#if his character doesn't interest me then the episode he's featured in does

[lapis-lazuliie]

top 5 Reece characters in inside n9 please :3

1. tommy

2. brian

3. edward

4. drew

gonna be honest, i don't have a fifth fav character of his - at least not one that i find insanely fascinating 😅

[bug-slappy]

sharing my opinion here about serizawas design inconsistencies over time (spoilers for mp100 ending) i feel like in each new rendition of serizawa weve seen in official art ever since the start of S3 something feels off in a different way with every new merch release

lets start here ⬇ serizawa looks like,, himself. accurate to how hes drawn since his first anime appearance

⬇⬇⬇ and then slowly,,, things start to look off. his jawline is slowly getting slimmer, his eyes look wider (same with mobs too)

AND DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THESE. especially the one on the right my god. who is that

every new promo art that comes out just feels very careless. I think you could say so for all the characters (mobs giant eyes, reigens waist getting skinnier/pointier features. the PROMO art of dimple that was literally FULLY TRACED OFF OF A TEMU PIRATE HALLOWEEN COSTUME. they all look bad here)

it just feels a little depressing how little they seem to care anymore, like theyre just trying to pump out merch without bothering to use a character reference.

i notice the changes the most with serizawa. every promo art looks like theyre playing a game of telephone. each version of him is based on the last, instead of his initial design (shown below)

at the end of S2, when reigen cuts serizawas hair, he still looks like himself. they did a great job of showing "how serizawa would look underneath his moustache and big hair". In S3 it feels like they've lost that mentality completely. like he's no longer based off of his original design, but an entirely new reference of his salary man look. some comparisons between S3 vs S2 and OVA down below

I find that the line weight in S3 is much heavier and unfocused. but what bothers me most of all is that... Serizawa looks different in nearly every scene... as if they're undecided on what he should look like. the shape of his nose and jaw, his hair all change depending on the episode entirely.

The art style change for S3 was meant to be "more accurate to the manga", but I find that it had the opposite effect. especially how serizawas and ritsus eye shapes changed. ritsus large pupils and serizawas more almond shaped eyes were more reflective of their manga designs there are plenty of inconsistences in S1 and 2, but they're clearly done with purpose to reflect on ONEs art style (my beloved). I feel like the thinner lines allow more room for detail and extreme facial expressions that truly hold a candle to ONEs insane talent for capturing emotions.

these ^^^ compared to..

erm.. this.. ⬇

just felt very underwhelming... and serizawa certainly does mellow out once he starts working at S&S, but that doesn't mean that there's less opportunity for detailed expressions !!

the yokai fight scene was beautifully made i have no qualms.. but the amount of serizawa lore and dialogue in the manga that got cut from the anime just made him look like a cardboard cut out standing behind everyone. lots of funny and interesting moments cut to make room for the moefication of serizawa katsuya..

I feel like there's a lot of important moments that were cut, (reigen "i hope i can become a partner like that" arataka, serizawa "ive had a similar experience myself" katsuya )

or sad, intense scenes that were made lighthearted (the body improvement club trying to help mob, mob and ??? dialogue being cut, reigen removing his shoes in the final arc made to be meant for better grip rather than... his passively suicidal tendencies )

i think the people at bones are very talented dont get me wrong, i just felt like S3 could have been adapted better. this keeps me up at night its like 1am :) anywhosies thank you for listening to my ted talk i love you

[emilinqa]

star trek tos is deeply entrenched in its identity as a 60s tv show for better or for worse (both) but i think retroactively the city on the edge of forever ends up showcasing this more now since its set in a time we can now as 21st century viewers connect with being closer to the time it was produced, rather than the nebulous 23rd. it's interesting because for me i think the single episode informs the way i connect an imagined future to the actual real 1960s the show was written in, particularly in the language and the way relationships between characters are depicted in the way they speak to one another. in that single episode it suddenly feels that the coded language everyone uses, the subtext, the hints and euphemisms is a necessity of the world rather than a feature of the show. and suddenly (for me, at least) that totally shapes the rest of the way i view the rest of the original series. though the way they speak to one another doesn't really tangibly change all that much, when they're placed in the setting of the 1930s the way that kirk and spock speak to each other and about one another entirely shifts.

edith asks kirk in regards to his relationship with spock "I still have a few questions I'd like to ask about you two. Oh, and don't give me that 'questions about little old us' look, you know as well as I do how out of place you two look here." which. well. hello. and later when she asks "Why does Spock call you captain? Were you in the war together?" and kirk says "we... served together" its like yes the obfuscation of their identities and who they are to one another is a necessity of the plot and time travel reasons but i also can't pretend that particular response doesn't color kirks line 2 episodes later in amok time "you've been called the best first officer in the fleet, that's an... enormous asset to me" in a different light. the necessity of secrets and closed doors and frantically having to conceal themselves and their tiny little apartment with a pair of twin beds and ediths "you, by his side as if you've always been there and always will" and "'Captain'? See, even when he doesn't say it, he does" well i can't act like it doesn't change the way i see their enforced professional distance in other episodes, even when they're back safe in their own century. its why The conversation cut from the original harlon ellison script hits seriously i think. it's like a deeply personal confession of desire for a life that could never be: "On my world the nights are very long. The sound of the silver bird against the sky is very sweet. My people know there is always time enough for everything. You would be comfortable there" and a wistful acceptance ("All the time in the world...") in another time in another life in another place it could be but just not this one. spock's endless resignation. well it just changes everything for me. star trek is about the 1960s!!!!!!

[sitp-recs]

Part II: table for two

Following my list featuring the sea (now with a lil banner cause I’m getting in the reccing zone again baby!!!!), I thought I’d make this a series called “fic as a sensory delight” and continue the trend with good old Drarry domesticity walking hand in hand with some food porn appreciation. Who knew that Drarry living their best life while enjoying tasty treats could be so personal? These fics feel like a comfort meal when life gets too crazy and provide a delicious sensory experience. From cottagecore to road trips, found family, case fic, established relationship and even kinky delights - this list has a bit of everything and features food as a main character either bringing Drarry together, healing past traumas, helping them connect with their heritage or simply playing as a love language. I hope these fics bring you as much comfort, joy and healing as they brought me. Happy weekend!

🥘 Breakfast by @moonflower-rose (E, 3k)

Breakfast is Harry's favorite part of the day.

🥘 Market Saturdays by @sorrybutblog (M, 3k)

In which Harry is an accidental part-time cheesemonger, Draco is an organic farmer and they fall in love. Not an AU.

🥘 Salt and Sauce by onbeinganangel (T, 3k)

Sure, of course he knows how you take your tea. But does he know your chippy order?

🥘 Cupboard Love by @shealwaysreads (G, 4k)

Harry’s life, and love, in food.

🥘 Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You by InnerLilith (E, 11k)

In which Harry takes Draco out for Eritrean food, and Draco has a severe obsession with Harry’s hands. Smut ensues.

🥘 Harry Potter and the Showstopper of Doom by @doubleappled (M, 11k)

In which Harry’s an amateur baker, Draco wants him to go on the Great British Bake-Off, Petunia never misses an episode, Sue is a witch, Paul Hollywood is Paul Hollywood, and everyone eats a lot — like a whole lot — of baked goods.

🥘 Poppiholla by @moonflower-rose (M, 13k)

Harry had accepted that he would pine silently for Malfoy forever, but one, humid summer might change that.

