#like if I had any world building or character development or plot holes for him to puzzle over he probably would not have the energy

[pelicanoctopus]

I named my two negative self voices The Troll and The Conspiracy Theorist and when either one starts going off on some bullshit I yell MODS PLS DO YOUR JOBS GET THAT BULLSHIT OUT OF HERE! into the internal voice chat room and they do!!

None of the "imagine the bad voice person getting further and further away until you can't hear them" or "imagine them shrinking until small enough for you to put them in a bottle" or "imagine turning down their volume until you can't hear them" type advice has ever worked for me because they just kept, immediately reasserting themselves at full volume. But I sure can yell at them that they're wrong until they go away!

some of y'all need to stop seeing self deprecation as a funny joke and start looking at it for what it is. you are being so fucking cruel to a member of our community. and they don't deserve your cruelty. I love all of you so much and it sucks to watch you gleefully shittalk someone I care about then excuse it by going "but it's okay, I can say that, it's about myself!"

I feel like a lot of people use the "hey don't be mean to my friend [name] >:(" in a joking manner but. no. seriously. stop shittalking my friend. it sucks to hear you talk about anybody like that, ESPECIALLY a community member. you don't get a free pass for directing it at yourself.

[penguwastaken]

Nobody Understands Mukuro Ikusaba (aka Mukuro Character Analysis)

...except for the people that do (lol).

But first I want to clarify what I mean by this title and why I even wrote this thread in the first place. Mukuro is my second favorite Danganronpa character, only beaten out by Kyoko. There's a lot of reasons why I really like Mukuro, but one of them is her writing.

I think she's one of the best written characters in the series. But unfortunately, she also happens to be one of the most misunderstood characters as well. Not even by the people who don't like her, but also by her own fans.

"Mukuro has incestuous feelings for Junko" "Danganronpa 3 retconned her character" "Mukuro was just a plot device" These are all claims that baffle me because simply just consuming the media will say otherwise.

To many, Mukuro is either a one note incest freak or a pure innocent cinnamon roll who did nothing wrong and both of those interpretations are wildly incorrect. I've been meaning to write this post for a while, but we're finally here.

Nobody understands Mukuro Ikusaba (a ""🧵"") (Spoiler warning for the entire series)

Story Overview

We don't actually know too much about Mukuro's backstory aside from the fact that at a young age, she was separated from her younger twin sister Junko. Before being taken away, she claims that she was homeless and after she was taken she was forced to become a member of the military group Fenrir.

So clearly Mukuro never really had the chance to have a normal life, and more importantly: never had a chance to feel the care of another person.

Her sister, who Mukuro had not seen in years, suddenly got in contact with her and called Mukuro over to participate in her plan to overthrow Hope's Peak Academy (and the world). Mukuro, who already felt bad for losing her sister and was desperate for any kind of affection, accepted and began working for Junko.

Junko took advantage of Mukuro's desperation and had her basically work as a servant to her plans. She started by having Mukuro wipe out the entirety of a middle school in order to prove Mukuro's skills and how far Mukuro would go for her.

With that out of her way, Junko made Mukuro obey like her servant in order to overthrow Hope's Peak and cause the tragedy. Mukuro did so without batting an eye and disregarding any second thoughts she might have had, all while facing Junko's abuse.

During her time attending Hope's Peak, Mukuro met Makoto Naegi. Unlike most of her classmates, Makoto was friendly to her and showed her compassion. This confused her as we already established that Mukuro wasn't used to affection. Because of this and her tendency to latch onto anyone who shows her even an ounce of care, she began to develop feelings for Makoto (that even Junko acknowledged).

"In the past two years, Ikusaba had gained an interest in the world beyond her sister. And in that world, Makoto Naegi--the first person who smiled at her and bridged the gap between her and the world--had become like a sapling of sincerity taking root in her heart." -Danganronpa IF confirming Mukuro's feelings for Makoto

"Upupupu… I wonder what kind of fun you were having in the infirmary? Did you take care of your rival in love, or did you wish them a happy marriage? Either way, don't you think our nice guy Naegi standing side-by-side with Kirigiri makes for a wonderful picture? If this were a thriller, they'd be the last surviving couple!" "Upupupupu… Or how about just killing all of the others? If everyone but you and Naegi die, then the two of you can spend the rest of your student lives together! After all, we can't even hold a trial if there's only two people left. Maybe it'll be best if you just hole up here, safe in the building forever!" "And what're you going to do once he goes back to his old self? It's not as if you were dating Naegi, right? You were just watching him from afar all this time! Now this is a shock. You can shoot right through people's heads and hearts without even blinking, but you can't even steal away some skinny little boy's heart! You want me to tell you who Naegi had a crush on before his memories were erased? Upupupupu…" -Junko teasing Mukuro about her feelings as she aids Makoto in Danganronpa IF

Once the tragedy occured, Mukuro was locked inside of Hope's Peak with Junko and the rest of their classmates and she helped orchestrate the killing game. She disguised herself as Junko, under the impression that Junko would fake her death and they could spend the rest of the game together.

This is when the seeds of doubt began to sprout inside of Mukuro. I wouldn't say that she necessarily began to go against her sister, but she definitely was starting to get a little more hesitant.

"It was only recently that she began to question her mindset. Hearing about this plan from Junko and watching the world burn at the hands of people in Monobear masks did nothing to sway her, but when she heard that Junko was intending to plunge Naegi and the others into a game of murder, something within her began to move. The seed of doubt soon took root, sprouting into a thorny vine that twisted around her feet. And the moment she met her friends for the first time under the identity of Junko Enoshima and realized their memories were truly gone, the vines quickly tightened around her ankles." -Danganronpa IF describing Mukuro's feelings when the killing game began

To Makoto and the player who are under the impression that this is Junko, they assume that she's referring to not wanting to be a model anymore. But given her backstory of never being able to live a normal life and always having to fend for herself or follow the orders of others, we can infer what she actually means. She expresses disappointment in the fact that she never really had a chance to do what she wanted.

This all culminates in the moment where Junko was supposed to fake the death of Mukuro, but that isn't what happened. Instead, Junko killed Mukuro and betrayed her. To say that Junko felt no remorse from this action would be a lie, however. Junko only did this because she knew it would hurt both of them.

...but what if that wasn't what happened? What if Mukuro wasn't killed? What would happen then? That brings us to:

Danganronpa IF

Danganronpa IF answers the hypothetical question of what if Mukuro survived Junko's attack. Of course this means it isn't canon, but due to Kodaka being involved with its creation and its existence as an event that hypothetically could have happened, it is canon compliant. This means that while the events didn't happen in canon, they could have and things like characterization are all accurate. Think of it like an extended free time event. While the events themselves aren't canon, the things they say and imply are. I'll also be referencing Danganronpa IF a lot because since it's told from Mukuro's perspective, it gives a lot of insight on her thought process.

After regaining his memories, Makoto recognizes and rescues Mukuro seconds before her would-be death and he gets impaled by one of the spears. Mukuro rushes to save him, abandoning her disguise and goal.

During this time, Mukuro does a lot of thinking. Why did Junko try to kill her? For all the time they've been working together, Mukuro always assumed that her job was to prop Junko up and help her achieve despair.

It turns out that Junko didn't want Mukuro to obey Junko's every order, Junko wanted Mukuro to retaliate. She didn't want Mukuro to submit to her, but instead to fight back.

With this Mukuro changes her mind, choosing to fight Junko instead of assisting her. Not because she's on the side of hope, she never cared about hope or despair, but because she only wants what's best for the only person in her life who cared for her.

"'That's why… I'll take responsibility. I'll make you happy, Junko . I'll make youdespair. I'll save Naegi-kun… I'll make sure none of our friends die. I'll get them all out of here. And I'll kill every last one of the ones on the outside. You planned this for years and killed so many people to make this work… so I'll destroy every last trace of it.' She was not driven by resentment at the sister who abandoned her. Ikusaba would do all this for her sister's sake." -Mukuro changing her approach to making Junko happy in Danganronpa IF

Who is Mukuro Ikusaba?

Now this is the part where I finally exit the synopsis phase and finally get into the character analysis, explaining why Mukuro acts the way she does in all entries.

Now, I want to begin with a common critique of Mukuro's character, specifically one that's attributed to Danganronpa 3. The one that says that Mukuro's behavior is not only out of character, but also claims that she has romantic feelings for her sister.

First point out of the way, Mukuro's blushy and flustered attitude is nothing new when it comes to her character. It's been an aspect of her since the very beginning of her characterization.

"'I don’t know if… she attracts despair, or despair attracts her, but… she’s lived her whole life with despair by her side. She lived while immersed in despair. That’s why she began looking for despair in others; she began to enjoy pushing people into despair. But you know… that’s normal. It’s no different than someone cursed by misfortune falling into hatred for those who are better off than them. But what’s special about her was that… she learned to enjoy inflicting despair upon herself. That’s how the link to despair began: as she chased down despair, she pushed it onto others along the way. Doing so caused her to crave falling into despair even more… and because of that chain to despair, the Ultimate Despair was born.' While she spoke, it was like she fell into a fever; the expressions on her face slowly turned into ecstasy. It was so completely absurd that it would have been difficult for anybody to think of it as anything but a joke, but I could tell that this was real. It might have been the hazy memories of Junko Enoshima inside me that led to that conclusion. 'You don’t get it right? That’s fair, I don’t think anybody could… But you know, only I can understand it…' Consumed by ecstasy, even Ikusaba’s breathing had begun to turn ragged." -Mukuro describing Junko in Danganronpa Zero

The second (and more important) point to address is the one that Mukuro holds some kind of romantic feelings for her sister. Now, in all honestly, I can't hold this against anyone for thinking this even if I think it's a wild misinterpretation of her behavior. Danganronpa has a track record of using incest for comedic effect (to always poor results). However, Mukuro's relationship with Junko is not used to comedic effect and it's portrayed in a negative light. Not only that, we know that Mukuro does not enjoy behaving that way.

"'She hoped that, perhaps her sister on the screen would say something like 'Not! You seriously thought I'd say something that sappy? Jeez, you're annoying! Can't you just disappear forever or something?'. She hoped that Junko might criticizeher and call her useless. Ikusaba was no masochist, but she would have preferred to hear scornful laughter and be shot at rather than continue to endure this pain." -Danganronpa IF explaining Mukuro's "masochism"

Mukuro doesn't behave the way she does because she has feelings for Junko, she does so because she believes that's how Junko wants her to behave. Danganronpa Zero and IF makes it clear that Mukuro was wrong about how Junko wanted her to behave.

“'You don’t get it right? That’s fair, I don’t think anybody could… But you know, only I can understand it…' Consumed by ecstasy, even Ikusaba’s breathing had begun to turn ragged. 'Only I’m able to understand her… That’s why she needs me. She still hasn’t realized it, but… maybe she’s only pretending not to. Ufu… It’s because she’s so shy. Ufufufu…'” -Mukuro explaining that Junko needs her in Danganronpa Zero

"Ikusaba knew that not even she herself was her own ally. After all, despite the fact that Junko had betrayed her and very nearly killed her, Ikusaba still believed that she was the only one who could understand her little sister. And that was why she felt that she had to protect her. That's right… you were just being you, Junko. You just wanted despair, right? It's because you love me. You wanted to kill me and fall into despair. That must have been it" -Mukuro in denial in Danganronpa IF

"Ikusaba believed that she alone could understand the despair known as Junko Enoshima. It was a ludicrous notion. The moment Junko said, 'I love you', Ikusaba realized--to her agony--that she never truly understood her sister. Only now had she come to realize Junko's feelings." -Mukuro realizing that she didn't understand Junko in Danganronpa IF

Because of Mukuro's incorrect interpretation of understanding Junko, Mukuro believes that Junko expects her to respond to her abuse with acceptance and masochism. Even if she was uncomfortable to, as long as it made Junko happy, that's what mattered. Of course, we learn that Junko wanted Mukuro to respond her abuse with retaliation, and as soon as Mukuro realizes that her behavior immediately shifts. Mukuro holds a great deal of admiration for Junko, so much so that she only wants to do what would please Junko the most.

She does not have romantic feelings for her sister and to say so misses the point entirely. She isn't behaving that way because she's a masochist, she behaves that way because she believes it's how she's expected to, even if she's visibly uncomfortable. Once she learns this isn't what's expected, she immediately changes course.

Danganronpa 3 also has official relationship charts that depict the relationship between characters. In this chart, crushes or explicitly shown romantic feelings are labeled with a heart (as seen with Kazuichi's attraction to Sonia or Toko's attraction to Byakuya). Mukuro's relationship does NOT feature this heart. You would think that if Mukuro's very obvious admiration towards Junko was romantic it would have a heart, but it doesn't because it isn't. If what I said before didn't convince you, I think this itself is proof enough.

Mukuro's admiration doesn't extend to just Junko though. Due to her unfortunate upbringing, Mukuro has a tendency to get attached to anyone who shows her the affection she's desperate for. So much so that her behavior changes completely around the people she cares about.

