#like is this just never gonna be addressed it was such a huge plot point in season 1 i feel like i'm going mad

[uranium-city]

guys i really hate to say it but Abe's kind of been the highlight of the last two episodes for me & feels most in character to his S1 counterpart when compared to the other main characters 😭

ALSO him & Joan had more genuine chemistry in the one hospital scene than JFK & Joan have had all season & as a member of the JoanFK nation i am frustrated

[iam93percentstardust]

one of the things that really bothers me about modern franchises, and in particular over the last 5 years or so, is their refusal to commit. what i mean here when i say this is that it's not uncommon for a major franchise to make a decision, whether about the plot or the characters, that should have had huge, world-changing consequences... and then just never address that again or worse, immediately go back and undo it. and i'm gonna pick on star wars and the mcu here because those are the two big franchises i'm into at the moment (and i think they're kind of the worst at this), but i don't want you to walk away from this thinking that this is solely a disney thing. i've seen this happen with game of thrones and supernatural and plenty of other non-disney franchises. spoilers ahead, you've been warned:

in ant-man & the wasp quantumania, scott and hope make the life-altering decision to stay behind in the quantum realm and defeat kang instead of going through the portal to return to their world. this should have been a huge meta decision for the mcu, and when i first saw it in theaters, my immediate thought was wow, what is this going to mean for the mcu going forward? are we going to get a movie/miniseries about scott and hope helping to rebuild the quantum realm? how are cassie, janet, and hank going to react to the losses of their loved ones (in some cases, for the second time)? is cassie going to become the "first" young avenger because she has to take her father's place among the team lineup (and i only say first because as of this moment, none of the other young avengers introduced to the franchise are official avengers yet)? except nope, because less than 2 minutes later, cassie had fixed the portal that had broken way back at the beginning of the movie and brought scott and hope back.

and it felt like such a cheat. i was so disappointed in that theater, not as someone who was invested in these characters on a personal level (because yay, cassie gets her dad back!), but as someone who has spent years investing themselves in the story of the mcu. what was the point of wasting screentime on scott and hope accepting their new lives in the quantum realm if it was just going to immediately be undone? the entire scene could have been cut to scott and hope making it back bare seconds before the portal closed and it would have had the same emotional impact. there was nothing added by making scott and hope (and us) think that there was no way back only to rip the rug out from under us and go "gotcha! you really thought we were gonna give this movie a sad ending? haha! you're so dumb!"

and this isn't the first time the mcu has done this. one of the biggest complaints about endgame was the decision to set it five years in the future with no consideration for how that would actually change the setting of the mcu. characters were brought back to the exact place they disappeared from with no consideration for how things might have changed in the interim five years (like planes that weren't in the air anymore, buildings no longer standing, even just something as simple as a chair being unoccupied). and then the mcu didn't even really have the courage to address how this would have shaped the world other than a few jokes and making the bad guys in the falcon and the winter soldier people who cared about how the world had screwed them over during the blip.

and things like this happen over and over and over again. the accords are put into place in civil war, but by the time we get to she-hulk, they're gone with no explanation because, as best as i can tell, the writers didn't want to have to deal with the worldbuilding that went into the accords. gamora is killed in infinity war, but heaven forbid quill not have an emotional investment in a film he appears for maybe 10 minutes in so now she's back in endgame. steve got to go live in the past with his ex-girlfriend (which is in itself a refusal to commit after the mcu both gave her a different husband and had the woman herself tell him to move on) but we need to establish that messing with timelines is bad because that's what the entire next phase hinges on so actually his ending was predestined and it's only everyone else who can't change time. whoever took this entire town and also wanda hostage and forced them to live out a sitcom fantasy is bad and needs to be stopped but wait, it's actually wanda and she can't be the bad guy yet, we need her for doctor strange 2, so actually everyone's going to defend her now and say that no one else could ever possibly understand her grief. thor has decided to accept responsibility as king of asgard, but we can't use him for any more movies if he's stuck in asgard, so actually he's decided to pass it on to someone whose entire leadership capability is developed offscreen. i could list more examples but this is making me angry, so let's move on to star wars instead.

with star wars, i look at first the oft-quoted meme, "somehow palpatine has returned." yeah, i shouldn't really need to go into detail on how that counts as a refusal to commit but. the last jedi was a study in how johnson refused to commit to anything that abrams had laid down in the force awakens, but rise of skywalker was almost like abrams had looked at the franchise and said "screw you for taking it away from me, i'm going to come up with the most bullshit stuff just to spite you for doing that in the first place. and i'm going to start by undoing the most important plot point of the first trilogy: the emperor dies." and yeah, disney's kind of tried to salvage this by dropping hints into the bad batch and the mandalorian about cloning, but that only really works if you're watching the franchise chronologically and not considering that both of those series came out after rise of skywalker.

and then there's the mandalorian, my sweet summer child, who is, in my opinion, the worst at backtracking their plot points. i'm not entirely convinced that any of the higher ups for this show really knew what they were doing when they started working on it and i'm not convinced that they know what they're doing now. yeah, there's the tie-in to the last season of clone wars, but the mandalorian has managed to walk back pretty much every single major plot point it's had. din is this legendary warrior who can't be beat, but no one will watch this show if he defeats everyone too early, so he's constantly getting beat up (tbf, sometimes some of the fights he loses makes sense like the krayt dragon and the mudhorn, but a lot of them don't. at all). moff gideon is dead, no wait no he's not, now he's imprisoned, no wait no he's not, now he's definitely dead, you can totally believe us this time guys. grogu can use the force and must be placed with the jedi, but wait, the only person still actively teaching the way of the jedi is luke and all of his students will be brutally murdered ten years from now, and we can't have that, everyone will be mad at us for killing off such a cute character and no one will buy baby yoda dolls (and also we have to set up luke's character degradation from hopeful, believes-in-love cinnamon roll to "i'm going to kill my nephew") so in between seasons let's have grogu decide to go back to din (and don't even get me started on how frustrating it is that a casual mandalorian watcher also had to watch book of boba fett to understand why grogu is back). din has the darksaber now which makes him king of mandalore, that's totally going to be important and what the entire series has been building up to, right? wrong! he might have spent the first two seasons making connections, learning about the world outside his sheltered upbringing, and demonstrating the various qualities that would make for a good leader, but the entire third season will be about din realizing that actually he's super unworthy and the darksaber should actually go to someone who... saw an animal in the water.

and it's really, really frustrating as a viewer! because how am i supposed to get invested in any of these plot decisions when they almost always get reversed? why should i care that mj and ned have forgotten peter when ant-man 3 has shown me that they'll remember him the next time they're all on screen together? why should i care that tech is dead when half of the last season of clone wars was about how echo was actually alive? if none of these decisions have any permanence, then where are the emotional stakes? why should i watch your movie if all you're going to tell me is that nothing matters?

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Hm so as I’ve seen many people lump Sakura in with Naruto and Kakashi as ‘bootlickers who ignore all the state’s atrocities in favor of keeping that status quo’, so as both a radical and a Sakura fan I’d like to share why and how I think Sakura could be turned into a radical character.

This isn’t gonna go very deeply into her fighting abilities or any of that, it’s more an analysis of her personality and narrative role than anything.

So I think one of the main points that attracts me to Sakura taking a radical direction is, unlike Naruto and Kakashi, she’s so rarely allowed any agency outside of male character’s desires. Like there’s multiple points where Sakura is about to do something or go fight, especially during Pt 1, where she’s stopped by someone while Naruto, for example, isn’t given any of the same opposition. While her willingness to drop her plan as soon as an authority figure demands it are something I’m going to further address, the fact remains that more often than not Sakura is only allowed agency so much as it benefits the male characters (ex, yelling at Sasuke to spur him out of his fear to fight Orochimaru).

This lack of agency is continued on throughout Shippuden. While Sakura’s delegation to the sidelines isn’t as noticable (as it’s often just that she’s barely there at all or is visible but doesn’t contribute to the plot), Shippuden Sakura is again not allowed her own voice in the narrative. She’s never given vital pieces of information (ex, the truth about the Uchiha massacre) that would allow her to actually position herself within the story the way Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi are able to do so. We don’t really know what Sakura’s reaction to the truth of the world around her would be, unlike Sasuke (fight again the oppressive forces) or Naruto & Kakashi (favor the status quo), because she is never able to find said truth out.