🥘 Connecting Lines, Connecting Crimes by @sleepstxtic (M, 15k)

“Hello, Harry,” Draco said. He was wearing a black turtleneck under a long grey overcoat, and he was already flushed with sweat. His hair was tied into a knot; it was longer than I remembered. He was older than I remembered. There were lines around his eyes, and I wondered if they were from laughing or frowning. “Hello,” I managed. “You must be with the British Ministry?’ He nodded. I thought I might faint.

🥘 Bridges by @cavendishbutterfly (E, 16k)

Harry and Draco are on a trip to Budapest to help with Kingsley's re-election, but that's the boring bit. More interesting: Harry Potter is changing his Tinder preferences to include men. Also interesting: Harry's spending more time with Draco Malfoy than he ever has, wandering around the city. And Harry doesn't hate it. The city's pretty gorgeous too.

🥘 Sourdough by @academicdisasterfic (M, 17k)

Draco writes romance novels and doesn't leave his apartment much. Harry bakes bread and sells it to Draco. Draco is quite weird. Harry might like that.

🥘 Preserving Lemons by @saintgarbanzo, @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm (E, 17k)

Harry is cooking food he couldn't care less about; Draco is making art he couldn't care more about. A story about kebabs, miniskirts and the way preservation can transform a lemon.

🥘 Passion Cake by @icmezzo (T, 19k)

It’s all about desire. (Harry orders a magically enhanced cake from a chic London bakery, and from there it all goes to hell in a cake tin. Also, will someone please tell Harry what Passion Cake is?)

🥘 Knead by laughingd0g (E, 83k)

This is not a story about Harry renovating Grimmauld Place. This is a story about coffee shops and brewpubs, about Ginny and Luna on a farm with creatures, about magical Oregon, coastal road trips, flying, friendship, and Draco Malfoy's lean arms.

🥘 Soup-pocalypse and The Great Curry Cataclysm by SquadOfCats (E, 104k)

Eleven years after the war, Draco Malfoy leads a quiet, boring, and perfectly respectable life, thanks very much. Or, at least he does, until a sudden and very unexpected veela awakening causes him to throw soup all over Harry Potter in the middle of the Ministry cafeteria.

🥘 Make This Leap by @oflights (M, 118k)

Harry owns a struggling restaurant which is running out of money, and his Head Chef has just handed in notice. He's at a bit of a loss as to what to do until Narcissa Malfoy presents an obvious solution: bring in Draco Malfoy as Chef and part owner. Harry does.

[artbyblastweave]

An interesting thing about the Monarch is that while obviously the entire gag is that he’s enmeshed in this postmodern weirdly formalized etiquette-and-code-of-conduct-based form of super-villainy, this notably does not translate to him being a Megamind-style functionally-benign-showman kind of villain-in-name-only. He kills innocent people constantly. There’s a running gag where he kills cabbies to get out of paying fare. This doesn't really seem to be a salient factor in the other character's assessment of him as a threat or moral agent-his ability, or lack thereof, to tow the Guild line and keep pace with the inside baseball is what actually makes waves, draws scrutiny. There's the comedy of that Season 1 episode where they basically call a time-out mid-death trap in compliance with Guild Law, but this doesn't translate to anyone outside the game receiving similar protections or considerations. He lets Dr. Venture leave midway through an arch to see his shrink and then murders the shrink so that those interruptions will stop happening.

And to me this feels like it’s gesturing at a very real thing that can happen in cape comics, where even the nominally harmless bit-villains aren't actually harmless even if they fail to kill the hero specifically, where even the really overtly silly ones have in fact likely whacked at least a few unnamed characters over the course of their 60-year publication history- only for this to sort of get sanded away as a morally salient feature of the character unless they become specifically known as One Of The Ones Who Constantly Kills People (Joker, Bullseye, Carnage, etc.) because security guards and people trapped in collapsing buildings aren't really real. The show is also attentive to the analogous thing that happens with superheroes with the weird moral myopias they suffer from, in the way that basically every hero has some insane instance of superdickery rattling around in their closet that's still technically canon but hardly relevant. The show is very very clear that as long as you correctly couch your behavior within the idiom, color within the lines, you're entitled to a certain level of carnage and collateral. Which is demonstrated in the second episode with the Revenge Society, where Phantom Limb and company are genuinely freaked out when a nameless slasher shows up to the try-outs. Phantom Limb constantly brutally kills people, but this guy in a bear costume with a kitchen knife? He's killing them in an off-genre way.

[dotthings]

Finally!!! Some light and hope returns to S7. Made it through the Casless stretch to 7.17.

Some thoughts on Dean and Cas:

Dean's quest to save Sam leads him back to Cas. The mysterious breeze (we know who that is) shows Dean the taxidermy guy's card, and he tells Dean about Emanuel.

"Screw Cas" -- because Cas knocked down Sam's wall and then abandoned them, by dying, or so Dean thought, so Dean's still angry and hurt. Trying not to care, but he still cares

Oh the staring when they are face to face again. Dean cannot seem to stop staring at Cas. That's not me being poetic with a headcanon exaggeration, that's what's on the screen, I didn't make the rules.

Dean watches Daphne and Emanuel a little bit like how Cas watched Dean and Anna kiss. Less furtive. But the open-eyed wounded baby seal longing sense of wonder on Dean's face is stabbing me in the heart.

"What's your issue" -- how much time do you have Emanuel? Okay, in simple terms, Sam needs help. But the things Dean doesn't say is you!! you are my issue I loved you and you betrayed me and then died and I'm not okay I didn't want to lose you and I'm still mad but glad to see you again and I'm a mess and I've been angry grieving, that's my freakin' issue!!!

The golden-amber light washing over Dean and Emanuel's faces in the car. Light washing over Dean with Cas's return, first invented in S7.

Dean's treading carefully. He wants Cas back, he also doesn't want to disturb Emanuel's peace. And Dean's still upset and hurt and angry and not over it but also he's glad to see Cas again. Dean's going through it. And Dean can open up to Emanuel in ways he's not ready to with Cas. "You're angry...he betrayed you." "Yeah, well, he's gone....I used to be able to just shake this stuff off. You know. Whatever it was. Might take me some time but I always could. What Cas did--I just can't, I don't know why." YES I WONDER WHY THAT IS WHY DOES IT MATTER WHY DOES IT CUT SO DEEP "Well, it doesn't matter why." "Of course it matters." "No. You're not a machine, Dean. You're human." THERE IT IS. After a series of characters telling Dean to suck it up and deal, Emanuel is the one who looks at him and sees Dean's vulnerability and humanity and says it's okay. Some part of Cas is Emanuel, even if he has amnesia, it's instinct, it's things Cas wouldn't be able to open up and say, not at this point, but that he believes. Cas sees Dean even if he doesn't know himself right now.

"Now picture Crowley with his hands on harmless little amnesia Cas" -- soooo interesting how Meg tries to play Dean's worry for Cas into inveigling what she wants. She knows some things.

Dean's pissed at the idea of Meg using Emanuel and turning him back into "an angel sized weapon." He wants to do this carefully. He needs Emanuel to fix Sam, but he doesn't want Cas harmed or his peace shattered. This is Dean trying to let Cas rake leaves.

Dean also seems incredibly annoyed by Meg sidling up to Emanuel and trying to flirt. Protective. Jealous even.

"You just met yourself. I've known you for years." The way that's worded. Dean doesn't just say "I already knew you." He says for years. They've been through a lot. It's like Dean is feeling all of it.

Dean is finally persuaded, for Sam's sake, to let Emanuel break out the angel mojo, but he's reluctant. Knowing what this could do to Cas, the pain he'll experience if his memories return.

