#like yes it has its issues but my lord why so much hate???

[bawbawbridgie]

i lied. put your clothes back on. let’s talk about why cursed child is so overly hated and criticised but is actually one of the most beautiful, raw and complex pieces of work in the harry potter franchise.

[pepperpixel]

SAID HE LIKES CRAZY GIRLS,

BUT HE HATES WHEN I ACT CRAZY,

IT TAKES TWO TO TOXIC!

FINALLY!!! Finished these pics of jinx I’ve been working on!!!!! HOLY SHIT, these took so long…. But finally… they’re done… pls enjoy this art of my beautiful princess w a disorder. Featuring alternate colors for the big pic and also a closeup! Cuz I rlly like how both the lines and coloring on her face turned out… like the pink gradients w her eye… her deer in headlights expression,, like uve just startled a raccoon digging thru ur trashcan and r two seconds away from getting mauled.. m proud of it!

[lightofraye]

Oh my lord

So... a mutual brought this to my attention and I'm facepalming hard. I'll give you a second to figure out what it is/was that made me facepalm.

Did you catch onto what it was? I'll give you a hint. Despite Baby Anna--yes, I call her Baby Anna because despite being in her early 20s, she behaves like an immature 12 year old--claiming up and down that she isn't active, somehow, on Tumblr, she's responded to 0days twice now.

This was undoubtedly her third time. Because about four, five days ago, they posted this.

0days objects, it seems, to AAs deliberately hating on Jared, setting Jensen in competition to Jared, and so much else. (I have to say I'm of the same mindset--they're good friends; why the hell do they hate on Jared? Ugh.)

Anyway... it seems Anna came back lurking and saw that call out. So while she didn't specify 0days, it's undoubtedly in response to that.

Now normally I don't pay attention to her. Baby Anna annoys me; all she does is live chronically online, tweet thirst tweets about Jensen and some F1 racer named Lando--and the rare occasion of some political nonsense. (She even posts when she's going to take a nap before work and so forth, come on!)

So what was it that annoyed me so much I had to do this?

Read what she wrote: "so yes I might crop people out of pictures with jensen especially if im not a fan of that".

That.

She referred to Jared as that. In one fell swoop, Baby Anna dehumanized Jared, reduced him to an object.

Yet, according to my mutual, Baby Anna objected when someone referred to Danneel as "it", once upon a time.

Obviously, the haydenjames126 was joking. Danneel's activity had been dropping considerably over the past year (this being her Christmas post from 2023). To see activity sparked the quip. If I had become severely inactive for a time and suddenly came back with a number of posts, I wouldn't be surprised if someone jokingly said "OMG it lives". I'd laugh, in fact.

But that Baby Anna objects to Danneel being called "it" but has zero issue calling Jared that....?

Hypocrisy at its worst.

Do better, Baby Anna. Maybe there's a reason why 0days targeted you repeatedly. Maybe grow as a person and realize that no matter how much you may dislike someone (over nonsensical crap not at all based on fact), you should never dehumanize them.

I may dislike Misha and Danneel to hell and highwater, but I draw lines to how I speak about them. First and foremost? I treat them as human beings who could do a hell of a lot better.

[dontbelasagnax]

First, I love your art and your fics so much! Second, you seem like someone who has very good Codywan headcanons, and I’d love to hear some of them if you have any you’d like to share 🙂 (No pressure at all though!)

Tysm anon!!! I don't know what kind of headcanons you're looking for but I have soooo many always haha! They live in the nebulous realm of headcanons in which they are applied to every iteration of codywan unless they are not--for no reason other than vibes. All sfw but I always have thots (very intentional spelling) if anyone would like to hear about the nsfw things.

- Cody has spreadsheets for everything. It calms and organizes his mind. Helps him visualize and put the chaos to rights. When Obi-Wan notices Cody getting antsy and agitated, he gently asks him if he's made a spreadsheet recently. If that doesn't solve things, he'll offer to look over the charts together. If that doesn't solve the issue, he'll pull Cody into his lap, tenderly kiss any available real estate that needs kissing, and twirl fingers through his head of curls and massage away the tension. For all that Cody hates when his hair gets messed up, he does love being pet like a cat.

