#i just love dumb sci fi stuff you guys

[sabrondabrainrot]

Bring back LAES!

I'm steadily making progress on catching up on sun and moon show along with foxy and monty etc etc but it's pretty difficult when one of the main key plot lines is gone. I know a few spoilers thanks to fanfiction but I want to see the drama in person.

Here's some outfit ideas for tsams cause I'm a sucker for fashion and redesigns!

Order is, SolarFlare - Lunar - NewMoon - Old Moon - Sunny (Solar's dimension) - Sun

closeups and more brainrot under the cut!

Explaining my redesigns! Lunar - he's not really a redesign and more so an overdesign. I love adding tons of little details to him to really hammer home his star-ness. He's such an interesting little guy, like yes he acts childish but I can see he's really growing (SAD I CANT WATCH MORE CAUSE THE SHOW IS GONE). I saw the ep he killed Eclipse and homeboy revived. The entire time I was like "Waaahh Lunar??? Waaahhh???" but I love the drama ngl.

SolarFlare - Same as Lunar, not really a redesign I just drew him with no dirt. I really love his base design it's so neat it makes me think of like sci-fi concepts from the 80's. Something from fallout really. I think it's kind of funny Eclipse's aesthetics for SolarFlare when you compare him next to say Jack who Solar designed.

OldMoon - I just wanted to give him a sleek mad scientist cool guy suave vibe. I saw the more recent thumbnails of him with a turtle neck and idk that's just peak character design for me. I'm a simple woman put the dumb-dumb in a dark turtleneck. I want him to kind of look like the BadGuy TM (he's not actually) so he gets all edgy and hard edges and stuff.

NewMoon - I wanted to do a similar color scheme but instead he has lighter colors like more white incorporated into his fit. To give him the whole 'reborn' aesthetic. He's all like "old moon wore black well I wear white now I'm nothing like him so hah!" kinda thinking. I gave his cap a fur texture cause of that one ep he turned into a furry. I drew rounder stuff on him cause he's a big ol' softy sweety pie.

Sunny - Sunny is my headcanon of Sun from Solar's dimension. I think it's really interesting his default with no personality was theater performance and not say...doing daycare stuff? I feel like honoring the FNAF books with this design by leaning heavily into the theater performer look. I like to think in Solar's dimension Sun and Moon were originally made for theater. (so far in the show I've noticed Creator says 'they needed a daycare attendant' something like that so it comes off more like they were intended for the daycare from the start VS. Solar's dimension where Sunny's core seems to be more so for the performing arts.) I also wanted to make Sunny look different from Sun for the extra angst potential of "They're similar but not the same" so I leaned more into a blue palette for him.

Sun - I just wanted to give him big puffy everything. I took away the tutu. nothing against the tutu I just hate drawing the damn thing. I like to think Sun in main has white eyes because he's so burnt out from within. *badum tish* (eyes are the window to the soul-) I also covered him in stickers because he totally would just be covered in stickers from the kids. I also decided to give some of his rays cracks because I think he's extremely sentimental and even in a newly upgraded body (after using star power to defeat Eclipse the first time) he'd keep rays from his original body? I also put the cracks ones on the side of his face where Old Moon hit him. Why? Because it just seems like something Sun would do. I love him so.

Ok just some brainrot stuff, look away to avoid spoilers .

RUIN DESTROYED HOW MANY DIMENSIONS?? SOLARS DEAD. LUNAR KILLED ECLIPSE. DARK SUN IS PLOTTING??? MOON BE CRYING??? Also Francine just had a birthday! ONE OF THE BLOODMOON BOYS ARE DEAD AND SAME WITH ONE OF THE STITCHY BOYS??? HELLO?!?

I love the drama.

Also, I love how every single kid vibe checks Sun and he passes every time. Francine? She loves Sun and learns from him. FC? He ONLY feels safe with Sun for a bit. Barry? He hugged Sun after gonad checking him (a right of passage for the bunny kid). Jack? I'm pretty sure he literally is just one room away from Sun at all times (he also calls Sun's cats his master???). I have yet to see Dazzle, but Dazzle 10000% loves Sun (I've seen the edits).

ALSO? When Lunar was first brought into the family the first person he hugged was Sun and then later on when Earth was in danger he ran into SUN's arms for safety/comfort. They're family your honor.

Sobbing and Crying laying on the floor over Solar's death but I think he'll be back.

Also the molten thing with Ruin? I'm excited to see more.

I don't have a youtube account to post about saving LAES but if anyone wants me to draw more LAES just to help the community please let me know. I'm planning to draw my idea of Earth next.

[robinbuckleyluvr]

⊹˚˖⁺ check you out - robin buckley

masterlist | requests

Summary: goodness! imagine robin buckley accidentally says she was checking you out...

Warnings: she/her pronouns used on reader

Notes: this was lowkey hilarious to write

Word count: 698

⸻⊱༺ 

The door opened, the familiar bell signaling the entrance of yet another customer. Robin barely had a second to look up and catch herself from dropping the VHS tapes she carried as she watched a girl come in. Steve was just as dazzled as Robin, he stumbled out his usual “Welcome to Family Video!” line, and Robin just… stared.

Robin and Steve made eye contact, both exclaiming “Dibs!” at the exact same time. 

“She looks like she would be into more intelligent conversation anyway,” Robin raised her eyebrows.

“Uh, rude?” Steve joked, making his way over to the girl before Robin could even respond, “Guess we’ll just have to find out.”

Robin sighed and crossed her arms, scouring her mind to think of an excuse to replace hush Steve away from the girl.

“Hey, uh, need any help around here? What are we browsing for today?” Steve flirted as he approached her.

“Just looking, I don’t have anything in mind,” she responded, a lack of interest filled her words, but it was a hint a guy such as Steve wouldn’t really get.

Robin, clearly amused, watched Steve’s desperate commentary, her mind running faster than ever. Okay, Robin, think! He is totally dumb and will fall for anything. You just have to come up with something that he will actually believe.

“Steve!” Robin exclaimed, “Can you please come help me? The computer is totally jammed again!” 

Steve sighed at Robin’s words as he muttered an apology to the girl, who didn’t really seem to mind as she kept on looking around. 

Robin stepped back as Steve approached the computer, and before he knew it, Robin had approached the girl already. Steve sighed and rolled his eyes as he realized the computer was working perfectly, watching Robin hurry away to speak to the girl instead.

“Hey! Hi, do you need any help?” Robin smiled nervously.

The girl offered a kind smile, “Thanks! I’m just unsure of what to get. Just looking for something to watch over the weekend I suppose.”

“Cool cool cool,” Robin breathed out, “Well, are you a rom-com kind of girl? Or do you like sci-fi movies and stuff?”

“Oh gosh…” She laughed, “Not a rom-com girl I don’t think… I avoid watching them alone. It's saddening, I prefer sci-fi for sure. I love horror, does that help?”

“Understandable! I’m the same,” Robin smiled, “But uh… sci-fi and horror! I can work with that.” She spoke shyly as she scanned the ‘horror’ shelf that stood behind the girl. 

The girl stood there quietly next to Robin as she looked around, Steve stood watching them from afar, having his eyes nearly popping out of his skull as he noticed the girl checked Robin out — something Robin, of course, had completely missed. 

“How about…” Robin spoke as she reached over to grab one of the VHS tapes, “‘The Shining’! A total classic. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies. Have you seen it before?”

“Are you joking? I love that movie. Wouldn’t mind re-watching it, I think.”

Robin’s face lit up as the girl accepted her request. “Alright! You’re all set then! I’ll just get you checked out.” Robin paused, flustered, “I mean, I’ll check you out—Not check you out like that, uh, check out your movie! Not that I wouldn’t, you know, check you out. I mean, wait, that’s not, I mean, get your movie checked. You checked. For the movie that you’re renting! Which… yeah — pay there?” She motioned to the counter and walked off, her voice increasingly getting higher with each word.

As she followed Robin to the counter, the girl shook her head slightly, a shy smile forming as she did so. 

[azure-clockwork]

How Does it Feel to Read Classic Sci-Fi?

Orson Scott Card: Two of the most interesting books you’ll ever read if you’re willing to look past a handful of things. And then you find the planet of Chinese people who worship having debilitating OCD. And the Mormonism. And the fact that the author is wildly homophobic and ought to read his own books.

