#i like mixing all his backstories and plot points together

[im-not-buying-it-ether]

Marvelous Bats tidbit #3

Billy has a few aliases and fake names he has used, something any part time radio personality host, part time superhero, and full time menace of a child should have a fair amount of.

Joesph Williams is the name he always used when police caught him. Be it shoplifting in his homeless days to get through the month trying not to starve, being caught place a child shouldn’t be during the school day, or the one time he broke into a patrol car. Joesph Williams was the name he gave so he didn’t build a juvenile record on his real name, it as close enough to the real thing without being it for billy to easily remember.

The Whiz kid, famous boy reporter in the after school hours for Whiz Radio with Marvelously provided safety tips for the average Fawcettizen dealing with mundane magical issues or coming into their own (the close proximity to The Rocks entrance and the near weekly exposure to magic has a lot of it surfacing in Fawcett) Everything from why you absolutely shouldn’t summon and Hellhound to leave your enemies a flayed corpse and basic protection spells for the next time the Monster Society of Evil rears their ugly heads. Billy loves being the Whiz Kid, people actually listen to him talk magic and its the one time all his magical study as magics champion gets recognized since Captain Marvel doesn’t always need spells to punch a bad guy into prison.

Captain Marvel, the guy the whole world knows. The symbol of pure and perfect heroism Billy always saw in his heroes and try’s to emulate the best he can, never curses or has a mean word to say. Always there to save the day and comfort the people he’s saved when they’re frightened, doing his absolute very best to be the hero he’d love as a kid and the hero he needed every time “Do Good And Good Will Follow” never seemed to work for little orphan Billy.

[akilahia]

Thinking about IHNMAIMS in pretty much all of its forms.

Specifically Ted and Ellen. Obviously in the Game their relationship is very different from the short story/comic/radio drama, with Ted being in love with Ellen(although it’s evident it’s because she is the only woman left alive). In the game he shows devotion to her, he is willing to push past his usual methods of flirtation and find other ways to get what he needs.

But in the other adaptions his feelings towards Ellen are mixed. I think his unique backstory with being so dependent on women to live a happier and more lavish life style, significantly effect how he views Ellen beyond AM’s tampering

Throughout the short story Ted constantly thinks ill of Ellen. Even though prior to being placed in this hell, she had only had sex twice before. But she is the last woman alive on earth. The video game(while following a different plot line(still one that is extremely tragic and literally made me cry)) expresses that even before Ellen’s assualr she had little to no interest in sex. She would never have had sex with the four men if it weren’t for

1. AM

2. Being the Last women alive

3. AM’s deliberate tampering

In a world where characters like Benny have been so permanently physically marked as a form of torture by AM, something like sex, is not as extreme in comparison(at least from Ted’s perspective). However to be the last woman alive, with minimal interest in sex, to be tampered with in such a way, is such a horrific form of torture.

I’m going to shift a way from this for a second to talk about Ted’s backstory for the video game. I understand that the videogame makes changes in terms of backstory for some of the characters(like Benny), so we can’t claim Ted’s backstory for the game is even remotely close to whatever it might have been for the short story. However, I still think can provide interesting context to his behavior towards Ellen.

Starting off, he really isn’t the cool rich guy that he played himself off to be when life was still normal. He never came from money, he was poor and he was forced to work and couldn’t go to school. However he was good looking which is resulted in older woman being attracted to him. And when he was NINETEEN, one older woman gave him her husband’s money and offered him the chance to travel and live in luxury.

Now this probably isn’t important, or was even taken into consideration by the game makers, but I was curious as to what the possible age gap between this older woman and Ted could be. The were together for 5 years, then she died

She died specifically of an aneurysm, which according to Google typically happens between the ages of 30 to 60. There is all this stuff with the Cold War and ww3 and I was going to try to do all this math with it but it’s too late for that and not relevant to the point I’m trying to make. But I’m just going to do some simple mental math and estimate that it might have been late 60’s or early 70’s when the older woman and Ted first got into a relationship. As I’m assuming everything went to shit in 1995 since that’s when the game came out, and 25 years had passed after he met the woman. Also this makes sense as Ted’s grandfather sold the farm due to the Great Depression, since most people married and had kids young, I’m going to be generous and say grandpa was 30 in 1929, and Ted’s mother or father was 9, then 10-12 years later Ted was born. Then 19 years later it would be about the 60’s or 70’s.

I am going to presume that the older woman had been married to her husband for at least 15 years. So it might have been 50’s at the earliest possibility. And the average age people married at then was when they were in their 20’s. So when she met Ted she was AT THE EARLIEST 35. Making her at least 16 years older than Ted when the first got together. But also worth noting that they do specifically mention older. So if we look on the higher side of the typical ages for aneurisms she could have been 55 when they first met(as the 5 years would pass making her 60) so she could have been 36 years older than him.

This seriously isn’t relevant to the actual point I’m trying to make with Ellen and Ted but I got sucked in. I guess I just wanted to highlight that Ted did not have the power in this relationship, he was young and poor, while she was old and rich, and I can imagine how that kind of relationship would impact him.

The next thing I want to note is the use of the word ‘lover’.

Though it can be used in a strictly romantic non intimate sense, I think it is used in the sexual way here.

Especially with the provided context of two different definitions of the word ‘lover’ both highlighting it’s connotations with sexual relationships

Furthermore, Ted’s relationship with the older woman is essentially just a sugar baby relationship. She is letting him experience things he never could have without her money. She teaches him how to act as a socialite and gets him used to the high life.

In connection to the sexual elements above, there was a video I wanted to link here but I can’t find it anywhere anymore. It was a YouTube video with a bunch of sugar babies discussing their experiences. And one woman confides that you really won’t make much money if you are in a platonic or non intimate romantic relationship with your sugar parent. If you want to make money and live richly, you have to preform sexual favors.

Now it’s hard to say if this was the only relationship with an older woman that Ted had been in. But regardless of whether it was one woman or a billion, using his body in order to get something that he wants has become an important asset to Ted; As seen in the castle with the maid and the witch. His love for Ellen(in the video game) helps him break past this fatal flaw of his, despite AM’s obvious temptations to make him fail.

Even if this stuff was in anyone’s minds when they wrote Ted’s backstory but I think it’s extremely important to note, especially as we return to my main point.

As stated before, Ted views Ellen negatively due to her promiscuity, despite the desire(felt really gross typing this word in this context) being placed in her as a form of torture by AM. She also is a woman, and Ted’s life has been spent around using and being used by women, so definitely lots of conflicting stuff there. Additionally Ted’s experiences with sexual relations are shown to be based in being transactional.

When he agrees with Ellen to go to the caves to get the food, she rewards him by being intimate with him to show her gratitude. Ted sees it as her ‘using him.’ (From the Radio Drama, I was going to post the clip but I could only post one video in a tumblr post apparently)

In the comic, after this encounter he questions her motivations. What she got out of it, once again thinking transactionally. But her response

“Does there have to be a reason”

Really gets to me. Especially after looking at all this intertextual context. Thinking about video game Ted’s backstory with book Ted’s thoughts and behaviors, he is shown to always think there is some kind of catch. No one is doing something without getting something in return, especially if that thing is kindness.

Ted is so intensely paranoid(as seen in all versions). I think by pairing up the backstory for the game with the short story/comic/radio drama it’s evident to see how heavily affected he is by it.

He thinks he has been tormented less by AM, making him paranoid of the others, contributing towards his behavior towards Ellen. Yet despite everything from the past and all of AM’s tampering, he still finds comfort with Ellen. Her unfaltering kindness manages to reach him even when he dismisses it as a farce. She doesn’t hate him or the others for how they’ve treated her, she still wants to help them. He still cares for her and the others. But he is filled with so much fear. He even apologizes to her.

I feel like at that point in the Radio drama marks a shift. Ted has made a realization about AM and it’s a lot for him, but Ellen is there for him. It’s a genuinely sincere act of kindness from her where she doesn’t ask or expect anything in return. They have some kind of connection. Once again blending the different versions, I think that this moment between them comes together in the end when they kill the other victims together. They don’t speak to each other, they just do it quickly and he kills her. And here he doesn’t refer to her by any degrading names. In the comic he holds her. Like how in the radio drama she held him.

Overall I just wanted to point out how well all these versions really mix to provide so much more behind each character. The backstories for the video game allow the reader to understand book Ted’s actions and relationships from a new angle.

The is was super duper major mess of a ramble. It’s now 3 am and I have a migraine, so I’m done for tonight. I might clean this up another time or make another post about Video game Ted with context to his backstory since I didn’t include the events from the video game in here.

Once again these are just my thoughts and beliefs on how I think the video game backstory for Ted provides interesting context for Book Ted. I know that both stories play out differently and both Ted’s act differently so please don’t get angry if you disagree with the message of stuff I said

mini sequel post about video game Ted

[lurkingshan]

Love Sea Final Thoughts

I have been trying to wrap my head around my overall feelings about Love Sea, a show that is undeniably flawed but somehow charming anyway, that drops so many threads but does such a good job with a few of its core points that it's hard to be mad. I can't really say that this is a great drama, but I can say that I enjoyed it a lot and I think it's a good watch if you go in understanding some caveats.

Let's start with a few things I really loved about this show:

Mahasamut. A great character, he will be going on my shortlist of Thai bl favorites. He's smart, honest, patient, giving and forgiving but he also knows himself, his limits, and his worth. On top of all that, he actually looks like a normal person, with a healthy body weight and beautiful imperfect skin. So rare in dramas.

Smart class dynamics. I appreciated how much this show grounded Mut and Rak's relationship in their class disparity, how wealth and lack of same was a constant issue between them that was never forgotten, and how its effect on their power dynamic shifted over time as their relationship grew.

Very well-executed sex scenes. The sex in this show is tied to character development and relationship arcs, and every sex scene mattered to the story. We watched the shifting power dynamics between Mut and Rak play out via the sex they had together and by watching their intimacy we learned more about them.

Ridiculous chemistry. The main love story was supported by truly excellent emotional and sexual chemistry. I always believed in the attraction and the feelings between these two, and that helped a lot when the story didn't quite take me where it needed to.

Rak and Vie's friendship. I really loved that we spent time with these two as besties, and that they were genuinely so supportive of each other. Vie was a real MVP in kicking Rak's ass when he needed it.

Meena, the best child ever. What a delightful character who brought a lot of fun and lightness to the story. Her scenes with Mut were a true highlight.