What damns this even more for me is that there are instances of Sakura breaking out of the Shinobi conditioned mindset sometimes!! The clearest is during the Wave arc, where her sobbed uttering of the Shinobi code as she thinks Sasuke is dead is used outright to question the morality of the shinobi system (side note there’s a reason Wave is imo the best arc). Sure, you could chalk it up to her being a wimpy and emotional 12 year old, but her emotions are directly used here to point out the cruelty of the shinobi system. There’s a moment like this again at the end of her fight with Sasori as well, where Sakura demanding the value of life is met by Sasori asking her if “that’s what a shinobi should be saying”. Again, this is proven by Sakura’s hesitance to stab out Obito’s eye - Sakura’s value for life and compassion have, multiple times, been used to question her position in the shinobi system. But we never really get to see this come to fruition because Sakura is not given the agency nor the information to do so.

In fact, I think if given the information like the true cause of the Uchiha Massacre, Sakura would become radical fairly quickly. She’s very good at memorizing and researching huge amounts of information, she’s noted to be observant and good at noticing details, and she’s incredibly stubborn and wouldn’t be put off if the information was hard to find - the qualities that made her an excellent academic student and medic would make her very good and finding out what she needs to. Additionally, Sakura is shown to have very little loyalty to the state at all. She offers to choose her friend/romantic interest/cared person Sasuke over Konoha twice and seems to genuinely mean it, which shows me that the only real reasons she remains loyal to Konoha are a) many of her precious people (ie, Ino, Tsunade, Naruto, Kakashi) are in Konoha, b) she’s grown up there and it’s easiest, and c) she’s been given no real reason to question it. The violence she seems at least a bit uncomfortable with could be a reason, sure, but as far as Sakura’s seen almost everyone partakes in that, even the revolutionaries.

However, I think if given something that forces her to seriously reconsider her worldview of Konoha as, if not the good guys then a lesser evil to be loyal to, something that forces her to choose between her value for life and her care for her precious people and the state, I think she could very well be turned into a revolutionary. Sakura’s not against enacting violence, but she is shown to have a value for life that the shinobi system ordinarily discourages (one that I do believe she had even prior to her apprenticeship under Tsunade). Playing on this as the catalyst and using her academic skill could turn her into a radical character easily.

However, in order for that to happen, her arc would have to confront what I said I’d address earlier: Sakura’s adherence to authority regardless of her personal wishes and lack of faith in herself.

These, I think, play into each other. While there’s speculation about Sakura’s family and abuse, what we do know from canon is that Sakura was both a teacher’s pet and a bullying victim from a young age. Both of these reinforce this part of her personality; the bullying hurt her self esteem and her faith in herself (and if we go by the anime movies, her emotionally abusive parents sure weren’t helping in that regard either), and being a teacher’s pet allowed her to get the validation her broken self esteem craved so long as she did exactly as the authority figure told. I think for a lot of ‘gifted kids’, we either grow up strictly abiding by authority as it’s what got us positive reinforcement growing up, or we go in the complete opposite direction and trust no authority at all when it inevitably fails us.

Is it as exciting a backstory or reasoning for her personality as some of the other characters? No, but it’s what we have. Sakura is one of those kids, with an academic performance that got her validation as long as she was obedient, and her peers (and parents) hurting her self esteem so she couldn’t trust her own opinion anymore. I think this is why she’s so quick to back down whenever someone she sees as more qualified or in a higher position than her demands it. I don’t think this was ever actually addressed in the show or manga, tbh. I think this would be Sakura’s main barrier to radicalization; her arc would need to be her gaining confidence not just in her abilities, but in her own opinions and personality, and learning that authority figures are not to be trusted.

Anyway, I think Sakura is a very interesting character to take a radical route. You just need to understand her character and motivations.

[ladycamdens]

to expand on some of perth’s frankly shitty takes as a queer asian myself, i think it’s disingenuous of him and the fandom to infantilise these actors and act like there’s an “over-saturation of bls”. sorry in advance this is gonna be a long one.

to address the first point - all these actors are grown autonomous people who know what roles they’re taking. as i said in the tags of another post addressing this if you don’t want to act out sex with another man… don’t act in gay media. the primarily gay male writers don’t owe their straight actors a fairytale romance to justify portraying filthy dirty gay sex. gay people aren’t chaste, innocent people who stare at each other longingly and then dead fish kiss each other then never touch again. most have sex - casual or monogamous. portraying that isn’t exploiting actors. to act like the former is true is fetishising real queer people however.

now i have my critiques of certain companies *cough* domundi *cough* who cast actors who are quite literally barely legal with men in their thirties. however that is a completely different conversation around legal consent vs. ethics when money is involved.

now the big doozy - the bl industry being “over saturated”. oooft. firstly if people aren’t getting mad every time ANOTHER version of boys over flowers with the exact same plot is made then this just isn’t a valid take. but also, i’ve been watching queer dramas from all over asia since around the time gun started his career. for any other people who have also been around that long - congrats here’s your age pension card - but also you’d know it was slim pickings. we had either no proper representation or bad representation like addicted. when the BL boom in thailand hit that was HUGE. it meant not only did queer asians have a whole industry to see themselves in but also queer actors had somewhere to go. was it perfect? absolutely not but it was so necessary. the straight actors and fans taking part really need to take SEVERAL seats before saying anything like “there’s too much queer media”. no. there will never be “too much”.

if these actors are ever legitimately uncomfortable taking these roles it’s not like companies like GMMTV don’t make straight dramas. if you as fans don’t like the sex heavy shows go watch the dramas w the younger actors or god forbid just unpack some of your weird homophobia.

but we are allowed to want both quality and quantity. there’s room for both. not every dramas has to be as immaculately shot and thought out as things like ATOTS and Not Me.

i am honestly disappointed perth would spread such harmful rhetoric but i hope this sheds some light on why it’s Really Bad

[demodraws0606]

The very weird plays in Tsukasa and Rui's last event and how they can be analysed and the weird detail that links them together

I made a post about this before but it was poorly made (and also not really a theory or analysis it was just me having brainworms) so I deleted it and I want to actually make an analysis about it. Unfortunatly this also means this post will be long as fuck which can be a positive or a negative depending on how you view it.

Warning for mentions of suicide and drowning

So Tsukasa and Rui both have plays that are kind of the focus of the event, to the point where wxs literally stop to basically explain to us the plot of them (in world they're just talking about it but like it's clear it's also meant for us the viewers to understand the plays they're doing).

And these two plays are already very interesting and...well dark on their own but they have a extremely strange similarity that I don't believe is a coincidence (because that would be insane) and also just kinda shakes the foundation on how colorpalet write these sorts of topics in general.

First I want to preface this by saying that me analysing these plays isn't some kind of fool's herrand as colorpalet has explicitely hid backstory information, future lore hints and overall just little bits of character into WxS's plays more often than not. Of course some plays are more explicit than others.

A huge exemple of this, is the first arc ender where the play they do to save Phennyland is one that obviously is meant to parallel Emu's backstory with her grandpa. It also stands as Very early foreshadowing between the parallels of Emu's grandpa and Tsukasa that Emu sees in Admist a Dream.

So yeah, from a writing standpoint, makes sense you don't want the plays you spent a lot of words describing to the audience to be useless especially considering colorpalet has a limited amount of time to explore these stories.

I also want to get this as early as possible before I get possible criticism because I know how this fandom acts towards analysis that delve into darker topics. Don't try and respond with "colorpalet wouldn't write something like that" or "this is too dark for colorpalet". Not only because I'm not insinuating that they will actually go full dark mode and depict something graphic.

But also because this is something that is already IN the text, I'm not making up darker themes here, that is something that colorpalet chose to add in WonderlandXShowtime's event stories. I'm only bringing up how odd this is for colorpalet and how it could relate to the overall story.

I'll bring this up later because this specific criticism gets very silly once you delve deeper into it but I don't want to stall the analysis any longer.

So now with this out of the way, let's get into the plays.

This is the story of the first play showed in Tsukasa's event

Of course the first thing that stands out is how much darker this play is compared to well...almost anything colorpalet addresses in stories ? This definitely shocked when I first read it, there is no usage of "disappearing" and it Actually describes the method as to which the protagonist wants to end their life which the only thing close to that we see is Kanade hinting on wanting to starve herself. But I'm gonna get into how weird this is for colorpalet later.