That SPN used Turn Into Earth by the Yardbirds, which was the band who became Led Zeppelin, for a music video montage of Cas's memories returning, where Dean is prominently featured in 98% of the images. ACTUAL THINGS SPN CANON DID. Making a Destiel fanvid and stuck it in an episode. Okay.

Where did Dean's anger fly off to? "If you remember then you know you did the best you could at the time." He doesn't think Cas is a bad guy. "Don't defend me." -- Cas has always taken responsibility for his screw ups. Always. And takes a lot on himself to atone. That is how the character has been and he's like that all the way through. And he comes back to fix it.

Dean pulling Cas's trenchcoat out of the trunk of the junker of the week and handing it to Cas. Dean kept it!!!! He didn't just stick it in storage, he moved it from junker to junker, for months, keeping the last piece of Cas Dean had left with him and Sam. The ep that aired isn't even as sentimental as the cut scene--the dialogue we saw in a promo "something in me always knew you'd come back"--yet it's unhinged enough as it is!!!!

"I should never have broken your wall, Sam. I'm here to make it right." Cas always tries to make it right.

Dean doesn't know what's going on as Cas walks over to Sam, and asks "Cas, what are you doing" a bit alarmed. Dean wanted Cas to fix Sam, and they both at first Cas could with just a touch to rebuild the wall, but the wall's crumbled. And there's only one way--for Cas to absorb Sam's Lucifer hallucination. It's Cas's decision, and it's done before Dean can even try to stop it. While Dean of course is glad Sam is okay--that's not how Dean wanted to get there.

At the time it seemed a bit cold that Sam and Dean parked mentally ill Cas at the asylum and left--we'd only just gotten Cas back on the show and he gets shoved off screen again. But there are contractual things--Misha was signed for a 4 ep arc. Looking at it in-story, Dean says he's worried they can't protect Cas, with all that's out there, between Crowley's demons and the leviathans, and Dean says they should leave Cas where he's safe. Watched over by one of their former enemies--but Meg is the only resource they've got who can do it and she's at least playing at being an ally and she does seem to like Cas. It's again Dean's version of letting Cas rake leaves, keeping him safe.

[being-of-rain]

Now that the whole series has been released, I binge relistened to all of Once and Future. And wrote down all my thoughts, of course.

Definitely the series' main problem is something that affects a lot of Big Finish; it wants to have a story arc, but clearly the writers barely planned with each other or put any effort into that aspect. There's no flow or natural build-up to the finale, unlike what the premise and first episode might lead you to expect. Without much of a compelling arc, the only thing the series has to mark it as a special occasion is its many cameos and crossovers ...but in order to have more of those than the average Big Finish series, they had to pack so many in that most episodes struggle to handle it (in one way or another).

As a series, it unfortunately adds up to less than the sum of its parts.

With all that said, it's a series that I enjoyed a lot more during my relisten, since I could adjust my expectations. I forgot my desire for a grand or satisfying larger story, and just took each standalone episode on its own merits. There's a varying level of quality, but overall its not as disappointing as I remembered.

I decided to rank the episodes from my least to most favourite, and write a paragraph on each one.

8. Time Lord Immemorial I was told this was added to the series at the last minute, and I believe it; it features the imminent destruction of every universe thanks to the use of the degeneration gun, and this little fact is not mentioned at any point before or afterwards. The plot is about a dull and generic all-powerful Time Lord fairytale with an incredibly convenient rhyme to tell everyone what to do. Not that anyone actually does much of anything in this episode. It's mostly descriptions of some impressive visuals and the trading of some half-hearted banter. The only thing of any substance at all in the story is the slightly interesting (though not as interesting as it could've been) relationship between the Lumiat and the Doctor, which is okay if you like that, and unfortunate if you wanted Liv and the Unbound Doctor to have any focus at all.

7. Two's Company This episode is the poster child of being assigned a long and truly random laundry list of characters by the producers. All elements of the episode feel like they're thrown together haphazardly, from the total disregard of the previous episodes' plot hook onwards. But the friendship of Jackie and Lady Christina, two of the least likely characters to be teamed up with the sixth Doctor, is perhaps the highlight of the episode (even though Jackie is written rather stereotypically). On the other hand, Harry Sullivan doesn't really add anything, and the bizarre introduction of The Two borders on the insulting. Back when The Eleven was first introduced, the audio took pains to note that his mental illness was not the cause of his villainy. Later authors seemed to have missed this memo, and none fly in the face of it as much as Two's Company. On top of it all, I think Lisa McMullin is just an author I do not vibe with. She's the only one who wrote two episodes of this series, and they're my two least favourite.

6. The Union I'm not a big fan of finales written by Matt Fitton, which is bad news for me because he's been Big Finish's Go-To Finale Guy for over a decade now. He always makes the plot a bit too busy and never quite lands the emotional moments for me. Once and Future's climactic episode gets a lot of fanservicey moments (some that I can enjoy and some that feel like an obligation), but the story arc that the series had been stumbling and crawling towards concludes with the Doctor winning a nonsensical moral argument about how he's fine with being and meeting himself, something that isn't demonstrated in this anniversary special and is contradicted in most others. The villain/s are a bizarre choice and rather unthreatening- but at least River and Susan are fun to listen to.

5. A Genius For War It's slightly baffling that in the middle of a series that flaunts its random character line-ups is a fairly standard Time War episode, with characters you'd expect to see in it (except for the Seventh Doctor I guess, but he doesn't feel that out of place in a Davros story like this.) I refrained from calling it a "bog-standard" Time War episode, because it does actually put some effort into being relevant to this series specifically, and is a fun little action movie to while away an hour (and celebrate the Doctor's longest-running alien foes in all their mediocre glory). Still, the fact that this ep is just before halfway through my ranking means that I enjoy this series more often than not.

4. Past Lives This is a charming episode, largely due to its fun cast of characters. It takes its time with its story, being literally halfway done by the time all the characters have been brought into the plot together, but I'm not saying it's badly paced. I'm certainly fine with it just giving us the Doctor and the Monk for the first 15 minutes. But the moment of this episode that always sticks in my head the most is the Doctor and Sarah reacting to all the pictures of the Doctors in Osgood's house, having a little bit of an existential crisis about it. It's amazing how taking even just a small break from the action for some genuine emotion can add to a story. See number 1 on this list for more. Oh I do wish it did more with the King Arthur/Once and Future theme though, especially seeing as it was what gave the series its name.

3. The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 Michelle Gomez and David Tennant are so good together. I don't have an awful lot more to say about this one, it's just solid entertainment. It's got great characterisation and a lot of funny lines. The episode really understood the Master when it said "Only one Time Lord would ever do something so mind-bogglingly, time-consumingly ridiculous."

2. Coda—The Final Act The final episode is second only to Two's Company in how random and long its list of returning characters is, but it handles them with much more grace and a satisfying story. I mean I do wish that Vienna Salvatori had a bigger role, but that's just because I'm a fan of her series, she works fine narratively (and there was a Jexie reference to appease me). Really my biggest complaint about this one is that it doesn't quite commit to the Doctor vs Doctor premise as much as I wish it would, with it all being a contrived trick, but it doesn't do that badly, it's fine. Wait, maybe my biggest complaint is the title: why give it two? Why not just call it Coda? Anyway, Bernice was a great choice for this episode, she's always been great at speaking her mind to the Doctor. And it was easy for me to forget this this is Jo Martin's first audio because she sounded so at home. Great stuff.