And here are some things that didn't quite work for me:

Uneven focus for the main characters. Once we left the island to go to Bangkok, the entire show was about Rak, his backstory, his issues, his ongoing problems, and his needs, and Mut was kind of subsumed in his story instead of having one of his own. I was glad we got back to Mut's life at the end, but they really should have kept it present throughout so everything didn't feel so one-sided.

Shallow engagement with family trauma. And despite the fact that the story was so much about Rak's issues, the story never actually went deep on them. I still don't really understand a lot about his family dynamics. The show used his dad and cousin as villains and then his mom as an easy out to solve everything at the end, but we never dug into how all these people ended up this way in the first place. It was a real missed opportunity.

Rak's emotional journey. I was on board for much of it, but other parts felt a bit haphazard and all over the place. Sometimes it felt like he was suddenly progressing out of nowhere, and others it felt like he was backsliding just because the plot demanded it. I liked where the story took him a lot but the path to get there was pretty bumpy.

The side couple. WOOF. I have no idea what happened here, but that was a fail on just about every front. Mook was a hard character to love from the start, Vie felt like a completely different person with Mook than in all her other scenes, there was so much lying and manipulation for no good reason, and in the end they were left completely unresolved. If you are on the lookout for great gl pairings, you will not find that here.

So there you have it. This show is absolutely a mixed bag on its execution, so how much you end up liking it will probably depend on how strongly you connect with what it did well and where it dropped the ball. For me, it was a good experience and one I'll remember fondly. I'll definitely be watching the special when it's released and I hope to see this cast again.

[mandacantu]

10 Reasons Why I Actually Loved The Crow Remake

FKA Twigs - I'm not going to sit here and pretend I am not a huge twigs fan, because I love anything she touches and especially her music. This was her first time as a leading lady and I thought she did a good job. I do think there were some points where her line reading could have been a little more fast paced in some spots, but overall, I think she was captivating, eloquent and emotional. And wow, so many stunning visuals that we got of her from this movie!

2. We didn't have to see depictions of brutal and violent deaths of women in this film. I didn't want to spend too many of my thoughts on comparisons to the original The Crow, but one thing I noticed was that I didn't have to endure the violent and sexually abusive death of Shelly or any other woman in this movie. I do like the original movie but never cared for the way they went all in on Shelly's death. In this remake, we still see Shelly die but we don't have to endure gratuitous SA scenes whilst losing the leading lady. I appreciated that and was able to relax more, honestly.

3. The villain had actual motivation for killing and being a villain. There was some decent backstory and character development for the villain and that is something that I always appreciate. Some of my favorite pieces of media (like Spirited Away and Knives Out) do well to at least give the villain a story or a reason for being bad. I think it adds depth to the story and for me, helps immerse me into the plot more.

4. It felt like a comic book come to life. From the color grading and palette to the way scenes were cut and moved from one to the next, it felt like I was flipping through a comic book. There were moments that were very whimsical in depictions of love and then very gritty scenes. The contrast in some of those scenes felt similar to flipping a page in a comic.

5. It was very romantic and spent a lot of time focusing on their love story. I thought their love was believable and felt like that whirlwind kind of love where you just want to party and kiss all night. It gave me a reason to care about both of the characters and it gave Shelly a place in the spotlight where she becomes so much more than just a symbol of loss for character development. Focusing on their love and giving us some romance was a timeless decision and puts their love story up there with Romeo and Juliet or Christian and Sateen.

6. Soundtrack was amazing! If you are into some new wave, some goth tunes and some dance tracks, this is the playlist for you. Beyond just the soundtrack, it was truly a different experience to see it synced up to parts of the movie as intended. The intro was amazing, I thought it was like a James Bond meets Underworld mixed with some NIN music video sprinkled in there. The folks who worked on the score deserve a standing ovation. There were moments where I was tearing up because of how well the music paired with the scene. Most memorable and moving was Joy Division's Disorder when they bust out of rehab together and a perfectly placed Boadicea by Enya. There were so many other good ones too, I'm seriously considering seeing it again just for the mini music videos you get from the film.

7. It was aesthetically pleasing. And I'm not just talking about the eye candy that was Bill Skarsgård, though lets give him his flowers for being a true Mr. Fanservice! The actual visuals were beautiful. I loved the cinematography and color choices. It was truly a feast for the eyes. Just take a look at this beautiful gif set by pizgif!

8. I could easily see a story about grief and the longing for justice for loved ones. I thought it was a good story and as I watched it, I thought to myself that the person who wrote the original comic must have gone through an immense loss. It wasn't until I looked it up that it seems to be confirmed that The Crow was inspired by such loss. The moodiness of the movie itself added to the weight of the tragic storyline. In that, I liked that it takes a while for Eric to become The Crow. Losing someone you love transforms you and in this sense, the movie is all about that transformation and pain and longing.

9. I liked the ending. I don't want to say too much to spoil it, but I enjoyed the different ending and I was definitely teary eyed and sniffling as I left the theater.

10. It was goth as fuck. I think goth can be a multitude of styles and honestly shouldn't be something that has a gatekeeper. This was emo-boy-goth, it was e-boy-tiktok-hottie-goth, it was goth in a different flavor. I think folks are quick to see this new Eric not dressed like a new-wave-leather-daddy-goth as decidedly not dark enough. To quote a favorite musician, he was "goth as fuck, even when [he's] not in black, gothic is the pain you feel and not the clothes that's on your back."

Closing thoughts: A lot of the negative criticism is coming from men or diehard fans of the 1994 movie, so I am not surprised. This rendition felt like the same story, just done differently and with more emphasis on the love story than the revenge plot. There is nothing wrong with that and nothing wrong with a gothic romance heavy action flick.

This was intended to be a different version of The Crow and that isn't a bad thing. I personally think that if they had done the styling to be an exact replica of Brandon Lee's rendition then the movie would still get tons of hate, if not more. It was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for sure. I'm glad they took a risk and deviated from the '94 version.

We have been doing remakes since the creation of art. It has always been common to hear that the new movie coming out is actually a retelling of this classic tale or continuation of that scary story. Remakes are not a new concept and some of them do well to tell the same story in a different way. We are in the day and age where there isn't really an original idea anymore, anyway. In a world full of countless retellings of Batman/Joker and Spiderman movies, why not remake The Crow? I say fire it up!

I think they do a good job to pave the way for others to retell this love story in the same vein as The Joker and Harley Quinn. Hell, I would say to keep going, next let's see a remake where The Crow is about two badass lesbians. (I might have gotten too peppered up watching the movie, it was hot.)

P.S. I loved that there were little things like Eric wearing Shelly's jacket later in the movie. I feel like a lot of critics saw him wearing this jacket and were quick to bash the costume design too, but this is the kind of attention to detail that made their love believable to me. And I thought he looked cute as hell in it.

Okay, the end.

[vellaphoria]

I always wondered what your thoughts on modern Tim. You mostly write from the post crisis era (which I assume is what you prefer) but is that out of complete dislike of the current comics or some mix feelings. I’m sorry for bothering you I’m just really curious.

You're not bothering me at all! It's an interesting question 🤔

I wouldn't say that I completely dislike current comics. In terms of Tim-related comics, there are some parts I've really enjoyed! For example, the Batman Volume 3 arcs from Failsafe through #149 had Tim content that I liked. It's also nice to see him be canonically recognized as queer, though whether or not that's canon was never going to stop me from writing what I want 😂 A lot of what I disliked about post-Flashpoint Tim was his characterization in the New 52. I felt like they cheapened his character and undercut all the hard work he had done. But they also made a few unusual characterization choices with other characters, so he's not alone in that. My perception of modern Tim improved in the Rebirth era, after Lonely Place of Living restored some of his backstory to the canon timeline. So, as it currently stands, I don't have a major issue with the modern comics to the point where I won't read them. There are a few exceptions; like, reading Tim Drake: Robin was more than enough for me because I feel like they made Tim very incompetent in it and also timbern isnt' my thing. Additionally, I do think that DC defanged a lot of the Bats' interpersonal drama in the modern era, which makes me less interested in writing anything for the current characters. I'm also not a huge fan of the big happy family portrayal of the Bats (which is a bit of an exaggeration, but the thing with all of them moving into a new mansion together was uh. not my thing), so a lot of the modern stuff doesn't really do it for me. Another part of my reluctance to write for modern Tim is that I've lost the plot in terms of what's actually happening in comics. To be fair, this is because I don't keep up with them. If I did read them, I could probably find some things that I wanted to write about? But I haven't exhausted what I want to write about in the post-crisis era, and since I generally find that era more interesting, it tends to take priority. I'm also a little unsure what DC is doing with Tim regarding being the perpetual Schrodinger's Robin. Sometimes he's Robin, sometimes he isn't. In the N52, saying that he decided to become Red Robin out of respect for Jason was a cop out, especially given the post-crisis reasons for the Red Robin switch. I think that's been retconned now? But I do wish that DC would have him branch out and go through his own transformation into a new hero name that's his own. Though when they tried to do that with the whole "Drake" thing, I don't think it was executed very well, so maybe I'm just a hater lol

The thing I really liked about post-crisis was the arc of Tim coming into his own. When he eventually crashes out in Red Robin, it's clear how far he's come and how good he's gotten at what he does. I would have liked to see where they took his arc from there, and I would have liked him to finally be older than 17 (cue that joke about DC keeping Tim the same age and aging Damian up to the point where Damian will eventually be older than him). While the post-flashpoint content is a continuation, it feels like Tim's been dialed back to his pre-Red Robin characterization. Which probably makes sense since I don't feel like the emotionally impetus of the RR arc was actually resolved. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with all of that, and I understand that the status quo is somewhat necessary to make comics work, but it gets frustrating after a while. On a more petty note, a lot of my writing tends to revolve around Dick and Tim. In the post-crisis era, they had a lot of interactions. That doesn't feel like it's the case today? There are a couple like Titans Bloodpact and Nightwing Leaping into the Light, but if anyone has any other modern Dick & Tim interactions that they enjoyed, recs would be appreciated!

That was pretty long and probably incoherent, but hopefully it at least answers the question a little 😂

[vldunchartedregions]

Have you found anything relating to Lotor’s generals plot lines in season 8? If Ezor was meant to be dead, and Zethrid redeemed, how would Acxa and her react to Lotor’s return? I wonder if it was ever something they wanted to explore or were they going to cap it off with Acxa and Zethrid’s talk.

Firstly, thank you for the question! I hope you're having a wonderful day.

Do you know what's funny about this?! We were literally just talking about this today.

