#just you can't have a good character death that only half of the audience even believes happened after sitting on it for ten months

[thousandyearphantombunker]

Unlike Namaari King Magnifico deserved redemption. He might have been narcissistic and a bit of a control freak but he also felt like he was burnt out and underappreciated/misunderstood (imagine hearing "why can't you grant my wish please help me!' and being unable to explain yourself without breaking that person's heart- the frustration irritation and guilt from those reactions would kill me) and people want to help him for selfish reasons. Imagine meeting someone you think could lighten your load of work and become a friend or confidant only for them to tell you they're helping solely for selfish reasons. That's crushing. and he's not wrong that granting everyone's wish is a bad idea- why waste a wish on becoming a talented pianist if you could just practice on your own and get good? Why ask for a wish to become a doctor when you could just study and become one on your own? Are the people here that lazy? What moral questions would you have to face if someone asks for their child's disability to be cured or for them to have their lover return their affections or if they ask to be eternally happy or get rid of bad but needed realities like death? What ills could those wishes cause (this is giving me flashbacks to the 'board of governors' song from Jekyll and Hyde - very important good questions that got ignored by the protagonist but atleast Jekyll faced actual consequences for being a dumb ass and not answering them) And then there are wishes that are outright dangerous- ill intent unto others.

King Magnifico isn't evil he was under stupid amounts of pressure from his duties to his kingdom, his duties as a wizard who had to contend with these questions and all the work he had to do- on top of all that he has trauma specifically related to this stuff. He's got a thankless shitty job but still pushes through until he can't anymore. He was being selfless until the stupid plot picked up and he had his PTSD triggered and out of fear (which the audience sympathized with for obvious reasons) and after the whole book thing he was possessed and didn't have control over his actions. He deserved some consequences for picking up the book but nothing as harsh as the mirror imprisonment. He deserved to have people point out his fears were valid and that granting everyone's wish isn't a good idea and in some cases it's not even his responsibility. Sometimes you have to make your wish come true on your own and ask yourself the heavy questions- he deserved to be portrayed as sympathetic- He's like genie from Aladdin shackled down by his powers and that he was handling that work load alone with zero thanks and all the frustration of people depending on him more! He wasn't planning to do bad the whole movie! The worst thing he did was open an evil book when the pressure finally got to him

the movie should have let him be right in some aspects "okay maybe granting everyone's wish is bad, and maybe we should appreciate your work more but the only way for us to stop relying on you is if you let us grant our wishes on our own, even if you think it'll hurt" and having Asha, her friends and his wife take on more responsibilities. Maybe he has to share half of his magic with them and it weakens him and he's no longer the sole ruler and basically having him have to confront being a control freak. Having to trust others with his power and chill out. Him and Asha having to let others be disappointed angry and ungrateful and not let it bother them but also having to check themselves and their sense of superiority and Magnifico again would have to check if he was being too harsh etc.

King Magnifico wasn't evil. He's was right that granting everyone's wish is bad and dumb. he was in the right. The story should have shown that he was in the right without making him the good guy and had Asha be an actual character with an arc but instead of actually writing that story Disney decided to make him pure evil out of nowhere so you wouldn't think about how terrible the moral was (which would still earn my ire but I digress) but the thing is Magnifico became evil cause he was possessed- so while not totally innocent it instead emphasized the bigger problem with the movie

He genuinely is selfless and because of his trauma believes what he's doing is right- that can work for a villain but you have to be a real good writer to make it work- you have to make his actions more irrational and selfish and cruel inorder for people to recognize him as a villain (as a rule of thumb if your villain isn't doing something irrationally cruel and is fully in the right then you probably fucked up. If your writing a well intentioned extremist- you either have to make their methods insane or their motive- selfless but irrational or something- something has to be wrong with their mindset or rationale and something definitely has to be wrong with their actions) but clearly the writers can't pull that shit off. They made him completely rational and sympathetic on top of it all

And again he was possessed.

He did nothing wrong prior to that.

Not every villain has to be redeemed and have a son story attached. But for fucks sake if anyone deserves better it's him. The problem isn't that every villain is redeemed the problem is that the villains who get redeemed/get to be sympathetic anti heros don't deserve it and the baddies who do deserve better get treated like garbo

I just watched Wish (2023) and it made me realize something kind of sad about Disney’s treatment of villains.

So Disney has a long history of villainy from the OG Evil Queen who is willing to murder a girl just for being pretty to the misguided like Auto thinking he’s protecting humanity in Wall-E. They are mean, jealous, prideful, vain, and many relish in just being the worst of the worst. However every now and then we get a glimpse of more complexity. Zootopia’s Bellwether dealing with years of racism and mistreatment, Gantu trying to stop what he thinks is a monster in Lilo and Stitch, Up’s Muntz being a heroic explorer before paranoia consumed him, etc. The thing that makes me sad about these villains is that not one of them has ever had a chance at redemption or change in Disney’s eyes and nowhere is that sadder to me than their latest villain, King Magnifico.

(Spoilers below)

King Magnifico is the magical founder of a utopian society that accepts people of all races, religions, and backgrounds. Who created this wonderful place after what is heavily implied to be a violent invasion destroyed his homeland when he was but a child. This past trauma led him to study magic and become a powerful sorcerer so that nothing could hurt him or the people he cared about ever again. His magic is a protection that he extends to all who choose to live in the city. The city is vibrant with a colorful community full of artisans, musicians, and dancers. He takes no taxes from them, but does take their one true wish upon joining this society.

When given these wishes it is understood that he will ensure their safety and possibly grant them one day. Something important to note about the physical manifestations of the wishes is that they give off a warm and comforting aura as they represent some of the purest parts of a person’s soul. Magnifico has been surrounding himself with this magical comfort for a very very long time by himself and I don’t think it’s unfair to say he has become addicted to their presence. The wishes are giving him a magical comfort through the kind souls within them, a feeling he could’ve probably also gotten if he had spent more time with his people.

It doesn’t look like he ever really got the chance to commune with his people properly because somehow the society kicked off on his wish granting abilities. People had to give him their wishes if they wanted them granted and eventually the ones that he couldn’t grant in good conscience or out of fear started adding up so he began locking them away. Keeping them safe so no harm came to the people. The rare occasions that anyone else interacts with these wishes is during wish granting ceremonies that the people are borderline rabid for. With good reason, it is their souls they’re thirsting for after all even if they don’t really know it.

However, Magnifico clearly doesn’t see it that way. He sees it as he’s given these people a wonderful safe haven from the horrors of the outside world where they can be whoever they want to be, do what they want to do, make what they want to make, and still all they see in him is a tool to fastpass to something else they want even more than the peace he’s given them.

This is clearly shown early on, before any of his evil behavior starts to take root, in relation to his assistants. We get a expo dump after the first song telling us that Asha wants to become one of his assistant to increase the odds of her grandfather’s wish being granted as there is a correlation between past assistants and having wishes granted. Something important here is that there have clearly been many assistants, suggesting that it’s a revolving door position without really explaining why. Who would want to keep finding assistants over and over again, when really you should find someone who could do the job long term right? Well we get to find out the likely reason when Asha steps up for the role.

When Asha comes to interview for his assistant position he sees she is nervous, he tries to calm her down, and he even manages to relate to her through fond memories of her kindly father who he clearly knew. After seeing her true resolve to do good he decides to trust her with something few people in the entire kingdom get to see, the vault of wishes. To which Asha doesn’t even hesitate to ask, after politely being told not to prior, if he’ll grant her grandfather’s wish.

Magnifico is blatantly stricken by her request, sadly remarking that most people at least wait a few months before doing so a.k.a pretend to be interested in helping him rather than trying to use him to grant a wish. This is likely why the assistant job is a revolving door. Magnifico tries to find someone who he thinks will truly and selflessly fulfill the role only to discover time and again that people are just using it to get direct access to him to ask for a wish. Then he can’t trust their true intentions anymore and moves them along.

After Asha makes her request he does take the time to look at her grandfather’s wish but dismisses it as too dangerous because it is the vague desire to inspire the next generation. Clearly we as the audience know that her grandfather means to inspire them to do good, but we have to remember Magnifico has seen the worst of society. He has seen the darkest wishes and desires of mankind and survived them. He brushes Asha off telling her she’s too young to understand, which is honestly true. She’s lived her entire life cloistered in peace and comfort thanks to him and the rules he has made. She has never had to know war, strife, or hardship thanks to him, yet she doubts his decision without understanding the trauma that guides it. This is what I believe pushes Magnifico into his villain arc, something that I don’t think we’ve ever really witnessed in a Disney movie.

Usually a villain already is the villain by the time the film rolls around, even the twist villains. Lotso had already been deliberately sentencing other toys to torture. Prince Hans was already planning to murder his way to a throne. Evelyn was already plotting her revenge. Magnifico wasn’t though. He was the hero. He had saved his wife and a whole city’s worth of people from whatever drove them from the mainlands. He wasn’t physically abusing/mistreating people like Gaston even if he was vainly basking in their adoration.

When Asha pushes him on the wishes he pulls back from her, identifying her in his mind as a threat and treats her as one. He dismisses her and tells her that her family’s wishes will never be granted by him, but he will still keep them safe as he has been doing. Essentially meaning nothing will change for her from what it has been. You know a happy loving existence of complete acceptance and wholesome family life or as Asha interprets it, a fate worse than death.