"The mass of monochrome spun round and round, making it look as though they were projecting a hypnotic image from three directions, but Ikusaba remained expressionless. In fact, the bizarre sight unfolding before her compelled the Super High School Level Soldier to regain her focus. She was an entirely different person from the girl who had panicked at Naegi's injury in the gymnasium." -Mukuro while fighting in Danganronpa IF, behaving completely differently from when she panicked over Makoto's injury

"Not only that, if anyone who knew her as the Super High School Level Soldier and mercenary were to see her now, the difference in her attitude might even make her look like another person altogether. And Monobear continued to drive the girl into a corner." -Mukuro panicking over Makoto's injury in Danganronpa IF

"The mask of ice she wore around others was entirely unlike the face she showed her sister, making it almost seem as though she had multiple personalities." -Danganronpa IF explaining that Mukuro's behavior around Junko is different from her typical icey expression

This is why around most people, Mukuro has a pretty blank expression. However when she's around Makoto or Junko, the two people who she cares about, she displays a much more soft and emotional side.

That being said, an often overlooked aspect of Mukuro is that she actually has a slight ego and is proud of her skill. This is especially obvious in her fight with Peko in Danganronpa 3. Of course, if I spent years in the military without getting a single scratch, I'd probably have an ego too.

Mukuro is also capable of turning off her feelings and going into a "killing machine mode" whenever the situation demands it, mostly when she's carrying out some mission. It's not because she doesn't feel bad for what she's doing or isn't having any second thoughts, it's that she pushes any doubts to the side to focus on getting the job done.

"In battlefields, where she made her home, her main mission was to kill and survive. And in that setting Ikusaba was invincible. She could put her own emotions on a leash in order to become a killing machine." -Danganronpa IF explaining how Mukuro is capable of ignoring her own feelings

"With a single whisper that was drowned out by the sound of gunfire, Ikusaba went completely silent. Thanks to her status as a member of Super High School Level Despair, her heart was filling with joy. And as if to offset the sudden surge of emotions, the sparkle in her eyes disappeared." -Mukuro turning her emotions off while fighting in Danganronpa IF

So Basically...

Due to her upbringing Mukuro is someone who gets attached to people easily, particularly those who give her attention. Junko took advantage of this to make Mukuro essentially act as her servant. Believing that Junko expected her to return the abuse she faced with enjoyment, she forced herself to do just that. Even if it made her uncomfortable, making her sister happy at her own expense is better than being alone. She's capable of turning off and ignoring her emotions to following orders when necessary and is generally a proud and skilled soldier, though she has a softer side that she only shows to people who she cares for.

That is who Mukuro Ikusaba is.

Conclusion

There's a lot of reasons I really like Mukuro. I think she's silly and cute and I like her singing voice. But I also think her characterization is really good in all of her appearances. I think a lot of the critiques made towards her (especially towards her appearance in Danganronpa 3) are misguided or just a result of her being misunderstood.

She's not a plot device or a character exclusively there to act as an extension of Junko. She's filled to the brim with character depth and interesting writing and has plenty of characterization on her own. I'll admit that her presence in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a bit limited, however she doesn't just become an important character in four other entries without getting some kind of development.

Many think her characterization is inconsistent or different across entries, but I honestly think it couldn't be any MORE consistent. The only times where I'd say she acts out of character is in the comic anthologies, but those are non-canon media that's kinda known for flanderizing characters for the sake of comedy.

Basically, I like Mukuro. I hope I managed to change some minds or shed a new light on her to anyone who didn't before. And if you already liked her, I hope maybe I could make you appreciate her a bit more or just help you explain her in some way.

anyways follow me on twitter cough cough

Also special thanks to Twitter user @LKSixtyfour for their tweets about Mukuro's characterization, many helped me organize my thoughts to form the thread that you just read.

Edit: didn't make any changes to the post, just fixed some typos

[jazzy-dreamer]

MORE THOUGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT (If ya can even call it that) FOR MY DADTRAP AU

I’ve done a lil more hyperfixating researching, and I can now officially say I know almost all the basics about the fnaf timeline and lore!!! And I seriously mean the basics. To keep William/Springtraps goals consistent for this AU, there might be sliiiiiighty less child murder than there is in canon. Just an itty bit less. But who knows.

The AU’s story hasn’t all been figured out but I’ve got Springtrap’s character pretty much down!

Springtraps personality

Extremely low empathy.

Too much pride to admit fault.

Secretly hates himself 👍

Genuinely cares about his kids but sucks at showing it or even recognising this fact for himself.

Doesn’t understand people or how in the world they think and especially feel.

Despite not understanding people he’s a surprisingly great manipulator.

He acts entirely on logic and reason rather than emotions.

Is aroace (doesn’t know) and only got married to get his abusive parents off his back.

Probably autistic. (I didn't even decide this cause I'm autistic and want more representation. It's just the way I've written him that gives him super big 'tism vibes)

Feels closer connection to his robots than humans or animals.

Has chronic pain and fatigue after getting springlocked yay!

Has always felt disconnected from other humans even when he was one himself.

Has never had hot chocolate made with milk before. Only water. That's how you know he's a psychopath.

Story changes and William’s motivations

These are all just concepts and stuff might change. Right now almost everything plays out mostly the same as it does in canon. The pizzeria, the 5 dead kids that possess the animatronics, etc etc. One problem I’m having is what I’m gonna do with Charlie/Puppet. I know she was William’s business partner’s daughter, and William killed her, and she possessed the Puppet. But I don’t think anyone really knows WHY he killed her. And it’s kinda important I know for this AU to make sense- So either I’m just gonna have to come up with a reason that fits, or she just straight up doesn’t die. Most likely Charlie will still die and possess the puppet. We shall see tho! :]

The main changes in this AU will be Williams motivations and his actions. He’s still a kid murderer. But he doesn’t go killing all the kids simply because he can, or because he’s seeking immortality for himself, or any of the supposed reasons he killed the kids. My idea right now is Elizabeth, Williams daughter, was suffering from a terminal illness with only a few months at most to live (What illness I dunno but I don’t think it matters that much)

William wanted to be a good father for even just once and began seeking ways to somehow save her. He eventually discovered that someone could essentially be made immortal by stuffing their dead body into an animatronic, and they would “live on” with their soul possessing it. I’m not sure how exactly the idea came to his head. Maybe the crying child possessed Golden Freddy after the chomp malfunction and gave William the idea to test the theory some more. And he thought if it works, he can freakin stuff Elizabeth’s dead body into an animatronic and “save” her that way. As I said these are all ✨concepts✨ so there will probably be plot holes and plenty of questions of “how this” and “why that” But it wouldn’t be Fnaf without all that would it? gjdgfkfgfjh

Elizabeth will probably still end up possessing Circus Baby, but how she does will most likely be different. Maybe Elizabeth finally succumbed to her illness, William wasn’t expecting it this soon and he didn’t build any kinda robot for her ready, so he shoves her into Circus Baby without thinking while he had the chance, and that’s pretty much all I got so far!! :D

Changing William/Springtraps motivations affected the entire story a lil bit more than I was expecting but hopefully I shouldn’t have to adapt too much more-

I haven’t done anything really beyond fnaf 2 so maybe expect something past that soonish!!

[exilethegame]

Hey! I've been meaning to ask you this for a while so here goes - how do you develop your characters? They are so fleshed out and complex, it's so great to notice these little but important details about them. As someone who is trying to be a writer, I absolutely adore reading about them. So, yeah, that's pretty much my question! Do you, like, sit down and make a character profile or you just know what the characters will be like while writing them?

Oooh good question. I had a whole thing written out and managed to condense it to a few points.

1.) Stick with clichés and archetypes when first creating a character. The reason they're cliché and stereotypical is because they work-- so they're amazing places to start when first developing a character. They also work as a good filler so when you're first working on the story you can focus on developing other things first (the plot), things that are required to make any meaningful developments to your characters.

2.) There are two things that are pivotal for developing a character-- and they're things everyone knows but sometimes lose sight of. A character's personal purpose and their narrative one. The personal purpose of a character is their personal story. For Vethna, their personal purpose way back when I was writing an outline in January 2021 was "something is wrong with their magic + they're a runaway sorcerer from a noble family." Their narrative purpose was that they were MC's charge and were paying MC for protection. As you can tell, the narrative purpose is why the character is important to the plot of a story as an individual. Both of these purposes might change as the story progresses, but you need something to build off of in the beginning.

3.) Don't feel committed to your initial character notes. If you wrote a character is always timid but reach a scene where you feel like they need to yell at someone... make them yell, and worry about finding an explanation later. The character notes you made in the beginning will always be predictable. Why? You made them in a single sitting before you even got into the meat of a story. Making in the moment, split decisions for your characters will surprise you, the author, and as a result, surprise the readers, too.

4.) Plot holes and character discontinuity are your best friends in the entire world. There. I said it. Why, you may ask? Because people in the real world are hypocrites, do things we don't expect, and do bizarre things when the circumstances call for it. We can't predict these things in people in the real world, and naturally, we can't predict them in characters, either. Like I said in point 3, if you have a character act weird... find an explanation for it. It will usually force you into developing a personality quirk of the character... which you'll then need to give a reasoning for, which then forces you to develop their history, etc, etc. Everything in writing is a chain reaction-- it's all connected.

5.) Little details are just as important as the big, complex, abstract ones, and they're easy to decide on early in the story. Think of character quirks. Syfyn always being sunburnt because she refuses to wear sunscreen and stands on guard for long hours, Sabir always checking his silver pocket watch whenever he's nervous, Nikke wearing a golden chain of coins and teeth around his waist. These are all weird, random fun facts I made for the characters upon their conception because they added "flavor." They also inadvertently led to great contributions to the characters (Syfyn's stubbornness and the fact she's childishly so at times, Sabir always carrying a family heirloom on him and is obsessed with the time for *some reason*, Nikke's chain becoming a tradition stemming from the Taipan in Virthka). I didn't know any of these little quirks would lead to these character developments-- I just added them because they fleshed out a character quick and easy. When creating a character, add 1 - 3 random little quirks to them. You'll find a reason to explain them later.

6.) Never try to predict your character's relationships ahead of time. Maybe that's just a me thing, but a solid 99% of the fun in writing and the origin of complexity in character relationships stems from letting the characters meet naturally. In your head, you can theoretically imagine how two characters will get along. But often when you actually get to their scene and have to build up the chemistry, it will turn out to be something completely different. That spontaneity is what leads to interesting relationships, which then lead to you having to go back and explain why the relationship is panning out the way it is.

7.) Figure out their voice and stick to it. That's the one thing I will say. For as fun as just flying by the seat of the pants is, once you find out how a character speaks, hold onto it-- that will serve as the thing that keeps unity between the different "sides" of the character. It also keeps your characters from seeming too similar to one another. For example, Vethna speaks properly in front of new people and with great precision and cleverness in a manner that's direct... but when Vethna speaks with someone they're comfortable with they speak in a much more messy, all over the place manner. Sabir, on the other hand, speaks formally but, unlike Vygrand politicians, is much more roundabout in his language-- he says what could be said in three words with eight. He also tends to speak like this even when he's with people he's comfortable and friendly with. If you find a character's voice and stick with it, it makes it so even the most bizarre of character choices can still read smoothly and in-character.

So.... bottomline? 99% of character development is making random, spontaneous decisions that seem interesting and then going back to make it look like you knew what you were doing all along.

Actually... I think that's just writing in general.

Thanks for reading-- especially if you read all the way to the end! :)

[phoenixcatch7]

Just finished playing sb ruin!

STEEL WOOL YOU HAD ONE JOB how did you make the plot holes worse.

Three characters have just EVAPORATED two were just environmental hazards at BEST and only two got any sort of character development!!!!

Literally the only new characters were a) the protagonist (expected, wanted) and b) the antagonist (CONTEXT??? LORE?? HELLO?!). 'Oh it's been down there for a really long time' HAS IT NOW?? HAS IT?? BECAUSE IT SURE WASN'T THERE BEFORE. WE WENT THERE AND IT WASN'T THERE.

The voice acting was great, I will say that. Every actor gave 110% and it really brought the whole thing to life. The set building too. And the glitchy effects!

Unfortunately the story completely fell through again.

At the start, it felt pretty clear where it was going to go. 'Gregory' was directing us down to the old afton fight area, there was rabbit/vanny graffiti everywhere, there was a strange rabbit mask that turned the world purple and glitchy and let you walk through solid objects occasionally, instructed by a gaslighting little AI that knew more than it was letting on.

Given the way it lined up with the gargantuan plot holes in security breach, and it was free dlc for the game marketed as fixing those holes, it was fairly obvious it'd be a story with vanny as the final boss, having not given up on her goal and possibly still kidnapping children. Cassie would potentially face mind control or sensory brainwashing from the mask, we'd get attacked by the broken animatronics, maybe put them to rest or cure them enough to escape the pizza plex, and at the end we'd find out how Gregory was being impersonated, a boss fight almost certainly in vr against whatever weird blue robo bunny kept staring at us (it doesn't even do anything???) and vanny irl, Cassie would stop their plans and/or burn the pizza plex down the rest of the way. Meet up with Gregory again at the end, possibly with a freddy head, I wasn't picky.

You know, closure.

Instead, the plot was... Essentially nonexistent, just as much a run quest cycle as sb despite the linear progression and lack of teleporting animatronics, somehow. The boss 'fight' was completely divorced from the rest of the game, all but roxy and the da were entirely absent of any character development, both of which were relevant for about three seconds.

The lift ending was a cheap shock value ending which only left more questions than answers. The other two, which we googled, were equally free of things like 'explanations' and 'filled plot holes' and 'context' and 'closure', and all of which were dependant purely on random actions in the final scene we were given no hints to knowing about, unlike sb. By the end we were left in shock, fury, confusion and betrayal, which isn't a great note to end your game on.

