#his character isn't different - it's weirdly more fleshed out

[helpimstuckinafandom]

Next up on a tsats post I read got me thinking: Will Solace again

Because (again) good stuff in tsats got lost in the repetativeness of this book. Someone pointed out that Will's character wasn't changed, people just think he's calm and collected on the outside and in this book we see his pov and see him with someone he's closer/more vulnerable with, and dude is riddled with anxiety that he hides. And like..... yes. Yeah. That's it. That's literally it.

Being calm and collected and bossy in his element and completely petrified outside of it? Real for the medic who's great plan in the Seige on Camp Half-Blood being to run/get chased (and do the demigod art of insultsTM) Feeling like shit to be taken care of and thinking yourself useless because of it? So real for a medic who has previously bemoaned his lesser musical ability and combat abilities, who is now unable to do the one thing he IS good at

Personal bias here but I am called the "chill one" in my family. My dad says it almost constantly (especially in comparison to my siblings) that I'm more relaxed and don't get all anxious and have it under control and just don't sweat it. I'm not as academically smart as my siblings or anything and my relaxed nature is the number one thing that gets noticed about me

But I'm not

I am scared all the time. I feel sick to my literal stomach with anxiety multiple times a month going to bed or waking up because of.... life. Do I let a single person know that? God no. What if they need me? I live a good life all things considered, how could I ever compare the small shit I go through to someone's break up or family trauma or depressive episode?(Got a little bit of the "i'm not diagnosed so I'm invalid" thing going on) How could I ever put my needs on the front burner when I need to help people or spend time with them at their beck and call.

One of the other things I'm called/get compared to is a Therapy Dog. Because people find me comforting to be around - I listen and do my best to help - I am a friendly face.

I have literally told myself some days where life just keeps coming at me that I won't cover it up and I will actually look sad. I repeatedly tell myself to do it, and then the instant - the very second - i'm in front of someone I feel it naturally pack itself into the back of my mind and feel a smile pull at my lips. I literally can't do it. I don't want to worry them, I don't want to disuade them from telling me something because I look sad.

I think about the way my failures will impact everyone else but me. Like right now I think I'm gonna fail a course and it frightens me, but my priority is my mother who is stressed from family issues and my dad who trusted me - how my grades will worsen their lives. I'm like that for everything.

Basically, if I can't make people feel better, what good am I? What good am I TO THEM?

So Will Solace. I've always really liked him and related myself to him - even from Last Olympian, believe it or not. The brief moments with him back then had him be that random background character I latched onto. And then there was HOO (and later TOA) and I loved him even more. Partly because I could see him sharing opinions I do, but they weren't completely unfounded, but still his chill-ish nature and lack of other godly talents other than healing resonated with me. And then in tsats I remember several times going "bro he's literally me somehow". Somehow, being the key word, because even though I didn't think he was too different, since we didn't have much content of him before, I could still recognize a sort of shift. And this post I saw made me realize what it was:

He is the "chill one" - he is the "therapy dog". He knows how to take care of people and he likes nerd shit, and outside of that he is scared. He hates being taken care of because it makes him feel useless. He's worried he's loving/caring wrong and that it will lose him people - lose Nico. And we see it now because we get his thoughts - we see him completely out of his element with someone he's far closer to and can let his walls fall a bit, but still not completely. He's being unravelled by the Underworld and tries to downplay it. He's just like me fr.

[scrunglepaws]

Tried to fit all my fic ideas on one page, but I still forgot some because they're like... scrawled on random pieces of paper all over my house/in different notebooks/ect. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I tried!

The little branchy-offy things are prequels/sequels of that particular series. Bleeped out things I thought might be spoiler-y to ongoing series. Things with * are super WIP-y titles because I dunno what to call them.

More ramblings under the cut! (Nothing spoilery for the ongoing series; just vague things!)

No Heroes Zone // - I have a lot more generalized worldbuilding, character notes, ect than actual stories. The story ideas are mostly vague/short... Though, I suppose I could stand to write some super short fics. - The exception is an angsty sonighty fic that's basically done, but I just have to fill in all the inbetween, connecty bits. And decide how sonighty-y I really want to go with it. That ship came outta nowhere, I tell ya. - NHZ is really mostly Tails (and Metal) angst, tho. The other day I was thinking about how he tries to latch onto Shadow and even Metal in the absence of having Sonic and was like "Wow, Tails, clingy much? What are you, Nine???" then I felt really bad. T-T; He just misses his brother...!

Kaleidoscope // - The name of this fic is based on an art piece I've been wanting to do for forever: A kaleidoscope of Tails/Nine/Mangey, looking at each other and seeing them each from their own perspective. Because that's the theme of the whole story, funky scifi weirdness aside. But uh, 1) didn't have a decent digital art program for a bit and 2) I'm not good enough at drawing the subtle differences in their appearances to really make it hit how I wanted. Also 3) Tails looks basically the same to all three of them, lmao. - "Mangey Remembers" is Mangey's backstory and "Loneliness*" is... Less of a backstory for Nine, more of a brief showcase of his character in general. Because we already know Nine's whole deal from canon. Same reason Tails doesn't have a backstory- he's supposed to be canon Tails. - "Starless Sky" and "Ruination*" are both poteeeential sequels, but I'm not set on doing them. Ruination would just be a short, noncanon "what if?" bad ending for the heck of it.

Someplace AU (Aquarius) // - Also halfway calling it Aquarius for now because I ended up continuing the first part of the story under that fic name.

- It was originally more focused on Sails, hence Someplace being a play on No Place. But now it's about equally Kit and Sails. I ended up getting SO MANY effing ideas for these dudes, man. ;w;

- "Hollow Existence*" isn't a specific story, but just a sprinkling of scenes/backstory bits that detail why Kit is the way he is. Mostly his relationship with Surge growing up.

- "Sails' Tales" is likewise a collection of random Sails backstory bits. I have a lot more specific/fleshed out things for him, though. BUDDY, did I have fun with the No Place lore. Also, his relationships with Catfish and Black Rose are so cute... ;A;

- The bits to the right are basically going to be chapters in Aquarius. They're vague enough not to be spoilery (other than the blipped ones...)

- "=D?" is a sequel that I'm very excited about. Probably shouldn't say much beyond that.

Everything Else // - CaveTails is a Journey to the Center of the Earth-esque silly, silly thing. That could maybe become a bit more serious? BAsically, I was thinking "Huh, kind of weird that my main kittails fic is with Sails. That'd be funny if I did ones with Nine and Mangey, too. Just for the lulz. Especially the Mangey one." This is the Mangey one. xD Except he's sort of like... Tails AND Mangey at the same time, character-wise? So? :? Also, potentially some wholesome Sonic+Tails moments because I weirdly haven't written any of those yet.

- "Kids" is just a continuation of that goofy Tails Doll+Cream oneshot. Just small ideas for another chapter or two. Cute friendship, fluff, and lots of comfort to make up for the hurt in the first chapter. :3;;

- "Alien*" is what it says on the tin. I have a couple different ideas for how it could go. One of them boots out Silver entirely and had Metal in his place. xD But I might have enough material to write an alien Silver AND alien Metal fic. We'll see whenever I get around to it. :3

- "Nine's Shadow*" is something I've wanted to write ever since I made that joke oc, Stales the Fox aka Zombie Tails variant from the Grim. Probably just a oneshot (or a few short chapters) fic that mostly focuses on Nine being "all alone" after the ending of Sonic Prime.