1. The Artist at the End of Time This might not be the episode I go back to listen to the most, but I think it is the best made, with the most time to breathe and the most coherent themes. (And it also happens to be the episode with the least amount of returning characters heaped upon it. What a coincidence.) The degeneration giving the Doctor something of an existential crisis, compounded by the end of the universe and the presence of the Curator, gives the series some much needed time to reflect on a key aspect of the franchise for its anniversary; the Doctor themself. It certainly works a lot better than whatever The Union tried to do in its last 15 minutes. Aside from all that, Five and Jenny and the Curator are just a rather sweet team to listen to, with an interesting problem to investigate and a lot of witty dialogue.

[prince-liest]

I just wanna gush bc omg I love the 666 series so much. I think it made me realize I might be... furry-ish? adjacent? I just find it so satisfying how you go into detail about the unique body features of both of them, the way it feels to have deer ears or kiss a TV and just generally how much thought is put into the way their bodies work, and I've realized that my interest in that kind of idea is a pretty good reason to partake in more explicitly furry media lmao. Anyways

I'm also really in love with how you maintain the balance of each of their personality traits. Vox is simultaneously so pathetic and cringefail (also your dialogue for him is perfect, I can hear it crystal clear in my head) but also he has vastly more emotional intelligence than Alastor, no doubt at least in part because he has to deal with Val, and he's able to marginally calm down with his obsession to deal with sticky situations, but even then he still retains his personality and bumbles things sometimes because of the flaws in said personality! It's great. I also really appreciate the balance you've struck with Alastor, I feel like often Alastor is either written to either soften up so immediately that it feels disconnected from his character or is written overly mean and heartless for my liking and the way you've written him is such a delicious balance between softer aspects such as the prey instincts or moments of vulnerability and his untouchable and manipulative self, and also the way this side of him is neither written as wholly a front or wholly his real nature and the complex ways this makes him struggle with his increasing vulnerability. TL;DR arghgr your characterization is so good it makes me go a little feral

Also while I'm here, I'm curious whether you can give an answer to the degree to which Alastor is touch-averse. There's obviously a lot of ways in which he fundamentally dislikes touch but it also seems like there's at least some kinds of touch where he doesn't dislike the touch itself so much as he's afraid of the way it brings about feelings of caring and/or enjoyment being cared for. I'm curious how much, in general, you would say his touch aversion comes from either cause and possibly what kinds of touch do/don't provoke those flavors of aversion

Omg, what a lovely ask to receive. Honestly, everything you said that you enjoy about how I characterize these two is very much what I've been actively gunning for, so it's an absolute delight to see it outlined back to me. Success!!! Thank you so much!

And ahaha - I'm not a furry but I fucking love inhuman characters. Being raised in the pits of Homestuck fantroll RP made me enjoy the whole "they're bug/fish aliens" thing and it definitely rears its head again any time I encounter characters with inhuman qualities. I love writing Vox's TV/computer-ness and Alastor's deer and radio bits, and integrating them into who they now are as people.

As for Alastor's touch-aversion: It's funny that you ask about this, because the next chapter of 666 is going to dive into it a bit. Specifically into the fact that it's not, like, a set of boundaries that is consistently defined, and I write him that way on purpose. The very first time he and Vox sleep together, Alastor bottoms. He becomes significantly less amenable to touch after he goes through an uncomfortable rut cycle that gets sexual. By the time Vox convinces Alastor to fuck him, Alastor would never let Vox do that again and frankly only agrees to topping because Vox gave him an option that didn't involve getting his dick out. Then in the next episode, they're having clothes-off sexual contact. So, what gives?

Things that play into Alastor's willingness to touch and be touched as far as Vox is concerned:

How does he see Vox at that point in time? Disgustingly entitled (ew)? Hilariously beneath him (haha who cares)?

Does he care about what Vox thinks of him? Does Vox touching him draw his attention to positive or negative assumptions he has about Vox's perspective on doing so?

What value has he attached to this particular touch in the power balance of their relationship? Is he humoring Vox? Does he assume Vox thinks he's owed this? Does he perceive it as something Vox is genuinely doing for him?

Has he tried this particular kind of touch before? He's pretty willing to experiment, but that doesn't mean he'll do something twice without a compelling reason if he didn't like it the first time.

Is he getting off on this situation sexually? If so, is it fully willing (read: not a byproduct of uncomfortable hormones) on his part? That only really happens when he's in a submissive role and Vox is hitting a few very specific kinks, a major one of which is basically CNC tilted 30 degrees to the left.

Is he enjoying the touch in platonic ways? How does he feel about that? Is it a vulnerability to want something? Is it feeding his ego to be catered to? Is he worried that what he enjoys platonically is being read into in ways he doesn't like?

Is he fucking drunk? Things that bother you when sober often seem like a non-issue when you're not, both on a physical and emotional level.

How much touching has been happening recently? Has he hit his limit? Did he deliberately put himself into a situation earlier to have his limit be hit and surpassed, and now he's in the aftermath?

He does have a certain fundamental purely physical dislike of touch, but it's something that is really affected by how he perceives each individual situation as well as his relationship with Vox at that time, and his previous experiences!

[chaifootsteps]

the anon talking about how Blitzo used the book to provide for his family made me realize something: why Stolas saying he's supported Blitzo and cares about his business rings so hollow

it's because we're barely shown any onscreen evidence that's the case

the only time we see him express interest - like actually onscreen - it is in Ozzie's and Blitzo reacts to Stolas asking very basic conversation starters like 'how was your day?' and 'how did you kill [the targets]?' with shock. like he's so sidelined by it it's obvious that it's the first time Stolas ever bothered to ask him. honestly that one convo is the nicest Stolas has ever been to Blitzo, putting aside that he's projecting way too much hope onto a simple invite to a club that is

the only time he ever bothered discussing the business before then was the negotiations around the Harvest Moon festival, when Stolas wasn't interested in the ins and outs of the business and instead immediately undercuts his nice gesture of an invitation by condescending to Blitzo and coming onto him. he doesn't show an iota of concern about whether the lost revenue for that day will make a difference to Blitzo

and that's it, as far as I remember. meanwhile when you look at times in season 2 Stolas showed a genuine interest in Blitzo's life it's like...*crickets*

instead we just get the show telling us that Stolas is interested in Blitzo's life in Oops - he tells Fizz that Stolas calls him up and asks about his day and comments on his photos all the time (OK first off, leave insta Stolas out of this)

but like, writers? all that stuff needed to be onscreen.

they love giving Stolas screentime where it doesn't belong or isn't needed so much yet they couldn't fit in the time to actually show the audience the dynamic between Blitzo and Stolas changing? they couldn't find the time to have small little asides of Stolas being nicer and actually treating Blitzo like a person and not his sex/romance slave? the owl is in dire need of some redeeming feature but every opportunity they had to make fixes in season 2 by showing something onscreen, and they just never did

like if you look at what onscreen Stolas does compared to offscreen Stolas, you'd think they were two separate characters. maybe Show Stolas has Instagram Stolas tied up in his basement and he's the one making all the nice calls and texts, since Show Stolas is never anything but abusive or selfish whenever he's onscreen

I know Viv has the reputation of rushing her stuff, but legit question: do you think she just doesn't know how to make Stolas likeable when he's actually onscreen? or is it because she cares more about having Blitzo service Stolas' every need and whim onscreen, but the little stuff like making Stolas a better person can just be told to the audience instead, since she trusts the ones holding out for that one good episode to just swallow whatever is retconned in or told instead of shown?

I genuinely think she thinks that she doesn't have to show things that make him more likeable...that what she's done is enough to make her entire audience like him as much as she does.