Robert Heinlein (or at least the Wikipedia Summaries): I guess that’s a neat concept—oh, it’s a sex thing. Um. Gotcha.

Ray Bradbury: Man, I gotta read this thing for class huh. Well here’s hoping it’s good! *three hours later* oh. that’s why he’s famous. this will stick with me forever and I will never look at the phrase ‘soft rain’ the same again. christ. And then repeat 3x.

Isaac Asimov: Wow, this is such an interesting concept! I wonder how the exploration of it will influence the plot! Wait, hey, are you going to add any characters? Any of em? No like, with character traits other than ‘robot psychologist’ and ‘autistic’ and ‘woman’? None of em? No, ‘detective’ isn’t a character trait. Those are all just facts. Aaaand now I’m bored.

Ursula K. Le Guin: Hah, get a load of this guy! He’s never heard of nonbinary people before. Lol, what a riot; how dumb do you have to be to comprehend that these people aren’t men *or* women actually? Oh, wait, what’s happening. Oh shit, it was about society and love and learning to understand each other? And now I’m crying? And perhaps a better human being for it??

Andy Weir: Alright, this guy’s a really good writer. Funny, creative, knows so much engineering stuff…ooh, a new book! …I guess he can’t write women. Well, he wouldn’t be the first sci-fi writer…ooh another new book! And it’s more engineering problem solving and—wow. It’s not just women he can’t write. Please stop letting your characters talk to each other.

Lois Lowry: Oh, I remember this being fun when I was a kid! Wouldn’t it be fucked up to not see color? …upon reread, it would be fucked up to have your humanity stripped away, replaced with a tepid, beige ‘happiness’ for all time. Yeah.

Tamsyn Muir (let me have this ok): Haha, “lesbian necromancers in space” sounds fun. Lemme read this. Oh wow, yeah, this is right up my alley. OH GOD WHAT. NO. FUCK. OH SHIT WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING AND WHY IS IT REFERENCING THE BOOK OF RUTH AND HOMESTUCK BACK TO BACK!!! AHHHHHHHHH!! Now give me more please.

[padawansuggest]

Consider

Obi-Wan 7yo, wakes up from naptime in the creche after a Very Important Vision

Immediately skips bail to go out into the temple proper, following whispers of the force (more like cackling lmao) till he gets to a training salle

Training salle is occupied by 15-18yo padawans in the middle of practice, one of which being Kelleran Beq, The Sabered Hand, who is a cheerful teen who wants to be a creche master after he’s knighted

Of course an unaccompanied initiate in the salles is always a cause for concern, so Kelleran comes over to coax the boy into telling him why he’s wandered off

Obi: I’m going with you next month when you go to the production studios for your first filming of the Jedi Temple Challenge

Is questioned on if his creche master just told him that??

Nah he saw it in a dream

Cool cool cool Kelleran LOVES the possessed ones, they’re so cute

Asks kiddo why he thinks he’s going with

Cause Obi-Wan needs an escort to audition for the next season of Sesame System, a show that teaches children and reduces the galaxy’s gap of learning between the poor and the rich, so he can teach the galaxy about what it’s like to be a Jedi!

Okay okay that’s chill lil buddy, Kelleran will be in the production studio anyways cause they’re in the same place

Turns out the REAL Jedi Temple Challenge was the 10 under 10s Kelleran got to help wrangle along the way

Not fully sure where this is going other than Jango Fett (only 3 years older here and not 6) ending up on the same season of Sesame System only for him and Jaster (who’s also got the exact same goals of endearing the public to Mandalorians and is using the show to help point out the Mandalorian kids shows the galaxy can show their kids too, while Obi is pointing at Jedi Temple Challenge) to immediately decide that’s a prime little buddy and now they wanna keep him

The temple settles on a middle ground of letting them babysit Obi sometimes by sticking him in Mando production studios

Kelleran is very worried about baby getting kidnapped by the prince of Mandalore but accepts that Obi also really likes the prince they’re vode now

I. Fucking. Love. Childrens early educational shows and stuff like that. And I want to write an entire series about the shows the Jedi and Mandos could put out to endear themselves to the galaxy and it’s basically propaganda but not bad because the Sith could never get a foothold because Jedi are just sweet little guys with god powers what’s not to love lol

And then the ideas combined in my head when this last Mando episode reminded me of Jedi Temple Challenge (I never actually watched it but I did overall hear about it when it aired) and I decided Kelleran needs to make my dumb ideas a reality.

Obi’s master is a Jedi who’s been doing acting their whole life too but it can’t be Mace because Mace is a theater kid and not a kids show kid he needs a less theatric and more educational master 😔

Ani ends up being on a couple seasons of Sesame System (I specifically chose this as a parody idea because I have BEYOND respect for Sesame Street and I truly believe in the power of kindness and friendship the show likes to give us) when Obi-Wan first finds him and Ani is really nervous at first but they let him rant about sand on the show so they’re chill now

Qui-Gon is not Obi’s master but he DID get wrangled into taking Kelleran and the kids to the studio (it’s in fairly neutral area on a station, but around a planet for outdoor scenes because it’s just easier for legal reasons) and that led to them missing the Telos mission and Xanatos got therapy instead and Qui-Gon isn’t an asshole cause he’s still got his kids

Shmi works on the production station

More kids shows in fantasy and sci-fi settings plz.

[whatyourusherthinks]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show Review

God, you haven't seen this either? Have you watched ANY movies that didn't come out in the last ten years? Yes, my film history is filled with blind spots, but look on the bright side! I can tell you what I think about it in a modern retrospective kind of way!

What did I know about RHPS before watching it? Well, I remember playing The Time Warp on Just Dance 4 a lot. I saw the clip of the Sweet Transvestite song when I was probably too young to watch it. And I heard this movie was the pinnacle of so good it's bad. My friend Mary from the Video Booze podcast (I know you won't be reading this but HIIII MARY! Fuckin' name dropper over here.) loves the movie and is constantly telling me about the history and impact of this movie, so I went with her and my other friend/coworker (I know you won't be reading this either but HIIII! What, you aren't gonna tell us their name?) to see it. And well...

What's The Movie About?

It's astounding... Time is fleeting... Madness... Takes it's toll. But listen closely... Not for very much longer. I've got to... Keep control.

I REMEMBER Roan we don't have time to do the whole song. Aw...

What I Like.

THIS MOVIE IS FUCKING GREAT!

First of all, I like the story. It kinda steals from a bunch of classic horror movies in a very surface way. Like Doctor Frank-N-Furter is obviously a parody of Doctor Frankenstein, but he kinda acts like Dracula with all these people under his (sexual) thrall. Not to mention he's from Transylvania. But in a hilarious twist (Spoilers) TRANSYLVANIA IS A GALAXY IN THE MOVIE. THE TRANSYLVANIANS ARE ALIENS COMPLETE WITH SILVER AND GOLD OUTFITS AND LASERGUNS. It's so fucking funny, I absolutely loved it. This movie had me rolling in the aisles laughing. More to the point of the story, even though it heavily borrows from classic horror and sci-fi, it DEFINATELY is it's own thing. Doc Frank is such and iconic character and performance, I was really surprised that it was Tim Curry's first role in a movie! Admittedly he was playing the role on stage for a while, but stage and movie acting are two different things with different levels of elaboration. Everyone reprises their roles from the play, and they are all great. I STAN RIFF RAFF! His actor switching between two extremely different voices was so impressive!

And the music! HOT PATOOTIE BLESS MY SOUL! I REALLY LOVE THAT ROCK AND ROLL! Stop just singing every song! NO! THEY'RE ALL GREAT! I love musicals, especially ones with some darker themes. RHPS has some overt stuff like cannibalism, but the subtle storytelling implying Doc Frank's history as a concentration camp survivor is insane. Honestly, if Mary hadn't pointed it out I don't think I would have noticed. Also, I love rock and roll music! I was actually kinda impressed on how much storytelling was done in the lyrics of the music, because listening to most of them isolated, they just sound like songs! As much as I like them, there is a distinction between song written to be just listened to in isolation, and a song written to be part of a bigger story. RHPS has some songs that only really work in the context of movie (slash play) but The Time Warp, Hot Patootie/Bless My Soul, as well as a few other I can't think of of the top of my head work extremely well in isolation as well and perfectly slot into the storytelling of the movie.

