#he’s not even my favorite but holy shit was his iteration in this story an emotional one

[sunnyvore]

“i just want my partner back”

[unlikelyjapan]

s2e5 rewatch notes

Ah, "Pop" - it's so weird to have one of the least-satisfying episodes of television you've ever watched be sandwiched in the middle of one of the most satisfying television series you've ever seen.

"But the viewer uneasiness, the juxtaposition, that's the point of the episode!" cry future Storer/Calo** in unison, tearing at their shirt collars and throwing themselves prostrate in the middle of their 7th podcast interview moderated entirely by men "in the spirit of John Hughes, we wanted to convey....."

** For the record, I respect/love them for creating my 2nd favorite TV show of all time, they just grind my gears with the offensive stance on these narrative choices that were, in fact, very bad.

It was an over-reach, an unenjoyable viewing experience for most people outside a specific segment of uncritical (mostly white) men and the women who placate them.

Alright, preamble over - let's dig in!

We open with Tina getting a crash-course in Syd's vision. I bet this woman has never been exposed to breaking food down in the abstract - "earth, air, fire, water" , nor the overwhelming prep of the daikon and the fennel - but her just being like "this is a lot for a tasting menu" and then reassuring her with "it's okay ma, I got you!" - she has my full heart.

Tina's intuition on the food is good, though - it is, in fact, too busy. Sydney is still learning how to be a mentor, and she negates that Tina's background isn't automatically going to make her know what a play on an XO sauce is, or even how to identify a panzanella.

Remember Carmy explaining Japanese plum wine to Marcus? That's how you do it. Sydney still has a learning curve to go through, but Tina will weather it gangbusters.

Sydney - "It's a lot, it's a lot...I'm seeing that its a lot"

I see that iterative recipe development between Carmy + Syd fell into oblivion three weeks earlier when he blew her off, and she's suffering greatly.

Carmy is trying to get the 7 seconds down to 5 between stations when Cicero comes in, and Cicero sees it as a fruitless exercise after Natalie points out that he's been at it for over an hour. I can almost see the flash in Carmy's eyes where we're back 5 years ago, his family seeing him and his work as weird and irrelevant. This was probably the first blow of the day that led him to flake out completely.

I'm including all of Cicero's dialogue here, because I didn't realize it was so weighted on my first pass through the show:

"I'm a little concerned that we're taking our eyes off the ball here, and I want to be hyper-clear - if I ain't seeing no progress, I don't want to keep pissing money away. I'm calling this out now, because we are - How far from open, Sug? - Six weeks! And I somehow anticipate that the coming six weeks, there will be more pissin'.

The thing is, I like to control the pissing to the best of my ability....your schedule is kinked. You're doing whatever the fuck you're doing here. Thundernuts is out there making sandwiches for his entire family? I mean, look, as much as I look forward to selling this place - and trust me, I do look forward to it - I think it's just in all of our best interests if we have a maximally efficient place of business. I really would like to tell you a story of complete and utter failure...."

Syd interrupts.

Holy shit - this is the second time he's tried to tell his Gonzalez/Bartman story. I can't believe I missed this, TWICE (s2e1).

Instead, he tells it to Carmy on opening night - and I think by then Cicero has seen the writing on the wall and knows that Carmy is the only person who really needs to hear it - this is a big CP.

The scenes that follow just reinforce Ciceros current narrative - it's too casual for essentially being a House of Usher - everyone is interrupting, Fak's pal/contractor wandering in eating a sandwich the electrician made him, the drywall falling, Timmy's "no worries, it's still billable hours" crack. Mobster uncle or not, the man has already spent $550k just to witness this.

Tina telling Ebra that it's weird she hasn't spoken to him in a few days, and can't recount the last time that happened - it's amazing that with all the talk of platonic relationships this season, no one is pulling this one out of their hats in comparison *smirks*

But again (like Sugar faux-charming Cicero moments earlier). women be managing men's emotions along with their own lengthy lists of challenges, as the men retreat wounded and overwhelmed.

Cut to Syd perfectly laying out dining wares for Carmy while Fak blathers about 'Can't Hardly Wait' being "the greatest High School Song ever written" while his contractor friend sits idle....

"That's $55 a plate for that silence" - "Okay, then we can use the shitty ones" - Carmy is being so frigging childish and dismissive, right after he called Sugar "fucking disgusting" for being cutesy with Cicero to de-escalate him, but both women are doing what needs to be done - not what they WANT to be doing.

This is when Carmy completely checks out to call Claire for the ridiculous errand run to Winnetka. In my memory, I felt like "oh, he wanted to see her and he took the first opening to bail", but watching this episode now, he feels defeated and infantalized, and so he runs to a guaranteed source of flattery/unchallenging comfort. I don't think it was initially his M.O for the workday, just "later".

He exits with "Um....chaos menu. I dunno? I'll get back to you?" after we already watched Syd suffer on it until the wee hours - he's off to provide himself with amusement and enjoyment, so he can take care of Syd others- he just wants to give the menu to her straight-up (as he thinks this will please her), and this is his way of apologizing for bailing.

The same goes for his non-thank-you to Natalie as he's leaving. "You're not doing this because I'm pregnant, are you?" - No, he's doing it to provide himself with amusement or enjoyment so he can be better for you - enjoy working the entire day at the restaurant pregnant, though! If it makes you feel better, he appreciates you.

"Total Control" by Motels is playing as Carmy and Claire drive to the suburbs - I included the link to the lyrics, because it was an....interesting choice.

I really tried to analyze their conversation during their first foray into the car, but my raw scribbled notes look like this:

"It's perfect timing, I had all this extra adrenaline after resetting this guys Tibia" - screaming

"Whoa" (but not really impressed/getting it) "Does that shit really fire you up?" - oh my god

"It really fucking fires me up. Plus, I love driving. I'm a horrible driver, but I love the risk." - oh my fucking god

I can't do it. I'm sorry.

I'll only note that the chemistry during the envelope drop is non-existent. I think it was supposed to be scripted as a funny/awkward scene, but it just came off as two actors standing in a mail room - before this moment, I never perceived JAW as a guy who's just acting in this show, and it's jarring.

Why the hell didn't FX exert more pressure to get the chemistry read they asked for?

Sydney and Natalie's sit-down is just them acknowledging that they're managing the feelings and work of all the men that orbit The Bear, on top of the extensive labor demands they already have. Richie's interjections due to lack of purpose, Fak's inexperience with managing contractors, Carmy being checked-out and incapable of participating in things that don't rely on his existing ADHD skill-set.

One of these women is a bit green and needs support, the other is pregnant and overwhelmed, and all the men are mad or threatened by them for one trite reason or another - if season 3 isn't an overt celebration of female competence and resilince, I'm out.

"The menu is fucked - and I need Carmy, but he is....being Carmy, somewhere."

"At least he's hanging out with Claire, that seems moderately healthy, right?" - Sugar delivers this as not good, not bad, just completely ambivalent - a far cry from the Fishes discourse.

And Sydney's eyes fire up with the intensity of hell behind a smile and the "who's Claire?" - Ayo is such an amazing actress, that was a nice palate cleanser after the letter drop.

OK, we're back in the car - again, I couldn't extract much from the vapor, but here are some rough-hewn observations:

Claire saying "We've hung out so much, but we've never actually talked" - add it to the list of "telling, not showing".

I wonder if Molly Gordon is truly a great actress and intended to look at Carmy like that while he was talking about drawing pants (intense psychoanalysis eyes) or if she was attempting to look dreamily at him and just failed the assignment.

It's becoming a bit more clear to me that there's a weird brother-oedipal thing going on with Claire when Carmy talks about how she had so many friends, as Mikey did.

"Speaking of dead brothers, do you want to go to a party?"

Ignoring the totallykookycoolgirl line, I don't believe Carmy wanted/needed the tension to break there, he actually wanted to talk. The 'hmmmm' he lets escape is discomfort on multiple levels.

The party scene - "Pretty in Pink" by the Psychedelic Furs plays as they enter a house filled with 35-year-old fraternity dudes.

For those who maybe missed this, John Hughes also wrote "The Breakfast Club", wherein Molly Ringwald's character was named Claire. They just beat us over the head with this regression repeatedly, and I resent it. I came here for a high-caliber show, and I feel like I'm watching Zach Braff disassociate in a Scrubs dream sequence or some shit.

At least KJ (a 38 years old man with meth face) says that Carmy was in wrestling with him back in high school - maybe this will tamp down the "why is a chef so ripped" debate.

Even when Claire is comforting her friend (which is played by Mitra Jouhari, Molly/Ayo's friend in real life), the delivery is so wooden and sterile and not how adult women console one another in crisis.

Maybe it was the fact that she was forced to maintain the whispery voice through it for consistency in Carmy's presence, but even that seems out of sorts - imagine Syd, Tina, Sugar, anyone consoling a friend in a similar situation - and she uses that consolation to further her agenda with Carmy by dropping that no one has ever made her dinner before (at age 30???)

"Am I stupid?" "No, no....he's the one who sucks".

Wait, these are the lines of a very adult woman who has friends who are doctors getting over a 5-year-breakup? This script is stupid.

Jeremy Allen White is such a serious actor, I'd kill to hear his earnest drunk take on this.

"He's so nice. Why don't I ever meet anyone who's nice?"

*sighs deeply* - Again, y'all are 30.

Tina taking a shot and then getting up to sing "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender. I'd love to know if this song has a massive place of significance in Tina's life, but I choose to see it as her being a ballast of support for whoever needs her. Her heart is completely open - no notes.

Hold the phone - they chose "Here Comes The Night" to play as Claire is staring back at Carmy and comforting her friend leading up to the fireworks scene?

Here are the lyrics - Van Morrison/Them is great, but I wonder why they picked this song? Feel free to slap the Syd goggles off me, but this literally just chased Tina's ballad about being there when someone breaks your heart.

KJ saying "busted for having fun, busted for having fun!" as the cops are hauling him away. Loga....I mean, Carmy, was looking for "fun" in his life - I feel like this scene summarizes that pretty succinctly. He's not a man searching for fun, he's a man searching for meaning....and now he's going to conflate the fact that he's completely touch-starved with this type of fun, because the man is emotionally illiterate.

The one lyric from Strange Currencies (when they're driving to the restaurant) that they chose to flare prominently is "where were you when I kissed you" - at least they're driving home the message that these two aren't on the same wavelength.

Carmy walking into the Richie-fight-shitshow and being more concerned about the optics Claire receives when it's obvious that his whole staff has just been through a hellfire of a day, ugh. At least his acting chops are back on display in this scene.

Ahhhh, Claire's sourpuss face as soon as Sydney blurts out "I'm sorry you're here" - it almost makes this episode worth it. Almost.

For the record, I side with everyone who's stated that her introduction to the crowd was exclusively to draw Syd's attention to her.

The same goes for Richie's "Interesting." - if we based everything on what Fishes was trying to sell us, he would have thrown Carmy an arm-punch or something. It's more bemusement, not pride, in Carmy for "bagging Claire". Compare that with the "ooooooooohhhh" when Syd and Carmy are fighting - there's way more tension/acknowledgement of their dynamic.

Ugh - even Richie is like "Cousin, who's going to watch the copper?" as Carmy kicks everyone out. Even if they're ham-fisted about it (as Richie definitely is), everyone is concerned about something to do with the restaurant/their labor except for Carmy, who curtly dismisses them all with fake gratitude.

I won't talk much about Syd's exit, because it's already been discussed to death - yes, he's confused she's leaving. Yes, the only time he can look her in the eye is while Claire is distracted. Yes, he see's she's pissed and it's making him die a little inside.

I will offer a trite story, though:

When I was a young pup, I had a co-worker who had a massive crush on my friend - and the affection was mutual, but unacknowledged due to lack of experience.