You don't need to be a master writer to know that you need to show, not tell, the things your entire story is based upon. Stolas has quite literally never once been shown doing something kind for Blitzo without expecting something in return.

[starheirxero]

NEXUS AND MOON FINALLY MET!! :D And Ruin is being the cryptic freak he is/affectionate <3

I wanted to point out something really interesting to me-

The last two days of episodes mention a few rather interesting things! Specifically character motivations!

Though subtle, there are lines that tell us a lot about the characters' thought processes, and it really jumped out to me!

In "Lunar gets kicked out", Moon mentions why he wants Lunar to live with them. He feels responsible for them.

Though it seems obvious once you think about it, it tells us not just a lot about Moon and his relationship to Lunar, but Lunar's relationship with Nexus as well.

Moon has a guilty conscience, often thinking of himself as the cause of the problem. This has been a problem for a long time, even prior to his death.

Though he's been incredibly casual, his actions still lay heavy on him, though he has trouble expressing it.

Lunar came from his head. This is where his code developed.

Moon naturally feels responsible for them! Another factor of this could also be his knowledge of being stuck in someone's head.

Its also interesting to note, that Lunar didn't correct or reassure him, instead being upset at the wording! This could mean, that Lunar does feel hurt and left behind, which makes sense!

After all, they died, and when they came back, their big brother was just…gone, sacrificing himself for someone who, in Lunar's eyes, caused much more harm than good.

It actually tells us a lot about their relationship with Nexus as well!!

Nexus knows, where Lunar comes from, and feels the same level of responsibility. He likely felt guilty about Moon's departure as well!

I'm not sure when this happened, but I know Nexus once said, Moon wouldn't have cared about Lunar's death.

This was, of course, his own resentment speaking, but it explains his protectiveness, which was turned up a notch when it came to Lunar!

He's trying to make it up to them.

Lunar's point of view is a whole cane of worms itself- It's been something I've been thinking about for a long time, though I never found the right words for it!

They obviously love Nexus, that much is clear. But they seemed rather avoident of him. It's much different from their relationship with Earth and Sun.

Lunar is a selfish person. They try not to be, and try their best to be empathetic, something they tend to struggle with.

Despite this though, this part of them sometimes peeks through. That's not a bad thing, of course, it makes their character human, and honestly really fun!

Point is, this especially happens around Nexus.

A good example being the Dazzle episodes with those two.

Lunar is a lot more demanding towards him in them, and their little moments of the "sibling dynamic", seem rather tense, much different from the joking atmosphere they usually have around their other siblings. Nexus seems genuinely hurt by Lunar's lack of interest, not even bothering with a simple thank you.

And honesty? It makes sense.

Lunar's perspective on the situation is honestly so fascinating to me!

The tension started, when Eclipse came back.

However, even though they were angry at being babied, something that makes a lot more sense now with Nexus' guilt involved, that wasn't what set them off.

Instead, it started going down hill once Nexus made a deal with Eclipse, and thought of letting him live.

Because Moon had seen everything.

He has seen the dents marking his own metal, inflicted upon him by Eclipse to hurt Lunar.

He knows about Lunar's fear and discomfort, when it comes to Sun's glow feature.

He heared Lunar's thoughts, his doubts, once mentioning, that Lunar can't exactly hide things from him.

Hell, it's been established, that Lunar could see Moon's memories, so theres a likelyhood of the reverse being possible as well.

Moon even brought them to Solar's dimension, for the sake of closure, knowing their time with Eclipse was still eating them up inside.

He should know the pain inflicted on them. Yet he doesn't, because this isn't Moon.

This is Nexus. A replacement. A new person, wearing their brother's face and pretending to be him.

This isn't their older brother anymore. This isn't the guy, who they ran to, when they couldn't take the abuse anymore.

This isn't the person, that took them in. This isn't the brother, that gave them a home. He's not the one, that tried to encourage their interests, or scolded Sun when he accidentally made them cry.

No, this brother is long gone, sacrificing himself for a killcode who hasn't brought anything but misery.

Because Lunar doesn't know about KC's change of heart, or his regret.

In Lunar's eyes, Killcode is nothing but the monster, that caused psychological warfare to his brother, and forced them out of Moon's head.

Of course, there's going to be resentment towards Moon.

"Why would you leave me behind, and at the mercy of my personal demon, for someone who caused us harm?"

And naturally, this resentment would fall upon Nexus as well.

But it only really started to rear its ugly head, when he spared Eclipse.

Because this is the painful moment, that truly paints Nexus a different person.

A replacement, a stranger in a loved ones body.

A reminder of what they lost.

And they know, they are in the wrong.

They know the moment, that they acknowledge Eclipse's death, caused by their own hands, was a mistake.

But they are selfish. They are selfish, and they cannot help but put themself first. They cannot help, but put their own feelings first.

Holy shit, I did not expect to write a whole paragraph-

I needed to get this out of my system though- Lunar is like an insect to me, affectionately! I need to study them under a microscope-

That being said, this also plays into Nexus' development!

In "Moon and Nexus meet", Nexus says some pretty interesting things, mentioning, that Dark Sun is the only one who enjoys what he makes, the only one, who let's him do what he wants to.

This tells us, that Nexus truly did feel like a replacement for Moon.

He felt like he needed to be someone else, pretend to be something he's not.

He needed to be Lunar and Sun's lost brother. He needed to be Earth's reliable, big brother, when, technically, he existed last.

There were too many expectations on him, both from the people around him, and also himself. He likely built up a lot of resentment as well, and now he's letting it all flow out. A bit of this resentment could be heared, when Lunar did not give him that single thank you.

There's definitely more in play here, but I think, this has been eating him up for a long time, long before Solar died. However, Solar's death made him realize, that he can't be Moon, no matter, how hard he tries.

Nexus never truly had an identity of his own, instead being pushed into someone else's.

And of course, there's Eclipse. It always comes around to him, it seems-

I think, the last two MGAFS episodes give us quite the insight into his moral code.

And interestingly enough, it's incredibly similar to Ruin's!

If it's for the greater good, it doesn't matter, who gets hurt.

It doesn't matter, if FC is in pain and relives a traumatic experience, as long as the havoc wrecking ghost gets destroyed.

It doesn't matter, if Puppet has to die, if it means, keeping the multiverse alive.

It doesn't matter, who I hurt, because the star can do anything, and I will create an utopia.

It's such an interesting, morally grey point of view!!

-Stardust

YEYAYEYSYWYESYES!!!!!!!!! I GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN ACTUALLY I'VE BEEN PICKING UP ON THAT TOO

AND YOUR WHOLE RAMBLE ABOUT LUNAR N MOON N NEXUS YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! I DON'T HAVE PRODUCTION ADDITIONS I'M JUST NODDING SO FURIOUSLY!!!!! I had almost totally forgot about the whole "not even a thank you" with Lunar and Nexus and now that you've reminded me of it, I realize just how long this has been building up for!!!!

It's so many layers of sad to me too because neither of them are necessarily in the wrong. Lunar was mourning where Moon used to stand and Nexus was trying to be someone he literally couldn't be and it just... clashed. No way around it.

And yesyes like u said with Lunar and Moon too!! There's a lotta unaddressed bitterness from the fact Lunar woke up after death and Moon had just up and died to someone Lunar still thought of as a Pretty Shitty Guy!!! And even just unaddressed stuff from before they died, it's just. a lot.

There's so much turmoil between the lunar models and its just awuagahgh it fucks me UP.