Extremely dark topics aside you can easily draw parallels to this story to Nene and Rui specifically already. The story is vague enough that those parallels don't hold too much water (ahaha get it) BUT it's still something that I feel is important to point out nontheless.

Nene and Rui were both unsuccesful in their dreams before the main story. Nene having given up going on stage and Rui never being able to be a director being forced to use robots for his plays.

Both were pretty jaded and well "worn out" until they met Tsukasa and Emu which would be a stand in for the protagonist of this play going through various encounters with many people and deciding to live a little longer.

(The reason I don't compare this protagonist to Tsukasa and Emu here is because I don't think they fit as well. Tsukasa's issues wasn't being unsuccesful its more so him forgetting the reasons behind his dreams and Emu's situation while similar just doesn't feel like it fits this story in particular)

So yeah this story is pretty simple so there is not much to analyse or pick apart. I could go scene by scene but then I would be distracting from the main point I want to make so I'll just be using the simple descriptions of the overall story.

NOW this one is a doozie, I didn't put the whole story that's described but I think compared to the last one this one is way more obvious as to what this could paralleling (or even foreshadowing if you want to be spicy).

I don't think this play is meant to be interpreted in only one way but the most obvious interpretation is the parallels to the disbandement arc. I think it particularly fits Rui in the disbandement considering how Katsuyuki is described but it can also work with Emurui in general as well.

Someone struggling meeting someone who brings joy in their life before they seemingly have to leave, said person being desperate for that not to happen.

I do think it's also meant to be a sort of double meaning here as if you have seen my cyberpunk deadboy analysis, the idea of someone leaving silently with the other trying to chase them down is something that just feels...idk intentional. But I don't have any evidence other than vibes here.

Now that I analysed these plays I want to get into the one common thread they have that is extremely baffling and concerning.

They both have the main character contemplating suicide by drowning.

Now you can be nitpicky and point out how the play in Rui's event doesn't explicitely say that this dude wants to drown himself but I just find it more likely mostly because of how this and the description of Katsuyuki's characters are phrased.

When Katsyuki is said to be "without the will to live"

THAT is a literal translation

Unfortunatly I'm not a japanese speaker so don't take my research with 100 pourcent certainty

However if you look at how this sentence is phrased in japanese, this translation is pretty much word for word

And also just what Hajime says doesn't feel like what someone would say to someone if they're just leaning to close to look at the ocean or just being reckless.

Anyways now that I've made my point that there is a 95 pourcent chance this is Heavily implying Katsuyuki was plannign on drowning himself the question is....

what the fuck ?

Now one time is already a big deal considering colorpalet's insitance on censoring explicit mentions of suicide and for it to be implied twice in the span of two events in a row ? And have it be specifically be by drowning both times ?????

I don't understand people just brushing this off because Colorpalet Actively chose to make the plays like this. These plays often take a large portion of the screentime, and I've showcased how they can hold story significance so such a blatant connection between them feels extremely intentional.

This is why complaints about expecting Colorpalet to get too dark and that it's unrealistic would be legitmatly silly because what's more unrealistic ?

That colorpalet has tackled this dark topic twice in a row to foreshadow or hint at possible topics that will be addressed in the future of WxS's story ? Weither it's through flashbacks or implications like 25ji OR even just symbolism.

Or that colorpalet just went and made the plays needlessly dark, for no reason ?????? Twice in a row with it being drowning both times ??????? With the same actor and both being the protagonist of the play ?????? Have those plays that take a lot of screentime being described just being completely devoid meaning ???????

I think I made my case about why the fandom's usual kneejerk reaction wouldn't make sense here, this isn't a "X character is secretly suicidal/depressed" situation.

Either way, I actually don't legitematly know what this could entail. This is clearly important enough that colorpalet is obviously shoving it in our faces but I do not know the meaning of it towards WxS's story just yet.

It could be hints at some of the members backstory (BTW by that I mean it could be hints at basically anything, it doesn't have to be explicitely 1/1 "they wanted to drown themselves") specifically Rui considering how suspicious they are at handling ms Rui but that is it's own can of wringling worms. But that could also be my fav character bias speaking tbf.

It could also just be meant to be some kind of like, message of colorpalet saying that they are willing to go darker with WxS's storyline if necessary. In a way showing that the gloves are off if they're not censoring dark topics that they usually censor.

Anyways I'm not delving further into it because otherwise i'd get into unhinged rants but honestly this subject just gives me so much brainworms because legit what the Fuck is colorpalet doing rn.

They are being so weird for literally no reason with WxS's story and I just have to sit back and watch them just drop weird shit out of nowhere.

Edit : One of my friends pointed out how one of them is a movie and one of them is a play and i realised I might've mixed those words up while writing this so yeah 😭

[littleredwritinghoodsclub]

Moody Monday I

🌹Hello Campers! Here are the responses we got for our first activity for camp NaNoWriMo. Thank you everyone who participated, if you still wanted to submit a response please do so- it's never too late to join in one of our activities. If you're not part of the club and still want to answer these questions, then reblog this post with your answers.

🌹Also huge thank you to @caveatscriptor for creating the graphic

🌹 Member responses below the cut:

🌹 @jay-avian

1. Honestly, a little bit of both. I do a general outline of the main plot, as well as any worldbuilding needed. And once I start writing, I let the pacing flow naturally and the characters flesh themselves out 2. Current WIP - "The Court Magician": Forest man on house arrest must save the world from the fae 3. (not sure, will come back) 4. Fantasy, Adventure 5. Reluctant Chosen One

🌹 @mayonayys

1. I'm definitely a planner! I enjoy a bit of chaos, but need structure for most things, and that includes writing. An example of my most extreme planner moment: I was writing up fake advertisements for my in world D&D newspaper, had to give the businesses addresses... So I stopped halfway through and had to plan out most of a market district map, which will probably never be used again 2. Aura Sighted: Gifted-kid burnout syndrome mage has to figure out how to save her sister from a psychotic King, while staying out of the way of the Prince with daddy issues. 3. Keywords: (I'll come back to this one) 4. Genres: Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Eventual Romance 5. Favorite Tropes: Found Family, Eventual Idiots to Lovers, with a hint of Enemies to Lovers Bonus: My Camp goal this year is just to get some writing done; shooting for 15k words!

🌹 @becausethecat

1. Planning: Generally it depends. I don’t outline Fic usually, or random ideas that just jump out, but I do like having vague-to-solid roadmap on other ideas 2. WIP that i think I’m gonna try to do: A pirate loses his ship and crew to his creditors and makes a drastic attempt to pay them off by promising to produce a rare magical artifact—a weather violin that specifically calls moody weather when played—and he isn’t prepared for his quest to dump him on a small island, inhabited by one other person; the violinist who found his treasure first. 3. Key Words: Broody Boi, Dislike to Love (think animated Anastasia/Dimitri), reformed pickpocket, identity, violin + The sound of rain on a tin roof while a sad viloin plays, deserted island, survival, persons of debatable charm, BLORBOS 4. Genre is uhhhh.... Pirate Captain on a deserted island with a Moody Violinist ..... idk if it will be humor or romance or survival but it’s def Fantasy with Magic and whatnot 5. Tropes: Pirate on Deserted Island, Survival, is Learning to Communicate Effectively a trope? And uhhhh I’m not sure how the Only One Bed will turn out that’s the one I pulled out of a hat (what quantifies Idiots to Lovers bc they might be that too)

🌹 @fanged-writer

1. former pantser, trying to plan now. don't think my previous method was working for me, so I'll see how this goes! 2. sentence: an average human is suddenly gifted 'divine' knowledge, transporting them from one dismal situation to another. 3. will need to figure these key words out, i think. 'wasps, red, gods, superstition, summer'. 4. not too sure, but got some fantasy in there... 5. rivals and rivals and more rivals. also deceit.

