#its almost like the developers are scared of taking their characters seriously

[frootbyethefoot]

kiibo has so much potential it makes me so sad they use him as a poorly written thinly veiled sjw joke for 90% of the game.

like the idea of a character being an audience surrogate in reality TV? all of his decisions being made by someone else? having barely any free will of his own, and the second he gets a taste of freedom he immediately begins trying to blow up the school? only having true autonomy for maybe, 12 hours at most? that's amazing. that has so much potential!

and then you look at the game and it's just "thats robophobic" over and over again it's like. commit! you treat him like a bit character for 40 hours and then expect me to take him seriously for the last 5? you give him so much potential and throw it all away for a bit that stopped being funny after five minutes!

[kaledya]

Oh Kaledya, 😭

Holy shit !

I almost strangled myself seeing Lolicia drawing by you again ! She is so pretty in your style, my baby, *ugly cry*. I will try to draw her as you did ! It will be fun ! Thank you for the gift! Really. I will put it on the characters glossary at the beginning of the fanfic ! I really love the shape of her eyes you did and the hairstyles ! Everything. Thank you!

And I will answer here for the previous post :

Thank you again for Lolicia compliments ! I want to draw her with Constantine or Serenity but I'm so scared to not draw them good. Perhaps with time ! I will give you a gift back !

_

I'm glad you having fun with the "characters interactions chapters" ! Its fun to write too even if a bit challenging because they all have different personality and I try to make it great for all. Also Alastor and Lolicia dialogue was nice and I love the 1920s slang !

And yes Monet, as you described her, would hate that Charlie said the Clown Pageant is less popular ahah

_

And yes, also I have a question for the timelines !

For me, it was like this from what you told on YouTube posts for the storyline :

  - Charlie's bonding activities   - then Lucifer comes to see the Hotel   - Lucifer breaks his silence and talk to Michael   - Charlie goes to Heaven and meet the 6 Archangels with the songs inspired by epic (heaven arc)   - Charlie after the trial need to make proof that the hotel works - Azrael say the hotel is not touched by the Extermination   - Then the Greatest Song, Man (Greatest show man mini arc)   - Meeting with the Overlords (introduction of the Vees)

Because the Vees are main villains in SS AU, right?

  - Alastor "reunion" with Serinity after she takes his defence on the meeting   - Alastor VS Vox (like stayed gone)   - And somewhere Angel Dust business with Valentino and Charlie show her authority.   - [...]

This is how I plan it, but if you preferred i can change it and do the greatest show man arc before the heaven arc ?

You can choose ! Because I'm not sure if I understand right.

_

Thank you and you are a wonderful artist and creator ! 🌸🌟 Thank you again for the gift (screaming)

Sorry the message was way too long

Have a great day as always- marquisev

First of all, I'm so glad you liked my fanart! Seriously, drawing Lolicia was a pleasure!🌟❤️

And I'm so glad to hear that you want to draw Serenity and Constantine, and don't worry.I will Love how you draw them in any way . Also, I really liked your drawing style, the art you put in the fanfic were really great.

I seriously think you have a beautiful talent!❤️

This was the plan I had in mind.

But I am not a writer and I think you will make the best decision and this is your story, you can write it however you want, you don't even have to ask me❤️

The plan I have in mind:

In my AU, I generally left the issues related to Heaven until later (season 2).

In my mind, the first season is about the members of the hotel forming bonds and starting to support each other.It included character development of characters like Angel and Husk. That's why the greatest showdemon arc happened at the beginning of the first season and the team was starting to work with each other and really get to know each other.As the season progresses,

the Overlord meeting

(Alastor knows who Misfortune is. In his past, Alastor tried to hunt Serenity like other overlords, but Serenity ended it with a conversation instead of a fight.They have no friendship. Serenity revealed her identity after arriving at the hotel in the 2nd season

(The reason for this was that Season 2 was generally related to the backgrounds of the characters, and since Serenity was directly connected to Alastor's background, I put her in that section)

Alastor's fight with Vox, Angel's confrontation with Val, Mentioning the past of Husk and Angel (This part takes place in the scene where Angel and Husk are discussing their problems before the song Loser Baby)

Constantine is also a character from Season 1. After the Greatest Showdemon arc (Not exactly after that arc, but I didn't know exactly which events to put. After the team members and the hotel have seriously improved) when the hotel makes serious progress, Charlie invites her brother to the hotel to show her progress. (Charlie and Lucifer's relationship is seriously bad in this AU, so Charlie doesn't try to reach her father,she thinks "he won't listen to me anyway)

And Constantine, who saw sinners improving in a truly strange way He gets the proof he wants And after this thing, he personally goes to his Father and says these words to Lucifer after a serious conversation.

"I will not repeat myself again, father. Consider this as a warning from your son. Either you put your pride aside and go to your daughter and listen to her ideas and plans. or As a result of the decision you made, not only will you lose your daughter whom you love dearly, but you will also not have a son. Make your choice father, you don't have much time. Until then, I hope you have fun in your eternal loneliness."

After this conversation, Lucifer comes to the hotel and confronts Charlie. listens to her ideas.

I don't have a full timeline, but in general, all the events I write about happen before the heaven arc.I wanted Charlie to go to heaven with as much evidence as possible and to gain self-confidence and become more of a leader in the meantime.

If I were to write in summary form. (I don't write in the form of a timeline, just events)

Season 1

-Charlie's meeting with Adam

-Team bonding

-Greatest show demon arc (this is included in the team's bonding tool)

-Overlord meeting

-Vox and AI fight

-Angel getting rid of Val

-Constantinen's arrival at the hotel.

(There may be a lot different arcs in this season, I really don't know, most things are still WIP)

SEASON 1 in general A season where the Vees are the main enemies.

Season 2 (The main enemy in this season may be Roo, but I don't know)

-Serenity comes to the hotel

-Lucifer comes to the hotel

-Charlie goes to heaven alone.

-she meets all the true archangels one by one and finally tries to convince Azrael.

So yes, these are what I have in mind, but my thoughts are generally WIP.As I said, this is your story and I'm not a good writer, so it would probably be better if you decide the plot yourself! 🌟❤️

--

If this is the way you planned, you can use this plan too! This is your story, you can write it however you want🌟

---

Thank YOU SO much🌟

And it's really nothing, drawing Lolicia was a real pleasure❤️❤️

Have a great day too!

[wordsandrobots]

I am debating how much I actually want to do the provocative 'Gundam ZZ is the best of the original run' post.

I know it's the one I like the most, for reasons less to do with quality and more based on the relatively lower proportion of characters I want to hit around the face with a a wet kipper compared to the previous shows. There are grounds, I think, to argue it's much better plotted and far more coherently structured, lending a greater focus to its themes -- which makes sense for a variety of reasons, not least that it's the third and you'd expect somebody to have learned something from the last two. And, quite significantly, while it is still blighted by sexism, it does at least give its female characters an increased base level of competency that takes some of the sting out of it.

(I spit nails of Emma being repeatedly jobbed to let Kamille play hero, and while I am more forgiving about Fa's characterisation, Zeta still has nothing that quite compares to letting her save the day in half a mobile suit even while acknowledging she *really doesn't want to be a pilot*. Elle, Roux, Ple, Masai, and even Emary all get to be good at the roles they are in. When they screw up, it seems much less arbitrary and much more like the writers are coming up with good reasons for them to be at a disadvantage. Hell, Leina turns Glemy's whole high-society schtick back on him at the climax of her arc, and she is almost entirely a plot device. And of course there's Haman being Judau's ultimate nemesis, and she's a *good villain with lots to do*.)

(How much you feel Chara takes points off for this will vary.)

Above all, it does a remarkably good job of grounding Neo Zeon in the exploitation and indoctrination of young people, and in nice, clean ideals that are really just a thin veneer over a fragile need for control. Like, it is admirable how well Mashymre's goofiness is paired with a streak of real nastiness in outlook that prefigures Glemy's development and the ways he will ultimately do anything for power -- and how Mashymre himself gets stripped down so that following Haman is all that matters and it's no longer a joke.

I'm not sure I'd say ZZ manages to land the transition from comedy to seriousness. It does sort of do a slow collapse from one to the other, but at some point it's more like a switch being pulled (and it's not quite at Dublin, either, more around Masai's Heart). But the use of fascistic pomposity paired with some genuinely striking depictions of what that world-view leads people to do is very much to the show's credit.

(Also, I'm still chewing on the realisation that what happens to Emary mirrors Mashymre and Chara in some interesting ways that dovetails with the usual ambiguity towards the 'better' side in the conflict.)

But, but, but. ZZ remains much more typical in its approach. Judau is less prickly a character than either Amuro or Kamille, in ways that kind of take away from the fact he's also the one who gets to scare Haman witless for a second by manifesting the kind of monstrous aura we first saw with Dozle. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching him more than the other two, like the show overall. I still wouldn't claim he's as ambitious a concept, and that holds for much of the rest, too.

So it ultimately feels like we're trading more interesting ideas for technical competency and greater entertainment. Which . . . yeah. I can't discount the former. Certainly, despite the increase in Newtype nonsense, ZZ never quite hits the psychedelia notes of the original Gundam, which I think is to its detriment.

Ah well. Even if I don't try to start fights over this, it may lead to some fanfic (by which I mean I have 1000 words of Leina and Sayla having a conversation that might be worked up into something sometime).

[koussevitzky]

Thank you for the tag @littlewitchbee!!!

Rules: Share five of your own fanworks (fic, art, etc.). Then, tag five more people to share the things they've made.

1. Something you absolutely adore:

2. Something that was challenging to create:

3. Something that makes you laugh or smile:

4. Something that surprised you (how it turned out, how other liked it, etc.):

5, Something you want other people to see:

Now this is going to be a bit difficult because I haven’t really posted a lot of my fan content lol…I’m working on that because I love participating in fandom and I wanna get my stuff out there! But I’ll try my best to answer these!

1) Something I wrote that I enjoy still is my fic Like Clockwork. This one is short and Will-focused and invokes “Wuthering Heights” even though I am not a huge fan but it works and is what I was reading at the time. And I love playing with the clockwork metaphor with will almost as much as I do angel imagery. I was and am happy with this and I’m glad I put it out there—I think I did well with the characters and dialogue.

2) It isn’t out yet (October 3rd stay tuned) but my Royai BigBang piece lol 💀💀💀 I was going through a lot last semester. The beginning of the fic came really easy but as I hurtled towards the conclusion I lost momentum a little bit. I’m not sure if I’m happy with its ending but I do like aspects of it and I’m super stoked to be a part of the project (you all should definitely check it out @royaibigbang and get excited for this year’s fics to drop).

3) This Roy.

4) I’ve gotten a really positive reaction to Pavane For a Dead Prince(ss) which I am pleasantly surprised about. I’m sorry for being a danganronpa fan like it’s my fault…seriously though I’ve appreciated it especially because it’s transfemme Byakuya which is an important headcanon to me (it’s also FTM Makoto but that’s a more popular headcanon I think) and though the story hasn’t reached the realization part of the story for Byakuya (I update so sporadically) I’m glad people are resonating with the character development and stuff. Naegami still means a lot to me (and THH in general) so I’m glad I can make this sort of love-letter to it, even if it takes me forever to finish it lol.