All in all, while eclipse was a pleasant surprise and roxys five new lines of dialogue were sweet and a bit sad, ruin managed to be like security breach in all the worst ways, and didn't even have any funny glitches to laugh at. Loading screens were insanely long, enough we once ate a full meal during three back to back ones and went on our phones instead of waiting patiently, AND regular. All deaths were to the slippery catwalk in gator golf or frustration making us reckless, and we had to get out the walk throughs just to navigate certain areas. Though we were told we were invisible to most animatronics in the mask no one had told any of them. Bar the endos every single one could spot and chase us in the mask. We got softlocked several times and had to restart. The weird robot rabbit never got any context or explanation and didn't even do anything to our knowledge?? Summoned the animatronics maybe but even if you didn't take the mask off and walked through him he wouldn't do anything. Got jumpscared ONCE and then we continued on our merry way.

Also the game crashed twice.

[antivanwine14]

Thoughts on Unicorn Overlord now that I finished, both positive and negative (long post):

Positives

The graphics are beautiful. The models are great and it was a very pleasant game to play in that sense. I also appreciated the fact you can skip the battles when grinding or just doing minor battles.

Game play: the tactics and team building was a lot of fun and challenging. I really enjoyed building the squads and experimenting with different builts.

Characters: I enjoyed a lot of the interactions and thought the characters really carried it. The rapports were good and there were several times where I wish there was more. Some of them were very funny and others really did a lot of world building.

Drakenhold: By far the best developed of the lands. It is a very strong second area to go to and really builds on a lot of things. The story rapport with Gilbert and Alain is actually some of the best and shows a different side of the relationship between Cornia and Drakenhold which I liked a lot. Even though Drakenhold is supposed to be worse than Cornia, things actually have complexity and I enjoyed it.

Negatives:

The story is middling at best. At the start I enjoyed it and I thought the time spent in Cornia was actually decent if not very close to a middle tier Fire Emblem Story. Drakenhold was good and I wanted more of that. Ellheim was alright but very predictable with nothing interesting going on. But then we got to Bastorias and it was literally a filler arc. There was no real reason to go there besides being curious on how they were handling things. The plot in Bastorias was not related to anything else and none of the main central characters really had anything to do with the area. By the time we got to Albion I was pretty over the repetitive story beats (bad person who really isn't SOOO bad and no we are really best friends) and I thought Albion's bad guy reasoning of ‘I did it to protect the church’ was the weakest. I have no issue with him being against you but I almost wish they had just gone mind control on him rather than his weak reasoning.

Also the amount of times a scene ended with everyone laughing was ridiculous and I don’t understand it. This isn’t an after school special, not everything has to end with a laugh. Let there be emotions besides happy. It would have been nice for there to be more conflict in the areas we have been too besides just clearing out Zenoira. Like, if Zenoira went back and tried to take places or something. It was all just one and done and the war was both pretty easy and happy. A big set back would have been appreciated.

Plot hole: Fun fact, if you accidentally missed the Tatiana quest in Cornia, like I did when I went into Drakenhold, you are going to be absolutely baffled by Hilda’s stuff because characters are going to talk like you’ve been there and dealt with that plague and people.

Character design- oh boy is that something. The female design is so unfortunate and what makes it worse is there are elements of good. Some of the outfits are just fine and not all the body shapes are thin and tiny, which is always nice to see. I don’t mind some level of fan service (Hades did it very well) but SOOOOOO many of the women in UO are just designed to be sexual. To make it worse they try to excuse it with Yahna being like I want to dress like this (completely fine, if this didnt mean ALL the witches had to be dress like her) and then the elves can’t wear metal because of the fae which is interesting in concept but why are most of the lady elves in their underwear but the male elves are fully clothed? PS, Scarlet's boobs bobbing ALL the time got really annoying quickly.

Alain- he isn’t allowed to have almost any emotion except mild and happy and that is unfortunate. This is a character who has been through a lot and he should have been super interesting. I know he is supposed to be stoic but there is more to stoicism than being mild all the time. Let the man have character. I almost wish they made him a little more like Alear (good personality, shows their youth) or even something along what Intsys wanted to do with Byleth (very stoic and closed off in the beginning, starts to open up as the story goes along)

Male Romance- they were cowards and very few of the men can even hint at something more than friendship. You can marry your cousin but can barely get anything from a man. Some of the rapport's show some promise and funny enough some of the most random characters have decent romantic rapports. Rolf has almost no connection to the plot or other characters but is one of the best ones. I am fine with not all the men being romantic (Josef's extremely sweet father son stuff being some of the best and not romantic at ALL), but it would have been to see more done with them.

Romance in General- honestly, I know they would have taken out all the guys but they should have not made every character available for Alain. It takes away from their individual stories. I honestly wished they picked a handful of characters (men and women) and allow them to build the story and romance with Alain and allow the other characters to form their own relationships without worrying about Alain. Sharon and Ochlys have something going on and it really annoys me that they can up with Alain.

Overall:

I had fun and it definitely kept my attention, but I don't know if I can recommend it. Maybe get it on sale.

[loquaciousquark]

4-Sided Dive Highlights - Critical Role C3 up to E58 (May. 17, 2023)

Rolling right into the next one, tonight’s guests are Aabria, Christian, Sam, and Travis. We open with Christian wearing sunglasses inside due to one eye being very light sensitive. Travis wins host and hulas his way into a monologue about an increasingly frantic recap of the recent plot, capping off with a ventriloquism segment and a French puppet wolf. It's...not...good, haha.

What the Fuck is Up with That? Sam reveals he verbally bleeps curse words when his kids watch the show, ha. Sam absolutely loves having the guests and mixing up the company. Sam to Aabria: "How do I know you?" Aabria: "What?" It turns out he means how did they meet? Aabria did a D20 game with Matt and Marisha (Pirates of Leviathan). Christian slid into Sam's DMs on Instagram, ahahahaha, and asked him for coffee with Marisha. Incredible! He just felt that Christian had a good heart! Sam, what in the world!

Aww, Christian is still such a fan of the show! (The way he's talking right now is very much like Jeremy Dooley from AH right after he first got hired.) He & Aabria got together for a Session Zero at Matt's place and feel like brother/sister now. They built the characters together. FRIDA came first & Aabria wanted to explore some holes in the world and was able to match elements around FRIDA's build. Plus they didn't know which members of the regular cast they'd be with. As Aabria developed the character Matt instantly decided she'd be paired with Travis. Christian knew FRIDA's color palette before anything else, ha! He knew he wanted to build a complementary character for Sam because he's grateful to the opportunities Sam had given him.

FRIDA has the level of rogue because they'd wandered around for a while on their own, and the cleric levels from Deanna's influence.

Aabria was determined to be a nice generous cleric to counteract any expectations of hard-ass-ness from Laerryn, ha! She picked the Dawnfather because he's one of the most hardline Prime Deities; she's a full cleric with off vibes. She wanted a contrast to FCG, who's in the position of a supplicant; she wanted someone more under the thumb of a deity in order to bring more facets of those relationships. Travis: "A perpetual IOU."

Deanna was one of the names from Chetney's vision; she was fully a Matt invention. Aabria loved the idea of being a past relationship and sent notes to Matt; then the day before they started filming Travis sent more notes to Matt saying she was a fling. "Damn it, I got downgraded to a fling before I even walked in!" Travis had to firm out Chet's backstory as they got to Uthodurn.

Sam really wanted to see Travis kill Santa, but Matt made Oltgar too regretful. Travis loves taking the dark routes in video games when available, but "with Mercer there's so much heart. I feel bad."

They had probably more god advancement in the last seven episodes than the entire campaign. I'm realizing this is about where I am in my show watch, which is why it all feels so current to me! Everyone loved the Changebringer stuff, except Travis could do without the Ring girl hair.

Ludinus was behind it from the start?! What the hell does the leather armor do? He caused the corruption of the Savalirwood 500 years ago, which means he's been planning this for a long time. He tried to kill them with Molaesmyr and corrupted the land, founded the Cerberus Assembly; he's constantly reaching back for the glory of the Age of Arcanum. Everyone hated the freaky animals.

The Rexxentrum Toy Authority was a beautiful moment! Sam: "Why would you come up with a three-letter moniker that was actually standing for something else??"

Sam is very grateful for this arc because it gave a lot of meat to his character. He feels that he's been asking so many questions: who am I, what are dreams, am I alive, who are the gods, I want answers. Now he has a connection with his god, a connection with FRIDA--it doesn't really matter what his original design to kill was for because he has such a bright path forward.

Deanna was built to complement many characters, and Aabria leaned into certain facets for this party over others. "The dying and come back was very built in for Laudna and Ashton and Orym especially" because she spent a lot of her life constantly bringing her husband back from 0 hp. She liked playing with the weird, unresolved feelings of knowing that the dead person isn't gone, just static and waiting. The husband is still alive but is super old???? Ha! "Dustyl" is his name.

Everyone's enjoyed exploring the haunted areas of Exandria. Travis describes several locations on the maps in detail from memory and everyone ribs him a little; it's really cute! Everything was a little wrong in the Savalirwood.

Sam thinks Fearne should have the staff. Fearne having teleportation would be incredible. FCG's coin has a once-a-day power that can cause distractions, ask the Changebringer a question, or get a luck point (which everyone's sure he'll use right away).

The last two interactions with the gods were fascinating because they weren't requests for help, they were demands. Deanna thought she'd died for a second at the end.

Aabria went pure life cleric specifically because she wanted to lean into the drama of resurrection magic being off the table. "Someone's dead? Oh, I'm great at this! Oh...wait..."

Jerry stole the show. Everyone agrees the goats are giant food.

Travis is sad they didn't fight the pterodactyl thing. FRIDA is intentionally built like a tank & has had Death Ward most of the time, so they intentionally drew aggro.

Travis intentionally pulled Chet away from the group when the moon started changing him specifically to avoid endangering the guests, and then Christian went after him! I have spelled "intentionally" wrong as "intentially" every single time. Christian knew it wasn't a "smart" play but thought it would be fun to interact with Chet, and that'll trump optimization every time for him.

The Tower of Inquiry! Favorite encounter so far? Travis: the Ludinus showdown. Sam: Laudna going down and not knowing how to Revivify. (Aabria asked if she could play Otohan and Matt was like, what? No!) Christian: the heist race where Ashton got the bust! Aabria: the same fight as Sam.

How does it feel being part of a larger group? Sam: FCG's entire first group died, so this new group is a lot of pressure. FCG's been one event away from berserkness multiple times. Every time they long rest, Sam can roll a d4 to reduce stress points, but he's self-imposed a rule that he doesn't do so on non-active days.

Sam literally leans over to Travis about his old age rules. Travis has to roll a 100 on the dice (three 0s) in order for Chet to drop dead. He's not concerned at all that it'll happen; Sam is hilariously concerned.

The Deep Dive, sooner than usual! Sam absolutely loved the interaction with the bull. He's delighted "the power of friendship" mattered.

Travis has been sitting on the RTC reveal for a while. He sat down a while back and really mapped out a lot of Chet's backstory and where he traveled, and again pulls out tons of map details like the Wuyun Gorge. The one place he hasn't been yet is Issylra.

FRIDA is a little nervous about turning into a werewolf; being around the group made them more comfortable, but the reveal of killing all those people is concerning. FRIDA also felt they were able to see Chet inside the beast during that fight & loves the idea of being unadulterated & free. Christian texted Matt & asked what it all meant that night, and just got in return, "ahahahahahahahaha". Ha!

Aabria is fascinated that developing these relationships with Bell's Hells has changed the previously friendly ease Deanna had with FRIDA. It's not quite a strain, but it is a reevaluation which is not settled; it's painful. FRIDAY had a strong opinion on the absence of pain and the absence of sadness; he hadn't appreciated how important current relationships were before FCG. Sam: "We have so much in common. We're both metal. We're both murderers."

Sam butchers the FRIDA acronym, which Aabria of course nails. Far-Ranging Integrated Defense Aeormaton. FCG is scared about the Changebringer's lack of clarity, and fears for the future. Travis suggests that if FRIDA dies, FCG should incorporate their body parts. Christian: I'd give you FRIDA's legs.

Everyone laughs at the size differences/similarities in their partners. Dani's (female) SO and she share clothes. Sam shrinks things in the dryer and gives them to Quyen. Alissa is taller than Christian so she can't wear his clothes; same for Aabria and her husband. Travis rolling over in bed is a literal health hazard for Laura, ha!

It took Travis forever to realize Deanna was his Deanna; Aabria even pointed to her name & he didn't get it. When it did click, the panic was real; he had acid reflux and realized she knew the backstory and he didn't! He didn't know if he should be angry or happy or neutral to see her; he had to wait until he had more context clues.

The romance for FCG and FRIDA was organic in nature. Originally they'd thought Deanna & FRIDA might have something, but it didn't pan out. Sam did text Christian to make sure they could lean in after.

Aabria loved getting to play with a character she helped develop in ExU (Fearne).

Tower of Inquiry, Redux: character's favorite board games? Chet: Chutes & Ladders. Deanna: Pandemic. FRIDA: Risk. FCG: Operation.

Post-Break Shenanigans: Super Smash Brothers! Sam: Dark Samus. Travis: Wolf. Aabria: Kirby. Christian: ROB.