And Eclipse's morals yesyesyes!!! They are awfully Ruin-like aren't they?!?!! I wonder if that's something to do with them both being eclipsed models or if it's something with how they were both brought up or if maybe Eclipse's are so Ruin-like now bc that's who made him or whatever yk..... Exactly like u said it's such a fascinating case of grey morality wohoo!!!!! ^_^

[ladyloveandjustice]

Someone comparing 90's anime Mamoru to women in shonen and saying that's a bad thing annoys me so much, because it's not even true lmao.

First of all, it implies it's SO horrible for one anime in the world to not treat a male character as central. gasp the horror. God forbid a man be treated like a woman is.

second, no he isn't treated like a woman in an average (battle) shonen anime, he's treated much better. the average love interest in a shonen anime doesn't make a dramatic entrance to save the male character in most episodic battles. She would never be considered the male characters cool amazing savior that he gets heart eyes over and he's constantly trying to be good enough to date her.

Like yeah Mamoru gets kidnapped and brainwashed for Usagi to save with more frequency that other male characters, but that literally happens just as much in the manga. Probably the only time his treatment is comparable to a woman in (most) shonen is in Stars, where he's quickly killed off without much of a fight to make Usagi sad and does nothing else besides that. Much like [spoiler] in JJK I guess, only at least Usagi actually cared that he was dead/missing, so still better!

Mamoru is also EXTREMELY involved in the plot the first season and R, in the way a love interest in shonen anime would not get to be. He has extended character arcs in both seasons. A woman in your average shonen anime would not get to be an intimidating villain who is the boss the hero has to face before the big bad and who genuinely beats the hero up a bit. Nor would she be as central in any plot about parenthood- look how the moms in Boruto are treated.

Yeah, the 90s anime doesn't care about Mamoru as much as the girls. Boo hoo. How dare one piece of media in the world not give as much attention to a man. Yes, Naoko gave Mamoru much more prominence, but also focused a bit less on the friendship between the girls than the anime did. It's a tradeoff! Which do you prefer? Neither answer is wrong (though I do think a lot of gay fans are more here for the girls and that's not a bad thing lmao). It's not some great injustice that was done to him, anymore than there's a great injustice done to the non-Usagi girls in the manga. There's just different approaches. And you can't just say anyone on the team had a "disdain" for him without proof. Ikuhara featured him prominently in the R movie, before you take his joke about Mamoru seriously. Mamoru's always very central to Usagi's emotions, if they really had "disdain" for him, why does she think about him so much and miss him so much in Stars?

I'm just saying: don't downplay just how shittily women get treated in male-centered media because you're pressed Tuxedo Mask didn't get his smoking bomber attack. Mamoru has it VERY EASY compared to women in shonen.

[pinksilvace]

A few weeks back, I made a comment to the effect of, "Belos views himself as the single human character in a muppets production." It has since then spiraled into an entire AU in my head that refuses to leave me alone. A few weeks back, I made a comment to the effect of, "Belos views himself as the single human character in a muppets production." It has since then spiraled into an entire AU in my head that refuses to leave me alone.

The basic premise:

Caleb and Evelyn found a weekly children's program ("The Boiling Isles") that features puppets; little Philip is featured as the one human, and since the episodes with him do much better than the ones without, he grows up into the role and eventually becomes a big part of the production staff as well

When Caleb and Evelyn die in an accident, Philip inherits the show

Some of the main (puppet) characters are named Luzura, Willow, Amity, and Augustus (you can see where I'm going with this). Philip would be able to stand these puppets on their own BUT

In promotional materials and interviews, he is ALWAYS asked what it's like to "work with" Luzura/Willow/Amity/Gus. Philip is absolutely INFURIATED by this because they're PUPPETS why can't anybody see that they're PUPPETS don't you care about the STAFF or the ARTISTS or the LIGHTING MANAGERS why does everybody pretend that the PUPPETS are REAL PEOPLE and why does HE have to pretend that the PUPPETS are when he responds??? He's convinced that some of the interviewers genuinely believe that the puppets are alive and tries to patiently explain that, no, they are just puppets. The interviewers always refuse to break the immersion.

Expanded AU thoughts are under the cut.

Caleb and Evelyn meet at an arts college. Evelyn is a film student, and the show's prototype is her capstone project. Caleb offers to bring Philip in as an actor and it sticks. Caleb also helps make some of the first puppets.

Little Philip's identity is protected by 1) the presence of a mask, and 2) the stage name "Belos". The name sticks around for his on-screen appearances.

While sticking around the set, Philip learns a lot about the different areas of production. He especially likes building sets, backdrops, props, and puppets, though he finds the writing process interesting as well. When he's old enough to help out with paperwork, he takes over the logistical side of things because tbh both Caleb and Evelyn are helpless when it comes to that

By the time Philip takes over, he's basically the head supervisor of every single department. His management makes the show's popularity explode

Philip is definitely the best at building and controlling puppets. Every now and then, he makes an extra-large "final boss" sort of puppet that only he is physically capable of controlling, and some of them end up in museums

Philip raises Hunter, but he's sort of the neglectful sort. He's ultra-focused on keeping the show his brother put so much thought, effort, and love into alive, and it makes literally any semblance of life he might have had outside of the show suffer

Similarly to Philip, Hunter grows up on set, but not as an actor. The production staff looks after him. When he's old enough, he also becomes a part of the test audience

The production staff is composed of the Emperor's Coven members in canon; i.e. Darius is in charge of lighting and wires, Raine is the sound director, Eberwolf is the lead puppet master, Hettie is the on-site medic, etc.

Luz and Camila are also a part of the test audience. I'm going to pretend that Philip and Camila are good buds in this AU. Philip inserts Luzura into the show as a character based on Luz

Basically most of the ire that Philip has in this AU is directed toward the puppets because they're not REAL why are THEY getting the GLORY can we PLEASE not pretend that these PUPPETS have thoughts and feelings and personalities???

He also doesn't leave because 1) the aforementioned attachment to something Caleb loved so much, and 2) he's put too much effort into this show already and he knows that no replacement could ever be so proficient at his job

Let's be real, Philip's work ethic is super unsustainable, and it DEFINITELY keeps him from grieving properly

When Hunter reveals that he does not, in fact, want to inherit the company that Philip has built, it's CRUSHING to Philip, who feels like giving it up would be disrespecting Caleb's legacy, unaware that he's staring Caleb's legacy in the face

Ideally Philip's arc (which I have hardly described here) would end with wealthy retirement and him being able to say "goodbye Boiling Isles" and never having to appear alongside those godforsaken puppets ever again

[schizosamwincester]

Today's order of business: Dean Winchester is aplatonic. Let me explain why.

To start: aplatonic people do not experience platonic attraction. They do not have any desire to befriend specific people. I am going to assume that you all are familiar with asexuality and aromanticism. It's the same exact thing but for friendship. They often don't want friends in general, although of course not necessarily. Some aplatonic people are indifferent and don't really care if they have friends or not, and some like having friends despite the lack of attaction. The key is that if you're aplatonic, you don't meet people, even really cool people, and go "hey, I want to become friends with them." Even if you have friends, they tend to be pretty easy to drop if life changes because you don't feel that inherent connection to them.

Dean? Throughout the show as I've seen thus far (seasons 1-4), he never exhibits any desire for friends. He doesn't want to keep any specific people around, and he doesn't want friends as an abstract concept, either. The whole thing never enters his mind.

