#if i couldve i wouldve added more people

[iasips8]

i did this with my left hand only using what i had in my camera roll of my favs because my right arm is in so much pain rn

[destinysbounty]

So here's my conflict. On the one hand, I agree that s12 wouldve been much more interesting if theyd gone with the original idea of having Libber act as a living battery for the game. It would have facilitated more emotional motivation for Jay, as well as a greater sense of thematic cohesion and parallel between him and Unagami. Plus, it would be cool to finally see what happened to Libber.

On the other hand, I feel like Jay never finding out why he was abandoned and learning to heal and move past it anyway has some understated potential to create a really interesting narrative. Like, Jay's whole thing is that he's insecure and worried that people will leave him. So I feel like sure, yeah, itd be cathartic for him to find closure knowing his parents had a good reason for abandoning him. BUT, I think it would be more compelling if Jay's arc featured him accepting that yes, sometimes people just leave you. You might never know why, and you might never get the chance to find out. Sometimes things happen and you never get proper closure. But it's still possible for you to move forward and find happiness in spite of that. Jay finding his mom and learning that she didnt abandon him intentionally is a satisfying story, but an easy one. Whereas Jay learning to accept that his mom is gone and he'll never know why is a much more nuanced one, in my opinion. (I just wish s12 had actually given it the proper development it needed)

Idk. I agree that the Libber plotline couldve added a lot more depth to Prime Empire overall, but I also feel like they could have very easily given that season depth even without her being there.

[socksandbuttons]

I learned that Dark Sun isn’t a part of the Bean Eclipse Au…..but that made me wonder how the others would’ve reacted when Eclipse got broken by Dark Sun?

Like the weird malfunction chip thing. (I don’t know how to explain it sorry. :[)

Well consisdering this au was WAYYY before eclipse v3/4 came by. (I know what you meant by the chip thing) I dont know how we'd get there. But heres to thinking of the hypothetical scenerio

Solar Flare would notice first. And by notice first I mean, after Eclipse is deliberately hiding it. (He still struggles to let people know when somethings wrong.) Confronted I do think Eclipse would let Solar Flare help find what it is. Without much luck- Eclipse getting more sluggish and struggling to move about gets more obvious. KC having to find out that way instead of being told (Something Solar Flare told Eclipse NOT to do-), pisses him off but that's not something he wants to focus on. Just asking Eclipse what happened- And hearing about a Dark Sun? KC's furious on Eclipse messing with the portal but determined to get Moon AND Monty to check his systems. They don't find anything at first. Considering they don't know what it is they're suppose to look for (what's out of place- But as we see in the episode it might not be what's added thats off but whats transmitting instead)

The slower and more ragged he gets, all the coughing is just distressing everyone. All except Bloodmoon. Who hasn't let up on his own bullying. Lunar even tries to ignore it but its hard to ignore that when you see him all the time. Opting to get between Bloodmoon and Eclipse more. KC being a stressed parent with a sick kid, is trying to find this Dark Sun, is lashing out or trying not to. Almost fruitless- Moon and Sun are on edge really, they may have mixed emotions on Eclipse however they're trying to help, Sun opting to hold Eclipse more (which makes eclipse mad but mans tired). Hell even moons proximity isn't getting Moon swiped at by Eclipse. Bloodmoon doesn't change his behavior, still kicking when Eclipse is down. Obviously this leads to everyone getting frustrated at him. Bloodmoon backs down for now but like- clearly isnt regretting it. Its only until KC snaps at Bloodmoon that its clear Bloodmoon backs off. Very quietly too. KC just has to sit with that for a moment. (he goes crush somethings, meditate for a while-) Lets see here, if this is resolved and the source found- Or maybe even just stops. Eclipse is alleviated. Everyone breaths a sigh of relief. They're still checking Eclipses' systems that they realize they overlooked something. Its only when its gone they realize what it couldve been but since its stopped they cant trace it. Bloodmoon does come back, he doesnt apologize to Eclipse, KC however takes bloodmoon away to properly talk. It doesnt go so well-

Eclipse isn't liking the fact Bloodmoon was just acting as himself but not surprised hell not even expected much else. Lunar... lunar did expect better. He's disappointed but- hey thigns are fine now. They can handle this KC can handle this- Solar Flare meanwhile finds Bloodmoon scratching at walls- and at himself. KC comes back, asked how Bloodmoon is. KC doesnt respond on that. Asks Eclipse how hes feeling. And what that Dark Sun had said. Solar Flare comes back arm torn off, asking what had happened to bloodmoon. This is getting rather long actually hmn. Anyway to the point, Eclipse gets chipped- handles it badly, Bloodmoon's own shenanigans lands him in hot water not just with KC but with Dark Sun. Which would get mostly everyone involved, Eclipse would get mad at Bloodmoon for even going near that guy but Dark Sun wouldve approached Bloodmoon. Which still would set off Eclipse cause thats Red Flags AND SOMEONE WASNT THINKIGN ABOUT THAT. Uh I dont know how this ends, Dark Sun's pretty smart enough but with the Bean AU its a bit more hmn, no one has died- uh again? For him to get Moon spiraling. He would use Bloodmoon given Bloodmoons more prone to just instigating stuff. He was probably hoping for Bloodmoon to kill someone by now actually. However KC;s convo with Bloodmoon, Eclipse in general and Solar Flare would be the ones to keep from everyone completely disowning Bloodmoon from attacking Solar Flare and general disregard to Eclipses health.

[buffkitties]

And what about the OVA?