5) As for other things I want people to see I mainly just want everyone to stay tuned! I’m mulling over a lot of ideas now and am dipping my toes into writing x-files stuff (I get so scared of messing up the characters especially when 30 years of amazing fic and analysis and familiarity of the characters exist but I simply must try). I have some other Royai ideas as well and some Royai AUs I’m fooling around with as potential ideas for the Big Bang next year. I’m super excited and hope you all are too!

This was super fun to do! No pressure to anyone but I’m going to tag @marcilliez @purplebass @beware-thegemini @fullmetalscullyy @sourlemons262 and anyone else who wants to do it can go ahead! Everyone should hype their stuff up :)

[navigatorsghost]

Snippet time! This has been knocking around in my drafts for ages and I'm not getting any further with it, so I thought I'd toss it here as it is and see if I get any more inspiration as a result. You know those fics where the Akatsuki members get turned into cats and some poor character gets stuck with them? This is, like, the inversion of that trope. Gen, crack-treated-seriously, rated T for canon-typical violence (Hidan sacrificing someone).

~~~

Kakuzu was counting his money, like a normal bounty hunter on a normal day, when he was interrupted by a sudden outbreak of screaming.

The collection office agent, a short man with a rabbity face and nervous eyes, visibly twitched. Kakuzu, having caught the name Jashin-sama being loudly declaimed in the midst of the chaos outside, sighed but didn't stop the flick of notes between his fingers. Whatever problems his partner was causing could wait.

By the time he got out of the collection office, the screaming had stopped. Kakuzu looked up and down the street, scanning for the inevitable bloodstains.

The collection office stood on one side of a wide, shallow roadway that at its other side sloped down to meet the little river that meandered through this quaint village. Under normal circumstances the water ran clear and greenish-blue, shadowed by the flowering trees that overhung it, picture-pretty. On this occasion, a broad streak of crimson was feathering slowly downstream from the heart-pierced corpse in civilian clothes that had fallen half-in, half-out of the river. Jashin's mark had been swept in vivid, violent arcs and lines across the ancient cobblestones, and kneeling by the body was Hidan, his scythe lying at his side.

He held a battered cardboard box in the crook of his arm, balancing it on his raised knee, and was reaching into it with his other hand.

Kakuzu shunshinned over, stopping almost on top of him. "Hidan," he demanded, in tones deliberately weighted with disapproval. There was no possible way he wasn't going to disapprove, after all, no matter what Hidan's explanation. Easiest to get a head start.

Hidan jumped gratifyingly, but glared up at him and clutched the box tighter. "Oi, back off, Kakuzu! You'll scare them!"

"Scare what?"

Hidan carefully tilted the box, just enough to show Kakuzu the contents.

Kakuzu stared.

"Kittens?"

"This piece of shit," Hidan waved his free hand at the corpse, "was about to drown them when I caught him! You think I should've just stood there?!"

"Why not? I'd have thought your kami would approve of drowning kittens."

Hidan spluttered like an outraged tea kettle. "What? No! Shows how much you ever listen to a word I say... Jashinism only allows killing animals for food, or as offerings which is spiritually the same thing anyway. The scriptures are completely clear about that, animals can't understand suffering the way humans can so it's immoral to inflict it on them without necessity. And nobody needs to drown a kitten!" He held the box protectively to his chest.

From inside it, there came a pathetic-sounding squeak.

Kakuzu sighed. "Fine. You saved the kittens. Now find somewhere to get rid of them and come on. We need to leave."

"How do you think I'm going to do that in five minutes, Kakuzu?! I'm bringing them with me. I'll let them go somewhere safe when they're a bit bigger and can look after themselves-"

"Hidan, are you listening to yourself? You're a missing-nin. You can't keep pets on the road - how many even are there?"

Hidan looked in the box again. "Not sure, they're wiggling a lot... quite a few? Uh..." He reached into the box. "Ow! Don't scratch me, Jashindammit, I'm trying to do you a favour here... um..." He looked up at Kakuzu. "Twelve? I think."

Kakuzu pressed his fingers to his temple under his hitai-ate, feeling a headache starting to develop. "Twelve. Twelve kittens. One dozen."

"Give or take... yes."

"Fine. Do whatever you like. But if they annoy me," Kakuzu stared hard at his partner, "I'll eat them."

"Kakuzu!"

"What? You just said your religion permits killing animals for meat."

"Yes, but - but how much meat do you think there is on a kitten?! You'd just be doing it out of spite!" Hidan's eyes were wide with horror. "Every time I think you can't get any worse-!"

"I could say the same about you. Now shut up and move before I drown you." He turned away.

"He shouldn't say things like that," he heard Hidan mutter behind him, apparently to the kittens. "It's blasphemy against Jashin-sama, him pretending like he can kill me... ugh, come on, then, I guess. I'm sorry you're going to have to put up with his grumpy heathen ass but I promise I won't let him eat you, okay?"

Kakuzu sighed again. The next few weeks bid fair to be even more irritating than usual.

[seven-meds]

Hello! I love your work, man. It seriously intrigued me to see all of the characters that deeply impacted me from your lens!

I have a question regarding a particular ask of Lou/Arthur writings. Is there anywhere I can find it? I am just really drawn to the pairing.

Either way, thank you!

-👁️

(Sorry this took some time to answer, I had to gather a lot of links.)

Thank you so much! I appreciate the compliment immensely, it’s extremely uplifting.

As for my fanfiction, it is compiled here on my website. It’s not archived by ship or content (though both are listed before each entry), so here is a link list to the Lou/Arthur pieces:

Pose

Reveal

Chess

Away

Glass

Undress

To understand the dynamic you need an outline of the AU. I have been meaning to write it out more formally, but since I haven’t, here is a transcript of a description I wrote out for someone else: 

“Arthur kills himself on the Murray Franklin show in 1981. His death is filmed and broadcasted, but is slowly wiped from public memory. Two decades later, while browsing some obscure forum, Lou finds the footage of Arthur's suicide and becomes obsessed with it and obsessed with Arthur - his life, his death, everything about him. He finds scans of police xeroxes of his journal, the autopsy report, crime scene photos. He pours over fluorescent-lit pictures of Arthur's body stripped of his suit, of his face cleaned of paint, of the bullet hole in his skull. Lou develops a voyeuristic connection to this man he has only seen in death.

The intensity of his obsession feeds reality until Arthur begins to regrow within his coffin. Skin re-wraps around muscle and muscle clutches bone. His hollow chest refills with organs. Lou isn't aware of this when he drives across the country to visit his grave, to bring back something he can own. So when he pulls open the lid of Arthur's coffin with dirt-covered hands he's surprised to find a living man inside. Beneath him, Arthur smells Lou's sweat-slicked body before opening his eyes to see him for the first time, outlined against the sky and framed by the crude hole he'd dug.

Lou's surprise wouldn't transform into fear or even confusion. He'd be strangely unquestioning. He'd feel a tingle up and down his spine and a warmth pouring through his brain - the same physical reaction he has when he comes across a grotesque crime scene. His relationship with Arthur would contain elements of his relationships with everyone else who comes into contact with him, but because Arthur is literally constructed from his own thoughts he'd be able to reach a closeness with him that he could never reach with others.

Arthur would be scared, disoriented. At first he'd think he'd woken up in hell. He wouldn't question Lou's existence until much later. For a while all he'd feel is gratitude toward this strange but handsome man taking care of him, almost fawning over him. Once he began to consider Lou's actions and motives he'd be too wrapped up in the elation of being consumed and the intensity of what they shared.

While it may seem like an absurd pairing at first, what makes the idea of them being together interesting is Lou's voyeuristic, obsessive nature clashing with Arthur's desire to be seen and known. Being seen and known by Lou would be exhilarating in its intensity, but frightening in its predation. There would be a lot of emotional push and pull, a lot of sickness.”

I don’t write as often or as much as I wish I did, but thank you for the interest regardless! I apologize for the haphazard nature of the archive, coding solely in HTML and CSS does not allow for much automation. 

Thank you again!

[arandomeroacher]

I still think about The Pale Horse (Manhwa) and its beautiful art and amazing story, and I am still salty that the ending chapters have not been translated

Like Seriously, I don't think I can articulate how much I love it; it's been almost an exact year since I last read it and it is the exact type of story I love and want, a story with massive amounts of angst and pain mixed with complex characters who you hate at first but then sob over when you learn more about them and massive character development mixed with vampires and abuse.

oh yeah, spoiler warning, along with mentions of SA and abusive relationships

Like, I cannot express how amazing it's written, especially Benjamin and Rose's relationship, with Benjamin's obsession with her and Rose's sort of indifference and hatred towards him that turns into fear and desperation to get away from him and then going back to him because she's scared but also her manipulation of Benjamin that seems almost second nature to her and let's not talk about the codependency between the both of them and the flopping between hating and loving each other while refusing to leave each other alone at the same time honestly, it's a whole mess.

Also, I hate Benjamin so much; he's just like that, all fucked up and shit. Sir literally demanded Rose take off her clothes because he wanted to baby-trap her, and I- Sir step away from her STEP AWAY

And Marie seeing it and going, "Imma kill this man," is such a girlboss move. Then Pierre and Marie's solidarity when hating on Lemon (another name for benjamin) is such a mood but also kind of sweet in a fucked up way because they finally made amends again after hating and trying to kill each other for years since Pierre became a hunter and Marie became a vampire whatever the fuck the story wants to call them. Two childhood friends reuniting to kill a bastard is my favorite dynamic between enemies to bestie arcs

I also have a love-hate relationship with Rose too because bestie 😭 girlie has done so much to hurt those around her, and for the plot to go "she didn't do anything wrong!" is fucked up. Missy threw her children into a lake I- not to mention all the other things she's done, like marrying a man, making him kill animals for blood so that he can feed you, then brutally killing his children and village 😁

I feel bad for her, though; she's been through hell and back, jumping from one abusive relationship to another girlie has bad taste in men, and she's been SA'd multiple times and has been imprisoned for no reason other than existing, she's been misunderstood by literally everyone who meets her, she's described as a monster who can kill towns however they never really know what she's been through that made her one.

That being said, she's still a bad person, someone who can kill others without remorse and plays with people like toys, manipulating them and then eating them, then abandoning them when they get brought back because she doesn't like that they remind her of her sins and being put on the pedestal of "Mother" by them.

She did this with Marie. She loved Marie because she was her first friend other than Pierre Rose lost her memories and was living as a human child; however, when she reawakened again, she killed and turned Marie into a vampire, bringing Marie along with her to live with her and Benjamin only to ignore and abuse Marie. Marie clung to rose like she did as a human and loved Rose and Rose promised to be with her; Marie became obsessed because her becoming a vampire amplified her love for her and added "Putting Rose on a pedestal" to her love.

Marie did some questionable things afterward, but I can't blame her that much. Rose only clung to Marie because she loved the human Marie, not the vampire one, and was surprised when the vampire Marie loved her to the point of obsession, claiming that it wasn't what she wanted. I feel really bad for Marie. She became the way she did because of manipulation from Rose and the fake Adelaide, and I'm not really surprised. Marie got her redemption, though, and I love her. She is so silly and goofy I will gently kiss her forehead, tuck her into bed, and read her bedtime story.

Also, Marie is a child like she died and was brought back as a child. While she has matured a lot, she is still very immature and doesn't have the same reasoning as an adult. She is known to be very trusting and gullible, even in high-stress situations, and she clings to people despite being manipulated many times.