This is especially noticeable because Sam is so clearly alloplatonic. He's always looking for connection with others. Every time he meets one of the special children, he wants to keep in contact. He gives out his phone number to Andy and actively searches for Ava. In early romantic/sexual encounters, like in Provenance (1x19) and Heart (2x17) he seems much more interested in befriending these women than sleeping with them. In After School Special (4x13), the death of someone he was friends with for a single month in high school absolutely guts him. In Dean's flashbacks to high school, he doesn't even try to make friends. He only cares about hooking up with girls.

The only real exceptions I can think of are his relationship with Cassie (1x13), which is still far more sexual/romantic than any kind of friendship, and Richie (3x04) who is a fellow hunter and thus more of a coworker than anything. Yes, you certainly can be friends with girlfriends and coworkers, but that usually isn't the defining feature of either relationship. Besides, if his feelings for either of them were especially strong, I think he would have kept in contact with them. He runs into Richie again by accident, and he never seeks out Cassie again after her single episode.

The contrast with Sam makes it pretty obvious that it isn't just that friends are impractical given Dean's lifestyle. The same goes for Sam, but he still obviously wishes he could have them. It also means that it isn't a matter of desire for friends getting in the way of the plot or the writer's vision for the show, because Sam displays platonic attraction all the time and the show still works.

Now, one could argue that he does want friends and simply represses that. It is true that Dean represses almost everything. However, Dean is not actually good at repressing things. There are always cracks in the facade, and these cracks are displayed very clearly to the audience. He thinks he puts up a decent front, but time and time again, characters (especially Sam) see right through him. But when it comes to loneliness? Desire for connection and relationships outside of his family and sex? We don't see a thing. Dean is only lonely when separated from his family. He very much does not need anyone else.

If Dean wanted friends at some point but learned to repress that or ignore that desire? We would see that. We are shown countless times all the dreams and desires he needs to set aside in service of hunting and family, and friendship is never one of them. Even in his dream reality in 2x20, he doesn't have any friends at all.

Now, I am aware that in later seasons, Dean makes friends. That said, from experience in the apl community, it is pretty common for us to end up with friends whether we want them or not. Alloplatonics enjoy adopting friendless people. Sometimes people just keep showing up in your life and you're like "well... I guess we're friends now." Not feeling platonic attraction doesn't stop us from liking people or getting along with them once the relationship exists, we just don't have that feeling of attraction compelling us to start a relationship. I personally have loads of friends, and they're mostly by accident. You have enough good conversations with a mutual or someone in a discord server or someone irl and they tend to stick around. So while I know Dean makes friends later, unless he actively seeks them out and initiates the friendship, that really doesn't have any bearing on if he's aplatonic. Besides, the fact that in 4 entire seasons he doesn't do that at all when Sam does multiple times is more than enough for me.

To put it very simply, why do I think Dean is aplatonic? Because Sam is lonely in general, but Dean is only lonely when separated from Sam and/or John. Family are the only people he wants or needs.

(A disclaimer that aplatonic people can absolutely want romantic relationships. Dean just never demonstrate that. They also don't necessarily have any attraction to family either. That's called being afamilial. Dean just very obviously is not afamilial)

[maxwell-grant]

Do you have any thoughts/opinions on Batman: Caped Crusader and its trailer? It's already giving me the vibe of "Batman wants to the The Shadow so badly".

(Spoiler for Batman: Caped Crusader, I guess)

Well now that the whole show is out I might as well talk about that instead, and I already wasn't very sold on the trailers. I'm mostly just gonna touch on the show here instead of certain particulars of it like Clayface or Two-Face and so on, which I do have more thoughts on it, but anyway. Regarding you bringing up The Shadow, I don't think this Batman wants to be The Shadow, I think this show is just what happens when you boil Batman back to the basics as much as possible, which inevitably means he's going to be doing what people might think of as Shadow material (and very boring Shadow material at that - again, I'm of the opinion that approaching The Shadow as a "noir" character is a lame idea, and I think that also holds true to a lesser extent for Batman). Problem upfront is, back-to-basics Batman is boring. Pre-Robin Golden Age Batman is just not a very interesting character, certainly not by Batman standards, he lacks charm and identity. It's not a coincidence that Batman started achieving success when he stopped ripping off The Shadow, when he started fighting Dick Tracy villains, when Robin joined in. Batman kinda sucks at being The Shadow, they've made a bunch of books about it even, and honestly, if Caped Crusader had been a Shadow cartoon, I would be incredibly depressed.

See, I love 1940s Golden Age Batman, I love Bill Finger's wisecracking Sherlockian bruiser who solves impossible cases with his fists and peerless trivia knowledge, but people don't love that Batman, people love the 1939 Golden Age Batman they've heard about, they love the idea of a grim and gritty and murderous epic Golden Age Batman that simply did not exist and if it did, was painfully and mercifully short-lived. There are very good reasons why Hugo Strange had to die to make way for The Joker and The Penguin, there are very good reasons why Batman throwback projects are either short, short-lived, or only really start as a throwback before settling on a new identity. Problem is, there is functionally very little difference between Golden Age Batman and Silver Age Batman, so if you adapted that guy, people would call it an Adam West throwback, so yes I get why everyone who says Golden Age Batman just does the first or so year when he gunned down a vampire or cracked a goon's neck against a windowsill and, basically just that. That was the basis they were working off for Caped Crusader, so what did they do with it?

Well, they were very faithful to 1939 Batman, in that the show is also just nothing but a basic skeleton of ideas that can and will be done better elsewhere, if not by other creators then hopefully at the next seasons for this thing. I was not very optimistic regarding Bruce Timm's involvement because I largely don't like Timm's work (although it's a good thing the show had other character designers, which you can tell because the women characters have different body types and facial features amongst themselves). The Greg Rucka episodes are decently written, and despite a truly horrendous start at the pilot, the show does get better and picks up as it heads to the finale.

But it only does so incrementally, never as good as it could be or should be, and the best it has to offer is too often just mediocre and unsatisfying. It's not visually interesting, it is so cheaply animated and presented that you would lose virtually nothing by experiencing this as a radio show on another tab (and at that point, you might as well listen to The Batman Audio Adventures), it's rushing past every plotline and emotional beat it grasps for and yet it moves at a glacial pace, and it doesn't seem to be a show made with any kind of clear intent in mind. I don't imagine any kids getting any enjoyment out of actionless, dull drama, but it's not committing nearly enough to being this dramatic and complex and nuanced show for adults that it keeps presenting itself as. It's terrible at threading the needle between what it wants to be and what it can afford to be. I don't think it's terrible, but I also don't think it's better than any other Batman cartoon other than Beware the Batman, the one nobody talks about. I wouldn't even say this is better than The Batman. At least The Batman took some weird new swings that it had to commit to and had great action and some genuinely really strong episodes, where as thislargely fails to deliver on the action and it's not doing nearly enough work on the writing and drama side of things.

The closest it gets to anything new are in it's new takes on Firefly, Gentleman Ghost, Harley Quinn and Two-Face, and while Firefly I thought a really solid, even great usage of a historically underwhelming half-baked character (and the strongest episode of the show, albeit one that barely features him), and Gentleman Ghost a decent twist on the character to make him more viable as a Batman villain (if still an abject downgrade from the regular character), Harley and Harvey I thought were incredibly unsatisfying and undercooked, the peak example of how much the show fails to deliver as compelling character drama in spite of having some legitimately fresh and strong new ideas at play here. As is, I'd say the best villain is Clayface, because his is the episode that convinced me to keep watching, and because while he is just Golden Age Clayface with not much of a twist on it, he was really fun, and delivered exactly on what was promised, where as the rest mostly range from mediocre and lackluster to outright terrible (again, I hate how dissappointed I am at this version of Penguin - I'm glad you are all having fun making fan art of her, I hope she has a better showing if she comes back, but goddamn man they really fumbled the ball on that episode).

