#i guess it feels like the writers didn't trust their character to be interesting enough to not be in the spotlight constantly?

[singing-swan]

Ok very minor gripe: I really love Wuk Lamat but I wish the writers weren't constantly finding reasons to have the group split up so we end up alone with her. At the beginning it made sense so we could get to know her but at this point in the story it feels a bit contrived? I love her but it'd be nice to get moments with the rest of the cast more often... Especially Krile, who's very central to this story and could use some more time in the spotlight.

[rifari2037]

First of all, Zuko had the choice to take Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph. Zuko also had the choice to asked for help to one or two of them. But Zuko chose Katara and only Katara without thinking twice.

Why?

I guess because Zuko trusted Katara more than he trusted the rest of the Gaang. So how could Zuko save the rest of the Gaang, if he himself chose Katara as the only one who could possibly be in that situation?

Second of all, well, Zuko would save anyone from the Gaang, but didn't even save Mai, the girl who was 'supposed to be' his girlfriend, from the same person, Azula?

It wasn't a life-threatening moment for Mai - or it could have been - but still, Zuko was 'supposed to' love Mai, right? She betrayed Azula for him, but he didn't do anything for her? Not even release her from the prison even though he was going to be a new Fire Lord?

Was that even make any sense?

When he saw Mai facing Azula, shouldn't he think, "I would not let my villain of a sister hurt someone I love who save me, whatever the risk!"

People mention Aang when Zutara is shipped because Aang was the main characters of the show.

Meanwhile Mai was so flat, not only in her gesture, but also as a character. She wasn't well developed enough to becoming the love interest of a complex character like Zuko.

She didn't have much role in Zuko's character development - if any. The storyline and his arc wouldn't change at all even if Zuko and Mai never dated. That's exactly why people often forget her and rarely talked about her.

Beside, was she really loves Zuko when she didn't really wanted to understand him and his struggle?

Even if she really loves Zuko, I feel sorry for this character because her 'supposed to be' lover treating her like she was nothing. He always forget her - even right after that moment, he didn't put much effort into her - while he waited all night for another girl's forgiveness, and honestly I doubt if he really loves her.

I don't understand about 'Mai is everything to Zuko what people describe Zuko to be for Katara', like, which part?

Yes, I agree that Mai was fascinating character, if only the writers had focused more on developing this character. She was so cool as Azula's trio, and in this elite group, her and Ty Lee's character could have been written deeper.

Mai deserve better!

[goodluckclove]

How I Critique Writing (A Loose Collection of Tips)

Someone asked me for insights into my methodology when it comes to giving feedback on writing and I realized I had way more than I could say in a reasonable amount of private messages. Are you someone who I've spoken to about their writing? Did someone send you their work and you don't know how to respond? Maybe this will help? Based on how people react I feel like it might be controversial but it seems to work.

When someone sends me their writing, no matter the size, subject or genre, I:

Take it seriously. It's a generational epic about the Vietnam war and its effects. It's a cute, young adult romance. It's Zim and Dib from Invader Zim realizing they've always been in love with each other. All of these things can be written with earnestness, strength, honesty and skill. It's fucking hard to write and if someone writes a single sentence that wouldn't otherwise exist its worth holding in your hands and examining with the same eye as if you were taking an interesting book off the shelf.

Respond with curiosity. It's common for critiques to follow a theme of ambiguous disdain. This doesn't work. Delete this. Bad. No. Gross. Guess what? That's not helpful. If you got that feedback, even if you followed it, you wouldn't be thrilled about it. Oftentimes you can take a line that makes you want to say Bad and ask something else. What is this supposed to express? What were you trying to do here? Am I supposed to feel happy/sad/uncertain when I read this? Curiosity can reframe something that you don't think works as a reader and turn it into an opportunity for the writer to look inward and solve their own problem. They might explain what they were trying to do, and if you were to say that it didn't pan out for you they're way more likely to tweak things themselves and feel like they still have control over their project.

Give comments. I've started giving more in-depth comments on the writing people give me depending on how anxious they are about it. If you're a pretty confident writer I'll give a summary of what I gained and what I was left wondering, what I thought and what I felt, what associations it made me think of in terms of tone and other forms of media - stuff like that. For newer writers, especially those who are far more doubting of their own abilities, I go buck wild. And in my opinion notes should be less like Good! I like this! Wow! Nice! (What are you, grading my book report? No thanks), and more like what you think when you're reading a book you're truly invested in. Make jokes about the characters (Not mean ones. I will send bugs to you in the mail.), chart exact lines that provoke physical reactions, even a small one. Can you imagine reading someone treat your work like it has its own fandom on Tumblr? You can do that for someone else.

Fucking have some fucking awareness of the fact that it might not be for you and that doesn't mean it's bad. I'm angry about this one considering the novel a friend sent me last night that they've been too terrified to try and post online, despite it being fucking brilliant. I'll try and calm down. Listen - you read what you like. I mainly read literary and experimental fiction, some poetry, horror and some sci-fi. Not a lot of genre fiction. But I will always be down to read someone's high fantasy story, because even though I don't really like fantasy I know what the good ones sound like. I've forced myself to gain a sense of what someone else would like, even if I don't like it. And I can still critique it. If I'm a builder and I see a house that's painted a shade of green I find sinful for a home (i.e. mint), I can look past that and focus on the state of the walls and the stability of the foundation. You aren't a reviewer, man. You are neither Siskel, nor Ebert. They write for readers, you write for writers. So you don't like historical fiction? Cool, man. Congrats. If someone trusts you enough to give you some to read and critique, you should still do so objectively. If you give it an automatic F because you wouldn't buy it, then you are legally a stinky little trash man. That's just the law.

Ask them what they liked to write and what was the hardest. There's apparently a weird trend on online writer communities that say there are specific rules that all writers need to follow. This is not true. It just isn't. If the dialogue in a story you read is weak, and the writer says they hate writing dialogue and really struggle with it, maybe tell them they don't have to use it. You might change their entire life.

RESPOND WITH CURIOSITY. You see the Ask games where people try and get more detail on the WIP of certain authors. If you have a WIP and I ask you a worldbuilding question that doesn't relate to the direct plot of the story as it exists now, I bet you'd like to talk about it. If I ask if you were inspired by a certain tone or movie, you might know the work I was talking about and feel happy. Or you might not know it, look it up, and feel inspired. I don't think people realize that a critique of new/unfinished writing is not a one-and-done exchange. You are taking part in an isolated process in a way few other people on the planet will. It's not homework. It's. Not. Homework. We spend so much of our time alone just fiddling our hands and making our magic, and in instances like these we share something in one of the ultimate forms of artistic trust. They're taking you into a world that hasn't fully formed yet. Is it cool? Can you tell me about it? Can they?

Be nice. Storytime, friends. In the way early 2010s, there was something on the internet called sporking. It was pretty much a line by line roast of someone's writing - typically fanfic. And I hate to say this, but I read a lot of it. I was 13, somehow untreated and overmedicated, and I was miserable constantly. Just cold in my chest. At one point I had the chance to critique a stranger's story - probably another child - and I essentially mocked the whole thing. They ended up deleting the story off the website. I cannot begin to describe to you the shame I feel about doing this, even ten years later. It burns in my heart and makes me sick to my stomach. If you are a serious writer, especially a young writer, and you insult another writer's craft to their face just as they're getting started - you will regret it. I promise you that. You will think about holding something alive and full of potential in your hands and squeezing your fists until it is just flecks of meat and crushed bone. It will haunt you. Maybe only a little, but constantly and for the rest of your life. So don't do it.

Wow what a grim note to leave on! That's essentially my philosophy on writing critique, do with it what you will. Want to send me some writing to receive this kind of excessive treatment? Cool! I have an email in my pinned post and I'll do that! I'm also down to chat if anyone wants to send me asks or DMs on writing/writing struggles/publishing tips.

[tamelee]

How do you think Sasuke would've been like if he didn't go through what he did? Do you think his personality would still be similar to how it is now, or way different? I think some things will definitely remain the same, like his personality being the opposite contrast to Naruto's, and being an introvert. But I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thinking about how Naruto would be like is also pretty interesting, but not as much as Sasuke since he's way more traumatized and changed dramatically since he was a kid. There were some fillers that showed that he chased cats and took those cat missions really seriously, which is really cute and makes him seem kinda goofy like Naruto, but they're still fillers so idk how accurate that is. Still, he was very friendly and sweet as a child even in canon. He's such an interesting and complex character!