All the characters in the story are bad people and have done bad things, but I love them all (except for Lemon, hell has a saved seat for him). I'm just miffed about the story trying to excuse her actions a bit; though I understand where those actions came from and how those actions could connect in her brain, I just- I'm a sucker for the victim becomes the villain stories.

[cluelexander]

Oh boy, okay

What I like:

The Map and the sheer amount of passion that was so clearly put into it. Not a single room within the Pizzaplex is empty and even very similar rooms that could've been simply copy-pasted have their own unique features setting them apart (good example for that are the party rooms in the daycare). You can play SB 100 times and still find new corners of the pizzaplex full of detail. I really love the map and wish you would be more encouraged to explore all of the Pizzaplex in game.

The Character designs. I'm a huuuge sucker for good character design and while I do have my gripes with some of the designs (Where are Glam Bonnies claws, Steelwool??) I overall find all of the designs for the characters, and especially animatronics, to be appealing and fun to draw.

The Animatronics in general. I at first wasn't actually a fan of the animatronics having their own personalities but they've really grown on me! I like that Gregory isn't just defending himself against mindless machines but sentient beings seemingly capable of thought and feeling distress and even pain. I like that this makes Gregory, despite still very much being a scared child, a more "morally grey" character. And that's not even mentioning the personalities of each animatronic. I really like how all of the band members in SB (not counting Bonnie cuz he isn't in SB) seem to balance each other out and have very distinct personalities.

The soundtrack is fire. Enough said

The bugs. HEAR ME OUT. I personally love seeing people take games apart and break them beyond repair. And conveniently, SB does most of the breaking on its own xD. I somehow find all of the bugs kind of endearing? Like, Giga Monty, Quantum Freddy, the broken pathfinding for the animatronics, it all adds charm for me ^^

The Daycare Attendant. Idk they're just my favorite character and I love them so much! Really glad SteelWool decided to keep using them.

What I dislike:

The bugs. While I personally find the sheer brokenness of the game entertaining, I cannot deny that it's absolutely ridiculous to release and leave a game in such a state. SB is STILL a broken mess, SteelWool seems to have simply given up on salvaging it... The bugs can also lead to incredibly frustrating circumstances, which is never fun.

The sheer size of the game in general. SteelWool bit off wayyyy more than they could chew and it shows, unfortunately. The map is gigantic and while it is clearly made with love, it becomes hard to apprechiate that when you're currently bugging through walls and getting lost due to it being too large. Scotts meddling with the grander story of Security Breach certainly doesn't help.

How dirty they did my girl Vanny. Seriously, this was supposed to be her debut game and yet she was almost completely cut from it and reduced to the point where you can legitimately replace her with a cardboard cutout and nothing would change :/

The weird sexualization of Vanny also??? Like, WHY is Glitchtrap allowed to look all menacing and creepy but Vanny has to be waifu fodder? :( Why is her costume skin tight but Glitchtraps is allowed to look loose and have stuffing (at the thighs i think at least) for a more cartoony look? Why is she posed so weirdly in the "Vanny boss battle" when she presses that button? Why does she arch her back like that? She's supposed to be a victim of mind control, forced to copy the actions of William Afton/Glitchtrap while serving him. Who thought "let's also make her sexy" was a good idea?

The writing. I know SB suffered SEVERELY thanks to Scott being an incompetent idiot who thought it was a good idea to not tell the developers of the game what kind of game they were supposed to be developing but I'm disappointed regardless. Scott seemingly cutting things like Vannys knife and Gregory cutting his arm on a vent certainly didn't help, considering he was cutting the remaining 30% of story that the game had left. I don't even want to mention Burntrap or the Tangle/Blob.

What would I change and why?

Assuming I can't just magically make Scott and Steelwool rewrite SB completely, I'll keep it realistic and just wish for more patches.

More updates. Bug fixes, Performance enhancements. Adjusting the subtitles and formatting them correctly to actually not be complete ass (I feel sorry for any deaf/HOH people playing SB) aswell as small edits to the game to match Ruin (like the Daycare Attendants faceplate having the wrench attachement)

Re-implemening stuff is realistically off the table but goddammit I want Vanny to actually serve a purpose in HER game. I want her to have more agency and dialogue. Gregory too. Just a few lines here and there would suffice

Fixing how confusing the tasks are sometimes by implementing something like a "hint" system. Maybe Gregory could ask Freddy for help and Freddy simply tells him the location he wanted to go to. Doesn't require a ton of effort and would really help new players who have never played the game!

Go back and animate each ending. Don't get me wrong, I like the comic style but it just screams "we only had time to actually animate one ending" to me. At Least animating the Princess Quest ending would be nice. Or polishing the comics a little more?

The horror elements. It's no secret that SB isn't actually really scary. It's a shame for an installment in a horror franchise but I personally can live with it. But it still feels like such a missed opportunity! Imagine how different the game could feel if you just adjusted the atmosphere a little. The Pizzaplex is actually dark, only lit up by the occasional Staff-bots flashlight and neon signs on the wall. The speakers don't play any music, making everything eerily quiet. That is, except for the noises of groaning vents and heavy footsteps around you. An empty mall at night, usually filled with noises and people, only it's empty now, and to make it worse: you're not alone. The Pizzaplex would be such a good set piece for some liminal horror. :(

That's all I could think of for now! It's a long ass list but I have long ass feelings about SB. I obviously absolutely love the game but I'm not blind either, I can see what's wrong with it and why others might not like it.

Hey fnaf tumblrinas I wanna know something. Call it research for an upcoming project;

What do you like about Security Breach? What do you dislike about it? What would you change, and why?

[blzzrdstryr]

Darling escaping - Mondstadt girls edition

Inspired by a request I got, will do edition for other characters in the future.

Starring: Amber, Eula, Jean, Lisa, Rosaria

Reader is gender neutral

CW: Yandere themes, confinement, drugging

Amber

It’s highly unlikely that Amber will confine you, but if it reaches that point, then she will try to be as understanding as possible. Being kidnapped is hard and stressful, it’s OK if you hit and yell at her, she gets you, you’re scared and anxious, she will let it slide.

The same goes for any failed escape attempts, Amber will maintain that sweet-saccharine-I-am-not-mad-at-you-please-stop-crying-and-screaming persona very well. She will be very mad of course, partially at you, mostly at herself.

She keeps you confined in the cottage in the middle of the forest - Amber, unlike you, has a vast experience of navigating among the wilderness, so she can almost always recapture you with ease, years spent tracking and hunting lending well in her search.

You will have to be quick and clever if you want to escape - you can’t dwell in one place for too long, nor can you leave any mark in hurry - Amber will use them to deduce your path and location.

You will also have to avoid major cities and settlements - Knights of Favonius have a good reputation and Amber is known for her upstanding nature, she can lie to locals that you’re dangerous escaped criminal or confused and troubled victim who wandered to far for their own good, and have you presented on the platter.

Once she drags you back, she will start to think about escape-proofing the cottage. She might also buy a chain, long enough to let you wander in most of the room. Don’t worry she’ll let you out, she just needs to install new sets of locks on every door in your house.

Eula

The day when she finally loses an internal battle and kidnaps you is the day when both you and Eula start to hate her intensely. Just like Amber, she also tries to be understanding, yet it’s hard. She can sometimes snap back or glare at you with that cold look, which will sink your already drowning sympathies even further.

Escape attempts will be met quite poorly, Eula understands that you’re terrified and stressed and don’t want to be anywhere near her, yet it hurts so badly she loses control. She will say a couple of very insidious and bitter things, as she drags you back, her hold on you a tad too forceful not to be painful.

You will most likely be confined in her mansion - Lawrences might be universally despised by all of Mondstadtians, yet they’re also filthy rich and people have a hard time saying no to shiny mora. You will be allowed to wander in a couple of rooms with all the necessities in your reach.

She won’t allow you to have any maids or servants though - her reputation is already low, and letting a third person in on this dangerous secret will definitely be her downfall.

That’s why she wastes no time when she sees rooms she kept you in empty. Eula will bolt out of the house, uncaring how she might look to others as her mind races, searching for your possible routes.

Your best bet is staying inside or close to major settlements. As it was said before, Mondstadtian despise Lawrences, and Eula isn’t an exception to that. She might be a respected Knight of Favonius, but if you act distressed enough others will question her motives and deter her from grabbing you back.

If you somehow happen to be in the wilderness it’s already over for you. Eula spends most of her time outside the city gates, she is very familiar with the terrains and forests, so she navigates them pretty well. No matter how fast or long you run, she will get you back.

Eula will act extra callous and cold after your failed escape, her heart aching at the fact that you were that desperate to be anywhere but with her.

Jean

Jean is far from being an intense yandere, she will confine you only if she believes that you can’t live comfortably by yourself.

One of the perks of being a highly respected acting grandmaster is that no one really questions her decisions. Even Diluc, who left and now despises the knights, acknowledges how responsible and hardworking she is.

She will convince others that you’re mentally unwell, that you need care and patient guidance to even function, and so she will pressure you into becoming her protege.

None of your words about Jean’s true nature will be taken seriously - acting grandmaster is a kind, hardworking and responsible leader, she does everything in the name of others’ well-being. How can you accuse Jean of something like this?

Moreover, your words will be used against you, as she will present them as a proof of your fragile mental state - you must be deeply delusional to think of your caretaker so badly and poorly, blaming her for things she had no hand in.

You will be “gently” reminded to stay with Jean in her own house,a knight always patrolling near the building when she has work to do. Unlike most yanderes, Jean will allow you to freely wander in the house and courtyard, yet nothing more.

If you escape, you should probably head to the next nation, without stopping in any of the Mondstadt settlements - Jean’s reach is far and wide.

She will dispatch the group of knights, ordering them to safely retrieve you back into her arms - “[First] is scared and confused”, she’ll tiredly sigh and ask them to be gentle with you upon your recapture.

She won’t punish you once you’re back, no she will be calm and collected, despite the inner storm - she has to keep the mask up, both for you and others. You will find two knights on the daily patrol though.

Lisa

Lisa can appear very lazy and careless at first glance, but she is far from that. The witch is the best graduate of Sumeru academy in two centuries and an expert at potion making. She’s also very good at her time management and has a spark of ingenuity, which makes your escape highly unlikely.

First of all, you will be pumped full of sedative drugs, if you aren’t compliant and broken enough - Lisa would like to think that you’re all nice and obedient, but she can’t.

She will slip drugs in your food and water, sometimes she will force the syringe needle under your skin, if you realize what she’s doing and start being difficult.

With the substances muddling your mind you will be as helpless and weak as a newborn kitten, unable to make three steps in a straight line.

With you being constantly high Lisa doesn’t have to stress over your escape - she just needs to lock all windows and doors and add a bit of silencing charms so no one can hear your angered screams.