His interaction with Asha triggers him, as she’s pushed at the flaws in his reasoning for holding onto the wishes. The flaws are true, but his mind is clouded by fear of a lack of control, likely stemming from the horrors he witnessed in his childhood when he had no control. He also likely has a bit of an addiction to the warm fuzzies that the wishes give on top of his fears. While he’s ruminating on that some massive wave of magic blows through the kingdom and messes with the thing he’s already stressed beyond reason about, the wishes.

Magnifico frantically searches for any answer, even considering a dangerous tome of forbidden magic that he knows is trouble before his wife manages to talk him down.

The fact that he could even be talked down rather than ignoring her outright shows that Magnifico does have good in him. He’s just reacting out of a genuine panic. His panic is only worsened by huge mob continuing to beg him for wishes in exchange for doing what should be the selfless act of defending their kingdom from what is essentially perceived as an attack. Not having any faith left in his people he turns back to the evil book to give him the key to stopping this perceived attack.

Just to be clear King Magnifico goes to the big bad evil book not to gain more power for funsies, but to try to find a way to stop a perceived threat. Everything he does from this point on, such as threatening his wife, can no longer be fairly tied to him, because as the movie repeatedly tells us he is under the EVIL book’s influence. His wife even looks through the same book to try and see if there is a way to break the sway she knows it has over him, but says she can’t because the EVIL book said no.

Yada yada yada and Magnifico is sealed inside a magic mirror and smugly told to rot in the dungeon by his previously loving wife.

Seriously?! What the heck?! This guy was the perfect candidate for rehabilitation. He wasn’t flawless, but he wasn’t a murderous psycho like most of the other Disney villains. Disney loves to preach kindness, acceptance, and good will with their heroes, but never does it allow the message of change.

I was shocked going back through the catalogue and slowly realizing none of their villains, regardless of how tragic their origins are, are ever truly allowed a second chance. The hero may offer it, but the baddy never is truly expected to change or reform. Which is honestly super messed up to me. People make mistakes. Some can be small/insignificant, but some are big and do hurt people sometimes. That doesn’t mean they can’t change for the better.

Now I’m not saying every villain is redeemable or good, it’s just a bit surprising that for all the messages of kindness and acceptance we haven’t really gotten forgiveness in 100 years. Seeing the “bad guy’s punishment” just deeply bothered me this time. Probably because so much of the bad that Magnifico does is clearly a trauma response and as a punishment for not acting appropriately to said response he gets sentenced to eternity is magical cell.

[eriexplosion]

The thing about Tech's fall is that I've seen about 3 dozen polls over the past year on if people think he's Alive or not and the absolute highest I have ever seen the "dead" option get was a straight 50/50 on a site where the majority of people actively wanted him to be dead for Stakes. Most of them though only range from 20-30% thinking he's gone.

So the elephant in the room is that if he is dead then it's bad writing. Not because you can't kill characters but because if you do kill one and cannot convince more than half your audience that he's actually dead then however sad and well executed the scene might be in isolation, you wrote a bad character death. Whether it didn't follow from the plot or it wasn't written in a believable way, or any other reason that people might not believe it, you cannot have a well written character death that can't convince a majority of the audience that it's real.

And I just don't think they're that bad at writing! I don't think they'd be so lazy with the first major character death that they fail to make it feel final and believable! Tech is as beloved by the writers as he is by us, that much is clear, and I think that if he was dead his death would get the attention it deserved rather than happening and then never getting properly addressed for the rest of the episode because too much is happening at once. And I think that if he was dead, they'd have made it completely clear from the jump that he was.

[cursedvida]

It's really crazy to me to see the hate Mae gets, like I was reading some reviews and I can understand not liking a character but as soon as they start with the name calling their opinion is invalid to me because they have no reason to be calling her a bitch, among other things, like it just reeks of mysogyny, (it's like they just want an excuse to call women names) and seeing it coming from other girls makes it worse like..

"Oh the girl was such a bitch why did she do that 🙄" ..is it really that hard to think for a moment about the circumstances in which mae was raised?? Do they need it spell it out for them?? Like, c'mon guys do you really think that the people trapped in a bunker for generations have anything nice to teach/say about the apes?? Wes Ball please give us Mae's backstory in the sequel!! Your audience needs it bc they are out there calling Mae the real villain and saying Proximus was right 💀 (when he was literally everything Caesar hated in an ape)

Look, I'm usually a polite person when expressing my opinions, but I'm fed up with the hate towards Mae, basically because the arguments people give seem incredibly basic to me, typical of people with little to no understanding. Sometimes I doubt if these people have watched the same movie as me or maybe they have some sort of cognitive dissonance, but seriously, I find them ridiculous. Either that, or they are basically the typical comments from misogynistic guys or women with internalized misogyny who can't stand morally gray and questionable female characters.

And well, having said that, I'm going to present my doctoral thesis on this topic:

One of the things I've seen the most is people saying that Mae is evil, the true villain, or an ungrateful traitor to Noa. This argument seems quite incomprehensible to me because, even though we don't have much data about her, I believe there's something very important that explains why she acts as she does: the Proximus apes killed the people in her group, including her mother. I mean: her damn mother. If we add to that the UNDERSTANDING (I mean, you have to be very short-minded not to assume something so obvious) that she has been raised in an environment where they've probably told her all her life that the apes are the reason for all the evils of humanity and the main reason why humans live in shitty conditions, I think anyone with half a brain has enough information to understand why she does what she does.

Yes, Noa is a good guy, but he's not helping her. Noa and Mae have a common goal and decide to ally themselves momentarily to achieve that goal, which is to reach Proximus. As much as they've formed a bond throughout the story, it's not yet strong enough for Mae to set aside what she has worked for so hard. Mae not only bears the weight of humanity on her shoulders but also emotionally carries the idea that she, as the sole survivor of her group, must complete the mission at all costs. Are those who criticize her telling me that if they truly thought that with certain actions they could not only save their species but also honor their loved ones who have been killed infront their eyes, they wouldn't do them? And that they wouldn't do them for someone they've just met, no matter how much they like them? That's just not realistic, it makes no sense. We would all do the same as Mae in her situation. I mean, I have no doubts.

Another thing I love is when they say she's the "true villain" as if it weren't clear enough that she feels bad every time since she forms a bond with Raka and Noa when she does something that she knows may harm them. She feels pain for Raka's death and clearly, you can also see the conflict and remorse when she detonates the bomb. It's not something she enjoys doing, but she HAS to do it. In the final scene, even though she's carrying a gun, you can also clearly see her in conflict with herself. Clearly, she doesn't want to kill him. Clearly, she has nothing against Noa, and this is evident when she finally accepts the necklace and they even shake hands. You can't tell me that's the attitude of a villain, narratively it's not presented as such, and seeing it that way is to have understood nothing.

Mae is a complex character whose life is based on survival, she's no different from the characters we're used to loving and idolizing in other post-apocalyptic series, the difference here for me is that she's human and humans have to be bad by default and also that she's a woman. Because female characters always have to be the support, the romantic interest, or the unconditional friends of heroic male characters, and Mae is none of that. Mae is a character with her own story and ambitions that go beyond Noa's plot. Mae has her own plot, and it seems that's something that bothers people a lot.

I'm sorry, but the hate towards Mae seems very similar to the one people had for Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, which basically stemmed from people being misogynistic and hating complex and imperfect female characters, combined with how much they hate seeing protagonist characters with such human and real characteristics that they can't bear the idea of seeing themselves reflected in them.

But hey, for Sansa Stark, I would have killed, and now for Mae too. Mae haters basically DNI

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

10 Jikook Fanfictions Part 1

I said I'd make a list before the end of the year and I kept my promise. Now, it's difficult to choose, especially when I have more than 300 bookmarks and unfortunately I also started doing that some year and a half ago. Safe to say, there's probably plenty of good fics I read that are now lost. Anyway, enough with the boring chit chat, here's 10 random jikook fics in no particular order and most likely, several other parts will follow, probably next year 😉

1. Dead in the Water

It's been a couple of years since I read this and honestly, I barely remember much, but what I do know it's that it had an impact on me. Usually fics that have death as a central theme end up resonating with me, but perhaps it's because I've always been attracted to more darker fiction. This one is gritty and there's a lot of pain and I must have cried a lot (those tend to stick in my head)

2. we're holding hands beneath the silver screen

I think this story is taking place in the 90s (you'll see that a lot of the fics I recommend are taking place in the past). I think I ended up reading everything ChimneyCricket wrote, but this one remained a favorite. Coming of age during a summer in Jeju in the 90s. Apart from the theme, it's the writing that made me stick with it.

I'm not the biggest fan of young adult stories. Or better yet, it's not something that I'd go to as a preference. When I do, it's more of an indulgence and thankfully, I found some writers (like this one) who can do a really good job with the genre.

3. Stockwell

Another writer that I've become a big fan of after reading one fic of theirs. And I think it might have been Stockwell that did it for me. I like that it's fanfiction with adult themes for an adult audience. And I also resonate with a lot of the cultural references and themes. I will also admit that this fic leaning into the enemies to lovers trope was a selling point because I'm a sucker for it. I can't help myself.

4. Burn for You

This is a complete self indulgence for me and I embrace it. Just like watching Bridgerton is a guilty pleasure for which I don't actually feel guilty (and the inspo for this fic). This story has everything and I must say the combination of lust, fear of revealing feelings, rumors, proper behavior and hidden romance is a lethal combination!

5. Light of a century

I might have recommended this story before, but it being inspired by Up on Poppy Hill is not just due to the plot, but the writing is able to evoke that studio Ghibli mood. This fic is to be read on a hot weekend afternoon.