Hi~ 

That’s hard to predict because living life without going through what he has in the story is… quite the contrast. He'd still be goal-driven. I wonder if Fugaku would acknowledge Sasuke similarly without Itachi becoming distant. Would Itachi spend more time with Sasuke and allow them to train together had he not been burdened the way he was? There are so many variables to take into account. 

And let’s be honest… wouldn’t we want to know how Kishimoto would answer that? Considering people’s belief about the Uchiha’s “evil” destiny-tainted with hatred and all that- being genetic? Oh, there’s so much to say about that alone. Try making that point without Konoha’s elite members ordering his entire family to be murdered by the person he loves and trusts most for the sake of everyone else’s safety. Good luck with that. 

One thing Kishimoto has said about writing Sasuke always stuck with me though, which was: 

He’s basically saying that, in order to write Sasuke, he needs to make sure his character image won’t be messed up by putting him in situations where he wouldn’t be in the first place. 

There’s a lot of debate among writers when it comes to character/plot driven stories, but Sasuke’s journey is very much character-driven in the sense that plot is/should be changed in order to allow Sasuke to drink the tea that he likes. It doesn’t make sense otherwise. Often, fillers, novels and other material that are technically official, but not made by Kishimoto, completely miss the mark and force him to drink the juice when he wouldn’t ever do that in the first place.

And so, screw up his character entirely. (Not Sasuke alone though.)

If Sasuke didn’t go through these horrible things, a lot will be different, but I’m pretty sure his personality would stay similar when it comes to drinking the tea he likes. He’d still avoid the juice despite different circumstances. He wouldn't ever drink it. And how that would be like precisely… well, your guess is as good as mine, really.

Sasuke can be goofy and playful though. Way more than people seem to think? He’s just selective when it comes to who he feels comfortable enough to show it to. As he should. Again, filler (etc-) also often don't take that into account. A lot of it is either completely exaggerated or they make him into this cold-hearted character without any sub- and/or context that does it justice.

I don’t think Naruto and Sasuke’s trauma’s can, and/or should be, ever measured against each other though. The story made it a point that it’s hard to understand one or the other for good reason. I also don’t think Naruto has changed much as a character? Although he gained better understanding about a lot of things and therefore took different approaches, he’s also repressing a lot of what he’s feeling in order to people please in a way that gains him the acceptance he craved for. Underneath all of that, there’s still that part of him that he’s denying in order to belong in the environment that denied him.

And yeah, how do we feel about that? ;-; 

[mama-qwerty]

Prime S3 Thoughts - Gnarly

Let's round out the last of the Shatterspace Knuckles.

Let's talk about Gnarly.

This guy. Right here. Lookit him. He's so adorable.

Gnarly is essentially the Sticks of Sonic Prime. And Sticks was kind of a fun character for a show like Sonic Boom, which in itself bent more toward the "wacky sitcom" end of the scale in terms of feel of the show.

But in Sonic Prime, it's a schtick that doesn't quite stick.

I've theorized in the past that Gnarly represents Prime Knux's sensitivity to chaos energy, and that's what he's sensing from the trees and vegetation around him. Which is why he's anxious and nervous. Hearing all that ambient noise in your head 24/7 would be enough to make anyone jumpy and twitchy.

But the writers seem to want to play with the aspect of "What if Knuckles was crazy and paranoid and a borderline conspiracy theorist?"

Which, yeah, I guess that would be a very sharp departure from Knuckles' usual personality. If Ren is in the middle of a spectrum, being more balanced with how Prime Knuckles usually is, and Dread is on one end with a lot of over-confidence and bravado and self-interested intent, then Gnarly would be on the other end, feeling anxious and nervous and like the world is a dangerous place. He's timid and fearful whereas Dread is confident and forceful.

So, yeah, I get that he had to be very different from Prime Knuckles. But there were other ways they could have taken him that didn't reduce him to a one-joke gag character.

Gnarly was the least fleshed out Knuckles, which is fair I guess, considering the Boscage Maze scavengers were the least developed of the three groups we see in the Shatterspace. Their entire plotline felt like a side quest--the hero goes there to complete some little quest so he can continue on the *real, more important* main quest. Thus, the people he encounters there are generic NPCs who aren't all that memorable or important in the grand scheme of things.

Not to mention, there's only so much time in a show like this, and it's not like they could have cut out about half of that looong fight in the 3rd season to replace with actual character interactions and growth.

Ahem. Back to Gnarly.

This adorable little echidna was delegated as the gag character. The one joke "ha ha, he's so crazy" guy who spouted weird things and trusted no one. Used sparingly, that may have worked. But the writers made it his entire defining trait, which I guess goes completely against the whole "Knuckles is a trustful soul" thing, so makes a certain degree of sense.

His role as "dude completely removed from reality" was practically shoved in our faces with this scene:

Not gonna lie. This gave me Boom Knuckles vibes. And maybe that's what they were going for? It's like they had no idea what to do with Gnarly.

But bear with me. This is how I would have handled him.

He's still nervous. Still anxious. Still jumpy and twitchy. He hears and feels and sees things the others don't, thanks to his incredibly high sensitivity to chaos energy. He doesn't understand why he's so different, why he senses these things, and it low-key scares him a bit.

BUT, he is also very alert. Very much a detail person. He notices things the others don't, alerts them to danger, and gets 'vibes' when something doesn't feel right. He's their early warning system, and they look to him when faced with unusual situations. He's not the plan guy, he leaves that to Prim.

The scene above could have been handled using this characterization, by having him pause for a moment when Prim asks for ideas, to which he would respond with something like:

"The Birdbots average 62 seconds between patrols around the citadel. I saw an alcove about twenty feet diagonally to the right of us as we were climbing, so if we hide in there until the Birdies pass, we should be able to make it to the next outcropping before their next pass over if we hoof it."

And, as is customary in these types of shows when a character displays any kind of competence that goes against their usual personality, Prim and Hangry would stare at him for a few blinks before Prim would smile and say "You heard the echidna. Let's get a move on."

He's still a Knuckles. He's still clever and good at using his environment to his advantage. And honestly, Gnarly would be especially good at using the environment to his advantage, considering where and how he grew up. Thorn's rampage meant his environment was the danger, and he would need to figure out ways to survive it on the fly.

I'm disappointed we didn't have more scenes with Gnarly, or with all three Knux interacting. That would have been fun. But I suppose that's what fanfic is for, and I've put them together plenty of times in my Knucklesverse au ficlets.

This echidna is just damn adorable in all his iterations.

[pardonmydelays]

There hasn't been much news about him [LMM] lately for a while now until this month, so it's understandable to lose interest (I guess is the right term) in him and his projects. Warriors is definitely a huge step back for him! If he really is collaborating with Taylor Swift on this like we all began to speculate in April, then I would have rather it been some extended version of her song from TTPD featuring him. He is extremely capable of writing songs and creating characters for original musicals (even if they are based on a film or novel), and it just disappoints me that he went this route instead of spend his time and energy on a new original musical. Give me a reason to go to New York! I'm still going to to try and go next year anyway because there's a musical I really want to see (and because I am in dire need of going back), but I'm trying to get into musicals more and Lin just kinda ✨ threw away his shot ✨ with this one. As for Disney, yeah, I'm not entirely excited about that too, especially seeing that he probably chose Mufasa: The Lion King over Moana 2. I love "We Know the Way" and "An Innocent Warrior" the most! And "You're Welcome" and "How Far I'll Go". Bro really could've given us more songs like those in Moana 2... I'm sure the music will be good regardless, but it just lowkey sucks that he didn't write any of them.