It would be an incredibly simple, yet perfect plan if it wasn’t for drug resistance. Over time your body will start to adapt to the influence of her “potions”, and you will need a higher dose to be rendered helpless and incoherent again.

You will realize this once the terrible mix of withdrawal and clarity of mind hits you. Half-bent and squirming you will slip from your cell and start to run.

It’s highly unlikely you will go far, especially during withdrawal, but your best chance of escaping lies into contacting any human settlement - you will appear very sick and distressed and they’ll have no choice but take you in and let you endure the incoming torture under the safety of the house.

Once your body is clean, you should run, as far as possible, you should also change your clothes - Lisa marked the ones she kept you in with her electro energy, making you easier to detect.

If she gets you back, she’ll start switching between different kinds of sedatives, so you don’t develop resistance. Lisa will also add a couple of locks and a long chain to her purchases.

Rosaria

Rosaria, to her own dismay, doesn’t own any fancy mansion to keep you in, the house that she lives in is small and cramped as she uses the place to just sleep and keep the little of what she owns here.

This house, despite its small size, has a cellar - it’s empty and unused, with cobwebs decorating the corners. It’s perfect for keeping you in, when you’re difficult.

Don’t worry the cellar is the last resort - Rosaria will confide you here, if you act extra defiant and disobedient. On most days, you’re free to wander in that small house, and if you act extra nice, the nun will let you out under her strict supervision.

She will however, install a long chain and cuff it around your leg when she has to leave for a job.

You can run away from her in two instances, when she decides to go for a short walk with you, and when she is away, if you are able to unscrew or loosen the chain enough for your feet to slip.

If you escape during your walk, you better be an excellent runner, because Rosaria is fast. You will have to compete not only in speed, but also endurance and stamina with her, because Rosaria can run for a very long time, especially when she’s chasing you.

If you escape when she’s away your task gets infinitely easier, you’ll just need to make your way to Mondstadt and make your accusations - Rosaria isn’t very popular here, nor does she have a great image, so your words will hold some weight.

Whether she is found guilty or innocent, it will provide enough time for you to leave the city and head for the neighbouring nation.

If Rosaria gets you back, then you can forget about seeing a sunlight for a very long time, she will keep you chained in the cellar for at least two weeks as a punishment.

[honorary-evil-genius]

So. i recently learned that the song oranges (by Lawrence) is on patton's playlist. i listened to it. suffice it to say, i have Thoughts, but also its a really good song, honestly. props to Clyde Lawrence on this one, you're doing great things for the world.

I am fully prepared to be absolutely wrong. I don't really think the playlists are like. a super good a source for theories, just because songs written by people other than the creators almost certainly didn't have the show in mind. But i'm suspending my disbeief because I want to ramble insesantly <3

so about the mentioned Thoughts, we're going line by line, because this song is PACKED. fair warning, this is seriously long, proceed with caution.

starting with the chorus. its funny how nobody sings about oranges when you've got one in the palm of your hand. how much more clearly can you say "wow, this orange side guy is like right there, crazy that no one seems to have noticed :/" while looking into the camera? but jokes aside, the fact that it's on patton's playlist makes me wonder if patton feels remorse for how he's thought of the dark sides so far and is thinking that orange might not be that bad? he sure isn't feeling too confident in his ideals or past behavior towards them since POF.

i think patton learned a thing or two from janus in that episode, when janus turned out to not be so bad. maybe he's starting to rethink his previous ideas, after being so thoroughly disproven. a lot of things that patton assumed were true for years were picked apart, so maybe he's questioning if orange should even be hidden anymore. If that's the case, it probably won't actually be good for orange, because patton is on pretty thin ice with basically all of the other sides. (see the end card of WTIT for reference)

this is supported by the line I'm starting to mind how we take our ideas and put them in storage. we can assume that patton hasn't historically thought too highly of orange, and he might be rethinking that after POF. maybe asking if its a good idea to keep him 'in storage.'

but peel back the rind, who knows what you'll find. taking some risks, as if you're afraid. you know who is 100% going to hate it if patton starts reconsidering his ideas about orange? virgil. he's already on shaky terms with patton, and most likely really really doesn't like orange. who knows what would happen if orange were let loose? best not to take that risk. patton being less hesitant towards orange could inadvertently make it harder for orange to get virgil on his side, because virgil is primed to disagree with patton right now, especially since he's gotten closer to roman, who is also not at the best place with patton. virgil specifically would probably be less than thrilled about patton's opinions on weather a dark side is trustworthy or not, after janus. I also wouldn't be surprised if this line was also referencing some of pattons own conflicting thoughts, because it is a well known fact that janus and remus both scared him to death, and willingly revealing one of the others is a pretty radical idea, for patton especially. he didn't mind virgil so much, even from the start, but virgil was also here from the start. remus and janus have both been hidden, possibly partly because patton didn't like them. He is C!Thomas's morality, which canonically makes him the final decider on whether or not a side can be trusted. patton doesn't really trust his own judgement right now, possibly somewhat rightfully, and would be incredibly apprehensive about this orange guy. asking janus to let him go would be very unexpected, to say the least.

But honestly, patton being more open to orange could actually show some awesome character development? It might backfire on orange, but patton trying his best from the very beginning to understand a new side before he jumps to a conclusion would actually make a lot of sense in the narrative.

if life gave you an orange, would you make lemonade? . would you really want the orange side to be fundamentally different when the other dark sides have proven time and time again that they can be helpful as they are? is it right to expect that from them? also, since lemons are referenced, would it be okay to keep having janus hide orange? and is it more damaging to pretend everything is okay until you can't anymore, 'making lemonade out of an orange' as it were. patton has been there and done that with repression, and has shown to have grown from it. he almost certainly recognizes it in how the Others have been treated.

crazy how nobody sings about chocolate. it seems there would be, nothing so sweet, like we're living in the boxes of someone who's locked it. how can that be, it just ain't for me. this line sticks out to me because it sounds like the pinata metaphor from SvS, candy inside of a locked container. maybe it's a comparison patton is drawing, because in that situation, janus was right. and it would have saved them a lot of trouble to trust him in that situation. and just maybe, it's the same way with orange, and they should metaphorically open the box and let orange contribute. this goes back to the idea of patton trying to learn from his mistakes, especially in regards to janus and the Others. or, it's also possible that patton is uncomfortable with orange being withheld in the first place; ergo, 'how can that be, it just ain't for me'. we know that patton isn't really the champion of deception, and it makes him uncomfortable, he most likely isn't a fan of being lied to.

we are curving our motions and faking our bets, if you don't open the chocolate who knows what you get? immediately noticed the parallel to "if you pull back the rind, who knows what you'll find" from earlier. he wants to get to know this orange side like he knows janus and virgil, even if its really dubious, because he's learned from seeing past their scary exteriors and not having to wonder if janus being around makes C!thomas a bad person, or think that virgil doesn't want to be around any of them. he probably likes knowing that the people around him aren't damaging the integrity of the person he's part of, or that they don't hate him. even realizing remus didn't make C!thomas a terrible person made him much more content.

now purples got us blue, and silver's going grey. now purple's got us blue, huh? does this have something to do with how patton and virgil are kind of on the rocks? we don't really know the nature of these figurative rocks, but we can assume it has something to do with patton's need for control, from vigil's line in the end card of WTIT: "Oh, thank goodness, you're giving him permission." as we've established, virgil is not going to be happy about bringing in this orange guy, and is likely to be (how to put it) Skeptical when patton brings up the idea. it seems to frustrate virgil that patton's word is the law, so when orange is introduced, and patton tries to be on orange's side, it has the potential to really feel like patton is doing something without consulting the group, or like a betrayal, since virgil deffinitely has an "us versus them" mentality going on. purples got us blue indeed. (no but actually I think that's such an interesting facet of his character i love them all so 'freakin much) "silver's going grey" probably connects to remus, another side who isn't exactly on great terms with patton. the last time they talked face-to-face was the episode where patton was worried that remus's very existence made C!thomas a bad person. patton has been steadily losing support from the other sides, especially in regards to his ideas about the dark sides, so when it comes to orange, it. probably won't go over well.

oh, imagine a world where we don't play this game, with apples and oranges, nothing's the same. patton is not likely to trust his own judgement, especially after POF, and as established, he is losing support of the sides around him. i can see him trying to get a clearer perspective, and wanting all perspectives to do so. in other words, he wants to stop playing this game of 'good' and 'bad' and orange could help figure that out, since he probably doesn't have any beef with patton yet.(probably) could be great character development for patton to fully acknowledge that morality isn't as simple as right and wrong!

but that's just my idea, and to clarify, i don't think patton has the power to reveal orange, that's janus's jurisdiction, i just think patton might not be all that hostile towards orange when he comes around, and might kind of... egg janus on? or at least be open to listening to the orange side. this isn't his first rodeo. i am fully prepared to be wrong about all of this, the point is that i get to ramble about these wonderful character arcs and overanalyze, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk!

[highfaelucien]

While on the topic of wishing sjm had done something different for her characters, I really wanted something more for cassian. For example, cassian’s wings going from being completely ruined in the end of acomaf to being 100% healed in acowar made no sense to me. I think it would’ve been an opportunity for the growth of cassian’s character to see him go through the loss of losing the ability to fly and instead retrain himself to be a warrior in other ways and find other things about himself that prove his own worth to himself. Given the fact that cassian’s confidence is aligned with his ability to protect and serve others, it just would have been sooo good to see him overcome his grief and become even stronger of a character. And how wings, in general, are a sense of male pride among illyrians. I think this would’ve been the perfect way to write cassian and have him break away from his own idea of masculinity. He could have redefined what it meant for him to be a Man ™. Ugh, it just could have been so GOOD, imagine the character we could have gotten from him.

Listen, after ACOMAF, when this happened, EVERYONE was buzzing about this. Most people thought he wouldn't outright lose his wings permanently, but there would be a LOT required.

And then ACOWAR came and approximately nothing happened whatsoever. Oh he had to be healed. the healer had to rebuild his wings. he had to do strength training every day. But fundamentally: not a sausage.

Personally? I think Maas chickend out. I think she was unable to commit to taking Cassian's wings, or figuring out how to write him as anything other than what she's established him as: fun jock man who likes to hit things real hard and make dick jokes sometimes.

Having to see Cassian vulnerable? Having to see him broken, and struggling, and having to reevaluate his entire life and self-esteem and sense of masculinity would have been an incredible option for a character arc.