It was okay-ish. I like that they brought up his dislike for talent and showed more of that him that many people wouldn't see, but I also feel like it could've added a bit more, if that makes sense, and the thing about Souda and Sonia being together didn't really seem logical to me since Komaeda would be more on Sonia's side with how uncomfortable Souda makes her lol and just him being brought closer to Souda and Kuzuryu since those were the two people he had some of the most tense relationships with and Komaeda even expressed his distate for Kuzuryu's behaviour many times, kinda leaning more towards dislike. They're just not really his company. I can see them connecting through Hinata, but I just think the choice there was a bit? Weird? Maybe. I guess. They couldve just shown it better. I also just didnt like the ending and how rushed it seemed. Wow jee golly!! I wouldve never said all those things! I feel so healed!! Again the anime just doesnt get the point across really well but the OVA was better than DR3

[batw1nggg]

i know the dr2 survivors having zero chemistry couldve easily been fixed by like. If The Writers Had Taken The Time To Write The Chemistry instead of just last minute throwing in one or two lines literally at the very end. the combo of characters does have lots of potential for chemistry but also i think one thing that wouldve really helped is LETTING HIYOKO SURVIVE 😭😭😭😭😭😭 if dr2 had just had 6 survivors like dr1 their survivor dynamic during chapters 5 and 6 couldve been so much better 😭😭

hiyoko just slots with them perfectly. theyre missing the energy that she’s able to bring if that makes sense like dr1 has hina as its more upbeat survivor and v3 has himiko but dr2’s most upbeat survivor is. like. Akane. am i making sense here. and also hiyoko bonding with any of the dr2 survivors theyre the last people youd expect her to bond with and it can be representative of her character arc and i also wish theyd been able to play more with fuyuhiko’s arc spurring on hiyoko’s because they had that kinda going on too. idk i know we’ve had this conversation as a fandom already but i just get angrier every day that she didnt live. of course adding hiyoko in isnt a Fix All Solution to the issue of the survivors not having been given chemistry but it couldve elevated the dynamic a lot i think :( i wanted to see her fight with and bond with everyone

[bowletta]

my thoughts on mario and luigi brothership!

(spoiler-free edition!)

(click here for the Major spoilers version)

I will sort my thoughts into 3 categories: the good, the bad, and misc (not necesarily good or bad just in the middle)

The Good:

+ the animation. I didn't think theyd be able to recreate the charm the sprite animation had, but they nailed it.

+ great job translating the 2d sprites to 3d models. This was one of my biggest concerns when the game was revealed, but as much as I miss the sprites... they did a good job. Love how they added the blue accents from sato's early m&l artwork.

+ the cutscenes look so good. Very charming

+ probably the best boss battles in the series. Every one (except the 3rd lighthouse one >: [ ) was the perfect balance of fun and difficulty without dragging on too long.

+ extremely fun combat (jump attacks, hammers)

+ the characters. I really really enjoyed the characters.. I wish they cut a few of them to give others more screentime, but I was surprised how attached I got to them

+ the extension corps. Early on i thought they were just a rehash of the bffs from bowser jr.s journey... but I feel that they executed it 100 times better. I wont spoil, but they have a good arc : )

The Bad:

- I think the #1 problem plaguing brothership is the pacing. It is atrocious. The first 5 hours are so boring. It really drags its feet to get anything interesting happening. The villains arnt introduced until nearly halfway through the game. Why.

What sucks is I feel like if you can get past the first ocean, it starts to get really good! But looking back at all the leakers quitting a few hours in... I cant blame them.

- adding onto this, bros moves and battle plugs. It takes 5 hours to get your first bro move. You are stuck with standard jump and hammer for the entire first ocean. As much as i like performing those moves, it got old fast. You get bros moves so far apart, and several of them are introduced so late I didnt bother trying to learn them.

I wish the battle plugs were introduced sooner as well, I think it wouldve helped make the early combat more interesting.

- game feels way too long and bloated.

- why do you select luigi's actions with 'A' in battle. Why is there no option to change it. I struggled with this and fumbled my attacks literally until the 4th ocean. Why.

- frame rate issues. Upon booting the game I thought 'oh this is rough'. But then I got used to it. But as you progress, and more people join your ship, it gets bad. By the end, shipshape island is a choppy powerpoint presentation. I could hear my switch's fan struggling from my couch lol.

- weakest soundtrack in the series. Its not even close. Theres like 5 tracks I like, but that doesnt make up for the other 40+ being so unremarkable, esp when its one of the franchise's highlights.

- timing when counterattacking enemies is wildly inconsistent. With some, the timing feels too generous (the flying flower enemies) and other times it feels frame perfect (lakitu)

Misc:

> Theres so many instances where I cant tell if its supposed to be a homage to older games or just copy pasted from them. Theres a character introduced very late who is very similar to another late game m&l character. The extension corps and the bffs. Etc.

> the timeline is kind of confusing... Like how long ago did concordia break up? How long did it take connie to grow the tree on shipshape? Like did this take place months ago or decades ago??

>them reusing peach and bowser voice clips from 15 years ago (bis) was very funny

final thoughts:

id give brothership like... a 7.5-8/10. Is it the new best mario rpg? Absolutely not lol. It has some serious issues but... I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I think it couldve used a few more years in the oven, but overall, it was cute. Definently a contender for the new generation's super paper mario.

1. superstar saga

2. bowser's inside story

3. brothership

4. partners in time/dream team

5. paper jam

[scalproie]

kfp4 is literally fine. idk why everyone is so mixed about it

that being said I do have some gripes with it like: the anachronistic names like steve and larry did piss me off bc it broke the immersion SO HARD for me. I dont remember it being such a problem before

Kai and Shen were distracting. Them being here with no narrative importance was obviously going to make people go "hey why dont they do more/have literally no lines?" rather than "oh look it's Kai and Shen! All the previous villains are here!", like I genuinely wouldve been fine if we just saw the chameleon transform into them or them not being here at all. It shouldve just been about kung fu masters which neither Kai nor Shen are. Genuinely only Tai Lung shouldve shown up.