I hope he has more, EXCITING projects coming up that he's been keeping a secret...

literally all of this - i agree with every single one of your words and i'm glad someone who's also a fan of his work has pretty much the same opinion about all of this (the warriors, collab with taylor, moana 2). there's really nothing more to say about this. we just have to wait and see what happens.

i don't think losing interest would be the right term in my case tho... it's actually more than that and i don't even know if i want to talk about it, but maybe i should. this fandom fucking destroyed my mental health to the point i don't want to be a member of this community anymore. i'm still a fan. i still follow him and i still love his work. i'm trying to keep up with all the updates. i know everyone here probably thinks i just found myself a new obsession and this is the reason i don't talk about lin anymore. trust me, i listened to in the heights the other day and i started sobbing like a goddamn clown. i still love him and i always will. i think it all went down when i created my musical theatre instagram account and started being more active in the fandom... the energy there is slightly different than here. people are actually fighting for his attention. his birthday was like a fucking shit show of who would do more just to be noticed by him. i kinda started feeling like maybe i am worth nothing because i've never met him, never been to new york (simply because i cannot afford it at the moment) or never been noticed, or maybe i haven't been here long enough, well, i also don't have a motherfucking role in this fandom - i'm not a writer, i don't make art, no talents at all, i'm just here to admire and enjoy his work. it all went too far and i was even too fucking tired to keep answering all the asks i was getting about him (and there was a lot of them at some point, probably because i was the most active member of this community on tumblr and someone who was always defending him and people started treating me like a person who knows fucking everything about him and that's just not true). i enjoyed it for a while. then i stopped. who the fuck even am i to be treated like a goddamn leader of the fandom or whatever the case was. i don't know. all i know is that it was just too much. i appreciate the fact that i was getting so many nice messages from all those people but ugh... i was once asked about discord server for his fans and i decided to create one with a huge help of my mutuals. then i fucking left. my own discord server. i don't even think anyone noticed. lmao. nobody actually asked me why, so that's what i assume. i was exhausted and drained. i just think people are taking all of it too seriously??? it was actually my mistake that i ever let myself think i was worth less than others because of all those stupid things. anyway. i don't want any of this. i hope no one in this fandom even remembers me now, maybe except those people i still talk to. the rest is history.

you may think i am making the same mistake now, but no. it's different. i am just here to have a good time, reblog silly pictures with my silly little tags and maybe make some of my mutuals laugh. i also want the new members of the fandom to feel loved and safe and to know that they are all equally important, doesn't matter if they were here years ago or joined last week. it's all just so fucking stupid. i don't have a role and i don't want one. i'm just here to enjoy it, it's way more fun this way - tumblr is actually great for me again.

i have no idea why i decided to use your ask as an opportunity to tell all of this. i don't know. i'm sorry. it just had to be said i fear.

one last thing, if you really want to get into musicals more, i can recommend you some of my favourites. i have a good taste actually!

[love-is-dean]

One of many thins that's been bothering me about the show is the constant comparison between Rang's truamatic childhood and other characters'. It's been like that since Season 1, done by both the writers! and the fans and guess what? it is still being a thing even now in the second season!! And honestly that's so upsetting and unfair in all the ways considering the fact that the circumstances were never the same and Rang's tragic life, sufferings and his traumatic experinces were totally different from other characters'.

1- Comparing Rang's trauma to Jia's, saying Rang wasn't as strong as jia even tho they both grew up alone!

True that they both grow up lonely with no parents to take care of them but unlike Lee Rang, Jia was never an unwanted/ unloved child. She had this loving parents that she never gave up on even after 20years since they went missing and their love and memory was enough for her to be strong and keep fighting for them. She wasn't abused by people, beaten to death and abandoned to die while growing up. She was never a despised creature and never felt like she didn't matter or that she didn't belong. She sure never felt betrayed by people she loved and trusted. See? totally different from what Rang went through since before he was even born.

2. And now even comparing Rang's childhood to Yeon's too? Again true that Yeon's childhood weren't all love and rainbows and had this abusive father who would treat him sh*t for his fun but the thing is... even such an irresponsible asshole of a father who didn't care about his own kid never really wanted Yeon dead; didn't call him a monster and didn't treat him like a monster he should get rid of. And he left Yeon's care to Taluipa before disappearing so unlike Rang, Yeon was never really left alone on his own, helpless and defenseless to face the world's cruelty. He had Taluipa and also besties to count on. He was literally raised by powerful gods and as a kid he never felt what it was like to lose his home-like Rang did when villagers burned his home- to kill his friend-like when little Rang had to put blacky out of its misery and it damaged him so bad- and lose his only loved one in the world- Rang losing Yeon as a kid and later nearly dying by his sword- Yeon was not betrayed and abandoned by his loved ones and the most important he's a powerful full gumiho. Rang had a vulnurable human side so ofc he would feel things more intensely than a full gumiho. And the thing is what made Rang finally lash out and go wild on humans was not his shitty mother being cruel to him but the humans who just couldn't let him be. Long after Rang left the village with Yeon he was still this caring innocent child until humans burned his home and wanted to kill them all. So saying that Yeon didn't use his childhood as an excuse to go dark is unfair to Rang's character coz Rang wouldn't either if... only if... humans just let him live his life in peace and not try to kill him any chance they got. Just saying🤷‍♀️ and mind me remind you of the fact that 1938 Yeon isn't living the best life either. You know?

3. Rang vs imoogi.

Now their childhood have many similarities. both unwanted children, unloved by their parents, treated like monsters by people and left to die by their family.

I would've really liked it if the show had explored the tragic side of imoogi too coz what he went through was horrible and sure it would make fans interested in his story on why he turned out the way he was! but here's what differs his story from Rang's: unlike Rang, Imoogi never knew love. He grew up cold and bitter with no heart. Unlike Rang he never craved love or family. All he ever wanted was power and only power. There was no one who he really cared about. He even betrayed his only friend, the only person who cared about him coz he didn't like to see him happy-compare him to Lee Rang who sacrificed himself for his brother's happiness- Nothing could really hurt imoogi, he had no feelings, no emotion, no weakspot. He had no one to care about and didn't need them either. But Rang was different. He was shown love too. He knew love and so the loss, heartbreak and the feeling of betrayal too. He had a heart. A very soft one. We saw adult Rang couldn't even kick his hungry ghost mother away coz seeing her hurt him, coz probably he still cared. He was a very emotional boy with a lot of wounds but still had his heart no matter what and he gave love so much more than what he got. That's why he'd never end up being an evil like Imoogi. Not bc he had people to save him from his inner monsters. No. Imoogi had one too and he betrayed him. It's bc Rang cared. He always cared. he loved his people and they loved him back. He'd earned their love with his good heart and unlike imoogi he'd rather die than losing them and that's what makes his story different. Bc he loved even so much more than he was loved and that's his strength. If anything he's been so strong, struggling for hundreds of years alone and surviving the unkind world that had nothing for him but endless pain, loneliness and nothingness. All of it while he was just a broken lonely boy ignored by his loved ones and hated by the world who he really never felt like belong to and yet he still kept his heart and love and at the end he was the one who suffered to give everyone a happy ending at the expense of his own life and happiness! Lee Rang, The one who suffered the most... and deserved happiness more than anyone but never got it! Words can not explain how unjust, unfair and cruel that ending was! He deserved so much better.

[unknown-lifeform]

One choice about Rebirth I am sort of confused about is specifically how Myrna Wallace was handled. It's great that we finally see her face in the one flashback! But also I'm not quite satisfied with how she was presented to us

Because when you see the flashback of Barret convincing Dyne they should let Shinra build the reactor, Myrna is never mentioned, while in OG Barret was all about the reactor because he hoped it would bring doctors to help with Myrna's sicknesses. In Rebirth, all Barret talks about is Marlene. Which is mmm a choice? For starters, it makes the whole thing feel a bit more manipulative on Barret's side since he's bringing Dyne's family into this as opposed to his own. But at the same time, I don't think Marlene existed yet? The flashback is set six years ago, and Marlene is four, so like. Not only she wouldn't have been born, but presumably Eleanor hadn't even been pregnant

But it just feels weird that Barret would never mention Myrna there. In fact, all of Myrna's sickness seems to not be mentioned in Rebirth at all. It's kind of annoying to me personally in a way, because imo the fact that Barret was so desperate to bring better doctors to Corel served to highlight that he is fundamentally a man that cares a lot about his loved ones and would do anything for them, and that to me is a key part of Barret's character. He just cares a lot about people. Maybe sometimes he makes bad decisions, but hell if he doesn't put himself into it

Also like we know Barret cares about Marlene. We have countless moments building up their relationship, both in Remake and Rebirth. And while being a father is an extremely important part of Barret's character, not everything needs to be about Marlene necessarily. He can have scenes that show his ties to other characters too

