i have to pick just one? aww...

well, i classify my urge to punt someone as how much i hate and despise and fucking loathe them. but my reasoning behind hating a character is based on multiple factors;

do they have/learn good skills/abilities?

are they well written in the story?

are they well written in their social link?

writing aside, do i like them as a person?

now, the only games i have played out of the persona series are 4 & 5(NOT ROYAL). i read the p1 manga and am only watching playthroughs of the game, so i am not at all in any place to cast judgement on those guys, nor do one of those factors even apply to them... so that already narrows it down a whole bunch. i would never punt a single p1 character. they're all great (except maybe kei just for the 4th one) (but he's great. i love him. i think about him and get sad)

and i'm also eliminating the protagonists for obvious reasons, so we've already disqualified 11 characters. and with that out of the way, we can officially begin...

PERSONA'S PERILOUS PLAY OF PUNTING POTENTIAL!!!! (contains spoilers)

every character will be able to score out of 3 in each factor, and the one with the least amount of points wins the game as the Most Puntable. it's kind of like golf, which is funny, because i also want to punt golf players into the sun.

our first contestant is YOSUKE HANAMURAAAA

now, i was going to grab a fun little image of him to provide this post with visuals but i always forget that 90% of his search results on google are. uh. hm.

well, this is our situation. can i give him a pity point for that?

for number one, i can say...... 3/3. he was ALWAYS on my team during the whole game and i built him up well. like i was raising a son... sniffle... they grow up so fast...

i have to admit, it was a little annoying when he kept missing crits on the golden hand but is that his fault? no-hohohoooooo, it's merely a turn of fate... (and his fault. fuckyouyosukefuckyoufuckyougaaaah)

for number 2, i rate it 2. he's an ooooookay character in the main story, a lot of his harassment of the girls and kanji really tick me off and there's literally no good explanation as for why he does that other than just being an asshole, but. i guess being an asshole is just part of his personality.........?

EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT THERE SHOULD BE GREATER CONSEQUENCES FOR HIS ACTIONS BECAUSE COMMUNICATING THE IDEA THAT BAD PEOPLE GET OFF SCOT-FREE IS TERRIBLE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. i don't give 2 shits about fanservice as a whole (in regards to harassing the girls, not the homophobia, that's just annoying) but can we stop making the grounds for it being sexual harassment

number 3 gets a 3! his social link is AMAZING and i CRIED and hes GAY and LOVES HIS FRIENDS!!!!!! if i wanted to do a character analysis on him then i would write a different post, but this is me trying to figure out who i would punt into the sun. so. moving on

number 4......... 1/3. for the previous points in number 2, he is an absolute dickhead and no amount of people-pleasing habits and homoerotic chemistry will make me like him. every person who is mean to him is right.

oh boy, just yosuke's section was reaaaaaaaaaally long... i'll try and shorten it for you, okay?

up next is chie satonaka, my personal favourite persona 4 girl if that sets the baseline for anything.

look at her :] she's so silly :]

for number one, i'm sadly going to have to rate her below 3... like. 1.5? is that allowed? i'll say it is.

she's the party member equivalent of a burner phone. unlike yosuke who's by my side forever and ever, chie is only good until teddie gets a persona and then she's so publicly humiliated that she accidentally misses every single hit. galactic punt YOURSELF MOTHERFUUUUUUUUUCK

number 2, 3/3. no explanation needed, literally just her shadow boss fight and the beauty pageant and her friendship with yukiko and her everything.

number 3... also 3/3. a lot of people give her flack for deciding she wants to be a cop, which i get because acab fuck yeah, but where adachi is a cop just to get attention and a gun, she actually intends to protect people. chie learns to help herself so she can help others... augh... AUGH CHIE I LOVE YOUUUUUU

ahem. number 4, 2/3. she's definitely a sweetheart and she seems fun to be around but i have to admit she's definitely a little annoying sometimes.

and now it's time for chie's bestest friend ever, yukiko amagi!!

she gets a pity point for being a lesbian... not just a lesbian but one having a crush on a straight girl. we've all been there hunny bun. let's watch romcoms and eat ice cream together while crying ok?

number 1..... 3/3 fuck yeah my main healer always coming in clutch!!! after a certain point she stops being the main fire user and the player is supposed to take that role but then she has KICKASS HEALING ABILITIES!! support characters are always my favourites (which might foreshadow my rating for haru.......)