6. Map of the Soul

This might be one of the most complex fanfictions I read due to the amount of research needed, but also in the depiction of political contexts and identity politics. Most of all, I like it because as much as relationships are a vital part of the story, there is an entire world surrounding the main characters. Events and other people that have also room to develop and not just remain props that advance the story.

7. Proceed with Caution

I don't know what snatchim did with this fic, but it's the only one I ever reread multiple times and I'll probably do it again in the future. I don't even reread books from my library, let alone fanfics. But Proceed with Caution did it for me. Perhaps it's because of the process of Jungkook inevitably falling for Jimin and even though it's a bad thing considering the context, it's so good. Maybe it's the image of Jimin with a bellybutton ring or maybe because the picture of hot Californian days in the 70s is so vivid, it feels like a nostalgic Paul Thomas Anderson movie.

8. Dishwater World They Said Was Lemonade

The description does not do this story justice because it's so much more than that. It's a canon compliant thriller with really complicated and complex characters and once again, a story meant for adults who understand that it's fiction. Unfortunately, judging by the comment section, a lot of people cannot distinguish betweem real people and characters. For those of you who might be fans of Korean thrillers, this story might be the one for you. It's also one of my favorite jikook fics as well.

9. souvlaki

Need I say more, considering the description? This is a self indulgence as well, but of a different kind. If I happily read tropey fics, I also like the ones that can sound like a uni course. Set during the 1997 FMI crisis in SK, any reader will get familiar with a socioeconomic and political perspective of that time through the eyes of the main characters. If you're only looking for romance, this one is not for you.

10. you wouldn't remember

I think littleflumes might be currently my favorite writer of canon compliant jikook. I think the author really captured their dynamic in its essence and the room left for fiction perfectly fills in the holes left in the last 2 years and up until the present. But what did it for me, not only with this story, but the others in the series as well, is that it's concentrated almost entirely on the two main characters, almost living in a bubble of their own in which their relationship can be explored.

[bonefall]

Now we've got all six of em, can I just say that CRIPES ALMIGHTY the titles for a starless clan suck major ass! Both separately AND as a group!!

I Do Not Rewrite Arcs Until They Are Done BUT DO YOU WANNA HEAR MY WIP RENAMES SO FAR

Remember: Don't get too attached yet, the only one I can say with certainty will show up somewhere is the title of Book 4.

ARC RENAME: A Starless Clan -> A Prayer Unanswered

The original name is really good but I'm getting a vibe that the theme of the rework is going to be... when love isn't enough.

It's about how some things can't get better. It's about how all the kindness in the world couldn't get Bramblestar to turn around as a leader. It's about how Heartstar might have had good intentions, but occupation never works out in the end. It's Nightheart's relationship to his family being salvageable, not because they don't all want to fix it, but because his life has worked out best with distance from them.

So, Prayers Unanswered is both about the religious part of how RiverClan doesn't have a leader and can't get in proper touch with StarClan, but it's also about every other wish that hasn't come true.

River -> Starcrossed One of the VERY large changes I'm considering is actually massively reducing Nightheart's POV. I'm thinking of doing this, not because I dislike him, but because I think it might actually be a better story if the audience is guessing as to his intentions just as much as the other characters are. So, until he's ACTUALLY needed later, his chapters are short and sparse. So Starcrossed would be about setting up the troubles of the Clans, especially the parts of the conflicts I want to highlight more in BB. It would be setting up the rule changes for "starcrossed lovers" (lmao) but also the brewing anger that the cats have towards code changes... and StarClan, if I do decide to keep the newest revelations and work them in better, in hindsight.

Sky -> Fracture There's a phrase in my head that is so interesting to me that I need to do something with it. "Only frozen water can fracture." I want to make the RiverClan situation worse than in-canon. First of all, there's going to be identifiable groups this time which begin to scramble for power. Instead of having the cats just... forget how to do the chores they've done their whole lives, the Clan is splitting up into factions. This is why they won't be able to win against Heartstar later, when she decides to take drastic measures. They're not fighting like a Clan; they're fighting like a bunch of disorganized teams. There should also be a bunch of needless injuries, maybe even a border aggression that lead to a death, before Heartstar barges in. I also want to make this a bigger part of the story, Erins willing. Too much time was spent on the Catnip Patrol, imo, we're going to have ANOTHER big trip and I don't want this one to eat up so much time. Rowankit is also still going to die; and maybe a couple of elders around the Lake too.

Shadow -> Snakes and Turnclaws Berryheart's hate movement has been too tame, from canon books 1 - 4 as of the time of writing. It's ridiculous that they haven't even injured anyone in the Battle Cat series. I saved Antfur from the previous arc so that she can die here. We've been seeing the Anti-Turnclaw movement rise from the first book, so now with Nightheart's boldness leading him to a place where he will be unsafe, we need to see his rusty butt in actual danger. I'm even thinking that, instead of Nightheart failing his task on purpose, Sunbeam makes him fail by stopping him from getting killed. I need to know the ending of ASC first though, because I MIGHT be having Berryheart getting her exile here. Whatever kills Antfur is either deniable enough that she's able to squeak by while Sunbeam quietly leaves (refusing to accuse her mother of anything publicly) OR it's so obvious that Heartstar casts her out on the spot. Meanwhile, we see the OTHER half of ShadowClan's conflict as RiverClan finally unites... against them, as their common enemy. Task failed successfully, Heartsy

Thunder -> The Source of the River I'm still unspeakably proud of this outline. There's so much I want to do here. She's going to come back with a DND party and I'm hoping that all of them end up in RiverClan with her; INCLUDING Nightheart. I want the fact that he accompanied Frostpaw to actually be the final straw for him. While he's away, Sunbeam is acclimating to ThunderClan and falling in love with her new home. There are parts she misses about ShadowClan, but as she's adopted by Sparkpelt, taken as a secondary apprentice by the deputy, smiled upon by Squirrelstar after she pressures Bramblestar to abdicate... this starts to feel like this is where she belongs. And that's too hard for Nightheart to ever come back to. "You come to the source of the river, and are vexed that you do not find the water that is flowing downstream" dude.... man. That's what BB's about. Change. I also really want Nightheart to choose HIS OWN NAME by the end of this series-- so at some point in this book he should finally admit "Nightheart" wasn't his choice either. (I'm thinking Deltastep. Because his journey with Frostpaw begins at the southern delta of my reworked map.)

And I haven't done them for Book 5 or Book 6 yet, especially since I might end up condensing them or chopping them up to put into the other books.

I do know I'm really love to play with the idea of a starless sky for one of the last books though, I may or may not keep Splashtail's lack of faith in StarClan (hate the Evil Atheist thing they keep doing), but the idea of a "Pitch-Black Star" absolute fucks as symbolism, ngl. Maybe something like "A Gap in the Stars" or "Constellation's Void" or "The Stolen Star"

Also also also I'm having Curlfeather come back as a Dark Forest Demon for at LEAST one scene.

I don't give a good goddamn if they don't go to the Dark Forest or not. ONE weird coincidence that could totally have been Just Good Luck but was actually Curlfeather. Let Her Drown Splashtail, she deserves it. Let her be a malevolent spirit who protects her baby. RiverClan can whine all it wants about Mothwing who ooo doesn't believe in God, Frostpaw's got a demon. Cry about it

Also I hope Frostpaw becomes leader because I'll make it go hard

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Your opinion in these takes about Katara? They're quite long, so don't read if you don't want.

https://www.tumblr.com/zuko-always-lies/743452389757075456/zuko-always-lies-innocentimouto-all-right?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/zuko-always-lies/743452734795235328/borra-the-explorer-anonymous-gambito?source=share

Okay, okay, OKAY, I'm really fucking mad right now. This is most bullshit, bad-faith take on Katara I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot considering the nonsense I get sent on a daily basis.

The double-standard is already insane. Zuko doesn't "sort of" bring up his trauma repeatedly in the same way. He did it ALL THE FUCKING TIME, using the exact same WORD that has been memed to death, to the point that Dante Basco just has to say "Honor" at pannels and people start laughing, but Katara can't say "the Fire Nation killed my mom"? Really?

Not to mention Aang is CONSTANTLY beaten over the head with the fact that he IS the last of his race and that he has responsibilities he is not at all prepared for because he is a kid. Or the writers basically grabbing the audience by the shoulders and shaking us while screaming "THIS BOY HAS A SCAR!" each time Zuko is on screen? Katara being treated the same way is not bad writting, it's called "continuity" and "this show is for kids, stuff has to be crystal clear"

For fuck's sake, this person literally has Zuko constantly SAYING he misses Iroh and is ashamed of betraying him as GOOD writing, yet when Katara does the same talking about her mom it becomes an issue of "Show, don't tell"

Aang can be the goofball that wants to play all the time and get excited about riding a water serpent three minutes after seeing Gyatso's body, but Katara not crying every episode after losing her mother's necklace means "she doesn't care"? When we even see Aang make her a new one and then steal back the original one during a fight with Zuko because anyone with half a brain could see it meant a lot to Katara?

And I gotta laugh at the absurdity of acting like Katara consistently connecting with people who lost a parent is not "showing" us her grief (and of acting like her talking about it with Jet and Haru is for THEIR development, not hers, when she's the one that is the main character. And like her connecting with Aang and Zuko over it is bad because... "guys." Literally no explanation except "they're guys." Grief is gendered, apparently).