- "Why is Babies?*" is the second idea I had for a fic. It's just Shadow being awkward and not knowing how to look after a chunk of the main cast that are suddenly tots for unknown reasons. It's very lighthearted, comedic, and cute. Originally a Shadow+Metal fic until I learned more about Eclipse and just HAD to include him. Dude is literally a struggling single parent in canon, how could I not include him in a story about his brother going through something similar? xD Also, I might call this fic "Rascals" as a reference to that one Star Trek episode with a similar premise. Because! Star Trek. 8D

- "The Fifth Element" ... I have put off posting anything about this fic idea for so long because I'm EMBARRASSED IT'S SO STUPID AND CORNY DON'T LOOK AT ME,,, In case you're totally lost, the 1997 film of the same name is my. Favorite movie. So naturally, this was my first idea for a fic. It's so all-over-the-place tonally, though. Obviously, got a LOT of silly, especially the parts that follow the movie almost exactly. But I also added a lot of original bits that help flesh out the characters' relationships. The protag is Shadow, who is very, very soft and introspective in it. Which, like, how did that happen??? But I love it. Metal is his co-lead and is mostly goofy because he's a fish out of water. Sonic is VERY, VERY goofy like goddamn (he's Ruby Rod- if you know, you know). Then there's just the silliest shit ever like Silver. Silver is Shadow's cat. It's stupid, but it's also fun, and maybe even matters to the plot. You don't know. Blaze is the president. Dr. Starline, Surge, Eggman, and The End are in it. Tails has the smallest part of any of my fics, but I think I cast him well. I need to stop now or I never will. Don't look at me. xDD

~

But yeah, as I said, I forgot a lot of other ideas. A few more (still forgetting some, I'm sure): - "Creature from the Black Lagoon" ft. kittails - Steam Powered Giraffe-vibes 50's thing w/ Tails, Cream, and automatons of Kit, Surge, Metal, Belle, Gemerl, ect - Tails Doll trying to be a Real Boy(tm) - Kittails-focused folklore AU with Kit as a kelpie and Tails as a normal mobian. Bunch of other people as fae creatures and villagers, including Starline as the main villain. - Maybe a whispangle oneshot from the above au (Tangle is a mobian, Whisper is. basically a magic wolf? xD) - Knuckles/Tails role-swap

[gorbalsvampire]

Hey so obviously the clanbooks help flesh out the clans, but which clans do you think benefit the most from their clanbooks? Not necessarily powers, but the flavor. The details.

So this one took me a while, because I had to go back and look at the Revised edition clanbooks and refresh my memory on them. I'm mostly a Revised goblin, although Cappadocians never had a Revised clanbook so I dipped my toes into second there.

Also, for a Clanbook to be good, it has to be helpful in playing the clan, and more interested in that than delivering metaplot. This is why Clanbook Giovanni, though dear to my heart, is Not A Good One, because it's so mired up in shuttering Wraith: the Oblivion and the associated plot events. This is why Clanbook Cappadocian is bad, because it is shot through with "here to go" foreshadowing of the clan's downfall and doesn't do enough on establishing what they did in Cainite society at the height of their power.

Brujah: almost no mechanics, almost all history and perspectives. The Brujah suffer from an identity crisis - rootless between the classical era and the twentieth century, their history really feels like the history of the Anarch tendency, and their customs the heart of the movement as it is tonight. But for sheer detail - giving itself the breathing room to talk about how the Brujah work within their sects and contexts - I think this is one of the good ones despite its lack of substance. Telling that Justin wrote it.

Gangrel: this one locks arms with the Ravnos and walks down history together, embedding two underdeveloped clans in each other. The Gangrel come off better, because they're not starting from "[insert slur here] vampires" as a concept, and because the narrative voice of their book is curious and intelligent and refuses to take anything at face value. The core concept of the Gangrel is "Wolverine with fangs" - I'm being reductive, but "brooding animalistic outsider, bad team player, best there is at snikting all the bubs" - the point is that dragging Gangrel into a coterie with anyone else and making them functional involves dragging them away from what their "clan culture" is all about.

Weirdly, I think this Clanbook does more for the Sabbat Gangrel, simply by running through the Paths and showing how the Gangrel can integrate with them. Bloodlines are mostly stupid, mechanical impact for animal flaws reifies the clan curse in a good way (kinda similar to the contemporary Malkavians). There's a lot here but none of it makes me want to play a Gangrel, for some reason. I suspect it's that the core fantasy isn't really one that interests me, and if I'm going to play that hard against type, I'd rather start from a different base altogether.

Lasombra: the throughline of Lasombra history delivered through a series of in-character lectures is a neat device, foregrounding the contradictions better than usual. Likewise, the detailed depiction of Lasombra Embrace and education protocol and internal factions builds explicitly and confidently on the corebook's limited vision and their role within the Sabbat. The dot by dot breakdown on Obtenebration teaches you how to play one systemically and how to ST around this overtly supernatural Discipline and more of the books need to do that. One of the better suites of premade characters, too (and the Student of the Abyss is a dead ringer for my first girlfriend). It's been a long time but I think this is the book that made me like the Lasombra as a clan rather than a power set and story function.

Also:

Sabbat are not wholly their own masters. No vampire stands altogether free to choose his behavior, thanks to the Beast and the fundamental requirements of vampiric survival. The Sabbat makes matters worse with its beliefs and practices, which repeatedly push participants into acts that erode conscience (and Conscience). When you play a Sabbat vampire, you take on a distinct set of challenges. It’s not necessarily more “adult” or “sophisticated” than any other sort of vampire, nor is it automatically more “juvenile” or “indulgent.” Sabbat exist within tighter boundaries than most independent or Camarilla vampires. Not everything you’d like to have your character do, or that he would plausibly want to do, is actually within reach.

Because some of us really do need telling.

Malkavian: for sheer style, for refuting the kookiness and fae nonsense and artsy layout of the second edition volume, for actually being substantively useful in playing the clan, this one makes the grade. Has one of the best metaplot beats with the antitribu's grand justification for mass Embrace and thinning the blood. New Derangements, better than the ones in the core book if I'm honest, especially the specifically vampiric ones that move away from "playing something straight out of the DSM."

I'm going to mention powers again here though - I wish the Revised devs had caught on to the idea of alternative powers at lower level, as some of this stuff (like Babble) shouldn't have "be seventh generation, i.e. not a starting PC, i.e. probably having done a diablerie to 'level up'" as their prerequisite. Weakest part. Also, I love the Moirai. Favourite brood. Probably sold me on my love of brood coteries.

Nosferatu: I like that a Nosferatu calls out Kindred history on its Eurocentrism! And much like the Gangrel, this book gives you some hooks to hang your clan weakness on - Merits and Flaws that reify aspects of the Nosferatu aesthetic. I don't think these are all necessary, but they are cool. A similar breakdown of Discipline usage to the Lasombra, again showing and telling how to Nosferatu as well as what is Nosferatu. That's the distinction with the good Clanbooks, I think - they remain focused on playability and using these ideas rather than just telling you about cool shit. I want to play a Nosferatu after I've read this book.

Dishonourable mention: Tremere. The Tremere Clanbook doubles down on a central bugaboo with the clan - if their hierarchy is sevens and sevens and sevens all the way down, your city should be crawling with Tremere. To have all these internal agendas and subfactions represented in a meaningful way - same. I'm aware of Grician bias, I hate the 1:100,000 "rule" with the force and fire of a thousand suns, but this book really needed to show you how one or two isolated Tremere work and it fails to deliver.