Travis thought Oltgar was going to be more of a shit, but he's 100% okay tracking Drixlich instead.

Deanna is concerned after the conversation with the Dawnfather because while it's on brand, she fears losing her powers/life. She'd rather pay it forward first.

Sam wins round one! Huh! Round two: Sam: random (Falco), Travis: Ganondorf, Aabria: Ganondorf, Christian: ROB again.

FCG is weirdly comforted to have direction from the Changebringer; Sam likes her vibe. He was little freaked out by how demanding she was at the end but looks forward to exploring that relationship.

Christian wonders if FRIDA belonged to Ludinus. All he gave Matt was the dream of the child's legs. Time runs out on the second round and Christian takes it by percentage!

Round three: everyone picks random. Sam: Diddy Kong, Travis: Terry, Aabria: Kirby, Christian: Bayonetta.

How does Chet feel about the gods? It's only a matter of time before Chetney takes the gods' place.

FRIDA was very freaked out by fighting Aeormatons, but Chet's gift especially helped a lot.

Deanna feels that while the gods aren't a nascent part of the world, if it weren't them, it'd be someone else. Sam found it hard to play a religious character because his instinct is to be subversive.

Sam asked Matt if FCG had his initials carved on him somewhere after FRIDA revealed theirs. Matt said, "you don't know," then let Sam throw out a handful of suggestions for what the acronym stood for. He didn't know which until the moment, though. The entire conversation was inspired by Christian's play; "Christian did a cool thing and I wanted to steal it."

Christian's best friend Jack was helping him with acronyms; Christian had come up with "FRIDA" and Jack defined it in about thirty seconds, haha. Backronyms!

Travis loved the first Catha transformation. Now he has to decide who to transform into a werewolf. Everyone loves "Bells Heals" as a minigroup name, and "LoveLetters" and "Body Count" for the FRIDA/FCG ship.

Aabria found the two relationships with Deanna/Laerryn very different; with Sam she planned it out, and with Travis she knew she was surprising him. She is fully embracing the "we've already banged" dynamic for all her characters now.

The post-credits scene is a cutout of Sam spinning into the abyss.

That's that! One more 4SD is out right now (came out yesterday), but I'm going to catch up on the show first!

[ylojgtr]

star wars movies ranked by how much i like rewatching them:

1. Revenge of the Sith - the culmination of the prequels, where everything comes together so nicely, just such a satisfying story. my favourite characterizations of pretty much everyone who appears in it (except grevous lmao) and the 3d cgi finally came into its own to make a very unique aesthetic imo

2. A New Hope - the original, full of creativity from so many people, just a perfect movie honestly. the special effects are absolutely fantastic and the story is simple but so well told. i feel myself getting swept away by the adventure and mystique in this one more than any other

3. The Empire Strikes Back - personally my favourite star wars movie, it builds on the original in every way i could hope for. some excellent character development for luke and the jumping between storylines is super fun. it has some great silly moments with yoda and lando and also some seriously dramatic set pieces on hoth and bespin

4. Rogue One - what was probably pitched as a nostalgia bait plot hole filler turned out to be one of the best character driven team movies in the last decade (all in my opinion, of course). jyn's faith in life and hope being restored is what makes the conclusion so heartbreaking and krennic is such a hateable villain with stakes directly connected to the protagonist. of course the whole cast is amazing. i remember being surprised at how fast i learned the names of all these previously unknown characters because i just liked them so much. each one is unique in personality, aesthetic, and what they bring to the discussion of the movie's themes. they don't all get a ton of screentime, but for what they're given each has a really well deserved heroic conclusion, however sad they are

5. Attack of the Clones - while its not my favourite in terms of characterization, plot development nor does it have my favourite gags, i still find myself coming back to this one for the vibes. it's 85% cgi, but the giant battle on geonosis and the intrigue of kamino are so fun and i think those awkward special effects kind of add to it. it's just fun, yk? the mystery elements are some of my favourites in the movies, although i think that aspect is better done in the clone wars series

6. The Last Jedi - really difficult spot to pick but i ultimately chose this over phantom menace because honestly i usually just watch the maul fight lmao. this movie is tricky for me since i like a lot of the ideas present, but hate it at the same time for completely derailing the sequels. had jj made all 3, we could have had a mildly entertaining if very repetitive nostalgia trip. with the way it was done, we have one of those movies, one movie that completely swerves the opposite direction and gives a taste of something more, then violently course corrects to the point of everything going off the rails. i think had rian johnson been given control for the whole series, we could have gotten something very special, and so this movie is here because it's fun to live in that world even for just one film. kylo is at his peak here and i love the idea of rey coming from no "important" background, i don't love how rey developed in this movie but had it been followed up on properly it probably would have been better. really i like rose and finns story as well as the end scene, which is more of the movie than phantom menace, so there

7. Solo - i really like this movie, don't get me wrong. the star wars underworld is super cool to see on the "big screen" (so they say) and i think han's portrayal is EXTREMELY well done. his arc fits perfectly into his story, the naïveté at the start and the reluctant hero at the end. he's a pure hearted boy thrown into a situation where heroism is punched in the stomach and kicked in a corner and seeing him navigate it is endlessly captivating. i like the new characters too (especially l3-37 and enfys) and it's so cool to see lando in his prime. all the forced-in explanations about how han got his name, how the millennium falcon ends up looking like that, etc etc is kinda unnecessary but id imagine they needed to do that to get the movie greenlit lmao, but honestly those are the things that drag it down in terms of rewatchability for me. once you see how the falcon lost its escape pod for the first time the novelty wears off, and enough time is spent on it that it becomes a drawback, time taken away from what i really want to see: character interactions, development, and fun, unpredictable action. the end where han kills beckett never gets old though and everytime i watch it i have that same feeling of relief, sadness and shock

8. Return of the Jedi - i love this movie, but in terms of rewatching it for fun on its own, i get a lot of what i like about it from other movies. ive always been a little underwhelmed by this one tbh. the death star again is fine, but it doesn't hold the same existential horror as the first time around. the emperor is perfection, but he's way more over the top in rots which is more entertaining lmao. vaders redemption is awesome and the perfect way to end the trilogy, but it is what we were expecting, isn't it? ewoks are fun and work symbolically i thinkbut they make for less spectacular action than other combatants

9. The Phantom Menace - qui-gon is one of my favourite star wars characters, ever. liam neeson's performance is excellent, and i love watching him throughout the whole thing. however, the story isn't as tight as other movies and while i love the thought and implications of the politics it explores, the senate and trade disputes kinda bring it down if im just watching it for fun. the podrace section is really popular for how fun it is, and i do like it, but car chases and races are often my least favourite type of action and i would sooner choose to watch a different action set piece. the fight at the end is AMAZING but i can watch it on youtube if i want so yeah, it goes here

10. The Clone Wars - it's...not good lmao. everyone knows this. but it is pretty fun. and most importantly, it kickstarted the best star wars media of all time, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. seeing the introduction of ahsoka and rex, and the reintroduction of ventress and cody, while neat to look back on, are improved upon in the series so id sooner just watch that. i have no problem watching it, despite its faults, but definitely not my go-to (i do wish we got to see rotta the hutt again though smh)

11. The Force Awakens - literally just watch a new hope. lmao that's not entirely true but all the characters here i prefer in tlj. there are some great moments, like when you think ben is going to accept help but he cements himself on the dark side or when finn and poe escape the star destroyer. the practical effects are nice, the sets and costumes are cool. but really this movie just makes me sad seeing how much promise these characters had and knowing how they all went to waste. maybe this will change someday and ill be able to take it for what it is, but now is not that time lol

12. The Rise of Skywalker - *sigh* yeah this one is just painful to watch. i honestly can only think of one character moment i like from this movie, which is when c3po calls the cast his friends. and thats like one line. i hate what they did to rey, to ben, to finn, to poe. rey's arc just sizzled out, she's more just going along with whatever comes her way, doing what she's told. she has more agency than that!! i honestly think she should have turned to the dark side. my ideal head canon was that rey and ben essentially switch sides at the end of tlj before both realizing that absolute adherence to either the extreme light or dark would only result in death and destruction as the universe fought to have balance. so they both come together in the middle and try and explore the practicality of living in the neutral area of the force. this would have opened up some really cool discussion about good vs evil (which is what star wars is known as being an excellent example of), it would have created a new, unique era of star wars to set future stories in in the future, and it would have ended the saga in a poetic way (the prequels end in darkness, the originals end in light, the sequels end in the middle). alas, this didn't happen, and this movie just makes me sad. there's nothing wrong with liking it, to be clear, i just like to pretend it doesn't exist

[intrepidradish]

Media: Dragon Ball Z

Year/my age: 2002/12

What drew me to the media:

I came home from highschool everyday and had a small tv with a built in vhs in my closet. It was 4:30pm and toonami was on Cartoon Network. I watched the entire Cell Saga and Majin Boo like a fiend. It was a shitton of episodes! Ugh. It's almost impossible to watch all the way through now, but maybe because as an adult I want like...more plot motivated writing. One of the best fanfic foder aspects of DBZ is that so much is left open to interpretation. I didn't question the filler episodes as a kid. I just liked all the muscles and screaming. The animation/manga style remains super duper fun. But mostly I found DBZ memorable because of Vegeta. I got truly invested in him as a character, because for most of DBZ, he really lets you down. I think TV shows love to harp on tropes for children, ie the bad man becomes a good man and all his values change to match the good characters *sparkles*, because they think morally those are the stories that should be told to children. Which is sad, honestly. Vegeta doesn't fall into that arc. He remains...kind of a bitch... and his character arch is fantastic and long and hard and he fucks up a lot and he doesn't really apologize for any of it. This was amazing to see as a preteen. Teaching failure to a child is really hard, and I think that America's school system is really bad at even attempting to. But failure is super important. Because all of life that child cum adult is going to fail, and its going to suck.

What made me a fan:

In college, I did another pass of DBZ, and whoa, developing adult horny brain really went into spiral knots wondering...so what the fuck... Bulma and Vegeta... had sex? They made a child. They made Trunks. So they had sex, right? I think this is pretty common a reaction. And as soon as you think that, well... the next step is... 'wait wait wait, how did they have sex? why did they have sex? what did that even look like?' And that's what sends you scouring the internet at 1am in your underwear (covertly, because you're in a dormitory with three other roommates).

I wish I could put to language what is it about romance that sends people into fandom holes. Romance is really important to fandom. I think it has something to do with how regimented relationships are in mass media. They aren't diverse. Most main stream romance is very streamlined and never gets into the messy odd bits without being labeled as some kind of edgy cusp drama. I don't know. But relationships seem to be the spring board for fandom hijinks. I'm all about it. I'd rather have fake blorbo relationships in my brain to obsess over than the real world. That shit gets you into trouble.

Oh god, and what an indicator of future dispositions. If you get into the Vegebul fandom, a lot of them are rape stories (because god forbid, a woman could want a shitty asshole alien man to bone at night. Bulma has her own set of problems, specifically with vanity being high up there). But yeah they were hot and I was pretty ashamed about the whole thing.

I was such a baby then.

Have I written fanfiction for it?

YES. One winter vacation, I wrote a 40 page fanfiction. This was probably in 2010? It was UNFINISHED, but I was incredibly sweaty the entire time, trying to build up to a spanking scene. (Yes, 40 pages of build up for spanking. I'm embarrassed for myself.) My computer crashed and the entire document was corrupted. My first fanfic was lost. RIP

Opinion on the fandom:

Pretty chill. I didn't interact with it much besides reading secretly. Originally, I was reading on fanfiction.net. When I came back to it years later (once again after college, I got my husband into it) I was reading fanfic for it on Ao3. I run into other Vegebul's periodically. They are all in their late twenties, early-late thirties. I follow someone here on tumblr that wrote this fantastic long series (100+ chapters) called Pillow Talk which is on Ao3. It's fucking incredible about showing the ups and downs, ins and outs of their relationship, because they do wind up together in canon (which is wild).

The most recent interaction I had was in the kink community, which was like *sigh* 'god, we are so fucking predictable, aren't we?' We had a good laugh! But he was trans masc too, chilling in a femme body, so we clicked right away about it.

I also remember I had an annoying conversation with my stepbrother once about tattoos. I don't have any, so they were asking why I don't. I said "If I started to get tattoos it would be a slipper slop before I start making bad decisions like getting a full Vegeta arm sleeve." Their mouths twisted in that judging you face and said "yeah don't do that." Like...ahem. My point exactly.

I think people get pretty judgy in general about Vegebuls because its a 90s kid's show, and its not a very good one. But being a Vegebul is kind of like... realizing your parents have sex. It's part of 'coming of age'.

Would I participate again:

Hell yeah, I would. Once a Vegebul always a Vegebul. The biggest hurdle for me would be catching up on all the new material. I watched Dragon Ball Super and found it lackluster. GT was so bad, I cannot. Something that's commonly an issue for me is the amount of subject material required to understand a story in fanfiction. I'll get into it later with other fandoms, but if the lore gets too big, I suddenly don't know how to participate.

Master post

[codthefishgod]

I absolutely agree with this tbh, I genuinely think Fenn is someone who, once he has his mind set on something, needs field experience to have it changed, like you said. That's probably why even though Oskar was around Fenn for much longer than Tobias and was encouraging the same ideas, Tobias is the only one who actually had any real impact on Fenn's beliefs, because Tobias IS a Vaylinian. He's physical proof that, as much as Fenn wants to, CAN'T be ignored.