1/3 for number 2. that might sound harsh, but! but but but!

they kind of sucked the life out of her after her dungeon. the only real defining personality traits she has are in her social link, which is unfortunate because so many people hate it!

i don't hate yukiko. never

3 gets a 3. it's a good story actually, and like i said it helps me see yukiko as. like. a person. and a lot of people say it's bad writing that her story ends with her deciding she wants to manage the inn, but let me put a lot of emphasis on 'deciding'. she chose that path for herself after being told she was allowed to do what she likes, and y'know what? i don't think that's bad!

nobody likes being forced to do something. i know i struggled a lot with doing homework because i always felt trapped in those deadlines and expectations, but i didn't just give up on school. improving my grades was my own choice, and i realized that i had potential to change myself despite my situation and succeed! that's what yukiko's social link is about. not giving in to other people's expectations, but thriving in the environment you're given...

i just said i wanted to shorten everything and now i'm ranting. always number 4 is a 3/3 she's literally just a girl and her laughing thing is cute idgaf.

KANJI TATSUMIIIIIIIII

subtracting a point for those shoes. get out.

number 1 is a 2/3. he was cool, but nobody ever compares to yosuke. i mainly used him for his physical skills rather than magic because yu took that role very easily, and when paired with teddie or yukiko he's just a boss. but he's not my favourite party member in the world

number 2, i'll be blunt, 1/3. WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO TO YOU MAN. we all saw how yosuke and everyone else and the whole damn story treated him. we all saw the line where he asked naoto to be femme so they could "make him a man". shut the fuck upppppp

number 3 is his saving grace. i know some people don't like that they never elaborated on the sexuality thing (or the... sexism..??) and i get that, having a character who's canonically mspec but only vaguely mentions it once and never again is really annoying and a half-assed attempt at representation. though i interpret his reconciliation with his sewing hobby, an aspect of him that everyone thinks is unmanly and should be shamed, as a metaphor for his own sexuality. similar to daisuke and soccer being a stand-in for his anxiety around romance and girls. in that case, it's a 3/3.

(plus there's the line "it's so cute it'll give you diabetes" and... kanji... *facepalm*)

number 4. he's cutie. a little weird, but cutie. 2/3

and now, a girl who needs no introduction.

god my feelings for her are as mixed as my auntie's desert lasagna. ("let's mix it up," she says...)

i don't have anything against the navigators. they're pretty good. i say 3/3.

however i hate rise's writing. -4/3. negative numbers are cheating? I DON'T CARE!!

her dungeon is a STRONG start to her character, like with everyone else. i love rise reconciling with the fact that there is no "real me" and everyone has different sides of themselves that they need to make it through life... and the fact that it ties in with teddie's conflict of feeling hollow, like an alien or an impostor only pretending to be alive........ oh my god! hiiiiii!!!!! love it!

and then rise's main bit in the story is crushing on the protagonist.......... sigh.

i really really REALLY hate that about her actually. i really hate forced romances. and before you go calling me a hypocrite for liking souyo and not yurise even though souyo has the exact same amount of flirty moments between them, that's because those two are really subtle with each other and have a really good initial friendship to back it up and also ties in with their actual personalities.......???? (we can debate forever and ever if yu has a personality but i say he does. he's consistently portrayed in other adaptations and spinoffs. he's got so much in common with yosuke)

but rise just kind of sees yu and goes "hey handsome. killing shadows all by yourself?" and it's like eeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh.... 90% of the time she's on screen it's to flirt with yu and the other 10% is serious moments or when she's with anyone but yu. there's no moments where she gets to be casual and friendly with HIM, where we get to see DEPTH to their relationship, it's just purely flirting. and i hate that. so much. is this a one-night stand? no? then give me some actual fucking chemistry

and i feel like all of that smushing-dolls-together time takes away from a lot of genuine scenes with rise where she....... yk.... shows off her personality?

the hot springs and the trip to tatsumi port island are held dearly in my heart because rise DOES SHIT. she's silly and goofy and playful and maybe she says some stuff that's a little perverted but it's not to the yosuke degree. i like the idea that rise flirts with ALL of her friends, not just yu; it makes her feel like she's really part of the friend group, which is the investigation team's strongest suit.

rise and yukiko both have any personality ripped from them in favour of dumb bits that aren't even funny and that post of mine analyzing their dynamic during the school field trip is so everything guys they're so great as a duo i need to see more of them pleapelpslepalpelspes.......