We are sure that any remnants of the generals having a subplot would've been lost in the mix unfortunately, considering Lotor was cut out of Season 8 (allegedly - Dreamworks & WEP, don't come for me please lol) so subsequently, if there was a subplot involving the generals and Lotor, that would've been scrapped too.

That being said, usually we've been able to find remnants of a missing plot line somewhere amongst the edited mess. That's how we found out Allura & Keith were allegedly beefing in the love triangle. More on that later; not the time.

With them unfortunately, we believe after many, many rewatches with the generals in particular, it does and did unfortunately cap off at the Zethrid & Acxa discussion. Ezor wasn't meant to be back; she was meant to be dead, and thus the whole motivation for the Grudge episode. She was added in very last minute (as also pointed out by Team Purple Lion) due to backlash with Adam's Robotech/Macross inspired death, and the backlash of how they introduced Adashi in general.

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✨ Theory Time ✨

Maybe there would've been a scene between Acxa & Lotor in Uncharted Regions (fits the theme of the episode title; they haven't spoken since... y'know) to make amends and provide closure on their relationship.

Acxa's motivation was to follow Lotor as she's grateful to him in ways we can't even imagine as the viewer. There's one important theme that flows throughout Voltron: Legendary Defender... The importance of found family. They were Lotor's found family. Rejected by the world for being half-breeds, they came together to dismantle the empire.

Her motivation to follow Keith was (at least in our humble opinion) to always find Lotor at the end of the day... Keith & Allura lead to Lotor. If you think about it, Acxa was his most trusted general, faked a betrayal + knew plans that Ezor & Zethrid did not.

Lotor took her in and treated her equally in a world where nobody else did as a half Galran, and that is SO important. It would make sense that she's joined the coalition not just for Keith per say, but to ultimately find Lotor again, whilst also finding a much greater purpose within this universe.

(Coran talking about how Allura may have known Keith was the key to the Galra's future... cough, cough).

Realistically speaking - As soon as Lotor wakes up, they would've began the preparation for the climax of his redemption arc. The writers wouldn't have much time before the final battle to provide closure to a lot of plot lines before Hunk & Coran go to get the Balmera, Honerva brings her EVA and breaks down reality, and it all goes to absolute chaos.

Positively speaking, I'd like to think there was at least a scene storyboarded where Acxa & Lotor reunite one last time before the final battle on the Atlas. Maybe a hug scene with Lotor mentioning how grateful he is to her and the generals... Especially with the loss of Ezor, we believe they all needed some closure there before everything goes to chaos.

This is just a selfish want of mine, but I would've also loved to have seen how Lotor met all of his generals, their backstories as to how they found Lotor, and vice versa in greater detail... maybe in another reality.

Thank you for the question. Vrepit Sa.

[ilikekidsshows]

-long ask ahead-

Big fandom blog recently said that ML is a character-driven show, that it shows what the characters WOULD do, not what they SHOULD do. This really got me thinking.

Somehow I can kinda see their point; if there was a book about the events of ML written completely from Marinette's POV, we could see all her thoughts and how she disregards other characters' feelings/existance and it would make sense because they are not of any priority to her view of the world. As Marinette she has a strong drive to get Adrien into her hands that leads to all kinds of funny/questionable situations. Her depictions in the show where she paranoidly imagines scenarios with Adrien or is plotting to get to him is what I could see as character-driven moments. No-one outside of herself is giving her these goals and ambitions.

But aside from that? The Ladybug/superhero side seems only reactive instead of active. She saves the day when the villains attack, but has no ambition to go after them when the attack is over. There is no real tie to her personal life aside from her having to play the hero role and some attacks interrupting her civilian life. If the story wouldn't emphasize that she is the greatest Ladybug, and instead anyone could do it as well, then Marinette probably wouldn't do it. She doesn't seem personally attached to being Ladybug, as seen in Kwami's Choice. If we removed Hawkmoth with all his backstory and ambitions from the show, there wouldn't be a Ladybug, there wouldn't be a plot outside of Marinette wanting Adrien. Marinette is not interested in the lore of the miraculous or in being a superhero, she wouldn't do anything without an outside influence. So this side is more plot-driven if we view Hawkmoth as the plot-tool?

And what about characters popping out of nowhere and mingling with the plot (e.g. Felix, Chloe)? Chloe's actions are clearly often just there to further the plot of the episode instead of giving us insight on her character. Felix's goals change every other episode. Tomoe could be any other prop and we wouldn't know more about her, etc.

Can stressing about being the guardian be viewed as character-driven? No-one outside of Ladybug herself really pressures her to act a certain way in that role (Su-han could be talked down easily, I don't count him). Is her keeping secrets and disregarding Chat Noir a result of her controlling behaviour, thus character-driven? (but it's also extremely convenient for the writers to add tension or because they don't care about Chat Noir) And how is this perspective meant to make it more bearable to watch unfolding?

I did look up some character-driven vs. plot-driven posts and explanations, but the more I think about it in the context of ML, the more it blends together and I get no clear answer. Of course, there's probably very few exclusivly 100% character- or plot-driven stories, and certainly not a show like ML, but some elements should be easier to put in one box or the other? I'm not even sure about the definitions of character- vs plot-driven anymore, I'm so confused, I'm sure I got it wrong along the way and mixing in-character with writer's views and so on.

I would love to respark my enjoyment of the show with a simple change of perspective but I think that sadly won't do. In the end, whether it's this or that, I'm still disappointed and unsatisfied with how it went in the long run. Yet it's still interesting to think about how people who still really like the show could view it.

I think you mentioned on your blog that you have some education in media-analysis or something of the kind. If you like, could you share your perspective on the claim at the top?

What's the common definition of character-driven stories and can we apply it on ML?

Would this change of perspective make some writing choices more enjoyable (it's subjective, I know)? I think a lot viewers expect a superhero show to be more plot-heavy and characters to develop (or characters wanting to improve themselves somehow), so if we went into ML thinking from the start "this is not about the plot and how people should act, I'm just watching characters do whatever they would do" would our reactions be really different?

How would the show have to be written and presented to be truely character-driven?

Sorry that's a lot I ask. Feel free to answer whatever you like (or ignore the message). Thanks for reading anyway.

Anonymous asked: Miraculous is character driven story, the plot is determined by what the characters's do rather than the usual opposite with wath the characters doing is determined by the plot, said a friend of mine when we discussed before. What's your opinion about it if I may ask?

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Okay, so I'm just going to start this by saying that "character-driven" and "plot-driven" are not literary analysis terms, but writing tip terms. It refers to what the focus of your story is. It means that, when you write a book or a movie, you should usually pick to prioritize an in-depth character study or a story with a lot of plots or world-building (the lore, if you will). Character-driven stories have a plot or several, but it isn't intended to be the main draw, so it can be sloppy while more work gets put into making sure the characters are complex and have clear arcs from beginning to end. Similarly, plot-driven stories can have complex characters, but the main draw is meant to be the larger narrative.

Plot-driven vesus character-driven is a writing tip against avoiding a bloated story full of unnecessary details. If your story is about two nobles dealing with an arranged marriage and the pressure their families put on them, having a complex magic system and magical duels using said system take up a bunch of pages is unnecessary. Similarly, if you're writing a story about a complex magic system, how it gets used and how it affects the society at large, dedicating a lot of time to a romance arc takes attention away from the actual points of the story, like the dreaded "forced Hollywood romance" in action/adventure movies.

In a comic or TV series, you usually (thanks companies for cutting episode counts; you suck) have more time and space to deal with more stuff, and varying stuff can improve a long-running series. In an ongoing, long-running superhero comic or show, you can and should use both and have them take turns. This is, in fact, the industry standard. Sure, a Batman story can technically have him chasing down Scarecrow, but, if the bulk of the episode/issue/trade is him battling his inner demons that the Scarecrow's Fear Toxin causes him to hallucinate, then is the story really about chasing down Scarecrow, or is it about developing Batman's character? (It's the latter.)

In general, I don't think "character-driven versus plot-driven" is a useful analysis tool, because it's binary. Basically, in media analysis, you should always try to avoid yes or no questions, but many binary questions are equally bereft of deeper meaning. Asking if Miraculous is character or plot-driven will answer that question, but not anything else. You can describe how you came to that conclusion, but the character/plot divide won't by itself create any other points to be made about the text, you need another tool/lense/question for that.

In addition, character-driven versus plot-driven can't refer to "what moves the story", because moving the story is the plot. The plot, or plots, are the cause-and-effect chains within a story. A plot doesn't move by itself, either natural occurences or character actions will move it along, you need a cause and effect. This also means, that, even if character-driven was a way to describe story progression, only stories about natural disasters could be not-character-driven.

In the top ask, the would vs should division seems to imply that the person describing Miraculous as character-driven is trying to say that, in Miraculous, the characters’ actions are supposed to be logical from the perspective of their personal motivations and not necessarily morally correct. This is how I’ve seen most people defend Marinette's villain arc; that we aren't meant to agree with her, but simply wait and see what the payoff will be.

The problem with this approach to analyzing Miraculous specifically is that the writers have never committed to a long-term payoff. I just can't believe that Marinette's villain arc will lead to a satisfying conclusion instead of the show either dropping the whole thing without addressing it, or having Marinette once again get so upsette that her victims have to console her. They're already setting up the possibility for instant forgiveness by focusing on how upset she was about the lying she “had” to commit. She already feels bad, so punishing her would be wrong, and the “punishment” here refers to any kind of long-term consequences for her actions.

Of course, the implication also is that, while we supposedly aren't supposed to agree with Marinette, we can't hold her too accountable either, we can't “demonize” her or want her to get “punished”. Which just sounds like we aren't even allowed to expect this “plotline” to have a satisfying conclusion. It could very well be that these people would think “yeah, Marinette was wrong but she feels really bad about it so let's just everyone forget about it until she does it again” would, in fact, be the satisfying payoff. Basically, even wanting the other characters to be justifiably upset with Marinette is the same as wanting to “punish” Marinette, so we can’t expect any character to behave like they have motivations or feelings outside of pleasing Marinette.

But, like, that's that thing with character actions supposedly making sense from their perspective; as you said in that book comparison, it only makes sense from Marinette's perspective. From any other perspective, what on earth is motivating the other characters to keep giving Marinette chance after chance while she squanders them all? She's not that good of a friend that she’d earn that much leeway, not from supposedly reasonable normal people who are merely acting how they would act instead of how the Marinette-favoring writers think they should act. The would versus should argument therefore only refers to Marinette and is just an excuse for her actions.