Most of the theorising/Nessian fics involved Nesta helping him. The two of them being broken/fundamentally altered by their experiences in Hybern - she being killed and Made with a dark power, Cassian losing his wings.

There was expected bonding over that, peeling away the masks they both wear to discover the softness underneath. The two of them being able to reach one another, because of their bond, in a way the others could not. It produced some pretty epic stuff, honestly.

And how badly I wanted that I didn't FULLY realise until the disappointment of ACOSF, when it hit fully.

Because instead of stripping Cassian back and seeing the tactician, the strategist, forcing him to put his other skills to use, to develop those skills, rather than 'smash with sword and ask questions later'. This man is a General. All the combat training in the world doesn't let you be good at this job if you can't command, if you can't use tactics, if you can't strategise.

And THIS is where I wanted to see Nesta. Nesta, the woman who calculated how many ships would be needed to save the humans of Prythian. The woman who looked at Greysen's manor and assessed its capabilities and saw a prison. The woman who devours history novels, who has a tactical, cunning mind. Who has never been a warrior or a creature of brute strength or physical abilities.

THIS is how I wanted to see Nesta evolve. This was how I wanted to see her develop. I didn't want her taken out of lady's dresses. I didn't want her forced into fighting leathers, to basically become another copy of her sister, and follow down that path.

I wanted her to take her own. I wanted her to finally be in a place where she could learn, and strategise, and contribute. And I wanted her to work with Cassian on this - who was grounded because of his wings, who couldn't command on the frontlines anymore, or even fight. Who had to stay back, and see how he handled this. How he maintained his authority. How he maintained his sanity without his wings.

We could have had so fucking much. Such a powerful narrative about survival. I wanted her in the library, with the other survivors, (and with fucking MORRIGAN - not sidelined, not dismissed, not being bitchy and catty for the sake of it. But someone who visits the library frequently, who interacts with the women there, and sometimes just is a woman there herself, because there are still hard days.)

But no. No instead of something nuanced, and original, and actually tailored to Nesta's strengths as a character, we got Yet Another Weapon's Trainng Montage.

We got the narrative that the only way to heal from abuse is to be able to beat the shit out of your abusers. Because that's #GirlPower, right?

It makes me so furious I almost want to just. Just fucking rewrite the whole damn fucking thing myself the way it SHOULD have gone.

And I know you talked about Cassian and not Nesta, so I do apologise, but they were tied together. But I agree.

We all wanted Cassian to evolve from that 'Lord of Bloodshed' / "savage brute" because reading between the lines and forcing some nuance from these books, which is the only way to survive: Cassian has a lot of layers. There's a lot of trauma there. A lot of insecurity. A lot of angst. A lot of heart. A lot of fucking INTELLIGENCE. (I'll fight on that point, I really will. Cassian is not a dumb himbo who can barely add 1 and 1).

But sjm was too busy writing him having a hard on for Nesta to explore....anything about himself. Or his relationship with Azriel, and Rhys, and Mor, and everyone else.

The removal (even temporarily) of his wings would have allowed for a LOT of that exploration.

Firstly, the fact that he injured them by CHOICE, saving Azriel's life. That would have been such a deep connection and bond between them. The guilt that Az would feel - but the potential for Cassian to step in, even with his wings gone, and say that he'd do it again.

Because Azriel is his brother. He loves him. And it was worth it. It would be worth it a hundred times over to save him. Because he's worth saving. And he's worth sacrificing for. And what that would have done for Az as a character, too. Who always offers himself up first for dangerous missions, puts himself in peril to protect the others.

And having Cassian join Feyre and Az's flying lessons? Because Cass having to relearn how to fly once (if) his wings healed to that extent, means letting Azriel train him. Because those old instincts aren't enough. And he has to learn how to strengthen them, and train with them. And how this affects his perception of himself and his masculinity, as he said. But also deepening his understanding for Az, and the bond the two of them share, in having this experience together.

Bonding with Rhys, who FINALLY fucking opens up to someone and has some nuanced therapy-like conversations about what happened with Amarantha. The sacrifces they've made for their people. How they'd do it again but it still hurts, and changes them, and how they have to learn and grow and move on from that and heal together.

Rhys working with Cassian on his other talents, using him as the skilled strategist and tactician he MUST be. Helping him to develop that, keeping his brother from losing his mind while he can't fight or use his physicality to solve problems, as he usually does.

Mor personally healing and tending to Cassian. Mor being there at his bedside every day while he was bed bound. Mor becoming as possessive and overprotective of both him and Az as any mate ever has been.

Mor speaking to him about her own rehabilitation after what her family did to her, the physical toll that took on her. Mor's heart breaking because she nearly lost both him and Az and she couldn't handle that at all. Mor reiterating how much she fucking loves him, and how she needs him.

Mor helping him through the darker days of his depression because she's been there. And she knows what it is to put on a front. To always be laughing, and joking, without the seriousness of life -leave that to the others. But sometimes it's too much and he needs to break down. And be angry. And furious. And hopeless. And scared. And that's what she's there for. Because she understands.

Mor winnowing him to his favourite spots that he can't fly to anymore, just so he can be there. The two of them spending time, and bonding, and developing that relationship we got in ACOMAF beyond 'we bicker constantly and drink together and make sexual innuendos'.

Even Amren showing up and doing her part. Snapping at him to stop brooding so much. But also bringing him some of her puzzles. Some of her favourite military history books (which she has anotated and edited to highlight the bits that have been incorrectly reported). Spending time with him to stop him going mad. Exhausting herself those first few days personally attending to Cassian's wings, and snarling at anyone who tried to interfere.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH.

IT COULD HAVE DEVELOPED SO MUCH WITH THE INNER CIRCLE. AND CASSIAN. AND NESSIAN. AND JUST. EVERYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER BUT NAW. IT WAS BASIC ASS AND BORING AND I'M GONNA DIE MAD ABOUT IT.

[uno-writing]

*deep spiritual sigh* ok so i can see how u think sera gives off pick me vibes but like she does a lot of “ basic ” things like painting nails , her hair, going to the mall, and yeah she does hang out with boys but i think thats cuz johns literally the only one that would be her friend cuz everyone was scared of her but when she went powerless she was looked down upon but that’s the only time people were okay with being friends with her (i mean like evie and others) 

and yeah she could of helped john and didn’t but even she admits that she was careless and ignored her surroundings and i feel like she’s had development since then ( ep 219) 

and honestly i didn’t rlly like her back in the earlier eps but i think she’s really cool now though she obviously has flaws like she can’t handle everything on her own

o k b y e

-chaos screech attack sister anon 

🍿🥤🍭🍬🍫🧋🥨🥬🍦🍧🧊🐇🍩🥖📦🌻🥀🥒🧃🍰🌮🔫

slight potential discourse below friends <3 <3

Idk where you're getting most of this from...?

Like I think I've only called Sera a pick me a few times as a joke, never seriously (the main one i'm thinking of is my main cast icks post and I updated her ick to something i think is more accurate :3). And Ive certainly have never had a problem with her hanging out with boys or doing "basic" things.

My problem with her is mainly rooted in her inaction. Like yes she's developed a lot but I still dont like her much bc she's still making the same mistakes. She's still trying to take care of everything herself and I have a feeling its gonna get someone hurt. She barely asked Arlo for help and she doesn't even like him. She refused to ask John for help, and while I understand her reasoning and I get where she's coming from, its completely selfish that she's willing to put so many people's lives in danger just on the off chance that John would lose his ability.

I also hate how she only starts giving a shit about low tiers when she becomes one. Like she has eyes. She sees John go through it, she sees the shit happen to the low tiers around the school and in her life, but god forbid she gets put through it. She lacks empathy, which isn't inherently a bad thing. Its just not a trait I particularly vibe with.

We also never got an arc from her. She's so very shallow in the character development sense. All we got was her backstory and thats about it. No introspection or deep character change like there's been for almost all of the main cast (aside from sera and maybe isen) For example her relationship with John is just her dependency on her parents for approval switching over, however thats not pointed out ever.

Its the same shit with Arlo. Yes he's developed but I still hate the things he did early on. There's still some times that I fucking hate him bc he's an arrogant prick still at times.

I would give you specific examples of reasons why I dont like her but I dont have enough time to reread it just to back my opinion lmao

also some of these points also came from my darling boba anon's analysis of sera <3

[orionshounds]

I’ve been knee deep in dsmp lore streams and I just want to ramble about it

Dream smp lore is so good, it’s so good!!! Not only is the story itself just fascinating, but how it’s presented so uniquely through the medium of minecraft of all things is just so cool. One of my favorite parts of the lore is seeing how everyone on the smp has their own “style” they present it in, and watching them find the way they find the most enjoyment in is so cool. Literally no two streamer’s lore stream quite like each others and it’s just incredible! It just speaks to the flexibility of roleplay as an artistic medium and really shows everyone’s individual personalities. 

Wilbur was dramatic as hell and wrote eloquent speeches. He started a drug operation under the guise as a country, and it lead to a revolution in which he was able to explore the spiral of a man who loses control of everything he had built. And after his arc and he wanted a break from the server? He created ghostbur, an amnesic comic relief with just enough touch of tragedy that he is still able to make heartbreaking monologues when he wants to.

Tommy is able to run around with his friends and cause as much chaos to his heart’s extent, but there is so much more than meets the eye. He is incredibly social and isn’t afraid to start conflict with a lot of people, bringing them into the roleplay. He doesn’t back down from storytelling either. His character goes through terrible situations and he fully explores the trauma that comes from those experiences. His character goes against the “stereotypical” trauma I see alot in media; instead of being shy or scared he’s reactionary, he’s angry, he’s violent, he’s depressed. I’m actually really impressed with the heavy subject matter this 17 year old teen has managed to portray (I’ve connected with it quite personally at certain points), while still being able to keep the light hearted fun that’s so intrinsic to his personality. 

Tubbo isn’t really interested in serious lore as much. Even in dire moments he tells jokes and just has fun. So, in his recent lore, he just streams as normal while putting mysterious writing on screen that he doesn’t acknowledge or have to explain, which I think is just a genius work around for him to participate in lore. He still has his dedicated lore streams sometimes, and when he is in the acting zone he has some of the most powerful moments out of everyone on the server.

Ranboo, while having stake in the greater smp lore, is much more character focused. He presents his lore through long monologues and fucking heart-wrenching voice acting. He loves working in themes of horror and causing a specific feeling in the viewer. So he chooses specific music as a themes for events/characters and creates visual queues in his overlays to draw out that desired reaction. He also values improve a LOT, if something unexpected comes up he just runs with it and he has made huge changes to his lore as early as 30 min before a stream.

Technoblade, while arguably one of the most powerful people on the server, prefers a more light-hearted yet dramatic approach to lore. When Dream was at his house looking for Tommy, Techno had no problem joking around and making fun of him for being homeless. He tore down an entire nation on the server and had so much fun doing it! He’s more of an antagonist than a true villain in my opinion. And lets not forget how dedicated he is to the game, he’s cracked at the craft. He spends hours grinding and creating farms on the smp, for amazing pay offs (his several vault reveals, the withers, etc), most of which weren’t even on stream!