And as for the battlefield thing... Yeah. Unfortunately I can really see it happening. Lennon has confirmed that Faroff will not be a tragedy, so I know Tobias and Fenn won't die, but a hell of a lot can happen without you dying, you know. Stuff that's arguably worse.

I do want there to be a Condessa arc, but I'd argue that them being separated and there being a time period where we see them each individually on their own paths after leaving the wall would be far more impactful. And the story has been set up in a way that makes that a plausible outcome as well, considering Fenn has been fighting to get sent out to the battlefield and Tobias' service is almost up. They're both in perfect positions to be snatched out of their posts at the wall.

Why do I say this would be more impactful? Well, first off, it really drives home the fact that literally everything is against them. The current arc, because it's mostly focused on trust and developing a proper relationship between Fenn and Tobias, is mostly pushing that into the background, in the sense that it's not currently a DIRECT threat (this is NOT a criticism, by the way! If their relationship isn't cultivated first they'll fall apart immediately under any sort of stress, this is an extremely important part of their plotline and it needs to happen before actual direct conflict does!)

If they were actually separated and thrown back into their roles for their countries, they and we as the audience would be very harshly reminded that their time at the wall... Doesn't actually change anything. Not yet, at least. They still have their duties to their countries. They can't even mention their knowledge of each other to anyone, let alone see that person that they'd started to genuinely care about over their time together.

PLUS! It would give us a lot more insight into their individual cultures and how their governments work, which of course WORLD BUILDING I live for this shit. We might be introduced to characters that clearly are meant to have relevance in the plot but haven't been properly introduced yet (Edward, Tobi's mom, the general, etc.) and learn more about their pasts and exactly what influenced them to be the way they are. More Fenn internal conflict struggling with what he saw through his interactions with Tobias vs. what he's being told, maybe he even starts to see the holes in their lies?

AND ALSO, I think Tobias is WAY more optimistic than we give him credit for. I genuinely think he still hasn't given up on his family. I believe everything he's done (flunking out of military school, etc.) was to try and show his family that he's NOT cut out for the future they keep trying to force them into. And... I think that he thinks that his service at the wall will be the end of it. Like he just had to do SOMETHING and now they'll let him do what he wants with his life. But... Obviously, it most likely won't end up that way. (ALSO IMAGINE IF THEY FORCE TOBIAS TO CUT HIS HAIR I MEAN WE KNOW IT'S ILLEGAL RIGHT- HOLY SHIT THAT WOULD BE SUCH A DEPRESSING AND IMPACTFUL SCENE OF REALISATION THAT THEY'LL NEVER LET HIM LEAD HIS OWN LIFE)

I mean just imagine the desperation. Especially since they've both gotten a taste of what a real healthy relationship is that they never got before. Fenn beginning to see the lies in Sona's propaganda and being on the battlefield struggling because when he sees the Vaylinians all he can think of is TOBIAS AND HOW HE WAS A REAL HUMAN BEING WITH A LIFE AND FEELINGS AND WHY WOULDN'T ANY OF THEM BE THE SAME WAY... And Tobias remembering how Fenn treated him and how he didn't see the things he made as worthless and how he really trusted him and didn't see him as incompetent... And comparing that to how his family is treating him and realising this ISN'T normal and NOT something he deserves but... Just not being able to do anything about it. IT WOULD BE SO HEART WRENCHING BUT SUCH A GREAT MOMENT OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THAT WOULD REALLY DRIVE THEIR DISILLUSIONMENT ARCS HOME...

Dear god I did NOT realise how much I had to say about that. Enjoy this essay 💀

I'm about to pop in the shower but I just wanted to say rq that sadly I think the only (or at least the most effective) way Fenn can really change his mindset on things is by having field experience, stuff like, idk, meeting Tobi for example. He only starts opening up to new ideas once he spends time with an actual vaylinian and realizes he's just a normal human person just like him and not the image of a vaylinian Sona exposed him to his whole life.

Ans I say "sadly" because this means the way he might have to learn that fighting on the battlefield isn't the amazing, overly-glorified idea he has about it in head is by... you know. Actually being there.

[cherrycheridarling]

tic-tac-toe | mcu

marvel cast x actress!reader

warnings: one swear, fluff, no plot

summary: you play aphrodite in the MCU and it's time for the press conference for infinity war. based off of this press conference

wc: 2.7k

"Tom Hiddleston!" Jeff Goldblum introduced the man who was sitting on your right.

Everyone applauded before Jeff moved onto you, "Y/N Y/L/N!" more applause rang through the room.

"Sebastian Stan!" you looked to your left where Sebastian waved to the crowd as you clapped with everyone else.

"Anthony Mackie!"

After Jeff finished with the introductions, he explained how the panel would work. He would pull a ping pong ball out of a container and it would either have a name or category. The audience would be able to ask a question to that person or a person in that category after Jeff called on them.

As he pulled RDJ's name out of the container, Tom leaned over towards you.

"Does your water taste funny, too?" he whispered making you stifle a laugh.

You nodded, "Kind of like lemon, right?"

He shook his head, "Mine tastes like mint. Can I taste yours?" he held his hand out as you passed him your water bottle. He took a sip and spent a moment analyzing the taste, "Yours does taste like lemon! Why does mine taste different? Here." he passed you his water.

You took a sip and were hit with a strong mint flavour, "Woah. I think they're trying to drug you." you joked making him laugh.

"As I am answering this question, Tom Hiddleston and Y/N Y/L/N are discussing the flavours of the water behind me." Robert exposed you and Tom to the audience making the room burst out into laughter.

"They have fancy water. Mint and lemon." Tom spoke into a mic drawing more laughs. "Sorry. Carry on!"

As Jeff pulled the next name, you adjusted your dress. A white, long sleeve, blazer dress with gold buttons down the middle, the dress ended mid-thigh. The v-neck cut showcased your subtle gold necklace. Black stiletto heels covered your feet.

You unconsciously began bouncing your leg up and down in a fast motion. Sebastian placed a hand on your thigh, stopping your movements, "You're gonna drill a hole through the floor, Y/L/N." he chuckled.

"Sorry." you laughed quietly.

Sebastian pulled out a notepad and pen, "You need a distraction. Tic-tac-toe?" he offered.

You smiled with a nod before making your move.

"You absolutely suck at this." you chuckled as you won the third game in a row.

Sebastian scoffed, "You can't suck at tic-tac-toe."

"And yet, you do." you smirked.

He rolled his eyes playfully before you continued playing.

After two more rounds, your attention was back on Jeff as he pulled a new ping pong ball. "Ooh! You can ask a God or Goddess." Jeff announced, "So, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth or Y/N Y/L/N." he reminded the crowd, "Okay, yes, you!" he picked a woman in the front row.

"Hi, I'm Alexis with Forbes. My question is for Y/N." the room applauded as Jeff tossed the ping pong ball at you and you caught it with one hand.

"See, Robert! It's not that hard!" Jeff exclaimed making everyone laugh.

"Screw off, Goldblum! You chucked that shit at my head." Robert joked back. "Sorry, Alexis, go ahead."

"Um, I wanted to ask about Aphrodite's powers. We all know that she is the Goddess of Love and can seduce anyone with her beauty. We see in the trailer a small clip of her seducing men. How many people did you seduce in the film and were there any funny moments filming those scenes that you can share?"

Her question drew a mix of reactions from the cast. Some laughed, some furrowed their eyebrows and others were just confused. You took in the question before opening your mouth to reply, until you remembered that you weren't wearing a body mic. The cast laughed again before Sebastian passed you a mic.

"Sorry. Um, how many people did I seduce in the film? None." you stated drawing more laughs, "How many people did Aphrodite seduce? All of them." you chuckled, "I'm kidding. Although, I'm not sure what I can share because I don't know what's in the trailer." you confessed, "Kevin, Joe, Anthony, what's in the trailer?" you asked them making everyone laugh again.

Kevin picked up a mic, "I believe it's you seducing Spider-Man, Starlord, Drax and Iron Man."

You nodded, "I do have a funny moment that I'm sure Mister Holland will kill me for sharing, but it's too good to not tell." you smiled thinking of the memory.

Tom immediately grabbed a mic, "You wouldn't!" he exclaimed making the audience and cast laugh.

"I would," you retorted, "We were shooting that scene and, as you know, they have to act like they are falling in love with me. Like I'm putting them in a trance. Well, Tom took that a bit too seriously." you paused at the laughter that your sentence caused, "They're all on their knees in front of me, looking at me as if I'm their queen, because I am." you joked, "And then Anthony calls 'cut' and Dave, Chris and RDJ all get up and start chatting, but as I'm turning away, Tom doesn't move. Still on his knees, looking at me as if I hold the world in my hands." the room filled with amused laughs and chuckles as Tom covered his face with his hands.

"No, it was so bad because I just looked like a creep that couldn't stop staring at her!" Tom laughed at himself.

Robert grabbed a mic, "Very true. I was watching and it honestly had me convinced that Y/N had real powers."

"I have to say, I understand the kid's reaction. Y/N's costume for Aphrodite and the way they transform her only enhances how gorgeous she already is." Anthony Mackie spoke up causing the crowd to gush and clap, "I'm pretty sure we all had the same reaction when we first saw her while filming Civil War." he looked around as the cast nodded.

Scarlett picked up a mic, "Yeah. I remember her walking on set in this stunning white dress which made me extremely jealous," she confessed, "Because, one, it's so gorgeous and she looks absolutely amazing in it," the crowd and cast applauded again, "And two, it's made of the softest silk while my suit is leather and spandex!" everyone laughed at her comment.

Benedict picked up his mic, "Although, it wasn't Tom's first time seeing Y/N as Aphrodite. He was in Civil War and still could not contain himself." he teased making the audience and cast laugh again.

Robert spoke again, "Yeah, he did that during the filming of Civil War, too." the room hollered with laughs.

Tom's face was bright red, "I'm just a very committed actor. I really give all of myself to my work." his comment drew more laughs.

"That's why Sebastian despises Tom. It all started when Tom couldn't take his eyes off of Y/N." Chris Hemsworth added making everyone double over in laughter.

"I feel so loved," you held a hand to your heart as the room chuckled, "These are genuinely the best people in the world and I guess you could say I seduced one person during filming." you joked as the crowd continued to laugh, "Sorry, Tom. I'll buy you some juice, don't be mad." Anthony and Benedict laughed loudly. "Thank you for your question!" you thanked the lady as the cast clapped before Jeff picked out the next ping pong ball.

Next was Scarlett. You sat back and silently judged the man who asked about fashion. Scoffing with Sebastian at his question and laughing at Scarlett's sarcastic and witty responses.

Sebastian leaned over again, "I have to piss."

You stifled a laugh at his abrupt confession, "Go to the washroom, then." you nodded your head towards the exit.

"We're not allowed to leave." he frowned.

You chuckled and reached over, patting his thigh with your hand, "Don't piss yourself."

He rolled his eyes playfully before Jeff called out the next name.

"Anthony Mackie!"

"Hi, I'm Tiffany with Times Magazine. With such a star studded cast, do you find it difficult or any obstacles in developing your character with all theses amazing stories being told and struggling for screen time? Like, are there any obstacles or special difficulties or is it all just amazing?"

Before Anthony could answer, Joe Russo picked up his mic, "Are you asking Anthony Mackie if he has a hard time getting attention?" his comment caused the whole room to erupt in laughs.

Anthony nodded slowly as the laughter died down, "Touché, touché. Uh, well, Tiffany, a wise man once said that some men need an hour to make their presence felt and some need thirty seconds." there was an uproar of laughter and hollering at his comment as he dramatically dropped the mic on the table.

"Who are we asking next?" Jeff squinted at the ping pong ball, "Ooh! Back to the Goddess of Love herself, Y/N Y/L/N!" the room applauded for you as Jeff threw the ball to you.

Sebastian intercepted the toss and caught the ball himself with a smug smirk. You rolled your eyes, but smiled as Jeff picked a lady out of the dozens who had raised their hand.

"Hi, I'm Amy with Esquire and I wanted to ask about the relationship between Bucky and Aphrodite. We see in the previous films their awkward tension from their past history. They have a very special romance and their love story is a fan favourite in the Marvel fandom. What was it like building that bond and relationship on screen? And what do you think of the choice to match the two characters together, how did you react when you found out? Did the pairing of the two help build your bond off screen?"

Jeff spoke again, "I said 'one question', that was at least twenty." he teased the lady drawing laughs from the room.

You chuckled and nodded slowly as the laughter died down, "Excellent questions. Umm, I honestly really like the pairing of the two. I think it gives a great dynamic to both characters and reveals sides of them that we never would've seen without their relationship. It's a very 'good girl falling for the bad guy' trope. And if I'm being honest, I've always wanted that." you confessed causing the room to chuckle, "Their relationship is, without a doubt, one of the most complicated ones in the MCU, but I think that's what makes it so loved by the fans since there's not a dull moment between the two. It's nice to see Bucky have a sentimental side, in his own awkward way of course. And you get to see Aphrodite fall for someone who's not a God or a Titan." you turned to Sebastian, "What do you think?"