Speaking of him, LOVED Tai Lung's inclusion, his scenes were great and I'm glad we got him back even for a bit. BUT. he was underutilized as hell. Like obv I wasnt expecting him to have a major role or to end up the new dragon warrior (like many people thought/hoped would happen for some reason? Guys it wouldnt have been satisfying) or even to have a scene with Shifu (like if THAT does happen, it needs a bigger focus and obv the movie was not going to be about that)... but I think he shouldve had longer scenes with Po. And unlike the other two main villains, he does have potential narrative importance: the movie is about the dragon warrior title itself again like the first movie (second was about Po himself, third was about chi as a whole/the panda village), and Tai Lung does embody the mastery of physical strength, which is what the chameleon is after. So yeah, while I dont want him to steal the spotlight more than he does anyway, I still think he couldve been used for more than just for a few snarky comments, and I'm a bit sad if this really is the last we'll see of him but also yknow, glad we got Just A Bit more. His very first and last scenes were sweet tho, him finally calling Po dragon warrior was nice (as long as I dont think too much about it tho lmao)

Anyway

The 5 not being present is such a non-issue for me. I love them sooo much DO NOT get me wrong but like genuinely, what would they have added to the story? How would you have worked them into it without breaking everything? I do not get why them not being here was such a deal-breaker for so many people bc you wanna argue they were well-utilized in kfp3? I'd rather the story focus on Po and another new character than trying to juggle the 5 into it, and besides, we got an explanation for why theyre missing (even if a little on the nose) so im not asking for more.

Anyway I'm gonna wait a few years before people calm down and realize kfp4 is literally fine, even good dare I say, because I remember how it was when kfp3 came out in 2016.

And speaking of kfp3, it has it easy bc "The Kung Fu Panda Trilogy" sounds nice and people just put it alongside the masterpieces that were kfp1 and kfp2 even tho, in my honest opinion, kfp4 is better, is funnier (the humor is on par with kfp2's even), has a similar pacing anyway, and the chameleon is a better villain than Kai byyyeee

[actualbird]

i've been really curious to ask you about what's your opinion or idea about luke's sudden behavior change or Raven'? do you think it's just a facade he puts on to bear with his unique type of work or there's something more to it? (also i apologize if you've answered this before)

oh i adore this question!! i think i answered something similar to it but it was like way waaaaaaaayy back, so no worries, i cant even remember my response before...

anyhoo, i personally think Raven mode is a mix of:

something he had to create and don to get through the NSB and his work there

a completely real facet of himself and an inextricable part of who he is

some dissociation here and there

1 is easiest to explain because in a way, it's how i see Raven starting in the first place.

everybody has different sides to themselves, with some sides being specifically created for specific environments or to interact with certain people. like, how i act and behave at work is definitely different from how i act and behave online and it's also different from how i act and behave with friends or family. all still me, just a me thats more suited for a specific thing. i think thats how the Raven persona started out, another side of himself that luke created for a specific purpose, but under Much more extreme and intense circumstances.

Raven is luke's worksona, but his work regularly sees combat, danger, conflict, high stakes, life-or-death scenarios, and more. the previous sides of luke that he had were just not gonna cut it in this kind of environment. additionally, it was mentioned in SSR Peaceful Place that luke was younger than most trainees at the NSB, and i think that added to luke's need to construct and grow a side of himself that could weather all this. one that was the opposite of the kind bushy-tailed boy-next-door type he usually was. something stronger, colder, and more intimidating that could help him prove himself, help him keep up with everybody else, and then allow him go further and surpass everyone completely.

now 2 is where things get more speculative. i dont think Raven is a facade because i dont think it's fake.

i think it's real and part of who he is, and the biggest reason i think this is because of his route in the lost gold event

(.....take a shot every time i bring up lost gold on this blog kjhvHSVKDFHVDS)

im talking about luke's worry throughout his entire lost gold route about mc seeing how he gets when hes in Raven mode. how he sent her away so that she wouldnt see him threatening that dude, how he looked so regretful when she finally did witness Raven in action, how he was so worried and emphasized how he wants to be the type of luke that she likes when hes around her, not this side of himself thats cruel and cold and ruthless.

point is, through all of that, he was scared.

if it was a facade, just a fake mask, i dont think his anxiety over the whole thing wouldve been as pronounced. he couldve just said "hey im going to intimidate this guy", which he might still think would be worrying or upsetting to see, but it wouldnt be the end of the world. but his route didnt play out like that. this recurring anxiety over mc seeing an darker side of him (and the resulting resolution of mc still accepting and loving him in spite of that dark side) works best under the assumption that this dark side is him. a different part, yes, but still wholly and completely a true facet of luke pearce.

and it would make sense for Raven to be real. even if luke is a very warm and sunshiney person, he's also a person who has now experienced a lot of horrifying things. i wouldnt say hes jaded, but it would be a natural reaction to seeing the darkness of the world to also grow cynicism and skepticism from whence Raven can draw from. additionally, while Raven is primarily a soldier, the intent behind him is still ultimately a desire to protect people, and luke has a LOT of protective urges inside of him. the bedrock is there, it just needed extreme circumstances to be 'dressed up', so to speak, into the cold Raven persona we see in canon.

plus, the Raven side of him being a real part of him is....simply more interesting to me. luke is somebody who has a very strong devotion to people and the causes he believes in, but his methods to serve those things can go into grey areas because of the ferocity and cruelness that Raven is capable of. but luke is also somebody who has such a big existential worry and desire to Be Good, and him having a Real part of him that many would designate as Bad makes for a more interesting kind of internal conflict.

and internal conflict is also something important to Raven, because of...

the last bit, 3, how i like to think that the Raven mode has some flavors of dissociation (heads up, this is now past speculation and more well into the realm of headcanon HAHA)

dissociation is when somebody feels disconnected from what they are experiencing, thinking, or feeling and/or feeling disconnected from the environment or reality around them, and repeated/regular experiences of this to an unhealthy degree can be caused by traumatic incidents and...

those definitions are VERY MUCH SIMPLIFIED AND THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG, and if you'd like to know more i highly recommend you read up more on it yourself!