This movie is so goddamn cool you guys.

What I Didn't Like.

Literally my only complaint is that the ending is a little too long. Like a skoosh. Mary told me the version we watched had one extra song stapled onto the ending, and the theatrical cut is much cleaner. So there's that.

Final Summation.

I think everyone who told me this movie is so bad it's good was too straight and dumb. Hey! This movie is actually, legitimately, really really fucking good! I think it may have became one of my favorite movies ever. The music, the queerness, the acting and story, it's all fucking perfect. Check it out if you like anything remotely related to this movie, old horror, musicals, queer people, cross dressers, rock and roll, fucking... Charles Atlas. Rocky Horror Picture Show is SO GOOD!

It's just a jump to the left.

AND THEN A STEP TO THE RIIIIIIIIIIGHT! Oh just end the review down already.

[stevecoven]

I'm intrigued by the Sturphy coffee AU snippet you wrote -- do you have headcanons or anything for a fully mundane modern AU? Anything urban fantasy or modern-with-magic flavored? What kind of mundane dynamic or scenario fits them best do you think?

The coffee shop is a fully mundane human AU! It's set in Gravesfield (the human realm town in TOH) but that's the only connection to the canon, it's literally just a fluffy slice of life meet-cute kind of story. Murph runs a coffee shop/bakery that they took over from their dad, and Steve is the new guy who delivers their catering supplies/keeps coming in on his days off because the pastries are just that good. They both flirt, get awkward, go on dates, indulge in a little melodramatics, drift apart, get back together right at the end like any good rom com

Another mundane/modern AU I have is where Steve is in a scrappy little band (with the bards) and Murph is the hot bartender that he keeps running into at gigs in pubs and ramshackle venues. It's half Scott Pilgrim and half based on the local music scene in my own city, which I have a lot of love for

I don't think I've got any urban fantasy stuff at the moment?? TOH is a little bit of that with all the weird magic tech and anachronisms so I tend to skew towards either completely mundane or super high fantasy/sci fi. For the latter I love doing big grand conflicts and lots of epic drama but for mundane stuff I guess I like stripping all that away and giving them "real" issues and problems to fight over, it makes me really drill down into who they are as people rather than how their environment affected them (for example: Murph is not always disabled, and their attitude towards their body is very different depending on the nature of it). I also just love dumb low-consequence fluff. Workplace meet-cutes and best friends falling for each other are my faves 💕

[silviakundera]

Love's Rebellion ep 4 -8 watch comments (warning: these are my raw thoughts, so can be critical. don't read if that will upset you.)

I am enjoying the drama now less than in the first 3 episodes. I think it's that I have limited patience for nice characters pretending to be menacing. I'm ready for them actually to be communicating with each other and working off the same page.

I can see that he's becoming soft for her, since she's so obviously a nice person (and because of seal thingy we know he canonically has a pure heart). But I want more sexual and/or romantic tension than what they are giving so far. ML has made some effort but I'll be honest, I'm feeling nothing coming back from the FL actress. (i.e. nothing in her micro expressions & body language)

Gonna try to fast forward thru things.

Fox clan prince has been introduced. He doesn't like women; he only loves himself. So there is our first grey character.

Episode 5

It's so dumb that she believes in the fake death curse that I refuse to acknowledge this is happening

They are finally turning on some romance but guys, slow mo and mid music is not the answer. Just ask them to both ACT like they're falling in love.

The Great Sect dicks are being dicks, except 1 junior good boy

Young Dragon Lord is still a bro. Very appealing loser.

Episode 6-8

Continuing the situation where she's a nice person, but there's little in her individual performance that indicates she likes him that way. While it's clear that he has started falling for her.

Fox guy is just annoying. Sorry to all fox fans out there.

ah, memories of Super Sus Shifu. Why did ML of the canonically pure heart plead guilty? 🤔 The reason is gonna be some noble idiocy, I'm sure.

More contrived misunderstandings. The writing is forcing her to be annoyingly foolish. Why would she assume he is only after her pearl when he's never been the slightest bit interested in it?

This thing where they are always at odds for petty reasons, a fake-ass enemies to lovers, is wearing thin. Real enemies to lovers, I like. This stuff isn't to my taste. I am not a determined-to-dispute, bickering to lovers trope fan.

Now everyone's in mortal peril from boat lady, the demon elder of Evil Path sect. Sadly, she also bores me.

I like ML and FL ok (when they are getting along) and I do like Dragon bro. Add in fox and demon jiejie and 💤💤💤

Ugly cgi gremlin makes another appearance

ML shows up finally as backup. But will this just end up another annoying misunderstanding?

So after he rescues her and puts her necklace back on, they actually have a mutual romantic moment!

She's finally figured out he's a Canonically Pure Heart™ who is all bark, no bite

Now can you just get along for multiple episodes in a row???

There is absolutely no reason to forgive duplicitous fox boy and not wipe his memory and kick him the fuck out. 😑

On the plus side, we are finally getting some warm vibes back from her

oh how nice, poisioned hot pot. The fox betrayed them AGAIN. And once again he just says shit and FL lets it go. 😒

We actually get a moment of her appearing attracted to Shao Cang! 😯

I still attest that you don't need lense flares, slow mo, or tinted filters to communicate affection. Just acting. Someone ring Richard Li, he can show you how it's done.

I have enjoyed objectively worse & lower budget dramas, but somehow LR isn't clicking in with me. It somehow doesn't have that cdrama feel that compels me... Perhaps I'm not hooking into that emotional sincerity; so many things are constantly happening but they feel like noise and I don't have emotional resonance from the episodes. Characters are frequently picking at each other & prodding at each other, which fills up time on screen but that's what it all feels like... filler. Somehow the vibes remind me less of a cdrama and more about the fantasy adventure genre of tv series that were being aired on Sci-fi (Syfy) network and the BBC circa 2005 - 2015. And tbh I mostly watched those shows because of fandom participation and fan outputs, not for the media product on its own.

I've commented before that cdramas finally introduced me to "good guy" characters that I wholeheartedly love and see as badass. But these leads aren't that style of protagonist. This isn't Xie Lian, Shen Qiao, Tang Fan, et al. So I'm left wishing that FL and ML were more ruthless, calculating, and grey.

[cbk1000]

Hi there!

Ive recently stumbled across your works, and I just wanted to say that I enjoy your writing soso much!! Each time i read any of ur pieces, i feel ever so blessed that i can read them for freee,,, ??like wow!! I absolutely love your characterization of arthur, and any piece of banter you write never fails to make me laugh!

Your writing style is so addictive, ive honestly found myself missing it when I read anything else. Because of this, id like to ask if you have any book recs? hehee anything that inspired that brain and writing of yours seems like it would be a worthwile read!! From ur alltime favs, or recent favs, comfort books, or books that gave u personal epiphanies, pls feel free to not hold back !! (If its not too much trouble)

And once again, thank you soso much for all your lovely works!! 💗

I LOVE talking about books, so thank you so much for this ask. This is a very truncated list of some of my favourite authors and books because if I wanted to talk about all of them, that would be a post as long as one of my fics.

First up is Terry Pratchett, who I came to rather late; I just started reading Discworld in 2020, despite @clonemaster-general and @jinxedwood telling me years earlier I should read him, so they should feel free to be smug about the fact that I ignored their sound advice for a long time and then went, "Ok, where do I sign up for the cult" after reading approximately one (1) Pratchett novel.

Discworld is a fantasy satire series that's over 40 books long, but those 40+ books simply take place in the same world and do not have to be read in order, although I would recommend reading any subseries featuring the same characters in order (the City Watch books starting with 'Guards! Guards', the Witches starting with ''Wyrd Sisters' etc.) Pratchett did write some non-Discworld books, although the bulk of his very large body of work is that series. He was a very gifted writer who was able to present the stupidity and injustices of humanity in a way that made you laugh and feel that it's bearable to live alongside these things. No other author has made me laugh so much at dumb little puns or dick jokes and then suddenly slapped me with a banger of a line about human nature.

'The Once and Future King' by T.H. White. A retelling of Malory's 'Le Morte d'Arthur'. It's silly, it's touching, it asks why humans go to war. If you're tired of relentless grimdark, this book shows you that a novel can explore serious themes and ask serious questions of its readers while also being a bit silly and stupid, because like suffering, silliness and stupidity is an intrinsic part of the human experience.