(the rest is going under the cut because I'm rather verbose)

- SPEAKING OF CATS! Cody is a cat person. This is nothing new, I just wholeheartedly know it to be true. It's only because he wants a cat so badly that he acts like he doesn't care for them. Obi-Wan sees through the facade. He saw how Cody looked at the stray tooka they rescued from the rubble one somber evening. How he cradled the lump of fluff and ran his thumb back between ears as if the lightest of touches would hurt the poor dear. How palpable was the anguish in his eyes after handing off the tooka to the surviving locals of the city. Even after he said, "Glad that's over with. Would hate to get cat hair on my blacks." Obi-Wan knows. So the next time he's on Coruscant, he buys a little orange plush tooka. It's tiny, only just bigger than his hand, but perfect. He ties a piece of flimsi reading '- OWK' to its neck with a ribbon and tucks it under the covers of Cody's bed so its head and front paws peek out. Perhaps he's a coward, perhaps he's just being gracious in letting Cody have some privacy in receiving his gift. What he does know is the next time he feels Cody staring long at the side of his face, he looks back and Cody blushes and smiles ever so slightly- shy. Oh, Obi-Wan loves him.

- Obi-Wan doesn't hate caf. It's simply not his favorite. When he does drink it, he likes it black. There could be many reasons for this but Cody thinks it's a superiority complex thing. Cody likes his caf with cream and two packets of sweetener. Sure, he'll drink any caf shoved his way, but what he truly enjoys? Yeah, it's not the shit coming straight from the dark depths of a Sith Lord's ass crack.

- Cody likes when Obi-Wan drives. Could be a ship, speeder--any mode of transport, really. It's not a secret that Obi-Wan does not like driving. With how calm and steady he remains at the wheel, there is tension in his jaw, bitten into his cheek, and clenched white into his knuckles. It stresses him out. But he is good at it. And he makes Cody feel safe. Cody doesn't get to feel safe a whole lot in the midst of war.

- Cody will never tell a living soul this (except maybe when he gets so sloshed he can't remember his name or all the reasons why he really should not lay out his honest bleeding truths) but his favorite color is not 212th gold. Yes, 212th gold is Cody's color. It's his. But blue is what he finds most aesthetically beautiful. It's the color of a certain Jedi's eyes in the sunlight and the unnatural glow of that same Jedi's lightsaber. It's the color of that Jedi's eyes in a dim room when he looks looks soft and tired, a blue that's more grey than anything resembling an actual blue. It's not one color and yet it is because he loves that color just like he loves that Jedi. He doesn't love the color just when it's pretty in one vibrant idealistic shade. He falls in love again and again when he sees it in new lights. Just like Obi-Wan.

- not to cozywan truth on main or anything but There's not a place Cody and Obi-Wan sleep better than in each other's arms. Or maybe not arms, per se, but sprawled across one another in some fashion. Touching. More often than not, in the tiny cots onboard The Negotiator, Cody ends up plastered to Obi-Wan's back, arm possessively wrapped round his front to keep him from falling off the edge. With the luxury of a bed actually made to fit two grown men, things aren't much better. Cody wakes to find he's being suffocated by Obi-Wan who, in his sleep, discovered the joys of lying directly on top of Cody. Cody's not innocent. He can count multiple occasions where he's buried his face in Obi-Wan's belly and woken up to being gently shoved away from his heated pillow because, oops, his resting place was a full bladder. Neither of them complain too much, not when it's so easy to be lulled into the warm, liquidy loose and easy clutches of cozy sleep in close quarters to the person they love. Something deep in the brain unlocks and says, 'everything's alright now, relax, let it all go--safe, safe, safe,' when Obi-Wan's cold nose finds the column of Cody's throat who's hand comes up to indulgently cards through silky hair. There's a resonating hum of rightness in their chests that says, 'home'.

[pynkhues]

Re: rockstar girlfriend Louis. The trend of feminizing Louis is just irking in general. Especially as it's more often than not a way to make him helpless than be critical about it.

He didn't like being compared to a tradwife or a woman back then and he definitely doesn't like it now. I just think it's a little in bad taste that this is so rampant.

Yeah, I mean, the bits I've seen of it have been pretty fascinating to me, but I have heavily curated my fandom experience, so I'm very aware I'm probably seeing broader conversations pretty minimally. It seems to spread across different aspects of the fandom too, from the ratio of mpreg fic on ao3 to meta about him as embodying the gothic heroine trope, which like - - I'm not going to get all into this, but as someone who studied gothic literature at university for years, I just don't agree with it at all - like, in terms of character archetypes within gothic literature, Louis is a Byronic hero through and through:

Historian and critic Lord Macaulay described the [Byronic Hero] as "a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection"

The show is interested in gender, and I can't wait to see what they do with Gabrielle in terms of that thread given Gabrielle is very much gender non-confirming and can be read arguably as trans-masc, but right now, I don't think any of the characters we've seen are anything other than cis (including Lestat) and I think to reject that is to ignore the complexity of their relationships with their own gender. Which is important! There's a reason Claudia is the one who's been robbed of choice, controlled and coerced by both her fathers, not just Lestat, the one who doesn't get to be heard at the trial, or in her life, the one who's infantilised, stuck in dresses she's too old for, the one who's killed. That's important, y'know?