He (being a traumatized, ill-equipped man-child) immediately sought out a less challenging girlfriend who even looked like a close approximation of my friend and excitedly brought this new girlfriend to a party I was throwing because he REALLY hoped that my friend would love her. She obviously didn't love her, he came to me confused/upset, and after I explained things slowly and carefully, he dumped the girlfriend a few days later. He dated my friend weeks after (and for transparencies sake, it ended terribly).

Where I'm going with this is that I think somewhere in the recesses of Carmy's damaged mind, he REALLY needed Syd's approval of him being with Claire since he was caught red-handed. He imagined her staying, asking leading questions or chaperoning the situation, or giving him a knowing smile or a "thata boy" - whatever. Even though he told everyone to leave. It's bizarre.

The Fak thing is so cloying - someone mentioned today about the Berzatto clan of fools wanting to live vicariously through Carmy and Claire, and they are 100% correct.

Finally, 30-year-olds don't kiss like this.

This whole thing was as unsatisfying to write as it was to watch. Hopefully, I caught something of use - thanks for sticking with me through this!

[fairytale-poll]

ROUND 2! MATCH 6 OUT OF 8

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Ylfa:

She just went through so much and so much growth and i love her very much.

She becomes a big bad wolf

She met Death and Death wanted her to live.

Great depiction of a teenager by Emily Axford. A lot of scenes get really emotional with her being a symbol of the cycle of life and death and eventually she will always become the Big Bad Wolf.

she faced off with Death and he told her to live. this Death, who was much older than the Death she was supposed to meet, stared off with Yilfa for days until she succumbed to hunger and ate him alive. other iterations of death apologized to her for the story she was forced to suffer through, for the punishment she had to endure over an unrealistic and unabidable rule she was destined to break. her corrupted story turned her into the big bad wolf, into death itself. she sacrificed the beloved memory of her grandma, her namesake, so that her friends would be able to save their world. even though she gained it back in the end, she was willing to live the rest of her life as the wolf, a harbinger of death, and when she was reminded that she was just a child, that it wasn’t her responsibility to guide the dead, she cried, and separated from the wolf. she was able to grow up normal and happy after suffering from the looming presence of death. i’m gonna make me friend also submit yilfa bc they’re smarter than me and can make better propaganda

my mutual really likes her

Her narrative arc about growing up and life and death is so beautiful and her being a werewolf is so cool. Emily Axford gets girlhood like nobody else.

she is the bravest little girl in the world she met death and death wanted her to live she split his skull and ate the innards of death himself she is just a little girl!!!!!!!

PRIMO Red Riding Hood adaptation. Ate the wolf who ate her gramma. Is a werewolf and a metaphor for puberty. Loves her friends. Can break her bones to reshape her body into various animal forms.

Not only did she have to lose her grandmother, but she also nearly dies of starvation and exhaustion until The Big Bad Wolf, aka Death, convinced her to live, by her killing him and eating his flesh, therefore making her Death

Ylfa has a snazzy orange top hat given to her by a very attractive fairy. Three Blind Mice is her favorite story. She brought her grandma lollipopcorn and threw the broth in the river halfway there. She first developed a crush on Pinocchio when she saw him use his nose as a stripper pole and didn't kiss him until they were twenty-one and having an awkward conversation about her grandma's death and Toy Island. She fought a baron with a spoon. She wants a bra. She jumped into The Terrible Dogfish’s stomach to save her friend. She has pinkeye and grandma hobbies. She fought off a shit ton of homicidal tables at once. She is pals with Little Miss Muffet. She killed her family. She sacrificed the memory of her grandmother to become Death. She was basically adopted by Mother Goose (who is a cool old gay dude). She Wildshapes by horribly contorting her body into animalistic forms. She is a Barbarian who acts as a support character. She is the bravest little girl in the whole world.

Behold, 3 minutes of the weirdest and best little girl! [Link]

Her weirdgirl swag is off the charts :) [Link]

Ylfa Propaganda: [Link]

Ruby:

She has a scythe that is also a high-impact sniper rifle.

She is literally just based on Red Riding Hood and she's such an amazing character holy heck

Red Riding Hood but with a gun. (Specifically a combination scythe/high-impact sniper rifle called Crescent Rose). Also she's gone through so much she deserves it. She's trying to save the world and keep going despite all the people she's lost. Grew up dreaming of being a hero who fights monsters. She knows life isn't a fairy tale and wants to make it better. Just went through a mental health arc where she had depression from trying to live up to her (presumed dead) mom and from her friend dying for the second time. Killed the Big Bad Wolf with her magic eye powers. Her sister is Goldilocks and her friends are Beauty and Snow White. also I love her <3

She’s the little red riding hood but also a powerful fighter with a massive fucking scythe that is also a sniper rifle and she’s so skrunkly and so gender. Also RWBY’s whole thing (well one of them) is that their characters are all inspired by pre-existing ones from older stories and Ruby’s the main character so like, poster child of ‘character based off [insert relevant fairytale here]’ so I think she deserves to at least get pretty far

Aesthetics, themes, meta, personality and raw coolness.

She is the main character of her show. The most common monster they fight is a type of wolf (its been a while since ive seen it). Her job is to hunt them down before they can eat her. this story is very much about failed fairy tales, many of the side character's inspired arcs end in failure, but (having not seen the most recent bits) Ruby is still going strong, and i really like her cape, rose petals, and use of a scythe.

She is THE RRH character of all time. She has a scythe that's also a gun and she has to be the hero because she's got super rare main character powers. She is my happy girl. Also her mom was Sleeping Beauty and her sister is Goldilocks, and she fights to stop Rapunzel from destroying everything on the world, the gods, and then herself.

Ruby as a character is literally based on little red riding hood! She has a red cape with a hood

the Red trailer is better propaganda than I could ever write

She is a badass with a scythe, inspired by her uncle and fueled by her mother's death and her sense of righteousness

She has a giant scythe

[thefinalboss387]

Praetor Amalthus Appreciation Post!

I've been a HUGE fan of the Xeno series ever since Xenogears. These games (Xenogears, the Xenosaga trilogy, the Xenoblade games) have THE best stories I've ever experienced in a video game series. They're SO GOOD.

That said, Praetor Amalthus of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has slowly become one of my favorite characters of all time. I love him, I feel like he's underrated and that a lot of people don't seem to really understand his character, so allow me to map out why he is so cool and complex!

One of my favorite character archetypes is the manipulative mastermind villain. The behind-the-scenes schemer who was behind EVERYTHING all along. The Xeno series has some GREAT villains, and just about EVERY iteration has one of those masterminds I described - in fact, some of them even have SEVERAL, so there's always suspense over WHICH mastermind grand plan will be the one to top all of the others. I'm sure I'll be gushing about other Xeno antagonists in future posts.

Although he's not the most present in the game, or the final boss, Amalthus is most DEFINITELY the main antagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and the mastermind directly behind just about EVERY single major event in the game and its DLC.

I honestly feel Amalthus is underrated - and from what I can tell, a lot of people online don't seem to understand the character very well. The game doesn't do much in the way of directly explaining a lot of his motivations, but at the same time they very purposely give us so much subtext surrounding his character to piece together the answers ourselves.

At a very young age, Amalthus suffered through an extremely traumatizing event. Trauma really changes people - without going too deep into it, I myself had a very rough and traumatizing childhood, and I'm here to tell you that shit can REALLY warp you if you let it. I let it turn me into a pretty bad, vengeful, hateful person for a while.

But here's the thing: No one wants to be the villain in their own story. As trauma changed and corrupted Amalthus, his mind justified the actions he took as a result of that corruption. He saw the world as a violent, awful, murderous place with no redeemable qualities. He turned to Indol, a religious state, to get answers and help the helpless, but his missionary work only showed him more murder and violence and lawlessness. He became so desperate for answers and hope for the world that he climbed the World Tree to confront the Architect. Instead, he found the Aegis Crystals, which he saw as holy relics, and formed Malos.

Malos was born from Amalthus's warped view of the world, and so he became a violent, hateful, murderous force. The ironic thing is that, because Amalthus essentially saw Malos as a holy symbol and a representation of the Architect's will, he took Malos's nature as proof that the world was an awful place, and that even the Architect was devoid of any sympathy. Amalthus and Malos became terrible influences on each other without realizing it.

I think, at every step of the way, Amalthus truly sees himself as a good person. It's the rest of the world that is awful. His attempts to gain as much control as possible over all of Alrest, and the countless wars and murders done in service to that, is an attempt to save Alrest from the lawless chaos he sees it as. Even arguably his darkest moment, saving a baby and then murdering it, was an act of mercy in his eyes. He was saving the baby from growing up in such a terrible world.

His motives, in his eyes, were valid. He was trying to help Alrest. But because he already saw Alrest itself as such a horrible, violent world, it meant that he, too, had the moral authority to be horrible and violent. In his mind that was just how the world worked, it was how to get things done. When he meets Rex and the party, he's pleasant and kind to them, because that is the person he sees himself as. He tries to work with them, but manipulates them and gives them his own skewed version of events.

But another thing I LOVE about Amalthus is that, even though he and Malos ultimately become enemies, and Malos and his Torna group actively work against Amalthus, they are kind of unwittingly his minions? Torna wants to destroy the Architect and, essentially, the world. Amalthus can't quite see or admit it to himself, but that is exactly what Amalthus wants too, he is just not nearly as self-aware as Torna is.

As the party learns of Amalthus's true nature and evil deeds, he starts becoming much more openly antagonistic. He essentially saw it as a betrayal of his holy purpose and saw them as the enemy. As time goes on, he starts going so far as trying to destroy the World Tree and essentially all of Alrest. I think that, partly, is a result of Malos's corruption of him, with Amalthus thinking the Architect's will itself wants to destroy Alrest. But it's also a desperate grab for control - if he can't see the Architect and/or save the world, no one can. In his mind, no one has earned that right more than him. He's the only person that was dedicated enough to climb the World Tree. He found the Aegis Crystals and bonded with one of them. He worked hard to control every government, to control the Core Crystal trade itself by registering them and licensing their Drivers, etc.

But like.... okay. I'm sorry. The game takes place in a world where continents are living, organic Titans. Civilizations live on the backs of giant monsters that roam the giant Cloud Sea of Alrest. It was probably the coolest friggin moment of any Xeno game EVER when Amalthus started mind controlling the Titans. Amalthus quite literally took control of the world itself.

I also love that his huge "final battle" form is essentially a manifestation of his manipulations. He registered and "cleansed" the Core Crystals, and turned himself into basically a grotesque monster by fusing himself with all of his Crystals. And like, sure, Malos and his Artifice are the final boss of the game, but Malos himself is essentially a manifestation of Amalthus's hatred and warped worldview.

Amalthus is a VERY effective villain, and he's an interesting study on just how much mental gymnastics a person can do to justify their own evil. He had zero self-awareness, he actively sought to find the good in humanity but instead kept finding signs that his twisted mindset was correct, and grew to use the world's own ruthless ways against it.

[crystalelemental]

So I guess you don’t have much positive to say about Stranger of Paradise, particularly it amounting to the Garland backstory no one asked for. Also, if you don’t like 7, which I understand as being one of the most loved games in Final Fantasy, then is there ANY Final Fantasy you would define as “good?”

Oh man. Stranger of Paradise fucking rules. I haven't played it, but I watched a playthrough of it after seeing the Bullshit scene and reading a synopsis and thinking this would be the most cringe shit ever and telling my wife we absolutely had to watch this, and for most of the game it definitely pushes into an earnest "this is so goofy I can't hate it but it's certainly not quality," but then you hit the pivot and it's like am I having feelings about fucking Astos the dark elf right now? That game exceeded every expectation. Jack Garland is unironically cool as hell.