Tzimisce: I don't like how overcooked this clan is, with its Koldunic Sorcery and its Old Clan and its revenant families and its two different versions of "your signature discipline is a disease" that are both high concept shit far removed from Playing Your Lil' Guy - but that material undeniably exists and if you want to refer to it... well, isn't half of it in the Sabbat guide? I don't know where I stand on this one, but Tzimisce fans generally want as much as possible to chew on and there's More In Here.

Ventrue: Much like the Brujah and the anarchs, a lot of what the Ventrue have going on under the hood can be read "as above, so below" with the Camarilla as a sect. To know one is to half understand the other. The Ventrue codify the unwritten social rules of their sect, or rather their sect unknowingly imitates the code that organises the Ventrue.

The difference, as ever, is that the conservative and hierarchical side of the coin is much easier to detail than "imagine your way out of authoritarianism", and as such Clanbook: Ventrue has a great deal more direct, didactic, actionable material in it than the broad and vague concepts of the Rabble. Titles, organisation, spheres of influence, clear lines through the medieval to the corporate: read this one.

There is more to the Ventrue than you ever imagined - so much that they almost fall into the same hole as the Tremere do, but they don't have the hard number for the brain to latch onto and worry at. Even now, I'm describing this very good and self contained Clanbook by comparison to its peers - that's how the Ventrue get away with it.

I'm not just saying this to blow smoke up @biomechanicaltomato's ass, either. It's genuinely one of the best books; I think only Lasombra and perhaps Gangrel and Nosferatu are on the same level, and in very different ways.

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 5, MAG 5 Thrown Away

Trash apple teeth! Is this anything

Spoilers ahead!

Facts: Statement of Kieran Woodward, regarding items discovered in the refuse of 93 Lancaster Road, Walthamstow. Given February 23rd, 2009.

Statement Notes: There are so many posts out there comparing The Magnus Archives to the Twilight Zone because of Jon's narration and the serial creepy story format, but this episode really stands out in mind as Twilight Zone-esque. Like the Twilight Zone, some Magnus Archive episodes deal with things like childhood guilt and cult-behavior, like MAG 4. But other episodes just kind of say "Damn, isn't that fucked up? Anyway," like this one.

I do love Kieran as a character. He's just so weirdly chill and realistic about everything. There's are some statement givers who are still being tormented by the fears, some who cause fear, some who are reporting on things that happened to people they know, but there's also this interesting category of people who survived because they played the game right. When the audience says "don't go in the basement" or "call the cops," they listen. Woodward gets through this statement unscathed because he moves on from the creepy dolls heads and reports the teeth, then destroys the "gift" left for him and tries to move on. Alan can't let go, Alan doesn't know the rules of the genre, that's why he doesn't make it out.

My two new favorite characters in the series are "Matt, who was raised Catholic and never shut up about it," because he is me, and David who "broke the silence by vomiting loudly into a nearby drain," because he is the most realistic horror character of all time.

Entity Alignment: Whenever I think of this episode, I think of it as the "teeth in a bag" episode. I actually 100% forgot about the metal heart. Now, when you think of those things, it kind of sounds like a Flesh episode.

But, let's all remember our favorite bio majors and their special gift to their professor. The Stranger has a history with teeth. The description of the dolls heads is very "uncanny valley," which is the Stranger's real niche. The thing that really sells me though is Jon's last line in the statement, "All two thousand seven hundred and eighty of them were the exact same tooth." The exact same tooth, apparently from the exact same person, repeated over and over again to the point that the examiner can date them because of their differing stages of decay. You know what that sounds like to me? Someone has been practicing.

The metal heart also says Stranger to me. I know it has a little Flesh energy, but it really reminded me of the hospital episode from season 5. The way the character describes feeling like her body was not her own, that parts of her had been replaced, substituted. The metal heart as the only remanent of Alan feels like that same kind of fear. It's not his, it's not him, but it's all he's got.

Speaking of Alan, does his obsession with watching the house to the point he goes without sleep for days, isolates his friends, and is presumed dead remind you of anyone? He must be influenced by the Eye at least a little bit.

But ignoring entity alignment for a second, Jonny does consistently uses obsessive characters really well. There's a lot of horror media where, in real life, it would make more sense for the characters to give up on their investigations of the supernatural or to ignore it in entirely in the first place. The audience is usually (and rightfully) able to suspend reality for the sake of the story in these situations. But what's so interesting about Jonny's writing is that he explicitly states characters like Alan, like Amy Patel, like Jon, can't stop themselves. It's obsession, it's all consuming, they know it's bad for them, but they just can't stop. It really adds to the audience fear because you're not the only one telling them turn back, their mind is screaming it too, but they still won't listen.

Character Notes: The post-statement in this episode is just 90% Martin hate. Absolutely unhinged behavior. What if you worked at a restaurant at the end of receipts your boss just wrote "This waiter is a goddamn loser and I hate him." Wild man Jonathan Sims everybody.

[storkmuffin]

Hi there! I really like your liveblog!!! And I love seeing your analysis of the characters, Silver especially.

Still, I agree with one of the other asks about the fact that, while I understand why you hate him, Silver is very complicated and messy, even if we’re never shown the root cause of his being like this.

We don’t know anything about his story, his family, his past (and I could argue that he doesn’t either, as he seems to be refusing to acknowledge any of it. He’s blocked it). But one of the things that Black Sails really tries to communicate (imo) is that every character, every person, always has reasons for their actions. And that these reasons are more often than not complex, and deep, and emotional, and trauma-related, and often unconscious.

And I kinda believe we would be doing Silver’s character a disservice by denying that he operates in the same way (as a messy, human, problematic person!), even if he hasn’t explicitly shown us his mind and memories. He’s much more interesting if we assume that he has reasons for his behaviour (even if buried and unknowable), instead of deciding that he’s simply a “low calibre human”, one incapable of feeling love or pain to a meaningful degree. That’s kinda simplistic (in my opinion) and takes away some of the depth and humanity of the writing.

ANYWAY, everybody interprets both stories and people differently and that’s great! Hope this ask wasn’t uncalled for; I’ll keep looking forward to your liveblogging! :)

I appreciate pro-Silver asks like this SO MUCH. I really do. I know it doesn't come through at all when I'm shooting off reactions to each provocation by the show but I genuinely WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE APPEAL OF JOHN SILVER even if I can’t fully buy into it. I really really do. He's weirdly designed to set off all my antipathies which is low-key upsetting bc I know there is so much great fanart and fanfiction and lore to be enjoyed in this fandom for which being at least able to tolerate John Silver is a base requirement! Unforrtunately, every time I am close to warming up to him, John Silver does the worst possible thing in my eyes and sets me right back to 0.

I am looking forward to the Silverflint fics giving him some of the nuance and color you're talking about, assuming I'm not blanket blocked by everyone who loved Silver enough to flesh him out.

Like - Charles Vane let Max get gang raped and sexually tortured and yet I eventually came to see him as someone to mourn! I keep HOPING to do this with Silver (which again isn't gonna come through on the off the cuff posts) and then get super pissy because he disappoints me.

p.s. This fandom is SO CIVIL. Which is so funny bc the show is so violent and merciless lol. Thank you for sharing your thoughts in such a kind way.

[nebulousboops]

Part 2 of my trombone official art! Part 1 is here if you haven't seen it.

Admittedly, I haven't developed this group all that well, but less than a week isn't that long to fully flesh out eight characters so I'll give myself a pass on that one. Anyhoo, enjoy the bios!

Soda Dolce is Kaizyle's childhood friend who was more than excited to hop on the new club she was making with her brother. He's easily excitable in general, though his people skills aren't very refined. He and Kaizyle actually bonded over that when they were younger. He hopes to make everyone's days a little better, but whether or not he succeeds is a different matter entirely.