Like her literally seeing her mother's "ghost" in The Swamp wasn't "showing." Like her ALWAYS having her mother's necklace on her when she's able to isn't the series SHOWING us that she carries that grief with her all the time - again, much like the focus on Zuko's scar to remind us that his father's abuse has literally been burned into his flesh or Aang not wanting to cover his arrows or panicking whenever he loses his glider or Appa because they're all that's left of his culture.

Also: since when is her mother's death the ONLY trauma Katara has and is explored in the show?

She spends half a season struggling with waterbending because, thanks to the war, she has no one to teach her, and that "cultural trauma" so to speak is explored again when she's excited to meet Hama since they're from the same tribe or happy to be reunited with Bato.

During plenty of book 1 and 2 episodes we are shown how Katara misses her dad just as much as Sokka does - yet when she's reunited with Hakoda, the show lets her be mad at him for not being around, even if he had good reason.

And how about her clear anxiety over potentially losing Aang (the symbol of hope) or seeing him in pain and how it manifests over and over through the show, with her opposing him trying to intentionally trigger the Avatar state, not liking it when he drifts away from her, or, ya know, WATCHING HIM DIE BEFORE HER EYES AND THEN THREATENING TO KILL ZUKO IF HE HURTS AANG EVER AGAIN?

Oh, and as someone who personally deals with grief over losing their mom by CONSTANTLY talking about missing her and cannot relate AT ALL to stuff like Iroh (again, not a main character) being able to not bring up Lu Ten every single day without even realizing he's doing so: not bringing it up is not "more realistic" or "respectful", it's just "different people cope differently", so for the love of Christ try to remember that

YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE NOT UNIVERSAL

...and acting like people "don't get it" because they relate to how Katara's grief was written even though you don't is a real dick move.

Anyways, gonna drink some water because I'm foaming at the mouth like a dog with rabies and that can't be good.

[banapsha]

The Art of Plot Twists: A God-Tier Guide

Hey there, sunshine(s) and moonlight(s)! Do you want to rock your readers' worlds with mind-boggling plot twists? Well, lucky for you, I recently met a mind reader in my basement and they told me you want to know this. Buckle up, because we're about to begin a journey into the abyss. Kidding! We are going to the Kingdom of Twistano-Turnano; narratives that'll leave jaws on the floor and minds on some walls. Strap in, grab your favorite snacks and let's get this party started. (I believe that one was too much, right? Coz’ who’s got time for any parties? Or am I the only one missing out?) 

What Makes a Good Plot Twist?

Let's kick things off with the basics. A plot twist isn't just about throwing in a random curveball– oh no, it's about shaking up the very fabric of your story. A meaningful plot twist should be a seismic shift in the audience's perception, whether it's through an unexpected event, a shocking revelation, or a philosophical awakening. We're talking external, internal, and philosophical shifts that make the audiences question everything they thought they knew. It's about changing your audience's reality.

The Three Types of Shifts: External, Internal, and Philosophical

The external shift– think unexpected deaths, hidden treasures, and jaw-dropping identity reveals. These twists are all about rearranging plot elements in ways that leave readers gasping for air.

The internal shift– this one's all about messing with your audience's emotions. One minute they're feeling all warm and fuzzy, and the next, BAM! You hit 'em with an event that leaves them shaken to the core. Just make sure to keep things clear, or you'll have a bunch of confused readers scratching their heads.

The philosophical shift– the granddaddy of all plot twists. This one's all about making your audience question their beliefs and perceptions. You take 'em from thinking they've got it all figured out to realize that maybe, just maybe, they've been wrong all along.

To really knock your readers' socks off, you gotta apply all three shifts. That's right, no half-measures here. Using just one or missing one entirely is just going to confuse the shit out of your audiences. Trust me, you don't wanna do that.

What makes a plot twist good?

Shock Value: First things first, a good plot twist needs to pack a punch. We're talking about leaving your readers reeling, jaws on the floor, and minds blown. If it doesn't make 'em gasp, it ain't worth it. The key is to not settle for the first twist that comes to mind. Dig deep, get creative, and find a way to really knock your readers' socks off.

Believability: Sure, we love a good surprise, but it's gotta make sense, ya know? You can't just say that the human we have been following around is a dog disguised as a pizza! Nope, we ain't gone believe that boy. Keep it real. Actually, the real(er) the better. Foreshadowing is your best friend. Drop hints, plant seeds, and lay the groundwork for your twist early on. That way, when it finally hits, it'll feel like a natural progression of the story. (Maybe show me a barking human to make me go along with the pizza dog twist.)

Impact on Characters AND Plot: A truly great plot twist doesn't just shake things up for the sake of it. It needs to have real consequences, affecting not only the characters but the entire storyline. Don't just focus on the shock factor – think about how your twist will affect your characters and your plot. Will it send them spiraling into chaos? Will it force them to confront their deepest fears? Make it count.

Variety in Tropes: Cliched tropes are good but if you can manage to twist it up, that's even better. Try to give us something we've never seen before. Surprise us, delight us, and keep us guessing 'til the very end. But don't be afraid to break the mold. Sure, some tropes are tried and true, but the best twists are the ones that defy expectations. Surprise your readers, challenge their assumptions, and leave 'em begging for more.

Timing: Timing is literally everything. You need to build up to the right moment for that twist like a mastermind supervillain. Keep your readers on their toes. Drop breadcrumbs along the way, build up the tension, ratchet up the suspense, and then hit 'em with that (do-do do-do) twist right when they least expect it. You gotta know exactly when to drop that grenade. Trust me, it'll be worth the wait.

Plot Twist Techniques:

Breadcrumbs: The classic "how did I not see this coming" twist. Make 'em scratch their heads and wonder, "How did I miss that?" Lay the groundwork for your twist by dropping subtle hints and clues throughout your story. It's all about planting those breadcrumbs and watching your readers play Sherlock Holmes.

Misdirection: The good ol' red herring. Lead your readers down one path, only to yank the rug out from under them at the last minute. Get 'em emotionally invested in a particular outcome, then flip the script and watch 'em squirm. Mix this with the breadcrumbs and you have a beautiful pie.

The False Win: Picture this – your characters are riding high, victory is in sight, and then BAM! You hit 'em with the ultimate plot twist: it's not over yet. Give 'em a false sense of comfort, then snatch it away like a cruel twist of fate. 

The Unprovoked: Ever seen a plot twist  that leaves you scratching your head and wondering, "Where did that come from?" That's the unprovoked twist. It happens out of nowhere, catching everyone off guard and leaving 'em reeling. It's unexpected, it's unpredictable, and it's oh-so deliciously twisty.

Types of Twists: The classics

Identity Reveal: Remember the "I am your father" moment? Yes. There's nothing quite like the shock of discovering that a character's true identity isn't what it seems. Whether it's a long-lost twin or a secret agent in disguise, identity reveals never fail to leave readers gasping for air. Mix it up to make it newer and you have an even tastier sandwich.

Motive Reveal: Ever wondered why that one seemingly innocent character was acting so shady? Well, it's time for a motive reveal – the moment when all becomes clear and the true intentions behind a character's actions are laid bare. It's like peeling back layers of an onion, only way more dramatic. (Plot twist: This entire post has been written so you will buy my book, The Sinner and The Scarred from Amazon! It is available in both Paperback and Ebook formats but if you have Kindle Unlimited you can read it for FREE!)

Background Reveal: Behind every great character is a great backstory. Well, these backstories can also be great plot twists. (What? The hero's love interest is the villain's child. WHAT? The hero's love interest is the villain! WHAT? THE HERO IS DATING BOTH THE VILLAIN AND THEIR CHILD!!) From dark secrets to hidden traumas, background reveals add depth and complexity to your story.

Character Deaths: Sometimes, the only way to shake things up is by "killing your darlings." Actually, whether it's a beloved hero sacrificing themselves for the greater good or a villain meeting their untimely demise, character deaths are guaranteed to leave readers in shock and awe. Especially when done right. (Set the mood for a fun wedding. Then kill someone at the wedding. Kill the bride. Or the groom. Kill 'em both. Have them kill each other!)

Destruction of Setting or Important Elements: Say goodbye to the status quo, because we're about to shake things up with a little destruction. Whether it's a beloved setting crumbling to the ground or a crucial element of the story being obliterated, destruction twists add a sense of urgency and chaos to your narrative. (Burn your hero's house down. Extra points if their family was still inside. Minus points if their dog was in there, though.)

Timeline Shift: A timeline shift can turn your story on its head, sending characters hurtling through time and space or revealing shocking truths about the past, present, and future. (It will be a weird way to find out you’re adopted, you know?)

Surprising Events in General: Sometimes, you just gotta throw caution to the wind and hit your readers with something completely unexpected. From random acts of kindness to bizarre coincidences, surprising events add an element of unpredictability to your story that'll keep readers guessing until the very end. 

Special Ability Reveal: The moment when a character discovers they've got powers beyond their wildest dreams, things start getting out of hand. Whether it's flying, telekinesis, or the ability to talk to animals, special ability reveals add a touch of magic and wonder to your story.

Do remember when it comes to plot twists, the sky's the limit. But placement is key. Whether it's smack dab in the middle of your story or right at the climax, the timing of your twist can make or break its impact. 

Now, let's touch on what NOT to do. Forced twists? No, thank you. Unbelievable plot developments? Hard pass. And let's not even get started on the dreaded plot armor– nothing kills the vibe faster than a last-minute rescue by bad writing. (Leave a comment if you’d like to learn more about what NOT to do!)