In addition, we have one big problem with the argument that Marinette is supposed to be a flawed character and anyone criticizing her is just too impatient to wait for the payoff for her character arc, in addition to the writers’ inability to write payoffs that I already mentioned. The other problem is that, while the audience might think Marinette needs to grow and become better, the writers don't. Every single one of Marinette's self-growth arcs has been scrapped: her inability to communicate got vindicated, her awkward romancing got excused and her quest to confess to Adrien got resolved by Adrien confessing instead. Marinette isn't a character who grows. In addition, the writers' every comment on the S5 finale has been nothing but excuses for why Adrien not knowing anything is right, because Adrien is just too emotional (like a hysterical woman who needs to be controlled because the writers are that kind of people).

So, in terms of what character-driven and plot-driven even mean: if Marinette is both completely disengaged from the plots of stopping the villains permanently or figuring out the Miraculous lore, and is a static character who doesn't actually grow or have a discernible arc, what is Miraculous as a show even about? In addition to the love square, it used to be about character development before the retool, but, after said retool, the characters have stagnated and the show just spins its wheels until the writers decide to have something cool happen to ramp up social media engagement. Now all we have is the love square and Marinette acting like she’s the center of the universe, so I guess the show is about the love square and Marinette, so it's technically character-driven, if character-driven can mean “making one character look like she’s the only one deserving of sympathy or celebration”. I guess you could say the show is Marinette-driven, it’s about Marinette and what she wants and what a girlboss she is while getting what she wants.

Frankly, it kinda sounds like the new character-driven vs plot-driven comparison is trying to create a new way to say: “don't expect a kids' show to be well-written.” It's kinda like people are saying: “of course the plot is shit because Miraculous is about the character writing”, but, like, the character writing is shit too. That’s what I’ve been saying since the S5 finale aired and Astruc started claiming that Marinette won and was truly kind and Adrien can't be trusted to know the truth about Gabriel: the way Marinette is written doesn't match how the writers want her to be viewed. The writers are only really interested in writing one character, but in a way where all her character arcs get scrapped, which, I think, doesn’t even hit the bare minimum requirement of being character-driven the way writing tip websites intend it.

My background in media analysis mainly means I'm pretty good at spotting patterns, and Miraculous' patterns reveal sloppy plot writing and sloppy character writing. It's all just been slop since the retool, mostly, I think, because the writers aren’t really interested in developing their characters or plots. The writers’ main focus seems to be to try to sell Marinette as an amazing person who deserves all the attention, while everything outside of isolated “cool” scenes gets overlooked. The wisemen of the groupchat saw these definitions and called Miraculous a “look at our cool girlboss”-driven show.

[wayward-robin]

Season 2 Final Thoughts  

I loved this season so much. It was a really good mix of drama and humour and it all worked so well together. Ocean’s 9-1-1 is my ultimate favourite episode of the series so far!

One point, we have now had Bobby, Hen and Chimney ‘Begins’ episodes. I really, really hope we get some more for Athena and Buck! And maybe Eddie too? I assume they won’t do Maddie as we know a lot of her story thanks to this season with Doug. This show is a great ensemble cast but seeing a deep dive into the characters backgrounds is so much fun.

Chimney – I loved his evolving relationship with Maddie. They’re so freakin’ cute together! I’ve been cheering them on all season! I’m gad he managed to find some self-esteem after all he went through last season with his injury and his ex-girlfriend. He felt much more authentic. His backstory sort of came out of nowhere considering how big it was to effectively lose his brother and it could’ve done with some more emotional build up to it but it was nice to have all the same.

Hen – I’m super glad her and Karen are past their rocky patches from last season with Eve. I loved seeing her past in the Hen Begins ep this season. All the actors can carry their own plotlines and episodes but there really is something so charismatic about Hen. I think what I love the most about her though is you can put her with any other character and she works with all of them so well.

Athena and Bobby – I have to take these two together. I wasn’t expecting them at the end of the first season and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. Seeing “older” characters get second chances at love and family is always so inspiring and I’m definitely happy they went down this route with them. I’m ecstatic they went so far as to marry them too. They had some good individual and joint plots this season. They found a good balance with them.

Buck – I love Buck to pieces. He’s one of my favourite characters. He’s a real scene stealer. But he did feel like he was adrift this season, despite being given more connections in Maddie and Eddie. Which is not bad! I just get the feeling after his relationship with Abby, he’s looking for something more permanent now so I’m excited to see where that journey takes him. And hey, it took him two seasons but he has his own apartment! I love his friendship with Eddie, finally he has a partner he can pair off with on rescues and they’re both ridiculous dorks. Buck and Maddie were a brilliant combo too. Their sibling banter was wonderfully engaging and despite not seeing each other for years, they fit well together.

Eddie – He has the most adorable son in the world! His season felt the most complete plot arc wise which I assume was on purpose just in case things didn’t work out with his actor. I’ll admit during the first half of the season, I thought they might’ve been setting him up as Buck’s potential new love interest. The whatta man song, the elf at Christmas commenting on their family unit and Maddie calling out Buck’s boy crush felt like it might have been building to something. Because this is TV. They only have so many minutes an episode and every minute has to mean something. The second half of the season focused more on his relationship with Shannon and Buck ended up in liaisons with Taylor and Ali but I’m secretly wishing this gets picked up again in season 3. 

Maddie – her domestic abuse plotline was gut wrenching but also very inspiring. I’m glad she found the strength to break out of that relationship. I hope next season they don’t just sweep the whole thing under the rug as last season’s plot because domestic violence can have long lasting consequences and it would be good to see some follow through with it. Surviving doesn’t just stop because the abuser is dead. Her budding relationship with Chim was absolutely adorable and I am so here for it! I am so glad they got Jennifer Love Hewitt for this role. She’s one of my favourite actors.

[fountainpenguin]

☁️ Cloudlands AU ☁️

Fairly OddParents

A serious deep-dive into FOP's worldbuilding, with a focus on sewing seemingly conflicting canon together to create consistent lore. Heavy emphasis on non-human biology and complex magical cultures.

#ridwork guides

What Is Cloudlands AU?

An FOP series ft. detailed lore and character relationships. The goal is fanfics that expand on the show's canon without conflicting it if at all possible, even if that means wild explanations.

Why does Crocker's portal to Fairy World have a completely new design every time it appears? Who's that anti-fairy kid Jorgen claims H.P. and Anti-Cosmo raised together? What's up with the Sacred Silver Pencil Sharpener of Canada? And are you telling me Cosmo and Wanda were assigned as godparents to Erg 40,000 years before they were married, presumably while Wanda and Juandissimo were dating? What was that like? We talk about it all!

A carefully considered magic system does a lot of heavy lifting. ❤️

AO3 Series: 130 Station, Rainbow Train, and Other Arcs

FOP blog tag - #FAIRIES!

Tone

Mostly drama with fluff and angst mixed in.

Characters

Mainly Pixies (H.P. & Sanderson), Anti-Fairies (Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda, Foop), & the late modern kids (Poof, Goldie, Goldie's counterpart Anti-Marigold).

Cosmo, Wanda, Timmy, Chloe, and other humans (such as Denzel Crocker, Kevin Crocker, Gary, Betty, and Ed Leadly) also have arcs and messy backstories.

Ships

Canon-compliant, but expanded on. Ex:

- Anti-Cosmo married his childhood betrothed while Anti-Wanda was dating Anti-Juandissimo.

- H.P. and several OCs across his long life. Those romances go... great!

- Shout-out to Mark/Vicky, Poof/Goldie, Foop/Anti-Marigold, Foop/Anti-Coriander, Timmy/Molly & Chloe/Kevin (My beloveds...)

- Also worth mentioning that I treat Wanda/Juandissimo as a sincere and pleasant part of their backstories. They went their separate ways, but had a non-abusive dating life. They were friends :)

- Sanderson has a ton of will o' the wisp dating life issues, but we don't have time to unpack that right now.

Setting

Most works take place in the cloudlands, which include Fairy World, Anti-Fairy World, and Pixie World. Some works takes place in Dimmsdale. Rarely works take place elsewhere, such as alien planets or Unwish Island.

Is It For Me?

This AU is highly detailed. It clings to canon to the point of being ridiculous. It can be tough to get into due to long works and a heavy focus on less popular characters (such as Pixies), but there's a lot to read.

This AU focuses more on magical beings in the supporting cast than it does the main cast, but there are still notable pieces about the mains.

For a breakdown of detailed lore, see the Orange Train post

Major Themes

Growing up, making mistakes, pushing through hard times, recovery, revenge, forgiveness, growth, change, and letting go.

Plot Highlights

- Origin of the Pixies - A young H.P. contracts the real-world bacteria Wolbachia pipientis, which causes wasps to reproduce asexually. Now he's caring for an exponentially increasing amount of pixies he never wanted in the first place, on top of drama like his wife accusing him of cheating and him being kidnapped by Cupid's family because he's the holotype of a brand new species.

- Frayed Knots - Anti-Cosmo, raised in the anti-fairy baby ban era, experiments with Anti-Fairy biology in the hopes he'll discover a loophole to achieve his dream of being a father. In doing so, he finds a breakthrough that could possibly flip biology around so Anti-Fairies are the hosts and Fairies are their reflective counterparts bound to their whims... and he becomes obsessed with fathering a generation whose biology is exactly that.

- 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash - Happy Peppy Gary and Betty were raised as Pixie tools since they were 10. At age 18, Betty opts to wipe her magical memories, cut ties with Gary, and move to Brightburg. Gary, blindsided and desperate, throws himself down a trainwreck of bad decisions in an attempt to retrieve her memories from Fairy World. Everybody clap for him. (And other stories.)

- Come What May - Kevin Crocker spends the spring with an uncle and grandmother he's never met. Ghosts, the popular kids, an anti-fairy, and his uncle's talking cat make it their personal mission to bother him. It's a good thing he's dead inside.

Ongoing?

This long-term passion project began in March 2016. It is ongoing with intent to wrap up the existing projects in the next several years. Updates tend to come in bursts with breaks in between.

- Want AO3 emails? Subscribing to both the Rainbow Train & 130 Station series will cover everything in Cloudlands AU.

- Or, subscribe to specific plot arcs. Find the list HERE.

Warnings, notes, and explanations below so readers can learn more about this AU. Proceed with caution. Don't like? Don't read.

- There are abused children, neglectful adults, and non-human characters in fanfics for the show about abused children, neglectful adults, and non-human characters?? Scandalous. (Seriously though, this one's a doozy)

👀 Take a Peek

New here? You might like to start with these:

- "Mama's Boy" (G - 3000 words) - A back-and-forth comparison of Cosmo's upbringing against Anti-Cosmo's. Quick and easy read, and definitely a fan-favorite.