'The Left Hand of Darkness' by Ursula Le Guin. I could really just say, "All of Ursula Le Guin's stuff" because I've read several novels, a ton of her short stories, plus most of her essay collections and I've loved them all, but I wanted to mention this one particularly because Le Guin was examining our ideas of gender and society in the fucking 60s and I'm tired of hearing right-wing nutjobs bang on about trans people like they're some alien species newly landed on our planet to kidnap our children. Also, what I love about Le Guin's sci-fi is that she was concerned primarily with the culture of alien societies, not laser guns, and her world building is incredibly deep in that regard. Her father was an anthropologist, and you can see how his studies shaped her writing.

'The Lymond Chronicles' by Dorothy Dunnett. I love me a good swashbuckler, and these are some good swashbucklers. There's also some really beautiful prose that really evokes the landscapes of 15th century Europe, and her action/battle scenes are some of the most gripping I've read. The caveat with this one is that I actually don't like the main character all that much; he's a real special guy who speaks all the languages, is good at all the things, is a master strategist at 20, and is hot to boot. But the story is told mostly through the POVs of other characters that get caught up in his exploits so you're not stuck in his insufferable perspective, and I found the books overall (there are six in the series) very hard to put down.

'The Count of Monte Cristo' by Alexandre Dumas. The OG swashbuckler, really. Shipwrecks! Duels! Poison! Revenge! People just don't do dramatic adventure novels like Dumas anymore.

'War and Peace' by Tolstoy. I can't not mention this; I've read it twice so far in English and once in Russian. Tolstoy was an amazing observer of human nature. Also, he clearly thought Napoleon was a little bitch and reading about him from the perspective of a Russian novelist is quite entertaining after reading about him from Victor Hugo's perspective.

'Les Miserables' by Victor Hugo. I also have to mention this one. Yes, there are very lengthy asides on the Parisian sewer system. In the middle of a chase scene. But tbh, Hugo was curious about everything and while maybe he talked about every single one of those things a bit too long, it still endears him to me. Also, he was known more as a poet than a novelist by contemporary readers, and even in translation I think the fact that he was a poet really comes through in the prose.

Also, really anything by Patricia McKillip if you want dreamy, poetic fantasy that feels like being dropped right into the middle of a fairytale where magic has no hard rules and is something a bit wild and dangerous and beautiful.

I also read a lot of non-fiction, so I'll just list a few of my faves: 'Survival in Auschwitz' by Primo Levi; 'The Gulag Archipelago' by Alexandre Solzhenitsyn; James Herriott's 'All Creatures Great and Small' series; 'Landmarks' by Robert Macfarlane (but really any of his nature writing; this one I liked particularly because it's about the power of language to evoke a sense of place and how our vocabulary for the natural world is slowly being subsumed by our increasingly technologically-driven world). 'The Demon-Haunted World' by Carl Sagan, which was written in the 90s but if anything is even more relevant today as we struggle with parsing the mythology of pseudoscience and the real-world harm it perpetuates.

And I read a fuck ton of poetry, so I'll just rattle off a list of some of my favourite poets: Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg, Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brooks, Edward Thomas (I also love his nature writing), Alexandre Blok, Pushkin, Ursula Le Guin (she's primarily known as a novelist, but she has some very good poetry as well), Mikhail Lermontov, Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Pope, Tennyson (particularly Idylls of the King), Seamus Heaney, and Yeats.

Anyway, this is a small sampler of books I've read and loved.

[floatinginzerogravity]

I did an Analysis of the Murder Drones Pilot for my friends and am deciding to post it: Pt.1

Okie, It's Murder Drones explanation time

okay, first of all, I've waited LITERAL MONTHS to do this, and WILL be pointing out every tiny detail, and would very much love to do this with every episode. (I am happy stimming so much right now)

If you don't feel like reading all this, I can provide a condensed version. I will just send a wall of text, I will fill it with my theories and goofy bg details, I will send excessive screenshots of the characters, and I will not feel shame. Be warned

so, The year is 3000 something, and humanity has been colonizing other planets, using half-sentient worker drone robots to mine them. Humanity then blows up the planet by accident (oops)

Just for clarity, this is not earth, it's a completely separate planet around 70 light years away called Copper 9 (Side note, it's technically impossible for a moon to have rings. oops, the show is scientifically inaccurate, it's ruined now/j) Anyway, the core collapse killed all humans and turned the atmosphere into a "toxic death storm" (description lovingly borrowed from N) The Worker drones, now free from human control, discovered their sentience. They build a society based on the human one before it, with families, schools, and all the other stuff

The Robot Sentience side tangent: Liam Vickers, show creator, when asked about the Drone's sentience- "It was kind of a basic, limited version... the disaster that happened on their planet that kind of left them kind of stranded, kind of played into their adaptive AI abilities.... You need a sort of intelligence to not fall over... it expands to keeping them alive in various circumstances" Basically, they were programmed to do certain tasks, and when humanity was wiped out, their goals changed and they were given the space to find their own sentience. Sentience can also occur if they're in an environment that promotes sentience or if their damaged/corrupted in some way

JCJenson (in Spaaaaccce) (aka the company that created the drones and runs colonization. The name of the company is also, apparently, based on a cleaning company. BCBoston or something) Decides they don't like sentient AI running around and sends Disassembly Drones to Copper 9 to wipe them out

(Text: "CALCULATING, MOST PROBABLE DEITY TO PRAY TO)

The implication here is that the blue guy threw his child when the attacks started. (I think the fandom named him Bob or something similar) This is the first example of the A+ parenting of Murder Drones characters.

V's just perched on a lampost lol. Very Creature™️ of her

Bg text #3 I guess

[Text: Photo cred: some dead dude lol] [Text: "dying is stupid and also dumb" -me, idk]

[Text: How do we fix this in a complicated Sci-fi way] So, Uzi wants to fight, and everyone else wants to hide, basic plot stuff, moving on

Her railgun has stickers lol

[Text: "Violently opposed to biological life" The rest is readable]

Khan (Uzi's dad) being the worst™️, an image collection

Something that will forever irk me until the day I die is why a robot has Testosterone????? Don't they not even have biological genders, or biology, like, at all???? I don't think robots need hormones, bud

I once saw someone point out that this is probably one of the first times someone has been nice to Uzi, as she has no friends, is bullied, and her father is a bit neglectful <- Understatement (I do want to say that Khan isn't as bad as most of the fandom seems to think he is. Doesn't mean he's good either, though)

Baby's first "Bite me", I'm so proud. (Fun fact, in Spanish she says "Jodete", which translates to "Fuck you!" )

HSDHJDSFNJKDSHJDFHGJFGBKJDFDKJG WHY DO YOU HAVE HORMONES?????? YOUR FREAKING ROBOTS???!!!!!! WHYYYYYYYYY (Plot: Uzi says that she plans to sneak out to find the last part for her railgun, and in the next scene she is waking up at 3:00am to do just that) Now time for deciphering Uzi's sticky notes

[Text: To do: >Talk to source

>...

>(I can't read the rest)] [Text: RESEARCH: How to turn "REALLY sad all the time" into "Look really cool"]

[Text: LIMAL NO 4EYA!!!!!] <- I have no clue what this means [Text:Murder ??? Matter ???? really at c?????] <- Again, no clue what this means

[Text: Uzi Dos-] [Text: Yeaahhhh, I'm not reading that]

Location: Khan's closet where Uzi steals the "Door Master" key from

"Yeah, everyone has a picture of their family where one member is mysteriously ripped out in their closet."/s -Liam Vickers, paraphrased from a reddit AMA

[Text: WDF of outpost 9 [Having faithfully made a slab of metal that can be a wall but also not a wall, on the 11th day of December, three thousand and ???]

[Text: You cannot be murdered by scary robots when .... a door, (unless they open it) A scientific]

I find it interesting that the DD's are referred to as "Murder Drones," which is not their technical name. It seems to be something only the WD colonies use

Fun fact: this line is a bit of a meme in the MD community

Plot: Uzi manages to lie her way out of the WD colony, enters the Corpse Spire, and finds the required part for her railgun. As she goes to leave, she's attacked by a DD, who she defeats with her railgun, only for it's head to regenerate.