🌹 @inkspellangel

1. A little of both. I plan a bit and then hope I don't pants my way too far away from that vague outline :'D 2. SSP: Grumpy punk with wolf companion has to arrest his childhood friend because of reasons he can't believe. 3. Keywords: Mad scientist, childhood friends to lovers, grumpy/sunshine friend dynamic, cave system, more vibes than plot at this point 4. Subterranean sci-fi, I think 5. 100% sunshine/grumpy friends

🌹 @fleurtygurl

1. I think I lean more towards a pantser. Ideas come to me as I write that I would never have thought of in the planning stages of my wip. But I'm doing my best to find a way to give myself more structure. 2. Filipina in San Francisco meets cyborg private investigator, and they solve some murders. 3. Keywords: tomboy, trauma, sapphic, straight people being friends, siblings-centered 4. Sci-fi and mystery? ( i know there are technical differences between mystery and thriller, but i dont want to try and think about it.) 5. my favorite dynamic? Close sisters who can depend on one another

[j0kers-light]

Okay I had to send this in a separate ask cuz I had to go look up his name again for me to point the accusing finger but I think the mole is

NEO

Not only do I think he’s the mole, I SUSPECT he didn’t actually kill Florence!! I believe he’s doing his own crazy in love thing and has her locked up somewhere she cant get out. Like yes I know his text to Joker was vague on purpose, if authorities catch him it can’t just say “finished offing that girl boss 👍🏽” BUTTTTTTTT I think its pretty clear the Neo doesn’t just casually like Florence he may have been on his way to love with her. So I can’t see him killing her for the job ESPECIALLY when I think he’s the mole!

Also just here to air my grievances but I still don’t like Florence after the way she treated Light and while I don’t feel she deserved to be killed for it, I cringe every time Light expressed a desire to reconnect with her. Hopefully my theory is right and I’m not speaking ill of the dead but fuck her she was trifling and an asshole of a “friend”

Ooh! Pointing the fingers at Neo I see! Okay.. okay.. Not you thinking Florence is still kicking 🤣 you're the third person who suspects she's still alive omg.

Spoilers down below if you haven't read up to A Risk I'm Willing to Take ⚠⚠⚠

Yeah Neo's text to J was vague for that exact purpose, however, Joker called Frost and the Flo situation was finally discussed.

I see why you're pointing fingers at Neo, its his fault that most of this is happening, and he is in time out until he earns Joker's trust again. I can't say for certain if he really loved Florence or not due to his personality but uhhhh, that will be addressed in a future chapter.

Florence still has meaning to the plot despite her passing. It was a huge risk (hehe pun intended) to kill her off but she's a plot string that will tie everything together soon.

Now about your grievances...

Light/Y/n's ability to have normal relationships with people was damaged. She struggles with making friends and that desire to keep them, blinds her from seeing their toxic traits.

Y/n knows Flo was in the wrong and Florence used Y/n's vulnerability quite often. Flo was the high school cheerleader and Y/n the book club nerd. That dynamic never changed between them.

Y/n knows its not right but she clings to her childhood friend because that's the only person who knows her before her assault and has stuck by her.

Its gonna hit hard when Y/n finds out the truth.

[theimaginatrix27]

I've been in the Star Trek fandom spaces long enough, time to talk publicly about a thing that I am injecting into every fic where it is relevant

So if you've been paying attention to my blog the last couple months, you will know I am a huge fan of @enbygesserit 's work. They write the absolute best Dominion lore and fic I have ever had the pleasure of reading/encountering, and I eat up each new piece like my favourite confectionery.

What I am about to discuss predates any exposure I had to their work by at least thirteen years.

And the ship it surrounds was my DS9 OTP for two entire decades (before I discovered the O'Brien polycule and now my DS9 otp is a "One True Polyamorous tangle", but moving on).

That ship being Kiraodo. My heart broke when Odo confessed his love to an apparently dying Kira, she said she loved him back, and that was the clue for him to realise she was not Kira at all. And then when the Female Changeling Voice of the Link told him Kira would never love him because he was a Changeling, I was a tiny sad twelve-yo who thought, "But I love him!" And then I wanted it to be a thing.

And when I found out it was a thing in canon but they had to part ways at the end of the series, I was happy and sad at the same time.

I was a teenager, I didn't know the relationship felt awkward to some (though to be fair I still hated Children of Time and what the alternate/Gaia Odo did, but I address that in another fic so it's fine). I just wanted the sad Changeling and the fiery Bajoran to prove the mean Changeling wrong.

But also, I acknowledged to myself, even in 2009-10, that it would not be fair to Odo at all to make him leave his people again so quickly. I felt sympathetic toward the Changelings/Founders even as a teenager who had not and would not see DS9 in its entirety (curse you, cable TV! You with your reruns and exorbitant prices making it so hard for us to keep you for more than a few months at a time!) Anyways, I knew even then that I didn't want to take Odo away from his people again, even for him and Kira to be together.

So what was my solution?

Here were the canon points I considered at age nineteen (I was creating the bare bones of the Galactic Warp AU at the time and also had a strict must-adhere-to-canon policy for any fanfic ideas I'd had at the time):

The Great Link turned Odo into a solid.

The baby Changeling in The Begotten turned him back, at the cost of its life (but maybe not if it hadn't already been dying).

Therefore, it is canonically possible for a solid to become a Changeling.

What if Kira had been Changelinged?

WHY IS THAT NOT CANON?

I have this as a significant plot point in any Kiraodo content I'm going to write, so if you see Kiraodo becoming a thing in any fic, expect to see Changeling Kira show up somewhere.

"But wait!" someone yells. "You just said you didn't want to take Odo from his people, and Kira's Bajoranness is a huge part of her identity! And you're gonna just take that away from her?"

No, actually. You think the Prophets give a shit whether or not Kira's corporeal form is solid? Fuck no, they're not corporeal and time is not linear for them! The Kira is always the Kira. The Kira is always of Bajor. The Kira is always beloved of the Prophets.

This holds true in every single fic in which I have inserted this. Kira doesn't always become a Changeling full time (some of my AUs have magic), but more importantly, She never stops being Bajoran in the ways that really matter.

Which, if this had been a canon episode, would have been emphasised by the Prophets themselves and I am not taking critique on this.

"But the Founders would never do this in canon!" I hear you cry. "They hate solids and the Voice doesn't like Kira especially!"

First of all, the convoluted love triangle between Odo, Kira and the Voice was stupid.

Second of all, it doesn't even have to be them who do it, we got other more powerful entities around! Q was basically banned from DS9, sure, but what if Kira and Odo weren't on DS9?

Here's my idea for how this could have happened in canon, if the writers had really wanted to sell us the ship.

Odo and Kira have been away on a mission together (doesn't matter where, they just have to be off the station). It's sometime in Season 6, post the Dominion occupation of DS9. When the runabout returns, Odo coms the station and says he needs to give them warning about something, and they're going to have to take him at his word, however hard that may be.

"What's wrong?" Sisko asks. "And where's Major Kira?"

In response, Odo holds up his bucket. There is a Changeling in goo form inside.

"There was an—incident while we were returning from our mission. It was successful, by the way."

Sisko stares at the screen intently for a moment.

"Are you saying," he asks slowly, "that Major Kira was replaced by a Changeling?"

"No, Captain," Odo responds. "I am saying this Changeling is Major Kira."

Cue opening theme!

And possibly this would be a two-parter! I feel that with the whole theme of DS9 being nuance, and with the Dominion being such a big deal, it deserves to be!

Basically the plot would first involve a flashback to Q popping in while Kira and Odo are arguing about something Changeling-related or whatever, going "You know, I've been watching you and yours for a while now—from a safe distance of course—and frankly, I've been surprised by the lack of nuance with regard to the Founders."

And Kira's all, "Oh come on, don't you start with this high-and-mighty attitude! I read all the records about you after your last visit to Deep Space 9, you don't have any room to talk!"

"And neither do you," Q fires back. "You think your terrible acts were justified, don't you? Oh, you know they were dreadful, the fact that you could be so violent distressed you so! But when it comes down to it, you can sleep at night, because you helped drive out the Cardassians and set Bajor free. But when the Dominion imposes their order on their part of the galaxy because they used to be oppressed and were traumatised, you sit there on what moral high ground you have and pass judgment on them!"

"I don't need to hear this! Especially not from you! Sisko made you stay away from the station—from us! Now get off this runabout and leave us alone."

"Oh, you do need to hear it, Nerys. But if you insist on me leaving, let me do so on my terms. Don't worry, my little firework, I'll make sure you don't need my help undoing this." And he snaps his fingers and disappears.