Trixiebell Nocturne is what I would describe as "goofily calm." She can say the silliest things, but she says them with such tranquility and seriousness, you can't help but take it at face value. She's a calming presence to those around her, especially her closest friend, Appaloosa. Weirdly, she doesn't talk about herself that often, instead trying to help those around her. She's also a really good baker.

Beezerly Scherzo is an energetic prankster with a heart of gold, so much so, some people find her exhausting. She means no harm, she can just take things a bit far sometimes. She has a sort of sitcom rivalry with Kaizyle, given that she's easy to mess with and has the most entertaining reactions. She's also one of the few club members to actually be in shape, being quite sporty.

Meldor Allemande is methodical, serious, and a huge dork. He likes to seem cool and aloof, but anyone who's known him for more than a day knows it's a front. While he played with the club during performances for awhile, he hesitated to actually join, not having the best experience with bigger social circles in the past. Still, he's welcomed with open arms when he does join officially.

[someonelookingpraediti]

Currently Reading...

The Eidolon - K.D. Edwards

Ok, so I loved this book. Max and Quinn were my favourite characters in The Tarot Sequence, so I was really excited to read a book from their point of view.

I'm not super into Anna yet, but that's probably a combination of her being younger than the others, and having not been so fleshed out in TTS. She's an interesting character, so I'm sure I'll connect more to her as we learn more about her.

The beginning of the book was a little boring, because it was repeating things that had already happened, but once it got into new plot, it was so interesting. It's weird that re-reading a book isn't boring at all, but reading the same plot from a new point of view always is. I'm hoping that the rest of this series focuses on new storylines - and I can't wait to read them!

But my Max/Quinn prediction isn't panning out so well, since it looks like Quinn might be asexual! I should be absolutely thrilled with ace rep, since there's just nowhere near enough of it, but weirdly, I like to read about all those funky little allos going forth and doing all that stuff I don't! I'm still hoping for a romantic relationship between them, though, since no comments have been made on his romantic persuasion. They need some true love in their life. And I'm convinced they're Tallas.

I bought a special edition from Rainbow Crate. As far as I can tell, this is the only physical copy available of this book - I'm hoping the rest of the series is also going to be available in the same format.

The hardcover is really gorgeous - the dustjacket is the standard cover, that is also featured on the eBook. But it also has a reversible cover, which is equally nice! Personally, I like the original better, so that's the one I'll be displaying. There's also foiling on the hardcase, front and back, and there's stencilled edges as well.

The endpapers feature four different pieces of artwork, presumably by fans. And there's a page that looks like it been designed for a signature, although this isn't a signed copy. But maybe one day I'll meet the author and get it signed, you never know.

[ploppythespaceship]

Thoughts on Star Trek: Prodigy (Season 1B)

I already typed up my thoughts on 1A ages ago, not knowing when 1B would come out, so I'm gonna try not to spend too much time on repeat statements. You can read that here if you care.

Honestly, this was one of the strongest first seasons in Star Trek history. This show knew what it wanted to be from the very start and just got better as it went along. My few complaints are largely nitpicky. Seriously, if you have passed on this because it's a kids show or you don't like the new Treks or whatever -- just give it a try.

What I Liked

The characters and their dynamic continue to be the strongest part of the series. Each of them is unique, memorable, and likeable in their own way, and the back half of the season fleshes all of them out even more. We even get a little flashback establishing each of their backstories. I originally thought Dal was the least interesting character, but his arc of leadership and self-discovery was wonderful in the back half of the season. Now I'd probably cite Jankom as the least interesting, but honestly none of them are bad, and they work very well as a group.

Once again, the animation just looks gorgeous. Character designs are wonderful and varied, and some of the locations are just stunning.

This show is made by people who love Star Trek, and it shows. The references and worldbuilding are crafted with such care, with so many little moments making me smile -- like the handful of calls to Jellico, or the little nods to "Threshold" and "Counterpoint," or the appearance of the Defiant in the big finale. But what I appreciate most about these references is that the show doesn't entirely depend on them. It's not just a shameless nostalgia grab like some other recent Trek outings have been -- if you removed the references and fanservice, there would still be a solid show underneath.

This show also has an excellent balance between episodic and serialized storytelling. There's definitely a big story that gets developed over time and builds up to a big finale, but that doesn't completely derail everything else. The characters still have a series of one-off adventures, which places them in new environments and allows them to have varied arcs. Most had good flow between each other as well, with only a few feeling like pointless filler -- and even those weren't bad, just not as strong as the rest.

I also like how this show isn't necessarily committed to maintaining the status quo. The season finale wrapped up so many arcs and set up season 2 to be quite different, and that's really exciting to me! I don't want them to rehash the same ideas over and over, and it looks like they don't plan to.

I really appreciate Prodigy's approach to darker and more nuanced topics. It doesn't shy away from things like the cast being escaped slaves, or the tragedy of what happened to Solum. Nor does it dumb these things down for its young audience. It just makes these topics approachable.

The reveal of Dal being an augment isn't what I expected, but I like it a lot. It introduces some tension due to the possibility of him not being permitted in Starfleet, and it sends him on a really interesting character arc -- going from "I'm just some experiment from a petri dish" to "I'm the captain and if I can't be in Starfleet, I'm going to do what I can to make sure you all do."

What I Didn't Like

Carrying over my biggest complaint from the first half of the season -- the lip sync in this show is weirdly bad. Mouth movements are often wildly mismatched from the voices, and it's genuinely distracting. And generally, there are some animation choices that make me wonder if there were budgetary or timing issues preventing more fluid movements. Characters can feel a little stiff, or like they're not emoting to the same extent as their voice actors. Hopefully the success of season 1 means season 2 will get a bit more attention in that regard.

Additionally, while the character designs of the alien characters are gorgeous, some of the human characters look a bit strange. I think I notice it most on the returning legacy characters, whose appearances I am most familiar with. It's hard to balance keeping the look of a well-known live-action character while also matching the art style, and I couple times I just think they missed the mark. Holo Janeway looks perfectly fine to me, but Admiral Janeway looks like she was stung by several bees.

While I appreciate most of the little cameos from pre-existing Trek characters, I don't think Okona added much to the story. I would have removed that role entirely, because he was definitely just there to be filler.

I don't care for Murf's redesign. I can't really articulate what looks off to me, but I just prefer the weird little blob to the weird little man.

I don't care for Zero's new suit, either. I understand giving them an upgrade, since their old one was literally scrap metal. But their old one also had charm and character to it. The new one looks like a walking Apple store and feels unpleasantly cold. Even making it gray instead of shining white would have helped, I think.

[jprgirl]

S1E3 - God's Gift to Zebras

[I skipped a scene of the goddesses talking about how girls are swooning over Axl in the library and Stacey is pissed she has to keep stalking him.]

Anders complains to Ty that Axl doesn't want to sleep around, "One girl comas out on him and he thinks he has killer god sperm" - to which Ty points out that it was Axl's first time, so he didn't have a lot to compare it to.

Anders checks with Ty that he's never done that to a woman, right? And Ty replies that he's not Odin.

"But you're still a god; I'm still a god. What makes Odin so different?" "He's Odin, we're not."

Anders then gets weirdly annoyed? He tells Ty to be more positive, then asks if he wants to spend the rest of his life hiding away in his cold room. The implication I think being that Anders believes if they ascend they won't have to hide their powers anymore? I don't feel like this was a very fleshed out concept, like, even rewatching it several times I'm confused by what they were trying to really imply or get at here, other than to show that Anders thinks their powers are good and not something to be shamed about. But honestly Ty doesn't seem all that "negative" in the scene, and him saying he's happy with his hobby might be true, but overall his character arc is that he hates being a god, so even that feels awkward on rewatch.