In conclusion, mastering the art of plot twists is no easy feat. It takes careful planning (AKA outlining of the story), strategic execution, and a whole lot of creativity. So go forth, soldiers, and twist those plots until they're unrecognizable. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility – don't abuse those twists, and always respect your readers' intelligence.

Now, go forth and twist to your heart's content. Happy writing! 🌀✨

[cantsayidont]

Some bad teevee:

FIGHT NIGHT: THE MILLION-DOLLAR HEIST (2024): Tasteless, embarrassingly bad eight-part Peacock miniseries wastes a high-profile Black cast (including Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson, Chloe Bailey, and Terrence Howard) in a clumsy attempt to turn a true crime podcast, about the armed robbery of an afterparty for the October 1970 Muhammad Ali–Jerry Quarry fight, into a self-consciously retro blaxploitation pastiche. Starring comedian Kevin Hart as Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams, the Atlanta hustler who organized the party for an array of top Black mob figures and then found himself on the hook after the robbery, the show is a tonally uneasy mix of grim drama and leaden shtick, which smothers some flailing stabs at social commentary while giving the more serious scenes (which are often quite brutal) an inappropriately campy vibe. Hart (who also produced) acts like he's in a latter-day FRIDAY sequel with all the punchlines removed, while Henson looks so uncomfortable that you can't help cringing every time she's onscreen; even Don Cheadle's weary dignity is very hard-pressed, and Dexter Darden's weak caricature of Ali doesn't help. Worse, the story just isn't interesting enough to sustain eight one-hour episodes. CONTAINS LESBIANS? No. VERDICT: One can see what they were going for ("COTTON COMES TO HARLEM meets ACROSS 110TH STREET, but based on a true story!"), but it's a complete train wreck.

NOBODY WANTS THIS (2024): Thinly plotted, stupid sitcom about an obnoxious blond shiksa (Kristen Bell), who runs a confessional podcast with her equally obnoxious sister (Justine Lupe), unexpectedly falling for a cute rabbi (Adam Brody), whose family and friends can't believe he's dumped the hot Jewish woman (Emily Arlook) everyone expected him to marry. Feels like a (bad) romcom feature script stretched awkwardly into 10 half-hour episodes, and it becomes more and more offensive as it goes on, villifying every Jewish woman older than about 15 in a vain attempt to make the boorishly antisemitic heroine seem like a reasonable romantic choice. CONTAINS LESBIANS? The main character periodically mentions that she was a lesbian for a year, but she's not now. VERDICT: Aptly titled.

PENANCE (2020): Eye-rolling British drama/thriller, based on a Kate O'Riordan novel (strictly beach and bathtub reading, one assumes), about a middle-aged mum (Julie Graham), reeling from the unexpected death of her 20-year-old son, who has a Horniness Crisis™ involving a hunky, manipulative young man (Nico Mirallegro), who's also dating her teenage daughter (Tallulah Greive) and is plainly up to no good. Not at all credible even before some absurd third-act contrivances, it's essentially a wish fulfillment fantasy (or porn scenario) drenched in just enough sour self-loathing and turgid melodrama for the target audience (Tory-voting sexually frustrated middle-aged white women) to reassure themselves that they're not really having fun. Just to make sure, Art Malik costars as the kind of insufferably chummy local priest Pat O'Brien used to play. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Nope. VERDICT: Probably well-tailored for its intended audience, but for everyone else, it's too silly to take seriously and too dour to even constitute good trash.

THE PENGUIN (2024): HBO Max dared to ask, "Will the market bear yet another Batman-less Batman TV project?" and came up this spinoff of THE BATMAN (2022), returning the film's version of the Penguin (Colin Farrell, buried beneath half his weight in prosthetics), maneuvering between the rival crime families of Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen) and Sal Maroni (Clancy Brown), with his only ally a Black teenager (Rhenzy Feliz) who becomes his driver and protégé (not unlike the relationship between Dwight and Tyson in TULSA KING). Cristin Milioti costars as Alberto's unstable sister Sofia Falcone, newly released from Arkham Asylum, with Shohreh Aghdashloo as Sal's ruthless wife Nadia. There's no reason to assume this show won't follow exactly the same pattern as GOTHAM and PENNYWORTH — i.e., a brief flirtation with gritty urban crime drama that quickly goes off the rails into campy derangement while stuffing its pockets with as many second-tier Bat-adjacent characters as Warner Bros. will permit. (Alberto and Sofia are borrowed from the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale series BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN and DARK VICTORY, although this version of them bears only a vague resemblance to the original.) Since the show's only apparent reason for being is to juice interest in the eventual Matt Reeves/Robert Pattinson theatrical sequel without impacting that sequel (or even showing Batman) in any meaningful way, why bother? CONTAINS LESBIANS? TBD. VERDICT: Lucy with the football.

[wulfhalls]

idk who said this but - making the show a lesbian divorce drama was a great idea the writers just seem to have forgotten about the divorce part

it's so frustrating because the show just refuses to make them enemies even tho they've been in conflict with one another longer than they've been friends. the eye for an eye incident should have been the point of no return, it wasn't. the usurpation should have been the point of no return, it wasn't. luke's death should have been the point of no return. it wasn't. b&c should have been the point of no return, it wasn't. rhaenyra asked alicent for the head of son and she sold him down the river at a chance to be her friend again. like. what are we even doing here.

and the worst part is genuinely nobody cares? nobody is watching the show for the alicent and rhaenyra dynamic. the locals are watching for the dragons, war and targ drama, the fandom is divided among the tb people, the tg people and the asoiaf enjoyers and then you have that very very small section which are the rhaenicent shippers most of them don't even care about the rest of the show outside of rhaenicent. that's legit their target audience.

I very much dread season 3 mainly cause of their obsession with the most boring relationship between Alicent and Rheanyra. I can only imagine the dull,pointless,weepy 15min conversatios be forced to watch every episode when they’re in the same place all season. You know they’ll let Rheanyra be angry for an episode at most. I don’t even know what either of them is mourning or longing for at this point,it could not have been a more basic superficial friendship and there’s no way to even imagine they having anything similar now. I can’t say I care for Alicent either way but Rheanyra was very annoying in a bad not fun way any time they shared scenes in season 2 which is not a great sign for the future.

If they really wanted the audience to buy into their friendship they should've spent at least half a season on just the pre Alicent marrying Viserys, which they could never do for time reasons. What we do get is a handful of scenes between them that are not even that well written the only reason it kinda works in season 1 is the chemisty between Milly/Emily and Olivia/Emma and their performances but even they can't save it.

I'll be even messier and say Alicent should not be one of main characters anymore. They changed her character so much she doesn't even play a part in war in order to make her a more sympathetic character but by doing that they made her irrelevant to the plot. All of her scenes feel like filler and the show is clearly struggling to find reasons to keep her around and so prominent.

everyone clearly made peace with the writing on this show and fully moved on and isn't bothered about it in any way shape or form anymore <3 good for us!

[sarnai4]

Underrated Musical

A musical I think it criminally underrated is Death Note the Musical (spoilers ahead).

It's just so good. If we're considering the singers, they're amazing. Jeremy Jordan really makes Light sound like this young guy who could easily be a typical protagonist with his pleasant, youthful voice, but the power behind it and the edge he can use reminds you that he becomes the real villain. Jarrod Spector as L is so uniquely great for the character. His tone stands out just as L stands out from those around him and he can hit some nice high notes. Eric Anderson as Ryuk is awesome. He just breathes life into the character, filling the shinigami with the mischievous/almost menacing nature we know he has. Carrie Manolakos as Rem really sells the transition of being indifferent to humans, to not comprehending why someone would put so much on the line for unrequited love, and ending with sacrificing herself because of her newfound understanding of this. Adrienne Warren as Misa Misa is very believable as a pop singer because she sounds great and can bring the emotion of loving someone so much that she doesn't even care what happens to her. Finally, Michael Lanning (who I know from another great and underrated musical, Jekyll and Hyde) absolutely NAILS the role as a father who wants to see the best in his kid, but he's gradually coming to terms with that not being reality.

Then we come to the music itself. Here are my top five (in no particular order). They're Only Human. This sets up the entire story. It gives you Ryuk and Rem who at this point just want to have some fun and see what those odd mortals are up to. It's a look into their minds to show how they perceive mankind. They see people as living such meaningless lives that dropping down a death note is just a source of entertainment. it also sets up the shift in character for Rem later on. Hurricane. This is a solo for Light, giving us his ideas and laying the groundwork for how his heroism will quickly turn to self-righteousness. He is this storm that can kill anyone he chooses and leave immeasurable damage in his wake. His God complex is on full display here, but it's still early enough that he could be a hero if he gains humility soon. The Game Begins. This is an L solo and his intro to the audience. Something I love here is how it connects to a later song. This one sets him up as the antagonist for Kira and he's even happy that he can use the killer's first mistake against him. Later, Light is bragging about how he won't make any mistakes at all, but the audience already knows he has. The idea of using data also really fits with L's character and is a lot of fun to see how his sleuthing works. Mortals and Fools. This is such a fun song to hear because it shows how Rem doesn't really understand why Misa loves Kira, but she's also starting to fall in love too. There's this line being straddled where one half of her can't comprehend why Misa would do something so reckless for love whereas the other half is sad that the love is for Kira instead. Stalemate is the last one. The name implies it'll demonstrate a good rivalry between L and Light and it's not wrong at all. These two truly have a stalemate and are coming at each other with all they have. It's the core of this musical and amazing to hear.