[cosmicatta]

I have so many questions about your lawlu childeren, I love them 😭❤️

What does Ola usually write? 👀 (somehow I can see her writing the weirdest stuff no matter the genre xD)

And is Taiga's garden more flowery or more vegetable/herb/Usopp type garden?

And the golden question, how did the crews react when they first found out there's going to be a baby around and worse, that it's going to a mini Lawlu mix? There are so many ways I can imagine that going and I need to know how it actually went xD

AAAHHH thank you so much, I'm really glad! 🥺💜 I love talking about them, these questions are making me vibrate:

1 - What does Ola usually write?

She has a preference for fantasy and sci-fi, and you're absolutely correct, it's always weird. The kind of weird where you're not sure if it's pure surrealism or if you just don't get it because you're dumb.

Law seems to get it though, he says her writing is "deeply allegorical and profound, a reflection of human nature through a distorting mirror." Whatever that's supposed to mean. He's proud.

2 - What kind of garden does Taiga keep?

Flowery garden! He grows some herbs and fruit trees too, but it's mostly flowers, vines, cacti, etc. He's very dedicated to his plants, it's a huge tragedy whenever something bad happens to one of them (which is not very often, because he's extremely careful).

He never kills the bugs though. If they are damaging the plants, he takes them somewhere else and feeds them (sometimes he ends up keeping them too).

3 - How did the crews react to lawlu having a baby?

There were mixed reactions for sure. The Heart pirates were shocked at first, and definitely a little worried, but overall just very happy for Law. All of them wanted to be "the cool uncle/auntie" and couldn't wait to spoil the baby (everyone was jealous of Bepo once Ola was born, because he was very obviously the favorite).

The Strawhats, on the other hand... they know Luffy enough to know there are things to be very worried about. Well, at least some of them were worried. Robin and Zoro were just like "omg congrats :)", Franky got "SUUUUUPER" emotional, but I can see Nami, Sanji and Usopp having some kind of "emergency meeting" about the news:

Usopp: Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them—a litte weirded out, yes, but happy—but, guys... A human being that's half Luffy and half Trafalgar Law? I can't be the only one who thinks this is a dangerous idea. That baby is going to be terrifying.

Sanji: Oh my god, what if the baby eats as much as Luffy?! What's going to happen to me?!

Nami: Guys, calm down, this is important! Our mission is to be positive role-models for the baby once it's born. That way, we can maybe mitigate the effects of the Trafal-Luffy genes. The child can still be normal if we try hard enough.

But once Ola is born, their only concern is "protect Pirate Princess!" The child did not, in fact, turn out normal at all, but they all still love her (and Taiga!) to death.

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron: Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 19: The Buried Castle Season 2: Episode 20: Pidge's Home Planet

Episode 19: The Buried Castle iirc this is the one where Pidge acts like a big brother to a group of kids, very cute episode

3 little kids are walking through the woods and find an abandoned castle after feeling a quake, obvs they must explore it because they're explorers, so they run for it already I'm questioning why they're even in the forest in the first place, have your parents taught you rugrats NOTHING?

The team saw it too through castle monitors, apparently it just came out of nowhere which is never a good sign There's a legend attached to it though, about a war long ago where people fought over its abandoned treasure but ended up destroying so much shit that the kings of the nearby kingdoms buried it because they couldn't destroy it Weird castle, no wonder people acted stupid for it

Pidge and Lance banter over whether going there is a good idea, your honor they're so sibling coded I love them and their dynamic so much

Pidge is allowed to go explore for treasure lol except Allura tells him to bring a mouse in case of trouble this is what we call foreshadowing people doivsdv

He ends up meeting the kids who are thoroughly freaked out in the forest and mistake him for a monster before he recruits them to help find the treasure Pidge ily but that is so dangerous for little kids, these guys are younger than you, and you're like 12 tops

Haggar and her cat appear, as per usual, and she messes with the little girl, Morgan, by casting a spell to have a hand grab at her from underground only for it to be a stick when Pidge gets it off her As expected, twas a trap, but also Pidge don't be so rude to the girl, she's scared out of her mind already

They get in and find a room with a treasure chest and stuff their pockets full of gems or whatever else was in it my first thought was that it was going to be a mimic, but no just shiny gems lol

Plot twist, not gems, they're actually snakes and toads, and the group only finds out after Pidge sees the cat and tries to lead the kids to the exit only to get locked in oh, also the room is spinning, and more hands lock the kids in place until they're trapped inside a huge bell still upside down The mouse comes in handy, and he's off to get some help

After Allura tells the team Pidge is trapped with some kids Keith is going worried mother hen on him and tries to radio in, to no avail how cute, I'm glad we get some found family moments

Oops, Haggar knew they were coming and as they approached the door she threw a skeleton army at them that apparently can rebuild themselves is that an ancient greek myth reference?

Keith lets the other three run inside while he shoots at the skeletons but they get trapped in the same bell anyway, then Haggar calls a robeast to LIFT THE CASTLE OUT OF THE GROUND AND TAKE IT TO DOOM this episode is so wild oh my god, also there was an animation error with Hunks sleeves in the bell, they were cut short!

Keith was on the castle when it got pulled out and decides to climb the tethers to stop the robeast himself Dude,, thats so dumb what the fuck

Some drule fighters get sent out and start shooting at him which makes him fall but obvs he's got mc protection so he lands on one of the fighters AND BREAKS IN TO CRASH LAND IT TO BLACK Keith what the actual fuck, task failed successfully

The castle is cut loose AND CRASHES ONTO ARUS SOMEHOW NOT KILLING EVERYONE IN THE BELL look i know this is a sci-fi show but no way is that believable in this setting either

Voltron forms up AND APPARENTLY HAS NUNCHUCKS?? HELLO?? NO WONDER NOBODY CAN DEFEAT THE GUY HE HAS AN ARMORY AT HIS DISPOSAL

After the robeast is defeated Pidge is training the kids like soldiers and Lance calls him out on there being no training for being a treasure hunter

Lance: besides there's no such thing as real treasure kid 1: that's not true we found a real treasure in Pidge! IFVNSODV THAT'S SO CUTE OMG

/episode end

Episode 20: Pidge's Home Planet Ah shit, the episode I was dreading and the reason why I hate Coran so much

Starting off with coronation talk! Allura obvs is next in line for the throne and nanny talks about the crown her father and his father before him wore at their coronation I like to think Allura isn't the only girl who gets crowned as ruling monarch but this is a big deal!

ofc there's talk of marriage before she does and Nanny refers to the boys as "things" she needs to let go, so she can settle down and be a proper princess/queen AND PROCEEDS TO BE THE MOST CLASSIST BITCH IN EXISTENCE how fucking rude, I refuse to respect this woman ever

Jfc,, Nanny says that if they don't leave after Allura gets married/Voltron isn't needed anymore then they can be her guards that do nothing but answer to her every whim, and then Coran tries to say it's not them forcing marriage on Allura it's the Arusian populations what a fucking joke, how can they treat their literal heroes like they're space bums as Hunk put it

Hell yeah, the boys stormed about because of the treatment, except they go do some scans of space and Pidge finds out his home planet, Balto, is getting hit by some pretty big missiles This kid is like 12 tops dude,, that's gotta be a tough sight

OOOH MY BLOOD IS ON FIRE, the boys are starting to rush to go give Balto some aid but apparently Allura Coran and Nanny know and decided TO BRING THE FUCKING GUARDS INTO IT AND CORAN PUTS THE TEAM ON HOUSE ARREST AFTER THEY REFUSE TO STAY ON ARUS Their reason is that they're afraid Arus will be left defenseless and normally that'd be fine EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT THEY'VE GONE OFF PLANET MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE

Pidge isn't having it and starts beating up the guards, the boys follow suit before rushing to the lions, except Allura starts sobbing and begging Keith that they need to stay like it's not that I don't understand her worry because it's a fair thing to fear EXCEPT YOU'RE WILLING TO LET A PLANET BE DESTROYED? EVEN MORE SO THAT IT'S ONE OF MY PLANET'S OWN SAVIORS HOME?? FUCK COMPLETELY OFF

Coran: I can't blame them for going, let's give them a proper send off (PROCEEDS TO SHOOT ALL THE CASTLES WEAPONS AT THE LIONS TO STOP THEM FROM LEAVING ATMOSPHERE) ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, THIS IS WHY CORAN IS ON MY HITLIST