...whoops. i ranted.

number 3 gets a 2/3. it's kind of just a rehash of what she learned in the main story, which is fine, but not ideal.

rise as a person is 3/3. absolute silliness all around. love her

KUMA KUMA KUMAAAAA

look at this fucking guy. ridiculous. i hate him. he's so annoying and dumb and he sucks

3/3 on party member he's totally goated

3/3 on main story he makes me feel the whole spectrum of emotions and then some

his social link is automated so technically thats a 3/3 too

3/3 person he might be an annoying little shit but i have 2 younger cousins. i understand yosuke. it's endearing to me

teddie is peak. i would never punt him.

now............to.

entirely honest, i'm on my second persona 4 playthrough to complete the social links i never finished and... naoto is one of those. so i will be unable to determine the rating for one of the factors. but luckily i'm not shit at math so it'll work out in the end

for 1...... honestly they're a good party member as well, but because i didn't get very far in their social link, i didn't unlock that ability where she's able to withstand a deadly blow meaning he would just be constantly dying. like. constantly.

but that's kind of the only thing i like about naoto. i have to rate their main storyline a 1/3. it's absolutely shit and the gender plottwist (ughh) is so badly done. i'm personally thinking up a rewrite for his character because i think they were onto something with the message about misogyny in the workplace but she's so SHITTILY executed that it's just muddied

naoto as a person is..... ok. 2/3. i don't find many things about her that exceptional or fun. i don't think about them often. if this were my rewrite of him it'd be waaaay deep down in the negatives because they are an ASSHOLE but i love them way more :3

and next is ryu.............uh........ actually, this is way too long. much too long than you probably anticipated... um... maybe i'll cut it short, make a part 2 later.

until next time........ on PERSONA'S PERILOUS PLAY OF PUNTING POTENTIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!

[centrally-unplanned]

Gonna try to do some seasonal anime takes, lets start with:

Heavenly Delusions

Episode one of HD has a shot that I really liked in episode 1, where main girl Kiruko is getting undressed for the first time (giving off a great impression out the gate aren't I?), and scars that riddle her body are revealed:

So, for one, the cracked mirror is just cool ya know, she is scarred, her world is scarred, good shit. Its also clever though - like sure, her shirt is covering her nipples, but sans that crack this would be a very risque shot. But we don't want it to be, this isn't meant to be a risque scene - she needs to be unclothed to show us her damage. So the crack is arranged to cover the breasts and make the scene work to organically highlight what its supposed to. It does double duty, and that is a sign of good directing.

Now, what isn't a sign of good directing is the entirety of the somber tone is undone by the following scene being a classic someone-walks-in-oh-no-I'm-naked moment and you get some minor but full-on fanservice...but its anime, its gotta hit its quota, whatever. And I will credit the show that jumping between comedic and extremely serious is what it does on the daily, it is being consistent here.

Yet it turns out I was a little bit wrong on the double-duty thing; this is more like triple duty. Because we learn in episode 2 that our girl Kiruko kindof isn't a girl - she is dysphoric:

There was even additional events during that original bathroom scene that suggested this too, so the foreshadowing intent is clear. Now I really like that original shot - the cracked mirror now cleaves his actual body, a split to mirror his own fractured identity. The fact that it downplays the sex organs is probably just a coincidence due to the others factor mentioned, but it still works thematically even better now!

But before you scramble to tune in to watch this egg hatch, its not what is going on here. This is an apocalyptic sci fi story, and Kiruko is actually Haruki, the brother of Kiruko, who died in a monster attack and had his fading brain swapped into Kiruko's body for mysterious reasons. Haruki/Kiruko is now questing to figure out the mystery of how that happened and why his sister died while he was saved. Its a dysphoria born of aberrant circumstances over identity.

Now that isn't the slam dunk it might come off as - using ~plot dynamics to create a new context for metaphorically exploring a real-life issue is a classic technique. It allows distance from the petty minutias of reality to apply focus on the author's own interests, allows the author to push boundaries intellectually with their creative freedom, and generally allows people who don't experience the issue in real life to relate via making the experience more universal. A show could absolutely do some interesting stuff with how someone copes with a body swapped and sex-swapped reality.

