#it just shows me that storytelling and character development is taking a hit

[fidelissimi-moved]

the reason everyone keeps using alternate fcs is because we don't wanna play with old actors. they might have made the roles but they're all washed up now. nobody wants to ship with old people.

the only way i can see that you'd consider some of these iconic actors "old" or "washed up" is if you just became old enough for people to want to rp with you without lying about your age.

plus, i've seen your generation drooling over: jason momoa (age 44) chris evans (age 42) jensen ackles (age 45) chris hemsworth (age 40) pedro pascal (age 48) tom hardy (age 46) henry cavill (age 40) jared padalecki (age 41) sebastian stan (age 41) paul wesley (age 41) daniel gillies (age 47) joseph morgan (age 42)

do we see a pattern here??

not to mention there's not a soul that could play ANY of the female roles from the early 2000s, including but not limited to roles filled by:

julia stiles (age 42) anne hathaway (age 40) kate winslet (age 47) jessica biel (age 41) reese witherspoon (age 47) zoe saldana (age 45) rachel mcadams (age 44) julia roberts (age 55) mila kunis (age 40) jessica alba (age 42) gabrielle union (age 50) halle berry (age 57)

need i continue??

there's nothing wrong with older fcs, especially when it comes to using them for their original roles. if you want to recast because of lack of resources, or just because you don't like a certain fc for whatever reason, fine. that's your prerogative. but just because an actor might be "out of your preferred age range" doesn't make them washed up or too old to use for characters that wouldn't be who they are without them.

[phantomrose96]

I feel like it takes A Lot to collectively traumatize a fandom as fond of vivisection as the Danny Phantom fandom, but damn that'd do it. Fantastic fic!!!

Also I *love* the detail of the news report in the background of the breakfast scene. At first I was like "oh cool they're talking about PTSD, which he definitely seems to be developing" then I read it again and I was like "oh *fuck* they're talking *about Danny*" which is *chef's kiss* superb

(Prometheus)

Achievement unlocked! Danny gets to be an easter egg in his own story!!

I'm a fan of the trope (I guess it's a trope) of the secret-identity character who just has to listen powerlessly while the talking heads on the tv muse about what's happened to them. Doesn't matter if the broadcast is sympathetic or damning. Either way it hits for me.

When I was first piecing that scene together, I was intending to have Danny, Jack, and Jazz pay attention to the broadcast when it became obvious the reporters were talking about Phantom. It would be the vehicle to communicate to the audience that Phantom is slipping and Danny's definitely grappling with PTSD at this point.

But when I thought about it more, I wasn't actually in love with it as the delivery vehicle. Yeah I like the trope but it felt a little too much of just "I'm saying story details at the reader and using the newscaster as a mouth for that." It felt contrived in a way I don't like.

And what would everyone's reaction be? There wasn't a meaningful place to bring it. Like sure maybe Jack could scoff and say something like "Ghosts don't have complex feelings" or something else dismissive, but that wasn't constructive to the narrative I was building. What Jack thinks about Phantom isn't important to this kind of story. I could have Jazz maybe try to talk to Danny, but there's no way to do that with Jack in the room, and Jazz wouldn't need the newscasters for this anyway. It's her own baby brother, she'd have seen this before any tv host. And there's nothing important for Danny to gain from this. Other than maybe knowing his slipping is visible, but he knows.

So I came to a much better conclusion: ignore the news cast.

It does not need to be a contrived narrative device. It does not need to steer the scene. It does not need to misdirect me into unimportant conversations.

They ignore it. And THAT is so much more thematically potent to what is happening. Danny fighting through his denial. Danny shutting his friends out. The elephant in the room is ON THE TV and no one is even allowed to address it.

Tv host saying "Phantom has PTSD" isn't the vehicle I need for this "communicate to the reader Danny has PTSD" scene. THAT is much better done with Jack, and with his invention, and with the chekov's gun he's been dismantling and remantling the whole fic. It's done with Jack pointing a weapon at Danny - a thing which has occurred a THOUSAND times before - but it's different NOW, because of the trauma Danny is not coping with.

To be cliche, it's the show-don't-tell answer here. (And to be fair, there are PLENTY of places where "tell" is an entirely acceptable route and is often a necessary part of maintaining narrative velocity.) But in this case, the chill Fenton family breakfast atmosphere (tv ignored) snapping cold in the instant Jack draws the weapon on Danny is what the scene needed. The snap-change to Jack and Jazz's attitudes as they notice Danny's reaction. The "this isn't normal anymore" to a morning that was perfectly normal until this moment. And, only after that moment, revealing to the reader that Danny is crying.

The news cast gets to serve its best purpose as environmental storytelling. Confirming to the reader that this is bad enough to be impacting Phantom's ability to fight, to supplement the narrative which (coming from Danny's POV) is trying to not admit how bad it is. ("Super healing is cool!")

It gets to serve its purpose by being completely ignored. Until it's too late.

[anxresi]

I Beg To Differ.

Okay, now just because I'm about to embark on an epic rant does NOT mean I think anything bad about you as a person, OP. It's just on this one teensie-weensie most minor of points, I happen to think you're 100% wrong. Just thought I'd clarify that, so no offense intended. Anyway, on with the show...

Nah, they did us SO dirty with Chloe. I hear your above argument a lot, and it WOULD be a fair point… if it wasn't for the fact that there are SO many clear signs this wasn't what was intended from the beginning that it makes your reasoning completely null and void. Chloe's 'arc' was the most blatant case of in-show character assassination I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing, and I'm about to explain why. Read on! (If you want to, that is.... no pressure).

They strung us along for at least three seasons with various hints about her 'traumatic past', her problems with her often absent mother (which Marinette didn't help by encouraging them to bond because 'they're both such awful people'), showed her genuinely apologizing to her victims, protecting Sabrina from akumatization and having times when she treated her as a real friend, sacrificing herself to save the day occasionally, hugging Miss Bustier in a moment of genuine emotion, telling Ladybug how 'useless' she felt in a teary rooftop encounter, saving lives both as a superhero and a civilian (check back if you don't believe me), giving Adrien a moving speech on his phone about how 'she'd always be there for him', sharing a really close bond with her father, telling her butler Jean it was time she started doing things for herself, loving Mr Cuddly, adoring Pollen… I could go on. Not the best person in the world, true.... but a promising start. Green shoots, and all that. Her name literally means that.