Anders tells Ty that if he likes things the way they are, he should "shift to Alaska - hide there" and Ty gets a good little retort in after he leaves, "YOU shift to fucking Alaska."

This whole scene is a little weird? The jump from talking about Odin to telling Ty to be "more positive" and then getting pissy that he isn't unhappy with how things are - I'm just not sure what Anders was really doing here, and if he accomplished it. Were there more lines originally that ended up getting cut in editing? He seems to lose his patience out of nowhere and then fucks off, which leaves Ty alone to answer his phone (which sets up the rest of the episode).

Since this isn't a place Anders would just happen to be, it feels odd he'd go all the way to Ty's home just to have this short convo and storm off without convincing Ty of anything, or even really asking him to do anything.

In later seasons this would probably have been made a phone call, I think, but this was probably more visually interesting, even if I don't fully grasp Anders's character motivation. I almost want to say they made him get pissy that Odin is like, "special"? But I feel like Anders is more of a hype man to Axl than jealous overall in the series. Especially in the final season, where he openly sides with Axl over Mike.

IDK, this scene left me scratching my head on this rewatch, haha.

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

What happens to Speckletail and perhaps maybe Brick in your rewrite?

brick isn't really like a character i guess, he's just one of tigerstar's rogues so he's just like there, but not really named

SPECKLETAIL on the other hand is weirdly fleshed out for a background character

she has lionheart and goldenflower with sunfall being the one who sired them, they were like sort of friends and speckletail thought she might have a crush on him but she actually finds out through this that she's aroace, she wanted to have kits and for them to be great and powerful warriors but she didn't want them to be treated specially or different for being the kits of the deputy and she didn't want anyone thinking sunfall and her were mates and also treating her differently

they also kind of bonded over having a distaste for stormtail, sunfall never liked how stormtail treated moonflower or their kits and speckletail always hated how he became mates with her adopted sister, especially when he ditched her after their litter of kits died (one died of illness and stormtail killed the other one that was deaf because he hated the idea of his son being deaf and thought he'd never be able to be a strong warrior/wasn't good enough to carry on his legacy)

speckletail and smallear were also best friends, which no one really expected, they were both grumpy cats with attitude and they constantly gave each other shit, but they both would say that the other was one of the only cats in the clan that would deal with their bullshit, cats thought they'd become mates but smallear was gay and as i said before, speckletail was aroace, HOWEVER, when the two were older, smallear retired and speckletail on the verge of retiring, speckletail had always wanted more kits but never had more, and these feelings were amplified after the death of her son, lionheart

smallear had never particularly wanted kits, but he wanted speckletail to be satisfied with what she gave to their clan before she retired, and so he offered to sire a litter of kits for her and she gratefully accepted, once again keeping who her kits' father was a secret (except for the other elders, they all knew) smallear died of old age while snowkit was still a kit

speckletail kept it a secret until the night she died, where she told goldenflower and snowkit who each of their fathers were with her last breaths, she died from smoke inhalation from the fire from protecting and saving snowkit, she died having never retired even when her siblings all had and wanted her to rest with them, she died to keep her son safe

[nitewrighter]

Looking at the Roadmap of hero releases, do you think certain characters would have been better off if things were a little different? For example, Would Pharah as character would be more fleshed out if Ana wasn't the first additional hero or if Baptiste and his story was included much early with the original roster?

Honestly I seriously wonder what happened what the hell happened with Blizzard and Pharah because like... in terms of the fundamentals of her character, you have someone who was kind of poised to be a central figure in Overwatch's lore: She's got a whole "legacy" thing with Ana, she says she's dreamed of joining Overwatch ever since she was a little girl so you know of course she'd be among the first to answer Winston's recall, she sort of represents the law enforcement that filled the gap during Overwatch's absence, so that puts her character in opposition with Jack-as-a-Vigilante and she's kind of the "Lawful good" contrast to Winston and Tracer's "Neutral Good." There were all these threads of potential but Blizzard didn't pick up on any one.

Even when they brought Ana in, everyone was like, "Ah, okay! This is where Pharah's story starts picking up!" But... it didn't. Ana got two comics, all about her and the original strike team. And like... the really painful part of that is that it honestly took away Pharah's centering in that narrative--like, there was so much mystery about Ana and I thought Pharah's whole story would be Pharah solving the mystery of what happened to the old Overwatch while trying to track down her mother, but... no. Pharah is lucky to get mentioned once in any of Ana's media. The in-game interactions and the lore between Ana and Pharah are weirdly conflicting--Pharah reflects warmly on Ana in her 'Mission Statement' comic, but then you have all this complexity and resentment in Pharah with regards to Ana when Ana isn't present on the team, but then once Ana was dropped in it's all "Mum, You're amazing!" And then in the short story's Ana's like, "Yeah Fareeha never answered my letter." So like... what the fuck are we dealing with here, Blizzard?

Okay I got sidetracked with the Pharah thing but... I do think Ana was very much a necessary first addition to the game because she carries so much lore and backstory and complexity with her. Her addition to the game was basically Blizzard being able to yell, "Hey, this isn't just a shoot 'em up Clusterfuck! We are totally going somewhere with this!" And for a while they were! And Ana added a cool amount of complexity to the Reaper/Soldier 76 dynamic! But then Blizzard started putting more effort into bolstering up the Overwatch League and into New Hero releases to keep focus on gameplay--the new hero releases did add to the world's story, but Blizzard also super dropped off on the comics, and like, to an extent that makes sense--there's not a lot of profit in a comic you're providing for free, and they probably looked at time, money, and effort going into the comics and said, "Hey, these comics aren't bringing in new players, let's not bother with them" ("Oh, you mean the comic about FUCKING BASTION AND TORBJÖRN you released didn't bring in new players??? Color me shocked!!") but those comics were basically the most actual canon lore happening so when they dropped off... it felt stagnating. BLizzard course-corrected, started doing the mini-skin events with the short stories, and honestly I think that's a solid approach because it engages you with the plot both in and out of the game, but as far as how hero releases go...

I don't think one can really say if tweaking the hero releases would really affect your intake of the plot or overall interest in the game, because ultimately the new hero releases are more about gameplay than developing the plot. 

Certainly, some hero releases had way stronger impacts on the lore than others, but when new hero releases, in relation to actually developing the overarching story of the world, feels more like a stopgap against stagnation than actual plot advancement, then the focus shouldn't be, "What hero should we release when" it should be, "Okay what areas of the story have we completely dropped the ball on." (All of them. Blizzard has dropped all the balls.)

[mkstrigidae]

APWH ASKS!

Prior to her disappearance what was Lysa’s relationship to Cat like?

Is Sansa Baelish’s birthday the same date as Sansa Starks? (Or did Petyr make the day she was kidnapped her actual birthday)

Did Rhaegar actually love Lyanna or Elia?

Omg I love getting these thank you!!! Also answers after the cut because I accidentally wrote a whole ass essay about why Rhaegar is Like This.

I think Lysa's relationship with Catelyn was one where things were really good when they were kids, but soured as adulthood began to set in, but in a sort of quietly resentful way from Lysa that she didn't necessarily communicate with Cat. I have a bone to pick with Hoster Tully about this, because I really think a lot of it is his fault (both in canon and in APWH), for the different standards he seems to apply to different daughters.