You offered him the mic, but he didn't take it, letting you hold it up for him, "Yeah, I agree. I never thought Bucky would have a love interest, if I'm being honest. But I'm glad he does because Aphrodite brings out the soft side in him and he brings out the fighter in her. They really balance each other out and Y/N portrays the character in such a unique way, it really brings a whole new fresh persona to Aphrodite and it's amazing having her as a partner on screen." the audience applauded at his words, "When I first found out about Bucky having her as his love interest—"

"—He called me screaming about how hyped he was." Anthony Mackie cut him off making the room laugh. "Anthony! Anthony! Bucky is gonna be with Aphrodite! That's gonna be sick!" Anthony mocked his voice as you were hunched over with laughter.

Sebastian nodded with a smile, "I did. Won't lie, I did. It's a really refreshing relationship and I'm glad that the fans love it as much as I love playing it. Back to you, you haven't talked about the development and our bond." he gave you a lopsided grin.

You chuckled, "I feel like I'm rambling, but yeah. Their development is definitely," you paused, trying to find the right words, "A development?" you settled on drawing more laughter. "Well, as I said, it's very complicated, but awkwardly adorable at times. Since Seb complimented me, I feel obligated to say something nice about him," you joked making them laugh again, "Kidding. He really does play Bucky with such passion and commitment, it's truly inspiring. And working with someone who loves what they do as much as Seb, it definitely motivates you tremendously and yeah. Um, I won't lie, I honestly was dreading working with Seb," you confessed drawing laughs and a gasp from Sebastian.

"Why?!" he exclaimed making you laugh.

You sighed, "Not because I think you're a bad person or anything, but you come off as very intimidating to people who don't know you very well. And I knew nothing about you before filming other than the films you'd already done, so you scared me." your confession caused everyone to laugh loudly.

Sebastian smirked jokingly, "I am extremely frightening. I understand." he shrugged.

You scoffed with a laugh, "I caught you sleeping with a stuffed turtle and whale noises playing." the room roared with laughter again, "That's when I knew you were a big softy."

Sebastian rolled his eyes playfully, "She's joking. I am the toughest man alive." he deepened his voice.

You shook your head with a chuckle, "Sure. Thank you for your questions." the room clapped for you as you set the mic down and relaxed back into your seat.

"Nailed it." Sebastian held a hand out for a high five and you chuckled before hitting your hand against his.

For the rest of the press conference, you sat back and listened to your friends answer questions. Laughed at jokes made and clapped when appropriate. Small tic-tac-toe games went on between you and Sebastian. Your attention was fully on your nails when Tom Hiddleston got called on.

"Hi, I'm Samantha with Daily Mail and I was wondering, since Loki is a very closed off and mysterious character, we never explore the aspect of him having a love interest. So, if you could choose anyone from the MCU for Loki to end up with, who would it be and why?"

You turned to look at Tom as he pondered on the question, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin, "Very good question. Umm, who would I choose for Loki? Let's see," he paused again and looked around the room until his eyes landed on you, "Ah, I'd steal Aphrodite from Bucky." he answered making the room laugh and Sebastian chuckled with a nod.

"Why Aphrodite?" Jeff asked.

Tom chuckled again, "Well, it's Aphrodite." he simply answered drawing more laughs, "They are so different yet similar in so many ways. Loki is never fully evil nor fully good, but I think Aphrodite has the best chance of turning him good. And who wouldn't want to end up with the Goddess of Love?"

The cast nodded understandingly before Chris Pratt grabbed a mic, "If you were to ask any person on this stage that same question, I guarantee the answer would be Aphrodite." the whole cast nodded.

"They're all trying to steal Sebastian's woman." Jeff teased.

Sebastian scoffed jokingly, "They're all jealous." he wrapped an arm around your shoulder.

You chuckled with a shake of your head before Robert spoke up, "Adding onto the conversation. Miss Y/L/N, who would you want Aphrodite to end up with?" his question drew excited reactions from the crowd.

You let out a bark of laughter before looking from Tom to Sebastian, "Hmm, excellent question, Mister Downey." you rubbed your chin, "Stop doing that, Holland." you chuckled as you saw Tom point at himself in the corner of your eye.

He raised his hands in surrender before Anthony Mackie spoke up, "Spidey is five years old, kid." everyone laughed at that.

"I'd have to stick with Bucky. He is her true love." you shrugged as the crowd cheered.

Sebastian smirked from beside you as the men of the cast faked disappointment.

As the panel came to a close, you looked around at the family you were surrounded by. Friends you love more than anything. Hundreds of memories with the most amazing people you'd ever met. Your home.

[eliza1911o1]

Rant about Heroes of Olympus because as a sequel series to Percy Jackson it pains me pt. 1

So I just reread the PJO (one of my all time favorite series) and HoO series and I’m just struck by how unfulfilled I feel after finally finishing BoO for the first time…

I didn’t read it when I was younger because it came out just as I got really busy in school and was growing out of my “reading phase” and before I knew I had ADHD/attention struggles

I know I’m older and they���re aimed at young audiences and a bit outdated in general now but the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is still amazing. No contest. It may have plot holes, it may be lacking in some areas like representation, but everything has flaws and all of those are just so easy to get over with such heartwarming characters and carefully crafted quests. Not to mention the high stakes and actually pretty realistic struggles??? I’m probably biased, but I just really love them and am not above fighting others if they put it down

But even after realizing both series are kids books, the plot valleys (not just pothole level inconsistencies), OOC moments, anticlimactic ending, general lack of dynamic characters and lasting themes, and lacking world building all prove HoO to be underwhelming compared to PJO. Like it’s not bad, but it’s not close to perfect either. It’s even hard to argue how most of the events and characters in HoO add and further the stories of PJO, let alone why to consider all of it as sacred canon. Especially by the end of BoO, the lackluster vibe overall was really disheartening

They aren’t bad books. I just don’t think they lived up to the heart of PJO. I didn’t feel like I was reading more about characters I love or learning about great new characters and settings or invested in why this battle against Gaia will be the greatest of all time. Instead, I my brain was caught trying to convince myself why all of that was true and I was blatantly put off by some of the story directions, which made me feel incredibly sad

Again, it’s a fun read. Not considering any sort of literary analysis or strong personal opinion and taking into account the intended audience, it meets expectations. I just feel like the original series did so much more than be average and I’m just grasping at straws here because HoO had potential to do the same

Anyway, here are some of my strongest complaints with brief explanation and in no particular order:

- where were the old characters??? Grover?? WHERE WAS GROVER??????

- Percy was very underplayed in BoO for no reason; even if you consider his time in Tartarus, he was very weak compared to SoN and it wasn’t really explained, which felt lazy. They should’ve let him rest if he wasn’t up to fighting

- mental health issues were brought up but skirted by (Nico’s coming out was awful, Percy’s suicidal thoughts weren’t really addressed seriously (that’s a whole nother post), Hazel’s literally having died once)

- Too. Much. Romance. Why did everyone need to be a couple?????

- same structure as PJO, but without any reinvention (TLT and TLH had almost the same beginning)

- povs past SoN had weird distribution; I don’t think it made sense HoH had all seven povs but the final book, BoO, didn’t

- what made Jason, Piper, and Leo more special than any of the other seven? The explanation that they began everything felt lazy and discredited Frank and Hazel….

- Reyna and Nico and even Coach Hedge held a lot of importance in the plot and it felt weird since they weren’t even part of the seven. Distribution of responsibility and the idea of seven great heroes saving stuff (even if it was ironic) was downplayed

- the seven never really felt like a team or had a moment where it seemed like all of them were vital to make things work. The splitting up into smaller groups all the time definitely worsened this

- why was New Rome a whole mini country when CHB is a literal camp… the world building was quite slapdash and felt unreastic

- no developed Roman side characters really; wish Dakota, Lou Ellen, and others had more importance and interest

- Percy came back to NYC (to CHB) and no one said anything? No Sally-Percy reunion? No Grover-Percy reunion? No campers cheering for Percy to be back?

- last minute Solangelo; they should’ve had some sort of interest to sudden love/slow burn/opposites attract relationship with proper time to develop

- issue of Greeks vs. Roman felt sort of weak and their sudden cohesion at the end felt too forced (how is one statue gonna fix eeeeeeverything)

- final battle was awful. No words. Giants easily killed, Greeks and Romans united in a minute, Gaia contained in a little storm immediately after waking and killed like no biggie

- minimal lasting damage or deaths (Leo’s death…. Don’t even get me started)

- BoO and later books ruined Leo’s character and made him seem selfish, unaware, and rude

- Annabeth and Percy being captured immediately by the giant princess in BoO; you think they escaped Tartarus for the ending to be THAT

- Frank’s whole situation; firewood and the whole idea of life being fragile felt pretty useless by the end when nothing could touch him

- weak usage of prophecy — I feel like the oracle being dead at the end was a sign for everyone to live without forced guidance, which was a big deal in PJO, but the point wasn’t really made and it felt like he just didn’t want to come up with more. Also, it felt like lines were added randomly to the prophecy of seven but we never hear everything together??? The prophecy felt cheap and forced with how everything played out

- no issues with Percy and Annabeth going to New Rome for college, but they’d be that quick to abandon their home in NYC? I get the trauma associated with it, but there was nothing that made it seem right for them to think the trauma was enough to leave everything… lowkey wanted Annabeth to go to Columbia or Barnard or NYU and be fixing up CHB to house adults or have a veteran demigod network

- cutting off character development and interactions. A lot of the characters were used to further others (Jason furthering Nico’s in BoO) or never even talked to each other (Percy and Piper). There wasn’t much growth in the last couple books even though it was very clear in the beginning ones (Frank is an obvious example) and more importantly, there was a supreme lack of resolution in their stories. Especially Percy and Annabeth, who went to hell and back, we never feel like they suffered for a reason or needed to be the ones to suffer or the suffering changed them for better or worse or any other real indication I should accept the ending

- no backlash on the gods. At all. Percy, like many others throughout PJO and HoO, is struggling to respect the gods, let alone continue being used by them. And in HoO, the gods are USELESS. They do literally n.o.t.h.i.n.g. They have one fight scene and when we have Jason’s equivalent to the asking for childcare scene of TLO, Zeus responds and his backbone breaks. The only consequence was Apollo being demoted but that honestly felt like a marketing scheme knowing ToA

- lots more but I’ll stop myself here

(Btw I did not read it because of the show lol though I am glad I did so I’m ready for it)

[sifeng]

Love Between Fairy and Devil (苍兰诀) - Eps 1-8 Review

A very early review because this drama is definitely... something! There is an intense division in the popular opinion of this drama, some absolutely love it, others think it is dumb and childish. Personally, I think that despite its obvious issues, it has a lot of merit and deserves a lot of the hype.

Characterization: considering there has only been eight episodes, and there are 36 total, it makes sense that none of the characters have really had to develop or change dramatically. However, the initial characterizations of our main 3 (Dongfang Qingcang, Xiao Lan Hua and Chang Heng) are very solid, and clearly set their personality, goals and morals. Personally I love the characterization of Xiao Lan Hua. These “cute” type female leads can very easily become annoying and unnecessarily stupid, but Xiao Lan Hua, though innocent, kind and not the most intelligent of celestials, is by no means dumb nor annoying. She has extremely strong morals, generosity and kindness, and has the ability to think for herself - ignoring the celestial propaganda about the demons because she knows Dongfang Qingcang has been kind to her. Dongfang Qingcang’s characterization stability is a little weaker, but this is made up in how he is evidently beginning to feel and understand emotions. As we see him do no evil (except burning 2 people to save Xiao Lan Hua in like episode 2), it’s hard to imagine just how cruel this man is. The lack of information about his reign of terror also makes it difficult for the audience to understand why he is so desperate for Xiao Lan Hua to work her magic on the leaf of Chi Di Nü Zi. But, to an extent, I get the mystery behind his background, it allows us to see him as Xiao Lan Hua sees him, without the prejudice of knowing how evil he was. Chang Heng is also a very solid character. He is someone who is selfless and puts the stability of the universe and the happiness of others ahead of his own well being. 

Pacing: This drama is very fast. With so much to go through and only 36 episodes, it makes sense. But, despite the fast pace, it doesn’t feel rushed. This drama hits the sweet spot, where you really want to keep watching and keep watching (I watched all 8 episodes in a row), but don’t feel like too much information is being thrown at you. However, there are certain moments that feel very undeserved, or out of nowhere. For example, when Rong Hao discovers Xiao Lan Hua is Shen Nü. Why did he suspect her anyways? And if he suspected her, why doesn’t any of the other celestials? The ambiguity of Rong Hao and Chi Di Nü Zi’s characters are a plus right now, but I can easily see them being plot holes if the show only ever gives them random shots with no explanation. But I doubt that...

Worldbuilding: Out of the past few xianxias I have seen, this drama does world building best in my opinion. Unlike some shows that throw way too much information at you in the first few moments, this drama gives you very little in the beginning, and only begins to reveal page by page the intricacies of this universe, which leads to the binge-ability of this drama (I really want to figure out who is who what is what!) Plus, this world feels so unique and fresh. Part of this is the costuming and CGI, part of this is its look into the business, bosses, different parts of the heavenly realm. One of my biggest complaints about the heavenly realm in other shows is how empty it seems, this show actually fleshes out the realm, showing the lives of the lowly and the rich. 