So anyways. I could sort of understand if the writers had decided to make Myrna a surprise, you know? Give new players a shock showing them Barret was married. After all, Corel is an open wound for him, and especially Dyne and Myrna. No one knew of his part until they hit Corel, not even Tifa who knew him the longest. Clearly Barret doesn't like talking about it. And it would make sense, then, that he would still be so deep in grief about Myrna's death that he wouldn't talk about her specifically. That angle makes sense. He could have omitted Myrna from his retelling of the discussions regarding the reactor. Then we get the Dyne fight, and Dyne does mention Myrna a few times, and I think as a new player that would be enough to pique my interest, who is this Myrna? And then at some point a big reveal

Except the reveal isn't quite there. Especially because I got the Barret Gold Saucer date, and in Gold Saucer Barret talks to Cloud about Myrna. Sure, it's assumed by now there is a level of trust, but still. It's a relatively light conversation. Knowing Barret's backstory already I enjoyed seeing him mention his wife, but it also means he doesn't have that much trouble talking about her in the end, and the previous reasoning is moot. Maybe he doesn't talk a lot about her, but he does obviously

And then we get that other flashback that actually has Myrna, which I guess if you are a new player and didn't get the Barret date is how you discover Barret had a wife (or partner, at least, I don't actually know if she is explicitly called wife but I think not). And idk it just doesn't quite hit as a big reveal kind of scene for me. It has good emotional impact but in a different way. And I feel seeing Myrna's corpse would have hit more if we had gotten more context of Barret being in love with her, as opposed to her being barely mentioned before

So yeah idk. I don't quite like how they dealt with Myrna here. Which is a pity because I feel in general the fact Barret is a widower deserves to be elaborated upon more, instead it was just kind of left there hanging a bit

[saucyjothoughts]

Hi saucy, feel free to ignore this but this is the boo who wrote hold me closer although you leave before the sunrise, who probably should have made that name shorter but didn't cause they didn't think they would have to write it out ever

Anyway I was just wondering, if you've read any of the newer chapters, if you thought they're any good. I dont really know who i can ask for opinions or advice on it seeing as no one knows who i am as far as im aware and i respect your opinion so im asking you, oh wise saucy

Also how on earth do you write sex 😅 i dont know how to make it not seem really awkward

You're 24k words into this project now?? That's amazing!!

The writer/beta reader relationship is a super special one and I think it's so important to utilise people you know and trust when you're first starting out and need general tips and support, then only venturing into strangers who might be more objective (or brutal) when you know your heart can cope with it.

Sharing a piece of writing is like sharing a piece of your soul and any harsh criticism can be hard to take! That's why it's so important to chat about exactly what you want from your beta's. Do you have specific questions about potential holes in your plot or actions you think might be out of character? Are you looking for a sentence-by-sentence breakdown of your writing style? Do you just want a proofread and a cuddle? The last thing you ever want to do with beta-ing is be harsh enough to make your writer lose motivation and give up, but then everyone brave enough to want to improve deserves honesty.

I guess he moral of the story is that we're all here to have fun and what one person likes, another person won't. So it's important to write what YOU like in a way you find fun.

That said, it would be really interesting to do some posts on writing smut! I'm certainly no expert, but it could be a really interesting discussion.

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

I (almost) finished my first-ever campaign of DnD! Here's some things I noticed and lessons I've learned. Probably nothing revolutionary, but maybe someone might find it helpful!

Notes on the module:

we ran an adventure loosely based on Lost Mines of Phandelver, but I changed the backstory significantly to tie into one of my players' backstory and that became a large focus of the story, so I can't necessarily speak to the story of the module. I personally felt it was a little lacklustre, with a lot of plot points feeling very skin-deep or like a last minute add-on (*cough* Venomfang). But

the NPC names are very classic fantasy, but they didn't feel very organic to me - everyone at the table had huge trouble remembering most of them, except for Gundren, Agatha and Reidoth (again, grain of salt, neither me nor my players are native English speakers)

the locations are great, they're very evocative and fun! The dungeons were often way too big for us, I retconned almost half the final dungeon just to give us a hope in hell to finish it in three (very long) sessions. But if your party moves more quickly or you plan on running this campaign for a good bit, there's a lot to do.

since LMoP is (or was) advertised as the ideal intro to the game, I was a little surprised at how challenging I found it to run some of the combat. Especially the ones that contained a bazillion goblins or bugbears etc. to keep track of... but a friend with much more experience pointed out to me that LMoP is a great intro to the game for players. Which is an excellent point! I'm not saying it's necessarily super hard to run, either, I'm sure it's not! But for someone like me who struggles with visual orientation on a good day and yet decided to run combat in theatre of mind, it got pretty confusing a few times.

it has a really annoying little plot hole right at the end of the first encounter, which I caught, hoped I could ignore, and then it came up immediately: The PCs start out defending a wagon on the way through the woods, which then gets attacked. Once they defeat the attackers, the module expects the PCs to abandon the cart they just risked their lives for to pursue the attackers into the woods. Make your peace with the fact that they're probably not gonna do that.

Mistakes I made:

maybe my main regret is Sildar Halwinter, the main friendly NPC. I gave him a backstory and personality that I thought made sense and that I hoped fit the vibe and hinted at a larger world. And it did! I really liked what I did with him. But he was also a terrible NPC to give to my party. I brought a real fiction-/tv-writer sensibility to the character design and gave him a very matter-of-fact and relatively quiet personality... and discovered that my party does not ask NPCs personal questions unless HEAVILY prompted. At all. Not even after the DM repeatedly helplessly says stuff like "well, you've never asked them" lol. I literally only managed to give them some of his backstory by having him proclaim "wow, my wife would have liked this place!!" in a kinda unsubtle way in the final session. Meanwhile, characters with more proactive character traits - like the shepherd who was a real dragon-fanboy and talked about them whenever he could - were immediate hits with my players. So it's not a lack of interest in the NPCs, I just need to work on signalling that there's something there for them to ask about, I guess.

I didn't like the main villain of the campaign, so I made my own and statted her like I would a PC, but I didn't give her nearly enough class levels. She was lvl 6 against a party of three lvl 5 characters, so once they'd dealt with her handful of minions, she was pretty much toast. She could have been at least lvl 10 and still be a doable fight, and would have felt much more like a final boss.

I did not guess correctly how long their "brief" final encounter with the local dragon would take (they were somehow WAY too trusting and would not get scared and run away, so the dragon actually had to slap them around before they got the memo - I refuse to take the blame for this, they refused two separate opportunities to do research on dragons and our wizard did so terribly on the social encounter that a way nicer creature would have probably tried to eat her for it). The encounter was fun, but it happened under a huge time-crunch and we had to end what was the last real session of the campaign on a "and you excape from the dragon's lair and are safe, cool bye go catch your bus!" and had to table our epilogue for a ten-minute window at the start of next session. With is both annoying because it really butchers the flow of the narrative for the players and also because it will cut into the time for a one-shot one of the players is running next session. Idk what the lesson here is, timing is hard.

I should have used some rudimentary maps to keep track of the fights that had a ton of enemies in them tbh. I didn't like that because it seemed like a lot of work, but constantly going "wait fuck, which of the 15 goblins is the one I'm standing next to and is that the one that just took damage?" was no fun for anyone.

I came up with a cool regional effect inside the mine, but I wasn't fastidious about enforcing it so we all forgot about it, which is a shame.

I haven't been nearly as attentive to attacks of opportunity as I should have been and neither have my players, and they're not using Help, Disengage or Dodge actions nearly as much as they could yet

Notes for next campaign/ Stuff that was really popular with my party:

they loved all characters that I gave voices to, even though my voices are objectively BAD (no, really, I can do 1.5 accents outside of "generic British" and I really struggle to keep them consistent)

again, NPCs with obvious, proactive interests or character traits, no matter how irrelevant or borderline annoying were always a hit

my group will constantly volunteer to roll for stuff. Our youngest has firmly established that they roll initiative after every long rest to see who wakes up first, and has been 100 percent consistent about this.

our wizard player is really interested in her character's personality and backstory and is clearly prepared to antagonise a green dragon in service of it. She loved fun magical items, but I haven't sussed out if that was a character trait of the character or the player

our artificer is a little mechanics nerd and would pour so much love and care into her homunculus and golem and their design and abilities

our druid player picks a main theme for her character and zone in on that above everything else. Her character was extremely nature- and animal-loving so I had one of the NPCs teach him Find Familiar (yes, that's not a druid spell, but the player isn't exactly a power gamer so it didn't overpower anything) and I honestly think the chicken familiar was the high point of the campaign for the player (Clover the chicken acquired a bandana from the local tailor and is very fashionable)

she is also much more ready to kill her character than the other two

they like nuance, but they won't accept an impasse situation as conclusion of an arc, even if that's the most realistic

[leohtttbriar]

🍦🎨 for the ask game !

hii! <33

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

i think we all tend to hate badly-written characters more than characters we wouldn't like if we were in the story, so this question is kind of hard (!) because like. i don't want to find the silver-lining of bad writing? but also i guess by the end of ds9 i did sort of hate dukat for a combination of writing choices and for who that character is in the story, so...