It's definitely going to get fleshed out in the story- Tully drama abounds, because Cat actually isn't on speaking terms, per se, with her father when the story begins, and her relationship with edmure is kind of strained (don't worry, we will get into the Tully family tea). The Blackfish was probably more of a parent to the Tully kids than Hoster was, especially after their mother died, so Cat is really close to Brynden still, but even brynden favored cat over lysa or edmure, so it's a bit complicated.

I mean, what can you expect from a house where 3 successive generations are named after muppets? (Grover, Elmo, Kermit, and Oscar- I mean there's no way GRRM didn't know what he was doing there, right? You don't accidentally name that many characters after muppets... right?)

Oooooh you've hit on a point i was going to bring up in the next few chapters! Sansa thinks her birthday is in late spring/early summer, but Sansa Stark was born sometime in winter! (I haven't set exact dates yet because i'm weirdly lazy about birth dates). It's not exactly the date she was kidnapped, because Petyr knows that might set off a few red flags- he's arrogant, but not quite arrogant enough to be that stupid- but it is in the same month, just a few weeks later. It's definitely going to be an awkward conversation, that much is certain.

As far as Rhaegar... I think he's a bit complicated. I think that he's in love with the idea of love, but not necessarily interested in the things that it actually takes to build a relationship. I think he's very good at romancing people, and I think it's entirely likely that he thought himself in love with both Elia and Lyanna at the beginning of their courtship, but i'm not sure he conceptualizes love the same way as most people do. It's worth noting that he was a pretty solemn and ~*mature*~ kid, which means that adults treated him like an adult, and that his own parents had an extremely dysfunctional relationship. I mean, Rhaella has 100% divorced Aerys by this point, but he was extremely awful to her during their marriage because I think that his own experiences make his emotional reality a fragile place that he cannot handle anyone contradicting, and to him, she had to be punished because she knew him too well, in a way that i think is not uncommon in domestic abusers.

So Rhaegar saw this, and he took from it the idea that domestic abuse is horrible, but he also took away a kind of emotional unavailability, where his emotions are only expressed in very specific ways that are societally acceptable (i.e. courting someone, encouraging his kids to be ambitious, financially providing for a family, etc.) because there was never really room for them and Aerys really was not a 'talk about your feelings' kind of father, and he has no idea how to communicate properly with someone during a disagreement because he's never seen it modeled.

A lot of Rhaegar's motivation in life is Being A Better Man Than Your Father, which is nice in theory, but his idea of a successful marriage is one where you do all the romance at the beginning, and then the guy provides all the necessary financial capital to Take Care Of The Family and leaves the kids and the house and the day to day stuff to his wife. I think because he didn't have anything to model a healthy relationship on, and was a giant nerd baby as a child, a lot of his ideas about romance and love and marriage came from books and movies, and from societal expectations at large. I almost think he expected Elia to be relieved during his affairs, because he saw his own mother relieved during Aerys' affairs, when he wasn't paying attention to her, but also that he has so many of these affairs because he's able to do the things that romance and infatuation require, but isn't really emotionally available beyond that for the hard work of actually having a relationship with someone once the infatuation passes.

I also think Rhaegar's got a a bit of what I think of as 'Henry the eighth syndrome' where he has a specific idea of what a wife is and a specific idea of what a woman he has an affair with is. Elia was an extremely sensible choice in his mind- she was gorgeous, well educated, came from old money that could net him certain advantageous business connections, and reserved and dutiful in his mind, without a wild temperament that could cause problems. I think Rhaegar was very fond of her, and genuinely wanted to make her happy, but that he married her because he was expected to get married and have kids, and she fit the criteria- and like, Rhaegar is extremely charming! He's good at making people love him! Just so long as those people behave in the ways he expects. Lyanna, to him, was something wild and exciting- a girl he could sweep off her feet because they were isolated up north, and she was unfamiliar with his wealthy lifestyle, and had a more wild temperament where she would argue and contradict him in a way that would have been, uh, inconvenient, lets say, in a wife.

She was a bit naive, compared to Elia's worldliness, not the kind of woman he would have brought to a corporate function, but the kind he could have a passionate affair with, but hoooo boy he would never marry her- i mean she's not wife material to him- it would be social suicide! I think he loved the man he could be to Lyanna- someone who could offer to take care of her and sweep her off her feet and absolutely dazzle her, but in a way that very much had an expiration date, because it was an affair for the excitement of the chase, and like, Rhaegar is just genuinely not emotionally available, because he's so involved in his own head and so emotionally stunted by his upbringing that he doesn't know how to be, and solves problems by throwing money at them, and Lyanna wants security and real intimacy and stability more than anything else because of her unstable upbringing, and Elia wants someone who's actually going to be a partner to her and be with her in the trenches doing the hard work of maintaining a relationship and raising a family, and so they complement each other much more nicely and have a lovely home in Winterfell, while Rhaegar gets to kind of slut his way across Westeros and try to Be A Father in the only way he knows how, which is placing high expectations on the kids and providing financial support, which is why all of his kids have been on anti-anxiety meds at some point or another.

JESUS how did I write a whole ass essay about Rhaegar fucking Targaryen this is ridiculous. The moral of the story is that Rhaegar did love both of them, in different ways, and in the only way he was capable of loving someone, and that he's an absolute disaster and kind of a dick, but like, it's not entirely his fault that he's Like This. (Elia has made her peace with this more than Lyanna has, but that's a whole other essay).

Thank you SO much for the ask- these are always so much fun to answer, and I love that so many people are invested in this story the same way that I am!☺️ 💕💕💕

[redheadscribe]

Fate Winx Saga Review

This is the Winx Club

This isn't

Ah Winx Club, I remembering waking up early in the morning to watch it on Saturday, I thought that it was a cool show and my favorite character was Bloom during the first three seasons when it was under 4Kids. I thought that the characters were cool, the setting was pretty awesome as well and overall it was fun. Years later I was pretty shocked that it is still going on though from what I heard it has lost a lot of it’s quality with season eight being a mixed bag and an okay art style. Now Netflix has acquired the rights and there were two separate shows that they produce.

The first being World of Winx, an animated spin off show showing the girls hiding out on earth helping people and dealing with an evil version of Tinkerbell? In all honesty I was a little confused like how was this a spin off? Was it a spin off from season four as Roxy is a supporting character in this universe? That part confused me but overall it was a pretty good show but at this point I don’t think Winx Club fans wouldn’t mind a reboot that got the She-Ra treatment. Needless to say Winx Club is a popular show that was big in Italy and other countries but it is not what it used to be. Especially when we have this show to talk about Fate: A Winx Saga.

When I first saw the trailer I was pretty confused because none of the shots in the trailer reminded me of Winx Club. Also none of the characters were recognizable as they white washed and replaced Flora, and also white washed Musa. The only three characters that were recognizable were Bloom, Stella and Aisha. However there personalities have changed so much that I can’t even say that this is a faithful adaptation. I know in adaptations there has to be certain changes that you have to make because either to budget or they can’t fit it in and some stuff has to be cut. The least the show could do was get the fashion right, I mean the only one who should be wearing red is Musa while Bloom is the one that wears different shades of blue. Then again the fashion overall is a big joke and they really should fire the costume designer as I looked and she has had no experience dressing up teenagers. Rants out of the way lets see how they butchered the characters.

Let’s start with the leading Pyromaniac herself, Bloom. What the hell did they do to my girl? As a fellow redhead myself it is safe to say Bloom was the one I lean towards to the most even though I did see myself in Tecna, and Flora. Bloom is a stuck up bitch in this show and has to make it all about her, which was one of the problems in some of season four and later on. She is also unbelievably gullible and really stupid. She basically believes anything that Beatrix, a psychopath and a known liar about the whole Not Domino city, yeah I don’t care about the name of this said city in other world. She is a problematic Pyromaniac something that cartoon Bloom season 1-3 would be horrified about, and surprisingly bland.