Karl Jacobs is extremely social, so he created Tales from the smp as a way to involve TONS of people in lore while exploring the past and future of the server (it was also a way for viewers who weren’t that well versed in dsmp lore to join and not have to worry about it!). And through this premise, he took the opportunity to develop his own character on the smp; making an incredibly tragic story of a time traveler trying to save his home while slowly loosing his memories. Not to mention the beautifully shot cutscenes of the Inbetween and the Other Side. He includes so many people behind the scenes as well, collabing with other members on lore, hiring building teams and people to make intros and credit scenes, and promoting fanart and fansongs from the community!

Quackity explores his lore through heavily scripted events and amazingly shot cut scenes. While the way he expresses his lore comes at the cost of improv, the payoff of the visuals and story is well worth it! The shots he makes of the smp is downright gorgeous, no to mention he’s the first person to include irl footage in his lore (not counting facecams)! He’s not afraid of thoroughly examining his own character, being one of the only people I can think of that shows us “past events” leading up to something that has already happened.

Badboyhalo, Antfrost, Ponk, Skeppy, Captain Puffy, Punz, Awesamdude, Hannahxxrose all work together on shared lore and the payoff is amazing! By introducing the Egg, a constant antagonistic force that constantly pulls on character’s relationships with each other, everyone is able to stream together to battle for or against the egg! There’s also plenty of room for people to do individual lore that's more intimate to their respective character. They spend hours changing vines, putting up posters, slowly shaping the smp in a way that makes it exciting to watch streams to see just what has changed everyday. Because there’s so many people necessary to tell the egg’s story, it does comes at the cost of time (the egg has been around FOREVER). However, they all work together super hard and I just admire their commitment to the story they’re trying to tell!

And Sam! He has several different “Modes” his character is in (and an entirely separate character, Sam Nook) that he gets to explore lore with. He’s a terrifying warden, he’s a money motivated businessman, he’s a conflicted lover, he’s a traumatized victim of the egg, and just so much more. Through having so many different “roles” in the rp he gets to explore relationships and plotlines with a whole array of people. Not to mention he’s absolutely cracked at redstone and has some of the most impressive builds on the server.

And Puffy! So much of her lore is calling into question the morality of the server and really makes you step back and think critically about the characters. Her character also has, in my opinion, one of the most interesting relationships with Dream, the main antagonist of the entire server, which is just fascinating to watch unfold. Not to mention she’s one of the first people to start exploring the backstory of her character!

George doesn’t exactly do lore. In fact he’s slept through so much of it it’s become a meme. And you know what? That mad man took that and ran with it. He explains his absence in the story by having his character literally being asleep through it, creating mystery where there used to just be an absence. He’s able to goof off with his friends and have borderline nonsensical streams, then at the end sucker punch the audience emotionally by “waking up” and have the viewers question just what was real and what wasn’t?

The smp has the freedom for people who want more independent lore to be able to explore their character’s that way as well!

Hbomb, Connereatspants, and Purpled don’t have a lot of lore on the smp, generally only coming on to have fun with everyone, but when they do have their moments it unfolds in very interesting ways!

Sapnap, Eret, and Schlatt maybe aren’t as active as some other people, but when they are on they actively participate in lore and have lasting impacts on the story (Ex: Eret’s betrayal, Sapnap’s visit to dream in the prison, Schlatt becoming president).

Philza mostly does his own thing, improving the server or making some bomb ass builds. He has incredibly devastating roles in lore (killing wilbur, blowing up L’manberg for the final time, starting the syndicate with Techno), but he also has quieter moments that speak to the depth his character has, such as fishing with fundy or reminiscing about his dead son and how it went so wrong. Like Techno, he doesn’t like to take lore completely seriously, often laughing no matter what’s happening or teasing chat after something big goes down, but his character is solid with a lot of potential for future lore.

Foolish has only started on his character and its already super interesting. The hints at his dark past as a “god of death” and his current conflict with the egg are intriguing as fuck. Not to mention the MASSIVE builds he does for everyone, helping to progress their lore as well.

Fundy has a lot of freedom with his character to participate however much he wants in lore. While generally he’s a trickster who loves to prank people he has enough tragedy build into his backstory he’s able to break the viewer’s heart with a flip of a switch. Not to mention his recent, almost surreal, stream that explored his character’s disturbing dreams that may or may not predict the future.

Niki is very character driven, exploring her character's grief of losing her best friend and her anger of being ignored in the very country she helped create. She has incredibly emotional moments, and even though she’s on her own building an underground city she still participates in other lore via teaming with jack manifold or the syndicate.

Jack Manifold’s lore is VERY character focused, and while he’s described his story as a “B plot that occasionally intersects with the main plot”, the story he tells is still fascinating. Being pushed aside not taken seriously his whole life, his character develops into a fun cartoony-esque villain who begs to be taken seriously, that has the depth of a truly conflicted person who is torn between wanting revenge on everyone who’s done him wrong and just wanting a friend.

Last but not least, the man himself, Dream. The most fascinating thing about his lore is that absolutely none of it is from his pov. All we know about his character is only from what we see from everyone else’s povs, and in his case it leads to a very intimidating villain! Not to mention, mans owns the damn server and yet has made himself the main antagonist! He is the only character I consider a “true villain” on the smp. His voice acting and writing is downright sinister. I could write a fucking essay on how his character’s obsession with power has led him to the point he thinks himself an unstoppable god

Everyone on this server is stunning and I love all of them!!!!!

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

Ecthelion’s and Denethor’s relationship seems very strange to me. Denethor was Ecthelion’s obvious heir from birth, and as he grew up was obviously a good one. He is implied or outright stated to be handsome, clever, dutiful, brave and gifted with great mental powers which must have been obvious from a fairly young age. According to the appendices he was more kingly than any man in Gondor for many lives of Men.  Was Denethor simply too grim for his father’s liking? Did he often argue with Ecthelion, and if so, what about? Denethor and Faramir have obvious differences, but Ecthelion often took Thorongil’s (Aragorn’s) advice, and he and Denethor were said to agree on almost everything. Did Denethor often overstep his authority or push its limits (a bit like Faramir maybe?)? Was his failure to marry until late on and produce an heir a source of contention? He seems a capable military strategist, but is a bit of a risk taker preferring a complicated plan of defence in depth to just pulling back to Minas Tirith, the strongest point. Did Ecthelion think he was too rash and aggressive? Is this to do with him retaking Osgiliath? Did his marriage to Finduilas anger Ecthelion? Finduilas was the second daughter, Ivriniel the elder and more obvious match, it may have been seen as a slight. Was he scared or jealous of Denethor’s power, fearing he would eclipse him, or maybe even try to overthrow him? Perhaps a bit ironic since both Denethor and Thorongil had their eye on his position. Or knew that Denethor would likely have the greater legacy, leaving him a footnote in history?

Or maybe Denethor was the initiator of the conflict, and was unhappy with his father’s rule? Perhaps he saw himself as a Romendacil II figure, seeking to become regent while his father still lived as only he could face the crisis to come. Tolkien did say he saw himself as being destined to lead Gondor in its desperate time. Perhaps he always brooked no rival? Maybe Ecthelion wasn’t doing enough in Denethor’s eyes to prepare, and he tried constantly to outmanoeuvre his father and take greater control. Maybe he knew he needed the Palantir, and it would not recognise him as a rightful user until he was steward. Denethor is definitely cunning and has a ruthless streak, but attempting a coup or violating Gondor’s laws seems very out of character for someone devoted to tradition and duty.

Its interesting, and I haven’t seen an answer put forward that doesn’t make Ecthelion or Denethor look incompetent or just outright awful, and while I would definitely say I have a worse opinion of Ecthelion I don’t think he was that bad. He did seem to take advice from others, and clearly wasn’t just outright blind to the seriousness of the situation. There’s a definite parallel between Denethor and Faramir and Ecthelion and Denethor, but I can clearly see how the first developed, I struggle with the second.

[star-going-supernova]

So. Madison Russell. Godzilla vs Kong. Welcome to my ted talk.

From a writing perspective, they totally wasted her character. She, Josh, and Bernie were almost exclusively used just as a method of showing the audience what was happening "behind the scenes" at Apex. Pouring the whiskey on the computer was about the only thing of note they did, and even that didn't do much. Mechagodzilla was only slightly hindered by it, and if they'd just written Kong and Godzilla differently in the fight scene, they could have skipped the whiskey part entirely. They could have done so much with having people "on the inside" but Monarch as a greater organization barely had any presence at all, which negated the need to have people on the inside. 

Maddie's steadfast insistence that Godzilla wasn't a bad guy at the beginning had so much potential, but it became the conspiracy thing instead. It felt less like she wanted to prove Godzilla wasn't turning against humans, and more like she and her new conspiracy friend wanted to crack open a shady organization, which was frustrating. If they wanted to depict her as someone who was forced to become competent at a young age, which was part of the serious, intense vibe I got from her, instead of the inexplicable personality shift, they should have showed her doing something to help. Getting in contact with her dad/Monarch, giving them evidence to begin a city wide evacuation outside the Apex Hong Kong HQ, messing something up or making it harder for the Apex people to get Mechagodzilla up and running—just, anything. 

The fact is, we had Maddie being very proactive in KotM. Stealing the ORCA was the game changer. Instead of taking that to the next level in GvK and giving her an opportunity to continue that aspect of her character—that is, being someone who refuses to sit by when she can do something to help, even if it’s dangerous—they rendered her obsolete. 

The movie wouldn't have significantly changed if you took her character out. If Bernie went by himself and ended up in Hong Kong, nothing would have changed, because Maddie didn't do anything of personal importance. She went from being an active character in KotM to being a passive one here, which are a pet peeve of mine. If you saw my post about what I liked and didn’t like about Godzilla (2014), that might sound very familiar.

It would also have made so much more sense if she developed a love for studying Titans instead of focusing on conspiracy theories. Plot-wise, it would have given her claim to her dad that Godzilla was being provoked more credence, and could’ve opened an interesting dialogue between them to reinforce that she knows what she’s talking about. Monarch was obviously still a big part of their lives, given that Mark had rejoined, so it would’ve been the perfect opportunity for Maddie to pursue a Titan-related future. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. I loved Jia, and wouldn’t want to take her out of the movie or even diminish her presence in it. In fact, I think they should have focused on Jia, and only on Jia. 

Hear me out: Godzilla vs Kong should’ve been split in two. A Part 1 and Part 2 situation. 