There is another major reason that I love this musical. The ending. It. Is. Amazing! It's so much better than the anime. I think a general consensus with the show is that it began to decline in quality after L was killed. My issue was that he died, then it's his work that allows these dull characters to win. It doesn't feel earned when Near takes down Light because it's L who we saw fighting tooth and nail to stop him. It's L whose data is used, and it's L who we've grown an attachment to. Having the victory be snatched from him hurts. Here, that's not what happens. He still is killed, but it's after Light confesses in front of him. Their rivalry is being upheld. L wins because he gets Light to confess and knows he's been right this whole time. Light wins because he got Rem to put L in the death note and he dies. Light is killed by Ryuk who decides the game is over and writes his name in the book. This all happens in a warehouse where it seems like both people have killed each other. In a way, they have. By having his name written, Light kills L and by being such a threat that he had to die, L kills Light since his death removed that thrill/excitement that Ryuk has been wanting. With L gone, there's no reason to continue the game. So, it comes to its logical conclusion. Their lives have begun to revolve around each other so much that naturally, they have to end together too.

[itsclydebitches]

Trying to do a RWBY V9 rewrite where I actually address Penny’s death and I’m just, hitting a fucking wall. I was using a lot of “Penny was already dead as soon as Cinder got to her” ideas to justify Jaune’s decision, only to get smacked in the face with Jaune’s healing aura. There is really no way for me to write V9 without either, not acknowledging Jaune’s actions or going full throttle on making Jaune a shitty person. GOD, this show sucks

Where I personally get hung up in revised Volume 9 imaginings is his motivation. I've got no problem making a character a "shitty person" for a Volume—AKA making awful decisions with horrific outcomes that they need to come to terms with/perhaps make amends for, but are ultimately not reflective of their desire to do good—but I can't for the life of me come up with a good reason for why Jaune wouldn't try to save Penny. As you say, we can go the "she was already on death's door" route, but I had a problem with that logic in the canon, specifically because a) Jaune is not a doctor, b) Penny has had a human body for all of half an hour and doesn't know shit about what can and can't kill her, and c) even if they did somehow know for sure she couldn't make it, Jaune would have still tried. Not only does he have a healing semblance which makes him the one character perfectly justified in at least attempting a hail Mary, he's also the character who missed Cinder's attack on Amber, was kept from helping Pyrrha, and went through the horror of saving Weiss. Much like Ruby's "This is my fight too!" Jaune is primed to fight death kicking and screaming so that it doesn't take another of his friends. There is no consistent version of his character that rolls over and doesn't just let Penny die, but actively helps her do it.

Unless, that is, her death was inevitable AND not assisting her would cause harm to others. This is what Volume 8 tried to convey, but ultimately failed at. Spectacularly. As established, there's no reason for Jaune to buy into the supposed inevitability of Penny's death and, worse, the show has been wishy-washy af regarding the passing of the Maiden powers. Since Jaune is not privy to future scenes shown only to the audience—that is, Penny meeting with Winter—he'd have no reason to believe that killing Penny a few minutes faster would somehow keep the powers from Cinder's hands. For all he knows (and, frankly, for all we know based on RWBY's lackluster logic) the power still would have gone to Cinder due to her grimm hand involvement, or because she's still in Penny's thoughts as her (initial) killer, or maybe it goes to Weiss because she's in her line of sight, or Penny plans to send it to Winter by the act of dying means her thoughts panic and the powers just fly off somewhere else. Literally nothing established, "If you kill me now instead of letting Cinder's wound do the job I can DEFINITELY get this power to an ally instead," so to put that suuuuper iffy plan on the shoulders of the character who could have just saved her, or at least would have thought he could and been determined to try, is quite an egregious case of "Stupid for the sake of plot."

Honestly, fixing this mess requires fixing the death scene itself, ideally with work done far earlier throughout the series. The only thing I can think to do in a completely canon-compliant Volume 9 would be to have the girls act as audience stand-ins. That is, have Team RWBY asking all the questions we've been voicing. What convinced you that Penny was definitely dying? Why were you so sure this would keep the powers safe? Have Weiss gesture to her abdomen and emphasize that he healed her after she was stabbed with a flaming spear and you couldn't fix Cinder poking some holes an inch or two into Penny's chest?? Jaune shoots back that he needed to help her and she screams that he didn't, she was holding her own, and why the hell would you prioritize me potentially being mortally wounded by Cinder when Penny was already dying? Even if she couldn't be saved, why didn't you try?

Jaune's response would then set the tone for his arc throughout the rest of the Volume. Did he just panic? Is his ability to assess a situation compromised? Is he becoming colder, perhaps rejecting the idea that they should attempt hail Marys at all rather than just taking what seems to be the safest route? Idk. This is why my metas back around Volume 6 still held out hope and by Volume 8 had become a lot more pessimistic. We reached a point where even if RWBY gets its writing act together, there's simply too much damage to finish the series strong. Once you mess up that badly you'll continually hit those roadblocks of, "Hmm. How do I make that make sense?" and if the answer is, "I can't" it's just perpetual bad writing by virtue of RWBY having to build on what it set down before. (And no, the irony of us having this problem in a series that is simultaneously so inconsistent is not lost on me lol.)

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Live Action - OP Fan Review

So it's finally time.

We waited on bated breath and anticipation to see if Oda's masterwork could in fact translate to live action, much less Netflix live action. Titles such as Death Note and Cowboy Bebop have caused sincere fears that it would not go so well, but with Oda in the production there was hope, and now we see if it's rewarded.

Knowing that this is an adaptation and they were covering most of East Blue's saga in 8 episodes there will of course be differences. But whether or not they work remained to be seen, so let's talk about it.

Spoilers for One Piece, both Live Action and manga/anime because there will be overlap to discuss

First and foremost we will need to pour one out for those who didn't make the cut; Woop Slap, Ripper, Ritchie (referenced but not seen), Gaimon, Django (he had a poster but not a presence), the Usopp pirates, Johnny and Yosaku, Carne, that fly in Fullbody's soup, Pearl, Moocy, and most surprisingly Hachi. It's a shame to not see them (also 3 future-warlords in the audience of Roger's execution) but I can understand them...minus Hachi he's kinda an important connective piece in the long run. Also no Usopp Hammer or Usopp Rubber Band, the sacrilege!

So as far as adaptations go though this was really good. Opinions are of course subjective, so a lot of fans are welcome to say that Live Action has done arcs better than the manga/anime, but I'd say it's either as good or a little less, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of people who haven't watched or read One Piece get a nice introduction of almost the first 100 chapters/45 episodes, which contrary to the memes of 'yeah One Piece gets good at episode 629' should be enough to whet people's appetites to see if they wanna take the plunge.

Of course, change is scary and sometimes not accepted, so not all the changes made were ones I liked, at least as much as the original source. I kinda feel like we did a few characters dirty; Makino (no flirtatious chemistry with Shanks? come on), the Orange Town Mayor, Mohji, Chouchou (again, I get it, can't really get animals to act so easily), Fullbody, Gin, Krieg, Genzo, and Nojiko did have a bit more to do in the source material but often only got one scene or lacked the same spark they had. Also the amount of death was surprising, I get most of it but at the same time killing off Merry (and recontextualizing how the Going Merry was named by not having Merry be its creator even with the lore change that Syrup village makes ships) does kinda leave Kaya even more alone, in the original at least she had him and the Usopp pirates for company. While Buggy as a character is awaiting praise later down the line I will have to say that his role beyond episode 2 was a bit lackluster, he was never gonna help the crew for sure but it was weird for him to just saunter away from Arlong Park, I also feel like we could've better explained Devil Fruits and water's effect on DF users, because it is a very big misconception by those on the outside that Luffy simply loses his powers when hit by a splash of water, rather than his strength being sapped when more than half-submerged; rain, splashing waves, that doesn't effect DF users that way, and it's not like it's an off switch Luffy could still stretch while in water it's just harder to do so. It was also a shame not to have Shanks and Buggy's backstory shown. The CGI did have some rough moments too, I was not too much of a fan of how they did Kuro's pussyfooting (no you don't understand it's literally called the pussy foot technique) in episode 3, episode 4 was better, I felt that Luffy vs Arlong relied a bit too much on it too. Zoro's flashback was oddly placed in episode 4, given how it's more fitting as a build up to Zoro vs Mihawk, also felt like the context of Zoro losing to Kuina 2001 times in a row was sorely missed in that flashback. I will also have to admit that while the costuming is great, there is a very glaring case of it being very easy to spot the important characters from the crowd.

Some changes I was more than fine with, Alvida changing her call to most powerful makes sense since insulting her appearance wouldn't really go down too well, Zoro could've been a bit more mellow but he still played the edgy deadpan guy well...at least until Luffy eventually wears down his brain cells, and as cool as the Mr. 7 fight was it does not help debunk those 'minority hunter' memes. Changing Sham's gender worked pretty well too, the actress wore the look very well, and though people were a little let down that Benn Beckman is not super handsome I didn't have a problem with his look.

Of the changes I liked more it's probably that we saw more of Nami growing vulnerable to the crew, sure in turn we lost her fake-stabbing Usopp and grabbing a lit fuse but we got her bonding with Kaya and staunchly try to convince Zoro not to fight Mihawk - whereas in the anime/manga she had already ran off with the Merry - plus I feel like we got more friendship between her and Zoro at this stage, it's not that they didn't get along but I do feel like Zoro's dismissal in the live action is almost tied to feeling a little hurt by her betrayal. I enjoyed and was surprised with how much Garp we got, and how much he and Koby interacted with Luffy this early, since while we get the cover story of Koby-Meppo it's more it's own thing and we don't even learn of Garp's relation to Luffy until about 3 more sagas (sagas, not arcs, sagas), but it did help flesh out Koby's character more and his own character growth in parallel to Luffy. Think the change I was most approving of was confirming Kaya x Usopp, like she loves that liar so much so it was sweet to see a kiss in there, no romance my ass Oda, I also liked that they made it that Kuro was poisoning Kaya, since her original illness suddenly going away was a bit strange.