- "Make You Proud" (G - 4700 words) - Anti-Wanda is excited that she won a gold medal at the Fairy World Games. She tries to get Anti-Cosmo's attention while he's distracted with the event. Fluffy, silly character study.

- "Step Back" (G - 5600 words) - Foop gets overwhelmed at a party with his extended family. A brief glimpse into Anti-Fairy World and who Foop is shaping up to be as a person. Foop is my favorite to write character studies for and this is an oldie, but a goodie.

- "Solo" (T - 6000 words) - A young pixie answers phones as part of his coming of age trial. Things go awry when Gary and Betty call for help from Florida and the inexperienced pixie is at a loss about how to get them back to California. Takes place during the S4 episode "Baby Face." Huge personal favorite of mine; this is where plot really kicks off. Good introduction to the drama you can expect in a lot of my work.

- "Sentry" (G - 6000 words) - The start of a 3-part arc about Poof, Foop, and their pixie classmate (Finley) at boarding school before transitioning to spring break. The arc starts with Poof getting in trouble for fighting, then moves to Poof reflecting while on the bus, then moves to the three kids spending time with their grandparents.

- Very soft drama with some fluff; a good taste without getting overwhelmed. Also, this arc is more recent than the pieces above, which were posted in 2016. - Takes place at the end of 130 Prompts Arc 2, so it does contain very minor plot spoilers.

Start Reading

Recommended ways to get into the full AU

🌄 First Written - Baby, You're a Rich Man

H.P. and Sanderson got their hands on a baby clown. Now they just have to get him safely back to Pixie World when they've been deprived of magic and damaged their truck.

- Based on the Season 4 episode "School's Out! The Musical" - An introduction to magic basics, biology, and world lore through Sanderson's eyes. - Throws readers directly into the thick of things with Sanderson's meandering thoughts and extremely unhealthy fixation on H.P. and/or taking over as Head Pixie someday

🗑️ 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash

The 130 Prompts project is a series of one-shots that explores my FOP character ideas and worldbuilding.

- "Excitement" (G - 7500 words) - The first piece written for my series 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash. It's about the Pixies traumatizing 10-year-old Gary and Betty at an amusement park so they'll cling to safety in the future. From here, you can read the 130 Prompts series in recommended order if you like.

If you're new to my worldbuilding, I recommend reading the prompts in the suggested order instead of chronological order. This way, you'll be given worldbuilding info in order instead of jumping to a piece where that info is assumed.

📅 Chronological Start - "First Things First"

A 10k-word piece (G-rated) about nature spirit OCs, featuring cameos of canon characters like Mother Nature, Father Time, and the Grim Reaper. This piece sets up lore for the Fairy zodiac, which plays a role in Frayed Knots especially.

- Each piece in the 130 Prompts series has Previous and Next links so you can either read in recommended order or you can follow the chronology from start to end. - Reading chronologically is not recommended unless you're already familiar with the worldbuilding - Full timeline chronology (Entire Cloudlands AU)

🗺️ Worldbuilding - So, You're Studying the Cloudlands...

A collection of worldbuilding and meta essays covering subjects like biology, culture, history, holidays, magic, maps, and a handbook on new godkid assignments.

You may also like my @riddledeep blog, where I first posted this meta. I'm currently moving things to the guide linked above. This way, the content is backed up and accessible to those who don't use Tumblr. Posts will remain on the blog.

📋 AU Notes & Warnings

Author writes villain encounters & villain backstories about complex non-human societies and does not inherently condone any viewpoints presented by characters or the societies they live in.

- This series focuses heavily on Pixies, Anti-Fairies, and cloudland or Fae culture. There is less focus on human godchildren or the main characters in the show (like Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda).

- This series is built so that many intricate storylines and worldbuilding elements weave together. There's no shame in skipping pieces you don't want to read, but you may miss plot or worldbuilding details important to the larger story. It can be intimidating to get into such a big project.

- This series does have fluff, but relies on drama. Content may be upsetting, and the order you read things may limit the chance for mental breaks.

- Lots of drama and complicated things going on. I recently changed the rating of my longfics to Not Rated & Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings due to the sheer variety of things, such as:

- Fantastic racism (Fairies, Anti-Fairies, Pixies, genies, and others disliking each other)

-> Show canon heavily implies these races have conflict. Jorgen faced no pushback for calling Norm a "filthy genie" on international TV. Jorgen and others refer to Pixies with rude terms such as "cone-headed freaks", etc.

- Social ladder/caste system (Cupid's ancestors organized fae in a list many generations ago to help Fairies find species with heat cycles that overlapped theirs, but the system has been corrupted into legal discrimination)

- Biologically assigned status (Male Fairies who eat a lot of jelly at a young age will develop into gynes: big, tough, freckled Fairies who fight with each other to defend their turf and drone companions. Think how H.P. and Big Daddy have unique body shapes compared to the other Fairies. They're gynes!)

- Some young bees are fed royal jelly so they develop into queens. The name for these "princesses" is gynes, so I yoinked that

- Most of the pixies are drones, apart from a few gynes. Vice President Longwood is due to succeed H.P. as Head Pixie someday, which Sanderson (a drone) absolutely despises.

- Fairies lick each other in greeting to spread pheromones, mirroring a hive of eusocial bees that gather near the queen to lick her

It's basically a non-sexual A/B/O dynamic, which was completely unintentional and I got a good laugh out of it when I realized what A/B/O was years ago. Convergent evolution...

- Mpreg - It's canon in the show that male Fairies give birth. I don't have anything to say about it; just that it's canon in my work too and treated with the same sincerity as everything else.

- Injury - Includes long-term injury, temporary injuries, and self-harm (Ex: Cutting your palm to stop using magic so you won't age). I don't consider this series bloody or gory. Fairies do have rainbow blood that's mentioned occasionally, but they're very elastic and heal quickly. The humans don't really have bloody moments.

- Character death - Most common when gynes fight to the death, but I've written other deaths as well, such as one where the Pixies caused a car crash on purpose because it benefited them.

-> Fairies are very resilient. Anti-Fairies regenerate if they're killed, as they can't die if their host counterpart (the Fairy) still lives. Death isn't overly common in my 'fics, but I'd feel weird warning for other things and not mentioning this one.

- Sexism (Anti-Fairy World tends to look down on women; Anti-Cosmo in particular tends to parrot the sexist beliefs he grew up with and gets annoyed at pushback)

-> Male bats often mate with many females (up to 30 sometimes). I built Anti-Fairy society around the idea that females outnumber males, but males see it as a sign that many women should be subservient to them because "it's nature." Anti-Cosmo is a product of his culture. Diversity loss! The villain has harmful views!

-> Anti-Fairies tend to be less racist and more sexist than Fairies while Fairies tend to be less sexist and more racist.

- Honey-lock - Anti-Fairies get flooded with hormones and magic 3 months after their counterparts mated. The pair are driven to locate each other, mate, and produce children in reflection of their counterparts.

-> what do you mean that's traumatizing? Dang, you guys live like this?

-> Anti-Cosmo's underlying goal in Frayed Knots is to beat the system so the next generation of Anti-Fairies will be born without the honey-lock's effects.

- Sociosexual Anti-Fairy culture - Anti-Fairies have a touch-based society themed around bonobos because I thought it would be interesting, particularly in a society where pregnancy is out of your control anyway (i.e. you can't accidentally get pregnant- It's in your counterparts' hands).

-> I do think "It feels good and we have few consequences, so why not?" is a reasonable direction for their culture

-> I'm not sure I would make that same choice years later, as it can be quite off-putting, but I'm glad I got to worldbuild with such unique building blocks. I enjoy it, but it's not for everyone.

- Infidelity (Anti-Cosmo cheats on his wife before Anti-Wanda and is implied to sometimes cheat on Anti-Wanda)

-> You're telling me the sexist sociosexual culture has infidelity and the evil villain fell into it? Bummer...

- Iris Virus - Having colored eyes in Anti-Fairy culture is played as an STD that's ceremonially passed to new individuals (because... sociosexual culture).

-> Also, what was I supposed to do with almost every Anti-Fairy having red eyes but Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda, Foop, and the occasional background Anti-Fairy have other colors? Genetics? No way! 😃👍

-> RIP Anti-Cosmo. I'm sorry I find it hilarious that you cheat on all your partners and then sob like your trust's been shattered when your wife chooses to pass the virus on to secure allegiance with a valuable ally. Her body, her choice, dude.

- Child, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse (Frayed Knots in particular is not a hunky-dory story; Anti-Cosmo was often hit as a child. Some characters are cruel to Anti-Cosmo and he is cruel to others as well.

-> There are abuse themes in the Fairly OddParents 'fics?? The TV show about abused kids? what won't they think up next.

-> Cosmo's mother is doting in canon, so I portray Anti-Cosmo's mom as abusive to him.

-> Living in a sexist sociosexual culture sometimes leads to sexual abuse?? Also, belonging to a species that is magically forced to reproduce when your counterparts do even if you didn't consent is probably also sexual abuse? wild.

-> In Origin of the Pixies, H.P. was kidnapped by a will o' the wisp in his younger years and pressured into sex while she was producing milk for newborn Sanderson.

-> H.P. is emotionally distant and not the best at coping with what happened to him. He doesn't necessarily pursue help or get the best closure to this story. Don't hold the villains up as role models.

-> Foop has an alternate personality. This is canon; here's a compilation video I made of his appearances in the series (Note, this compilation includes Foop's Terrific Twos and some scenes where his alter is implied with eye highlights and a high voice to be there, but not confirmed). It's heavily implied he gained this personality due to being isolated in Abracatraz since the day he was born.

-> Cupid's family kills any children that aren't born triplets due to a sacred oath his ancestors took to uphold love all hours of the day. Tradition requires three children to split the magic by way of Morning, Afternoon, and Evening.

-> I would say it's also child abuse that Jorgen was raised with all the pressures of being Keeper of the Rules from the moment he was born, including being pressured to cut off his own wings in line with the tradition of "noble self-sacrifice."

- Young characters & implied offscreen sex - Are you seriously telling me the popular teens might've had sex when they were something like 150,000 years old and they'd been together since childhood? What on earth.

-> In Anti-Fairy society, you're recognized as a full adult at age 150,000.

-> In Fairy World, you're recognized as an adult when you moult your juvenile wings and grow your adult wings. This is generally between ages 140,000 and 180,000.