For Part 1, we keep a lot of the GvK canon, especially the Kong-centric stuff. Include even more scenes showing us that he’s protective of Jia, don’t just have Dr. Andrews say that he is. Have him defend her from something dangerous, maybe even from some humans. Include their backstory, how he saved her during the storm. And start it even earlier, before Godzilla attacks Apex the first time. Keep the whole Hollow Earth plot, keep the fight scene in the ocean, keep the discovery of the temple and the axe.

And on the Godzilla side of things, start earlier on that as well. Keep the other Titans in, have humanity tentatively believing that a time of great peace is upon them. Their mere presence is restoring the planet. There was an emphasis of nature, particularly in relation to the Titans, in KotM that I really think they should have included more of in GvK to better tie the two movies together, if only they hadn’t swept all the other Titans under the rug. They wanted a movie about a fight, not about the Titans. So, undo that. Show us a little of what Mark does, do a sweep of the other KotM cast (cameos at the very least) to show how they and Monarch are working to uphold that peace post-Boston. I’d also have loved to see Boston itself, too, five years later. 

Instead of giving us a Generic High School scene, show Maddie learning about the Titans alongside the experts. Bring back the wonder and amazement she had when she saw Mothra for the first time, when she reached out and touched her. She’s second generation Monarch, make that mean something. When Maddie took the ORCA to Boston, she had a conviction. She couldn’t not have. She was there in part to lure Ghidorah in, but I can’t even pretend to believe her plan ended with that. She knew Godzilla would come. 

That sort of belief is hard to kill, and if death via Ghidorah wasn’t enough to scare her off, no way anything else in those five years afterwards did. Her belief that Godzilla is good survived to GvK, and should’ve been a main focal point of her character. Godzilla attacks Apex—she and every other Monarch person who has spent years studying the Titans knows something is up. 

Keep Mark’s character development regarding his opinions on Godzilla. He believes Maddie when she says something has to be wrong, not just because he trusts his daughter, but because he looked into Godzilla’s eyes and saw more than just an animal. 

They’re in Part 1 only minimally, just to establish their presence and how they feel about Godzilla destroying Apex. The focus is clearly on Jia and Kong’s side of events. 

Sorry, but I’m leaving Josh out and seriously dialing back Bernie’s role. Instead, the character we follow inside Apex is Ren Serizawa. We see his motivations, his ambitions, and he becomes a character with more than just a few lines. Does he resent Godzilla? Or does he resent his father, too? Serizawa’s sacrifice was willing, after all. He was no accidental casualty. 

Part 1 ends in the Hollow Earth, with Ghidorah taking control of Mechagodzilla on the surface. Alter the timeline just enough so that Godzilla has only just arrived to Hong Kong, and Kong’s still in the Hollow Earth. The final scene is Mechagodzilla emerging into the city as the sun rises. The post-credits scene is our KotM cast in the Argo, location unknown, watching a screen with Mechagodzilla on it. 

Part 2 begins with a reveal: Ren Serizawa isn’t dead. 

Backtrack. This part focuses more on the Godzilla side, and Monarch. It’ll have flashback scenes from the five years between KotM and now, showing exactly why Monarch as a whole firmly believes Godzilla is reacting to something instead of being anti-human all of a sudden. The Titans are not inherently malicious; destruction is a side effect of their size, no more, no less. He earned his title of King in KotM—make it mean more than just trying to make Kong “bow.” Make him a protector, a guardian. He’s nature’s balance. By definition, he must protect humans as well. 

What Monarch needs to figure out is this: what is he trying to protect them from? 

They investigate Apex in search of the answer, but knowing from past experience the sort of things Godzilla gets proactive about—the MUTOs, Ghidorah—Monarch mobilizes. They prepare for another fight, at Mark’s instructions. He witnessed both San Francisco and Boston firsthand, even if the former was from a civilian standpoint. 

Godzilla has more hunt scenes. He targets a second Apex lab after his ocean fight with Kong, telling Monarch that they’re on the right track. 

Maddie, being a minor and not dragged into the thick of things (yet), has to stay home. Remembering the podcast she sometimes listened to, when the topic was focused on the Titans, she tracks Bernie down, and he tells her about what he saw: the eye. 

The two of them go to the ruined Apex building and discover the eye is gone before getting caught. With Monarch currently breathing down their necks, they recognize Maddie to be Mark’s daughter and take her to Hong Kong. Sorry, Bernie, but that’s mostly as far as you’re involved. Timeline-wise, this is roughly when Kong puts the axe in the temple floor and Godzilla blasts a hole to the center of the earth. Monarch is following Godzilla, but they’re behind a bit thanks to the tunnel shortcuts. They’re still unaware that Maddie has been kidnapped and is en route to Hong Kong.

This is also when Mechagodzilla gains a life of its own. Walter Simmons is killed and Ren Serizawa becomes trapped in the link to Mechagodzilla, serving as the bridge between the robot and Ghidorah’s mind. Ghidorah is essentially controlling MG by controlling Ren, who is controlling MG. Make sense? He’s the puppeteer’s puppeteer. 

We reverse some things. Godzilla fights MG first, gets beat around but not as much as in GvK because he isn’t fresh out of a different fight. Kong returns to the surface through the tunnel Godzilla created, having carried the one remaining HEAV out himself, because Nathan Lind has never flown one before and doesn’t know how they work. Kong wants to protect Jia, and Ilene Andrews and Nathan Lind are very lucky that Jia likes them. 

Mechagodzilla sees Kong and takes off, and Kong decides now would be a great time to fight Godzilla, who’s having a pretty bad day. Monarch arrives, and half of them split off to follow MG while the rest stay to try and deescalate the situation. Other than Godzilla faring slightly less well, the fight goes mostly the same as in the movie, except for one big difference: one of the Monarch crafts pick up Jia and Co, and she’s able to get Kong’s attention from the back of an Osprey well enough to tell him to stop fighting. There’s a bigger threat out there, and Godzilla definitely needs to be okay enough to fight it. Either they work together, or they reschedule. 

She’s very stern about it, and though no one’s really sure what the two Titans decide on, they stop fighting. They leave together to go after Mechagodzilla, who is currently being slowed down by Mothra, because she deserves to be in this movie. The other Titans basically hinder Mechagodzilla as much as possible as it rampages, telling Godzilla where it is. Monarch finally figures out that it’s heading for the nearest entrance to the Hollow Earth, right around when they also figure out that Ghidorah is involved. With Dr. Andrews and Nathan Lind’s input, they theorize it intends to take more of the power source down there to further strengthen it. 

They do their best to clear the cities in its path, evacuating as many people as possible. It’s all they can do. As in the past, they must trust Godzilla to do the heavy lifting. Around the same time, an assistant tells Mark that some guy named Bernie called and is asking for him. This is how he finds out Maddie was taken to Apex’s Hong Kong location.

Meanwhile, the Apex guards and Maddie finally arrive to find the facility abandoned and damaged, MG gone, and Simmons dead. The guards more or less split, leaving her there alone. Maddie, being Maddie, goes deeper until she finally discovers Ghidorah’s skull and Ren Serizawa inside, trapped in his own head with Ghidorah. It’s killing him. 

He’s aware enough to have a conversation with her. They argue about the Titans. He wants Godzilla destroyed out of anger over his father’s preference for Titans, rather than his own son. 

(“You’re not the only one with ghosts!” she yells at him. “You’re not the only one who resents a parent for putting Titans ahead of you when you needed them!” He chokes out, “I do not resent my father—” “Coulda fooled me. Why else would you be spitting on his sacrifice like this? Who are you trying to help, huh? All the other kids out there who are losing their moms and dads because you let Ghidorah out? Sorry, mister, but the last time someone did that, your dad paid the price.”) 

Ren is getting worse. He’s going to die if he stays in the link much longer, but he can’t disconnect. Maddie, looking around, gets to work on something. The camera slowly pans around to show that there’s a second pilot seat, back-to-back with Ren’s. It would allow for seamless switching between pilots without MG ever not having someone at the controls. 

Even with the other Titans’ help, Godzilla and Kong are unable to stop MG from going through the tunnel and into the Hollow Earth. Monarch is unable to follow, because of the gravity issue. They’re both tired from the journey and their fight, especially Godzilla. This is their last chance. If Mechagodzilla reaches the power source, it’s all over. 

The fight doesn’t go in their favor. They’re both bad at working together, so their attacks are uncoordinated at best, actively hindering each other at worst. Kong gets flung off a mountain and MG pins Godzilla. Even thought he caught himself, Kong isn’t going to make it up in time to help him. 

Maddie puts on an identical pilot setup, and with Ren’s instructions, switches the link over to herself, freeing Ren. He collapses forward, immediately falling unconscious from the release of the strain. Fighting past the pain and overwhelming presence suddenly in her head, Maddie does what she does best: she causes Ghidorah problems. 

She screams, and it echoes like a roar through his skull. 

In the Hollow Earth, Mechagodzilla stumbles. 

It’s the beginning of the end. She can’t control it or even really stop Ghidorah, but she gets in his way as much as possible, giving Godzilla and Kong the edge they need to finally get their act together and use some teamwork to take Mechagodzilla down. They destroy it and return to the surface before parting on amicable terms. 

After too long, Mark arrives at Apex with a whole team of people. Ren Serizawa is found comatose but alive, and he’s quickly removed for medical attention. Though Maddie’s also alive, there’s something else clearly wrong. She’s still wired into the piloting gear, stiff and unseeing, as if she’s frozen. Her eyes are open but distant, pupils virtually gone from how constricted they are, and her jaw hangs open slightly. Despite how tense her body is, she’s limp. Nothing they do wakes her up, even after getting her out of the skull. 

They wheel her out on a gurney to where a handful of Ospreys landed, but as they leave the building and step out onto the roof, they find Godzilla has returned. He watches them, and he’s exactly as aware as Mark remembers. 

(“She tried to help you,” Mark calls out to him. No one knows exactly what happened in the Hollow Earth, during the fight, but the scene in Ghidorah’s skull was telling. “No, she—she did help you!” For the second time in her life, Maddie put herself in Ghidorah’s path and, ultimately, won. Only this time, her victory came with a price.) 

Godzilla snorts before leaning over the roof’s railing, moving toward the gurney. The humans all back away, even Mark, though he doesn’t go far. Spines humming, eyes flaring blue, Godzilla rumbles deeply. 

On the gurney, Maddie stirs. 

Later, much later, after Maddie and Jia have met—heaven help everyone else, honestly—they sit together on the edge of a pier over the ocean, Jia leaning comfortably against Maddie. It’s quiet. They’re alone, watching the sunset. A heavy footfall behind them, the feel of the vibration trembling through the wood, makes them turn around. Half concealed in the brush at the edge of the island’s foliage, Kong stands, facing them. 

They both wave before standing. They sign goodbye to each other, then part ways. As Maddie walks away to a waiting Osprey, we see behind her as Kong crouches to allow Jia to climb into his palm before vanishing into the forest. 

The Osprey takes off over the calm ocean. It has a different design than most, with a large door set in the side instead of at the back, more like an ordinary helicopter. It’s open as they go, Maddie secure inside as she stares out. A smile spreads across her face as jagged spines slowly breach the ocean’s surface, easily keeping pace with the Osprey, which lowers to be closer to the water.

For just a moment, in the fading light, Maddie’s eyes almost shine blue. The screen goes black to the sound of Godzilla’s roar.

[egyptian-sun-god]

Never Have I ever S2

SPOILERS.....Turn back now I’m serious.

I’m waiting....

Okay cool your fault at this point

I was fairly critical of NHIE S1, I won’t lie. And I’ll be real I still stand by the fact that NHIE S1 was fairly meh overall. 

But holy shit, they knocked this season outta the world man. The show really really found its proper footing this season. They were smart to keep the cheating for only two episodes and explore the repercussion for the other 8. 

1.Devi Vishwakumar.