Lance: Beneath that hard shell there beats a heart... a heart of solid granite GET HIS ASS MCCLAIN

Of course those assholes were right and Zarkon planned Balto's attack as a distraction for the team, so he can conquer Arus, Lotor gets sent to make sure the boys can't teamwork their way out of danger I want to bite into a block of wood holy shit, this episode is bringing up all the damn rage

The team gets to Balto, Keith and hunk tell pidge to steel himself which is sweet of them, and the first thing they see is decimation, Lance says that everything is wiped out but Pidge argues that they don't know that my poor boy, he shouldn't be out there, but he's part of the only team who can even do anything

Oh god, the team finds Pidge's hometown and Pidge can't even recognize it, everyone is starting to tear up now, especially Pidge who's trying to be strong as he goes down to search for anyone, to no avail Pidge says his people got off planet in time, but I refuse to believe that especially if the attacks came out of nowhere which they most likely did

Lance gets really sentimental about Pidge's culture and civilization being turned to dust in just a day before Lotor attacks and sends them to their lions He's always been my second favorite and these small pieces of dialogue are part of the reason why

Lotor sends out a robeast and starts absolutely kicking the teams' ass, apparently Keith and Allura have a telepathic link because he asks for her help because they're a team, and she finally realizes that he's right, so she rushes off to do the right thing About fucking time princess, I don't think Pidge will ever trust you again though

As she gets there the boys are still getting beat up but they're fighting hard for Balto, Lance digs his way towards a volcano and sets the bitch off to give the team time to regroup and finally see allura again to form Voltron and as always the fight is won, but not without a major loss

The team has to fly off planet asap because the fight destabilized it so much it starts to break apart My heart hurts, the entire team is sobbing, and Pidge can only whisper for his home

Lance sympathizes with him, his own home had been destroyed, even if it wasn't a planet wide destruction like Pidge's He's definitely going to look after Pidge a lot more after this, brotherhood to the max

The planet finally explodes, Pidge cries for not being able to see his house one last time, his family apparently was off world, so he doesn't even know where they are either Iirc Pidge and his twin were adopted, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were off visiting some place, and his twin is part of the vehicle force while I'll cover after dotu

Allura tells him she's going to make him an Arusian citizen in response to not having a home anymore which he accepts, and they make their way back to Arus for a banquet in honor of his new citizenship It's a sweet gesture and definitely appropriate but christ, this kid lost him home right in front of his eyes, he seems ok at the end of the episode, but nobody would be after that

/episode end

[oddygaul]

Rise of the Dawn of the War for the Planet of the Apes

Yeah okay the marketing got me and I watched all these movies.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

You know, honestly, with this first one… there’s a hundred things about it I could pick apart*, but the emotional core works so I’m here for it. Like, fuck, who am I kidding, of course I want to see a story about apes gaining human-level intelligence and banding together for a heist scene to escape humanity, hell yeah, brother, that rules. I’m here for any movie with the wherewithal to give a sci-fi-ass concept like that a serious, modern take and lean into its strengths. And then, on top of that, they actually managed to create a character as compelling as Caesar? It’s hard to complain too much.

*The company going to human trials literally 5 minutes after the success of one single trial monkey, James Franco’s girlfriend somehow never questioning Caesar for years, the humans randomly making the drug into a gas canister right when it’s convenient for the plot, the absolute lack of response to the giant band of apes rolling through the city, the apes’ incredible immunity to glass cuts from the dozens of windows they smash through…

I will take a moment to say, though, James Franco’s whole character is goofy as fuck and I could not take him seriously. He honestly feels like he stepped straight outta Spider-Man 3, like Franco was really gunning for that Norman Osborne callback. I was, at any given moment, expecting him to bug out his eyes and go punch out some board members.

The biggest missed opportunity in this movie imo is Jacob not reaching out with his palm facing upwards in this scene, to echo the supplication gesture

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Right from the jump this one gets pretty dumb. Look, I get that the point is that humans are just as tribalistic, violent, and stupid as any species, but the human group's reaction of “Wow, we came into contact with sapient apes, and they even speak our language and fully understand us, making communication easily possible! Welp, guess our only option for conflict resolution here is immediate violence” is so cartoonish it was hard for me to take anything seriously afterwards.

They even double down on this exaggerated conflict by turning Koba into an antagonist. In Rise, I loved that this scary-looking, scarred-up ape was a good guy. Typically, a viewer would assume such a character design is cleary indicating a villain. With Koba, though, the scars are all visual reminders of the pain inflicted on him by his human tormentors - he looks scary because of what was done to him, not because of what he’s done. The beginning of Dawn seems to continue this trope reversal - Caesar and Koba seem to have a mature understanding of each other, with Caesar respecting the valid experiences underlying Koba’s feelings towards humans, and Koba trusting Caesar to do what’s best despite his misgivings. This is then thrown away seemingly just so we can get a big ape showdown on a skyscraper for the finale.

In general, Dawn feels much more like it’s trying to be a big blockbuster at the expense of its writing. Rise felt like a solid exploration of its concept; a lot of dumb things happened, yeah, but ultimately in service of the story, with the action sequence at the end feeling like an afterthought. Dawn, on the other hand, almost feels like it’s coming up with excuses to throw in dumb, big-budget action scenes. And they’re fine and all - it’s hard to argue with the cinematic power of a bonobo dual-wielding assault rifles on horseback - but I would’ve preferred a slower, more thoughtful sci-fi story about the apes’ developing culture.

I did dig the sorta cheesy old-school scoring of this one - lots of random timpani hits and weird flutes and stuff. And this is as good a point as any to acknowledge that god damn, is the CGI in these movies great. Aside from a few rare moments, where the lighting just barely gives away that the apes aren’t really present, the effects work is totally believable and does a lot of heavy lifting to keep the series engrossing.

The very end was a good moment, too, with Caesar’s acknowledgement that peace with humans is no longer an option. It’s a depressing but accurate read of the situation - it doesn’t matter what anyone’s intentions were beforehand, and it doesn’t matter that individuals within the two groups understand each other, each in-group as a whole is irreparably distrustful of the other going forward. Once that history has been written, it’s damn hard to let go of it.

War for the Planet of the Apes

The start of this one is pure schlock lol. The monkeys riding around on horseback like desperados, Woody Harrelson’s silly-ass performance, the little girl that joins them for your token inspirational human-ape bonding moments… goofy.

where we droppin boys

Despite that start, though, I thought this one ended up being kind of a bummer. It seems like the apes being trapped in the military camp was an attempt to recapture the magic of Rise’s escape arc, but it isn’t quite as fun for a number of reasons. The stakes have been raised so high that the mood is tense and grim, rather than exhilarating; the human opponents are too deadly for all that many antics to happen; and the snowy environment feels oppressive, and doesn’t offer anything as visually exciting as the dense forests we were watching the apes swing through one movie ago. The whole thing just ends up feeling a bit drab and bleak.

It’s pretty wild how much Caesar looks like Andy Serkis, honestly. I wouldn’t think you could get such a likeness on a chimpanzee without killing the believability, but here we are.

So, the trilogy overall… I dunno, kinda trash, but good trash. Monkey brain like watching monkey, but it’s nothing that’s really gonna stick with me too much.

[ultfreakme]

Hi.....Do you mind if I ask you some random thing? I used to love shounen and shoujo manga equally....But ever since I found BL manga 3 years ago, my interest in shoujosei (especially het romance) decrese a lot, and what I search for is just the dynamic between mc (male) and male lead...I don't want to read mc (female) and male lead or mc (male) and female lead...And what I want to read mostly are just mlm or wlw stories....

What do you think is happening to me? Is it really weird?

I don't mind at all go ahead with random asks(as long as it's not about my personal life or anything I'm chill most of the time)!!

I remember this happening to me when I was a wee lass about 607 years ago when I discovered BL/GL not straight content. I just fully stopped consuming shojo and josei. I don't think it's weird, I've seen a lot of people say that they exclusively read and watch BL stuff. Nothing strange is happening to you(I remember feeling like that as a kid), it might be a shift in the perspective of storytelling. Or, lbr, the hot boys are being hot and the cute boys are being cute without any misogyny being shoved in our faces all the time so it's fun.