...and luke has definitely been through Quite a lot of trauma. parents dying when he was a child + getting himself caught up in cutthroat government organization when he was just a teenager + the disastrous mission that killed everybody but him and definitely left him with survivor's guilt + his illness = thats a lot of trauma! three out of those four i mentioned happening during his NSB days in particular, happening while the Raven side was most likely being created.

when a person is constantly going through stressful and traumatic stuff like that, theres a possibility that they can dissociate. mentally disconnecting from the thing that is causing the distress, after all, feels safer. and Raven is a much stronger and powerful side of luke that exists that luke can reach for and become when things get Too Much.

i dont think luke is dissociating Every Time he goes Raven mode, but again, it's really interesting to think about actually happening (whether in already-happened canon moments or in future possibilities). it'd add more messiness and stakes to his internal conflict of wanting to be good but having a part of him thats 'bad', that sometimes the good sides of him cannot cope or handle certain situations, causing a disconnected feeling and once hes more back into his brain he'll realize that he just went on a chillingly effective rampage or something. it's also interesting to think about in terms of how shifts back from Raven mode, where maybe after particularly high stakes missions he just....hasnt shaken off the adrenaline yet. he still doesnt feel safe, it doesnt feel like the job is done, his demeanor is still silent and cold and serious, bracing for another attack or danger, and the side of him that logically knows that there is no more danger simply feels too far away right now for him to immediately decompress. luke's fear of this part of himself would pack more punch if there was an aspect of it that he cant particularly control just yet.

so yeah, those r my thoughts! thank you for the ask! :D

[speci-society]

So i went to matt's blog to look at that original terrible explanation post bc i remember seeing he added a lame backpedaling addition to his comment abt the hammer car post after he saw how many people were clowning on him for it, but then i saw this under it which is potentially even worse???

(Static added to differentiate between my text and matt screenshot)

Like. Matt. MATT. You've BEEN THRU THIS before buddy you ALREADY made this mistake of making a claim about how egregious avery behaved ("names so explicit i can't post them here without a mature tag"), attaching absolutely no proof, and then when you do decide to give proof its the most lukewarm run of the mill everyday typical tumblr content out there. Like. Suggestive sideblog urls??? (Sarcasm) Oooh time to dust off the ol horny jail baseball bats from 2021 and keep digging that hole youre in matt. Not to mention he posted said proof not to his own blog on his own website on the post he's edited many many many times to add shit to it, but on an entirely different website for the purpose of continuing to harass the same woman

And i know that either way, after he said what he said in the above screenshot, posting or not posting those blog names wouldve been a bad idea. Dont post them, and youve made a baseless claim that makes you look like more of a liar (which he is imo but.), do post them and you've maliciously outed her other blogs and made yourself look like more of a transmisogynist (again, i dont have much faith that he isnt). But like. 2 things abt that.

1. He managed to do both of those at the same time by posting some parts on tumblr and the other parts in a twitter reply

2. He couldve avoided having to do either IF HE DIDNT MENTION THEM AT ALL!!!!! BC CLEARLY HE DIDNT NEED TO!!!!!! WHERE AM I IN CRAZY TOWN?????

Just digging the hole further and further and further, after he made i think 2 and maybe more apology posts and HAS SEEMINGLY DELETED THEM NOW. COME THE FUCK ONNNNN MAN

[gremlinhourz]

i just need to know does anyone else feel like briony from atonement is autistic?? like dgmw i really do get why people dont like her, but that doesnt mean she cant be autistic,,, its like its the way shes gets so caught up in her own thoughts that she fails to recognize other possibilities, like obviously thats not something exclusive to or definitively a part of autism, but i just i feel i definitely do that too,, oh also just adding in there her pride in being tidy and her need for control, and like people always describe her as "pretentious" and "entitled" but like idk i dont see it, like the part where she gets somewhat upset at finding out the twins are wearing her socks, its like idk cecilia didnt ask or let her know that she was letting the twins borrow briony's socks, even though its something small, to someone like briony who seems to value her stuff, i could imagine it would be off putting to find someone had taken/used it without at least letting her have a say in it, like i cant say for sure that she wouldve let them wear the socks if she was asked, but maybe she couldve pointed them to a pair she was more okay with loaning out, like idk, i know in the grand scheme of things and of the story the socks dont matter but i just keep thinking of it,, but also idk i at least have some respect for her because she doesnt try to shift the blame onto anyone else, she even says herself “She would never be able to console herself that she was pressured or bullied. She never was, She trapped herself, she marched into the labyrinth of her own construction, and was too young, too awestruck, too keen to please, to insist on making her own way back.”

[thealmightyemprex]

April Foolishness :Buffy the Vampire Slayer

So TV shows based on movies are pretty common but I have to say the most sucesful show based on a film for my money has to be Buffy,because the show is so iconic .....People forget its based on a movie.Now the film has a cult following but nowhere near as big as the shows .Will do some show comparisons but will keep tio a minimum as tonally they are worlds apart ,as this film is firmly a comedy when the show is a bit of a genre buster .Think of this as sort of the rough draft

In this 1992 film Buffy(Kristy Swanson ) is a cheerleader informed by the Watcher ,Merrik (Donald Sutherland) that she is the Slayer,the chosen one reincarnated through the centuries to fight the evils of vampires ,specifically Lothos (Rutger Hauer )

So the movie is a fun slice of early 90's cheese ,and I so see the cult following and the early marks of the TV show .I think the cast is solid with some of my favorite bits just spotting the likes of young Ben Aflek and Hilary Swank .Luke Perry is great as the love interest,I think he added something to a character who couldve been bland ,David Arquette is a scene stealer as a vamparized teen .Stephen Root probabbly gets some of the best jokes in the movie,hes a small character but him talking about his experience with acid got a big laugh .Donald Sutherland I think brings a sense of gravitas to the mentor figure ,and theres a nice dramatic moments where he and buffy just chat and he brings up that he wouldve liked to have been a Boot maker that I found sweet .Paul Reubins doesnt have a lot to do as the villains henchman but his looks and a feew funny lines (AS well as his improvised final scene) make him stand out .My favorite character has to be Rutger Hauer as the villain Lothos ,he just such a fun campy villain ,very classical vampire .Kristy Swanson I feel gets sadly overlooked,and unfairly compared to Sarah Michele Geller .Keep in mind Geller had 7 seasons of character development ,Swanson had one movie ,and Swanson really sells the transformation of cheerleader to Slayer