-> In Pixie World, you're recognized as a full adult at age 250,000. H.P. keeps age of majority high to encourage his pixies to establish themselves in Pixie World instead of leaving. These are non-human cultures that each have their own views.

-> Poof and Goldie have an arc about Goldie having Harm OCD over the fear that she'll fall into her will o' the wisp species stereotype and take advantage of Poof. Meanwhile, Poof has panic attacks because he's pretty sure she did, but blames himself for not being more self-aware. 😬

-> Foop gave his lover Anti-Marigold the iris virus when they were considered young adults in Anti-Fairy society (but still in school) to see if his dad would notice. Years later, he has a breakdown over the fact Anti-Cosmo never did, nor does he seem to care if his son is being reckless.

-> The sexual part of the Celebrity Kids arc is kept off-screen throughout the 130 Prompts. This arc is about the stress of being high schoolers treated like celebrities, ambassadors, royalty, and sports stars.

- Implied incest in H.P.'s family line before he was born (In the old days, it was common to marry cousins to preserve money. This custom has ended in modern times, but comes up on rare occasion)

-> It's implied this family history led to the genetic mutation that gave him wasp biology; that mutation plays a big role in his story.

-> H.P. talks about how he admires his counterpart, whom he considers a cousin. Sometimes other characters mock his admiration because of his infamous family history. It's not even important in his present-day life; it's just that my 'fics are full of jerks.

Some topics may make you uncomfortable. You don't have to read them, but that's part of fleshing out these very detailed, long-lived cultures and their messy underbellies. They're Fae. Were you expecting giddy fluff?

- Summaries for my multi-chapter FOP 'fics

- Summaries for 130 Prompts (with emoji guide)

- Want more info? Send an Ask!

You can create works based on this AU. Please cite me and/or the AU as appropriate (i.e. for things very specific to this AU). You are free to expand on ideas you've thought of thanks to my AU as a jumping off point. I'd love to reblog or link things to my AO3 works if I see them!

I write drama content with morally gray characters. Please don't portray my story events or worldbuilding out of context with intentional malice. In other words, I request you do not post things created for the specific intention of mocking me or the AU. It's not to everyone's tastes, but it's built with sincerity and it is loved <3

[idjits-areus]

Let me start by saying Meta Fiction is such an episode.

I just saw the title and it reminded me of that. One thing in particular is Gabriel's interaction with Cas at the convenience store. Like, that eyebrow wiggle and knowing look of "Would you expect any less?" when Cas asked him if Gabriel was still alive I figured was intentional. It had to be. There was no way it couldn't have been. It was so blatantly obvious.

I got curious and looked up if Richard knew that he would be returning for future episodes (season 13 wise) at that point in time. This is part of an interview article I found:

Fangasm's "Richard Speight, Jr. – On Gabriel’s Return to Supernatural, Ad-Libbing with Misha Collins, and Lots of Cons!" interview article from 2014

I didn't even notice the snapping piece when I watched it before and if I had I brushed it off. Like, reading that it makes so much sense. Metatron would not have written that in. He would've done it like a regular angel because everyone knew it was Gabriel the archangel at that point not Loki the Trickster. He would've assumed that there was no need to hide behind the trickster persona anymore, so he'd just blip away like every other angel. Snapping was very much Gabriel. A little personalization if you will.

And the theory. I like how they dealt with where Gabriel was in season 13. I like the Monte Carlo backstory. It's like a conflict of canon plot here though. If we go with this theory then it sort of displaces the season 13 backstory. According to the backstory, Gabriel should be with Asmodeus in season 9 and has been since sometime in season 6. There's no way that he would have just "been around."

I could believe that Metatron took a piece of the real Gabriel and mixed it with his fake one to produce the Gabriel we got. It's not like he could get him out of hell. Not even Metatron had that kind of power I think. Therefore it wasn't the real Gabriel. It was almost like one of his copies though. Looked, acted, and talked like him but wasn't him. Yes there are some differences, but that's to be expected. It is Metatron who is pulling strings. It's his "story" after all. Even with that Metatron had to make him real. So he used that piece of the real Gabriel as the majority composition that made up the character. He let him feel real. Be real.

As I'm writing this I got another theory. One that I think I really like. Metatron could've found Gabriel in hell, yes, but he couldn't have gotten him out to do his bidding. Asmodeus would've noticed and getting Gabriel out wasn't on Metatron's to-do list. That and I highly doubt he's got the power to do so. Gabriel has made copies, illusions of himself before. I can believe that Gabriel gave Metatron a weakened copy of himself to use. It's still Gabriel, but not at the same time. It would explain a lot. This way the backstory stays intact while still allowing this episode to be canonically correct. And Gabriel would not need to mention Metatron in his retelling of the backstory because it is insignificant. It was this tiny thing that meant nothing to him, so why include it? There wasn't a need. And in doing so it allowed the writers to help fix a canon plot hole they created 4 seasons ago.

I am aware that the writers and people of this show probably hadn't thought of this backstory yet. It was a whole 4 seasons away. I don't think they plan that far in advance and once they wrote it they couldn't just go back and fix it. This is all just me grasping at the metaphorical straws trying to piece together something that probably isn't there. Just, to me, it makes sense. It works. Would this theory be considered a headcanon? Probably.

[uselesstaroth]

Okay, Ace Attorney Amy Rose

It's not coming along so I'm summing up the stories in this

Amy's first case, defendant Sonic the Hedgehog, former olympic gold medalist, current Fastest Thing Alive. Framed for the murder of his former coach.

Prosecution is Fang the Hunter.

The case is solved by Amy accusing Fang, and successfully revealing he's not even a licensed prosecutor, and his badge is jammie dodger

Second case

Amy's mentor, Vanilla, gets infect by Metal Virus, and her daughter Cream is the suspect.

Prosecution is Surge the Tenrec. She brings things for her throat to the courtroom cuz she wears out her voice yelling.

Idk how this goes, but Eggman is arrested for leaking that bio weapon and Surge gets really mad.

Blaze's first (on screen) case

Whisper the Wolf is accused of killing her teammates, the Diamond Cutters.

Prosecution is Lanolin.

Lanolin goes through a lot of effort to prove that Whisper is guilty, but Blaze manages to prove that Mimic was the one that did it, by impersonating Whisper.

Lanolin is very upset she almost declared an innocent guilty, so she arranges a meeting with Blaze to apologize and they get to know eachother.

Lanolin keeps calling Blaze "Majesty"despite the latter's insistence on just being called "Blaze" (I have not figured out this plot point.)

The final case

Surge is framed for a crime (idk what) by Starline. Here we learn her and Kit's backstory, that being victims of child trafficking mixed with memory wiping.

Amy, Blaze and Lanolin all end up working together (think Rise from the Ashes mixed with Turnabout Goodbyes) to unravel Starline's underground empire built in the shadow of Eggman Industries.

When there isn't enough evidence to convict Starline, Lanolin finally brings out Kit as the witness, where it's revealed that his memory never got wiped, and instead he's been pretending for years to not know so convincingly that Starline thought he had him. (If written there would be hints)

After the Not Guilty verdict is given and Starline is arrested, and they're walking out of the courtroom, Surge starts tearing up.

Amy gives her a tackle hug, Blaze gives her a soft hug, Lanolin gives her a comforting hand on the shoulder, and Surge starts bawling her eyes out, now that years of being under his boot have come to an end.

The four move in together, and while watching a move they're like "Are they gonna let us see eachother in court now that we're together?" And Lanolin says "One time an attorney sued someone and prosecuted the case themselves, I think we're fine."

The end.

Bonus tidbits:

Lanolin always has a coffee mug in the courtroom. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Surge works in Shadow the Hedgehog's law firm. He wears golden bracelets linked together by a chain as a reference to the inhibitors and to Simon Blackquill. He calls Amy to his office and tells her "Don't give up on Surge." He's known as the "Ultimate Lifeform" because no one has ever seen him take a break or sleep.

Sonic really is the fastest thing alive, having beaten the top speed of the peregrine falcon the year before the events, and the reason he retired from olympic sprinting early.

Since pretty much everyone wears gloves 24/7 cuz it's Sonic, finding a fingerprint is almost exculpatory evidence, and how Blaze proves Whisper is innocent and Mimic is the one that did it.

They do manage to cure Vanilla.

Cream fills a similar role to Maya as Amy's aide.

Vector is the detective, ala Gumshoe. He, Charmy and Espio are also guards in the courtroom and they capture Fang, Bark and Bean when they try to run away.

More pending, will add on reblogs

[justatalkingface]

what's your opinion on the big 3? When I was hyperfoxed on this series they were the thing I care Abt the most (I enjoyed season 4, obv I'd change some stuff now but I still remember it being atleast ok)

I hate how dirty they did my girl nejire, as far as I'm aware they didn't even do anything with her after the whole pagent thing she just got a small backstory about how she was sad (don't know all of it I haven't been keeping up that well w the manga)

mirios not having a quirky and having to save eri (a girl who I can't imagine would be that skilled at the age she is and has been training on lizards to give his quirk back all together, I'd imagine it taking a few more months but bnhas time is shit so) and coming back in the war arc to punch one person and then basically do noting iicr

The only decently written one was amajiki, I wish they had more going on I think they have a fun dynamic (w them helping taking care of eri and me rlly liking idk what it's called but I love the fluff it brings) :(

Lots of mixed feelings, in all honesty. Lots of mixed feelings.

I'll admit, a big part of my mixed feelings about them is they showed up as the latest, 'Stomp on Izuku's everything' at the point in the story where it was becoming obvious that there was always something stomping on Izuku, and that gave me a bad first impression on them I've never been able to shake... which isn't helped by how they're connected to the clusterfuck of Nighteye, of all people, which is kind of my whole thing with Mirio (warning; I am biased):

As a person, he's obviously nice, but as a character, basiclly his entire reason for existing was, 'give Izuku an existential crisis' and I don't think I've ever forgiven him for that, really. His entire character is just bigger, stronger, older, happier, more capable, more confident, more successful, more loved Izuku, who had a Quirk his whole life and only had to dig deep to find out how strong it, and he, was all along.

Unironically. It's....

It's a really bad look, to be blunt; he feels kind of like a bad fanfiction character written by a bad writer who wanted to put their super special OC in the story, except he's canon.

Since we've never seen him even think something unheroic, there's really nothing that distinguishes him from that impression factual statement, which, again, makes it hard for me to give a shit about him, or even remember him... which is a problem Hori seems to share, lol. It doesn't help that I loathe Sir Nighteye and that most of his development time is spent admiring him, to boot, and that his parts of the story are either empty or focused on a living plot device I can't quite like no matter how hard I try because of how blatant the emotional manipulation is about the biggest story breaking, SOD shattering plot device until Stars and Stripes showed up.