S4 simply forgot any of this happened, and literally pushed her burgeoning development off a cliff with Sisyphu's boulder tied to it's big toe. There was NO build-up, NO foreshadowing, NO precedent for Chloe suddenly becoming a one-dimensional total-sociopath irredeemable-monster AT ALL, they simply made her that way on a whim. They had her start acting like a complete psycho for the evilz, made her the most stupid person in the show BY FAR, severed ALL of her few close relationships, wrote AN ENTIRE FLASHBACK EPISODE in incrimate her newfound nastiness even more and 'punished' her by sending her off exiled on a plane in tears with her abusive mother to… what else? Get abused, of course. GREAT MESSAGE TO ALL THE VULNERABLE TEENAGE GIRLS OUT THERE. (I won't even get into how utterly useless and blandly boring her 'replacement' of a plot device Mary S... oops, I mean Zoe is).

And we're supposed to believe the former corrupt mayor Andre, the terrorist Gabriel Agreste and Thomas Astruc (you know him) are the GOOD guys here? Well, I'd like to tell you what I'd like to do to them… but for fear of censorship, I'd better withhold that particular information for now.

The upshot of it is… if Chloe had been bad from the beginning and terrible at the end, I'd have accepted it. Heck, if her so-called damnation arc was even halfway well written and gave us an accurate and compelling look at the moral descent a person who's capable of redemption could take to the light but ultimately chose to stay on the Dark Side, this would've been highly disappointing to me but fine from a storytelling perspective.

But they didn't give us anything like that, did they? It was just… 'pretend the last three seasons never happened, develop amnesia, hit yourself repeatedly on the head with a shovel… we don't care. Just accept this is the NEW Chloe without question despite past evidence, because you won't be getting any answers. Now let's go back to what we're REALLY here for… Marichat, Ladynoire, Adrinette and that other stupid ship name. SWOON!'

Thanks, but no thanks. Did I ever tell you how much I HATE this stupid show? Apologies if I didn't make that clear enough.

[major-wren]

I love the "ARK siblings" concept and I love cute lighthearted fanart of them being siblings but I feel like a lot of people forget that they literally canonically share a soul and that her death is, in my opinion, I think supposed to represent a part of one's self dying and that they're supposed to be, symbolically, a lot more than siblings.

I always saw Shadow's story as a symbolic way to express the way your inner child and innocence is sacrificed in order to survive complex childhood trauma. Maria's color scheme and the way she's written is, I think, clear to all of us how she's meant to represent innocence and youth. I mean, she doesn't really function very well as a stand-alone character or realistic depiction of a child, shes always been more of an.. idea.

I'm not sure if it was purposeful, but the moon's "Maria" are craters that formed from the moon repeatedly taking the hits of asteroids at it's points of gravity. These points of gravity attract asteroids and draws then away from the Earth. The craters are mostly on the side of the moon we see, so the dark side of the moon, or "shadowed" side is better protected because of that. I feel like this is an extension of Shadow and Maria's symbolism. She took the bullet for him, protecting him, the same way Maria takes the comets, and the same way your brain will sacrifice your inner child (or freeze/rush your mental development) in order to survive intense childhood abuse. I know it all sounds extreme lmao but at the end of the day characters and storytelling are used to explore and express hard emotions and I don't think this randomly tragic character sprung out of nowhere for the Sonic games, which, before that point, always had very lighthearted positive characters (except for the echidna extinction in the game right before Shadow's). Having a character that was easy to approach, yet could represent scarier concepts as a child-friendly stand-in, felt like a very important tool to me growing up. I just hope that that writing can be appreciated in his character, with an understanding of how messy production can be and how a character can get pulled between many different people and ideas. I do think this symbolism was intentional to some degree, especially when it gets to the blatant soul-sharing and how characters insist that Shadow can't be a weapon because Maria's soul (his inner child and true morals despite the damage done to him) makes him "good hearted."

There's other things that uphold this symbolism of Maria dying as representing his inner child being killed, like the rushed/suspended mental development in the face of trauma being illustrated by the fact that Shadow was forced into a dormant cyro slumber right after Maria's death, symbolizing the way he had to basically skip childhood or hit pause on development until he could escape the people controlling him. Much like how victims will have to pause everything and go on autopilot with only a goal of survival until they can escape their situation; only after they feel safe can they begin growing as a person and find their identity. In the Japanese language, there are different types of pronouns people can refer to themselves with instead of just "I" or "myself." In the Japanese dub of SA2, Shadow's creator said in an interview that he had been very insistent on Shadow using the pronouns reserved for young boys, despite Shadow's menacing villain role in the game, because he felt it was important to show Shadow's purity and his lack of experience in life so far. That "live and learn" theme.

And then in his self titled game, Shadow is searching for a way to reconnect with his past and to find the truth about this Maria person he keeps seeing in flashbacks, but in the end he throws away her picture and accepts himself as he is now, forever changed and stained by his past, but more than just a product of his situation. He is "all of him," including the negative impact he never asked for, and including the parts of himself he lost, but also the parts of himself he chose to become. Your environment and childhood shapes you even if you didn't want it to, but that doesnt mean you cant have control in your identity and recover your inherent nature once you've escaped the negative influence (nature vs nurture theme). He will never be the person he used to be, or could have been, (represented by Maria as a pure and untouched youth), but he still has a say in what that grows into.

I just feel like a lot of Shadow's identity issues and inner conflict stem from this whole soul sharing situation with Maria and that his character ends up inevitably being misunderstood if you water them down to just siblings. Especially considering that it was never answered if Shadow actually even ever met Maria or if they're just memories planted by Gerald or caused by the shared soul. In Sonic Battle, it's also said in Gerald's diary that not only do Maria and Shadow share identical souls, but that Gerald literally modeled Shadow after Maria out of his love for her. I'm not sure to what degree or in what ways, but Shadow is supposed to share purposeful similarities with Maria, likely through the content of her character and her morals. That's what makes them so much deeper than just psuedo siblings, he's not only made for her, but designed after her too. It can't really be compared to, for example, Sonic and Tails.

I also think its what makes Shadow's character so substantial and meaningful. His self titled game's entire theme was purity, morals, what is good and bad. This question of purity and morality spreads into his appearances in other stories too- This question that, if you were badly hurt in your youth and shaped by evil- does that leave you impure? Stained? Destined to continue that cycle of harm and cruelty? I think these insecurities feel very real and relatable, and that it's even more realistic that despite these insecurities, that hurt and damage is actually what fuels him to protect others. Just as he said in Sonic Battle, "There's no need to repeat past tragedies! Nobody else ever needs to go through the things that I have!"