Now, this Bloom could have worked if there were either more episodes or just better writers. Think about it, she is a girl who discovers that she has these unknown powers and when her emotions get the better of her and harm her family she could be a little distant and closed off. She is angry and confused because she doesn’t understand what is happening which can lead her to feeling a lot of emotions. Though I do hate the fact that they ruined Mike and Vanessa but I forgot that this is a teen drama and as a teen drama parents are assholes, it is the law of teen television. There could have been a nice arc of Bloom dealing with the fact that she has been lied to her entire life, feeling angry and betrayed but then going back to the Bloom we love from the first three seasons as she realized that she was the same person, she just now has a place where she can feel at home while also having awesome fire powers. However we got the worst of Bloom that is shown post season five.

Now lets get to Stella, and I will try my best to contain my rage when I am writing this. Did a person who worked on this show really thought that it would be a great idea to change Stella and make her Diaspro? You know we could’ve added Diaspro and Stella in the same show, she and Stella could’ve been friends due to the two girls being royalty, but then both Stella and Sky would realize that she is a toxic person and break away from her. This is not Stella and the cartoon Stella wouldn’t be caught dead in some of the outfits that she was wearing, maybe the last episode outfit but that’s about it. They could’ve done something with her wardrobe, they could have her dress up as a old woman when her mother was around trying to impress her, and then dress up in clothes that the original Stella is known to wear. Stella is a stereotypical mean girl and there is nothing nuanced about her portrayal. This is not Stella this is Diaspro with Stella’s name.

Now let’s get on to Aisha, she is a fine characters but this isn’t Aisha as she has none of Aisha’s personality she is not even a princess of Andros and well she has no story outside of helping her white friend. Aisha was a standout of season two and had one of the best character entrances in the series. She doesn’t get a story of her own and she is relegated to just being the best friend that get’s Bloom out of trouble. The actress Precious Mustapha deserves way better than what they are giving her.

Now it is time for everybody’s favorite white-washed duo Terra/Flora and Musa. There have been videos and posts that are going over how stupid Netflix and Rainbow for doing this. Just to give everybody context, Musa’s appearance is based off of Lucy Liu and Flora is based off of Jennifer Lopez. I think that speaks for itself in how Netflix and Rainbow screwed this up especially when there are plus size Latinix actresses they could have casted. Now let’s get into their character, weirdly enough they are the ones that have the most interesting friendship dynamic, Terra is a fine character but she is not Flora and Musa is a lot more cold hearted and instead of being a fairy of music she is a mind fairy who is an empath. Now music in a way can evoke emotions and connect people on a deep level but her empathic powers are so undefined. Terra is a fine enough character and her family is pretty interesting.

Now lets get into the boys, Sky, Riven, Dane, and Sam. If there is one thing that I could applaud the show is that anyone can be a fairy or a specialist, it’s just a pity that they excluded the witches. Then again the witches do get the short end of the stick even in the cartoon. Sky is bland, and the actor only ever had one expression throughout the whole show. Riven is, well Riven has always been a jerk but cartoon Riven had some more well likable features than TV show Riven. Dane, he’s fine I would have liked him more if he wasn’t taking so many stupid pills when it came to Riven and Beatrix, boy he needs to find a better man to crush on becuase, Riven is not worth it at all, even if I didn’t like his performance I could definitely see him crushing on Sky way more than Riven. Sam is a fun character and I was glad to see a male fairy added to the school but that’s all I can say about him the boys are okay. If there was one thing that I enjoyed about World of Winx is that they didn’t include the boys and there was nothing lost from it, it was just the girls kicking ass and taking names.

There is not much to say about the school staff and Dowling is a fine character that is a lot like Faragonda, only really ever helps Bloom and reassuring her she is special. I wish there was more done with Terra’s father and all but nope any positive family interaction is bad in a teen show. Overall the school staff, I don’t think that we can even call them a school staff they were a joke.

Now let’s get into the villains, if there is one thing that fans of the first four season can agree on is that the villains were always a standout for each season one. That being said the only effective villain is Beatrix, even though they could have just done the Trix. Let me just say this, The Trix were a great villain for the first season and well they went downhill like the whole cartoon show. Also what is the deal with Rosalind and Sky’s father. To be fair Sky’s dad in the cartoon show has always been a jerk but a jerk that raised a psychopath like Beatrix is too much. I am a little nervous about how they will do if they actually introduce The Trix, Lord Darkar, and Valtor or even the Wizard’s of the Black Circle. Needless to say the villains were just bland.

That is if they actually even use the villains from the cartoon show because so far we have the rather bland Rosalind, I just don’t care for her and there is no need for her to be in the show, Daphne does not deserve this. Then there is Sky’s father and I don’t care and Luna and wow does every teen show have to have terrible parents. How is a cartoon show from the early 2000s is more diverse and interesting than this? I just don’t care at all about the villains except for Beatrix.

There is also the fact that the show is only six episodes and that really does hinder the show as the show could’ve used more episodes to flesh things out then maybe just maybe this show would’ve been interesting. I also see that there are some writers and producers from the Vampire Diaries that are attached to this project and well that explains why some aspects of the show seems dated. Overall Fate, is a bland show that definitely does have better writing than Riverdale but that is not saying much. The characters are bad, and the fashion is terrible something that was a main aspect of the show. The world is generic getting rid of the epic sci-fi fantasy world and Rainbow should’ve just rebooted the animated show.

[cryingalexanders]

Superman: TAS s1 notes I’m posting because why not

It’s my first time watching this show. I have seen BTAS and JLU the whole way through before, but it was years ago

The pilot is such a good take on Krypton’s destruction. just focussing on the human dynamics of Jor-El’s family. Lara getting to say more than a few words, and the dynamic with her father. it’s so good

from the first few episodes, it feels like the STAS creators are so used to writing Batman that they kind of try to write Superman like that too. He's rather scowly, sure, but it's also noticeable how weirdly rich everyone seems. Lois has a huge apartment and a sports car, Clark and the Kents aren't struggling, it's weird. it feels a bit like they’re not adjusting to portraying people without Bruce Wayne’s resources

I can also see how this show would give someone the impression that Clark Kent isn't a good disguise, because he isn't any different to Superman, aside from being a bit clumsy

It also feels like they're using Star Labs in this role of giving him gadgets. But who are they funded by? I know we’re not meant to overthink it but seems weird to me, as in what I said above

He even does the Batman cape thing! It's makes some sense that he'd use it to shield other people but he just used it to shield his own face in an explosion, in a dracula pose! That has to be a deliberate reference

I love how Lex is written in this though, and how Lois has an actual personality beyond ‘concerned’

I like Superman helping the scientists test technology too, that's pretty cool and unique

D'you reckon this Lobo episode could have been an influence on Ben 10? The alien designs are giving me similar vibes

The Preserver's final form literally looks like a red version of that cannonball alien from Ben 10. Maybe some of the same people worked on it or something

I should have expected the '90s sexism in an episode called "My Girl".

I like Lana recognising him. I mean they showed her knowing about Clark's powers in the second episode it would've been insane if she hadn't made the connection

it's not to say that the show doesn't justify this treatment of Clark's identity internally, but I can see why people who enjoyed this would be annoyed when other versions don't follow the same logic. I feel like that's pretty common with superhero fans in general. It was one version that got them into a character, so they clash with others who dislike or disagree with that version, especially over the aspects of it which they liked.