From my experience, I think I made the switch because I found a lot of BLs to be way less toxic solely because there wasn't a female character to impose dumb misogynistic hetero-conforming stereotypes on. I think about 70% of the shojo manga I read was very toxic and I read them when I was in middle school and high school with no ability to parse that what's right in fiction isn't good in real life. Shojo mangas were fun because I used to like romance, and a lot of the stories were about normal or 'ugly' girls finding their perfect prince charming bad boy, becoming beautiful and living happily ever after.

It was wish fulfillment, self-insert a lot of the time, and I wanted what the MC female characters had because apprently getting a hot boyfriend and getting pretty was the key to happiness. Except....as I grew up I realized the perfect love interest guys are actually all weird af. Shojo mangas often reinforce a lot of heterosexual ideas. Like a boy being mean to a girl is romantic interest, losing your virginity is a big special thing, that you just have to dress prettier and wear makeup and have a glo-up otherwise your life will remain shit(oh you glasses-wearing HEATHEN lmaooo). Something in my brain went, "this is what i want? this strange song and dance of tolerating bad behaviour and changing myself entirely is what I should do?". The happy ending was also always a wedding, pregnancy and having two kids(which fucking terrified me). And so, shojo and josei fully lost their appeal.

BL and GL though......there is no self-insert, there is no heterosexual gendered biases coming into play. The couples are made to stand on equal footing without anyone going "you're a girl so I'll protect you" or "you're a guy so I'll take care of you and cook for you" or whatever. I'm not a guy, so all my irl issues are FULLY detached and irrelevant in BL stories. Also I discovered around the same time I was bisexual/pansexual/some fucking queer thing. And around this time, BL webtoons were so different with their plots like I got romance + fantasy settings or sci-fi settings or crime dramas etc. I haven't read many GL, Tamen De Gushi and The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All are the more prominent ones I remember, I think for GL i usually consume western media so I can't say much on GL manga.

I just, got tired of seeing heterosexual romance because in josei and shojo, those dialogues and ideas that define their relationship often actively dismissed queer relationships and as a baby queer, that didn't sit right with me. "We're a guy and a girl who hang out a lot, so we have to be romantically interested" or "I'm just girl, I can't help but like being in the arms of a guy" or "She's a girl, and she's tiny and I like holding her" blah blah BLAH.

BL ALSO does this but at least someone in-story would go "actually no fuck you my looks don't mean anything" even if it's once or twice and ultimately it at least looks like a choice that they fall into certain 'roles'. And in the GL media I saw, this doesn't even come up as a thing to discuss. Society isn't forcing them to be anything, in fact their parents and friend circles are weirded out about it at times.

I actually stopped reading BLs now too tbh. I like action/adventure and fighting plots so the romance genre doesn't give me much. I don't know your specific reason for switching to mainly BL and GL, but I gotta say, it's hard to find the really good stuff in shojo/josei sometimes and the kind of romances they have are kind of formulaic if that's the focus of the story. There are a bunch shojo/josei I still remember fondly; NANA, Princess Jellyfish, Kaleido Star, SKIP! Beat, Akatsuki No Yona etc. I'm sure there are a bunch of shojo and josei that are probably really good and explores the idea of being a girl or a woman or femme-aligned in a modern setting well, but I think the irl setting no fantasy days of het romance are over for me.

I'd just like to repeat that enjoying BL and GL and not reading shojo or josei isn't weird. The differentiation of BL or LGBTQIA+ romances and straight romances make less sense to me day after day because shojo mangas and Shonen Ai or Shojo Ai are the exact same genre at the end of the day; romance. You like romance. The configuration of the couple doesn't mean too much because despite the baggage that comes with a queer romance it's still a love story.

[theredpharaoah]

The issue with trying to construct shows where no form of oppression exists, is that the people creating it come from oppressed societies and don’t adequately check themselves. Like Jaha becoming a villain made sense, but Pike not being able to see the Grounders were ppl just like him didn’t. When we’re introduced to Pike he’s characterized as compassionate and kinda father-figure like. And even people like Miller, Jackson, Indra, and Gaia - moreso used as tools for other characters’ development as opposed to their own. Wells is literally the “black guy always dies first” trope. And even Lincoln’s character has some uncomfortable stuff going on. It’s not purposeful or consciously done - it’s designed so it doesn’t have to be. We don’t have a main character who’s black, of color, or indigenous that has actual development and is a major part of the plot. Monty didn’t really develop at all - neither did Gaia. Indra didn’t really develop, so much as she considered Skaikru family and opened herself up to them. And the death of cultures was so sad - why did all the stations on the Ark settle on English? They had nothing but time - they should’ve learned every language they could. The erasure of all the religions - it would’ve been cool to see how Grounder clans incorporated Becca and the Nightbloods into their religions. Maybe they saw Becca and the Commanders as Maitreya, Kalki, Jesus, etc. You’ve got to remember that’s it’s only been 100 years since the bombs went off. Which happened in like 2030(lol, how bleak). There’s no way all of that just disappears. The culture of the militant Ark is one thing, but the Grounder cultures should’ve retained a lot more. Also, no hijabis, no other languages(Latin and trig doesn’t count), etc. The Commander’s Regalia clearly has Indian influences, but that’s about it. There’s a lot of “eastern” influences in Polis and Grounder culture but nothing concrete. If they’d done the prequel, the second commander being Indian- and so they introduced those parts of the Commander’s Regalia - would’ve been so cool. But I also thought it was dumb that Calliope wasn’t the second commander. Jason essentially tried to recreate the mid season 2 Clarke/Lexa dynamic with Becca and Calliope. As a way to legitimize not giving Clarke the flame, but all it did was make me think that both Calliope and Clarke should’ve gotten the flame. They were clearly being implied as heirs to their respective mentors. Honestly, Lexa should’ve taken Clarke as her second. That could’ve been a really easy way to incorporate her and Skaikru into Grounder culture. Like the usual things people do in alliances were just ignored here. Lexa should’ve commanded a person from each of the 12 clans to come to Polis and take a second - maybe even have several do it. If she didn’t want to weaken Clarke’s position by having her serve Lexa - Luna was an option. Octavia’s training was over. Roan could’ve trained Bellamy(We DESERVED bi Bellamy) or Monty, Miller, Harper, Raven, Murphy, or Jasper(WE DESERVED Monsper but I’m thinking Monty and Roan could’ve been cute too). Like Raven and Murphy having to enter the Order of the Flame under Titus? Having Abby and Jackson create a “school”/safe zone of Mt. Weather where they trained Grounder healers to be doctors. That too. They didn’t leverage their medical/technological superiority NEARLY enough. Like Sinclair and Raven could’ve showed them how to turn the heaters in Polis on or something. No political marriages either. I feel like Jason got so into the sci-fi, he kinda forgot what I felt like really pulled a lot of people into the 100 - that Lord of The Flies, Animal Farm appeal with a sci-fi twist. I loved the politics and strategy of the 100 in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting. He didn’t balance it well and he veered way too far into Sci-fi. And also, a lot of the characterization and depth we got in the first 2 seasons was lost. You really need to see Characters doing meaningless things that don’t always push the plot - some filler is good!

[the-fandom-hopping-mage]

thoughts on the doctor who special

so this list got way too long i guess i think a lot while watching things

oh the bright side my irl friends haven't gotten spammed with 80 million messages, just the internet people :) :)

read at your own risk

david tennant! !!!!!!!!!!

what's he doing in space why are they talking to us this is so stupid i love it sm

lol the first thing they do is give him like three sequential heart attacks LEAVE HIM ALONE HE ONLY HAS TWO

wow rose is pretty

donna i'm pretty sure you have supernatural abilities at this point, how the hell do you miss everything

donna why would you give away the money (i know exactly why you gave away the money it's perfectly in character for you but also WHY)

oh no where's wilfred

go off donna beat those kids' ass

these kids are thinking they're the main characters in a sci fi show (don't tell them) they're gonna get themselves killed

girliepop that is a strange creature and you (collective) have had multiple invasions in the last twenty years don't trust it just because it's got big eyes you will get killed

both roses have trusted a creature that they probably shouldn't have just because it acted like a victim. like I can't be mad because I means they have Compassion and other nice things but cmon. common sense. please. im literally begging u.