Statistically (despite media portrayal) abuse victims RARELY become abusers, because they understand the pain on a deeper level and can't bring themselves to force someone else into experiencing that same pain, knowing the permanent damage it causes. However, childhood abuse leaves people socially stunted and conditioned to harshness, which causes them to accidentally hurt others without meaning to. Or they end up hurting people out of desperation if they feel endangered (like Shadow's "means to an end" approach where he'll prioritize violence if it means reducing the end-impact). Also, they are more susceptible to being abused again after escaping the first abuser, because they are so susceptible to manipulation- Just like how whenever Shadow does switch sides, its usually because someone manipulated him into it or literally brainwashed him. I think Shadow conveys all of this so well, and that Maria's true role is an integral part of it all that can't be ignored or misunderstood, or else Shadow ends up reading as unnecessarily violent or overly obsessed with her when you interpret her as just a sister-figure that he knew for... who knows how few years.

I think this symbolism runs deep with his writing. Just like Maria's meant to be that inherent purity and inner child, I think the black arms DNA is that stain that abuse or trauma can leave on you, that causes you to act out or feel like you're always holding back and trying to keep control over some darker part of yourself that was left behind in the damage done. Especially since they literally have a mind link with Shadow. In the Sonic Universe comic, they succeed in brainwashing Shadow and turn him against his friends. These mind-links, soul-sharing, and brain-washing from both Gerald and the black arms... To disregard the fact that he's deeply connected to these people on a metaphysical, identity altering level is to water down his character and leave it feeling as though his motives are too weak to justify his harsh actions. I've seen people poke fun at his amnesia or insecurity in his identity, as though his confusion isn't justified, and I think it's because people don't realize he has these... literal fragments of other people inside of him, that that's pretty much what he's made of, kind of franken-steined together between a little girl's hopes and morals, an alien race's hivemind greed, a weapon-hungry government and a revenge maddened scientist's painful grief, and even the chaos emeralds which we all know are spiritually whacky and potentially connected to another alien race's memories and energies (the ancients from sonic frontiers). With all of that going on, plus some amnesia mixed in and his memories having been altered by Gerald- I mean.. you'd be searching for the "truth" of your identity too, who you really are. And of course, prone to frustration and aggression, or even a "wish-washy inconsistency." I think there's always a constant tug of war inside of him and that his whole development was a game of tug of war between Gerald, G.U.N and the black arms too. "Am I a cure, am I a death-bringer, am I earth's protector, am I it's destroyer," etc etc

Idk I just think a lot of problems people have with Shadow's writing stems from not realizing how deep things go and what they symbolize. Not to say that something like his boom characterization is of good quality or anything, but I think it's unfair to call him inconsistent when a confusion in his own identity and purpose/goals is kind of the point. And I think people not realizing Maria's deeper, physiological connection to him and influence might be part of the problem.

[girl4music]

“It’s great that Lucy and Renee acknowledged the relationship between them as romantic/sexual.”

Not only acknowledged. Embraced and encouraged.

They saw it that way themselves so their perspective was always one of acknowledging the love between Xena and Gabrielle as a romantic and/or sexual love.

Because once they saw it themselves - that was it. They never saw it any other way from that point on.

And a lot of people that were apart of the creation of the show have had that same experience where once they saw the love there being more than just friends while simultaneously developing on the friendship… they’ve become shippers just as much as the fans.

It’s very difficult to not ship Xena and Gabrielle to be honest. Their written dynamic is just too perfect for it. And then there’s the chemistry between Lucy and Renee that just takes it to whole other levels of quality and viewing and interpreting the show as an epic romance/love story makes the show far more significant and compelling than it is without doing that because sure the storytelling is good as it is and is tight and well-written without the romantic aspect to it… but it’s 100x more valuable to watch with it. The writing is far more profound, the themes are more important… it just HITS better. I can promise you that.

It’s the one TV show that was never meant to be a romance initially that feels right as a romance because the storytelling just absolutely thrives on it and with it. And I know many would disagree with me on this but I honestly think if you don’t, the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle can actually seem quite abusive because their love and devotion to each other can only really work as healthy if it’s perceived as a romance. If you perceive it as purely platonic - there are issues. And I won’t go into here but let’s just say that those issues can’t easily be waved away if it’s just friendship.

And you see the thing with me is I don’t separate the friendship from the romance or the romance from the friendship. I don’t see these aspects as two completely separate and different aspects. They’re intrinsically combined and it all helps to illustrate a stronger storytelling. The writing flourishes this way.

I’ve never understood the notion of separating friendship and romance. I would think you would need to be a friend to somebody you’re in love with. I don’t really see how it could be a real romance without that. But it just goes to show you how bad the writing of WLW representation is today in TV art/entertainment storytelling that the need to do this is so prevalent. It’s like yeah. They’re friends. They’re best friends. But that doesn’t negate that they’re lovers. If anything - I would say it validates the romance aspect even more.

And I think Lucy and Renee ultimately picked up on this and realized the story is just better all around when viewing and interpreting them as a romance because some storytelling in TV shows can actually suffer when involving romance - no matter whether it’s straight or queer. But Xena is not one of those shows. It thrives. It thrives so well that the censorship makes no damn difference to it. Sometimes it even helps it.

And these are whole ass multidimensional people. Realistic characters to relate to and resonate with. Their individual arcs aren’t sacrificed in any way and that’s what evolves their relationship into a romance. So it’s the complete opposite to what you normally get with WLW representation. There’s no compromise with Xena. You get great storytelling and you get a great romance/love story. And they aid each other. They enhance each other. It makes the most sense. I view it as a love story because it works best that way. There are shows I watch where I just wish the romance was not apart of it at all because it compromises the storytelling for the characters and their developments. But I’ll say it again - ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ is not one. The romance aspect in this show is incredibly natural. Now if you’re talking about all the OTHER love interests and love relationships in the show for Xena and Gabrielle - that’s a different story. That almost always feels unnatural. Especially when it’s straight. And that’s because the creators expect you to see it like that. They expect you to feel funny watching that shit because what they’re doing with it is straight-baiting because at that point they’re team X&G all the way. There’s really only one other romantic/sexual relationship that doesn’t feel funny or odd or wrong when you watch it and that’s Xena and Ares but that’s because Ares is there to serve as Xena’s darker side and even Ares himself eventually acknowledges it’s not him that’s meant to be with Xena. It’s Gabrielle. And creators that aren’t on the WLW/queer love train just don’t do that. Don’t write scenes where straight characters that have feelings for a queer character realize that they’re not the right person for them and their own evolution is affected by that very realization.

You just gotta watch it and you’ll pick all of this up too.

It’s pretty fucking blatant to be quite honest. 😊👍👌

[lunalikestowriteanddraw]

Can I just take a moment to praise OUAW (and the LOA cast as a whole), and their subtle yet VERY effective method of storytelling?