In terms of negatives.....I honestly feel the script is a bit weak or that a lot has been cut ,because is Lothos in love with Buffy ?Why does Buffy freeze with Lothos ? I dunno I felt very lost at some places .Also while Buffy thinks Merrik is initially a crazy guy or pervert ,she treats this weird old guy WAY to casually.Also if your into the show and decide to watch the movie,be warned the vampires are so diffrent ,being more classical types and a bit goofy ,very jarring to how monstrus the vampires in the show are

I dunno its not great but its fun ,I had a good time

@ariel-seagull-wings @the-blue-fairie @themousefromfantasyland@amalthea9 @barbossas-wench @countesspetofi @princesssarisa@piterelizabethdevries @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @filmcityworld1

[wizardyke]

my tiny review of doukyuusei after reading the whole thing in the span of 24 hours or so:

the student teacher romance shut was disgusting to me i skipped past every single page until i saw sajou and kusakabe again. i initially skipped hara and sora entirely until i was reading the next volume and didnt recognise quite few characters. it made my skin crawl, i genuinely hated how they pushed it & even treated harasen as a rival to kusakabe and not a literal freak for liking sajou 😭😭😭 the hibiki shit was deplorable too, none of you deserve a happy ending ur all going to hell

(i understand that in the context of like, 2006 gay romance was as an equal "taboo" as teacher/student romance but still it is incredibly stomach twisting to see it unfold)

i feel like the first volume was incredibly artful in its panelling and storytelling. i really enjoyed the framing devices of classical japanese poetry & kusakabe bothering everyone with trying to remember it, and he only remembers it when he sees sajou again. i feel like it has a beautiful rhythm to the story (which harasens pedo ass story interrupts) and thus was perfect to adapt for the movie. the later volumes really drag their feet in this aspect imo

i really enjoyed seeing sajou slowly gain more confidence in himself and his existence as a gay man. the slow progression of kusakabe initiating every kiss & sajou just closing his eyes doing a >___< face to sajou initiating and all other things. its very cute. i think it comes at a price though, because then kusakabe barely has a character outside of sajou. by the time blanc comes around, sajou has had like 3 people interested in him, a whole new feiendgroup and his family drama, while all we know about kusakabe is that he holds down a part time job while trying to be a musician and occasionally keeps in contact with his old friend from school. (although you could say the highschool arc was kusakabe's story and afterwafds was sajou's, but i dojt think it works for how they work as a pair)

i think with a more conventional release schedule it wouldve been a much better story over all. it feels incredibly stop-start (from what i know it does seem like one shots kept getting added, so it makes sense) and i really do think the mangaka couldve cut some fat. i really dont give a rats ass about koma & ryuuichi sorry 😭😭😭 and i didnt read anything to do with haru/sora and the geriatric man with his highschooler bf. i feel like that couldve been its own story — it doesnt sajou or kusakabe any time to breathe

overall i really did enjoy it!! the art really was my favourite part, i adore how they use shapes and form. and obviously kusakabe's gorgeous hair i will never forgive them for making BALDDDDDDDDDD

[tomatoswup]

AHHHH! I LOVE HOW YOU ADDED TESLA! I didn't see any fics involving her! You wrote her so well. We barely got to see her personality in the manga and anime, and I you wrote her just like her I imaged her aaaAAAAAA- I image her to be just like Vash but more gentle and soft. She would love her brothers sm. People should write more Tesla since there's basically so much to add to her since she's not so fleshed out in canon.

Cheers to another great modern!vash fic I am in LOVE 🍻

TESLA RIGHTSSSS EVEN THOUGH IT LEADS TO PAINNN☝️☝️

I also wished they couldve delved more into her personality and what kinda of person she was before shit went down instead of the whole “yeah she’s the reason why everything technically went to shit”

20/10 I DO BELIEVE SHE WOULDVE LOVED HER BROTHERS TOO OMFF,,,, i didnt touch on her completely in “el chico del apartamento 512” as much as i wanted to,,, but i hope to include her in more of the modern au’s i write,,, i can see her being the more quieter older sister, but she teases the heLLLL out of Vash and Knives. Someone got a girlfriend or boyfriend? She’s gonna try her best to bully one of them into inviting them over A SECRET FIENDDD so she could meet them,,,, Kinda like the 2000’s quiet and calm punk older sister kinda archetype.

thank u for liking the lil fic i really mean it🥹🥹🥹LEMME WHIP MY TEARS RQ-

[juni-ravenhall]

Nightdust is like one of the few complete questlines in the game in regards to side plots too lol. Between the cutscenes and that it's one of the most memorable questlines in SSO for me personally.

Maybe if they finished some of the others things would make more sense lol.

yeah, the only thing that really feels missing is how at the end nightdust just exists as a sparkly special horse and didnt get tied in much to the bigger plot with the starbreeds, and that whole thing we did with finding starbreeds, justin's special talents, and whatnot. and also it wouldve been nice if mr anwir had been slightly more clearly tied to DC - in the end it felt kinda like a separate villain despite that they are connected. but he even has that little bit of backstory with being a jockey and the hermit knowing him from his own past which i really liked.

and like, imagine an alternative where the nightdust quest ended and then in the following year of updates that stuff gets tied back into the main story, madison is given some secret knowledge by us and the soulriders/druids since she's bonded with nightdust. even if they're still side characters, her and nightdust could have a part in the plot. (which could also be fun later if tied in with erissa i guess, as much as i dont care for the dark riders since their writing is horrible and i dont get how their characters make any sense even with kids story logic.) it could have also tied in south hoof's other characters more to the main plot, in small ways, and eventually tied into the wildwoods horses and become a final version of the lore of magic horses and starbreeds and soul horses.

we couldve gotten to know our own soul horse and the others more through it as well, and understanding that whole alien horse lore (if it still exists) and so on wouldve been conveniently leading to understanding the very core of the story (aideen and garnok).