Every major character in this show translated very well to their characters in the source, even if they are a little different in some traits. Inaki as Luffy is a perfect fit, being equal parts charismatic, serious when necessary and aloof, he handled the big pressure that would've come with a character of Luffy's character in fantastic stride. The other crewmates were of course very well casted too, having wonderful chemistry with each other, as were their child counterparts, but I found myself most impressed by the villains; Morgan, Helmeppo and Kuro especially surprised me by how well they came across, Jeff Ward as Buggy was always gonna be a perfect fit in my mind too, given how much I saw of him in Agents of SHIELD. Arlong did take a bit of time to grow, but I can't deny he does the laugh perfectly. Side characters such as Kaya and Zeff also impressed me, having been given a bit more content to chew on in their stories, and Shanks did soothe my worries I had from the trailer by being jovial and true to character.

The biggest positive impression I got from One Piece was the sense of wonder and vibrancy, the settings were all wonderfully crafted with care and style fitting to Oda's vision, I particularly liked the added carnival entertainment stands in Arlong Park to better reflect its homage to Sabaody Park, the same can be said with costuming - referencing previous colour spreads - and motifs like the bounty poster introductions and the leitmotifs of characters like Buggy, Arlong and the Straw Hats, plus the instrumental of 'We Are' is wonderful. Most important is that the moments landed, especially Shanks giving the Straw Hat, the barrel scene, and Nami asking for help, but we also crafted some newer subtle moments, such as Luffy being drawn to the Merry and pitching to Kaya regarding it, and Zeff and Garp's conversation. Easter eggs were also hidden well enough to not be blatant to non-fans but rewarding to those who know.

So yeah, it was very much a huge success, one I hope will be translated in its positive reviews and viewership. If there's a second season I'd anticipate that we'd cover Loguetown and the Alabasta saga, but with that comes more castings I do not envy the team to find, because outside of campaigns for Jamie Lee-Curtis to play Kureha there are a ton of big and iconic players in those arcs that'll need perfect casting to pull off; Ace, Crocodile, Vivi, Bon Clay, and Tashigi (since you'll have to have a comparison with Kuina's actress) is tough enough but we're also gonna have to make the 'puppet or CGI' decision with Chopper and somehow cast the most beautiful woman on the planet to play Nico Robin. Then perhaps Season 4 (providing they do the Skypeia saga all in Season 3, only needing to cast one to three properly big players depending on whether they have Shanks meet a certain someone) they'll have to struggle with even more casting difficulties.

Still, if they're up for the challenge go ahead and do it, I'll be there for Season 2 if they're willing to make it.

[fezwearingjellybananas]

12, 17, 21

12. Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Series 4 of the Flash maybe? At least the main arc, there are parts that I did not like, but in general I liked having a not speedster main villain and them having to think their way around the problem more?

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

So Iris never really gets a focus in the "Iris is going to die" arc, whereas she should have been the main character, her feelings should be front and centre, and that's the major thing I would change, but they never really went super into how did Savitar happen in the first place, so I've just had an idea to run with:

Okay. So we open with Flashpoint still, Barry running back to try and save Wally, and then the next episode is mostly the same except we're skipping the weird husks, Barry's actually involved in some kind of missing person case, and his new colleague who he's not getting on super well with, Julian Albert/Albert Desmond, is handling most of the metahuman cases, as instructed by his boss- Director of CSI David Singh

(They're Flashpoint changes- Barry's been thrown out and keeps calling him Captain Singh still. David has figured out Barry's the Flash and assumes this is related)

The first missing person case Barry picks up is for a Doctor Darwin Elias.

There's a few of the people getting powers- starting with Edward Clariss still, and Barry quickly puts together these are all people who had powers in Flashpoint and assumes this is something he caused.

(After all, he seems to have caused Caitlin getting powers, and maybe we keep the Dante dies part, or maybe it's Cisco's other brother, Armando, who Barry's never heard of before, or maybe we cut this entirely, I haven't decided)

We are skipping the Alchemy cult thing, but there is a bad guy called Alchemy who uses his Philosopher's Stone, and this is involved in giving Wally powers still, and Barry still unmasks him and reveals Julian who has zero memory of any of this

(Well. Al was the first Rogue to reform, way back in the Silver Age initially, and there is that one where Eobard uses his mind manipulation to get Al to go back to villainy unwillingly and try and help him kill Barry even though Barry's his friend now, so there is comic precedent for the mind control from a future speedster part)

Even though this is mostly an episode plot (or maybe 2 episodes) Barry still gets flung to the future throwing the Philosopher's Stone into the Speed Force. He doesn't see the moment of Iris' death but he does see the immediate aftermath. And Barry is a CSI, he's very good at his job, and he has the experience to know instantly that a speedster did this. Iris is in some kind of costume he doesn't recognise (but we the audience know to be reminiscent of Batgirl's), he can see Iris is alone but still warm, so this has only just happened, Barry doesn't see a date anywhere, and Jay grabs him and runs them back to the present right as the door starts to open.

Jay tells Barry he can't go back there, he can't find these things out, he just experienced the consequences of changing time and he knows how dangerous it is.

So Barry keeps what he knows to himself and we have an episode where Barry's plot is dealing with a metahuman who he knows could not have possibly got his powers from Alchemy yet has got some new ones and the other half is focused on Iris being a reporter, she's investigating something- maybe some thefts from various labs around the city where they suspect a speedster, and she gets herself into a sticky situation that she can handle by herself but it is dangerous and suddenly Barry is terrified, terrified of her job, he doesn't want her looking into things like this, it's almost like he's trying to go back to keeping secrets and excluding her from Team Flash and Iris is not having it, and this is where the break-up part happens.

The end of this is where Savitar reveals himself (in the suit), and cue the mid series break.

We open with Barry training Wally, only he seems to be acting strangely, but then, he and Iris are arguing, he's caught a second missing person case at work- Doctor Meena Dhawan- and it looks like there might be a speedster involved, so Wally shrugs that off, and shrugs off Barry later doesn't seem to remember he already taught Wally about throwing lightning.

Duet actually happens pretty early, maybe with James and Kara instead of Mon-El, and it's after Iris saves Barry he finally confesses what's going on, what he saw, and he doesn't know what to do because Jay's right, he's just had the consequences of time travel made so clear, but he can't lose Iris, and it's all just a mess.

But Cisco can vibe, and this is where we get that first hint that Barry didn't run to the near future, he ran a few years forward.

Team Flash have their first proper confrontation with Savitar in here- the next lab to get broken into is S.T.A.R., so they can respond to that one quickly and Savitar stops and looks right at Iris long enough for Barry to almost catch him, and Barry immediately puts together Iris was killed by a speedster, here's a speedster.

Only it's strange. Doctor Elias shows up- or rather, they go find him, he was giving people powers with help from Savitar (or as he puts it, under his request, but something's fishy about him), but whenever they fight him Savitar focuses on Barry, he never hurts anyone else, and he gave Wally powers, and then there's these tiny little moments where Barry just seems to be acting strangely.

Iris meanwhile is getting to be angry and conflicted and hurting and all the emotions about her apparent death intended to upset her boyfriend and she's also investigating because whatever he's pulling from these labs seems to be to do with the Speed Force. Getting the stone out again maybe?

But something's going on with Cisco's powers and the vibe of her future dead body keeps shifting- it's in a vibe we finally get the date of 18th March, 2024- and something's going on with Barry and-

And Iris is the one who figures it out and goes to confront the future Barry Allen who didn't come back to kill her, he came back to do the exact opposite.

Just changing it won't work, he remembers Flashpoint. But the Legends change time, and Eobard's changed time, and Barry figured if he tried just little bits at a time maybe he could direct the timestream away from that moment.

Away from the point where Eobard Thawne kills her and it was his fault, he wasn't fast enough to save her, he didn't save her-

And he was the one who brought Thawne back, his remnant at least, because of Flashpoint. He did this, so when Thawne dragged him back through time, he knew he had a way to fix it.

He can't kill his younger self. The paradox involved is too big, but if Barry Allen isn't running around any more, then Eobard Thawne has no reason to target the people he loves. The Speed Force trap isn't built to hold Savitar here- it's what he's been working on, to throw his past self into, to keep him away from Iris because Barry being close to people gets them killed.

And I think he might win. He sticks Barry in the Speed Force where he is at the start of s4, and he fades away, the vibe fades and Iris lives, but Barry's gone, and we end with Iris and Cisco clearly planning on working together to get Barry back.

Or that's one idea. The only actual thing I would very much like to change in canon is to put Iris's feelings as the most important thing in the "Iris is going to die" plot

21. What are your thoughts on crack ships?

Very positive, it's all just for fun, and you can have a lot playing around with relationships and seeing if you can build a plot for them

Thank you!

[Salty Asks]

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Bryke was in the Podcasts Braving Element book fire, and one the most interesting in that conversation was Bryke say Kataang relationship in Book fire was their favorite and Basco he is vibing for Maiko, but he say the headband episode is technically filler, it means is not canon that episode? What you think?