(Spoilers for OUAW below the cut)

For starters; the mix of comedy and gut-punch, and how they usually lure the audience into a false sense of security using humor, before hitting them with a really dark and angsty moment/episode, and then jumping right back into comedy to cut the tension.

Don’t believe me? Fuck, listen to episode fucking ONE, which inadvertently introduces this whole method that the continue to do for the rest of the campaign (and maybe others, im not entirely sure, but I’ve noticed this same method for Icebound, but almost in the reverse). The whole episode is full of jokes and antics, before hitting us with the (really depressing) death of a fairy at the end of the episode, immediately turning the mood around. And then the following 15 EPISODES were just a whole lot of fun and chaos.

Jokes and antics > depressing moment > more jokes and antics

Or how about episodes 41 and 42? They were joking around and doing their usual antics, before tensions rose with the death of Twig and everything afterwards, and then in episode 43 they spent the first hour as dancing singing mushrooms

Humor > angst > humor

Or episode 46? The first two thirds of the episode, the party were turned into toys and it was just…absolute chaos. Before they all got killed by the Jabberwock

However, I also noticed that episode 47 onward, this changed. Dont get me wrong, they still joke around and do their usual antics, but it seemed like it stopped being as a way to try and shrug off what just happened. Though, I guess this could partially be because of the circumstances, all things considered. Though I’m interested to see where season 2 takes us with this.

Also; character arcs. Or perhaps the lack thereof? I’m honestly not sure, to be honest.

There has been a change in these characters throughout the campaign thus far, don’t get me wrong. But these changes have been so incredibly subtle that you won’t even notice that they are going through a character arc unless you’re specifically looking for it.

Like how Torbek has been growing more confident—both in general and in his abilities; or how Gricko has been slowly shedding his “comic relief” exterior to show just WHY he’s a valued member of the party (other than his ability to heal); and fuck, I’ve even noticed a bit of a change in Kremy and Gideon (tho I can’t quite place what that character arc is, or when it started, but there IS a character arc happening here)

And like, I’m generally pretty good at picking up subtleties like this from media (in fact, most of my fics and character studies/analysis require this), but somehow OUAW managed to make their character arcs so subtle that I completely missed that there even WAS a character arc even happening until it suddenly reared its head (again, like with Torbek and Gricko)

It’s so subtle yet so effective and I just…agh! I can’t wholly verbally express how much I love the storytelling and character development in OUAW, it’s so good

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 2

Link for Part 1

I find the existence of filler guides quite amusing, since for some shows it makes sense (like Naruto), but for others (like Pokemon) it absolutely doesn't and they still exist. So here is an attempt to do an absolutely unnecessary one just for fun. 😅

The classifications are CANON (an episode with major storylines present), LORE (in which we get significant backstory or world building, but could be skippable)  and FILLER (completely skippable episodic storytelling, not connected to overarching story arcs)

PLS my analysis will have spoilers, if you're a first time viewer, just scroll to the bottom and read the list and only read full text if you are familiar with the content of the show already!

S2E1 Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus is FILLER

This is the definition of filler, and not even a good filler, but the one that drags. The whole episode is a waste of time, and a horrible season opener if you ask me. I don't even care if Saddam Hussein dies in this one, skip it anyway, all you need to know for his next appearance is that he is already dead, which will be obvious and TBH since the movie gives a different story about his death, this one might as well take place in an alternate continuity. S2E2 Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut is CANON

We're back with the conclusion of the season 1 mystery. For now. S2E3 Ike's Wee Wee is CANON

Kyle learns the secret of his brother and he also gets a great deal of character development that makes this episode a must-watch. S2E4 Chickenlover is FILLER

A great character episode for Officer Barbrady, nontheless a filler half hour of the show. S2E5 Conjoined Fetus Lady is FILLER

One might enjoy this one for Pip. Or for Nurse Gollum. But not for its long-lasting consequences, that one is for sure. S2E6 The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka is LORE

This one is debatable, and the one that I would think most people would actually debate on, since most of it is a one off story, however there is a single scene at the end with Satan and Saddam, which acts as foreshadowing for the movie, so that one scene provides context, however the movie is enjoyable without this little introduction. S2E7 City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks) is FILLER

Again, you can't make more specific filler content than a whole episode that is just a dream. Stan dreams that Eric dreams that Ms. Crabtree falls in love. S2E8 Summer Sucks is FILLER

I was thinking about the Mr. Twig storyline. It does build up Herbert's identity as a gay man. However looking at it, this doesn't seem like manga original content, rather, this hits every usual beat of an anime-exclusive filler arc. Edit: I know South Park is not based on a manga, it's an elaborate joke. S2E9 Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls is FILLER

Anything that gets brought up later from this episode is counted as filler content, so in the long run it doesn't matter. S2E10 Chickenpox is FILLER

Stuart and Gerald get some backstory, but otherwise the whole story is a one-off. S2E11 Roger Ebert Should Lay off the Fatty Foods is FILLER

I believe this one was expected. Nothing in this episode matters by the next. S2E12 Clubhouses is FILLER

Randy and Sharon divorce. They get back together by the end. Bebe likes Kyle. She doesn't by the end of the episode. Typical filler stuff. S2E13 Cow Days is FILLER

The Terrance and Phillip dolls never appear again. Neither does Eric believing himself to be a Vietnamese prostitute called Ming Lee have any consequences. S2E14 Chef Aid is FILLER

Herbert Garrison's filler arc with Mr. Twig comes to an end. Chef sleeps with a lot of women. End of episode. S2E15 Spookyfish is FILLER

I love this episode, but Sharon being crazy and all the paralell universe stuff are solely for this one. S2E16 Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! is FILLER

Eric now has a bunch of family members, none of which we ever see again. S2E17 Gnomes is CANON

It may come as a surprise after such a long string of fillers, but since the gnomes return and Tweek becomes a major player later, it only makes sense for this episode to be seen as fairly plot-heavy. S2E18 Prehistoric Ice Man is FILLER

Stan and Kyle get into a fight and then make up. The iceman never returns.

… SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

Again, CANON means you should watch it, FILLER means you can skip it, LORE is somewhere in-between, any episode with the LORE label will have an explanation that helps you decide if you should include it or not.

S2E1 Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus is FILLER S2E2 Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut is CANON S2E3 Ike's Wee Wee is CANON S2E4 Chickenlover is FILLER S2E5 Conjoined Fetus Lady is FILLER S2E6 The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka is LORE* S2E7 City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks) is FILLER S2E8 Summer Sucks is FILLER S2E9 Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls is FILLER S2E10 Chickenpox is FILLER S2E11 Roger Ebert Should Lay off the Fatty Foods is FILLER S2E12 Clubhouses is FILLER S2E13 Cow Days is FILLER S2E14 Chef Aid is FILLER S2E15 Spookyfish is FILLER S2E16 Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! is FILLER S2E17 Gnomes is CANON S2E18 Prehistoric Ice Man is FILLER *Only for its last scene if you want a tease for the movie. Personal notes: You may notice that this season is a lot less plot-heavy than the previous one, with only 3 canon episodes out of 18 compared to the 9 out of 13 in the first.