I do think a lot of Louis' issues around his gender are tied pretty specifically to his sexuality, and I don't think he relates to or understands women at all. Like you could make a pretty concise argument that Louis has a virgin/mother/whore complex when it comes to women, which you see in Claudia and Grace/Florence/Antoinette + in his role as a pimp. And I think people take that dual insult of Claudia calling him a housewife and Grace calling Lestat Louis' 'white daddy' as literal, when like - - in both instances they are deliberately insulting / emasculating him either for the sake of it or to goad him into action? They're tender spots for him not because he relates, but because he knows that's how its perceived and he hates that he/it is perceived that way. He's always been an ambitious businessman, so the housewife insult stings on its own, but the white daddy thing taps into what even Daniel Hart was saying about the fact that there is a transactional element to Louis and Lestat's relationship, which is why I find it super interesting that heading into s3, Louis is not only successful, but completely financially independent.

But yes, I think feminising Louis in general just completely shoots over the nuance of his character and honestly, a lot of what makes him so interesting.

[batbabydamian]

question- do you mind doing fic recs? And if so, do you have any good fics centered around Dick and Damian's relationship? In particular anything that plays with their whole "I'm your brother but also your father/son but not but yes" thing they've got going on? If you see this thank you, you're doing the lord's work <3

anon if you’re still out there, thank you for your patience and hope you enjoy these! there’s MANY Dick&Damian fics i love so i tried to limit it to the “im your brother AND kinda your dad but not really” dynamic!!

3:16 by partingxshot

The knife pushes thin along Dick’s carotid artery, cupping the indent between neck and jawline—forcing him to angle his chin. The metal is warm, pulled with execution speed from under Damian’s pillow. “Okay,” Dick says quietly, tracking the intricacies of his own heartbeat—counting the space between breaths. “Guess I did need a shave.” (With faltering steps, Dick and Damian become Batman and Robin.)

i think every Dick & Damian enthusiast has read this lol it may be ongoing but its latest chapter is left on a very satisfying end for an arc!! 

an endless road to rediscover by littlearrows

In the months before Mar'i is born, Dick and Damian take a cross-country road trip together.

if you enjoyed the Dick and Damian tension from Nightwing (2016) #16-20 you might like this! :’) encouraging everyone to read those issues tbh

to be human by newsical

None of his Gotham acquaintances look upon his old life favorably — this, Damian knows. Was his life not noble before? Damian feels like a waterboarded gnat, swirling towards a drain. Gently, as though he has not ripped out Damian’s stomach with his teeth, Alfred says, “Attempting to take his father’s place won’t work, Master Richard…” Their voices peter out, and the last thing Damian can hear is Richard huff and say something that sounds like, “No shit,” and he is alone. Somewhere, a clock ticks. Damian pictures it melting. (Dick and Damian over the years.)

lovely dive into Damian’s personal growth and his relationship with Dick!! reading the poem that inspired the fic, especially again after finishing the fic is a nice touch!

Do You Feel the Way My Past Aches? by fishfingersandjellybabies

Bruce finds a wayward Damian asleep on his couch. Dick then find them both. An unexpected conversation ensues.

a tender Bruce perspective on the dynamic! “Bruce thought back to watching them work, Dick the master of the spotlight and Damian his perfect shadow.” THEM

When You're The One Who's Loved by fishfingersandjellybabies

Damian doesn’t understand why Dick is so upset. Tim does, though.

SO SOFTT ykw just go thru all of this writer's Dick & Damian fics they just exude love and warmth!!

Tea for Two by StormLeviosa

Their apartment is full of smiles now. It is because of Pennyworth, he is sure. Damian did not realise how much he'd missed Pennyworth until he came back. He slotted into their little family like the puzzle piece you do not know is missing. It was pleasant, having a grandfather he did not need to fear, and Pennyworth was all that and more.

part of a series, but easily read as a standalone. they’ve given up the vigilante life and DOMESTIC DICK & DAMIAN + ALFRED!! WHOLESOME!! i also enjoy the other Damian installments of the series, fun explorations of his interests/skills like violin!! and animals (going to vet school!!)

Pop-tarts and orange juice by Ididloveyou_once

‘Do you ever wish that Father had actually died?’ ‘Never.’ And despite the vehemence with which Richard says the word, Damian thinks that he might be lying. But only because he hates himself for the truth. Or: Bruce has been back from the dead for three months. Damian doesn’t know how to feel. He does know that he misses his da- Richard. They talk about it… Sort of.