What? Clark has a futuristic convertible too? is this just what cars look like in Metropolis lol. but the police cars look normal. which is it

Okay the idea of someone luring Superman to a lead factory so they could have a batman-esque showdown with him is brilliant. The only problem is that it's from the creators of BTAS so it feels hopelessly derivative

I feel like one reason I avoided this show for so long was because it always seemed like it was "BTAS but worse". And I'm getting a lot of BTAS vibes from this episode, but it's still really good? imagine my surprise

"someone quiet, understanding, patient--" *Lois interrupts* LMAO

The detail of the guy squeezing the hotdog out its bun in surprise. simply amazing

Interesting that the supporting cast is starting to feel truly fleshed out in this episode. we have Turpin and Maggie Sawyer, Bruno Manheim as head of Intergang not just a random crime lord, they aren't overusing Lex (though who can blame them this version of him is so fun)

Ah, the New Gods have turned up

I don't love how it goes all cop show on us and shows the Metropolis police as good and Superman works with them.

It makes sense that Metropolis' police would be incredibly militarised. But I don't love this heroic scene of a swat team rushing a building only to not be enough

I think this show makes a really creative use of Parasite. Most of the time he's just portrayed as a mindless monster

[peachriffer]

Review: Logic - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

On his fourth album, Logic proves himself to a rapper but fails to be an artist.

Confessions isn't as conceptual as Logic's previous two efforts and that isn't necessarily a bad thing because Logic's concepts don't tend to be fully fleshed out anyway. The Incredible True Story features skits that don't tie into the songs at all and Everybody attempts to be more topical but fails because Logic only really knows how to rap about himself or how he's biracial or something to that effect. It's hard to understand the creative decisions that led to Logic making Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and why it's so disappointing without some context first so let's get that out of the way now...

Let me be clear: Logic is an incredible rapper. He's technically proficient, his vocals are easy on the ears, he's likable, charismatic, and expressive. He can sing (unlike most rappers who believe they can sing). He has always shown incredible potential but, in the years since the release of his debut, Under Pressure, he's failed to capitalize on that potential artistically. He borrows his style from his contemporaries, namely Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and Eminem. This is fine on it's face. It's okay to have influences but Logic tended to take this a little far. Under Pressure saw Logic wearing his influences on his sleeve to the point where I half expected to hear Kendrick's 'Sing About Me' refrain on the title track. Still though, I was optimistic about where Logic's career would take him, especially since he was so great at emulating other artists so early on.

The Incredible True Story brought us more of the same but also carried with it some of the best beats Logic would ever rap on in my opinion. Not only this but the album also brought with it a space theme that completely failed to tie into what Logic was even rapping about. Overall it was fine but it wasn't Logic's masterpiece yet. He still needed to develop into his own voice, sharpen his focus, and deliver a unique perspective on more topical things. I could sense a masterpiece in him. All of the pieces were there, this just wasn't the right time yet.

Then we had Everybody, another concept album and another failure to quite hit the mark. This album brought with it Logic's signature 1-800 Suicide Prevention song, a track with a solid message that would be dumb to argue against. Aside from that however most of the tracklist is loaded with duds and the messaging is inconsistent. This wasn't the masterpiece fans had been clambering for quite yet.

This finally brings us back around to the subject of this review, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and why it's such a failure overall.

First off, after listening to this thing I struggle to understand why this album is titled "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" because Logic isn't confessing to anything, he isn't dangerous, nor is the album thought out well enough to have a 'mind' behind it at all. The project's title is irrelevant to the content of the record and was seemingly just tacked on because it sounded interesting or something. The Incredible True Story suffered from the same problem too as the Story it tells wasn't Incredible nor was it true.

Titles aside though, Logic's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is terrible from start to finish. Individually the tracks aren't so bad but, when listened to all at once, I struggle to see how anyone could believe they'd made a cohesive album.

The title track kicks us off and carries little weight. Logic occasionally reaches to make a point but never does. He talks about things and makes observations that are fairly rudimentary about himself, his culture, and caring for one's self. And that's it. The track just leads to nothing substantial and continues to the next track. The dissatisfaction is overwhelming.

Homicide with Eminem is a major highlight for me, even if it's an isolated one. Eminem handles himself surprisingly well considering his abysmal output as of late too. The track introduces itself with Logic's father joking that his son is the greatest alive because he came out of his balls. Not only is this not funny but it doesn't connect to anything else in the song at all. Over the course of the song nothing notable in particular is said. This circles back to one of my core problems with Logic as a performer. He raps well but overwhelmingly finds himself without anything to talk about. He struggles to stay on topic for longer than two or three bars before changing the subject or providing a throw away line that carries no weight. Every word is low impact because each line is just filler to fill time until the next track where you could responsibly expect more filler.

On the off hand, however, when Logic does manage to say something consequential, the line usually borders on questionable to downright inappropriate. Take for instance the track 'Pardon My Ego' where Logic wishes he could have bipolar disorder so he could make an album as genius as Kanye's Ye. I could rant about this line forever. This is ridiculous on it's face and Logic's intention with the statement is unclear. He should understand having bipolar disorder won't help him to make better music but says the line anyway. He's weirdly complimenting Kanye but gives credit to his disorder for the success of the album. The two aren't necessarily related. Sure, Ye is, in part, about kanye's struggle with mental illness and how these experiences helped to form him into the man he is today. Though it's important to point out that Ye is more about Kanye prevailing despite the illness and not about how his mental illness helps him to make great albums. This point seems totally lost on Logic who seems to believe that mental illnesses are somehow like the real life equivalent to superpowers and that, if you're just mentally fucked up enough, you too could be a creative genius. This is a huge misconception.

This segways nicely into another thing that rubs me the wrong way about Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. It's an amalgamation of several ongoing tropes in hip-hop right now:

- Illusions to being different, being politically conscious, or woke.

- rapping about bitches, money, drugs, or being better than everyone else.

- Society being bad or expecting you to act a certain way.

- Social Media is addictive and is something you should ignore.

- Logic is 'killin' the game. He's a 'game changer'. He's a self-proclaimed Genius. He's biracial. He's this. He's that.

It's all just noise at this point and, truthfully, I no longer believe that Logic has the same potential to create the masterpiece I once believed he would. His latest album isn't about anything in particular. The tracklist could be ordered in any way and carry the same weight, which is next to none.

On the upside, the beats are well-produced and Logic is a proficient rapper. He sounds great over these instrumentals but this is about all the credit I can give the album before checking out completely. Nothing of substance ever happens on Confessions. Logic never has a topic and seems to just spit whatever he wants to in that moment. The best line he manages on this album is: "Scarecrow Flow, I'm outstanding in my field". It's a stroke of brilliance that never manifests itself again on Confessions.

Overall, the more I listen to the album, the more I struggle to find it's appeal outside of just being background music. The whole album is filler, loaded with Hip-hop's most rudimentary tropes and tracks that take up space rather than generate interest. There's no artistic vision to be found here, no plan, no surprises, no concept. The whole album just feels empty, without tension, conflict, purpose, a driving force behind it's creation, or anything to provide appeal or intrigue at all. Logic lacks depth of character and has nothing interesting to say. No new perspective or anything even remotely noteworthy to tell his listeners. Why was this album made? The answer to that question still eludes me and, for that reason, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is one of the worst, most uneventful hip-hop albums I've ever heard. I definitely recommend you sit this one out even if you kind of liked Logic's music up until this point. His charm is just non-existent on this project.

Highs: Homicide, Mama/Show Love

Lows: Pardon My Ego, The Title Track, Commando, Icy, BOBBY