[canmom]

Any thoughts on gacha games ? Any rec on gacha games, especially if its not live action ? Thanks !

hmmmm

i used to be into NieR Reincarnation but they shut that one down lol

in general gacha is home of all the most obscene dark pattern monetisation models in gaming, so it tends to be designed for maximum timesink potential. even though there are many many great stories and gorgeous art styles in gacha, I tend to avoid playing them.

if anything the timesink aspect is a bigger problem for me than the money sink - it's easy enough to stay f2p when the prices are all calibrated to whales with a lot of money to burn, but there's an endless parade of daily tasks and small progress bars to fill so hours can fly by without anything really happening. which would be fine if the moment-to-moment gameplay was engaging, but so much of the time it's just inventory management and waiting for shit with no real challenge, and that ain't it. (instead I can spend my time on fulfilling activities like writing long tumblr posts... shit)

there are understandable reasons for some of this...

phone input is in general imprecise and largely limited to swiping and tapping on things. since pulling gacha is the thing that makes the game money, you can see how the easy, obvious way to incentivise it is to make progress broadly a function of your character's stats. that, and the long grinds in most of these games, means that 'skill' in a gacha game is mostly a matter of efficiency.

it's also an infamous problem that gacha development is on razor-thin margins and pretty much all or nothing: either it becomes a cultural juggernaut or it fails to make enough to sustain development. the vast majority of gacha games shut down, and while other unsuccessful games can at least stick around, the only way you can hope for an offline/custom-server version of gacha to survive is if dedicated, technically minded fans go to the effort of reverse engineering it. it is a painfully ephemeral art form even by videogame standards.

basically the problem is that nobody is willing to spend money on mobile games (I don't mean this as some kind of ridiculous guilt trip, that's just how it is), so the only routes to viability are ads and microtransactions, which come with all sorts of perverse design incentives. as a dev on a neighbouring platform, I look at mobile games with a degree of horror - I want to make a game that rewards the time players spend with it, not homeopathically dilute the good parts with brutal casino sandtrap shit because that's the only way the company can make enough money to pay my salary. (frankly if I had to do the level of exploitative shit that is completely standard in gacha I'd have to find another line of work, I couldn't live with it).

that said...

there is something interesting in how gacha design aesthetics push the sort of otaku 'database' concept to its absolute limit. every character needs to be dripping with appeal, and they need to hit as many different types of moe as possible across the cast. much like a fighting game, it means you have less of a hierarchy - everyone has a sort of 'main character' look. and much like, say, a Kamen Rider show, you need to be constantly introducing new props and outfits, which means it's just a huge field to experiment with character design. one of the big things that kept me coming back to NieRRein was the gorgeous character artwork - and with all the gacha out there, you've a good chance one hits your buttons.

gacha also seems to be, for whatever reason, a major platform for serial illustrated storytelling in the current age. a lot of gacha is essentially a serialised visual novel with gameplay speedbumps. like any long-running serial, that often means the plot will sooner or later take some intriguingly weird turns - and it gives you a lot of time to become attached to characters. I like narrative games, and gacha games tend to accumulate a lot of narrative - just severely diluted.

as far as recs...

besides the now-dead NieRRein and SINoALICE, which i played for the obvious Yoko Taro reasons, I also played a bit of Sdorica some years back, which I recall having an appealing art style and decent story - tho I quit fairly early because it was kind of eating my life.

I think you could also make an argument that Warframe is at least a fellow traveller to gacha games, and I have put so many hours into that that I don't want to think about it. god tier art direction, its story is ridiculous but now and then has some real moments of emotional impact, and its parkour system is really sick, but unfortunately it is an unrelenting grindfest and it takes literally thousands of hours to unlock most of its shit. Warframe is sorta the ultimate example of the adage that 'given the opportunity, players will optimise the fun out of a game', let's leave it at that.

other than that, everything else I only know about second hand: I watched the Arknights anime and it was fun, the techwear furries are endearing and the plot is quite strikingly odd. I have also enjoyed seeing some of the animation coming out of Zenless Zone Zero - they're trying something new and I respect it. (plus I think that one's like, an actual action game? though, not played.) I don't recall the name of the game, but someone sitting next to me at Scotland Loves Anime was playing a gacha rhythm game, and that seems like a genre fusion that could work well.

other than that, I would very likely have given Limbus Company a shot sooner or later, but I was severely put off the company after the MRA firing incident. I hear it's a good game though.

sorry I can't help more, but I know some friends who are into gacha so maybe they'll drop some recs in the comments!!

[joshuamj]

Thoughts on the Omori Manga

I was kind of generous with it, but overall? Mixed feelings, leaning toward negative. This is just the first chapter tho so who knows?

The Art: eh?

The scary parts are drawn well and there are some panels I quite like (the 2 below for example), but otherwise it often looks a little awkward/uncanny??

A big thing is, I think Sunny shouldve been drawn less expressive. He often looks a bit too... happy? Like its fine to draw him horrified and such when he's Going Through It, but he's drawn with those little white pupils a lot at the beginning, which make him look a lot like his younger, more carefree self

I think for the most part, he should've just been drawn like this:

It captures his vibe of Tired/Out of it/Depressed, much better

The Manga's Approach to the Story: not good for people new to Omori (imo), but has potential for an interesting retelling for previous fans

It was quite strange to start with the Real World rather than Headspace, but it could turn out interesting. It will definitely miss the impact of the game's storytelling, but they may still be able to make an enjoyable enough story out of it, yknow?

Doing it this way allows them to emphasize different things than the game. Like the battle with Aubrey, for example. It was so good in game since the player was so used to casually slicing away enemies with the knife, and the Aubrey battle served as a shocking wake up call. You can't knife people in real life like that! But I think no matter what. this couldn't have hit as hard in the manga regardless of if they did headspace first.

But what they did do in the manga was better emphasize Sunny's actual action of slicing Aubrey! Like Basil and Kel are appropriately alarmed and horrified that Sunny has just pulled a knife from nowhere and (quite badly) sliced their old friend with it.

I do, however, think they made it look way too deliberate on Sunny's part.

Like in game, it was more a mistake, while in the manga they seem to be going for Sunny being Extremely Traumatized and just lashing out, but then they portray it like this??