Anyway, there are others, but more under the cut because unfortunately I am in a chatty mood today.

I think part of my answer to this has to come with the caveat of "I've mostly played re-released that made the games substantially more accessible, so if you're asking whether I think any are good it's like...yes but also no."

I think Final Fantasy XII is the best one. I think the story is fantastic, I love the cast, I think Vaan is out of the way enough to not really be a problem, I think the world itself is really neat, I think the concepts for Gambits are a lot of fun to set up and see run. I also think if I tried to play a version of it that isn't The Zodiac Age and had to deal with everyone having the same grid and no speed up function I would stab myself, and even with the updates all the weird MMO-esque low drop rates for certain items in chests is extremely intolerable, into a really poorly designed superboss fight in Yiazmat. Though the phrase "poorly designed superboss" applies to like. Every Final Fantasy superboss.

Except 5's, which I think are legitimately fun and interesting. Five is probably the one I consider the highest quality. Despite being goofy, it's honestly got a really poignant narrative, and an extremely endearing cast. The class system is divine, and I love the creativity available in its systems. I hated it as a kid when I sucked at video games because holy shit is this game kinda hard, but now it's an easy favorite.

I really respect 3. Not the DS version so much, but the pixel remaster actually made me fall in love with the game. It's less refined than 5, and I think it very strongly railroads you into like five actually useful class options, but it's a really fun and very streamlined experience, and the transition from the initial overworld to the Boundless Ocean just really impacted me personally, I think that's a great reveal.

I like four, but I don't think it's good, that's just pure nostalgia. I really latched on to Rydia as a kid, and I thought Cecil having to fight his Dark Knight self and winning only by refusing to fight while the Dark Knight used its HP sacrifice move until it KO'd itself was peak ludonarrative. It's still really good. I just also have to be honest that a lot did not favor it as I aged.

FF1 is pure neutral, because it's not really doing much to have a strong feeling in any particular direction. It's fine. Pixel remaster is the best iteration because you can turn off encounters, turn on 4x EXP and gold, and just boss run the entire game, improving it immensely.

FF2 sucks, but I will admit some story beats are, in my opinion, wildly under-appreciated. You kill the emperor and he conquers hell and comes back. That rules.

FF6 and FF7, the beloveds of the series, are lukewarm for me. FF7 I haven't played recently enough to fully articulate why, I just can't remember anything interesting going on from when I played it way back when, and I am personally less invested in SciFi, which is what that game feels like to me more than fantasy. My wife would probably tell me it's urban fantasy, but the point remains: I want my fantasy to be vaguely old timey. FF6 is a very well crafted narrative that I think takes zero risks on anything. I think it's so well loved because it didn't really push anyone to consider anything they didn't already believe, which is why people think it's super powerful that Celes and Terra, the only two adult women in a cast of 14 playable characters, start to understand their human heart by finding the most boring hetero romance partner or adopting children. Also everything Kefka is about what Exdeath was about, but Exdeath is cooler. "Oh but Kefka doesn't have any kind of sympathetic backstory to-" he kinda does, they explain he was subject to Cid's experiments and that broke his mind. Even if you don't count it, Exdeath doesn't even get that, he's just evil for its own sake. I don't think either of these are bad, only that I don't remember enjoying 7 much, and having recently replayed 6, was not as dazzled as most seem to be.

Listen. I cannot tell you about FF8's plot. I just think about the word "junctioning" and start convulsing. I hate that system so much. I hate that levels scale to Squall's level, so the best way to play is to never kill anything but convert them to cards for the stupid minigame, then use good cards to earn more good cards to convert to spells to junction to stats. I couldn't beat the final boss when I played normally and reached level cap, because I didn't junction all the best spells at 100 uses. I had to restart and play to the junctioning in the slowest, worse grind I've ever known. There's probably a midpoint somewhere that makes the game tolerable but I do not know it. It's the only one I legitimately don't know how people can enjoy. Even 2 has some nonsense going for it, but 8 I cannot remember a single positive memory of.

FF9 was fine, I actually remember liking the general story (apparently I have an affinity for "kinda goofy but very sincere"), but as mentioned, that game solidified my general stance of "Do not ever split the party on me I will kill you." Because they took Garnet at a critical moment, leaving me with no healer, relying on Potions when we barely had money because you can't sell equipment because it has unique skills to pass on, but you can't really grind money either because you'd take damage negating what you earned anyway, until you can push far enough without issue to get Quina and figure out how to learn White Wind, and I hated that entire section so much. Maybe it's not as bad now that I'm older and can take it. But the memory burns within me.

FF10 is really fun to play for the main campaign despite being best described as "immature" on a story level. It's a shame about postgame being the most extreme and tedious grind-fest out there with completely shitty superbosses.

I never played past 12. My step-brothers had a PS2 so I got 10 and 12, with 10 kinda being my entry point, but when the console upgrades happened we didn't get the PS3, so I didn't keep up with 13 onward. I have seen tidbits of 16 and am not impressed. I could not tell you a singular detail about 15 despite knowing I've seen things. No one ever had a positive thing to say when 13 came out, but recently I hear a lot of defense for it but couldn't tell you why.

Anyway, call it contrarian, because I am severely so, but I don't think something qualifies as "good" because popular consensus says so. I think even the games I don't like have merit, and there's a reason that they resonate with people, but I'm not about to defend something that I don't enjoy or find as profound. There are a few Final Fantasy games I consider really good, but they are...definitely not the ones most people agree on.

[temunitu]

John Bishop, 2012 Irma, Rise Karai, 1987 Donatello

ooh, a bunch!

John Bishop (i assume you mean 2003?)

First impression: woag. cool government guy :] tryna slice my boi D:

Impression now: oh my god holy shit. he’s the coolest guy ever and the most intimidating (sorry shredder)

Favorite moment: uhhh the train one. y’know. or like the battle over splinter. just. wow. love that guy. y’know what i don’t HAVE a favorite moment all of his moments are good

Idea for a story: hhhhhhngf i would like to know more about his past so. i’d probably do that. OR i would do the concept of the canceled FF episode where he teams up with turtle titan. if done right, their dynamic would be hilarious

Unpopular opinion: i have mixed feelings on his redemption. on the one hand, it feels natural for him to become President, but on the other hand, i don’t really like it how one of the coolest villains got redeemed??? he seems so set in his ways and i get that it’s possible he’d have a change of heart, but it would have to be BIG and i don’t really feel like it was in FF, y’know?

Favorite relationship: he’s kinda a lone wolf so there’s not many options…? the gay little look he and stockman give each other in fast forward was GREAT though

Favorite headcanon: body horror body horror body horror boDY HORROR. i mean it’s canon but it’s so good

-

2012 Irma

First impression: oh cool! another iteration of irma!! :] (please don’t be a love interest, please don’t be a love interest…)

Impression now: fine, i guess? good that she’s not a love interest. the utrom council take was new, which was kinda a cool concept.

Favorite moment: probably the reveal for kraang subprime. i love his VA and the panic of Irma’s head swiveling was funny.

Idea for a story: human irma moves to town. shenanigans ensue

Unpopular opinion: i liked evil irma more than “rook” or whatever the utrom council’s codename/rank was.

Favorite relationship: there’s not really many options... it was nice for april to have a normal friend for once i guess

Favorite headcanon: what. what headcanons? does anyone have any???

-

Rise Karai

First impression: whoa!! could it be???????? my queen my darling the light of my life?????? IT IS :D

Impression now:

Favorite moment: ALL OF THEM SHUT UP but especially when mikey gives her the drawing 🥹

Idea for a story: i need to be honest. i had an idea for a story BEFORE we knew about karai in rise - i made a version of her that was heavily based off 2003 karai. except she was part of a prophesy and said to wield the armor. this was back when season one hadn’t even completely aired. ANYWAY now i would do just about anything to get the canceled episodes we were PROMISED BY NICKELODEON of the boys bonding with gam-gam karai

Unpopular opinion: my only complaint is that we didn’t see more of her. i know that’s not unpopular but it’s all i’ve got

Favorite relationship: hm…

Favorite headcanon: i think she should slay at air hockey idc if she was trapped for years she’s just that good

-

1987 Donatello

First impression: haha NERD

Impression now: oh wait he’s. Unhinged

Favorite moment: in the ninja sword of nowhere, they’re in battle with shredder and donnie tries to bat a watermelon at shredder with his bo. he just ends up covered in watermelon bits fjsjfhs why did he think that would woRK (maybe not my fav moment but it’s the first that comes to mind that sticks out)

Idea for a story: heard a tidbit from the show where donatello has a monologue about how they’re “outcasts from society” so i’d either do an angsty thing like that OR put that kid in the theatre he was killing it with the drama

Unpopular opinion: 87 in general gets a lot of complaints cuz people don’t wanna sit through 10 seasons (which tbf i’m still tryna get through) but like. it’s SO entertaining. i am a little disappointed that turtles forever took the route of making fun of 87 :/ donatello is no less smart just cuz his world’s logic is cheesier than other iterations

Favorite relationship: donnie and raph in 87 are like. so fun together

Favorite headcanon: i’m not well versed in the 87 side of the tmnt fandom but i think donatello is a theatre kid and no one can tel lie otherwise. put him in a lil costume and send him out on stage ok he has a LOT of pent-up drama and sass

[takaraphoenix]

So I finished the original run of Bombshells and since I enjoyed this series a whole lot, I figured I’d give a kind of review before diving into Bombshells United! Obviously this is going to be full of spoilers.

Things I LOVED:

The ART! The art is so gorgeous in this comic!!

The costumes. These 30s/40s era costumes look so amazing, it’s such a visually beautiful comic, I mean holy shit!

Though the “we gotta go back to WWII to punch Nazis!” will be on list 2, I gotta hand it to this one that at least they actually center Jewish characters in this narrative. Kate Kane. Felicity Smoak being introduced as a Batgirl here. Mary as Shazam as an explicitely Jewish character. Putting a Jewish narrative onto this instead of just “Goyim American goes to punch Nazis to make white Americans feel good about themselves”. Seriously, this is a much more enjoyable take on this overdone Hollywood trope than the majority of others

A nearly exclusively female-led comic series! It’s so refreshing to see them front and center and to see many women front and center, at that, because even female-led properties usually have more men in them than women, so this team-up of famous female characters is amazing

The AMOUNT of wlw representation in this comic! There are so many wlw ships canon in this series, seriously if you want to see super-ladies loving ladies, you would be a fool to miss out on this comic!

Harley/Ivy is so adorable and amazing in this, it is definitely one of my favorite HarlIvy versions

Hawkgirl/Vixen? That’s not a ship I knew I needed in my life??

CONSTANTINE/ZATANNA!!! They’re one of my favorite DC m/f ships and they are not just canon here, they are so soft and they adopt Raven, that is an amazing family

I actually appreciate Steve Trevor’s arc of PTSD struggle and healing. Usually his war experiences are kind of... brushed aside after Diana is introduced to instead focus on her and though I love that most characters are women, I like that he, as one of the few men, actually got an arc and focus and not brushed aside

Kara and Courtney as sisters? Supergirl and Stargirl were so good together? I loved that so much?? Where can I get more of this?

MERA. MERA IS AMAZING!!! I’ve always ever only met her as “Arthur’s wife”, seriously most comics that featured her just shorthanded her as The GirlfriendTM and she did nothing more than be Arthur’s girlfriend. To see her as a powerful hero and queen and to have story focus on her is so great and I now love her greatly!