and, after defeating mr anwir, maybe we couldve gotten some clues from his stuff that eventually led us into spying on DC or GED and continuing the main storyline aspects of them. maybe we couldve gone up against darko after somehow getting to him from anwir stuff, or finding out more about the DC clones. now im getting off topic but the whole unfortunate dews lore also really shouldve already lead to us confronting GED more, ages ago. like having bigger storylines with kembell and ms drake. (there was that whole GED office thing they never added too.)

so much stuff that seems to me very easy to tie together if you actually try and actually care about the story and your audience. almost like there was a plan in the middle of the randomness at one point and then people in charge fucked it over :)

[ntaras]

I know that "people being fine with bad story and horrible characterization just because their favorite characters got to live" post might be more about bi-han, and it's true, he's more like a parody of sektor here than anything like The Real Bi-han, and if that's what we're going to get then I much rather wouldve liked him as a tragic figure. But I think I would also add smoke to that sentiment: his presence in the story amount to a big old NOTHING other than the team being like "look smoke is back!", like not only have they gotten rid of what couldve possibly made him interesting on his own (enenra, gone outside of being mentionned in like. a skin, an alternate universe self (ugh) and an intro dialogue... hoorayyy) but its also like. idk. Tomas is also a tragic figure meant to die early like bi-han and they genuinely dont know how to write him otherwise, so he is just standing there. At least him "dying"/being turned into a cyborg showed the threat of the cyber lin kuei in the og timeline to us AND sub zero while also making us feel sad for smoke and sub zero because they were friends yknow? Here smoke is yet again feeling so wasted. Maybe they'll do smth different with him next (or just. "kill" him again in some way), but its also so frustrating to have to wait 5+ years for the rest of the story

i was SHOCKED to see how little value smoke added to the story. i was prepared for havik and nitara and reiko to be jobber fuel only but i swear to god smoke got less screen time than any of those characters who also added very little value to the story.

my favorite part about smoke was his struggle to be good and his battle with darkness forced onto him. he was forced to be a cyber lin kuei and had to hunt down kuai liang, and despite that still proved to have a soul. enenra was forced into him and there was potential in that as a revenant, enenra had taken over him and smoke struggled with both not being a revenant anymore and also trying to free his soul from enenra. he doesn’t want to be a killing machine but it seems like he’s unable to escape that path be it via being a cyborg or being enenra.

to see smoke reduced to the adopted brother that bi-han is mean to is so gross. also the fact that the bios for each character made it seem like the story would delve into those backstories is so disheartening. we didn’t get to learn anything about the murder of his family or what it was like for smoke to grow up in the lin kuei as bi-han and kuai liang’s brother. we don’t even get any dynamic between kuai liang and tomas besides kuai liang saying “you’re my brother.” literally if they had bi-han just kill tomas in front of kuai liang he would have had more worth to the story even if that alternative also sucks.

also if we do see enenra again, it’s only going to be in form of an alternate timeline smoke and not the current timeline smoke which is so fucking tiring. like you have these characters so why not give them arcs and development instead of introducing these “what if” versions of characters?

i’ve said it a million times but these characters are worth sooooo much more than they are written as

[quodekash]

Why The Entire Harry Potter Epilogue Sucks

most of this has definitely already been said before but I have Thoughts™️ and I need to get them all out in one place. also warning this is very long because my thoughts are big and i talk too much 

first, the overall problems (and everything im gonna talk about is the author’s fault cos she wrote it, but this part is more directly her fault so this section could also just be called Me Hating A Bigot): 

Why did she make them all end up with their high school sweethearts? just to satisfy the shippers? i mean i dont entirely hate it that much, like its fine, book hinny actually have chemistry and i can imagine book romione going through a lot of bumps in their relationship but smoothing it out and figuring it out after a few years. and yeah they’ve all been through a lot together, and that creates a really tight bond between two or more people, but the point still stands. (my point being: high school relationships are stupid and pointless. (if you want to debate me on this, go ahead. try and change my mind. (this is genuine, i want to hear your reasons and give you my reasons, debates are fun)))

Draco’s wife. Why. Like, i have absolutely nothing against Astoria Greengrass, I’m sure she’s lovely (we never meet her other than like maybe in Cursed Child at some point? but i read that once and am electing to ignore it forever so lets imagine i never said that). it’s not even a problem with how the author made him marry a woman even tho he’s very much a gay man, it’s the problem that he didn’t get the redemption he very much deserved. he had like two or three shining moments. and even then they weren’t so much shining, more... glistening like sweat. but she couldve tried so much harder with him. she wouldnt even have to change the plot of the books at all. just make him marry... not a pureblood. dont make this character have to continue the legacy of purebredness that he almost definitely despises. instead, let him marry a muggle. or a muggleborn. or a half-blood chosen one who defeated the dark lord with draco’s own wand. or just anyone that isnt a pureblood, cos we dont know much about it, but we can only assume that it was an arranged marriage and neither of them actually wanted it, they were just doing it for the sake of their families. which sucks. and also all the purebloods are already related so just... dont make the incest continue, no one wants it. 

the names of the kids... i dont like it. well, most of it. naming your kids after your dead parents? that’s fine. it could be a little confusing at times, but they’re nice names and its sentimental. and james’ middle name? i have no problem with it. james sirius potter is a perfect naming choice. definitely not a PREfect naming choice, but absolutely a PERfect naming choice.  -and lily luna potter has a ring to it. and i know luna is important, and i know we love luna. but it couldn’t have been like... lily molly potter, so that ginny’s side of the family could be part of it? it couldn’t have been lily minerva potter, to honour the greatest character of the series? it couldn’t have been... other names i cant think of that wouldve been better than lily luna? but overall i dont hate the name lily luna that much, i can deal with it. -as for hugo and rose, as far as i know they dont have middle names? but i just want to know where the names come from. were they just names that they picked out that Felt Right? cos if so i have absolutely no problems with that. it may be that theyre hermione’s parents names? (speaking of which did she ever get to take them back from australia? adding on to that, did her parents know they were from britain when she erased their memories? cos i highly doubt they wouldve magically gotten aussie accents and their voices wouldve stood out pretty clearly, so would they just be Very British but think they’re perfect bogans and never understand why people look at them funny?) But i dont think it is cos ive always assumed that hermione’s mums name is jean cos it’s hermione’s middle name. also i did some extensive research (*cough* a quick google search *cough*) and the name Rose means flower, femininity, that kind of thing, which is sweet, and Hugo means mind or intellect or something like that, which reflects hermione being smart. so those make sense. -but then we get to albus severus. i love the character, he is pure and must be protected. however, the name... no. harry decided to name his kid (the middle child, aka literally the most overlooked one, so there’s the neglected feelings that generally come from being a middle child there already) after two dead guys. “but egg”, you may be thinking, “james sirius was named after two dead guys, too.” Ah, very astute, dear reader, but you’re missing two crucial pieces of information: james and sirius were excellent people who positively affected harry’s life in a lot of ways. Albus and Severus, on the other hand, were people who: emotionally manipulated him, abused him, hated him, raised him as a pig for slaughter, one of them killed the other, and they were both old and sad cos their loved one is gone forever. great idea to name your kid after that. so smart, hazza. absolutely genius. 