Like, maybe if they had Aubrey actually go after him with her nail bat while she was saying those cruel things, him drawing the knife would have looked more instinctual and a mistake. Here it just looks like he's ready to stab her in cold blood :/

The ending is sort of interesting tho. It does a fine job of showing how headspace is a sort of coping mechanism before we even see it, by having Sunny retreat there after slicing Aubrey.

Overall, I think there is potential in doing Realworld first, Headspace second, but I think it does miss out on a ton of the game's original impact and storytelling

Finally, Aubrey (tm): hot take maybe, but I lowkey like how she was portrayed?

Like, dont get me wrong, she was quite violent and it hurt seeing her legit hit basil with a nail bat, but it sort of works? in my opinion at least.

Shes been hurting for so long and she directs that hurt towards her old friends, and combined with her more aggressive personality, it doesn't seem too wildly out of character i think.

Plus, itll add some good Angst when she gets her moment with the gang and realizes how she's been acting. Like, girl, you are gonna feel sooooo bad for how you treated Basil and what u said to Sunny (character development!)

And it really helps that when she falls to the ground after getting sliced, pictures of Mari fall out of her pocket. It helps signal to the reader that Aubrey isn't just some horrible cruel person, but that there's something more at play

And the way she's collapsed almost looks like she could've collapsed out of grief, or is bowing deeply, and implies she's really hurting. Somehow they did Sunny so dirty with him standing over her with the knife, yet did so well with this Aubrey panel.

I think I just like the portrayal of someone who is very flawed in their grief without being some Big Evil Bad Guy, yknow. Like no, this is a hurting teenager lashing out and making mistakes.

End:

So yeah i managed to find a fair amount of things that have potential in the manga, but who knows if itll be followed thru on..

[monzterzack]

So I'm confused/curious; What exactly is Maverick's whole deal? I'm not sure i get it. Like the whole past life thing?

heyo!!! ill try to answer this in a straightforward and comprehensible way!!

Maverick is one of the villains in my comic Wild Ride, but since i post development and story bits on social media, you are probably more familiar with his second role as a side character for Wild Ride's sequel

His original role as the villain haves him as someone that possesses Mind Powers and uses them to push forward his father's criminal empire

A buff, crude and manipulative man with some obvious psychological hang ups and a deep darkness between him

I have it that by the end of the story he develops a way to use his mind powers to transfer his mind into a different body, i called him a body snatcher because thats basically what he does

which leads us to the current iteration most people are familiar with

it all started because i was developing his arc for the comic's sequel, and i just got too excited to keep quiet and i posted it on twitter and here

then as i developed him further, i posted more of that on social media while avoiding showing any of the previous development first

so most people that follow me know this second iteration a bit more profoundly

a depressevely lonely sex addict who whores himself out to anyone that gives him time

there is a time skip between the end of the first comic and the second one, a time skip of 800 years so the plot for the second comic can brew, so this weasel man has been switching bodies for all those years, albeit not on will

his mind transfer powers have become instinctual and he cannot turn it off (which to me is hilarious)

so what i mean with "first life/first body" is basically his original plot

i am currently doing one webcomic, and ive been hit with carpal tunnel in both my hands from overworking myself, so its taking me a lot of time to retake and continue Wild Ride

so i took to posting the story bits before i could clearly develop things for everyone to understand ksdjfaskdf

its also because maverick's story and well.... sexual adventures have gained me public on twitter, and i legitimately enjoy drawing him, so im reverse storytelling you all about him

im so sorry for how confusing he can be, i just ask for your patience as i unravel him at the seems!!!

[nerdyvocals]

@look-at-those-niceass-rocks and I finished our watch (their first, my... eighth???) of Julie and the Phantoms the other day (*cough* over a week ago *cough*), and like the previous two times, we had some unhinged things to say about it. This one's a bit shorter as we only had episodes 8 and 9 left, but if you enjoy our dumbassery, rest assured, we'll be watching the Descendants franchise next!

Honorable mention: us spending the first 20 minutes of our call trying to find the first two posts because the blog search engine simply Does Not Work.

Captions: [Whimsical music plays] Me: Whimsical music GAYS, OHHHHHHH

*Flashback of the Hotdog Incident (tm)* Bee: Street meat street meat street meat Me: Are you saying "straight meat"??? Bee: NO!

Ray Molina : *is very engaged with his son's ghost dip theory* Bee: The Bandit Heeler energy on this man

Julie: *outside the Patterson's house* Me: Do you have tissues?? Bee: Uhhh, yeah, next to me? Me: Good Bee: Oh boy

*cue lots of sniffling over Unsaid Emily*

Bee: You can tell their prefrontal lobes stopped developing at 17 Me: Yeah, I guess that happens when you die? Brain stops growing?? Bee: hehehe brain machine broke

Julie: What the heck??? Me: Let Julie say fuck! Bee: Of all the characters, Julie should get to say fuck

Me: Finale time! Any predictions? Bee: Oh god, I don't think I could outdo the pink ladies one, uhhh

Bee then spends the next minute and a half being a prophet (in a sense): 1. Alex is going to get a very dramatic on-screen kiss with Seth Clearwater because otherwise I will be Upset 2. In the same way they become Real-or like. Where people can see them-when they play, they will find a way to be corporeal where they can touch each other 3. I think there should be a dance fight with-oh, fuck, what's his name? Evil ghost man?? With his Ghost Cocaine???

Alex and Willie: *emotional hug* Me: WAIT PAUSE. *zooms in on Alex's hand* I think I have that ring. Bee: Riveting.

The boys: *trying to get the PATD opener gig* Promoter: *freaking out* Assistant: *unbothered* Me: A lesbian and an incel are trapped in an office together. Bee: The incel is going to get eaten. Me: And not in the way he wants!

Julie: *having a cry in the alley* Me: I wonder how much they had to pay to keep that Subway sign in the background.

Julie: *takes dahlia from the street vendor* Bee: Truffula tree lookin-ass flower.

Bee: Also I didn't want to ruin that beautiful moment, but all I could think of was "mom come pick me up I'm scared."

Me: this poor tech guy is Going Through It (tm)

Carrie: Been here before Trevor: *Bombastic side eye* Bee: HA that look said, "Damn, I really forgot to parent this girl"

Nick: *Jamming* Us: GO FEDORA KID!!!