I'd call Caped Crusader like a 6/10, and frankly that's me being generous, the more I talk about it after having watched it, the more I feel like it doesn't deserve past a 5 (but not anything below a 5 either, again it does get better, it isn't terrible, it's just not very good either). There is a good and exciting version of the show, and it is not the one they put on Amazon for me to watch, and frankly, I doubt there was ever going to be a great version of the show. I'm dead sure this is gonna get at least another season and because you guys ask me for Batman opinions, and because I gotta have my Batman, I will watch it, and I will hope it's more satisfying than this one.

[centrally-unplanned]

Watched a bunch of stuff last night, including the Alita OVA from 1993! I thought it was a lot of fun, the thoughts:

--- It did the "obvious" thing of adapting the romance arc with Yugo of Volume 2 as the core, while blending in the events of Volume 1 as sort of backstory and setup as opposed to their own story. This arc is Alita at her most humanized in the early parts of the manga, and its the plot that centers Zalem as the untouchable overlord city most effectively. Any short adaptation is gonna choose this - part of why James Cameron (lol) did the same thing!

--- Speaking of, the manga does not actually have any particular focus on Alita's eyes, but the anime definitely has more than one shot where it establishes them as thematically special. Given that the James Cameron film is famous for going full CGI on Alita's eyes, and he knows about the property from Guillermo del Toro passing him the OVA as opposed to the manga, I think I can see the chain of events that lead to that (ill-fated?) decision.

Her eyes are pretty amazing in the OVA, so I get it! As my previous reblogs showed lol.

--- I think I can break apart the manga into three "concepts": the setting as cyberpunk dystopia, Alita as a character dealing with identity issues as an amnesiatic combat robot, and shounen fighting & levelling arcs. The OVA heavily focuses on the first part, ditching almost all the shounen stuff - its fight scenes are quick and focus on violence & bodily destruction over strength or "fighting techniques", etc. This is great for me, obviously! But it also, almost accidentally, ditches most of her identity issues? Because its less than an hour long, and needs to do a ton of worldbuilding - including even adding in a new character from Zalem to help with that - and is doing Yugo's entire arc, you really don't have time left for Alita's struggles. Yugo actually gets more "inner depth" than she does! She commits to being a bounty hunter, then after that she is pretty much just In Love while Yugo goes through his detailing of his past and collapse.

I'm not saying it doesn't work, it does as a story. Just interesting for something that is known as very "protagonist associated" to have an OVA where she is barely the protagonist.

--- While no Urotsukidoji or anything, this is another one of those OVAs where its reputation, particularly in the west, is as a hyper-violent, gory OVA? And like so many it really isn't. People get decapitated, don't get me wrong, buts its never lingers on those moments. Instead they serve as tone setters for the crapsack world or just are part of the action sequences.

I think in general the OVA era rarely made horror/gore films the way some other mediums/industries did? There are exceptions of course but in the end anime is trying to do too many other things; beautiful animation, focus on character designs, often being adaptations and so doing the plot of those more complex stories, erotic content for audiences that aren't *that* fetishistic on average, and more. All of these priorities compete for space in comparison to having endless jumpscares and blood splatters. So far my track record for watching the famous "gorefest" or "~crazy~" anime is that every one of them is tamer than the rep suggests, and I believe this medium/genre mismatch is why.

--- The biggest question I have around Alita in general is why there was never any more anime? Its weird, right? Its a famous property from a beloved genre, it had a hollywood film for some crazy reason, things like Ghost in the Shell got multi-season anime after all. Why no feature film remake in the 2000's? Why no 13-cour in the 2010's? I don't have an answer to that yet.

Why the initial OVA was so minimal is at least partly answered by Kishiro here:

MNS: Many fans have wondered, why were only 2 anime OAV episodes produced in 1993? YK: It was based on the plan proposed by the animation production company. It might have been better to turn down the plan and wait for a better adaptation proposal to come up, but back then, I couldn't afford to review the plan coolly. At that time, I was still serializing the work and was so busy that I wasn't ambitious to make it into animation.

Essentially he took the "deal on hand", not offering much, because he didn't have the time, money, or business savvy to work the industry for a better proposal. 100% understandable. I don't think the OVA did too well? I can't find a lot of sales figures, but the comments I see are in the "respectable" range, and it didn't get quick or expansive rereleases over time.

More broadly, and again speculative, I think maybe Alita overall isn't that successful? Like sure Kishiro is still out here releasing more sequel manga to this day somehow, but when I look at the "media mix" its just really sparse. No big video game adaptations - it has a PlayStation game in the 90's - it has like a drama CD and a novelization? No big merch waves or tie-ins. I am betting the big anime production committees just don't think its a hot enough property to sell that great. Wouldn't be a bad idea or anything, but not one you have to do like idk Chainsaw Man.

In the western fandom spaces its quite well known because of the idiosyncrasies of licensing history, the weird James Cameron factor, and I think a general fascination with anime cyberpunk; the west eats up any of the older cyberpunk properties for its aesthetic in a way that can blind people to the reality of that just being a subgenre in Japan at the time. Alita might just be niche enough that it not getting any wider anime adaptations is no grand mystery.

(But I hope to dig into this question more)

[the-badger-mole]

If you could fix aang as a character and make him a better well rounded character and hero of the story how would you do it? I love aang, but I perfectly understand why you don't like him. And the writing that was done for him in the show is so messed up. I wish he was written way better. Because for me Aang does have moments. But over all he has a lot of moments where he is toxic and it just drives me crazy.

I'd allow people to be angry at him. That moment in Bato of the Water Tribe, where he makes snide asides about the SWT culture and artifacts? Yeah, Katara and Sokka heard him. The village that had an anti-Avatar Day? That doesn't get resolved even after Kyoshi's grand appearance, because centuries of ill will doesn't just go away like that. Same with the two tribes in The Great Divide. Their interaction with Aang leaves a sour taste in their mouths, and Aang doesn't just get to lie his way out of conflict resolution.

I'm not saying this to be mean, but Aang's whole schtick is that everyone either loves him or is a villain, but if he's going to be an effective Avatar, he's got to learn to live with not being universally adored. He's got to learn that other cultures have value, even if their customs come in direct conflict with his own, because how is an Avatar who is a supremacist for their own native culture going to be an effective bridge for the different countries of the world? How does he illustrate the show theme of "the illusion of separation" if he can't even appreciate other peoples' points of view? How is he going to be effective at conflict resolution when he hasn't even experienced resolving his own conflicts?

Aang should also be forced to consider the war head on. I'm not talking about fighting lil' skirmishes and being chased by people. I'm talking about being forced to confront the war happening around him, and how it has affected the people he loves, and his role in it. I made a post here about how I wish it had been handled, but the tl;dr version is Aang should have been considering how to end the war and defeat Ozai WELL before the second to last episode.

Obviously, I Aang shouldn't have gotten with Katara, but I'm fine with his crush. Unrequited crushes are a part of growing up, and learning how to handle that disappointment is important. It think it would have been such a powerful moment for Katara and Aang to discuss their relationship and end with them still being friends even though Katara doesn't feel the same way about Aang.

If you're interested, scroll through my blog a bit. I've touched on how I'd improve Aang a few times. I would link more, but Tumblr is a garbage barge of a site, and their archiving feature reflects that. `