If he ever got any kind of development to flesh him out a human being rather than being either Izuku and/or a heroic archetype, it'd help, but beyond all of that his biggest personality trait is liking jokes, and that barely even comes up. Or, rather, considering both the Final Arc and his response to Bakugou's name, along with Nighteye's own tendencies, 'jokes', maybe.

He doesn't deserve it, I admit it, it's not his fault, but I just can't get past that. He also doesn't deserve to just be forgotten until his big moment of a butt joke, but... MHA, everyone. In all honesty, I'd just like him better if his entire story arc didn't exist in and as some of the worst parts of the Overhaul arc, but he's tainted by that fact.

I freely admit that I am unfairly biased against him, so take all of that with a mountain of salt.

As a side note though, god, the story doesn't seem to realize how badly Nighteye is using the poor kid; Mirio thinks Nighteye is training him because he's worthy, while Nighteye mainly seems to be doing it because he's the closest thing to an All Might clone he can get, bar him actually cloning All Might, even if he grew to like him for who he is. I'm not sure Nighteye ever thought of Mirio with just his Quirk as anything more than a temporary situation; even at the start of canon, when on his own merits he's rising to fame with how successful he is, Nighteye's overall focus is still about getting AFO into the kid.

I almost wish I could see Nighteye explaining how all of his training came down to getting All Might's Quirk, just to see MIrio react and tear Nighteye down a peg about it, except Hori's history of handling these kinds of things means he'd never be allowed to be properly offended on his own behalf, the poor bastard.

Moving on, Tamaki. Out of all of them, he's had the biggest of an on-screen story arc, and in a intellectual way his Quirk is easily the most interesting. Unfortunately, while he has a personality, it feels so bland at times that he's far easier to remember for his Quirk than who he is.

I liked his story, really, but at the time it was overshadowed by Mirio and his everything, and by the time he showed back up it was clear how irrelevant it and he was, so it was more about how (admittedly, very) cool he get his Quirk to be than it was about him, and with some brutal honesty, it's probably because his Quirk is so interesting that he even got that much focus beyond that initial arc by Hori.

And... Nejirie.

In a combat sense she's easily the best of them, really; Mirio is almost purely defensive, which limits him (especially if he's not surprising someone with it) while Tamaki's Quirk, while flexible, is so conditional in ways that can easily hold him back (we only ever see him fight with full preparation; if he's not gearing for a fight he'd be easy to ambush), and like a lot of things in the Final Arc, his big laser canon thing is.... questionable.

Nejirie, though, is just simply powerful. In a setting where everyone has one power and one main application of that power, where you either fly or blast things, but not both, she's the closest I've seen to a 'traditional' super hero, like you'd see in Marvel or DC.

At the same time, though, out of the three of them she least has a story, for obvious reasons, and it's a disgrace, really. If Hori had just spent some time on her, on the her backstory that apparently exists (yeah, I'm not sure where that is either), she could have been so interesting... but really, all she is is the Girl Teammate. Her personality traits are The Girl Teammate's personality traits. She's just The Girl Teammate stamped over all of the interesting stuff, and it's such a waste, it really is.

And finally, as a unit? The Big Three is a shiny toy that Hori forgot in the corner somewhere as soon as he got bored with it. He spent a few minutes oohing and aahing over them, focusing really hard on developing interesting powers, how they could be used, and how strong they were, only to start to lose interest as soon as those powers were established, and he was writing the three of them off before their introductory arc was even over.

[starlostlix]

GUYS I KIND OF LOVE SK8 THE INFINITY

[This ended up being kind of a review/discussion about the show so enjoy whatever the hell I'm talking about here.]

I binged the show this afternoon and.... wow.

I love the skateboarding sequences. The animation is so fluid and the skateboarding tricks they do are wild. I do not know the details of how animation works but I think it must have taken a lot of effort to make it look so good.

The plot is relatively simple in terms of the main skateboarding beefs/tournament (it even has a beach episode!) but it's effective because it feels more grounded. An underground skateboarding group with competitions could probably exist which is quite interesting.

It's the characters that really make this show. Reki and Langa and their dynamic, with its ups and downs, are so compelling, and Reki's issues with his own self-worth and skill are so human. Langa's growth in skill in skateboarding is so interesting to follow and his joy at the sport after his dad's death (and his previous passion for snowboarding) is reallly nicely done. Them becoming distanced and coming back together again because they realise that skateboarding is enjoyable due to each other is so sad but also beautiful when resolved. "Reki my love... of skateboarding" is maybe my second favourite dub line of the series.

Joe and Cherry (aka Matchablossom) have a great dynamic together, with their history with Adam is really interesting (speaking of that I'm convinced young Cherry had a crush on Adam, oh and Cherry should have kept that lip ring). I love a married-couple-style bickering duo with their endearing nature shining through in small moments and that's really sweet. Plus they act as mentors to the younger characters and that's really fun. Cherry relying on the calculations of his AI assistant vs Joe being more brute and somewhat reckless in his technique is quite an interesting comparison between the two and I appreciate their childhood best friends backstory.

Miya is also really great, and his struggles with balancing competitiveness and fun are compelling. The small parts we see of his backstory of him losing friends because he got successful is really interesting. Shadow is also really fun, at first a minor antagonist and eventually an ally. Him becoming a chaperone to these kids is really funny and his different presentations in and out of the skateboarding world is really cool.

Adam... where to start really. Well I was quite uncomfortable at some points with the way he acts towards Langa (a minor) and he's a bit... intense at points which I feel mixed on. That being said, his character is really really interesting - a politician with an outlet in an intense skateboarding persona and an abusive family makes for a very interesting antagonist and his ambitiousness and need to win as a driving force explains how he really pushes himself and the limits of skateboarding. His desire to find his 'eve' - someone that can truly match his skating - is really intriguing (I only wish he wasn't pursuing a 17-yr-old Langa for that considering it's romantic connotations). His dynamic with 'Snake' - his childhood friend turned secretary - is really interesting too (as is Snake's actions and motivations in general).

To me so many people in this show feel queer-coded. Joe Cherry and Adam are such a messy trio and it's kind of comical that Cherry could be seen to have had feelings for both of them. Reki and Langa are so awkward and they clearly like each other a lot in a way that feels romantic ("show her she's a lucky girl" kind of speaks for itself). Adam is Adam, I don't really have to say much else there tbh.

Also THE THEMES!!!! THE THEMES!!!! Loss, friendship, passion in your interests, the desire to have FUN rather than be competitive all the time, what an interest can mean to a person (which as an AuDHD individual is something I feel attached to in this show in particular), etc. It's really well done in this show and there is loads to talk about but they honestly deserve their own in depth posts (which I may do eventually you never know).

STUDIO BONES!!!! DROP SEASON 2 AND THE MATCHABLOSSOM OVA AND MY LIFE IS YOURSSS!!!!

I enjoyed the show a lot and it's a very fun and well made series despite its short runtime.

There's a lot that can be talked about but to put it simply, I am now a SK8 fan.

[busterbby]

Life is so hard for overseas hypsters, especially if you're a yume in this fandom. KR really doesn't care about people outside Japan. I think nowadays Hypmic became a niche interest because of this.

Thank you so much for working so hard for us. Luckily for me, I can understand a little Japanese, so I can scroll through the hpmi plus (the JP tag for x readers) every day. Lol.

Since you're a yumeshipper too… maybe… could you share some tidbits about your yumeship? Pretty please? 🤲🏻 (It's totally fine if you don't want to though!)

— 🌸 (Same anon as before)

This got a bit long, so I put it under the cut for consideration!

I totally get that 😭 it truly does feel like overseas fans are on their own, especially the yume community. It's already niche on its own, so I do think the small community also contributes to the dwindling fandom since there isn't as much fan content to keep engaged, esp with yume stuff. But! I am a strong believer in making stuff you want to see, and that's a way to keep a fandom active. But yeah I feel like the small fandom is already a detriment and perhaps making it even smaller since it can feel so isolating.

Not to mention the lack of access as well. It's hard to really get into something when you barely get any content for it. We get official plot points and fan translations months after release, which I do appreciate! Seriously, I wouldn't be into hypmic without all the gracious fans deciding to translate stuff for us :') Just wish KR cared a bit more about overseas fans lol. But I guess I do kinda enjoy this nice community in and of itself as well~

I get that hypmic is widely huge in Japan and that maybe they won't see a return in investment for overseas fans. But like.. they haven't really tried promoting it overseas to my knowledge?? lol. Well, not much anyway. It's so weird too because they've been including translations on their tweets and subtitles in their videos, yet when it comes to actual content we don't get much. Definitely some mixed signals.

(and I know there are ways to officially support the franchise, and it's not like stuff is gatekept, per se; but there are still huge barriers to access such as language, money, etc.)

It’s so nice though to be able to interact with the Japanese fandom! I’m sure there’s much more content on there, though I’m not really sure if the yume community is big there. I actually follow a yume artist on Twitter though and ngl some of their drawings give me inspo for some of my writings!

To be completely honest, idk where to start with my yumeship :'). I've never actually interacted with the online yume community — my experience is simply bothering all my (willing) friends with my daydreams. so I'm not sure where people really start?? (Also from the looks of it, the yume community online does.. not seem very welcoming. lol. or really, it seems very tiring). I don't really have like,, a specific s/i or backstory anything. I kinda just think of daydreams then go "hey, i should write that.." lol.

I yume with Jiro a lot though!! He's like my main f/o. I like to think we're just two dumbasses very much in love (which Sabu gags over lol) with probably one shared brain cell in between us two. Lately, I've just been imagining how pouty Jiro would get since we haven't been talking or hanging out much since I'm always studying lectures or something lol. Idk the thought of his pouty lips and whining are so cute to me.. but alas, I must persevere and study my pathology lectures.

(also also, a cute hc I love to have is sitting together, sharing earphones and just listening to music together.. I love rock/rock-adjacent sounds, and I feel like he definitely does too considering his solo songs. so I always love to imagine sharing those with him whenever I listen to a song like that. esp since he's such a big music lover, with playing guitar and rapping and all. Just wanted to share that so any Jiro yumes can think about that as well..)

but also I like to yume with Ichiro a lot too!! esp as of late lol. I've been on a bit of an Ichi kick. Thinkin' about how supportive and sweet he'd be when I'm just cramped up in my room studying.. he'd always bring little snacks and say the most encouraging things, with a sweet handsome smile and a loving head ruffle. need that so badly in my life rn.