Here however is where genre rears its head; its just not going to do that. With its action-comedy premises and modern shounen-adjacent sensibilities (even if it is Seinen), its not interested in that kind of story. The premise reveals that - the 'origin story' for Haruki's swap is all about violence, betrayal, mystery, revenge. These concepts externalize the problem, placing the cause of them in other people and therefore the *resolution* of the problem in the hands of external interactions. I'm not saying there will be no complications, and hey, its episode 3, maybe I will be wrong! But when you have scenes like her male travel partner having his confession shot down this matter-of-factly:

To me all signs point to this being a plot device for drama or even comedic shenanigans than a vehicle for metaphorical identity & gender explorations.

Not helping is I looked into interviews with the author Masakazu Ishiguro, and while I find a little bit on gender exploration I what mainly found was a whole segment on his brother-sister complex, which really makes you think that might be the greater focus for the show.

This may came off as harsh, and its a critique for sure, but overall I am enjoying Heavenly Delusion's great art & character designs, fun setting, and mystery plot. I am just saying that the mirror shot I was so fond of is likely not going to deliver thematically on the meaning its directing imbued it with, which is disappointing to me.

But maybe we will at least get some fun genderbending flirting with the main duo along the way!

(We won't, sigh, this isn't even a good translation, HaruKiri is using the word bishounen, which you wouldn't translate as good-looking, its more specific - 'getting that pretty-boy look young girls favor', something like that. The tone is way more specific, and therefore less flattering. Anyway...)

[hellonerf]

OHH same anon as lasg time!!! now rhat we have confirmation of relationships can we maybe get a list of em?

OK... i will try my best... keep in your mind i am ame guy i always think about ame its a torturous existence but i will use this opportune to explain my 2ptalia. i wont make a list cz thats hard so i'll just write as much as i can. long paragraphs here we go

2p fra and 2p eng live in the manor and he's the head of the household there (of like two people lol). 2p eng plays the role of a stay at home mother and 2p fra the father. years back meri and nada lived there as the kids. 2p eng likes playing house but he wants full control of the house so its suffocating for the others. meri especially had always needed particular kinds of help and rejected alot of 2p england's ways. but 2p eng was also very particular about things so they clashed really badly. 2p eng fed him shit like human meat idk how to fit this in but this old 2p thing is so funny to me i have to keep it anyways that was a thing meri was kind of the problem child there. 2p eng did not like meri lol but it was under layers of strange lying and false affections

nada was like... a lying kid he'd just go with what was told of him quietly and kind of halfassedly to get things done. but he also would try to cool down situations to keep himself and meri safe. he fed meri wild berries or whatever other foods that meri wouldn't get sick from and puke out so he didn't end up seriously malnourished... a good older brother. if not a little aloof. (and meri could be difficult sometimes because. you know. obviously. and nada didnt always know how to respond to him properly). he is all annoyed by meri Now bcz of how clingy and needy he is and how meri seems to want him to prioritize his needs over nada's own. meri doesn't intend this but nada to him is someone who'd never drop him anyways and meri wants to feel whatever counts as happy at the moment (does whatever he wants lol).

2p fra is useless husband lol ok but he is a sad sad guy and he doesnt gaf anymore and just stays in the manor and during the brothers childhood mostly turned the other way. he can garden tho theres that! also 2p eng can actually cook he just does shit but he can cook well. hes demanding of his husband and purposefully difficult sometimes... likes testing him.

nada and 2p eng's relationship is a lot better but nada holds his tongue a lot anyways. they get along pretty okay and meri is like im really chill about that (not really)(but well nada likes me more than him anyways... he'll always take my side no matter what he tells england...). meri thinks 2p fra hates him too but 2p fra doesnt he just doesnt gaf about those damn kids. after meri and nada ran away 2p fra was like well i guess this family doesnt really have kids anymore. and 2p eng waslike no they just left for college. (2p fra: college doesnt exis.t.. okay). now meri and nada adventures the small deserted world they live in on a shitty motorcycle doing errands and jobs for people.