“19 years later” means, if you do the maths, the epilogue is set in 2016. surely some things would change. like, would they still use a steam engine train? would there be too many people (gotta love overpopulation), so would the place to get on the train (or whatever mode of transport it would be by then) change to fit everyone? why don’t we see queer couples in the background? why isnt there any mention of phones? i just- i have questions, okay? i mean, i guess the book came out 9 years before 2016. but some of these things were still in play in 2007 and it feels like pollution and overpopulation and queer people and smartphones just dont exist i guess. 

this is a very small one but i would also like to know how draco and harry and ron all happened to have a child go to school in the same year. like yeah, it happens, but sometimes its like a year or two apart. but nope, they all must’ve f***ed their wives on the same night i guess (i know that’s not how it works, but STILL) 

related to the point about it being 2016, but there wasn’t any deamus???? just a tiny mention would’ve been fine. just so that queer readers dont feel so alone. so that queer readers can feel like they’re actually part of this world, that they can feel included and loved, which are the major themes of the series. all we wouldve needed is “Harry saw Dean and Seamus, holding hands and waving goodbye to a little crying girl leaning out of the train window. Seamus tried to conjure a handkerchief to clean her face, but it set itself on fire as soon as he tried, and the girl laughed through her tears.” Or even just that first sentence wouldve been okay. or even a third or fourth sentence where dean sighs into his hand to hide his smile, shaking his head, and either stamps out the fire with his foot or uses aguamenti to put it out but misses and Seamus frowns at him as droplets of water fall down his face and cling to his eyelashes and dean smiles lovingly and kneels down to mock dean’s height and uses the end of his sleeve to wipe off the water and their daughter is laughing really joyously and the train starts to take off but she’s still laughing and smiling and she waves at her weirdo dads until she cant see them again and im sorry im getting carried away, basically what im trying to say here is just one sentence wouldve been all we needed just to feel included 

ron being an auror makes sense i dont mind that. 

but hermione. why is she in magical law enforcement. i know she cares about justice, but she absolutely would not enjoy sitting behind a desk, she would rather being there, out in the world, helping others because she can, not because it’s her job. she should be a teacher, whether at a muggle school or magical school, i dont flipping care, but she enjoys sharing her knowledge with harry and ron and literally everyone, and that’s what a teacher does. plus, she really looks up to mcgonagall, so you’d think she’d want to be like her: a teacher. and hermione LITERALLY SAYS, out loud, in the books, to rufus scrimgeour, that she doesn’t want a job at the ministry, “i want to make some good in the world”, but then that is just scrapped, never thought about again, and she becomes the flipping minister. she couldve even been an auror, she wouldve been a BOSS at figuring out the target’s next move and how to fight them and bring justice (and i am aware it sounds like im describing her as a batman-like superhero, i dont care, MAYBE HERMIONE IS BATMAN, OKAY?), and working with ron, they would’ve been UNSTOPPABLE. hermione couldve worked at flipin flourish and blotts, she could’ve become the new librarian at hogwarts. i know neither of those are making good in the world, but she wouldve been surrounded by books ALL DAY. honestly she couldve worked with dragons with charlie in romania and it still wouldve been better than stuck behind a desk at the ministry 

i love ginny as a quidditch player, that one is excellent and perfect and i cant think of anything better. 

like. lupin was great. but harry taught a whole bunch of teenagers - at the same time - to conjure patronuses within a couple of lessons, when it took lupin months to teach harry. (granted, harry was depressed and was both trying to learn the charm and going against a boggart-dementor, so they’re both impressive, but still)

he taught them heaps of spells he’d only learnt the previous year while practicing for the third task, and only out of books, which is really bloody impressive.

and, again, he could conjure a patronus at thirteen years old, when most wizards cant their entire lives.

and he taught them the only useful thing lockhart (kind of) taught him: expelliarmus.

as for moody’s/barty crouch jr’s classes, we dont know anything about them other than the first one where he did the unforgivable curses on spiders, and that other one where he put the imperious curse on the students. and harry just wouldnt morally do any one of those things so he technically didn’t beat those classes but also he did because harry didn’t perform illegal curses on his students, so. 

idk about quirrel cos i have no clue what he actually taught them (WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH THAT REPTILE IN THE MOVIES? (was it a lizard? iguana?? i think it was an iguana but idk)), but he literally bested every single one of the teachers he’d previously had for five years in a couple of months. 

also he really enjoyed teaching. he found himself subconsciously planning lessons. he gave them things to improve on, started small and got bigger, gave encouragement, made sure everyone was included, and so many other things i just cant think of right now. and those are all awesome teacher traits. he would’ve loved being a teacher, would’ve loved helping kids reached their full potential.