And Kira's form begins to melt and she barely has time to call Odo's name before she dissolves into Changeling goo.

Back on DS9, everyone's a bit frantic after seeing the runabout footage, which confirms Odo's story. He links with her and is able to help her reform after a little time, during which we get to hear panicked Kira thoughts and some cool visuals of what the link is like for her. We get a scene after she's able to shift back into herself where Jadzia quips that she's got purple hair and Cardassian neck ridges or something, which is not amusing to her at all.

Then there's a whole discussion on how they're going to fix her before the rest of the Federation finds out, because "Are they going to believe the testimony of one rogue Changeling and the footage from a runabout computer? What if they decide Kira's a threat and take her into custody?"

And the answer is pretty obvious, especially after Julian examines a sample of her matrix and discovers traces of her dna are still in it.

They have to take her to the Great Link so she can be restored to solidity. The Founders are rather good at genetic manipulation, after all. It'll be fine!

Except they're at war, and the Voice does not like Kira, which forms the majority of the conflict, as they have to convince any Dominion forces they meet that "Seriously, we are not here to fight, please don't blow us up, we just want to help our friend, yes we mean it, don't fire!"

And in the end Kira has to pretend to be a Founder just to get the various ships to leave them alone, and it's weird as fuck for her but she makes it to the Great Link and the Voice is there and doesn't believe her at first until they link and she gets proof from her memories.

Which leads to Kira finding out about the morphogenic virus early, and being incensed, because "Look, I don't like you, but that's crossing multiple lines! I'd never have signed off on that if it were up to me, and I know Sisko wouldn't either! Doctor Bashir's brilliant—he can help you, I'm sure of it."

"Even if we did not help you right away?"

"I can wait, if I have to. I'm kind of getting used to this whole thing. It's been—an interesting experience."

And after another link to confirm that yes, she means that and it's not even in a bad way, the Voice consents to help her regain her solid status and she goes into the Great Link, gets a small taste of the Founders' collective trauma and is deeply moved by it, bursting into tears when she emerges, once more humanoid. There's a whole final scene about how she wishes more people in the Federation could have experienced what she did, and then she goes to write a log entry on the whole thing or something.

But this would absolutely change the trajectory of the war because that's how DS9 works, so it wouldn't just be handwaved away. in subsequent episodes, Julian is able to find a cure—possibly with help from within the Dominion itself because the Founders would very much like to not die and Julian is being Julian at them and they're taking a real liking to him.

And the galaxy is saved because Q did a thing! But also Kira understands Odo better after this and their relationship is all the richer for it.

*Starts chanting* It should've been canon, it should've been canon, it should've been canon, IT SHOULD'VE BEEN CANON!

[skydigiblogs]

i'm just gonna go ahead and paste what i sent to a friend about my thoughts for chapter 3 and the bit of 4 i got to today

this is extremely long, and still primarily a lot of criticism since while i enjoyed chapter 3 more than the first two chapters, it failed to address a lot of my core concerns with the writing of chapters 1 and 2.

for people who missed my chapter 2 thoughts, Sad White Boy is Leon

i typed most of this on my phone without being able to reference the spellings of any of the names i was hearing so it isn't until the end that i'm able to double check the name of Shuu/Xu Yulin. any time i am referring to Professor Suspicious Eccentric, it's Professer Ryusenji. agufridge is Saya.

you can also see kind of where i got to certain plot points between breaks lol.

[Okay chapter 3 is going along way more smoothly to us but also we officially have a never before seen phrase because the best way I can put it is that all three main factions have the same Agumon-fridged wife/daughter/friend fueling their obsession with the digital world]

[All of the world building so far has also been exclusively around the tragedy that set in motion all three factions going about their way and it's more clearly establishing a theme of, like, the ways paths diverge in life. First there was Eiji and Sad White Boy, now Professor Suspicious Eccentric, his would be son in law Tartarus (who I know is going to pull some villain shit after glancing at the wiki for something yesterday), and Cop Lady (who, while being a cop, I do actually like the characterization she's been given. Shame about the being a digicop though.).

Tartarus's fiance went DMIA while mind linked to what I'm guessing is the BlackAgumom SOC has a stupid high bounty on, hence me saying there's an Agumon shaped fridge

At least I don't have to deal with Sad White Boy

Who is in a Kazuchimon shaped fridge I should specify but like. It doesn't feel like fridging when you give a whole quarter of you narrative to establishing a character as opposed to like. An hour on Agufridge.]

[At least I have something other than Eiji to look forward to in this novel lmfao

But also man. They really are leaning heavy into Eiji having a huge amount of regret for what happened to Sad White Boy and like. I think we're meant to see it in parallel to Agufridge, but she was established to be RECENTLY AND PROLONGEDLY CLOSE with all involved parties affected by her fridging.

And I just don't buy it even if SWB saved Eiji's life from drowning in a river when they were kids.]

[i also realized a succinct way of putting why he feels so gross to me is that his whole plotline really edges into "white savior complex" territory, if that makes sense?

fully convinced seekers is just flat out better without SWB

because like it has its problems but damn if SWB isn't just a walking sandwich of them all in a single succinct package]

one real world "i got home from work" later

[Okay so this observation I made about almost all of the Digipol forces being members of the D-Brigade (most are literally just commandramon) made me a little bit frustrated with an element I see as missed potential in seekers that I doubt will be capitalized on. The only members of DigiPol with fully realized characters are Satsuki (Numemon's partner) and Shuu Yulin (Ryudamon's partner, Cop Lady), who are both high ranking officers, and were this not really struggling to decide whether it wants to condemn or fuck the police, I think it would've been a missed opportunity not to at least show the experiences of one of the lower ranking officers. Shuu, while being the head of the DPol, was formerly a hacker/code cracker before going on to do white hat hacking with the police and rising to her position.

But like, something Satsuki's said during the first hour or so of chapter 4 made me wonder something because there are members of the DPol that Mind Link. At least two of them with Commandramons, which puts them in the body of their Digimon. Satsuki calls what they're doing in Chapter 4 a "war"--- they're fighting against SoC and Wall Slum (local) Digimon alike because the SoC is trying to break open the gate into the Actual Digital World (basically everything humans have seen is the outside of an eggshell). I don't think Seekers is self-aware enough to realize that this act of the DigiPol imposing their forces on the Wall Slum is akin to digital imperialism, so I really doubt it would have tried to interrogate that at all.

The thing I was thinking about that might have been interesting (but absolutely could not be trusted to Seekers) is that like… all of the DPol Digimon are Commandramon, whereas the brass have Special Partner Digimon. I would have loved some interrogation into the way that being a cop (or military in general) seeks to depersonalize someone, stripping them of their individuality in order to make them more a tool than person. Commandramon could have been a very useful way to tell that story, especially since anyone MLed to a Digimon always has to wear their Digimon Linker. That means they are always burdened with the reminder of their function in the force. MLed partners are also the only ones to experience the Wall Slum with the five human senses. What does it do to someone to see through the eyes of just one of hundreds of Commandramon, all literally looking the same to an untrained human eye? You're literally nothing but the tool you embody at that point, only so useful as you can wield your Digimon like one. MLed Digimon are also the only ones that can talk to humans. Do you think the Commandramon who aren't MLed wish they could talk to their partners, express anything beyond following the commands the code running on them like dog training tells them to enact?

What is individuality to a Digimon who is a soldier? What is individuality to a soldier who is only as good as their Digimon, one of a thousand like it raised only for warfare?

It just bugs me so much thatt we don't even get an inkling of individuality from the Commandramon, which really heightens the militaristic feel of the D-Pol to no positive favors.