(this is mostly about early seasons dukat)

i like that, in the story, dukat didn't become some sort of anti-hero like garak. i like that there was that comparison with garak, where neither is "reformed" but one is reflective and dynamic and accepts, and even welcomes in certain ways, the shift of power around bajor. i like that dukat was written to be genuinely concerned with power and that said power was something specific and fascistic and he took the chance to snatch at it when it was presented to him.

i like the cloying falsity dukat had with sisko and kira--always looking for an In, a way to be some sort of manipulating yes-man. like he was always operating in a sort of iannucci-death-of-stalin struggle for influence and never quite realizing that he was being laughed at and, despite his scheming, sisko and kira remain utterly unmoved. also it was very funny to witness.

i like that he was written to be the face of the backstory of the cardassian occupation--whether just as the small reminder through his presence or as a vehicle for certain plots (like the story of kira's mother). he wasn't the """charming""" nazi christoph waltz--garak was closer to that, if anyone--though he certainly tried to be charming (see point 2). it was more like: the writers knew they had to have a character there to represent the history they had written for the show's setting and dukat was, for the most part, a good character for that. like, you could see why kira didn't trust him, why she wanted to and did deck him, why she was so angry, why all the bajoran characters were so angry, and you didn't have to see any scenes directly portraying the occupation because the reality of it all was evident in dukat's disdain, insincerity, condescension, and deep lack of single grain of reflective remorse. the simple contrast of kira and dukat does a lot of work for the world-building and the fleshing out of these specific aliens and their political positioning of one another. it's interesting.

those are all sort of related but distinct enough choices for the character that warrant attention. i feel on the whole ds9 wasn't perfect at consistently giving voice to the anti-fascist themes of the story--showing and not telling doesn't always work best--but, with all the power-struggles going on within the world of the show, certain arguments solidified in the form of characters. and dukat for the most part exemplified everything a leader of people shouldn't be. he was a great foil for sisko and kira and even winn. and he felt like a person, which some fans i think have misinterpreted as "very complex," but that just means he felt lived in. familiar. not like an alien at all.

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

my favorite piece of fanart might be a bit selfish since this is one i asked for but i think that @matrose sort of went above and beyond on a simple ask-game drawing bc the below art is just sooo perfect to me?

i love the character arien in the silmarillion (or just, like, the tolkien legendarium, i guess, i'm not sure where else she appears) because a) female characters who invariably choose an independent life have always appealed and b) the very brief description tolkien provides of the character is genuinely stunning while also being relevant and thematic for story he builds on top of his made-up lore in the hobbit and the lord of the rings.

like: "The maiden whom the valar chose...to guide the vessel of the Sun was named Arien...[who] tended the golden flowers in the garden of Vana, and watered them with the bright dews of Laurelin [the tree that shed golden light before the Sun]... Arien the maiden was mightier than he, and she was chosen because she had not feared the heats of Laurelin, and was unhurt by them, being from the beginning a spirit of fire...not deceived [...] Too bright were the eyes of Arien... she was a naked flame, terrible in the fullness of her splendour."

not to get too into the sort of literary analysis here, the character tolkien chose for the sun was the kind that could've been corrupted, but wasn't, and who steered the Sun-ship unwavering and without fail while the world was reeling from a deeply-felt loss--a character unharmed by true heat and serving all.

and i think @matrose really captured several things about the above while reinterpreting brilliantly the symbol of this character:

the straight-backed posture, displayed in profile

the unaffected expression on the face

the way she's holding the sun behind her, as if she really is the true guide here

(though the above could be her holding the light of Laurelin before the sun was born, but either way--she is the one who can guide where that very powerful light goes)

the way there's a day and night (dawn/dusk?) version--another expression of arien's unwavering and uncorruputed character

the way the day-light is white, showing how perfectly bright and hot the sun is

the drapery! the jewelry! the way she is dressed with a specific style in the properties of sunlight

the colors of her clothes---my favorite part probably--the fact of a multicolored raiment speaks to the the depth of the character's power, the depth of the power in her charge, and the beauty that, one could say, is the driving force of like the entirety of all of tolkien's books. And she wears it like drapery!

(her raiment could be an interpretation of her pre-Sun-Ship, but again that doesn't undercut the thematics of the above detail)

her hair looks like embers

the Profile position again! because she is facing away from the viewer, so we don't have to look into her terrible eyes

it's just a really beautiful piece in my opinion and a lovely demonstration of how the artist interprets tolkien and the world <3

(i got so crazy about this fanart that i wrote a whole Extremely Weird fic about it)

anyway, i didn't want to repost matrose's art here, but everyone should please click on the link to go look at It.

[olderthannetfic]

Thinking about your answer to https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/711971384704811008/im-aware-that-this-is-probably-a-dumb-question (the impact of a sex scene)

As a writer, I've often skipped it when, to me, it didn't feel necessary: the characters have reached the point where yes, they're together / committed / into each other, etc but I've had a few times (not often) readers say they'd have liked to have the sex scene, in fics where for me it would have been totally pastede on: the arc is done, the deed happened / will happen off-screen, etc, so it doesn't bring anything to the story or characters. But I think for some, it's unsatisfying if the dicks aren't out and the tongues battling for dominance; if it's not shown but only implied, then it's not as satisfying to them as readers.

Similarly, as a reader, I've often found myself skipping over the sex scenes when it felt, to me, only here to fulfill expectations, a reward for the readers who enjoy sex scenes independently of whether it's useful in the story, even if commenters are raving about it or the author is praised for their sex scenes. Ficcers aren't writing assignments to please a paying customer, after all, but themselves and hopefully their community, and many do love reading and writing about The Boning. But in that case, when I don't see the point of it, I just skim quickly so I can spot if there's anything interesting plot/characterization-wise. It's rarely the case when it's just added at the end IME, though I guess it's here as some sort of... emotional climax? or something? for some folks? I can't see it, but it's there for people who aren't me, and that's fine.

So I'm not entirely sure that I 100% see what you mean when you say that it's obvious when it's needed or unneeded ;-) it can be obvious to me that it is such when the exact opposite is obvious to another reader/writer, so I guess there's a degree of YMMV about it.

And yeah, I'm ace, and yeah, I do read and write sex scenes; it's not that I'm a prude! I just think there's a degree of sliding scale to it. Is The Sex Scene Necessary / Does It Make Sense Plot-Wise etc? You say that it's obvious when sex scenes (or gore, etc) are distracting or unneeded in a badly written fic, but 'badly written' may not quite mean the same thing to everyone, and perhaps depends on what the reader wants to find there.

(Cue me angsting about adding a sex scene in a fic because Gah! People want their smut! And I read So-and-so say that they only read Explicit and Mature! Must add sex to fics! And then write a porny fic, and see someone say the opposite! Woe! ;-)

--

I meant it's often obvious to the writer, but yes, readers may disagree. I think the sex scenes at climaxes are particularly prone to people disagreeing for exactly the reason you say: they're a sort of genre expectation for some. I do, generally, find a long emotional build unsatisfying if we don't see the characters get together beyond just asking each other out, and a sex scene is one way of showing them together.

It's the sex scenes in the middle that happen well before the emotional climax that I feel are particularly obvious. Maybe it only comes with experience, and I'm sure not everyone will agree because there's nothing in art everyone agrees on, but I think a lot of people will agree on which ones feel extraneous or missing... or at least which ones feel like they're there to be hot vs. which ones seem to be doing something else in addition.

Let me give you an example of a sex scene that should not have been missing:

In the film The Quick and the Dead, Sharon Stone finally had enough clout to get the sex scene removed. Good for her... but sadly, it's one time it really should have stayed in because it happens between two characters who don't trust each other and have only sort of drawn closer the previous day. On the morning after the sex scene they're scheduled to fight a duel to the death. They concoct a secret scheme to get out of it. We don't see them coming up with this because it's supposed to be a surprise, which is fine, but we also don't see any scene that really explains when they had time to come up with it or why they trust each other enough to carry it out. The sex doesn't make it sensible to trust each other, but it does explain why they might suddenly be filled with new feelings and do so anyway. It also explains when they had time to discuss a plan in private without others wondering what they were up to.