and thats why he shouldve been a teacher, but heres why he shouldnt have been an auror: hes not invincible. the only person who couldnt kill him at all was voldemort. if voldey had let one of his death eaters step in and cast the spell, harry couldn’t have done anything, he wouldve actually died that time and voldemort wouldve won. and that still applies in the future. and harry’s gonna be fighting dark wizards just about every day. and guess what? he’s the owner of the elder wand. and book harry didnt break it. no no, book harry was sure he’d die a natural death and the wand would lose its power. and im not saying i want harry to die on work, im saying he was pretty reckless because he could get killed by dark wizards (aka people wanting to start their own cult similar to death eaters; death eaters on the run; death eaters put in azkaban who manage to escape; etc etc) on any given day and then they would have the elder wand and it would all turn to sludge.

but also if he couldn’t have taught dada, then surely he couldve at least been a quidditch player like ginny. that would be so much fun. their team would be basically unstoppable, having a bad*ss married couple working together.

just dont have him as an auror, please, im begging you, it doesnt work

and neville being herbology professor is perfect, end of story. 

okay and now specific moments 

some things that bother me are: albus not wanting to be slytherin, and james making fun of him for maybe possibly being sorted in slytherin. like, shouldnt the problems between the houses have been resolved?? it’s been 19 years since the war people, lets finally resolve some conflict here, pick up the pace guys. but not only that, albus’ fear of slytherin and james’ apparent dislike of slytherin tells us that harry hasn’t told them that slytherins can be good and that all the stereotypes of slytherin aren’t true for everyone and kggkfjgkjgkjfgj

harry hears percy talking about broomstick regulations and is glad to not have the excuse to stop and chat. i dont like that. why doesn’t he want to say hi? percy isnt that bad. i know he’s annoying at times but broomstick regulations would be important, and wouldn’t harry be at least slightly interested in it because quidditch and flying??? 

it sounds like ron’s saying he only recently passed his drivers test. he’d had 19 years. why did it take him that long. this one isnt big it just bothers me a little bit 

why did draco nod ‘curtley’? curtley means rude briefly according to google. that doesnt feel right after everything that’s happened. like, harry literally destroyed the darkest wizard of all time, holding what had previously been draco’s wand. surely that makes some kind of connection. and the trio saved dracos life twice in one day, and saving someone’s life is a literal huge deal, it creates this unspoken bond between you. literally the only reason harry ron and hermione are friends is because harry and ron saved hermione’s life. and saving dracos life, someone who, up until then, they hate? and there’s no mention of any kind of bond or unspoken alliance or anything? they just... go on hating each other? and draco didnt sell them out to his family. which basically means draco saved their lives (BEFORE they saved his), so again theres that connection, that bond, where is it? SURELY it wouldnt be a rude nod?? couldn’t it be an awkward smile? a friendly wink (that could have a double meaning *cough*drarry*cough*)? there would sruely be some kind of connection over the 19 years, like i dont believe that they have never met draco’s child before, i dont believe that the trio and draco havent caught up at some point to say thank you or go out for coffee or whatever functional adults do in their daily lives. 

��dont try to turn them against each other before they’ve even started school.’ YES GOOD EXCELLENT GOOD JOB HERMIONE- ‘dont get too friendly with him tho. granddad weasley would never forgive you if u married a pureblood’ nO. do NOT imply that there’s going to be a romance. this is the fault of the author and also of ron. you should almost never ship people in real life (with few exceptions. like jokes with friends. or larry. or if theyre already a couple.), and ESPECIALLY not LITERAL CHILDREN! being an embarrassing parent talking to your teenage child about their crush or significant other? that’s fine. mortifying in the moment for the child, but funny to look back on. implying that your ELEVEN YEAR OLD CHILD who was probably told about sex and hormones like three weeks ago, is going to MARRY another ELEVEN YEAR OLD CHILD whom they have NEVER INTERACTED WITH is absolutely NOT FINE. and also DO NOT say that your father is NEVER GOING TO FORGIVE THE CHILD. it might seem funny, but this kind of thing could stick with the child forever and, if their hormones do end up making them fall for this other child in the end, they might be terrified of telling their family and might want to keep any potential relationship a secret and that could eat up at them completely and it could result in repression and depression and a whole bunch of mental health problems that wouldve been avoided if ron had just ✨shut his mouth✨. it wouldve been better to say something like ‘“you’re right, sorry”, said ron. but unable to help himself, he leant down and added in a whisper, “we’re counting on you though, Rosie. the family honour rests on your shoulders. but no pressure.” he stood up, grinning, and winked at his daughter.’ 

i have no problems with teddy and victoire. nor do i have any problems with james’ reaction. nor do i have any problems with what the adults say and what the children say in response to that, i actually like this part. 

‘he checked the battered old watch that had once been fabian prewett’s’ IMOKAYIMFINEYOURECRYINGNOTMEHAHA 

why is it that both with james and albus, their mother kisses them and their father hugs them? why didn’t ginny get a hug? why couldn’t harry kiss his sons goodbye? bloody stereotypes and raising boys as people who cant show emotion and affection and not letting fathers be intimate with their sons because showing compassion isnt “manly”. it makes me angry. 

yOu WeRe NaMeD aFtEr TwO hEaDmAsTeRs AnD oNe oF tHeM wAs A sLyThEriN aNd hE wAs BrAvE HARRY I LOVE YOU BUT THATS NOT WHAT ALBUS NEEDED IN THAT MOMENT. he doesnt care about these dead dudes he’s named after. he doesn’t need to know that slytherins can be brave sometimes like a gryffindor. he doesn’t need to know only one example of a slytherin being a “good person”, especially not when it’s an abusive person who is a terrible example in this situation. what albus needs is reassurance. comfort. “albus, whoever you are and whatever house youre put in, we will still love you and support you. slytherin house is not inherently bad. none of the houses are inherently good or bad. people arent inherently good or bad. it’s almost impossible to fit someone into a box of “good person” or “bad person”, because people are complex. there are always reasons behind our actions. and those are only things that are good or bad. our decisions make us who we are.” thats so much better than a couple of sentences of 'i mean you can choose i guess. cos obviously we want you in gryffindor. but like it doesnt really matter. not that much. also youre named after a manipulative gryffindor and an abusive slytherin so have fun with that, k bye see you at christmas’ 

basically the author sucks and i need to sleep more