now for other guys. 2p ita is an asshole to like everyone but he gets things done. he keeps things in line in most of the area though some people dont listen to him even if he threatens them. he's pretty aware of whats his strengths and what isnt so hes calculating about who and how he exerts control... hes the one who figured out the very faraway portal door to 1p world. he lives in a long asymmetric tower that looks like a radio tower... 2p ger works here for him and basically lives there too. 2p ger is a kind of mechanic thats weirdly clumsy but also really good at his work. (2p ger gives us gratuitous fanservice from tripping over lines that werent there previously and 2p ita pops three whole blood vessels at once!) 2p jp is the bodyguard ish. but he kind of hates being under people so he doesnt always listen to his bosses. (2p ita knows how to get him to listen tho even if its a hassle). 2p ita hires meri and nada to do shit sometimes (mostly nada cz meri is worse at listening than him. but meri shows up there anyways so they get to know each other's working styles). they dont like each other but due to a job now 2p ger, meri, and nada all know about the door so he has to figure out to keep them in check about it

2p pru is 2p ger's older brother that was a major deal but lost his whole arm!!! and is now weak and sad. so 2p ger mostly takes care of him and his mechanical arm. 2p ger has little loyalty to people, but he takes care of his brother anyways. he'd probably sell him out lol but then take care of him after anyways.

2p roma is on the radio Oh i forgot to mention everyone has a little walkie talkie or radio that connects to the radio tower and this is like their only source of entertainment (unless germy lets them borrow his shitty laptop) and well communication of sorts. anyways hes on the radio always and has to keep coming up with material and sometimes has to pretend like hes 2p ita when giving announcements... 2p ita thinks hes annoying and thinks whatever "entertainment" he gives on the radio sucks ass but they got each others backs anyways.

2p japan as i said is a kind of bodyguard but he's very protective of his work and also not friendly like at all. 2p chi is not rly his mentor but they keep running into each other anyways. 2p chi is kind of true idgaf guy he lives in one of the houses closer to the radio tower because its convenient and he couldnt care less about the other people around. he keeps a lot of old things in his house like old jewelry old trinkets just old old things of their world. he might've been the one who found the laptop and just gave to it to 2p ger just cz he asked. 2p ger gets his mechanical materials from him because nobody else keeps shit they find cause they suck and are lazy. so germys always like man that guys the best! and 2p japan grits his teeth and stars come out from him gritting his teeth cz of how hard he grit his teeth. 2p chi does not gaf abt 2p japan of course its like a weird beef... he keeps the old trinkets because its useful and he might find a thing or two that makes his life more convenient... if not he'll sell or give them away. he listens to the radio and thinks it sucks but not much else to do.

2p spain is a little further away from the radio tower but he's there. he lives in someplace that looks like a church but if you walk in its basic house interior. he is a shit guy but knows and keeps and sells information around here. 2p ita has beef with him for that(but its fine... he's a patient guy... kgh...) and instead of talking directly for managing stuff he just sends 2p roma to do it.(romas like i dont rly wanna... but fine.. cz im just rly charitable...) 2p spain likes throwing glass at people thats just a thing he does. meri and nada doesnt like doing jobs for him but he pays a lot so they do it anyways. 2p ger wouldnt mind working for him but 2p spain doesnt trust his weird mechanics and technology... he does things manually. of course he doesnt know but many things of his house runs on the same mechanics...

2p russia is closer to the radio tower than 2p spain is but relatively not close. he likes keeping the plants and ecosystem in this world alive because nobody else is managing it. (2p fra would but he's in that fuckass manor all the time... this pisses 2p rus alot cz instead of being useful to the environment hes just There). meri has no idea but the only reason there was wild berries all around and various non-meat food is cz of 2p rus. 2p rus barely knows of him tho he just hears abt them like oh those two who would do anything for a little piece of money. 2p russia always has the radio on because information is valuable even if right now its just a shitty improvised soap opera on the radio... he doesnt like other people and only interacts if he must.

aaand i forgot to mention but 2p eng's manor has one singular radio connected to the radio tower but its like always turned off and hidden. 2p eng doesnt like 2p ita and doesnt agree with how he runs things at all and is the one who is most uncooperative with him. thats why 2p eng is really secluded living in the manor... he's the furthest away from the radio tower. 2p ita thinks hes a freak but hes mostly not causing trouble for him so he lets him do whatever that shit is.