Me @ Trevor: That man is going to pass out

Me, as the Boys are appearing: See, I've always wondered what was going on in the ghost club side of this scene, cause look, their costumes are missing pieces! Alex's shirt is open, Reggie's jacket is just gone! Bee: Oh yeah Me: Like it's probably just a storytelling choice to show they're where they want to be via clothes, 'cause this is more in line with how they dress normally, but it does make me wonder what we're missing. Like is there a fight? Luke: *appearing* Me: See his sleeves got ripped off! How and why? Bee: They did that for us. You, specifically Me: *cackling*

Julie and Luke: *crying, about to hug* Me, noticing that Luke's pants Fit Very Well: Not the most important thing happening here, but uh, dat ass tho

After rewinding the scene a bit because it didn't hit Bee in the moment that They Were Hugging Bee: I was so caught up in the euphoria of a good butt that for a moment, I lived in a world where they weren't ghosts

Julie + Phantoms: We played the Orpheum! Me: Saved by the power of friendship! Bee: And this man's ass!

Me: So yeah, that was Julie and the Phantoms, how ya feeling? Bee: Great! This definitely won't change my brain chemistry forever

Next up, Descendants!

[astupidweeb69]

First and foremost, I just want you to know that your storytelling, dialogue, and character development for your story “Unrequited” is absolutely incredible. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading each chapter you’ve posted thus far and am always thrilled whenever we get a new chapter from you! I hope you’ve enjoyed the holidays with friends and family 🎄🎅. Quick question for you: what do you think has been your biggest inspiration for writing Unrequited and the way you’ve developed Toby’s character? Also also lol how do you feel Toby’s psychiatric disabilities and past traumas are going to inhibit his ability to form a meaningful connection with the reader? I feel like to some degree the reader will have empathy for him but not let that fool her from the situation at hand. Please let me know your thoughts! Sending lots of love and best wishes to you! 💙✨

Thank you for all the kind words!! It really means a lot. I don't always feel confident with my writing and probably take too long editing lol.

Without getting too personal, my biggest inspiration for both Toby and the Reader came from my own life. People I've known, family members, friends, and seeing how trauma affects people in different ways.

I know the Reader having an abusive parent is almost cliche at this point in Creepypasta fanfiction, but I wanted to explore it more and have it be a regular theme that comes up. Instead of like, the Reader being "saved" from their family in the first chapter and it's literally never brought up again. Because that shit stays with you your whole life.

I also get inspiration from other fanfiction. Playing Favorites and Spill Your Guts were two big ones where I loved the characterization of Toby. I also look at random characters in shows/movies I watch, which are mostly horror and comedy. I think it's super important to have Toby be somewhat funny.

And yeah, Toby's psychiatric disabilities and his refusal to take responsibility for his actions and learn better coping strategies are going to make all his relationships hard. I purposefully wanted the Reader and Toby to come from bad backgrounds because it means the Reader will not take the whole 'I murder people because my dad hit me' as an excuse.

They are two people, in similar circumstances, but one is trying to move forward, and the other (Toby) wants to drag them down so he can be a little less lonely.

[gaygay--astronaut]

Okay I’m just gonna say it once and be over with. The new arcane season seems like it was written by AI. They took surface level elements that added flavor to season 1 (music video style sequences, interesting fight choreography etc) and shoved in even more but neglected to take what really made season one a masterpiece (GOOD WRITING! Interesting characters with understandable motivations! A tight story that works both on each character’s individual psychological level AND a larger societal level!).

They didn’t properly establish anything leaving the viewer confused both to timeline and new characters (did that bulky man Vi drank with even get a name? He was suddenly just there??).

Characters had their arcs off-screen. Like it would have been really interesting seeing Cait’s transformation into the revenge-hungry dictator — sadly it all happened when the audience wasn’t around to see it! What even is show don’t tell?

All characters have lost their depth. Jinx is just generic uwu crazy manic pixie dream villain now, whereas she was really psychologically interesting in season 1. Vi and Cait’s kiss, which I’ve been eagerly awaiting since season 1 made me groan because it’s so out of place and anti-climactic.

Viktor is apparently a Jesus metaphor now?

You can apparently just sneak into Jayce’s lab through a vent? Lazy storytelling or what?

Everything interesting happens off-screen. I’ve already said it but literally all character development is just cut for more angsty music montages and random fights.

Because nothing was established so you’re confused, scenes that are SUPPOSED to be confusing like how Viktor acts when he wakes up or Mel’s kidnapping, don’t work as intended. Like I can tell that I’m a series as well written as last season they would have been points of intrigue but now they just add to the overall sense of confusion.

Again, as nothing is established and all interesting character development happens where the audience can’t see it, scenes that are supposed to be emotional and heavy-hitting just don’t make the landing. There might be nothing wrong with the scene itself but it doesn’t feel earned so you’re not invested at all.

Like the only good things with this season as of now is the scene where Viktor woke up (then undermined by his whole Jesus thing) and Ambessa’s plot.

[mando-cyare]

8 Episode Seasons Are Ruining Media Literacy

Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but I think there's something to it.

So every few years, I end up rewatching Supernatural. Makes me nostalgic for my early fandom days, even if looking back it's not the best. But you had like 24 episodes a season! It took time for plots and characters to develop!

When you have that longer format, you end up with better storytelling. Yes, I know using Supernatural as an example is a little silly. But the thing is, you had time to pick up on little details. The characters developed slowly, and you could see relationships degrade or improve a little more with each episode.

((more under the cut))

With 20+ episodes a season, writers had the option to leave little plot clues here and there. Stuff you'd notice, but didn't think much of at the time. Those little clues would build up, and that had fans theorizing wildly as season ticked on. You had MONTHS to theorize about what the endgame of the season would be. But you had to pay attention.

Characters had more time to be complex, to have moments when they faltered, or seriously fucked up. And then it would take even more time to repair damaged relationships, or to become a better person. You could actually have a redemption arc!

These days, with just 8 episodes a season in a lot of shows, there's no room for subtlety. You just hit all the big notes; this character is bad and hates this other character for x reason. There's just sudden betrayal, instead of the traitor taking time to build trust to get what they want. If you take time, the betrayal has a much bigger impact when it finally happens.

Characters had room to be complex because they had time to actually develop, for better or worse.

With just 8 episodes, you also miss out on letting the characters just have fun. There's no room for silliness, like Sam and Dean's pranks for example. It's just all serious plot all the time. Yes, some shows are more serious than others, but I personally feel that you need a little lightheartedness from time to time to really flesh out a story.

Anyway, because people don't have to pick up on all the subtle clues over 20+ episodes, they've either never learned, or forgotten how to critically analyze characters and themes. So you get all this black and white thinking about good and evil with not much room in between. I see so little nuance these days.

Yes, some of it could be because of tiktok shortening our attention spans, but I really think shortening seasons to just 8 episodes is doing a real disservices to reading comprehension and media literacy. This is also why I think Anime is getting more mainstream, since they still tend to do at least 20 or more episodes a season.