John Constantine can turn into a bunny in this. It’s silly but oh my gods he is a cute lil smoking bun-bun and I love him so much

Things I HATED:

Yet another “we gotta go back to WWII to go to Nazi Germany and punch Nazis!” narrative. Trying to cut the lengthy rant I have about this trope very short; it always seems incredibly tasteless to me considering this actually happened and real people died and suffered, but let’s play pretend where you, the American, are the great hero who saves them. Never mind how these power-hero-fantasies are never set in the US to deal with one of their own awful atrocities, they always gotta go somewhere else and play savior where someone else is The Bad Guy that they can punch. And this one, in particular, is such an overused American power-hero-fantasy

Vixen is so whitewashed like she is so whitewashed. Sure, I’m sure there are lighter skinned African people too. But this is not a real person, this is a fictional character and they made a choice when taking their African born heroine and making her so incredibly light-skinned. Even just compared to other iterations of Mari McCabe, she is incredibly light-skinned, and it really rubs me the wrong way because it sure is a choice

Lois/Kara is weird? In this comic it really just feels like “we make many wlw, we give Lois a Super! But a wlw Super!!!” when there is just zero build-up. They meet and go heart-eyes, when Maggie/Lois had much much more build-up (they have spent two years raising the Batgirls together??). Never mind the choice to make Lois fall for Kara and two pages later introduce Superman, to both Kara and Lois. Clark doesn’t ever get to be with someone else in a universe where Lois is as much as alive, they always gotta kill her off to justify why Clark would ever love another woman, but Lois can deadass just meet Kara and Clark the same moment and go “nah, this time I’ll take the blonde”, that’s so dumb

As a lover of Selina Kyle, it absolutely kills me to see Selina wear a Nazi arm band and switch sides left and right to the point that I don’t really know where her loyalty lies. Also, her kissing Kate felt, much like Lois/Kara, like they’re just replacing a Bat with a Bat

The ending I hate the ending I hate the ending so much. The “hero doesn’t kill uwu” thing is already really tired but “hero doesn’t kill uwu so instead we put the villain into a vague coma they absolutely will break out of and to put her into this coma three innocent people have to die”, I’m sorry but no, even one sacrifice would have been too much, but to go “we’ll actually kill three innocent people! to save this evil Überlord” is ridiculous - and it is made much more ridiculous by being Kara’s mom, Kara’s dad and the father of Kara’s sister, said sister being the only character in the entire series to die up to that point. It’s really “let’s hurt Kara” time, huh? And said sister also died in a heroic sacrifice. I’m sorry but how does this narrative teach that killing is bad and you are a good person for not killing because fucking kill that villain so your parents can live??? Your own parents? It’s not even just saving random strangers - and I’d argue that any hero should rather kill the villain than let an innocent die - but to make it your own entire family? What the fuck?

[redsector-a]

AO3 Ask Game

I was tagged by @themarshalstale which, thank you so much! I feel like I always get missed on these (I know why, it’s been 84 years since I published anything but still). 1. How many works do you have on ao3?

46 it seems. Which...look I’m slow man so that’s not surprising. lol Also crippling depression does not make for much production, at least for me.

2. What’s your current AO3 wordcount?

309662 according to the stats.

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

So do I could only AO3 or in like life? lol I suppose it should only be on AO3 since this is an AO3 ask game. Hrm. Basically AO3 can be summed up as: Marvel (in several iterations - all Avengers related) Torchwood Highlander But isn’t it more fun to consider my entire fandom life, which, I’m sorry, I’m old so...yeah. Not all of this is was published and beyond that a lot is not available anymore...which is likely for the best. Highlander Star Wars Babylon 5 Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers Marvel (again, several iterations also of note Avengers and X-Men both count) Torchwood Star Trek LOTR Stargate (SG-1, SGA) Mortal Kombat I dabbled with the idea of Potter fic but never got past the ideas stage.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1: You rearrange me till I’m sane Clint finds himself spiraling into a deep depression after the Battle of New York...until the Winter Soldier ends up saving him and inadvertently giving him a new purpose – to save the man that the Soldier had once been – Bucky Barnes. Not one to be outdone, the Soldier decides that his new mission is to ensure that Clint remains alive himself. Protecting a blonde man with a self-destructive streak is somehow very familiar to him. Through the back and forth of who is saving whom they cross the country and learn more about themselves and each other – and perhaps find a reason for living. 2: Five Dates Bucky Didn’t Realize He Was on And the One He Planned Himself To say that Bucky was surprised when Clint kissed him was an understatement. But it was nothing compared to the shock he felt when he learned they'd been dating for months without him realizing it.Clint gets whisked away for a mission before they have time to talk and Bucky is left to figure things out on his own - hindsight being 20/20 he can't help but wonder how he missed things the first go around.

3: Puck Luck Bucky Barnes is used to the ups and downs of an NHL season. He's used to the unpredictability of the game, knows that bounces don't always go your way, but that doesn't make a broken hand in the final third of the season any easier to deal with. Especially not when he ends up with an impromptu roommate/personal assistant in the form of one Clint Barton - his agent, Natalia Romanova's (rather attractive) friend he hadn't known existed before his injury.

It's just for six to eight weeks - what could possibly happen in that span of time?

4: Loose Lips Launch Ships

Based on the following prompt: “We go to school together and I think you’re cute and apparently you’re also the pizza delivery guy and my little sibling opened the door screaming hey sibling! you know that kid you’re in love with? you really weren’t kidding when you said his jawline could cut steel holy shit-” Bucky is the pizza delivery guy. Clint's younger (foster) brother has a big mouth.

5: Indelible Bucky Barnes has a pretty decent life – a good job, good friends, a cat that adores him - but something is missing. He’s always found body art to be beautiful and inspiring, and on a whim (and with the hope that maybe he can find what he’s missing) he decides to take the plunge and get a tattoo. That's how he meets Clint Barton. Clint's talented and compassionate and there is an instant spark between the two of them. It's not long before Bucky finds himself wondering and wanting more from the relationship despite the ghosts of the past that crop back up. Because Clint makes him feel normal in a way he truly hasn't for years...

(this was pre-Alpine so I was totally chuffed when canon confirmed Bucky’s status as a crazy cat lady (affectionate).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not.

I really really really want to do it but I often times don’t end up doing it. There are a few reasons. First, I am akwward AF and bad at interaction adn I feel like just saying thank you would be...not enough? Second - I often times tend to like...turtle (aka retreat into myself) when life gets Too Hard/Busy which happens a lot to me (sigh) and then I miss the vague window in my mind in which it would be okay to respond and then it’s even more weird. I do love and cherish all of them. Like there was one months ago that made me go “hmm...I didn’t think I was going to do a sequel to that fic (You rearrange me till I’m sane), timestamp glimpses sure but a sequel hadn’t come to mind” but then the comment made me think! So...who knows? lol Anyway, I literally have been rereading some in an effort to try and get myself going again. Know that if you have commented, I love you.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

At the moment? Probably: Look at you look at me Bucky's in love with Clint - problem is he's really not supposed to be. For Winterhawk Week 2019 - Forbidden Love (I really don’t want to give away the spin in the fic but...if you’re familiar with the Secret Avengers Vol 2 run circa 2013ish (aka when SHIELD initially ‘took control of the team’) that’s a bit of a hint as to the spin). Were it done, Torch Song would be up there. ;) Torch Song Clint is sent back in time, via an alien device, to 1938. While he tries to figure out how to get back home, he takes up singing and entertaining to make ends meet and does his best to not disrupt the timeline.Then he meets a 21 year old Bucky Barnes. --- A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship.

7. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve ever written?

Does *wanting* to write crossovers count? lol I want, so badly, to do more crossovers and fusions (which...are kinda deeper versions of crossovers in a way). The only one I do have posted is a crossover between Highlander and Torchwood -

The Immortal Mr. Jones A series of vignettes (some long, some short) in the life of the newly immortal Ianto Jones. My most ambitions project that I have been working on since late 2011/early 2012 is a fusion of the Avengers with Stephen King’s the Stand. I will get that done at some point *shakes fist*  The Stand, for those who don’t know it, is an epic 1000+ page novel about a flu epidemic (I know) that wipes out over 99% of the population and then two figures representing Good and Evil pull the survivors in two directions for a showdown. So basically it’s a non-powered modern AU set in that universe. It’s a passion and comfort project. lol

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes. Well, minor bitching back when I was in a prior fandom because I tagged a pairing in a fic but it was pre-slash and not labeled as pre-slash. I got hate on...I think it was Torch Song? And I’ve gotten hate on tumblr re me and my fic in general as well. Fandom! *jazz hands* Oh! And I’ve also been hit by those reviewers within Winterhawk (among general Clint pairings actually) who like rate you on either number scales or the “meh” scale. Which isn’t hate exactly but...it’s passive aggressive bullshit because I can’t believe none of them realize at this point that the authors can see their bookmarks - you know?

9. Do you write smut?

Yes. Do I write it well? I have no idea. lol

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of. Well...there was, I think, one of those reposting sites that had a few fics on it but I don’t think it was being passed off as someone else’s? I can’t quite recall. It’s why I have a note on AO3 about reposting my work anyway.

11. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not entirely, but sort of. Let me explain - I am part of a PBEM game; which for those unfamiliar since it’s a term that was most heavily in use 15-20 years ago, in which you basically do a round robin type writing thing but rather than everyone writing the same characters you write your own characters and you play off what other people have done. Another way of looking at it is  it’s basically DnD without dice and written down rather than done out loud. You also don’t have to all be around at the same time. It’s a lot of fun and yes I have been in it for 20 years even though there aren’t many of us left but they are some of my dearest friends and fabulous writers. Wins all around.  One of the other writers and I have actually toyed with the idea of doing a co-written fic actually, mostly because we work super well together and keep getting ideas for things but can’t really do them as rpgs since the pbem style isn’t used much anymore.

12. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Winterhawk probably. Though, let’s be real - Han & Leia are epic and amazing as are John & Delenn (from Babylon 5).

13. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Does wanting to expand The Black Stallion books as a wee child count? lol Not much of that was written save for world building ideas but there was a great oral tradition of telling stories to my friends. Otherwise...maybe a tie between Star Wars and Highlander. Star Wars was a love since I was super young but the writing bug didn’t hit me until around the same time Highlander was a thing as well.

14. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? You rearrange me till I’m sane for sure. Though Torch Song, if it were finished, would be tied I imagine (I suck at picking favorites). Honorable mention to Puck Luck and Indelible. Tagging: I have seen this like a million times (okay 5) so I feel like everyone has been tagged already that I know. But...I guess... @vexbatch @crazycatt71 @heartonfirewrites and @disruptedvice sorry if anyone has been tagged before.

[wallyaxiom]

𝚆𝙰𝙻𝚃𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙴: 𝙵𝙰𝚅𝙾𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙴𝙻𝚂𝙴 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚈𝚂

hey besties it’s me coming to do the waltmeme thing. I couldn’t just pick one character to call my favorite. it also felt unfair to do that as well when there’s so many amazing characters here. so grab a snack, put on your favorite tangled song in my honor and buckle up as i go through the list of my fave characters here at walt each person plays. present gen only. sorry to my next gen faves. maybe one day i’ll write a list for you. or not. i’ll keep you on your toes. 

𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕒 𝕛𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕣

cassandra is a character i love so much. tangled is a movie that means everything to me. kiara is the person who understands my tangled feels. the way you play cassandra...like how you said i have a grasp on reagan, you have such a perfect grasp on who cassandra is as a character. her voice is so clear. you understand who the character is and have transformed her into something more than what was given in the bio i wrote and also in the show that’s used for inspo. she’s a spectacular character and i love her so much. it’s an honor to be one half of elssandra but also cassunzel. she’s such an amazing character. you should be so proud of what you’ve brought to life, kiara.

𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕔𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟

listen i told you every day how much i love monty. i literally scream it to you in your living room sometimes. i’ve seen every iteration of monty but i think this one is my favorite. i didn’t even know lightning’s real name was montgomery that was all you. so much of yourself is in monty. it reminds me of myself with wally and i think that’s the biggest reason why i love monty is because he’s bits and pieces of you and i love you very much. as much as i love cocky era lightning i love dad lightning even more. i wish i had a dad like him i’m not gonna lie but we’re not gonna unpack that on the man lmfao. i’m glad i’m more enveloped in his story now because he’s such a good character dude. like such a good written and played character. he’s second in my heart to sulley but is inching closer to number one by the day. 

𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕚

fran !!! my bestie !!! my fave !!! i would die for them !!! like bee, i love talking to you about fran and all the tomfoolery they get into. you’ve played them for so long and each time you transform them into something better than the last. they age like a fine wine. in the past almost two years i’ve been able to be part of their story more & i’m so happy for that opportunity. you’ve put so much love, care and devotion into fran. you’ve added so much to their story. like they’re so fleshed out, how does your beautiful brain come up with all this backstory ??? lemme know i need some of those brain cells. they’re amazing. you’re amazing. i want fran to buy me and island and make me pasta but i’ll just them do that for caspian the favorite child. 

𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕨

hands down i had to put orion my future father in law. i’ve had the honor of watching you develop orion into something incredible over these past six years. ( holy cow !!! six ??? insane. ily ). he was a big bad, misunderstood boy and you’ve humanized orion. you’ve brought life into him and created such a beautifully crafted character. he has a heart now. perhaps a tiny one but it’s there. the backstory you’ve created for him and the future he has - all stunning and wonderful. i love this man. he deserves so much after the shit he’s been through. i’ve had the privilege of being in his orbit for a bit when i played logan. I still get to watch him and enjoy the light chaos he brings. i’m ready for the new era of casino owner orion and what trouble he’ll bring now. 

𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕘𝕘𝕪 𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤

the boy !!! the legend !!! i love shaggy so much. first of all, the future you planned for him. how dare you ?? do you like to see me cry ?? is that it ??? i’m glad he hit his happy arc now because WOW. pain. shaggy is just a nice guy, man. he’s so nice to everyone he meets. i want to be friends with shaggy and scoob. i love mystery inc. i can’t imagine anyone else playing shaggy but you. to me, you are him. he’s the heart of the group. it’s not mystery inc without him. therefore, you’re the heart also. it’s not the same without you. 

𝕤𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕘𝕦𝕖

i could easily write an essay about how i love all your characters and how you play them all so well but i had to give this spot to sadie. the teagues are my og loves. every time i see sadie the part of my brain where logan resides lights up. she’s such a good character. she’s a little devil and it’s exactly what we need. we need someone to stir up the pot and throw eggs at kids. sadie is a product of her environment. she’s so tough and had to be so young. no one her age should have to grow up so fast the way she did. i would like to wrap sadie in a blanket give her some coco with bat marshmallows and tell her to take a break. hug her. maybe give her some therapy to. i love her. you’ve brought her to life in such an amazing way. i hope her brothers join her soon so we can have that sibling goodness. 

𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕒 𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕒

i was tempted to put ian here because ian lightfoot is joel and we already know how much i love al and wendy but i decided to show the og love so i put nala. from the get go you knew who nala was going to be and where you wanted to go with her. you always bring so much to your characters. you develop them in ways that amazes me each time. go bestie go you’re so talented. i love how devoted she. how fierce she is but also the vulnerability you bring to her. she was thrown into a world at a young age fighting a war she wasn’t meant to and THAT’S a lot on someone. and we see that. i love the way you play her and i’m so happy you decided to take her up. sorry you have to deal with simba tho. pour one out. 

𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕩𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙

everyone and their grandmother knows the oliver and co cast means everything to me. i’m so glad that you decided to join them ! you’re a wonderful addition. i love miss george. she’s fabulous in every sense of the word. sharpay evans is shaking in her lil boots. i just love divas. i love them. i am one. she’s perfect. and we know that’s not easy for her. i know your beautiful mind works wonders so i know there’s a lot of growing that georgette will be going through in the future and i’m excited for it. prayer circle for a jenny and oliver. 

𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕩

when you auditioned for thackery you already had an idea of where you wanted to take him and how you wanted to add to his character while staying true to the bio. that is the kind of stuff i like to see. this man has seen some shit and also has been through some shit. i do hope one day his soul can be at ease. he needs a long cat nap. you care a lot for thackery and it’s lovely to see. he may be a hamilton hoe but we have to respect the drip & love him for it anyways. 

𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕪 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣

timmy boy deserves a hug. a hug and a nice space movie to take the edge off. you always put so much of your heart and yourself into your characters. you care so much for them and that’s evident in buzz. he’s goofy, he’s cool and he’s just so wonderful. i’m excited to see where buzz will go from here and how he’ll develop over time. i’m hoping some happiness. maybe some resolution with woodrow just to spice things up. that metal arm is still cool too. 

𝕕𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕟𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕜𝕖

hey bestie !!! wow !!! daphne ??? gives me so much pain. I am so glad to be going on this angst journey of mystery inc and fred/daph with you. your love for her and the gang makes my heart so happy. i will happily spend hours talking about them and sending tiktoks to each other that remind us of them. you went beyond the assignment. you were just born to play daphne. you write her so well and understand her past the bio, past the inspirations of the live actions and mystery inc. you get her. you see her. she’s in good hands. i’m ready for all the pain she’s about to cause me. 

𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖

i love penelope. i really do. i am penelope’s number one stan. it was discussed before but it’s so easy to play miss piggy as unlikeable since she is such a brash character but you bring so much light and love to penny. it’s hard not to be in love with her and want her to succeed in everything she does. she’s the miss piggy we all grew up with but she’s also special because you’ve added your own personal touches to her. she’s an amazing character. i would punch anyone who’s wronged penelope. i’m excited for the layers to start peeling back and we see more of penny - especially her badass ways. i just love the way you play her and i love penelope hainline okay. i lovoe divas as stated above what can i say. 

𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕠𝕣𝕒 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕥

ANNIE !!!! WOW AURORA ??? genuinely she is the love of my life. I love her so, so much. she’s so sweet and wonderful and deserve to be tucked in ??? read a bed time story ??? and not be cursed ??? why’d i do that. she deserves the world and so do you. in the short amount of time you’ve had her you’ve added so much depth to her story. which is not always easy the first few months you have a character but you’ve put in a lot of love into aurora already. you understood the assignment and & went beyond.  i’m so excited to see where she goes on her journey and what will happen when he hopefully get a maleficent one day. also is it an aurora shoutout without me saying philip loves her ??? bc he does. 

[tatertotthethot]

I agree on the topic about fanfics and how some people disregard authors and how its not acceptable cause everyone is allowed to do what they want as long as they don’t hurt anyone, however I really think its not for everyone and the reason why some people make fun of it is not on the fanfics themselves but rather on the so called ,, not like other girls” or ,,quirky type” ,ofcourse authors are not responsible for that but lets say wattpad is one of the sources that contributed to building this type of character that everyone is cringing at right now. Fanfics are okay as long as you remember for what they stand for and some girls sometimes detach themselves from reality, trying to find that bad boy who will be only good for them, when crying for not being treated right. Lets even take the same After, most people dont have the problem with fanfiction, but rather with it being turned into a movie, and frankly i think the same. We see more and more romanticization towards toxic love :fifty shades, 365 , after... where guy gets away with everything by being hot and girls life simply cannot revolve without the said guy in it and normalizing it like its a normal thing. Concluding i’d like to say that its only my personal opinion and others may disagree and thats completely fine 🤷‍♀️

Yeah I’ve also ranted about the most toxic ones getting glorified the most and I also get what you mean on the stereotypical “not like other girls” cliche being popularized and used as a way to vigorously fantasize this ideology of “true love” that are basically just glorified versions of trauma bonding. I not only feel that it misrepresents the fanfic community but it also completely shits on the bad boy trope— which is one of my favorite tropes. I ain’t downing nobodies work but I hope the ones that write the stereotypical TOXIC bad boy x good girl ships eventually realize that they’re constructing an ideology that comes with an innocent, gullible person chasing an “emotional high” that follows after being abused by an ✨attractive✨ fuckboy. They also don’t realize how unrealistic and incompatible a happy ending truly is in that situation, when a guy rather throw a grenade at you and watch you explode than admitting that they have a soft spot for you. It doesn’t really correlate with the thought process that goes behind a person that’s just “emotionally unavailable”. I mean, it’d be different if they actually gave the “bad boy” more dimensional characteristics and understandable flaws where they just more-so bluntly state that they just want sex and actually mean it, by pushing the sentimental shit away to maintain a tough exterior as a form of denial/rejection prevention, rather than just making them impulsively torment their love interests just to prove.. essentially.. nothing... other than the fact that their an unstable piece of shit lmao. Because with the first one, it still leaves a realistic window open for them to change and actually form a healthy relationship. Whereas the latter shouldn’t even be promoted as a love story after the clear signs of toxicity and abuse become the main turning point to this plotted out “romance”. I rather read about a fuckboy with a cold heart having no choice but to let his guard down because he can’t deny his feelings towards the love interest, over a story about an egotistical shit head with rich-kid issues setting out to sabotage and sexually violate an innocent girl but accidentally falling in love in the process, only to shit on them even more. Like.. it still doesn’t make a crumb of sense why he even did that if he had a sliver of genuine respect towards her no matter the size of his ego. Man’s would have to be a saciopath at that point. And (no offense to anybody who relates to this, as it’s not me invalidating anyone’s struggle just stating the misrepresentation) the fact that it’s this sheltered and gullible good girl who’s most iterated background trauma is their parents being divorced that goes from someone who is self-aware and optimistic to the “yes I know he’s no good for me but I’m built different so therefore I’ll let him hurt me and ruin my confidence in the name of love cuz I’m the only one that gets him” type of bitch is pick me energy and again, shouldn’t be glorified. “After” is nothing but a tale of that with hella trauma bonding that was created by intitial deception— especially in the original Wattpad book. Like, Holy fuck. It didn’t deserve the hype and damn sure shouldn’t have been perceived as a true love story. I remember commenting on a chapter saying that and I got cussed out by hundreds of directioners for it lmao. So yeah I agree with you and understand the stigma, and at the same time I can’t really say it’s completely wrong on peoples part outside of the community when they’re just going off of what they’re seeing being presented the most, but it really ain’t fair when they just trash us up and down despite us repeatedly saying that the judgement is being based off of a very bad example that a lot of us don’t even wanna claim. Its also shitty how our work is discredited and stigmatized by this stereotype and I genuinely fear that only the problematic(and ironically most popularized) fics will keep getting promoted the most and eventually silence the actual talent and beauty that is created within the realm of fanfiction.

[lanzhanlanzhan]

This is a Wang Yibo Appreciation Post

Okay, first of all, whoever was responsible for even considering Wang Yibo as Lan Wangji ought to get an award. I mean look at this boy

Who looked at him and thought, "Yes! A perfect Lan Wangji!" It boggles the mind. In fact, one of the funniest things I found when the series was first aired was UNIQ fans belatedly realizing that Lan Wangji was being played by Wang Yibo. The whiplash must have been something because the gap is just unreal.

I remember that back when news came out that there would be a live action adaptation of MDZS, not a lot of people were behind Wang Yibo being casted as Lan Wangji. I would even admit to being one of the naysayers, and if I delve deep into this trash bin of a blog, I would probably find something I said last year that was along those lines. Mind you, this was in stark contrast to how people reacted to Xiao Zhan; most people liked him, thought he looked great as Wei Wuxian, and he just got a lot of approval on the get-go. The promotional posters that came out though just did not really do Wang Yibo justice. As Lan Wangji, he did not look the part, he seemed quite young, who even was Wang Yibo, or if you knew Wang Yibo, like really, Wang Yibo? And so on and so forth. 