[crimsonxe]

Rant below:

Dumbass on YT who has a record shitting on the RWBY has decided to do a vid where he says the community is responsible for the delay of greenlighting; because y'know people don't support AU's (and I doubt he means the good ones, instead likely thinking of "Ruining RWBY" type that are an insult to the show) or don't support sexualizing of characters or straight-washing characters. I guess everyone should continue to blindly support those people cause "fandom", instead of going "nooooooope".

Also while giving Miles credit for his voice work, making sure to put in a backhand to everyone else likely the female VA's; because ofc a piece of shit incel/neckbeard is going to do that. Which shouldn't be shocking cause iirc this neckbeard asshole has already taken shots at Barb and Arryn in the past.

The moron also thinks that rich vs. poor is a wrong concept probably in general but he's talking about the Atlas arc; y'know where it was repeatedly shown that such divide existed. But as usual this crowd doesn't care about that, just whatever bullshit they think matters or doesn't. And this jackass gives off the exact vibes one would think of from someone that takes issue with a commentary about poor vs. rich as a concept. Also directly mentioning Celtic thus confirming that the likely AU was "Ruining RWBY"-'s bullshit.

Keep in mind Ruining RWBY did:

faunus heat cycles

putting in shipping push for Velvet/Cardin

inserted in fanservice sauna scenes

brought back Roman in an asspull fashion and put him with Ozpin, even though there's not a shred of commonality between them

had Ruby blush towards Roman

Blake join what amounts to a police squad against other faunus (like people want to take issue with the show proper for its WF arc, this is an actual OOF on that front)

side-lined the main female characters to boost up male characters

fucking tries to redeem and boost up Cardin aka Mr. White Supremacist Douchebag

Like nah, fuck that shit. I'll keep shitting on that and any other disgusting ass fan-work that does certain things till the cows come home. I won't support a fan artist that makes wlw art, yet doesn't believe in irl same-sex rights; I won't support a racist, homophobic, sexist, and overall disgusting piece of shit like Celtic; or anyone else for the sake of "being a good fan" and "part of the community". Community isn't an accepting all thing and instead good ones root out the bad.

Anyway point is if you do searches on YT, ignore the one with Anime in the channel name.

[mieczyhale]

honestly the second someone bitches about how much they hated dp&w i'm OUT. that's an instant block for me. nothing tells me you hate fun and fanservice more. you will not find two people more passionate about their characters, who want to give the fans something fun and entertaining, who know that the mcu has fucking sucked for ages and understand a big part of why that is

"it was lazy!!1" it was fun

"it didn't make sense!!1" a. yes it did and b. it was fun

"it was too cliche!!1" it was fun

"they told things they should've shown instead!!1" a. yeah a lot of media does that, at least dp&w didn't do it for literally everything and also b. it was fun

i have trouble sitting through long movies. it has to be something REALLY entertaining for me to manage it and i sat through this movie in theaters THREE (3) separate times with no issue

if you want some perfect thought-provoking movie the mcu isn't where you're gonna find it, first of all, and second of all if you want something unique, some never done shit, that isn't possible. everything has been done. it's just what you make of it now.

was their plot or their approach "cliche" or whatever?? to you apparently. that doesnt make it bad.

the plot made sense

if you think it didn't that's a you problem

my only issues related to any "plot" are y'all's regarding the vanessa plot line

"but the vanessa-" breakup was bs?? nah. i think it worked. and actually trying to force them together near the end was the real bs. they didn't even actually get back together but they clearly wanted it to look like a possibility as a "no homo" end to that plot for the movie.

"wade thought about vanessa in the time ripper scene-" and i'd think about the people i loved who were no longer around too in his position, if they had been important to me. doesn't mean it has to be or stay romantic.

"you're just saying that bc or your ship" no, actually, but even if i was who the fuck cares

sometimes entertainment... is about entertaining

something things are made out of love and joy and they aren't perfect or some pretentious cinema piece and that's great. preferable actually

sometimes you see two friends put out a crossover passion project that the whole world gets hype for and it succeeds SO insanely it beat (bad word choice) jesus and it's an important moment in cinema history and wow we all got to be a part of it and i've enjoyed every moment and maybe there are some things that matter about a movie more than whatever the fuck your bullshit issues are

oh and btw-

"but the jokes were-" i literally couldn't care less about which way you want to end that sentence when i know it's not gonna be a positive. if you're the kind of person who has issues with the jokes or fourth wall shit in a DEADPOOL movie there's no way you aren't an annoying shit

fuckity bye