Let’s start with the main character.  Devi still does immensely fucked up shit this season. Dating two boys and have them find out in the MOST humiliating way possible. Yikes. Being a really sucky friend to Aneesa and starting that rumour about her (inadvertently) and pretending to her. Stalking her mother and being possessive of her. The really awful apology that was pretty self centred, a bit not good. 

 But she really does do her best to improve and I am SO proud of that. She uses her father’s advice and apologizes better to Aneesa, she actually handled the Ben and Aneesa dating WAAAAY better than I’ve seen some people handle things like that. I might’ve blown a fuse if two of my friends had 4 tickle fights and had major PDA sessions when we were trying to do a group project. Like she handled that shit fairly well all things considered. Devi actually gets into the beginnings of delving into her trauma and her temporary paralysis and healing from it. I

 really see how the label ‘crazy’ weighs on her and how she blew up with it and the message of destigmatizing mental illness. (Crazy Aneesa and Crazy Devi)  Her properly bonding with her mother and watching videos of her father and remembering/honouring his memory hit REALLY HARD (since I lost many people in my family recently and that fear of forgetting them has been real). Devi is actually beginning to heal from the loss of her father by strengthening the relationship with her Amma. And the slap from Paati was so so needed, it really gave her a better respect of her mother and fixed the problem I had with Devi mouthing off so much to her Amma. I live to see good maamiyar marumagal relationships. Her relationship with Paxton is really good and it gets developed very logically and having her be scared of being pathetic but in the end she accepted her own self worth and stopped chasing after them which was good. 

Overall Devi really blossomed into her own developing person and I actually like her so much more this season. 

2. Paxton Hall Yoshida

I was honestly, like genuinely sad last season he was like 80% eye candy with not much else going for him. Paxton had so much faith as a character and Ms Kaling has really pulled him into such a better person this season. 

Paxton got hit by a car before swim season, lost his ticket to college and wow, got two timed by a girl he liked all in two episodes. If he was salty about that for more than one season I would’ve completely accepted it. Cause that’s a bad public humiliation. 

Paxton episode really really made me love him as a character (honestly more so than Ben) I think because I heard Paxton’s entire worry and irritation that he was being underestimated and no one really expected him to go to college from a friend of mine not more than a month ago. That shit is real, and it hurted my friends a lot that people were really underestimating them and just seeing them as a dumb athlete who has no hope of college. It’s really nice to see Paxton actually want to go to college and learn Japanese American side with his Oji-chan giving him advice and supporting him. And him bringing his grandfather to speak about the internment camps, that seriously do not get spoken about enough.

Also him putting effort and making a genuine effort to work hard and bring up his grades with Devi and therefore bonding with her was really nice to see. I wouldn’t mind them being endgame but Devi does really work a lot better as his pushy Indian mom/best friend/tutor.  And Devi getting mad at him for him expecting him to hold his hand throughout really hit well. Was it deserved yeah. But Devi also did blow him off after promising him to study so his anger is justified there. I’m just kinda vibing with Paxton like coming up and taking a better interest in school and being a full 3D character. And that one scene where he gives the extra credit presentation and Trent high fives the man. Classic. 

Can I also just say, it’s kinda valid that Paxton didn’t want to date her in public. Is it a dick move...yeah? But he’s within his rights to ask and she’s within her rights to deny. And he didn’t press her once she said no, he went along with it. And what Devi pulled on him is awful, and speaking as someone who’s seen popular kid cliques. Reputation really is important. Like what Devi did made Paxton lose face, if he gets back with Devi he ain’t gonna have any respect left in him. And Paxton was pretty right in deciding to not date her publicly, like even in the end he knows that his reputation is shot for what he did. Do we even know if Paxton has friends that aren’t fixated on his social status? Because becoming a social pariah without having any support of friends is gonna hurt like a bitch. Lord knows how Paxton gonna deal with it. I think Trent might be his only homie after the social downfall he will inevitably face. 

I’m just gonna say, Paxton is my favourite now and I’m really rooting for him. Something I decidedly did not do last season. I’m happy Ms Kaling developed him so much and got me interested. 

3. Ben Gross

Ah. Ben. Ben’s not my faaavouriteee.......like he’s fine. But I don’t love him. I can definitely see him and Devi becoming an almost endgame couple though. Especially with S2 ending. 

Ben is fine and he’s pretty developed, especially with his episode in S1 and it was good he took a backseat this season and let everyone else star. I feel like he’ll come back strong next season though. 

Personally do I ship him with Devi? No. I’ve been in a friendship with the similar competitive dynamic as Ben and Devi. And it was terrible. We loved to argue and we got each other’s super brainy side as Devi puts it. But we pushed each other faar too much and even the small things became arguments and each pthers achievements became jealousy. So yeah....I don’t have too much faith in the dynamic due to personal bias, but I’d love to see how it gets handled. 

Also my brother Ben, PDA is a thing and it is common courtesy to refrain from it. Man’s really going at it with Aneesa half the time. But also the moment where Aneesa sort of choked on the presentation and Ben’s irritation at it gave me BAAAD vibes. It feels like while Devi can match him, they might push each other too far, 

4. Kamala 

I LOVE KAMALA. Girl is an ENTIRE vibe. My sweetheart, love of my life. I could go on. I really like her development as well and the banter between her and Nalini. The part where Nalini practically said she looked like a call girl and she was like ippadi potathaan velaila mariyaatha kidaikum. I legit had to pause, scream in laughter for a good few seconds. 

They had such a good story with her and wanting to fight against the fact that they took her work and didn’t credit her and everyone was telling her to like take it bowing. Prasanth’s advice unfortunately checked out to me, because I’ve been told that all my life. My dad says it a lot and I know he doesn’t say it cause’ he doesn’t believe in me, but he loves me and wants my life to be easier and for me to succeed and his experience is that he’s had to deal with things like this and fighting won’t help. So yeah, what Prasanth said did not rub me the wrong way at all and I agreed with it and I’m fairly disappointed about that. I get that she got nervous and had cold feet about marriage but I do hope she and Prasanth can work this out through communication. Because I really don’t feel like Prasanth is the bad guy here. It’s just a miscommunication. 

So yeah, a LOT of Kamala’s storyline continues to really hit me hard. 

5. Nalini Vishwakumar

Nalini really had so much more screentime to blossom. I love that she has a good relationship with Mohan’s amma. It’s wonderful and I love it. Also I was shocked to see the house in Chennai. Like this house...in Chennai. The Chennai I’m used to and the Chennai they are used to are different Chennai’s. Basically wealth gap is crazy as hell and I was lowkey highkey confused if the actually shot this shit in Chennai. But props to the directors for putting some proper Tamil vibes in there. Like the scene where they kaala thottu kumbudurathu (touch the elder’s feet) before they leave for the US is so real and so vibes. I like that they decided to bring paati back. I was like hoping for it.

Also they really went at developing Nalini’s character as a workaholic mom who doesn’t get her daughter. That’s also a really common thing in Indian households with one working parent so I’m happy they portrayed that. I’m happy Nalini actually has a life outside her family portrayed and is still such a typical mother that it hits HARD. I love Nalini and she really developed as a character dealing with grief from Mohan’s death, the wish to move on with Dr.Jackson but knowing that she isn’t ready yet. 

They gave her character a life and proper working outside Devi and it really has shown to develop her character and impact her relationship with Devi. The advice to “just say yes” works with cousins and younger siblings as well, I’ve heard it before and used it..and it saves so much time. Especially with small children. 

(A memory I have is of my younger cousin going on and on about a princess and a castle and fighting a dragon and the witches and so much fantasy shit and ended with do you wanna come? I just clocked off my CCA’s and I had no energy left to question it so I just went yeah sure. Easiest decision, and 10/10 advice. )

6. Aneesa

I’m not gonna lie. I was skeptical of Aneesa and I didn’t like how Devi saw her in the trailer. But Aneesa reminds me so much of me....and its killing me. 

Also the scene where she charms the hell out of Nalini and paati ma has literally happened to me before. Most of my Indian friends hate it..because I was raised with a lot more traditional manners with my grandparents so me and my siblings all are old fashioned which parents LOVE. And I really saw that Aneesa charming them and Devi also realizing, Damn none of my friends actually treat my family the way they should be treated, perks of having an Indian friend. 

Also the scene where she gets Devi out of trouble is so so real. Because if you have one responsible friend that you parents trust, you could lie the hell to them, get you homie to back you up and it will work. Personal experience. So yeah, Aneesa character resonated with me a lot.

I also like that she wasn’t just a popular 1D Indian girl but she was genuinely cool and actually had proper issues and development where she gets more open to Sherman Oaks and actually kinda properly rebels against Noor, with having Ben as a boyfriend. 

I feel like Aneesa has a lot more potential for growth, especially with the relationship with Ms Noor and Aneesa acting as a foil to Nalini and Devi’s. Also, I feel like Aneesa can grow within her social status at school as well and have Devi maturely handle it. Aneesa I feel will really really challenge Devi’s ability to be mature. 

7. Eleanor and Fabiola’s plotlines

Okay like actually, major props to Ms Kaling man. This show touches so so many teen issues in one goddamn show. Emotionally manipulative relationships. So SO good. A lot of newer age relationships have a much more subtle and dangerous line of abuse that’s hard to find out. Like honestly it took me a while to see it as well and I realized oh fuck. oh fuck...I see it it’s bad. They really got the essence of Eleanor’s flamboyance matching with Malcom? (is it Malcolm..fuck it it’s Malcolm now) his “suaveness” and traditionally charming tendency. It made sense and it’s very realistic how Eleanor got played like a damn fiddle. I also again feel that the make up was faar to quick but I really appreciate that Eleanor got her own storyline with her step-mom and understanding of relationships instead of the show hyperfocusing on just Devi. I respect that a lot.  Petition to get a Eleanor narration episode. 

Fabiola’s storyline also was well taken. It’s an interesting added layer to the queer experience and how queerness can be expected to be performative and but really its all about being more of yourself. The idea that queer people don’t owe nobody anything or have to perform an ideal version of queerness and Fabiola struggling with that kinda hit. The part where they talked about her mother learning to support them and being Cricket? Queen/King. Like being trailblazers for the POC community and the LGBTQ+ community having overlapping struggles. Again, I liked that Fabiola was getting more personal screentime and less of her story revolving around Devi’s. 

8. Everything else

I liked that there was more Tamil being casually thrown around. Like the Kamala vaadi to hold the suitcase down as they zipped it together was funny and relatable. The accents were really interesting because I promise you, I had no clue what they were saying sometimes. Nalini’s dialogues in Tamil were like immensely difficult to understand, and my Tamil is fluent. This isn’t a criticism... I’m fairly certain the difference is to do with the regional difference. American Tamil and Malaysian + rural Tamil slang are going to have huge accent differences so there’s no surprise that I found Nalini’s Tamil hard to understand. 

I’m really really really meh about the Kamala and Manish/Mr Kulkarni thing. I still think she should sort it out with Prasanth maybe but I’m open to seeing where it goes. I might change my mind with it. 

This show like any other show had its highs and lows. But I really really do feel that NHIE season 2 managed to truly figure out what the hell it wants to do and developed into a very strong and very entertaining show in terms of representation and diversity. I’m looking forward to season 3.