And since I can'tt tell if Seekers wants me to like the DPol or not, it's hard to judge whether that is a failure or intended attribute of the writing]

[i really hope i have more things that i can say i actually like about seekers but man oh man the bad is so hard to get through

like, for example, i really find the structure of the digital world interesting in this series! and mind linking is an interesting way to get characters involved in the digital world without having the barrier breached (while also introducing stakes). even if i am a little sad that the humans get stuck as fancy holograms in the digital world.

the digital world in seekers, like i said before, is basically an egg, with the network of the human world floating high above it

data falls from the human world onto the egg's surface, but the barrier is functionally closed off

digimon that have been in contactt with human world data are forced to live on the outside of the digital world, unable to return to the Actual digital world

this is the Wall Slum

and like, on occasion little pockets of open data storms, breaches in the eggshell will appear--- they're called vortexes

we don't find out what's in them until when sad white boy martyrs himself but like, anynthing that enters them gets presumed deleted

SWB's death is how we find out that it's because a royal knight will pop up to erase anything trying to breach the vortex

(they also keep describing the RKs as their relationship to "yggdrasil" so like. god help me i'm holding my breath and praying i don't have to go into that.)

they haven't talked at all and seem to be regarded as "angels of death" to those on the shell of the digital world

bringing it back around to how it's introduced, though, i think about that self-oblivious introduction to the digital world and digipol where humans (possibly the implication was supposed to be just code crackers but idk) through their interaction with the digital world, have brought impurities to the digital world. they even repeated during chapter 3, in the extended flashback to project tartarus and the first DMIA candidate (miss agufridge), the comparison to "15th century seafaring explorers" or something which. hm. are you self aware enough to really be pulling that comparison twice? i don't think you are.

so like, even when i'm enjoying the shit in seekers it inevitably ends up ruined by the story's own lack of coherent nuance (or functional attempt at it)]

[observeowl]

Also at some point when starting this series reader was gonna be like “nat i died in a car crash” or something like that idk why

well you reminded me of something, i just realised i didn't address this point. Like nat never knew that reader got into a car crash. such a huge plot hole... (sad....)

[pinkeoni]

Jancy Analysis: Jonathan & Nancy's Individual Conflicts

I've been talking about this over the course of a few different posts and asks, but I thought I would make one cohesive post about it in order to coherently organize all of my thoughts on this.

I'm not going to tag this as anti j*ncy because it's actually pro-jancy endgame, but I am going to be talking in depth about the issues in their relationship and a possible breakup, so I understand if any Jancy shippers might wanna skip this one.

As many may have seen, I've been making several posts somewhat stating that I think that Nancy and Jonathan will likely break up very early in the next season. HOWEVER, I want to clarify that I don't think that this necessarily has to affect their status as a couple at the end of the season. A couple can still be endgame even if they took time apart! I also don't think that this is indicative of how they actually feel about each other. Unlike m*leven, I think they love each other very much! I just think that they are likely going to break up as a natural progression of how their story beats have laid out.

In 4x01 we are introduced to Jonathan and Nancy's conflict for the season; they are having miscommunication issues and will not be seeing each other for spring break.

Here's the thing that makes this heartbreaking— both of them actually perfectly understand the others wants and needs. Nancy isn't going to pry Jonathan away from his family and Jonathan isn't going to take Nancy away from the work that she is passionate about. They love each other so much that they can't see each other.

What leads me to believe that they are breaking up is the fact that this miscommunication is never actually discussed. They have a moment where they say that "they're good," but this wasn't actually addressing the issue. Furthermore, they end with Jonathan still hasn't told Nancy about not applying to Emerson, and Nancy isn’t being honest about Steve (no, I don’t think St*ncy is gonna happen, but that plotline did happen so it there’s no use in ignoring it!). This leaves open a huge plot point that still needs to be resolved!

This lie is actually similar to the painting lie, at least in terms of how it's being used within the writing. Because this lie is not resolved by the end of season 4, it leads me to believe that once this lie does get brought up then it will not end with things staying the exact same way that it was, otherwise what was the point of setting it up in the first place? Not only would it feel unsatisfying, but it would feel like a total cop out.

I don't think that Jancy breaking up would be a bad thing for their arc as a whole, it would not only add more interest and drama but it would also give the characters space to resolve their individual conflicts.

The reasons for why they don't see each other over Spring Break actually reveal bigger conflicts for each character: Jonathan has been lying to Nancy about college because he can't leave his family, and Nancy can't take herself away from what she's working on in order to be with him.

I'll start with Jonathan since I've actually talked about this before and his problem is more identifiable. Ever since their dad left, Jonathan has felt responsible for taking care of his family, something that he shouldn't have to do. He sacrifices parts of himself in order to protect his family, including being with the people he loves and going to the school he wants to go to (which is NYU btw and NOT Emerson!).

Nancy actually has the opposite problem, she is so involved with her work that it often gets in between her and the people that she loves. After Nancy goes on her spiel to Fred about why she can't see Jonathan, she turns down Mike's D&D game! We are shown a clear example of her prioritizing work over family!

Both of these conflicts is what leads to Jonathan and Nancy having their argument in season 3, an argument that doesn't really get resolved, they just decide to make up because there’s bigger fish to fry. Although, as I stated above, it does seemNow, their argument in this season is pretty complex. They're both right... and they’re both wrong. Nancy was right to get upset at her employers for their sexism, but she was also wrong for not considering Jonathan's position. Jonathan was wrong for not considering Nancy's feelings, but he was also right for getting angry at her for losing him the job. It's not a black and white situation.

To clarify, I don't think that Nacy being a working woman is a bad thing, nor do I think that Jonathan deeply caring for his family is a bad thing! But I think the reason that both of these arcs are here is for the sake of showing balance. How to balance what you want for your future with the ones that you love.

Now, as I talked about earlier, it does seem like they do understand their personal wants and needs now in season four, but those reasons for the argument in the first place are still there. Neither Nancy nor Jonathan have resolved these issues, and failing to do so will only continue to cause problems in the future, no matter how much they both love each other. That isn’t the problem in their relationship unlike M*leven

Yes Nancy and Jonathan don't need to break up in order to resolve their individual conflicts, but I think separation would at least help create focus. And as stated above, I see their breakup as pretty inevitable anyways. After that though, I think the possibility for endgame is still there. For myself personally I'd be open to either endgame or not, and especially if they get their situation sorted out than I would love to see them together in the end.

[kiynania]

Ranking every ninjago season and why :3

(Yall are gonna 100% hate me for this)

(Spoilers for Dragons rising kinda)

I hate it sm, it literally could've been one of the best seasons in ninjago history, but there was WAY too much filler and was so underwhelming and predictable. Didn't even feel like a Zane season during the second half it felt more like a Lloyd season. ALL of the ninja should've fought Zane + Pixal, and she should've come as well. AND THE FACT THAT ZANE'S TRAUMA WAS NEVER BROUGHT UP. LIKE HUH????? I will forever hate this season with a passion no matter what anyone says.

18. Forbidden Secrets of Spinjitzu

17. Prime Empire

I really can't care for it at all it just feels like the ninjago writers ran out of ideas(which I completely understand, but still) you could literally skip the entire thing and the whole plot line would STILL make sense. The only time I genuinely rewatch this is if I'm THAT bored. Really should've stuck the to idea with Jay's mother running away from something(which they 100% should've done in the first place)

16. Skybound

Before yall come to my house and beat the shit out of me, HEAR. ME. OUT. Kinda the same situation with Prime Empire. You could skip it, and the show would still make sense. It's never addressed after the season, and all of it is just...wack. Nadakkan is a fucking creep towards Nya, like mf BACK OFF. And Jay isn't any better. He's constantly disrespecting Nya's boundaries throughout a majority of the season, and I do NOT understand how Jay fans justify that. And the amount of sexism in it??? I just don't like this season in general and would very much like to stay away from it.

15. The Island

It felt like it was just there for the purpose of being there. It's important to the plot the next season but I felt like that could've been resolved with a little b plot. Ik it's technically not a season but idc. That's it. Nothing else I can say abt it.

14. Crystalized

It had sm potential, but the second half felt so rushed. The first 12 eps were really well paced, but the last 18 felt like a whole other season. The entire ending was rushed, and it was so hyped as well. I was at the edge of my chair waiting and waiting but....nothing. I never really believed that Pixal was gonna die, but I 100% expected Wu to die or SOMEONE to make a huge sacrifice. The original ending wouldn't have been much better bc at that point, there would've been only 2 eps left. AND NO ONE BROUGHT UP THE FACT THAT ZANE DEFEATED THE OVERLOAD. NOT EVEN LLOYD???? "Third time's the charm," MF ZANE DEFEATED HIM THE THIRD TIME FOR WAY LONGER THAN YOU DID AND NOT EVEN THE OVERLOAD MENTIONED IT LIKE WHAT??? AT LEAST REFRENCE IT OR SUM.