These are just my personal ramblings, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

[scintillatingshortgirl19]

I want to clarify something re: my issues with the James Tartt storyline.

I've been seeing a lot of posts and comments talking about how everyone deserves a shot at redemption and that that should not mean "everyone but James and Rupert" - and I want to say I think those posts are absolutely correct. As a lifelong villain fan I actually have massive, massive issues with the concept of any fictional character being considered by fandom to be truly "irredeemable" (especially since that line seems to be different for every single person), and I often hate the ideas fandoms tend to pass around about what fictional characters do or do not "deserve," so I want to make it clear that my issues with James' implied redemption have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not I think he deserves it. I strongly believe addiction is a disease and that everyone - even abusive, terrible people - should get the chance to change. This is especially true of fictional characters, since exploring concepts of second chances and redemptions within a story doesn't pose any risks to real-life people.

That said, these are the reasons why I think this whole thing was absolutely terrible from a storytelling perspective.

There are stories that are served well by canon leaving some things offscreen and letting the viewer fill in the blanks, but I don't think that's remotely the case here. To do this story justice, they needed to give it time. They needed to give it at least a modicum of buildup. They needed to show us this journey, rather than just telling us about it in a brief, sunlight-doused clip and saying "be happy about this, damn it!" Seeing them happy and smiling together is an enormous leap that should've taken much longer to get to than the show implies, and as a result it feels extremely jarring. Jamie reconnecting with his dad is an incredibly messy and complex storyline that needed to develop over time, and it was a huge mistake to just gloss over it like the writers did.

Show me James hitting rock bottom and how he ended up in rehab. Show me Jamie's conflicted feelings about reconnecting with him. Show me Jamie coming to an understanding that not reconnecting with his dad is also a perfectly valid option, and that letting go of his fear of and anger at James is not dependent on Jamie giving James any more of his time or energy. Show me Jamie being fully, actively aware that no matter what he chooses, letting James back into his life is not necessary for Jamie to move forward and grow as a person. Show me Jamie putting up boundaries to protect himself throughout this process - physically and emotionally. Show me James getting to know his son as an actual person and not just an object to use for his own selfish ends. Show me the emotional journey of this father, ravaged by addiction and his own unprocessed trauma, learning how to love and take a genuine interest in his son for perhaps the first time ever. Show me Jamie talking to his friends about this and getting their opinions and support. Show me Jamie having sessions with Dr. Sharon so I know he isn't undertaking this journey without therapeutic guidance.

You could make the argument that all of the above is implied, and you'd probably be right. But at the end of the day, I maintain that this father and son journey needed to be given actual screentime - especially because James' abuse of Jamie was given so much screentime, not to mention the additional bomb that was dropped on us in Sunflowers about what James did to Jamie when he was fourteen (and then was never brought up again, leaving me to assume Jamie still has yet to even realize that that was an instance of sexual assault). James verbally, emotionally, and physically abused Jamie for years, and the story did not shy away from showing us the effects of that. The story of Jamie reconnecting with this man should have been a half-season arc at minimum, and they had no business showing us that without also showing us Jamie processing the trauma they told us about in Sunflowers.

And it's frustrating because the more I think about it, the more I love the idea of a story centered around a son and his abusive father reconnecting and the messiness of that father trying to become a better person and heal from addiction and the complexity of that son trying to reconcile his love for his dad with his need to fully recognize and process what was done to him. I would love an exploration of James' past - maybe his dad took him to a red light district when he was 14, too. Maybe that was all he knew, and he certainly hasn't processed his own trauma, so of course he did the same thing to his own son. Maybe the cycle of abuse goes back generations and generations, and James and Jamie BOTH get to break it, not just Jamie (although that could only be true for James in a fairly limited sense, considering the permanent damage he did to Jamie cannot be undone). Anyway, my point is that it all has the potential to be so, so compelling - but the way they executed it just felt so oversimplified and rushed and cheap, and also sent some really problematic messages.

Tl;dr: I do genuinely think that, given proper time to develop it, there could've been a way to do this story well. This was not it.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

For the character ask game: Osferth + 22, Finan + 12, Sihtric + 10, Uhtred + 25 ⚔️❤️‍🔥 Love hearing your opinions on TLK, they are always so well thought-out 😊

Thank you for the ask! It made me realize that I actually miss the boys already, and not just them:)

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to ths character? Something you don't like? - for Osferth

*slowly realizing that I actually haven`t read a single TLK fanfic🙈* However, I think I can say what I would and wouldn`t like about baby monk`s characterization.

Firstly, oversexualization is a no for me. The temptation is understandable (well, he`s played by Ewan, and there is a pretty much formed trope of the shyest one of the group turning out to be a sex giant) but it`s definitely not something I`d like to see turned into a trend.

Secondly, I`d like Osferth to be respected as a character (as in not to be treated like a piece of furniture). While techically he could seem to be 100% replaceable, it doesn`t feel that way from an emotional point of view. For his friends Osferth is an oasis of gentleness and calmness in the troubled and tumultuous world; a great reminder that even a man with a sword in hand could still be pure and warm; a reminder that they don`t have to kill the kindness inside them to survive. Not to mention that loyalty is a remarkable quality for a human being, and Osferth had enough of it for a few men.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character? - for Finan

Finan is a great storyteller! He`s created a million tales in his head, and a great many of them have his friends as protagonists. Sometimes the tales are about Uhtred, Sihtric and Osferth as themselves, sometimes he turns them into animals or some magical creatures. The endings to quite a few of his stories may change depending on his mood; but either way boredom is not something his children should feel threatened by:)

10. Could you be best friends with this character? - for Sihtric

I`m not sure about the "best" part, but friends - I think yes! I like his caring and protective nature, combined with fierceness and a quick mind - and I hope he could appreciate my seriousness, especially if we are talking about older Sihtric. Young one could probably find me lame😂 (too indecisive or cautious for his liking, probably). Although I had a school friend who used to nag me a lot about overthinking things, and we still got along just fine:)

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now? - for Uhtred

Damn, you definitely knew who to assign this question to, didn`t you?:) Uhtred's character development in the show was freakin` exemplary. In early episodes (first five or so) he was royally pissing me off, in an "I want to hit him over the head with something heavy" and "What a dumbass" kind of way. His recklessness and impulsiveness were driving me up the wall. But even then I had a feeling that it was how it was supposed to be, so I tried to contain my irritation and not judge him too harshly. And did it pay off! By the end I was totally ready to join Uhtred on pretty much any quest he could choose to take on - and not because I started to see him as a some kind of ideal, flawless man. It was the way one could see and feel every loss, every gain, every person that touched him leaving a mark in his soul, teaching him a lesson, driving him forward, for better or for worse.