The great reveal though is that apparently, Wang Yibo is the kind of guy you just have to see in action. The moment I got into him playing Lan Wangji? I was sold. I was so sold I would willingly eat my shoe for everything I ever said about CQL casting back in 2018. That face, the look? Picture perfect. His manner, his restraint, the way he conducts himself in fight scenes? It was sheer genius casting a dancer for the kind of grace required to pull off the esteemed Hanguang-jun. I love Wang Yibo's Lan Wangji and knowing what I know now, if you give me another actor to play Lan Wangji, I would stab him in the eyeballs, I am not kidding. Don't give me anyone else other than Wang Yibo.

Now, Xiao Zhan has proven time and again that he understands Wei Wuxian, and the great thing is he is articulate about it. I think it's pretty well known that this boy makes entire speeches and writes legit essays when asked about Wei Wuxian. We love that about him, and I think this is also why he is so popular with the fans. We don't get as much of that from Wang Yibo, but much like how it wasn't until we saw him in action that he proved why he was a fitting Lan Wangji, the same could be said here. He does understand Lan Wangji. How do we know? Because it just shows. I find that appreciating this boy is in seeing him just do things. I remember how it was when, with each episode that passed, people just started noticing how Lan Wangji—poker face extraordinaire—was behaving in each of his scenes. We went, "Was that--? Holy shit, yes, it is?? How is this actor pulling off these micro-expressions? How is it that we are actually getting emotions from Lan Wangji??"

This went on up until a lot of us slowly realized, "You know what? This is a really good Lan Wangji we have here."

The Untamed also gave us a lot of promotional and behind-the-scenes content, so let's talk about that, too. There is something refreshingly genuine with Wang Yibo that I don't think I often see in many celebrities. It could be because he's young, but that just makes it more impressive how well he is performing on-screen. Out of costume though, he doesn't seem to have many filters, and it is such a riot following him and listening to the kind of shit he says in interviews (and taking note of how the "more adult" Xiao Zhan reacts to them).

Besides, a drama with two guys as leads? This could have easily been a recipe for clashing egos. While whichever actors playing Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji would find themselves being called the "two male leads" of the show, the fact of the matter is, Wei Wuxian's character is defined by his actions and his convictions. He fights against something larger than himself, and in this sense he is the typical hero of a story. Lan Wangji, meanwhile, is defined by his devotion to Wei Wuxian. 

People get compared all the time, rankings are a thing, and product endorsement usually can only afford one popular celebrity as a brand ambassador. One could very easily be the actor who resents Lan Wangji's popularity being dependent on Wei Wuxian, and thus be considered "secondary" to Wei Wuxian. But instead, and despite all the wrong ways things could go, we got chemistry on screen and camaraderie behind the scenes. Wang Yibo favored Xiao Zhan and did not compete with him. It probably helped that Xiao Zhan is older (thank goodness for Asian values), but then Wang Yibo has been a celebrity for longer. Again, it could have gone badly.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to me that Lan Wangji's actor likes Wei Wuxian. It's not by any means a necessity, but a wonderful, wonderful bonus to all this—because what self-respecting Lan Wangji wouldn't adore his Wei Wuxian? We got cute banter behind the scenes, with Wang Yibo even seeming to be most partial to Xiao Zhan and generally being playful with him despite having a reputation of being cold to co-stars. He genuinely seemed to have had a lot of fun with his co-actor. I do not ship them nor do I follow RPF, but I find that them having that amiable and sometimes affectionate atmosphere does wonders for my own shipping of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. It's like everything just feels safe and good, and my boys are happy together in all iterations of their universe. 

I will always be thankful to these actors for interpreting these beloved characters so respectfully, especially given the nature of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's relationship. With the threat of censorship being a very real thing for them, I'm glad we still got the bond—and yes, love—between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in the scenes they share on-screen. (Actually, I sometimes wonder if Wang Yibo's, uh, violence towards Xiao Zhan is a remnant of Lan Wangji's affection for Wei Wuxian that Wang Yibo hasn't shaken off after they end a scene, lol. What's a guy to do with those feelings, right?)

Anyway, this accidental meta was brought to you by all these goodbye posts with CQL ending. I reiterate all the "thank you's" to the cast, but really for me, my appreciation goes most of all to our unexpectedly excellent Lan Wangji. I said so much shit about him last year, but he ended up being my absolute favorite of the cast. Wang Yibo took Lan Wangji and brought him to life in a way I never thought I needed, and now holy hell, I am churning up fanfic like mad every week. It has been such a wonderful journey, and never have I more sincerely wished success for any show's actor as much as I do for this boy. I was so, so wrong about him, but boy, never have I been happier for being proven wrong.

[sincerity-moi]

Some Hero/Villain Characters (+Their Powers and some facts about ‘em)

Waylon Asuka - AKA the villain "Nexus": Is an older human male with the ability to irreparably bind anything with something else, this can work in a variety of disturbing and deadly ways. 

Shilo Bancroft - AKA the hero "Manifest": Is a young human male with the ability to make any item or structure of items appear out of thin air, under the catch he must first have experienced these items through all five senses (Sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell) in order to fully grasp and conjure them.

Ayden Pike - AKA the hero “Lunar”: Is a half-human of unknown secondary heritage with abilities related to the night (falling temperatures, fading visibility, nocturnal animals, etc.)

Marin Troy - AKA the villain “Smelt”: Is a half-human female with both a resistance to and practiced control over extreme heat.

Bellarose Tink - AKA the hero “Lupe” - A young alien female with superspeed which can only be accessed once she takes the form of a wolf.

Shallace Troy - AKA the villain ”Magma”: A half-human female with practiced control over extreme heat, but no resistance to it.

Tanya Pent - AKA the hero ”Morrigan”: A young and dubiously human female with the ability to control birds of the Corvid Family.

Morgan Chef - AKA the hero ”Catalyst”: A young human male with the ability to transfer great amounts of energy from one point of focus to another through his body (and even hold said energy within himself for short period of time.)

Sheran Mer - AKA the villain ”Cataclysm”: An alien of known (but highly secretive) origin who sits near the top of the foodchain in villain society, yet still chooses to run with the lower-ranking henchman of his leader’s crew.

Uma Lyfe - AKA the villain ”Whisper”: An elderly human female with the power to mute sound/take and keep voices, she was once a feared double-agent as well as a key player in bringing villains to power, but has sense settled back into the shadows as a bystander.

-------------------------------------

Fun Shit-Facts:

- Waylon Asuka hates lemon pies with a burning passion.

- Shilo Bancroft has definitely licked a brick wall in his lifetime.

- Ayden Pike’s favorite animal is the Australian Possum.

- Marin loves lemon pies.

- Shallace prefers any pie with chocolate in it.

- Tanya has a pet Scarlet Macaw.

- Morgan has a phobia of bees.

- Sheran has an obsession with My Little Pony.

- Uma often listens to folk-music.

- The original concept character which would eventually become Waylon as we know him was actually a hero with healing abilities, his name was Dalton Ambrose and his hero-name was “Solar”. As he is now, Waylon could still use his powers to heal people if he wanted to, he just has a much wider spectrum of possibilities.

- Shilo was originally Ayden Pike’s son, in the story’s current iteration, he is his sidekick.

- Morgan and Tanya were originally the sidekicks of Ayden Pike, whom Pike repeatedly pitted against his son (because in the original iteration Ayden Pike was pretty much Firelord Ozai). In this iteration of the story, they often work with Shilo, but have no personal connection to him.

- Marin is Shallace’s identical twin sister, and Waylon is Marin’s fiance (originally, Shallace and Marin were the same character, “Shallace” was derived from “Chalice”, and “Chalice” was Marin’s villainous alias.)

- Marin’s original character concept was inspired by The Holy Grail, hence her original alias as a villain. She could take life or give life as she desired, and her color scheme had a lot of golds and silvers in it (The gold was what ultimately lead to her current iteration as a heat-inspired superhuman.)

- Marin and Waylon were already married by the start of the story in the original version (in the current iteration, a fun little side plot is them planning their wedding and fighting over details while the world burns.)

- Part of the reason why Waylon Asuka hates Ayden Pike’s guts is because Pike has no problems with starting his followers off young (Sidekicks originally becoming sidekicks as young children is something that I always had a bit of an issue with in the superhero genre, so naturally I decided to project and make it a problem here for the charfacters in this story!.)

- Shilo likes bees and has accidentally terrorized Morgan with them several times.

[mtt-brand-trans]

What's up gamers today we're taking a stab at guessing why and how in the world a depressed, unhygienic, ketchup-chugging skeleton like Sans became an internet sex symbol if you like this video don't forget to like and subscribe to my channel and click that bell button to get notific

Here's a question for you: if you played all of Undertale without knowing anything about the fandom, and after you were done I asked you who you thought the fan favorite was, who would you say? No really, I'd like to know, because I have no good or honest answer to this question. Because the more I think about it, the more sure I am that, while in many fandoms it's clear who the fan favorite is going to be(and that character may even have been designed to be the fan favorite), Undertale doesn't really have that.

Most times, the fan favorite is a young guy with good looks(a specific kind of look too, usually what you would describe as a "pretty boy") that has a good sense of humor and/or is flirtatious and/or is flippant. Sans is a jokester, sure, but he's not a pretty boy. And as I said, he's depressed and chugs ketchup at local diners and is a slacker, and his jokes aren't flirty or insulting(aka "attractive" jokes), they're just bad puns. These things certainly makes him feel more like a real person(or as real as you can get when you're a skeleton), but they don't make for a good fan fave to drool over. So why was Sans chosen to be transformed through fanon as the fan favorite? I think the answer lies in the no mercy route.

I'm pretty sure we all know this is the biggest contributor to his popularity. Although nowadays I prefer the pacifist route, even I was fascinated with the no mercy route back in the day. And there's a perfectly good reason so many felt the same, for a lot of us(myself included) it was an introduction to "darker" stories, where bad things happened and they didn't get better, or were previously fans of games like fnaf. A lot of the fandom was my age at the time(14) or younger. And since the no mercy route was the main focus for so many fans, what, or who was the staple of it? Sans. And honestly, the sans fight really was made to make an impact. It takes a lot of tries, sometimes even more than undyne the undying, the music is the fourth iteration of Toby's signature song Megalovania, and Sans' dialogue reveals more about his character and opens up a possible mystery by saying strange things that he doesn't explain(remember how I said a lot of people were previously fnaf fans? Well it and similar games became popular largely because of the mysteries they presented. So Sans' popularity also grew because of his connection to the larger gaster mystery). So Sans ended up being the most popular character in Undertale, and Undertale became insanely popular, so by proxy Sans became a very popular character in general.

So here's a summary of why Sans is the fan favorite, even though when just looking at him by himself you'd never guess he'd have risen to this level of popularity(aka the TL;DR): Undertale has a distinct lack of characters that fit the typical "fan favorite" mold, and Sans was the character that most closely fit it. His popularity was largely helped by his significance in the no mercy run and his ties to the gaster mystery, which made him more appealing to young fans in particular, who loved the no mercy route because of its darkness and gaster because of the unsolved mystery. Thus, he became the most popular character in Undertale, and since Undertale was so popular itself, he got a huge fandom.

I also want to take this time to look at some other characters who had the potential to be the fan favorites had Sans not taken the role. Most/all of them fit other, "lesser" fan favorite archetypes that I will explain. A lot of these characters are still pretty popular.

Gaster

This one's pretty obvious. If Sans didn't have ties to both the no mercy run and the Gaster mystery, then Gaster himself would be the fan favorite. Even with Sans(or sometimes because of him), he's inescapable. If he was the fan favorite, the loud part of the fandom would largely stay the same, there would just be less focus on the no mercy run.