Acting: now, I have to be honest. I thought this show would be terrible, mostly because I did not trust Wang Heidi’s acting at all. He was terrible in Miss The Dragon, like to the point where you just laughed when he appeared. He’s not really that good in this either BUT at least you can watch without being completely taken out or bursting out in laughter which is huge improvement for him! The scenes where he was pretending to be Xiao Lan Hua were actually okay!! I’ve always maintained the opinion that Yu Shuxin is one of the most underrated actresses in the industry. People think she’s not good because her line delivery is, shall we say, unique, but in believing she’s a poor actress simply because they dislike her voice, they cannot hear how clear her words are, how she can easily control her emotions and how her mood is always clear in her voice. Acting wise she always adds little details that really show off her understanding of both Dongfang Qingcang (when she is in his body) and Xiao Lan Hua. She makes Xiao Lan Hua so adorable, someone you want to cry for when she cries, someone you want to laugh with when she’s happy. There are moments when she does overact a little, making Xiao Lan Hua almost caricature like in moment, but overall, I think she’s doing amazing. Zhang Linghe is pretty okay as Chang Heng. The scene where he crossed Xiao Lan Hua’s name off his list did make me feel sad, but overall, I don’t feel like he’s made this character particularly engaging (not to say the character isn’t engaging, he is, just mostly because the writing is good). 

Romance: The main CP is really growing on me. Chemistry wise, they are actually pretty great. I’ve seen videos of them doing interviews and variety shows and clearly they are friends, which really makes these early scenes so enjoyable because Xiao Lan Hua and Dongfang Qingcang are also friends. I really can’t wait to see how this relationship progresses, because it’s already very clear how cute they are. The switching bodies trope is actually sooooo funny because of how Xiao Lan Hua misinterprets his actions, so it doesn’t feel old or boring at all. Xiao Lan Hua and Chang Heng (FL and SML) grouping is also very cute, and so sad. The innate tragedy of their situation makes the relationship so interesting, and I think they have pretty good chemistry too! The second CP between Rong Hao and Chi Di Nü Zi is very exciting to me because they both seem like crazy people!

Costumes: while I am not a huge fan of some of the costuming aesthetically, overall, I really appreciate how the designer managed to make such a new, different style for the celestials, while maintaining a classical style for the humans. I do think the fact that all the young celestial fairies wearing the same thing makes the idea of costume design kind of redundant, but I appreciate the spectacle! Personally I love Dan Yin in the fairy dress, while Xiao Lan Hua looks better in other styles. I totally get why the designer put them all in the same dress (to add a sense of continuity) but personally I wish Xiao Lan Hua’s wardrobe was slightly different to show her different personality and class. 

CGI: The CGI is amazing! The CGI for the heaven palace, Si Ming’s house, the place where they went to see the sunrise, the prison are all absolutely gorgeous. But the most impressive scene has to be when Rong Hao and Chang Heng were in the painting together, that was absolutely gorgeous! I used to think Love and Redemption was the best xianxia for CGI but this drama just took the number 1 spot.

Overall: If you can get through the acting and are a xianxia fan, I would 100% recommend this! A really different drama no matter how you look at it, and I would say you should at least try it even if it sounds unappealing (I thought it would be terrible and look at me now!)

[reallyprofoundkryptonite]

Do you have any RTTE criticisms?

Do I? Yes. Absolutely.

And it has to go with how the writers handled their characters that weren’t Hiccup and Astrid. And while I’m completely happy with how long the series was, I feel like there would have been more room for intense characterization of more minor characters, (hell, even some of the gang were completely swiped by the shortness of the series.) as well as getting to know more about the world of httyd, filling in the plot holes at the end of the series, like Valka popping in at the last moment to take the egg (which her bewilderbeast had been ruling for two decades according to the second movie, and there was no sign of another bewilderbeast besides Valka’s and Drago’s in the second movie.), and just… general ways in handling certain characters redemption arcs (or lack thereof.)

For example, with the redemption arc of Dagur, I absolutely feel that it was too rushed, and that if we’d have been given more time, the redemption would have taken longer to happen. And Hiccup’s reaction to Dagur deserting was kind of… underwhelming? I suppose? Hiccup has never exactly been very confrontational, I suppose, but there’s also the added statement that the way Hiccup handled the Dragon Eye and Viggo’s tribe would have been out of character for him on that statement, considering the fact that he vehemently denied to give back a resource that clearly belonged to someone else, and then clearly wanting it back. (But you have to build drama so I suppose it makes sense?)

But also, the characters besides Hiccup and Astrid- there was just too much Hiccstrid in the entire show. I get that’s what people like, but especially in Mi Amore Wing there was just so much unnecessary Hiccstrid drama that seemed so out of character and forced by the directors- Astrid isn’t necessarily the jealous type- and to feel Jealous about Dagur and Mala? (Don’t even get me started on how foul that ship is; not dunking on anyone who really likes it, but it’s just- feels very forced and went way too fast to happen realistically.)

Let’s not forget the handling of Ruffnut and Tuffnut. They’re both very entertaining characters, yes, but Ruffnut gets not abject character development outside of her brother, and somewhat vice versa for Tuffnut. And T.J Miler’s portrayal, while funny, I have to admit, just makes the twins seem like too much of gags and “Buffoons”, than actual characters.

Now… I’m going to get into other small topics- Krogan. Handling him in the show must have been somewhat of an afterthought (though the way his body language, outward personality and so forth are all done extremely well by the voice actor and animators to portray a pretty accurate, albeit very much less seen in media victim of abuse and sufferer of depression and anxiety, as well as maybe even Stockholm Syndrome.) If we were given more time during the show for characters like Krogan, or Ruffnut, or Mala- Hell, even Johann and Viggo, we as an audience would be able to get a better grasp on their motivations and their real ideas for being where they are.

And, another thing- Krogan and Drago are the only real villains (besides Ryker), to not be given redemption arcs, and they’re both noticeably foreign and not from the archipelago. With Krogan being a most definite black man, and Drago being more ambiguous in his race, but maybe(?) middle eastern. It’s sus, if I’m going to be honest, and pretty racially charged that two characters who are not white are not given the same treatment as the other white villains. (Also let’s not forget that Johann is also an anti-Semitic caricature of a Jewish person, and that he’s portrayed as being a greedy, money hungry villain, who just wants fortune and cares for no one but himself.)

The series overall, is great- wonderful even, but it’s the handling of characters, and (mild) racism for me that kind of makes it a little worse, in all.

[tossawary]

I need to know more about “SVSSS - Baby Brother Liu Qingge” bc I love tiny and very deadly baby LQG

I have a 3k-ish Shang Qinghua POV that was supposed to be the introduction to this fic concept! So... ah... baby Liu Qingge does not appear in this, but you can see the setup for how an 8yo-ish Liu Qingge was supposed to be introduced. My hope is that this will someday become a "Shang Qinghua and Shen Jiu go on a mission with Baby Brother Liu Qingge" one shot.

-cut-

Shang Qinghua didn't really have the words to describe what it was like having Proud Immortal Demon Way's characters finally come into his second life.

He didn't have the words to describe a lot of his transmigration experience, honestly! His words had described a lot of this world already, haha, hadn't they? Sometimes a person just had to put up with it and keep going.

And then excuse himself later to go scream into a pillow! Many times!

At first, life was just him in a body that didn't fit and strange memories that slipped between his fingers like sand. His memories of a past life had settled eventually, the System finally came fully online, and his relationship with his second family was fully fucked forever. That was fine, though! That was fine! With some unsolicited prodding from his System, he left to go seek his fortune soon enough and he never had to talk to his character's birth parents or siblings again.

But Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky had never said much of anything about Shang Qinghua’s family or home village, besides saying that the man had dreamed of more than his mediocre origins, so everything had been unfamiliar and original and real. Getting to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, which he had described in great detail, was a real headfuck. There were no words for the experience of recognizing things that he’d written in another life.

He saw the glistening rainbow bridge and the intimidating sect entrance and the majestic meeting hall on Qiong Ding, and he nearly screamed. He definitely squawked. His vision got really fuzzy for a minute there and he had to sit down on the ground before he fell over. What the fuck?! What the fuck?! He’d made a world! The System had really made a world out of his web-novel! He was really stuck in Proud Immortal Demon Way!

There were upsides and downsides to joining Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Downsides included: the hard training, the harder workload, the dangerous missions, the disrespect towards An Ding Peak, and being surrounded by arrogant and foolish teenagers looking to look down on someone. It was really something else to look some of them in the eye and think, "Bro, I don’t know your name, but you kind of owe your existence to me. Could you stop being such a fucking asshole about leaving your chores for me to do?! Respect your father!"

Upsides included: actually becoming a cultivator (pretty cool, even though the work of cultivation sucked more often than not), better living accommodations and food, and actually getting to see some of the cooler places, plants, monsters, and magic that were a part of his world. Sure, carting a monster corpse brought in by Bai Zhan Peak to Xi Jiao Peak for butchering was smelly and heavy and altogether miserable, but seeing an impossible animal was still kind of incredible. If this unwilling Shang Qinghua could stop being pushed around and stepped on long enough to appreciate the upsides, he’d really appreciate it!

It was interesting and infuriating to log the differences between what he’d imagined, what he’d written, and what the System had created. What sort of author described every single object in every single room? Who had time for that? Who wanted to read that? The System had filled in all the living details of An Ding Peak - the Leisure Houses, the training grounds, the storehouses, the warehouses, the kitchens, the lesson halls, the leisure gardens, the farming fields, the livestock fields, the stables, the cart lot, the water supply, the sewage systems, and so on - so that people could actually live here. Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky as an author had done many things worthy of complaint and criticism, but wasting his readers’ time with sewage systems was not one of them!

The System had also filled in all the little details and decorations - the paintings on the walls of sect history, the detailing on the rooftops supposedly offering protections from dream demons, the chipped and faded paint of old storehouses that disciples would be tasked with replacing, the statues in the fields to scare off scavengers, the carvings on the doors meant to reduce resentful energy, the childish etchings of bored students the surface of the lesson hall desks, the old bench where the An Ding Peak Lord liked to sit and eat flatcakes - so that it really seemed like people had built this place and maintained it and added to it for generations.

Shang Qinghua had his quibbles here and there. Sometimes the System had made choices that he objected to! He would have done it differently if it had asked him, the author, to contribute. He really felt as though the System should have asked him to clarify the plot holes and the gaps in detail, instead of choosing precedence randomly or building off random implications taken way too literally.

Sometimes he found out that the System had built things out of throwaway lines that Shang Qinghua himself had completely forgotten about. It turned out that Ku Xing Peak made a lot of purification tools and containment vessels because Airplane had offhandedly mentioned that this was their specialty, and now Shang Qinghua had to cart around delicate ceramics to be sold to city merchants or other cultivation sects. He never would have dared to write that if he’d known that it would one day in another life be his job to do things like take inventory and chase down signatures for successful deliveries.

Places, items, and creatures were one thing, but logging the differences between the people he met and the characters he’d created was something else. At first it was okay, because he was surrounded by nameless An Ding Peak nobodies - his fellow disciples, their teachers, the hardworking managers and merchants, even the peak lord - none of them had ever mattered in Proud Immortal Demon Way. If Airplane had been the one to name any of them, he didn’t recognize the names or remember them.

Then he met Yue Qingyuan.

Wow, it was a worse headfuck than first arriving at Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, when Shang Qinghua finally realized that this was the young version of one of his actual characters. It took him a minute. As a lowly outer disciple, Shang Qinghua hadn’t received “Qinghua” as a name yet (his name was Houhua, not that anyone ever used it) and the future Yue Qingyuan was still called Yue Qi.

Shang Qinghua was fourteen at the time. Yue Qingyuan must have been around the same age, so he didn’t strike the tall and handsome figure of the sect leader Airplane had described. The boy was broad, but actually a little short. He had freckles. He had acne.

But he also had a warm smile that seemed to go all the way to his eyes when he offered to give Shang Qinghua directions to the right office on Qiong Ding. He had a steady hand when he helped Shang Qinghua up, after the An Ding disciple had suddenly tripped over nothing upon being introduced. Yue Qingyuan - Yue Qi - walked him to the right office and did his best to make small talk, friendly and kind even though Shang Qinghua was having difficulty stringing more than a few words together in his shock.

Even then, it was obvious that the boy was developing the calm surety and the social charm that would make him a greatly admired sect leader someday! It was all Shang Qinghua could do not to blurt out: “Holy shit, you’re REAL?!” Which would be closely followed by: “Hey, is Shen Qingqiu really real too?!” And then maybe closely followed by: “FUCK!!!”

As the years went by, Shang Qinghua met more of Proud Immortal Demon Way’s characters, and it was weird every time. None of them were exactly like he was expecting. He kept expecting… well… he kept expecting them to look like the fanart, like flawless character models, more or less. Instead, he kept getting… people.

Wei Qingwei, head disciple of the sword-focused Wan Jian Peak, was also shorter than he was expecting, kind of stout, with a wide face and a wider smile. Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky had apparently had the man crack a few jokes upon his rare appearances in the web-novel, usually during tense situations, as he was reminded by the System upon thinking to himself: “Why is this guy LIKE THIS?!” So, because of just a few lines, the real Wei Qingwei had a relentless sense of humor and loved telling jokes.

Upon their first meeting, when Shang Qinghua was fifteen and had been sent over to help renovate some Wan Jian dormitories, fifteen-year-old Wei Qingwei had pretended to fumble a sword and, using a packet of dye and a sleight of hand, made it look like he’d accidentally cut off his own hand at the wrist. Of course Shang Qinghua had screamed and panicked! Anyone would panic! But Wei Qingwei had laughed at him and said, “Got you! Shang-Shidi, the sword wasn’t even unsheathed!” Asshole!