The scenes that are most obviously needed are ones that are structural: They contain some major emotional beat that isn't in other scenes. Something about the status quo is radically different between the scenes on either side. A character makes a major decision even if we don't know exactly what it is yet. Those kinds of moments should be on-page/on-screen.

[autumn-foxfire]

Movie 24. I can't believe I've almost watched all the movies at this point. I don't know anything about this movie and going in blind!

What an interesting way to start the movie. If we're seeing America though, I'm guessing this will be an Akai focused movie? I could be wrong though.

They put Shinichi in pants. We know he loves shorts. Free the legs.

So the Olympics are known as World Sports Games. Is the name the olympics trade marked or something?

Is this a mistranslation? I assume so as they should be considered to be seven years old. Gosho doesn't let time pass. At most Shinichi has turned from sixteen to seventeen.

Sonoko may have told her parents she's not interested in taking over the family name in canon but it's nice to see that she is still serious in representing her family. I think she'd make a fine chairwomen.

While I don't appreciate the jabs at Genta and making his character only focus on food, I do like he managed to help the investigation this time around. Shinichi has taught the children well, sniff everything.

Akai having the professors house bugged is so funny. I know one of the reasons is so he can keep Ai safe, but I also like think he knows Shinichi well and his inability to talk to others and ask for help so he needs the bugs to hear what he has to say because there is one who he shares everything with which is the professor.

OH! Sera got an introduction in this movie! Nice!

Sonoko is so kind T-T I love her.

Sera is always so pretty. Ran has great taste in women.

The parentification of Ran makes me upset. She's changing a grown man's t-shirt for him. She doesn't need too, he's capable of changing himself, but she's so used to being the mother she does so without thinking.

This movie is showing us that Ran and Shinichi can work together with one another and plan together. She. Should. Know.

Oh, so Shinichi is aware that Akai will kill and he protested against it.

NEVERMIND. Shinichi does not trust Ran. And is stupid enough to make her think he will be there. And Shinichi, you should be able to share your feelings with your "girlfriend", it's weird you or her can never do so. It's almost like they don't exist.

Kogoro actually parented Shinichi? Nope, nevermind, it was probably Ran who did so.

And he's also lying to Ai now. Shinichi, can you please respect the women in your lives, especially when they're just as capable as you and even more so in certain areas (i.e. Ran's ability to defend herself is much greater than Shinichi's and Ai is incredibly knowledgable in other areas that Shinichi and knows his targets better than he does).

Yumi and Shukichi are cute.

Sorry, I see Sera, I screenshot. Although can I talk about how bad a parent Mary is? Because she is for letting her daughter do something so dangerous for her, much like she does in canon.

Ai: Shinichi, escape and save our lives.

And Shinichi completely ignores her because he DOES NOT TRUST WOMEN. Is he a misogynist? I'm really starting to believe he is. Or the writers are and they project that onto Shinichi.

Good on Ai, taunt Shinichi for ignoring you when you knew what was happening in this situation.

Okay, it is cool to see Akai and Sera fight with one another. We don't get to see Sera fight often.

Why are Mary and Sera beating up Akai though?! They just let the culprit get away.

He didn't call you because he doesn't trust women but Ran is also his possession so he needs her to know that from time to time :) (Sorry, I am angry about the writing so far).

Pretty girl!

Being drop-dead gorgeous runs in the family.

Shukichi, as adorable as Yumi is being and I know that she does want to marry you, she is currently drunk and can't accept the proposal.

Shinichi's special. Smelling.

So Shinichi's watch has UV now.

He looks so amazing. It's not fair.

Sera looked so unimpressed at Shinichi lying to Ran and then she tried to press that it was Conan who knew the truth. She's totally on the side of Ran knowing.

Akai actually had a silver bullet made. I guess he's not like Vermouth who believes Shinichi to be a silver bullet.

...Well, that is not how Shukichi expected for Yumi to meet his family.

This movie: America is shit.

Honestly, great criticism.

I can't believe Shinichi just answered the phone just to hang up on Ran <.< He has no respect for her or her concern for him at all.

Poor Camel, he doesn't get the cool line weight added to his design.

Not only does she look great but she's also calling Shinichi out. This is why we love her.

The Akai family, minus Mary, are showing off why they're so great as characters. We love them.

Ran, please worry about your girlfriend as well.

LMAO I do love Sera calling out the stupid decision to make Shinichi shout Ran in movies.

This is why we like Akai, he actually trusts people.

Shinichi seems to have learned how to trust during the course of this movie. Not entirely, but he is.

Fucking cool.

Shinichi, really owes his life to the professor and his inventions.

I really wish that Sera's name was also being called out. She is just as much as Ran's friend and she should be extremely worried for her as well. Her life is in danger as well.

Oh now her name has been called out. A bit late in my opinion.

He won't kill but I wonder what will happen when he's placed in a role where he has too.

I can't state enough how much I adore their friendship. Platonic soulmates.

Ran, where is Sera's hug? She deserves one too.

Mary. You have NO RIGHT to threaten Akai for almost hurting Sera. You PUT HER IN THIS SITUATION. I assume that's who she's talking about. Unless she's talking about Shinichi and then that's even worse.

LMAO Yumi.

[fireemblems24]

Chapter 8 of Scarlet Blaze

Spoilers for up to Ch 8 beneath the cut. This chapter fucking sucked.

Also, I know I tagged this as SB, but be warned this was pretty critical of it. If anyone is actually still browsing tag and thinks I should remove it, I will.

STORY

Hell, yeah, Dimitri was taking names.

This plot is . . . kinda stupid. I feel like Edelgard is just running back and forth the whole time, accomplishing nothing.

LAMO, Omg, she just straight-up blamed all the deaths from the previous battle on . . . Claude 😂

Edelgard really be like "Why did Claude make me hit him!"

I'm pretty sure the writers didn't intend for SB to read like a Monty Python skit, but Edelgard has less self-awareness than Sir Lancelot when he kept apologizing for slaughtering the wedding party because at least that he was aware enough to apologize.

Oh, Randolph. So how many times does he die this time?

So, like, does Shez want people to get executed if they flip sides? He's like, geeze, how dare Claude and Dimitri forgive people.

Shez is like "I don't understand a word you say Edelgard, but I'm helping you slaughter your way across Fodlan because you may rub off on me!" More "SB is a comedy in disguise" fuel.

I wish I picked F!Shez for every route. I like her VA a lot more. Plus, I've seen this personality on a male character in the countless number of shonen anime and manga I've watched/read, but not as much in a woman. And unlike M!Byleth who's gorgeous, M!Shez is alright, but not super hot or anything.

So Lindhart mentioned that the Kingdom and Alliance can rally against the Empire because of the relics and crests. And like, I don't see how killing Rhea will make that power vanish and people not desperately want it. I feel like so much of Edelgard's spiel is an edgelord's power fantasy with no basis in reality.

This soldier is like "Dimitri labeled everyone who sided with his uncle as guilty in the tragedy of Duscur!" Lamo. Except it's true. Would've been interesting if it wasn't and see how Dimitri handled that. I sometimes wish he got more grey situations bc the writing in Hopes so far he's just . . . the good guy. Like straight-up the hero, no questions. Which, I love because at heart that's what Dimitri is, but I wish the writing would corner him anyways.

Oh, fuck. It's Sylvain. Oh fuck. I don't want to fight him. That sucked.

Count Rowe is being a backstabbing moron. I love how it's always the evil ones that side with Edelgard. It's an underrated thing no one talks about.

And now I have to fight Rodrigue :( Feels bad, killing Blue Lions+ members for the crime of defending themselves.

Ok. It's an unquestionable fact that when you find yourself fighting Annette, you are the villain. This is just truth.

Pretty sure this is heading to a temporary truce between Claude and Edelgard. Which, Claude's (and the Alliance's) funeral, I guess, lamo.

SHEZ & PETRA B SUPPORT

Petra's asking Shez about mercenaries. Questions if Shez would work for the enemy if they offered more money. Aww, damn. You don't have an option to say yes. :(

At least it's somewhat based in trust on their employer (and to get future ones) and not just mindless fangasming. I wouldn't want that in GW or AG either.