Undyne

There's two ways Undyne would've become the fan favorite: being a lesbian icon like Catra from spop, making the fandom a lesbian haven, or through straight weeb men who fetishize lesbians. Those two types of fans already make up the Undyne fandom in our quiet little corner, but we would've seen this on a much larger SCALE(lol) if she had been the fan favorite. And let's be honest, what does Sans have that Undyne doesn't? Let's just look at the facts here: A glowing eye that only shows up on the no mercy run, of which they have one of two of the epic battles for that route that are famously hard to beat, both have a mysterious part of them that's not really explained(Undyne's missing eye, why she melted/came back to life instead of turning straight to dust, determination motif, UNDYNE'S MYSTERIOUS TOO GUYS), connections to a royal scientist, I could go on. I can really only think of one reason that Undyne, the buff angry wlw who isn't conventionally attractive, isn't very popular.........

Asriel

Asriel falls under another type of fan favorite archetype that I like to call, "HOLY SHIT CUTE CHILD." The only other example I can think of right now is Niko from oneshot, who is the fan favorite of their game. And Asriel is indeed a cute child! I would've liked to see him be the fan favorite, because I think the Chara & Asriel subplot is underrated in this fandom. Asriel is fairly popular, but he's mostly seen either as flowey or by fans of the KFCA gang nowadays.

Frisk

Frisk being the fan favorite would be a combination of "HOLY SHIT CUTE CHILD" and "protagonist that I can project onto," with a side of mystery due to their ambiguous backstory. So pretty much how they're portrayed now. They're best done by fans of the KFCA gang, but they're seen more often than Asriel, either as a prop in cool art of a place/another character, or to be the kid in those post-pacifist works.

Mettaton

He's another one that's already fairly popular, this is just about what the fandom would be like if he was The fan fave. And if I'm gonna he honest, I'm kinda surprised Mettaton isn't the fan favorite. He's pretty much exactly what the fan favorite archetype is. He's a pretty boy. He's one of the more popular characters in the fandom, sure, but compared to Sans he hardly shows up. And I honestly don't have any good guesses as to why this is. It could be that he's gay and trans coded, but too "flamboyant" and makes the cishet fans uncomfortable, but even that doesn't check out considering how much people fetishize him being trans. If anything, they like that, even if in the most gross way possible. So yeah, I've got nothing.

Chara

They were probably the fourth most popular character back in the day, after the skelebros and gaster of course. And just like Sans, it's because of their ties to the no mercy route. If they were the fan fave, the fandom would probably be a much darker place. Which is sad, because if you look at how KFCA fans depict them, they're great! But anyways, the fandom as a whole has always focused more on "demon" Chara than looking at maybe a more nicer side of them, so if they were the fan favorite, the fandom would be even more focused on the gritty and dark parts of the story. Oh, and people would keep misgendering them, too.

So there you have it, an in-depth analysis of how Sans became the fan favorite, and then what other fan favorites might look like I guess. Even after writing all of this, I still can't quite comprehend Sans' popularity. Fortunately I've found a good niche in the fandom that appreciates all the characters equally. KFCA fans, waterfall gang fans, gorls fans, etc. Everyone is good! But I've stayed holed up in that little community for so long that I don't know the fandom at large's current condition regarding aus, sans, etc., so really this meta is written from my memory of the fandom back in 2016, which is probably outdated somewhat lol. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the read!

[veilder]

Castlevania Season 3 was insane and in this essay I will--

Okay, I’ve never made a post on this website before, but here I go cuz Castlevania Season 3 has me just that fucked up. (Everything here is my own opinion, fyi.)

***SPOILER WARNING FROM HERE ON!!***

Okay, so yeah, that was a wild fuckin ride, wasn’t it? First off, while I did very much enjoy this season and I still love the show as a whole very much, this whole thing felt a lot like a setup season. It was a lot of maneuvering the characters into certain places and roles and it was a lot more focused on their emotional development (or regression, yikes!) than it was on a central plot like the first two seasons were. In those, all three mains had a singular goal: destroy Dracula. But now? Well, we’re left in the aftermath. I feel like this season was certainly necessary for where the show seems to want to take things, but yeah, I think I didn’t love it quite as much as the first two. And I think a lot of that stems from just how fractured the main party is. And I’m not just talking about Trevor, Sypha and Alucard, either, even though I consider them the main focal point. Because, building up off of season 2, I would absolutely consider both Hector and Isaac as main characters in this show as well. But after the final confrontation of last season, all of them (save Trevor and Sypha) are scattered. And while they certainly still seem to impact each other somewhat, they never actually... y’know, meet in this season. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore Trevor and Sypha’s dynamic and I think they are #RelationshipGoals, but you can certainly feel the absence of Alucard in their scenes. Hell, Trevor remarks on that himself at one point, about how they just... left him behind. About how lonely he must be, shut up all alone in his father’s mausoleum, taking on the duty to protect it because he’s the only one who can... There was a scene in one of the middle episodes (forgive me, I did not mark down which) where Trevor encounters a fox in the forest. And there is a prominent cut to the creature’s golden eyes. And Trevor smiles at it. It just makes me think that he, at least, has been thinking about their wayward companion in his downtime. I’m glad that the showrunners took the time to make sure we all could see that consideration, even in small moments like this, because it really didn’t sit well with me, how they left him all alone at the end of season 2. It’s nice to know that at least Trevor is thinking about him and it makes me hope that we will actually get these three back together in season 4. And along those lines, I think it was very interesting, how ultimately, Isaac’s whole goal in this season was to reach Hector. Literally, that’s all he is doing for all 10 episodes, just travelling across continents to find the man who betrayed Dracula... and to make him pay. But damn if I didn’t absolutely love all of his scenes, too? Isaac has really risen to prominence for me with this season. I could never quite get behind him in season 2, but here? I daresay that he might’ve been my favorite part of this season. All of his interactions, with the old collector man, with the Captain, with the FlysEyes, with Miranda, they were all so varied and philosophical. I really loved how the show delved into such heavy topics with him and fleshed out his personality a bit more. Special shoutout to the Captain who was, imo, absolutely amazing. I honestly hope they meet again, I loved their dynamic so much. But even so, he’s always still focused on Hector. Always moving towards Hector. I like that their story continues to play out from where it left off in season 2, with their fates interwoven like this. I do hope that we’ll get to see a confrontation between them eventually, but God, it would be very unsatisfying right now with Hector’s current situation. Which... Jesus, he is in dire straights, isn’t he? I honestly felt so bad for him throughout this entire season. He has been abused and manipulated so horribly through this whole thing. And yes, maybe he came across as a little naive and, well... dumb for trusting Lenore, but... Honestly, with the way he’s been suffering? Clinging onto those few scraps of kindness she throws him is really his only salvation. He has nothing, literally nothing, not even clothes, when the season begins. He’s been travelling with Carmilla for a month and then is immediately thrown in prison when they finally reach Styria. And God, despite all of that, he still has the gumption to try and attack Lenore at first. To try and trick her into a vulnerable position when vulnerability is his new MO. I was proud of him for trying, for keeping that spirit alive within himself despite his horrible circumstances. And watching as Lenore manipulated him further and further was just... so horrible. Honestly, she probably didn’t even need the slave ring at the end. Hector was so desperate for any sort of love and validation that he almost certainly would’ve happily crafted their legions just to make her happy. He has such a soft soul and it’s always being taken advantage of. His story arc was so fuckin sad and I really need better things for him going forward. And speaking of characters who deserve better... Omg, what did they do to Alucard? Seriously, his entire story arc this season was just... highlighting how devastatingly lonely he is and how he’s not coping very well at all with the aftermath of season 2. And I understand, everything that went down last season and everything he was forced to do, it broke him so completely. He hasn’t really... moved on at all from where we last saw him, weeping his heart out for the family he lost. So what does this show do for him? It lets us think he might be able to find a new family, to find happiness... and then it yanks that away from us in the absolutely worst way. Sumi and Taka had a lot of promise. Their backstories, as slaves for an ancient, powerful Japanese vampire, that was very cool. Their quest to find a mentor, someone to teach them the skills they needed to help liberate their home from the hold these vampires have over them, that is a noble goal. And Alucard sees that in them. He sees their potential to do good. I think he honestly sees a little bit of Trevor and Sypha in them, in the way they want to help, to fight against evil, to better the world. And I think they also... give him someone to cling to. Just someone at all to speak with, to share his day with, to be around? He is so lonely, so hurt, grieving and empty and wishing he wasn’t. They offered him a small glimpse of what happiness could look like. And he took it with both hands. He wanted them there and he wanted to help them and God, even when they have him at their mercy and are trying to kill him, he never condemns them. He still sees the good inside of them. And I wonder if he ignores the brokenness inside of them, too, because it’s a mirror to his own? Either way, the whole story arc was absolutely heartbreaking and it kills me to see Alucard so absolutely crushed by the events of his life. He does not deserve this. And I... really need Trevor and Sypha to come back for him. I think he really needs them, now more than ever. The characters are really who I wanted to talk about, y’know? Yes, I love all the plot setup happening; the Cult of Dracula was unsettling and terrifying; Saint Germain and the Infinite Corridor were honestly spectacular? How did they pull that off so convincingly?; Carmilla, Striga, Morana and Lenore were strangely entertaining for me, even though I very much despised the way Carmilla and Lenore in particular treated Hector. They were a weirdly amusing, kickass lady squad and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of them. (Which I most certainly will); Isaac and his growing horde coming for Styria is bound to be amazing!; I’m assuming that Trevor and Sypha will continue learning more about the Cult as the next season goes and will (hopefully!) get Alucard back with them at some point! (God, he needs his friends so much. >_<) I just... There was so much packed into this season and I overall enjoyed it very much. Special shoutout to the absolutely amazing artwork because holy shit! Some of those still were breathtaking! And while some of the fight scenes I thought were a tad... worse than in previous seasons, some of them were real standouts, too! So yeah, I had a lot of thoughts about this! And I really needed to share them! Looking forward to what comes next! ~Veil P.S. Y’all don’t even know how desperately I want “The Pirate of the Roads” to be Grant Danasty. XD (Will he ever show up? Fingers crossed!)

[expshared]

an extremely varied summer 2019 vis a vis annie may. let us reflect:

Dr. Stone has the biggest false start. It’s genuinely hilarious how much of a misstep the first arc is. It ditches 80% of its main cast 5 episodes in and is so, so much better for it. Senku faking his own death and sending his friends away to “spy on Tsukasa” is like sending a dog away to the farm. Anyway this show is ugly and the pacing is bad but you know what, after we arrive on Gilligan’s Island and Senku begins interacting with the people there I became reluctantly invested. The critiques I had at the beginning of the show—that the premise wanted me to believe in the Power of Science above all things and also gave me a Jojo high schooler who punches a lion so hard it dies—fell away after those things became irrelevant and it turned  into a quirky little science camp show. It’s fun like that, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to anyone new. A huge spike in my investment came in giving Suika, the little girl with a watermelon on her head, a pair of glasses, so those are the kind of stakes we’re dealing with here in Dr. Stone.

I don’t know how Ohkubo did it the first time. He captured lightning in a bottle with Soul Eater, and a huge part of that is Maka carrying the entire series on her back. Fire Force is bad. Narratively it’s a mess that doesn’t spare a moment for the characters in its story and instead flits from one plot point to the next, and emotionally it’s empty and, to be honest? Unsettling. Studio Shaft’s finger prints are all over this series and even that can’t save it—and in some places it actively hurts it.  There’s so much dead space. Also, let’s address the elephant in the room: this show is misogynist. This show delights in making its female characters uncomfortable. Whether it’s Iris getting her clothes burned off or Tamaki’s “oops I’m accidentally sexy!” bit, it’s Bad, Folks. There’s an uncomfortably long moment where we, the audience, watch Tamaki cry, largely naked, after having her face punched in by her former idol. On a smaller note, Shinra just isn’t a strong enough character to carry the plot; his defining character traits are Smiles Weird and Kicks Things, neither of which are a personality. 