Qi Qingqi, the head disciple of Xian Shu Peak, was much taller than he was expecting. Apparently Airplane had once described a group of some of the peak lords by saying something like: “Each one of them was like a giant to young Luo Binghe.” That group had included Qi Qingqi. The System apparently had taken that to mean that Qi Qingqi was of a height with the likes of Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu. Shang Qinghua discovered this adaptational choice when he was almost sixteen, when this giraffe-like girl came to An Ding Peak to complain about an order someone along the pipeline had dropped completely, and he accidentally found himself (still waiting on a really good growth spurt) eye-level with Qi Qingqi’s chest.

Airplane had apparently once said in Proud Immortal Demon Way that Qian Cao Peak Lord Mu Qingfang appeared a little older than his colleagues, by which he’d probably meant that the man was just tired or something, but this head disciple Mu Qingfang appeared to have ten years on all the other head disciples. Which was good! Shang Qinghua approved of their future head healer not being a teenager and having more training!

On the bad side of things, Airplane had also once said in Proud Immortal Demon Way that the Zui Xian Peak Lord Zhang Qingyan liked his drink too much. This was the peak specializing in alcohol, so it had seemed to make sense! It was supposed to be funny, if anything! Well, at sixteen, Shang Qinghua found out that the System had focused too much on the “too much” part of that statement and now the head disciple of Zui Xian Peak was pretty clearly a budding alcoholic. (Sometimes a cultivator’s constitution and ability to “cure” themselves just… made a person drink more. A lot more.) Which was… not good.

At seventeen, Shang Qinghua met Mobei-Jun.

He didn’t know where to get started with Mobei-Jun.

Somehow he’d… forgotten that Mobei-Jun had been originally based on Airplane’s idea of “the perfect man” and not the super pretty, muscular but slim-waisted protagonist type? The real Mobei-Jun was… tall… and big… and thick. Mobei-Jun’s intimidating features were… more striking than pretty. The first time Shang Qinghua had come back to his Leisure House and found this spoiled brat of an ice demon napping shirtless on his bed, and gotten an eyeful of all that heavy muscle and chest hair, he’d nearly knocked himself out on the doorframe trying to turn away before he had a heart attack.

Mobei-Jun really was going to be the death of him, holy shit.

Especially because this ice demon really was a spoiled brat! Airplane had described this character as being arrogant and apathetic, so now Shang Qinghua had to deal with a Mobei-Jun who took long baths and then carelessly dripped water all over the floor and all over fresh sheets! Who ate all of Shang Qinghua’s cooking and ungratefully only demanded more food, sprawled over furniture not really fit for someone of his size, and then watched Shang Qinghua like a fat tiger! Ahhh, this demon really was lucky he was handsome!

Mobei-Jun was also kind of violent, and mean, which was… well, it sucked.

Back to the sect that Shang Qinghua was now actively betraying, however, as far as he could see, there was still one future peak lord missing.

It wasn’t Shen Qingqiu, who Shang Qinghua had thought would be the last one to show up. Shen Qingqiu had shown up and had been advancing through the ranks of Qing Jing Peak before Shang Qinghua had even met Mobei-Jun, which meant that Yue Qingyuan had finally stopped looking like someone had torn out his soul. (Shang Qinghua had been forced to grit his teeth every time that someone mentioned how privileged that Yue Qingyuan was to have been granted that year of secluded cultivation in the Lingxi Caves at such a young age.)

No, of all the peak lords, it was Liu Qingge who Shang Qinghua had yet to meet.

After meeting Mobei-Jun and becoming an inner disciple, the System had given Shang Qinghua three years to make it to head disciple, probably because the deadline for a new generation of peak lords to ascend was fast approaching. He was working hard to achieve that! Not only did he have to sabotage the current favorite, but he had to make sure all his own training, missions, work, and research were as close to flawless as he could get it! All while keeping an intruding ice demon happy! He wasn’t totally sure that he was going to make it at this rate, even though he’d been here for years.

So it was a little concerning that Liu Qingge hadn't shown up yet. There was so much left to do. A world-state that had yet to be established. Liu Qingge had work to do here!

Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu still had to develop a hatred for each other as disciples that would extend to everyone believing that Shen Qingqiu had murdered Liu Qingge as peak lords, after all. Granted, all Liu Qingge really had to do was beat everyone else on Bai Zhan Peak up to obtain the position, and it wasn’t exactly hard to get Shen Qingqiu to develop a lifelong grudge, but the guy was still cutting it pretty close.

It was possible that Liu Qingge was already on Bai Zhan Peak and making good progress, but that he was just so solitary and focused on searching out the next big battle that Shang Qinghua had just never had the opportunity to meet him. Shang Qinghua did his best to avoid Bai Zhan Peak most of the time, honestly! He was curious about where Liu Qingge was, about what the man looked like, but he didn’t let himself sweat at not seeing the future war god, when he already had so many things to sweat about. The System had taken care of bringing in everyone else, so Shang Qinghua was sure that Liu Qingge would follow sooner or later.

Shang Qinghua’s first sign that something was wrong was that, on the day that Liu Qingge finally announced his existence by beating up everyone on Bai Zhan Peak, everyone was saying things like, “I can’t believe some kid managed to topple all of Bai Zhan like that!”

He… may or may not have ignored this sign.

To be fair to this poor writer-turned-disciple, though, he’d been up all night finishing some paperwork catastrophe the An Ding Peak Lord had thrown at him to fix, as some kind of “test” of his logistics skills. Upon hearing the latest gossip, Shang Qinghua thought, “Oh, finally?” And then his overtired brain collapsed from the effort of thinking two words together in a sentence, and all he could manage from there was to feel the intense need to go to bed at a maximum, static-y volume. No words. No more thinky thoughts. Just the need for speedy sleep.

He stumbled through the rest of his day and then passed out for 18 hours straight. In hindsight, this would have been the time when the gossip was at its hottest. He missed all of it.

When he woke up, everyone was still dealing with the aftermath of what had happened on Bai Zhan Peak, but the conversation had shifted more towards replacing Qian Cao Peak’s depleted supplies and the repairs to Bai Zhan’s training grounds. Liu Qingge was the name on everyone’s lips, still, but everyone knew the basic information now. Now, everyone was just exclaiming over and over again how unbelievably young (and pretty) he was to have bested every other disciple on the sect battle-focused peak. This didn't seem too strange.

The System probably would have based the War God's appearance on his sister, Liu Mingyan, a strong contender for the most beautiful woman in all of Proud Immortal Demon Way. Liu Qingge apparently being a very pretty boy fell neatly into line with all the other character design surprises that Shang Qinghua had gotten smacked with so far.

If Airplane had known that he'd be transmigrating into his novel, maybe there would have been even more handsome men! And everyone would have lived happily ever after and nothing bad would have happened ever, probably, but also there might be more sexy guys too.

-

TBC

[sillysunshinesstuff]

The Absolute Fuckery that was 15x20

Ok there were a lot of reasons why the final was bad. Like so many fucking reasons. Even without the queerbaiting,this is some of the worst writing I’ve ever seen and here’s a few reasons why: 

Destiel

Yes. Big main reason here. They should not have included a confession and have one of the main plots of season 15 be Castiel’s and Dean’s relationship if they didn’t intend to follow through in any way. It shouldn’t have been introduced because the story became disjointed and thematically unsatisfying due to not being addressed in the final in any sort of way. Also, queerbaiting in 2020? Just to get your views up for the last few episodes because they knew Supernatural had become a shit show of bad ratings? Calculated and cruel toward the LGBTQIA+ community who has supported their careers for years. 

Saileen

The absolute least they could have done was see this plot point through but they did not. We do not know if Eileen lives and even if they release information that she did, it’s still bullshit because we don’t get to see any part of her story. She has been reduced to a two dimensional character with no agency or purpose. Another woman just meant to prop up the male lead. Bullshit. 

The Empty

What the fuck was the point of everything about this plot line if it would just be trashed half way through? Why did Cas make that deal with Ruby? Why did she beg to get out? Why did the Empty accuse Jack of making it loud? I really thought they were going somewhere with this one but they chickened out. There was so much potential for this; the angels and demons being awakened, balance being restored in heaven and hell, a big final show down between them and God. There were so many things just dropped when it came to this and that is why season 15 is absolutely frustrating because it feels like we just wasted our time with useless world building that didn’t amount to anything. 

Kevin

I truly did think they’d address this in some sort of way, but the last time we saw Kevin, he was cursed to wander the earth until he became insane because his soul couldn’t ascend to heaven. I was really excited about this because I thought it meant there was going to be some restructuring of the Supernatural universe. The plot would be how the universe Chuck created wasn’t perfect and it had flaws and it was up to Team Free Will to fix some of these gaping holes. They made a point of calling it unfair. It was a wrong that should have been righted in some sort of way in the final. 

Benny

This really isn’t just about Benny, it is about the concept of purgatory. A running theme in the show is that good people don’t deserve what happened to them. We see a lot of “good” monsters throughout the show. Characters who helped, sacrificed, and died for the brothers. At the end, they are sent to monster hell or purgatory. There was an episode this season where Sam and Dean killed a teenage boy who had been turned into a vampire. The teenage boy accepted his death because he knew it was for the best. He was afraid of hurting more people and he accepted that it was unfair. They made sure to emphasize how unjust the rules of this universe were and the emotional toll these universal rules took on the boys. Benny’s demise was spoken about briefly and we see Dean very hurt about his death. But the audience is left with the feeling that this is wrong. That the way the Supernatural universe is structured is wrong. Good people get turned into monsters, die, go to purgatory, and then die the ultimate death there. Is this what’s in store for all the “good monster” characters in the show? Garth? His family? They’re werewolves who fight their monster instincts, do they they still deserve purgatory? Did that teenage boy? A gaping hole that I thought the show was going to address in some way. Maybe offer redemption to those in purgatory or have Jack completely wipe away the concept of monsters in the universe. After all, it was just Chuck’s shitty writing, why couldn’t they wipe it clean and just leave people? “Cure” people of the monster and officially give the boys a way out of hunting? No monsters means no hunting. They’d be truly free. I thought this was direction they were going based off the certain episodes and characters discussed. But nope.

Jack

They reduced Jack’s character to plot food and that’s it. His ending was sloppy because it didn’t take into account any of the growth he’s had over the last three seasons. We predicted his ending from season 12 and that’s bad writing. Just. Awful writing. This character had dreams, motivations, relationships, but that all quite literally dissipated. He was used as a magic button that solved all their problems. 15x19 truly showed the lack of thought put into his character. He should not have been a main character if he didn’t have more influence on the plot than simply being a cop-out for having to write a well thought out solution. He was literally just there to snap his fingers and fix all their problems. 

Dean

Oh yeah, Dean’s ending was a big fuck you to any character growth this character has had over the last 15 seasons. There is a line in his final 15 minute goodbye monologue where he says they always knew it would end this way. Which, exactly. We always thought it would end this way because it’s so goddamn predictable. It’s shitty writing because it doesn’t try to subvert this. It quite literally says that any growth Dean has had meant nothing because it didn’t change his end. Dean Winchester was always meant to die a young, bloody death. Everything he’s done, everything he’s bled and sacrificed for meant nothing. His prediction came true. It makes the audience wonder why they stuck around for this long ass journey if they knew the ending all along. It isn’t about what this character deserves. We have always known that the hero deserves happiness, but the ending should say something about why the story matters. Why did we see Dean struggle all his life about accepting himself? Loving himself? Seeing himself as someone who deserves to live? It was yet another theme and plot point throughout season 15. It’s what Castiel proclaimed to him in his confession and it is what Dean finally acknowledged by telling Chuck that’s not who he was. Dean Winchester is not a cold blooded killer. Dean Winchester deserved to live. It was beautiful character growth. A wonderful end to him. But they said fuck that when his last words were that he always knew it would end this way. That he always knew he wasn’t meant to live a long life. The writers wanted tears and they got them. I was crying, not because it was a beautiful satisfying death or ending, but because they tore apart 15 years of development for my beloved character. Dean Winchester has shown consistently that he wanted more than hunting, he wanted more than the life he got stuck with. But they didn’t follow through. They just decided to make an emotional ending because that was the coolest broest bro masculine thing to do. 

Castiel

Literally everything. Literally fucking everything. Another character that was reduced to plot food. Castiel, the angel who rebelled against heaven and fell for the man he raised from perdition, was not deemed important enough to be in the final. This was the biggest fuck you of all. His story had become so complicated over the last few seasons and his purpose was kinda everywhere but they finally focused it when they had his happiness be Dean. When he said he found his faith when he found a family. When he became a father to someone who would one day save the universe. Castiel lived for the love he learned he was capable of. His ending just made no sense. I guess we’re supposed to assume Jack saved his from the empty but he wasn’t shown. He was not shown greeting Dean, the man he died for over and over again, his happiness. He was not shown being reunited with Jack, his faith. He was not shown enjoying the life he fell from grace for. He was a book with half its pages ripped out. Castiel didn’t get an ending. He got erased. 

Sam

That fucking wig. 

This is just some of my rambling thoughts I wanted to share will all of you. I have been a fan of this show for so many years. I invested so much time and love into something I’m going to look back on with bitter disappointment. Some of shittiest writing I have ever seen. Thanks for reading and add some more reasons. I know a missed a shit ton.