DOROTHEA & HUBERT B SUPPORT

This is their only support.

Hubert has a letter from the opera company and wanted to talk to Dorothea, so he's giving it to her in person.

Ohhh, he's bringing up how Dorothea hates violence, but stays and fights in the war rather than returning to the opera.

Glad this is finally getting addressed. Letting Dorothea talk.

It's part wanting to fight alongside her friends and part wanting to represent commoners in Edelgard's army. But also to score a rich husband.

Honestly, much better than whatever the fuck their Houses final support was.

HUBERT & FERDINAND B SUPPORT

So other popular ships got amped up (Dimilix, Dimidue, Marihilda - strangely not Sylvix though). So did the gay get turned up here?

Ferdinand is up late and Hubert wonders why. Ferdinand is studying the law to try and get his father arrested.

Oh, Ferdinand brought up the fact Hubert's father died. Putting Hubert to the question about executing his own father and mad he didn't judge his father in public

Hubert argues that his father would never have been found guilty.

God, that was SOOOOO much meatier than "I wanna serve Edelgard the best!" "No I wanna!!!!"

Monica took over the "pathetic Edelgard simp" to Hubert's "competent Edelgard simp" so Ferdinand could finally fucking get to run.

Ferdinand so far is 10000% the best part of SB (I'd say Petra competes, but I like her better in AG so far).

SHEZ & FERDINAND B SUPPORT

Shez thinks Ferdinand is faking enthusiasm. Not like that. Lamo. He's just overcompensating for his father's failure.

Ferdinand feels powerless and useless. I wish he was the MC.

Shez just wants to help Ferdinand feel better.

Ferdinand wants to surpass his father.

It's a repeat of his stuff with Edelgard and Hubert, but it's by far the most compelling part of SB.

PETRA & HUBERT B SUPPORT

Hubert is checking on Petra to make sure she feels comfortable and temps her with staying in the Empire, but Petra's like "naw."

Worth noting that Brigid is still under the thumb of the Empire. So Petra's a hostage basically forced into this war in order to secure the freedom of her country.

And they can't even go public yet, fearing the citizens get pissed off. Man, the Empire must be full of bloodthirsty land grabbers.

Go Petra! She low-key threatens Hubert and forces them to uphold their promises. Nice seeing her have a backbone.

PETRA & FERDINAND B SUPPORT

Ferdinand sung to Petra to ask her to spar. It's really cringe. Like, realllllly cringe. I would've been embarrassed if I wasn't playing alone.

He thinks this is some Brigid custom, but song and dance is only involved with religious ceremonies. Petra calls him out for finding her country so silly.

It's a mistranslation

Petra owned Ferdinand in this support and we are here for it.

FERDINAND & LYSITHEA C SUPPORT

Talking tea. Can relate.

Lysithea was ready to eat the food and bail. Nice.

But Ferdinand wanted to ask her about joining the commoner class. Lysithea insists she's fine with it and wants to.

Ferdinand doesn't know any de-nobled nobles who are happy. Lysithea know he only knows ones who got kicked out, he's not wrong.

Then he's like, you can't join them! Then you can't change anything anymore. But like what is he fighting on Edelgard's side for?

She, of course, doesn't have a future.

MONICA & BERNIE PARALOGUE

Bernie's enjoying her socially isolated life when Monica needs her help with something because there's no one else around.

You can have Shez agree she shouldn't come, and he says he'll slow them down, lamo. Bernie is offended.

They need to rid bandits out of a cave.

So his Duke is part of it. And he's had problems finding the Fetters of Dromini because of a TWSITD spy. It's also related to whoever kidnapped Monica.

So all I get is Shez, Monica, and Bernie. Only Shez has even looked at a battlefield and the other two are level 1 an 2. I can make 1 an adjunct, but not both. Ugh. Gotta go level at least one up.

Oh, hey, Myson.

I forgot how good of a unit Shez is lol.

Seems like Bernie actually has a decent mom. Bernie just wants to hide in the caves though. Monica advises against it.

DOROTHEA & MANUELA PARALOGUE

This one is easier since they're both leveled up already.

Everyone is fangirling over them. Dorothea assures Manuela that time hasn't tarnished her beauty, but she doesn't buy it.

They wanted Shez as a bodyguard because he's not a crazed fan. I wish real life celebrities would just whip out daggers on ridiculous fans.

This one's more entertaining than the last one. Random thieves are fans and if you defeat them with whoever they're a fan of (Dorothea or Manuela) they join you, lamo. Good both of them are already leveled up too.

Aww, Hanneman showed up to rescue Manuela.

The bandits were swarming the town because of the war. It's nice to see more acknowledgement of how Edelgard's war is screwing over the common folk.

Glad to see Hanneman get a nice little shout out despite getting demoted to NPC. Dorothea and Shez basically told them to get a room, lamo.

STORY/MAIN FIGHT

Edelgard is the least effective conquer I've seen in fiction.

"Defeat Dimitri" - How about, no.

I see "persuade Mercedes." Does that mean I need to bring Jeritza? Because it's not like Hubert or Edelgard are masters of persuasion.

"Defeat Dedue." I hate this. Monica's like, "If Dedue's here, then Dimitri is too." Even SB ships them.

Haha, they flipped sides to Dimitri after he was like "I don't want to kill you, please fight for me instead." And like, no shit?

Aw, shit. Now I have to fight Dimitri.

Oh, now I get to fight Ingrid too. Guys, I'm having so much fun right now. It doesn't help at all that SB is boring as fuck.

Oh, shit. Fuck. What the fuck. Ingrid just died. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh shut the fuck up, Edelgard. "Oh, this is so painful." IDK maybe stop trying to conquer everyone who doesn't kiss your ass. You too, Monica. "Oh, she was loyal to the end."

I'm beginning to remember why I hated Edelgard so much in CF. She's such a self-righteous idiot incapable of taking responsibility for her shitty actions AND has no sense of self-awareness.

Dimitri and Dedue sound so sad 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Dedue and Dimitri both taking the credit, meanwhile prissy ass is like "oh, wow, so sad these people died. No idea why."

Shit, Dimitri just mentioned Glenn. He sounds so broken up. Glad Dedue is giving Ingrid the credit for her own choices and actions.

She died defending everyone she loved.

I bet Edelgard will find a way to blame Rhea for Ingrid's death rather than take any responsibility for all the death she causes.

Only Dorothea fucking cares about Ingrid.

"We are nowhere near achieving our goals in the Alliance or in the Kingdom." - Edelgard. I can't fucking understand how some people argue she's isn't an Imperialist.

At least she's admitting she's fucking stupid with her army leadership inabilities.

I'd tell Edelgard to go fuck herself, but that implies a level of pleasure she doesn't deserve. #JusticeforIngrid #StoptheImperalists

xxxx

[redtalksaboutstuffandthings]

Anime Ramble 2: Banana Fish is mid

So, once again I'm going to use this empty blog to ramble incessantly about something that only matters to me. Specifically, the gay romance in a crime thriller anime. It took up my thoughts all day, today, and if I don't write them down I'm going to explode.

Banana Fish was written in the 1980's, but received an anime adaptation in 2018. And having watched the whole thing through, I fully believe that the story was written in the 80's. It has a very 1980's idea of what gay people look like and do, and I mean that in all the worst ways.

(Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Pedophilia, Homophobia. It's a deep hole we're going down.)

Banana Fish is the story of Ash Lynx, a runaway mafia hitman with a 200 IQ who is a crack shot with a revolver, spends his free time at the New York Central Library, and whose kill count exceeded his age somewhere around the time he was 15. His romantic interest is Eiji, Japanese photographer and the show's resident Very Good Boy.

Ash is gay. Or at least, that's how he's presented. He has an estranged relationship with his father, which apparently happened sometime after Ash was repeatedly assaulted by an adult, when he was eleven, and Ash was eventually forced to kill his abuser. Why is Ash's father so distant and harsh, even though he knows all of the stuff that happened to his youngest son? Unsure. The show asks the question, and there's a slight hint that a reconciliation is possible, but ultimately Ash's father isn't on screen long enough to provide a clear answer.

If I were a cynical person, I would point out that "a history of being a sexual abuse victim" and "an abusive father figure" are two very common "reasons" given by bigots who want to explain why gay people exist and why their state of mind is a mental health issue. This would have been especially true in the 80's, where homosexuality was only recently removed from the DSM as a mental disorder. However, I'm not a cynical person. I'll just assume that the writers just didn't have enough time to give us a compelling reason.