woah did thirteen upgrade the screwdriver (i need to catch up with the other doctors after 10) thats cool

so they know all the doctor's regenerations cause timey wimey stuff

14 over here trauma dumping on this random ginger lady with cool hair

"best friend in the whole wide universe i absolutely love her" that is the sweetest thing i have ever heard

woah it's the time vortex

wait why does the time vortex have arms now

when your wheelchair saves your life

they're covering their eyes like the sun episode is it the creepy vaporization light???

i Do Not Trust the meep

"he's so cute" finally someone with common sense who also doesn't trust the meep

turn around Shawn trust me your life will be so much simpler if you turn around right now

"ferret"? omg it's draco malfoy

who is Nerys what did she do i'm so intrigued now spill the tea sis

no not wilfred :(

yay wilfred

smh doctor you are a disaster magnet

OMG HE CAN RESONATE CONCRETE :D :D :D

your poor neighbors? y'all's just gonna break into their homes? aren't the aliens gonna follow you? into other people's homes? who's gonna fix the walls? why are the houses touching is this a uk thing?? also that's not how bricks work but who even questions anything in this show there's a giant furbie and bug aliens dueling it out imma just roll with it

donna's mum is so done with the doctor's shit i'm so sorry ma'am

once again, nobody's gonna question the B&E you've got going on? no one?

ooh that's a nice door

are we completely sure he can drive a car? i mean look at how he drives the tardis I would not trust him near my car in a million years

THANK you doctor I totally called it the oversized furbie is not your friend why do they always trust the first alien that tells them a sob story

i'd be a good companion i would actually notice the obvious before it kills everyone sometimes characters are really dumb or maybe that's just the plot armour

he has a washington wig now what is going on 🤣

living sun I knew the mind control light was familiar

the living sun went crazy did they fuck smth up last time???? or is it just a species

did it really just say "Beep of all Meeps" what even is this show 🤣

omg david youre so cute

honestly he was asking to be knocked out

Shawn and Rose must be so confused. an alien shows up. donna's mum is very insistent about how it's not real. random guy from downtown shows up. claims to have two hearts. knows wilf. has a magic screwdriver. breaks into multiple houses with them. aliens are attacking. strange man holds a court session in an underground car park. strange man gets knocked out and you are all put in a creepy government van.

donna here finally asking some reasonable questions

"i don't know him" two seconds later: *exchanging looks*

donna found herself a good man

not even in this new body for 24 hours and he's already getting so much head trauma

'a great day for meepkind' didn't you say you're the last. great day for you you mean.

oh they're gonna join wheelchair ginger lady

OMG THERE SHE IS

ROCKET LAUNCHERS

according to subtitles her name is shirley its very fitting like a sherley temple

THE DOCTOR OMG THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME EVER

oh hey its the room hes floating in that one pic

"Love the running."

respect for david just casually climbing up a wall i could never

besties fr

give this man a break hes so sad

that one random kid is having the time of his life

is she really gonna chew him out for taking her memories girliepop the world is ending

theyre just making up words now

WHY does he ALWAYS lose the ONE PERSON that can UNDERSTAND HIM like THIS its the SAME. FRAKING. POSITION. EVERY. FREAKING. TIME.

just take it away agin

NO DONNA

why is this face so suicidal its actually concerning

ROSE YES

The Master's back again I'm calling it now

"Enigmatic, that is textbook enigmatic."

Crowley voice coming out

As a viewer I'm cackling as a writer i'm confused but I'll just let it go

wink wink wink

see what i did there

Shirley is just "yep regular tuesday this is normal i'm gonna get such a pay bonus OO BUBBLES"

rose: I wanna see! Doctor: yes! Donna: NO! Doctor: I mean no, that's what I said, no.

BESTIES THEYRE SO CUTE

Shawn: Yeah. True. But he's obviously a gay fruitcake so we're fine.

doctor is so offended he's like "what am i not a threat anymore wdym im totally attractive :( :( :("

woah the tardis changed I dont like it

most ADHD doctor ever

OOOO the round things change colors now

BEST

IES

because every time he visits with the family, donna, he loses them. he lost you and it killed him, so its gotta be a big goodbye.

Not even ten minutes and you've broken it, I mean relaly doctor give her a break

the tardis deserves better than this trainwreck of a time lord

"We CoUlD eNd Up AnYwHeRe In AlL oF tImE aNd SpAcE" bro don't pretend for one second that you know where/when you're going on a regular day. 90% of episodes are "oh hey lets go somewhere unknown and see what happens" or "oops the tardis is bringing me somewhere weird" or "oops I messed up this wasn't where/when I meant to go"

[lord-radish]

I think there are three important criteria when it comes to judging a modern Persona game: Social Links, Dungeon Crawling and the Stupid Guy Best Friend.

Please note that this is more an indicator of personal taste than me trying to objectively quantify any of these categories.

Social Links: 5 > 3 > 4.

god I just looked up the Persona 5 social links for the first time in forever and I love all of them. I was seriously gonna consider ranking 3's social links highest, but Persona 5 really does have it all. Even with the reputation Ohya has, I LOVE her big orange bubble sunglasses. Weakest link is Mishima.

The third game has the worst social link out of them all, but it also has - imo - the best one too. The Moon arcana, with the gormand who steals your money and tries to get you into a cult, sucks. The Sun arcana, where you spend your Sundays with a terminally ill man? Absolute fuckin tearjerker. You also have the elderly bookstore couple and Mutatsu the Monk on top of that. Maya is an iconic social link, and I like Keisuke too.

Persona 4 has some good social links, like Dojima, Nanako and Naoto. But it also has Ayane, and even the characters I liked spending time with had social links that felt meandering. Rise had a good social link, Yukiko's ended up feeling like a rut. Since this is my first playthrough, I didn't even start a couple of the social links - that's my bad. There's also the fact that I'm 27, and I played P3 as a teenager and P5 in my mid-20's; I might be growing out of this sort of cliche-laden Anime stuff. But so far, I honestly think 4's social links are my least favourite. Except for the Fox, I like the Fox.

Dungeon Crawling: 3 > 4 > 5

For the record, Persona 5's dungeons were fan-fucking-tastic. They look and feel incredible, they're incredibly well made. But they're also static areas and I prefer the procedurally generated areas of 3 and 4. There's Mementos, but driving around in the Monawagon got really old after a while. Excellent levels and gameplay, but the PS2 jank is really fun.

Persona 4 had some good maps. I adored the RPG one, I really like the sci-fi one, the Golden-exclusive map was great and there's a great endgame map too. But the maps all cap out at about ten floors. I felt like I was playing the Bathhouse map for way too long, and eventually it boils down to a noticeable formula.

I really like Persona 3's unconventional dungeon structure. Climbing an evergrowing tower with over a hundred floors? That rips. Unlocking new floors with bosses is kind of an oddball, but I like it and it's explained in the game. It's blocky, it's randomly generated, and it's really fun. I love when a simple concept is done well, and that's Persona 3's dungeon crawling to me. The spectacle of 5 is incredible, but sometimes it's the little things that affect you the most.

Stupid Guy Best Friend: 5 > 3 >>>>>> 4

Ryuji is a real bro. He's dumb, but you could do a blood pact with him and probably feel secure that he's gonna pull through for you. Undoubtedly the best Stupid Guy Best Friend in the Persona series.

Junpei is kind of a flake, but I thought he had a pretty good story going for a while there near the end. Junpei probably ends up being the most "human" Stupid Guy Best Friend? The dumb pervy anime stuff begins with him, but he actually ended up having an intensive emotional story.

Yosuke Homophobic Moments Pt. 7.

Yosuke spends most of the game being inappropriate with women and making homophobic comments to Kanji for his perceived sexuality. For some reason, TV Tropes editors are much more heated about Chie for how she treats him, i.e. getting mad at him for breaking a DVD and spending a bunch of his money on a gift for someone else - but this is the guy who signed her up to a beauty pageant against her will and then lost his shit when she retaliated, and basically cornered her into wearing a bikini and guilted her until she gave in. Yosuke fucking sucks - trash character 0/10. I do not like Yosuke.

And I know there were plans to make him a gay dating option that got cut late into development - to the point that there was English dialogue recorded for it. Could it have saved the character and retroactively explained a lot of his toxic traits as overcompensating for his sexuality? Maybe, with a lot of side-eye to match. But that got left on the cutting room floor, and the overly perverted and outwardly prejudiced Yosuke we got in the game is what we got. I really, really dislike Yosuke.