13. Hands of Time

To get something out of the way, the animation reminded me of Miraculous Ladybug.(IM SORRY) The season felt odd but in a good way. And knowing that Pixal was in that Samurai X suit makes her personality in s7 10× more funnier. I don't hate it but I don't love it at the same time. It's a 50/50

12. The Pilots

Since it's the start or it all, it's going to get a decent ranking. I really like it and it did just fine for a pilot ep(s) But other seasons are just better :3

11. Master of The Mountain

It's a really nice season to get back at I fricking LOVE the little flashback of Cole's mother. But at the same time it's a bit forgettable.(don't come for me) That's it. :3

10. Legacy of The Green Ninja

One of the classic seasons. It's good enough to make it to the top 10. This was where ninjago was originally supposed to end. Its really nice and seeing Lloyd battle his dad was sad :,) All the episodes are really fun and entertaining but other seasons are just better :3

9. Rise of The Snakes

The first season of ninjago where it all truly started. Much like s2 all the episodes are really entertaining. It's really heartwarming to watch all the ninja grow up and change throughout the rest of the seasons. It's always a classic you can come back to. But other seasons are still just better

8. Possession

It's a really nice season and the pros outweigh the cons but I really don't like Morro(atp yall finna hate me) He's like Kai if his "I'm supposed to be the green ninja" phase never left. His redemption arc was so fricking boring and forgettable that I don't even REMEMBER what happened and i'm too lazy to go back. But the episodes are also really entertaining and a bit funny.

7. Rebooted

TOO MANY PPL DONT LIKE THIS SEASON AND IDK WHY. Okay the love triangle was extremely unnecessary and didn't help progress the plot at all. But all the good really outweighs it. It's the birth of the best Canon ship(which is pretty much all I post abt here) Really entertaining. AND HAS ONE OF THE BEST SCENES IN HISTORY. Ik yall were in TEARS after the last ep.

6. Dragons Rising

It's a really well paced season and MASSIVELY improved from crystalized. THEY ACTUALLY GIVE ZANE A PERSONALITY AND I AM HERE FOR IT. It gives off a really well based story, and it's really entertaining. Ik a majority of Jay fans were upset bc he only got like 14 seconds of screen time if that, but with everything going on and at that point there were 3 eps left. The story pacing would've been extremely rushed, so I'm kinda glad that happened. Nothing else to say.

5. March of The Oni

Really great season. Just really hits you in the feels. Nice season you can always rewatch. I love the Pixal/Cole/Zane interaction in the first ep really funny. The rest of the season is pretty self explanatory

4. Tournament of Elements

This season is one of the best in the show. Like S10 it's pretty self explanatory. Introduces us to a bunch of new concepts. GARMADON SACRIFICING HIMSELF WAHHHHHHH. The only thing I genuinely have a problem with is the Zane amnesia part. I really wanted it to last the whole season like make Zane have little flashbacks bit by bit. That could've been really interesting. The rest is amazing.

3.Sons of Garmadon

SO MANY PPL WHO STOPPED WATCHING AFTER THE REDESIGNS MISSED OUT OMG. It's so good. Good characters. Good villains. Good story concept. GREAT execution. Just mwah. Crystalized kinda ruined Harumi's arc. Like I would've been fine if she stayed dead. HER ARC WAS PERFECT. I love her sm. Also has one of the best outfits/weapons. THE REDESIGNS DID THEM JUSTICE THEYRE SM BETTER THAN THE OLD ONES(don't find me pls.) It's great would recommend :3

2. Seabound

ONE OF THE BEST SEASONS JUST MWAH. Nya's arc was really nice, and her merging with the ocean pulled on my heartstrings istg. HER INTERACTIONS WITH HER MOTHER JUST...*cries forever*

1. Hunted

MY FAVORITE SEASON OMG EVERYTHING ABT IT IS FUCKING PERFECT. The music. The characters. EVERYTHING. Has one of the best intros in ninjago. I love how Lloyd was trying to cope with his friends being "dead" and being so relieved that they're actually alive. The designs are so good. The story progresses really smoothly and just...*chefs kiss*

Okay bye now.

[dateamonster]

9, 10

worst part of canon + worst part of fanon

since u didnt specify a subject im gonna talk abt *spins wheel* monster high. why not. its been on my mind.

so wrt g3, i keep waiting to acclimate to the new "monsters hate witches" underlying plot thread and it just keeps. not making sense to me. the worst part of being an autistic media over-analyzer but about a literal childrens show designed to sell toys is there will be one narrative element that feels like narratively illogical and theres no way to point that out without sounding like a crazy person that thinks way too much about stuff that doesnt matter at all. which i am but still!

dont know if this even counts but worst part of fanon is just people acting like mh has totally solved its body diversity problem lol. i feel like its somehow gotten worse now that theyve actually introduced characters with slightly varying body types. fandom rn feels like a mix of people jumping through hoops to say they hate fat people without outright saying it next to people who look at the new designs like wow we did it we solved fatphobia as if there isnt still a huge problem, for example, with how abbey is styled vs iris.

and i dont hate how g3 iris looks or anything, but her design feels like a pretty clear indicator that they dont intend to ever make another doll of her. one of the biggest under-addressed and ongoing issues with doll collecting is how companies pretend to be interested in body diversity by making plus size side characters who will never be allowed the glamour or the care afforded to her skinnier counterparts. which is an unfortunate mirror to the fashion industry in general. i just want cute capital-f Fat characters who are allowed to dress up and have their own storylines and shit!

--

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

[lixiel0ver]

i have no words right now, i don't even know what to say. i read the teaser a couple days ago and was interested immediately but i had no idea it was going to be THIS good. maybe this is cause i am a HUGE history nerd but the settings for this are just perfect, both socially (like obey a man? never) and physically. you captured and portrayed the ambience so well, i felt like i was in there myself watching the story unfold, you have a gift for writing that's for sure.

i feel like enemies to lovers is such a hard trope to get right because half of the ones i've read go from 0 to 100 really quick and don't actually address the change of feelings and confusion the characters face, but the way you can understand mc and progression of her feelings throughout the piece and their reasonings is just amazing. the way the layers are peeled off as the plot progresses is beautiful.

the characters are so well written too, you only presented a few background characters but made sure to introduce their personalities brilliantly!! and of course the portrayal of cheol itself was brilliant, at some point you can understand from the viewer standpoint the change of his feelings and it's just beautiful to read. (but maybe that's because i am a huge sucker for cocky mfs 🫶🏼)

the plot itself is so cool too!! again this is because history is one of my BIG passions but historical related settings just really get me going!! the whole debate of mc going to florence was just beautiful, and omg!!!!!! i'm just so happy I got to read this!

i'm not even gonna comment on the smut just..... 10/10, you don't wanna hear my opinions on that....................

the piece was just overall 10000000000/10 and i am going to be keeping up with your work and page, thank you for creating and sharing this beautiful piece with us, and to everyone involved too!!

the great war

❝Because the greatest war Seungcheol had ever waged was against your heart.❞

historical! au | enemies to lovers! au | smut, fluff | 41k words

s u m m a r y : there was only one thing you hated more than your restricted life, and that was choi seungcheol—the greatest venetian general who has ever lived. when a marriage is arranged between the two of you, you were sure it would end in bloodshed. however, as you and seungcheol are forced to attend balls and share a few hard truths, you realise you have more in common with the mysterious general than you thought.

c o n t e n t : military commander! seungcheol, noblewoman! artist! mc, artist! minghao, artist! soonyoung who are both annoying (affectionate), cheol and mc absolutely hate each other because i need to see proper e2l, cheol has a scar on his lip (yes this needs a separate warning), this is set in renaissance venice so there will be many artist references, the doge = basically ruler of venice, themes of sexism, constant arguing between mc and cheol, there is fluff, also angst mature warnings -> tons of sexual tension, making out fuelled by hatred, cheol calls you carrissima (which personally i find very hot) fingering, oral sex (f. receiving), unprotected sex (only because medieval contraception is horrendous), petnames cheol says some vile things during the deed, slight corruption kink

p l a y l i s t : dangerous woman by ariana grande || war of the hearts by sade || love is stronger than pride by sade || i don’t understand but i luv u by seventeen

t a g l i s t : at the bottom of the fic!

a u t h o r ’ s  n o t e : hi hello thank you everyone for waiting for this monster fic!! thank you alice and addy for being the reason i finished this fic, thank you chia for creating a beautiful picture of general! cheol, and greatest thanks to choi seungcheol the man you are </3 i hope you all enjoy this fic as much as i enjoyed writing it <33

WHEN THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC DEFEATED THE OTTOMANS ONCE AND FOR ALL, EVERY CITIZEN—BE IT PEASANT OR THE RICHEST ARISTOCRAT—KNEW WHO WAS BEHIND THAT VICTORY.