Vinland Saga thrives almost exclusively on the uniqueness of its setting. It’s a dark historical seinen and I welcome the change of tone from traditional seasonal fare. There’s something to be said about the incidental nature of Thorfinn’s presence—the narrative moves almost without him. It gives the story this larger-than-life historical backdrop. We, like Thorfinn, are just kind of along for the ride. Time marches on with or without us there to participate. Also it’s got a sick OST.

O Maidens in Your Savage Season is a show with an audience that’s hard to pin down. I mean, the audience is me, but outside of that it’s a hard sell. It’s a series penned by the divisive Mari Okada about a handful of high school girls coming to terms with sex, sexuality, and girlhood. If you turn your brain off now and stop listening you’re doing yourself a disservice because this show is bombass. It’s incisive and biting without being lewd or over the top or conservative. It tackles some heavy shit and does so with relative grace. It’s got LGBT rep. In one of its soaring moments, a pedophile is punched in the face. It also features a girl walking in on her crush beating it to train-themed porn. It’s extremely uncomfortable to watch and had my heart rate spiking. It’s anime Eighth Grade and it’s harrowing and relatable and challenging without pitting girls against each other and turning a love triangle into yet another tortured shoujo romance. It deftly handles each character’s agonizing and embarrassing struggle with adolescence. I understand why this one flew under the radar but it shouldn’t. Also, Sonezaki’s boyfriend is the smoothest boy alive and I would like any romantic confession to be at least half of what his was.

There’s a show like Wasteful Days of High School Girls every season. You know the drill—it’s a comedy about some girls in high school. Each one of them is a trope. And yet? The glee this show takes in making its cast deliver stupid punch line after stupid punchline, the surprisingly heartfelt moments that give way to absurd freefall, the single digit collective IQ of the cast? Charming and highly successful. I had a good laugh at least every other scene.  

Granbelm is a serviceable magical girl/mecha fusion that treads common ground but manages to have its own voice. In fact, the finale struck me as very engaged in a conversation with Madoka, and the penultimate episode was raw and emotional and even got me a little misty-eyed. Weird flex to say that this is a rare non-Gundam anime to have hand-drawn mecha. If dark magical girl shows are your thing, this is one of the better ones.

The continuing Fruits Basket loses its luster for me the further along I watch. This may change now that we’re getting into all new anime territory, but I couldn’t help but feel as if I just had more fun watching the 2001 anime. I still haven’t come around to Kyo and knowing what’s at the end of this long road just makes it harder. I did enjoy the two episodes each that both Hana and Ou got, and that’s certainly a plus for this new iteration.  

Carole and Tuesday petered off a little at the end, but despite the general consensus that it spent too much time on episodic adventures, I quite enjoyed it. Watanabe shows are consistently odd, offbeat passion projects of love and it is clear that C+T wanted to be a showcase of artists and musicians first and a political narrative second. I got what I came for and even if in, say, my most ideal version of this show features a little more character and a little less Mars Got Talent, I still liked what I got. Besides, soaring cast-comes-together-to-sing-the-final-song moments always get me choked up no matter what.   

Astra Lost in Space was the surprise of the season. The source material is a little-known cult favorite, but I had heard no real buzz about it at all prior to watching and was all the more impressed for it. Astra is a tight little sci-fi narrative that knows its strengths and saves its twists for when you least expect them. It’s filled with charming characters you root for and is competently directed. I had a lot of fun guessing and shooting wild speculations off while I watched. Perfect for a 12 episode adventure complete with a wholesome and warm ending.

If you haven’t checked out Kimetsu no Yaiba yet, do. Just do it. If you’ve been on the fence, just take the leap. This second cour of Demon Slayer went from “this is an enjoyable show” to “holy shit I wish I could watch every episode again for the first time and all at once”. To speak nothing of Ufotable’s absolute mastery over 3D space and the Action Scene, the source material is no slouch either. There’s such a solid backbone of character and empathy and every story featured in Demon Slayer only furthers its ultimate message of family, found and otherwise. I make no exaggeration: episode 19 is one of the most perfect episodes of anime in recent memory. It hits every beat. I watched it twice, back to back. And then after I was done with the season, I voraciously ate up the source material.  If Ufotable adapts all of the manga to the level of care and attention as this first installment, I am very confident in saying that Demon Slayer could be one of the Best.

[demyrie]

On the Resourcefulness, Intelligence and Grit of Fic Writers

My beta and starmate @rainbowstarbird and I have been writing fic since we were preteens. I specifically remember straining, in my seat, toward my screen and my 13th birthday so that I could Very Legally sign up for ff/net. Wild, right?

We are also students of narrative, specifically radical queer storytelling. One of our favorite things to do is go on errands (we’re old be quiet) and just brainstorm ideas with characters we love where they share our identities and struggles and do things we need or want to see. Or just ... get kinda horny, as today.

Rae exclaimed at some poor driving on our way to the house and accidentally said “room for two” and our brains went south, toward the double penetration line of thinking. We laughed, and laughed, and then Rae shrieks MAKE IT A PORN, GO and thus began the game.

Me: uhhh uhhh uhhh OH OH okay so, it’s!!! a bed and breakfast!!! and the hot married owners court and seduce a guest and DP them! ROOM!! FOR!!! TWO!!! it works on both levels!

Rae: Aaaaaaaa someone hasn’t made this a porn yet?! make it a fic!

and we did.

Me: oh shit who’s an OT3 we can play with?

Rae: WHITE COLLAR 

(for those who don’t know, White Collar is a delicious drama action procedural show where a white collar FBI agent, Peter, teams up with one of the greatest con men ever. A con man he’s tailed for YEARS, by the way, that HE put in jail, and together they solve art crimes and slowly rehabilitate Neal. Peter is amazing, soft soulful masculinity to a t, and has a very frank, beautiful, nurturing wife named Elle who is also amazing and Neal has never belonged anywhere and there is a LOT of tension as Neal edges closer and closer to letting himself be loved but then NOPES out to return to his scammer ways. The cast joked about a threesome. It’s heavy. Both Peter and Elle would do anything for Neal, and struggle with his inability to believe he’s worth love. Its. Ugh.)

Me: YES!!! SO!!! to theme, it would have to be married couple Peter and Elle running a cute little Bed and Breakfast that Neal stumbles upon and then he gets fuuuuuuuuucked

Rae: But I want peter to be a FBI agent?? Who is he, if not a lawman?

Me: AH! RETIRED cop/FBI agent peter, swayed into peaceful AND swanky bed and breakfast life by his canonically talented event designer wife Elle in the hopes of giving him some calm and space to come to grips with himself

Rae: YES! AS HE DEALS WITH HIS PTSD. his career took a slightly darker turn -- we can take one of the harder cases and imagine how it would have gone without Neal and how it would have shook him -- and necessitated a retirement from the field.

Me: and Neal is very off his track. He broke up with whatserface. Maybe he just got out of prison, or narrowly squirmed out of it after one of his art blackmail schemes went south. He doesn’t know whether he wants to go back to crime/art forgery, but he’s out of money and out of ideas and he pulls up at this small unassuming (BUT VERY TASTEFUL) bed and breakfast and immediately tries to scam Elle with a fake credit card to stay the night. 

Rae: Yes, he’s charming, but he’s off his game due to the recent upset and fumbles the delivery. Peter scents it immediately, being a cop, but Elle takes pity on him and just says honey let it be. Maybe he’s having some trouble. She’s so nurturing, and says ‘remember what we talked about in therapy, Pete?’ and frames it as letting go of hypervigilance, and being more centered like they’re learning in therapy. Because they need therapy. And the idea of a sexy older established couple openly talking and communicating to deal with their pain but also their boundaries is amazing. But also it’s hilarious how it becomes “Neal is a walking test of Peter’s ability to Calm Down” because Elle leverages it like REMEMBER? THERAPY? and Peter stomps off flustered and lets her get her way just like in the show

Me: yes and so they get attached to poor lost Neal, and extend and extend his stay night after night while he figures things out. so of course everyone gets to talking. Peter feels his Old Buried Gay Feelings awakening with such a beautiful guy hangin out, bein’ all charming and sweet -- which is an opportunity to bring up the “remember what we talked about in therapy?” line in a different context, a la dealing with neglected parts of ourselves and not just “problem” parts of ourselves to create a WHOLE self -- and Elle spots it from a mile away, as well as Neal crushing right back but being on his best behavior with this awesome couple just sorta letting him live with them. 

Rae: YES, like, he doesn’t want to mess this up, and he’s also not used to ... being good. Behaving. Or ... being trusted. All of this is fucking him up on a lot of levels, bringing him face to face with his hollow conceptions of self-worth, and it’s delicious. They LOVE HIM. and there’s so much angst about him dying to confess that he never really had the money to stay here in the first place, that he tried to scam them, as a metaphor for his intrinsic worthlessness.

Me: yes. they love him. And then they love him. At the same time. DP. Room for two.

[screams, high-fives, then contented silence. horny, contended silence]

Rae: But wait. ... it’s ... DP?

Me: *shrugs* Elle gives the strap. You know she does.

Rae: holy shit she do. DONE ITS A THING WE MADE A THING WOOOOOO

SO!

This is why fanfiction is magic. We took these characters and fit them to a cheap porn scenario just for the hell of it, and yet its much more than a scenario, and so much more than fitting a square peg into a round hole. It’s about the characters interacting AROUND AND WITHIN the scenario, the way all of their problems and complexes interlock in the new setting or AU, which enriches the scene and lends it emotional weight and momentum. It’s that amazing quote about “i don’t want porn in my LOTR, but LOTR in my porn”, but obviously it doesn’t always have to be an explicit scenario to reflect this amazing ability to ADAPT, IMPROVISE, AND OVERCOME in order to create incredible content!

Fanfiction is about learning identities and ways of being. Fanfiction requires a top view of characterization and a grasp of narrative flow: The important components of a character, and how many parts you can tweak or change and it Still Be the Character. It delves into those weird grey areas where you see THOUSANDS of different iterations of a character and some of them hit the spot, and some don’t, and we learn what we like. What we value, personally, and in these characters, as well as how OTHER people see traits that become HCs that let us learn about those populations, like a prevailing hc that someone is trans, or deaf, or nonbinary, or a spoonie, or etc etc etc and our world view gets a little wider, a little richer, and a little more empathetic.

It also means understanding the tiers of characterization, like what are defining traits versus secondary traits, and thus what (environmental) aspects you can change to bring out secondary character traits but still retain the core of the character while exploring material never approached in the show, just because you want to. Because you see something of yourself in this character and want to SEE YOURSELF in this character. It is amazing. IT IS AMAZING.

Yes, fanfic is the ultimate sandbox for “for the sake of” fantasies/stories and part of the transformative value is there’s no real NEED to adhere to characterization. There’s no pressure. We can go wild. It’s a blank slate, IT’S WHATEVER, but I think we consistently underestimate how fanfiction itself is an adaptive and analytical gladiator-ring-slash-orgy that we can emerge from MASTERS of characterization, exploration and expression, and just about every day is a study of What We Like and What We Want to See. Even, or especially, if the higher ups aren’t gonna give it to us off the cuff.

It’s amazing. Fic is amazing. I dunno. I’m just super happy with this thing we do.

So if you’re feeling weird about that fic you want to write, don’t. Just do it!

Rae and I are gonna make a podcast where we talk about this stuff. I’m excited. You in? :)