"Filler" was an anime term, about episodes that existed solely to give the manga they were adapting extra time to get more content for them to adapt. The filler episodes are canon (to the anime versions at least), but they don't move the plot forward, so if you skip them you don't miss anything important.

Eventually the term stopped being used solely for anime - and some idiots started using it to mean "bad episode", but the actual meaning is still the same: the episode can be skipped without the audience being confused. Only now these episodes exist not to catch up with a source material (in Avatar's case there wasn't one in the first place since it was an original series, not an adaptation) but rather as a "breather" episode, that can be more light-hearted, or character-driven instead of plot-driven.

To give an Avatar exemple: "Tales of Ba Sing Se" is filler, but it's still canon. It does not, in any way, further the Dai Li plot the previous episode had established - but we get focus on the characters, their personalities, dynamics, and THE tear-jerker that is Iroh singing to both honor his son and express his grief over his death. We already knew Lu Ten was dead and Iroh was grieving, but this episode gives it further depth.

Even if "The Headband" was filler, it'd still be canon - and so would be the dance with Katara clearly being into Aang.

And I personally do NOT consider "The Headband" filler. It furthers the whole theme of the season and the series ("How do you rebuild a world consumed by war? Through kindness"), we (and more importantly, the protagonist) get a deeper look into the indoctrination the people of the Fire Nation are subjected to, and more importantly, it is the episode in which we are introduced to Combustion man - ya know, the assassin that will try to kill the Gaang? The secondary villain of half the season? The one that is Zuko's attempt to resolve the problem of "The Avatar is supposed to be dead" that the previous episode introduced? Aka it is connected both to the aftermath of the Ba Sing Se plot and the "Zuko goes from villain to ally of the good guys" plot?

You CAN'T skip this episode without being confused as to who the fuck is that guy chasing the Gaang and who sent him after them. You'd have to wait until his last appearance, in which Zuko confronts him, for you to realize what the villain's deal was, meaning that PLOT would only become coherent after it was basically resolved.

It furthers the plot, therefore it isn't filler. It's just not ALL about the plot. By that logic, nearly every episode of season one is filler. The Beach is filler. Well over half the fucking show is filler if we're only counting episodes that have BIG, plot-twisting events as "important" episodes. Bryke need to stop parroting fandom nonsense to gain points.

As for Dante Basco being all excited about Maiko despite being a big zutara fan, that does not surprise me. He has ALWAYS said he liked their romance, and that Mai is the kind of girl he'd try getting with in real life.

Once again, the epic "power struggle" between Zutara fans and the evil dark lords Bryan and Mike is only in the fandom's weird minds. They weren't always kind to shippers, but the simple fact that they're so chill with Dante, and lots of other people, including writersn who went on his podcast and said everything from "I don't really care for Zutara, but I think could have worked" to "It's one of my OTPs" shows that this "Bryke VS Zutara" war is VERY one-sided and exists solely because people can't accept that, no, the writers are not throwing away their entire plan just to please you.

[quillinhand]

Lol @ the ao3 post and also same in fiction I realized I can pretty much enjoy a lot of things that would be insane in real life and you know what good for us. Also I love that you're new to kdramas but you can see the crystal clear difference between 2019 and now it's like they all had collective selective amnesia and forgot what a romance is supposed to be like. Love next door was a crime against me personally I literally can't believe someone wrote that and thought this is a good love story and people watched that and thought the same if this was the guy's story and that's how he behaved the entire drama instead of her people would be calling for the writers head.

hi!

Loll ikr. Honestly yes, the boundaries are mostly non existent with fiction and atm there's very little I won't read. If it's written well/is interesting, anything goes.

Yeahhhh- like I've mostly watched newer dramas but I started watching goblin a while back(I'm only a couple of episodes in- the place where I was watching doesn't have the show anymore so now I'm mad 😭 ) and I've seen snippets of other older shows. And like, a lot of the romance now seems to be catered for a very specific audience that wants a self insert female/male lead instead of an actual romance and it makes for a very uninteresting story. At least for me. And the length of a lot of the shows is like waaaaay too short- in which case the story either feels rushed or has an abrupt ending. I feel like I'm complaining a little cuz i have watched well made dramas with really good cast and crew behind them but like. There just isn't that specific vibe in most dramas today and I'm a little mad about that.

It's not that I want totally balanced healthy otps- far from it- but i don't want you to sell me a unbalanced worship-y otp and then tell me it's healthy yk??? Like yes Marry My Husband was syrupy fun but lord knows that main ship was unbalanced af. And even so-- if there's something of intrigue in there I'll probably still like it but idk. I'm not meant for reader insert stories-- I'll read them and imagine y/n as character of their own. A lot of the shows today seem to have that same vibe and idk... I'm not a fan.

Love Next Door was so boring. I'm so sorry to anyone who really liked that show cuz like I like the cast and all but maaaannnn it was so. Bland. I ended up dropping it around ep 5-- but even till then it was really so. idk. Even as unbalanced and unrealistic as it is, it managed to bore me half to death and i think that says a lot.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

What are five pros and five cons you would give to Hazbin Hotel?

Gonna start with the cons, because I like to end on a positive note.

The Pacing. This was something I had a feeling was going to be a weakness of the show from the time I saw the trailer and learned that the first season was going to involve the next Extermination, especially when it was confirmed the season was only going to be eight episodes long. The twist in the first episode that the next Extermination was happening in half the time helped a little, but it still meant we skipped over months between episodes, with it being implied important stuff did happen that we just didn't see.

While I think it's better than Helluva Boss in balancing it's main cast (I love that show, but the uneven attention given between all of the main characters is one of the biggest issues it has), it still has some trouble with making all the characters feel fully like "people"? Niffty probably being the biggest example, since I love her, but right now she feels more like a living punchline than a real character.

The tone can sometimes be just a little...off with how it feels like we're supposed to feel. Best example being Sir Pentious death. The characters react to it like it was a serious event, because for them, it was...but the death itself was treated as kind of a joke? And I understand the show is a sort of dark comedy, so to an extent I expect stuff like that. But I think at that moment, the switch from "joke" to "you're supposed to seriously grieve this character" felt a bit too abrupt?

This is a completely personal thing, but as I've mentioned before, I don't love the whole sideplot of Sir Pentious having a crush on Cherri Bomb? It felt like it came out of nowhere, whereas most of the other relationships that seem to be a thing in the show were at least given hints in the Pilot. And it's just another example of the pacing being break-neck, since they had Cherri not show up until episode 6 of 8, and then Pentious dies in the finale, so they had basically two episodes (and not even full ones, just some scenes) to try and convince me of a romance, and, maybe it's just my arospec self, but....I couldn't really get convinced at all.

It's kinda hard for me to really think of issues I really have with the show, so I gotta kinda cheat a bit with this last one, since I can't help but wonder if they would've left the scene out had they known from the start of production that they'd get more seasons, but I personally don't love the whole stinger that reveals Pentious ended up in Heaven after Adam killed him? Not so much because I don't like the idea that he ended up there - I like that part. But I kind of feel like his death would have had a bit more impact if the audience did genuinely think he was gone for good for longer than like...fifteen minutes.

And now for the things I loved about Hazbin Hotel

The songs are arguably the biggest highlight of the whole series for me. I don't think there's a single one that I wouldn't happily listen to, whether in or out of context. From what I've seen I apparently don't have as high of an opinion of some songs as others, but I legitimately love all of them. I don't think there's anything I could say about any of the songs in this show that could be considered anything close to a real critique.

All of the characters are an absolute blast to watch. Yes, some of them don't have the most depth so far, but that doesn't change the fact that I just love to watch them whenever they're on screen? And it's not just the main cast, either. Obviously I love all of them, but even with fairly limited screen time, I found myself absolutely adoring whenever I got to see characters like Carmilla Carmine, Zestial, Velvette, and Rosie on screen. And all of the characters are so interesting and fun to imagine in different scenarios. And since I'm a writer, that is one of the biggest pros a series can have.

While the show is arguably more of a comedy, it is actually very good, in my opinion, dealing with some pretty serious topics when it wants to. The biggest example is Angel Dust's struggles with what he goes through thanks to Valentino, but you also have things like Vaggie's past and how her hiding that effected her relationship with Charlie when the truth got revealed. Or the whole thing of how it's implied most of Heaven didn't know about the Exterminations and that being revealed to them caused a lot of tensions, particularly between Emily and Sera. Or even just the whole thing of how Carmilla discovered how to kill Angels...but doesn't want it to be known what she did because she doesn't want to cause a war and lose her daughters, when the whole reason she learned that Angels could be killed was because she wanted to save them.

The character designs are some of the best I've seen in a long time. It really feels like the team took full advantage of the fact that it seems like there's no set rule for how demons can look in their version of hell, and so they went absolutely nuts with it, in the best possible way. Pretty much every single character has an incredibly unique design, and they're all just so fun to see. It makes the whole world feel so much more alive....slightly ironically considering it's the main setting is full of people who are technically all dead.

Outside of the one I mentioned above, I really like how basically all of the relationships in the show are handled, from the romantic to the platonic to the familial. They are all extremely varied and obviously some get more real attention than others, but all are given enough focus and attention that you always get the sense that the characters care for each other very deeply, especially by the end. And because you feel those bonds, you are even more effected by what the characters go through, because you feel like you're part of that group of people who care for one another. And I love that it also applies to the villains, with how Lute was clearly devestated by Adam's death, following the show indicating they were close, but usually showing them in what seemed to be a mostly "professional" relationship.