ASH AND EIJI ARE CUTE TOGETHER, I GUESS

The relationship between our two leads has quite a few nice points going for it. Ash makes a big deal about how tragic his past is and how he can't trust anyone, but around Eiji he's allowed to be his authentic self, without fear of judgment or betrayal. Their interactions together, particularly in safe moments where there isn't a bad guy to fight, is a very realistic depiction of what two good friends might get up to, when they're alone together. They enjoy each other's company, have a lot of cute moments, and there are even what I would identify as clear moments of emotional intimacy, that made for compelling viewing. I do, however, have two main issues with it.

The first is a phenomenon I'm beginning to see quite frequently, in the world of yaoi. It's what I refer to as the "Uke's dillemma." I can understand what Ash gets out of the relationship. A person who accepts him for him, who can look past his violent existence and treat him like a human being is something valuable and healing to him, and the show makes no bones about that. However, I find myself less able to answer what Eiji is getting, from the relationship.

His only real flaw as a character that Ash might be able to address is the temporary loss of his confidence, that he experienced before meeting Ash. That basically gets resolved a few episodes in, with a scene where he has to help save multiple people, including Ash. For the rest of the show, it really feels like Eiji is purely there for Ash's sake. He, being (as I mentioned previously) a Very Good Boy, sees a person who's clearly suffering, underneath the mask of a totally cool badass mafia assassin, and decides to show Ash the milk of human kindness in order to heal his pain and remind him that he's actually a person, and not just a wild animal that needs to be put down.

And while that's cute and cool and very much worth putting to film, that's not exactly a good reason to enter into a romantic relationship with someone. In fact, that feels more like a good reason to adopt a shelter animal.

0/10. NO HAND HOLDING

The second problem with the romantic relationship between our two leads is that... it's not really a romantic relationship. Like, make no mistake. It's not like I was expecting these two boys to spend their free time with their hands down each other's pants. However, they don't really do anything that indicates that they're in a relationship. They spend a lot of time together. They're clearly willing to throw down, when the other is in danger. They even share a few moments of genuine tenderness. But spending time and being emotionally intimate with your friend isn't gay, no matter what the dude-bros tell you, and neither they nor anyone around them seem to give any sort of indication that they should be read as being romantically involved.

Okay, they kiss, once, but I'll get to that in a second.

By itself, this isn't a big deal. It might even be a point in the show's favor. Considering how sleazy they make the world of gay people, how overloaded the plot is with sexual assaults and horrible, senseless violence, the fact that they make the relationship we're meant to root for wholesome? Not the worst decision.

It's a little weird, though. I mean, this was the chance for the show to show us what a good gay relationship might look like. It's a chance to show how Ash would engage with a partner he genuinely loves, when there isn't a gun to his head. A chance to present what a healthy, constructive relationship could look like, even in an environment as ugly as Banana Fish's. And what they gave us... was a very good friendship. Like, an outstanding friendship. A friendship I would happily defend, were it lucky enough to come my way. But that's all it is. You could honestly walk away from the show with the idea in your head that Eiji was straight, and was only staying close to Ash because he's a Very Good Boy and could see it was what Ash needed.

But... I'm overthinking this, maybe. A friendship is a good thing to put on screen, I think. Besides, even if they don't ever say the "L" word, there's enough subtext for you to be able to make the educated guess that they love each other. I don't need to give this any more thought. I could just sit back, and enjoy the wholesome vibes of Boy Assassin and Very Good Boy.

BUT IF I WERE A CYNICAL PERSON...

The show presents gay sexuality as being "bad." I'm not even sensationalizing. Ash's first crimes, his first acts of evil that send him down the violent road he finds himself on, happen as a direct result of being raped as a child and needing to defend himself. The show's main antagonist is a sadistic gay mob boss who's obsessed with owning Ash like a collector's item. Sexual assault and rape are employed or threatened by every throwaway minion who has any sort of power over the protagonists. The cast can be split into three groups: people who rape and abuse people, the victims of abuse... and Ash, who half the time is in the victim category, but the other half of the time uses sexuality as a cover for dishonest behavior.

Ash is openly sexual, at times, but these are always in controlled moments. Often, it's to distract or to call in a bad guy, so he can incapacitate or kill them when they're off guard. That time we get our big kiss between Ash and Eiji, it was all part of a clever ruse on Ash's part to sneak a message out of prison, and not an actual expression of love. For Ash, sex is either something that happens to him, or that he uses to get something he wants.

So, imagine the opportunity presented in front of us, here. Ash has a Very Good Boy, around. One who will not judge him, won't betray him, and who he can finally be his genuine self with. And when given that opportunity, the writer's apparently decided that their perfect gay relationship, the relationship Ash was going to have with his designated soulmate... is one that can easily be mistaken for generic friendship. One where you complain about food, together, but you sleep in separate beds. Where you call your partner "big brother" and only ever touch them when you're having a nervous breakdown and (understandably) need to be held. Where you never say the "love" part out loud, and none of your friends say it out loud, either.

And... I'm not a cynic. I'm not. But if I were, I could have a field day with this. I could write the entire world of Banana Fish as the sort of Gay Experience Conspiracy Theorycrafting that was absolutely rife in the mid and late 20th century. Because it seems like what the writers are suggesting is that the key to being happy as a gay character is to not be gay.

Being gay, according to the writers of Banana Fish, is a sort of corruption, that happens because you were abused and traumatized. Only bad people express thoughts that could be construed as gay sexuality, and in every case it's just meant to serve some greater purpose. Breaking a person's spirit. Getting them vulnerable so they can be killed. And when you find somebody who can finally let you heal from your trauma, all you ever wanna do is take Japanese lessons with your Very Good Boy friend who isn't your boyfriend. Let me just make that last part clear. He's just your very good friend, who just so happens to be a Very Good Boy, and the two of you don't even hold hands.

And then when it's time for your Very Good Boy friend to leave, to go to Japan and back to his regular Very Good Boy life, the moment you even think about going after him, you're gonna get stabbed in the street and murdered, as the consequences of your evil lifestyle finally catch up with you.

((Spoiler alert, btw.))

THAT'S HOW I'D READ IT, IF I WERE A CYNICAL PERSON

Luckily, I'm not a cynical person. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that all that could be inferred from a casual viewing. Surely, I'm just mad that the anime tagged with "gay" and "romance" didn't have enough obvious romance in it.

In conclusion, Banana Fish is a competently animated and drawn crime thriller. It's protagonist is a Mary Sue, but for the story it's telling that's not the worst thing he could be. Any sort of conspiracy theories I have about the writers and their opinion of gay people are probably irrelevant. 6/10. Watched it while I was sick. Killed time while the virus was being killed.

[moralesmilesanhour]

I feel like how they handled George and Gwen was so weird because he lets her go in the comics and gets fired because he refuses to pursue the spider-woman case any further. I guess they needed reason for why Gwen is in the spider society and that was the easiest thing to do. she’s so watered down in the spider verse partially because I suspect her inclusion happened because Sony wanted to appeal to the “girl demographic” and didn’t trust miles to pull people in by himself (let’s be real people hated his ass. They called him “Peter Darker” because he was too much like him, but in the same breath criticized his story because he didn’t suffer enough)

I’ve been reading her comics and I really get why she was a fan favorite. She’s so well written and you can feel that peters death really haunts her and informs pretty much everything about who she is. It’s like they replaced the emotional turmoil she had for peter with miles, which doesn’t work because they don’t know each other. Actually it’s not like; the intro drum solo was in the comics and it WAS about peter lol

I don’t know, I’m neutral on gwiles but I think it would be a much better resolution if they called it what it was—two incredibly lonely characters mistaking a platonic connection for a romantic one.

Honestly I have little else to add; I agree and thank you for bringing in the perspective of a comic book reader which I am not (but trying to be lmao).

I think the idea of replacing Gwen's Peter w Miles precisely gets at why their romance feels more like a trauma bond than any genuine romantic chemistry to so many people.

In terms of appealing to wider audiences, I wish the writers or whoever was responsible for that decision would have more faith in the characters they created and go all the way; the popularity of characters like Miles should've told them that they didn't need to attach his arc to that of a white person for people to be interested in his story. I hope that as they continue the process of writing btsv they see that and start acting like it