His name sparked life into the deathly, cramped streets. Whispers and cheers carried along the murky lakes, the rushed streams underneath the city, lapping up to the cobblestoned shore—entering the ears of marketeers, patricians, nuns, prostitutes, everyone. Wherever one went, the commander’s name rang like the dozen church bells, scattered throughout the lake-locked lands.

The buzz in the air was more frantic this afternoon, though, because the victors’ party was finally returning to the state.

Finally returning home.

You, despite your family’s excitement, despite your connections to the man behind the success of it all, could not have cared less.

Keep reading

[snow-and-saltea]

finished like 153 chapters in one night. i love these kinds of executions for yandere characters so much. i love it when a story takes mental illness and psychological brokenness seriously and still be able to create a beautiful interpretation without fetishizing that appeals to the very raw and basic nature of wanting to be loved so badly that fractures a person. i love stories like this that show us the worst of a person but doesn't rush to ease them again. i love stories that show the darkest pits of the human psyche and makes you go, "this is happening but it isn't the end. wait just a bit, and ill show you how things get better." i LOVE when stories do that; get all meta and create a story within the story that the actors/characters have to now see their way through and reach the scripted happy ending that feels impossible and illogical to reach as a conclusion, but happened anyways. stories that are seemingly taken out of the author's hands and into the characters instead and them being like "i know you believe this happy ending to be false, because you can't believe it'll be achievable through anything but delusion. but just wait, i'll show you." (thinking particularly about the princess iron fan arc in act age bc that still makes me tear up)

the depiction of ptsd and mental illness was something i was particularly touched by, too. the "problematic" aspects, ugly aspects, of mental illness were addressed so kindly and compassionately, and the solution never felt like it was straight up telling you "you're messed up. this isn't right, you're not normal". this is something i would've expected reading a story with a yandere character, because for most people the appeal of a yandere is to be attracted to someone who is Fucked up but hot. but like. even rebuttals like "no that's not normal! that scares me!" were handled so casually -- almost to the point you could call it carelessly, but it wasn't careless at all. it was a deliberate choice to not make a Huge deal about being turned off by someone's thoughts or preferences that made for a much more judgement-free and loving environment to agree or disagree with each other.

rindo is really the ideal wish fulfillment for mentally ill buddies like me along w kim kitsuragi sjjdjdjfkfkf. like i kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, to see the twist that oh this guy is gonna be fucked up too! bc of the Genre! but no. he's kind, steadfast and humourous, and is so generous w his capacity to love people. he might be understood as a selfless martyr type with the way he keeps wanting to reassure amane even during really troubling events in the plot, but he was never traumatised by those events and he had a clear and sane mind the entire time. its so easy to think of him as a "victim" in an overbearing codependent relationship in the story, but he's just really emotionally resilient. he doesn't give up, he doesn't take hurtful words at face value because he knows something deeper is at play, he doesn't hesitate opening up first and being vulnerable or pushy if it helps amane feel less ugly being vulnerable with his thoughts and desires towards him.

this is a fictional story and not irl, so obviously like. irl, you wouldn't want to enmesh yourself so deeply with someone that you'll die if they do. but he was willing to do that. not necessarily that, but the same gesture -- "if i ever betray you, you can kill me, and then we'll both be the last thing we'll see". on paper, even just writing it, makes me sound insane and delusional. how could this be something someone sane could say? but he WAS sane, because he was also saying "you said you love me so much you want to die with me, so you must also mean that you love me so much you want to live with me forever. this means your heart wants to be with me, so stop deceiving yourself into thinking you'll be fine. know that my heart and yours are joined in the same way, because i want to see you at the end of my life too, and there's nothing wrong with that."

rindo has such a great talent for finding multiple meanings, often positive, to amane's thoughts. because his mind is often muddy and swamped with unpleasant words and memories when he spirals / ruminates , he can't stick his hand through it long enough to see what comes out when he pulls out of it. very natural, normal and human desires you form with someone you love: "i love you. i'm scared you'll leave me someday. i want to be with you forever. i don't know if i deserve to be this happy. i love you. i love you. i love you. i don't want to spend a day without you. i want you to be happy and i want to be involved in making you happy, but i feel so incompetent that i'm worried i'll fail too much. i love you. please love me back.”

the way the characters in this story is so kind genuinely ... makes me want to cry. like rindo's mom accidentally saying homophobic things at first out of surprise but then her Maternal instincts took over and she could have another son to shower with love. the way everyone looks out for them but doesn't judge their relationship or try to messily break them away from each other or intervene for their "own good". there's no unnecessary drama or misunderstanding that isn't solved within 1-2 chapters in a really clear, reassuring tone (while also maintaining a natural pace so as to be thoughtful to the writing).

man. i cried multiple times reading this story. i was just here for the yandere BL ride, not the unexpected feeling of love and validation for my mental health issues?!

[pridepages]

eARC Review: City of Vicious Night

A HUGE thank you to Netgalley and North Star Editions for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:  

RELEASE DATE: 5/23/2023

See my full review under the cut!

This book is a sequel to City of Shattered Light, which I previously wrote about here.

I don’t want to repeat myself too much, so here’s what you need to know about my expectations coming in to follow-up City of Vicious Night.

1. Slow Down the Pacing I described the pacing of Shattered Light as a video game or an action movie. The plot lurched from side quest to side quest. Each one unlocked lore like an achievement. But with that much lore flying at you that fast, you don’t have time as a reader to process it all. After a while, I found the best way to enjoy was to stop trying to it make sense, accept that we’re doing Stuff because of Reasons, and just enjoy the banter and the girls falling in love. Yay!

2. Character Development Unlike Winn’s world, which is highly developed to the point of overload, every one of Winn’s characters is a walking talking trope. To be fair, all writers start their characters that way to some extent. But the expectation is that those characters will be fleshed out through the drafting and editing process to make their inner journeys unique and realistic. We want characters to feel like people instead of constructs. But if characters never break the mold, and they just go around Doing Things in response to Plot Twists, then the whole thing starts to read like a fanfic where writers don’t have an obligation to do any of that pesky character development because readers already got it in the source material. So--weirdly--this original novel reads like a fic even though, to my knowledge, it didn’t start as one.

Still, I saw SO much potential, particularly for the inner journeys of Asa and Ty. Asa is still nominally heiress to a Big Bad Corporation that is violating bioethics! Questions of morality, of being forced to choose who to save between equally victimized people, were never addressed in the first book but could have been explored in the sequel! Similarly, readers were set up for a Fall-From-Innocence journey for Ty, who was abandoned in a dangerous place at the end of Shattered Light.

Unfortunately, my hopes on all fronts were disappointed.

To be clear, Vicious Night isn’t worse than the first book. It’s just...more of the same. The plot rocketed around between Events. Backstory and lore got even more convoluted. To be honest, I found myself skimming the last pages. It just felt like when I want to check out of a Marvel movie in the last 45 minutes because I know they’re gonna win the Big Battle and I just want to tune back in for the Happily Ever After.

And those character arcs? Pretty much non-existent. Asa never gets any less self-involved. For her, it’s always about setting HERSELF free, trying to save the people SHE loves...ironically making her just as selfish as the father she claims to revile, just in a different way. Ty? He’s able to rationalize any disappointments in love, any conflicts of his moral compass, and any trauma he underwent as a lab rat. Nothing to see here, folks!

So would I recommend City of Vicious Night? Sure. I would have wanted to read it because I like to know how things end and I’m glad to have left the Boomslang crew in more of a satisfying place. I would also recommend it to people who just want something that reads with lots of action but doesn’t ever slow down for things like character arcs. If you like video game or film novelizations, this one’s for you.

But if you’re looking for thought-provoking, beautiful queer science fiction? Give this one a miss. There’s more out there for you.