I’d love to hear about your own yumeship though!! Or anyone else’s for that matter. Idk ‘think it’s always so sweet to hear about how much other’s f/o’s love them so, and we should build a supportive community from the tiny fandom that we have here!

[artsywriter25]

Let’s talk about Kung Fu Panda 4

Okay, so we finally got some updates on KFP4, the plot, the director and what to expect to see in the film. My reaction to this is….mix.

On one hand, I’m so happy we got something! But on the other hand, I’m just really nervous and I don’t like this deflated feeling. So I’m writing this out to share my thoughts and wanting to hear what the fandom thinks. I’ll try not to make this too long or sound like a rant, I’m going straight to the point and talk about the good and bad about KFP4.

=

So first let’s talk about the director: Mike Mitchell

……Oh boy.

Ok I’m not gonna give the guy any crap, I’m willing enough to give him a chance. Yes I know he directed Trolls, but he also directed Shrek Forever After. I looked back at that movie after The Last Wish and it’s not really that bad. It was actually sweet and serious in some parts. And that’s what I hope this director will do, have the 4th film at least serious in some parts and don’t make it too goofy or jokey where it feels awkward.    

Now on to the story and this is the best way I can summarize this from a few articles I’ve read:

“ Po is getting promoted to be the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace, but he has to choose someone to take his place as the new Dragon Warrior. He catches a theft fox who he could see potential in their skills but they don’t get along. But Then a Chinese sorcerer known as ‘The Chameleon’, has summon Po’s past villains from the dead. Now Po and his (student?) must journey together and stop this new villain. ”  

So judging by the information that we got, it sounds like many years have passed since the third movie. Po becoming leader actually worries me because it’s probably hinting that Master Shifu may pass away and now Po has to take his responsibilities (This is just a guess so sorry Shifu fans!).  

There is also this fox character they have mention in the articles which they can’t seem to get the name right and they keep flipping their gender. First it was misspelled as Shen, then it was Chen and Zhen so I’m just gonna call them Fox for now on.

I wonder what kind of story arc will they give Fox. What’s their backstory? What kind of lessons they must learn? Does Po see himself in them or are they both different with different views? These are some questions I hope they answer. Giving Po a student to teach was a direction I theorized DreamWorks will go down and I’m glad they did. The trilogy had Po as a student, now taking the role of masterful teacher, it make sense to passed down those experiences to someone. I can really image the funny shenanigans they can get in to, along with the Furious Five. I think it would have been awesome if they each had a student too and they all come together fighting the villains with the skills they were taught. If there’s one thing I’m really worried about is the Five getting pushed aside for this new character or Fox ending up being a perfect character. Have Fox be flawed, have them be a kid we can relate and root for and something that the kids will like too.

Now let’s talk about my most favorite thing of all: THE VILLAINS!!!

OH MY GOD MY FANGIRL IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER! TAI LUNG, SHEN AND KAI ARE COMING BACK!! AND I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS A GOOD OR BAD THING!!??

I am shock, like I never expected they go down this route. Story wise, I understand why the three shouldn’t come back as they served their purpose as villains, but no, they are bringing them all back. A actual animation studio is listening and giving the fans what they wanted??

DreamWorks must be watching their fandoms, that’s the only explanation I can think of. They must have saw all of our fanarts and fanfics and went like “Oh damn, they really love are villains…you know what, let’s bring them back.”

So how will this affect the story? I honestly don’t know, maybe Fox has to learn all body, mind, and spirit in order to help Po and the Five.

Now what I’m really surprised is they choose a chameleon to be the forth villain. I did some research this morning, and there’s not that many species that look intimidating. But if they could make a peacock threatening, I’m sure they can make a chameleon threatening too. I even looked up about sorcerers in China and I think they meant shamans. Chinese shamans are known to be wizards or spirit mediums, this could mean the Chameleon may have some connection to the spirit realm, which I hope they explored more on. I read some of this under Wikipedia, its very interesting.

=

And that’s all I have to say for Kung Fu Panda 4. I am a little worry for this film but I’m not gonna get worked up about it, I’m gonna stay positive that it will work and I’m sure it will. The only thing that could save this film is the animation. I think KFP is perfect for that hybrid spiderverse animation.  

But what do you guys think and are you still excited for the sequel?? If you wanna discuss anything about this I’m all ears. 

[lilmackiereads]

Winter Solstice (2000) by Rosamunde Pilcher -- Spoiler-Filled Review

My Score Chart:

0 Stars = Hate it/ Regret reading it

1 Star = Meh, not for me

2 Stars = Ok/ neutral

3 Stars = I liked it

4 Stars = I loved it

5 Stars = One of my favorite books ever!

Overall Rating and Basic Summary: 2.5 Stars

If you don't want a spoiler version, click here!

I found this novel in the Little Free Library and took it for a spin. From the cover and title, I thought it was going to be a story about witches celebrating Yuletide, however, it ended up being a bittersweet drama taking place during Christmas in Scotland where a group of five people with tragic backstories bunk together. I finished it in three days while I was sick with a cold, but if I hadn't been home sick it probably would have taken me longer since there were a lot of redundant bits of repeating plot and dialogue every time a new character was introduced (which was often!) This book would have been better at about 300 pages total since the inciting incident of Oscar's family dying in a car crash is nearly 100 pages in. There seems like there is a lot of dead air between plot points as the characters are brought into each other's lives through very loose family relations and persnickety. I kept waiting for something to happen and would have to speed read at parts since it was going so slow.

Even though this had nothing to do with witches, I did appreciate that they explained the difference between Yule, Christmas, and Winter Solstice especially since this is a very Christian-coded book! I also agree that Jesus (if you believe in him) was born in the spring and that the original Christians and Catholics stole a lot of Yuletide practices (decorating a tree indoors, gift exchange, mistletoe, caroling, bonfire/ Yule log, worshiping the moon and change of seasons, etc.) since they were trying to eradicate pagan beliefs. ANYWAYS, I digress...

Something I did like was that there are a lot of character foils with different emotional and socioeconomic backgrounds. While all of the characters are ethnically Caucasian and from the U.K. and/ or the United States, there was a diverse range of different character ages and marital statuses. Singles, divorcees, widows, widowers, mistresses, and the like were all mixed together in this abode. It was very PG as not much happened between characters other than kissing or "making love" instead of using more graphic terms or smutty scenes.

My favorite characters were Carrie, her niece Lucy, and friend Rory. I couldn't stand Nicola and Gran! Carrie was my favorite character until I found out she was a mistress. If she had been unaware that she was a mistress and was tricked into dating a married man, that would have been one thing, BUT SHE ADMITS TO KNOWING THAT HE WAS MARRIED WITH KIDS. UGH. I understand that Pilcher was trying to make her more well-rounded and make her imperfect, but I feel that there were other ways to show her flaws. When she kept dreaming about her ex-lover, Andreas, I thought maybe he had died in a skiing accident because she works at the lodge in Austria. I was so disappointed when this cheating part was added in, ESPECIALLY when Pilcher tries to set her up with Sam, A MAN WHO IS GETTING DIVORCED BECAUSE HIS WIFE CHEATED ON HIM. So annoying. The whole thing just felt cheap and stupid. She was the most amazing aunt to Lucy and sticking up to Gran and Nicola (Lucy's mom), and I would have rather that she been a spinster or figuring out her sexuality -- a LGBTQIA storyline would have been way more interesting and progressive, especially in 2000 -- than this crappy storyline.

Lucy and Rory were sweetie-pies, and I have no complaints about either of them. At first I thought that Pilcher was trying to set them up romantically, but I think Rory sees her more as a little sister. It was hard to tell though because in Lucy's diary she talks about Rory as a "best friend," and "older brother," but then she will contradict herself and gush about him. Someone has a little crush. Ooooohhoooo.

The rest of the characters, including, but not limited to, Elfrida, Oscar, Sam, Major Billicliffe, Arthur, Mrs. Snead, Peter, Tabitha (and more) were ok. I didn't dislike them, but I wouldn't go out of my way to hang out with them, either.

My main issue with the relationship between Elfrida and Oscar wasn't that they met when he was married and that they had a spark. I feel like that is very reflective of real life, especially for people who have loved and lost, as they are both in their 60s. My issue was that they got together like A WEEK OR TWO after his 12-year-old daughter and wife and dogs died in a drunk driving accident! That's insane and gross. Yeah yeah, I know some people would say "you can't choose who (or when) you fall in love." I DON'T GIVE A FUCK. That's NOT ok. Pilcher should have had the accident occur in the spring and then had them get together in the winter to give them like a six month lead up so he's not hopping into bed with another woman so fast while he's still actively grieving. I do like both Oscar and Elfrida, since they are spunky, snarky and fun, but I just hated their romantic timeline. Even their engagement at the end bothered me. It was too quick. Not even two months after their deaths. That's some bullshit.

Sam was ok. I thought he was kind of stuck up with Carrie at times and it bothered me that he fell for a woman that literally did what his wife just did to him. Like huh??? I'm so confused. Go be single you moron. Both of you! I did like that he bought her a painting at the end, since I think it's more romantic and thoughtful than the average gift, but it was a bit expensive and felt flashy like he was showing some sort of dominance or something. Idk maybe it's just me.

I would put my liking of Horace the dog in-between the two groups as he was a bit of a dummy, but I liked him more than most of the human characters. At least he wasn't problematic!

The end was a bit predictable, but full circle and a mostly "happy" ending with Osar and Elfrida getting to take care of Lucy and living in Major Billicliffe's house after his passing. I would have liked it to end after Christmas since there are still some unanswered questions. I think if it continued it probably would have ended with Sam and Carrie officially together (lame) and Elfrida and Oscar's wedding (cute, but too fast). I'm not sure if Rory and Lucy would end up together due to their age gap, but this would have been fun to explore.

Would I read this book again?

No, but it did help pass the time on a weekend at home! I would give one of Pilcher's other books a chance if one sounded interesting. On the bright side, I learned over 100 new words while reading this 500+ page book, most of them U.K. slang or phrases. Since I don't plan on rereading it, I will put it back into the Little Free Library for someone else to read.

Would I recommend it to others?

You may like this if you like Hallmark-y dramas (especially ones with lots of solemn backstory). I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who are depressed around the winter holidays (even though most of the characters are also depressed, this is a story of how they "get over it" since it could send some people into a deeper depression.) Specifically, if you have trauma regarding drunk driving, marital infidelity, or fatal diseases.