"He wants to tell him that nothing compares to being Robin at his side. To being Damian at his side." WAILING

The Weight of Legacy by DawnsEternalLight

Damian didn’t think. He didn’t have to, protecting Richard was instinct by now. Darting forward right into the arc of Crane’s scythe as it aimed for his partner’s neck was as familiar to him as breathing, etched into his DNA. For if he lost Richard again, how could he continue to exist?  The man was not only his firmest tie to Batman’s mantle, now that Father was home and clashing with Damian, but at some point during their partnership he had inexorably woven himself into Damian’s very being. Through training, and lessons, and quiet nights filled with ice cream. Patience and love–a thing Damian had not hoped to find here when he’d first set foot on American soil.  To lose Richard would be akin to losing a limb. And so Damian acted as if that were true. He wove protection of his mentor, Batman, sibling, into every action he took and refused to accept failure as an option.

"We Both Know You're The Last of the Graysons" as a fic prompt is wild...that panel never fails to make me cry... also, another writer with an abundance of fantastic Dick & Damian fics!!

Emergency Contact by DawnsEternalLight

Damian: Apologies for the intrusion into your day, Richard. I need you to pick me up from the gallery trip early, it seems I have been stabbed. Dick blinked down at the message then read it again. And again. His brain not quite processing the words staring up at him, backlit by the phone.

this ventures bit more into parent Dick Grayson, as in Damian explicitly calling Dick his dad at the end but it's a fun fic!! that preview always cracks me up LOL

The Stowaway by LittleLadybugs

There's a cat in the penthouse. Fortunately, Alfred has yet to find out. Now to keep it that way. OR Dick tries his best to parent Damian. Damian tries his best, period. They’re both a bit clumsy, but they’ve got the spirit. There might be a cat Meow ᓚᘏᗢ 💙💚

smiling and laughing through this whole fic THEY ARE SO SILLY I LOVE THEM

as love carries its strength, but not its labels by AlterHarpia

Bruce is on a trip beyond Earth’s Solar System for longer than he intended, making Dick and Damian fall into an old pattern. “I'm not Batman.” A mere reminder, perhaps, but when said to Damian it always sounds like an apology.

basically them putting into words their own funky lil dynamic!!

Let The Right One In by whaleofatime

Hot on the trail of Deadshot threatening mayhem in Japan, Dick and Damian find themselves going undercover as a father-son duo on House Hunters International. Deadshot won't be the only source of chaos in Tokyo this summer, and Dick's only a little apologetic.

okok kinda cheating here since they’re just undercover as dad and son lol BUT it’s such a fun read of the duo on a Japan trip (mission)!

the primacy of personal conscience by birdsofthesoul

"WHAT MAKES IAGO EVIL? some people ask. I never ask." — Joan Didion, Play It as It Lays Or: Dick, his family, and the moral morass of a wishing well.

cheating again bc plot not focused on Dick and Damian’s relationship, but it’s there! really enjoyed the characterizations and dynamics here!!

soft clocks by dustorange

Side effects of being revived by Lex Luthor may include amnesia, going undercover into a high-level espionage agency, not recognizing your family, fighting your family, and dealing with the emotional weight and guilt associated with encountering said family. Ask your doctor if being revived by Lex Luthor is right for you. (a.k.a. Dick has amnesia during his time at Spyral. The family grapples with finding out he's alive. Dick grapples with finding out he has a family. Inspired by this post by bigskydreaming.)

lol sorry another not focused on their relationship but!! came and stayed for the plot, then the Dick & Damian moments KNOCKED ME OUTT!!

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

Why I Dislike Amon and Kuvira

Note: While I don’t think The Legend of Korra (TLOK) is as good as Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA), I still think it is a pretty good show, and that 99.9% of its problems can be traced to Nick not giving Bryke a full four seasons with a proper budget from the outset. However, I don’t think any piece of fiction is perfect, hence why I criticize TLOK like I do ATLA.

Amon and Kuvira are two characters who are important to TLOK’s narrative not only on an individual, character level, but also because they represent previously unaddressed social issues in ATLA’s world as well.

This is because in Amon’s case, the Equalist movement he heads deals with an important issue that the original ATLA glosses over at best: the issue of benders being innately superior to non-benders.

Or more specifically, the fact that, unless you are a highly trained and/or highly gifted non-bender like Piandao, Mai, Ty Lee, Suki, or Sokka, your bog standard bender who has the slightest amount of training has a nigh-insurmountable power advantage, and thus has every incentive to lord their unearned power over non-benders.

Meanwhile, Kuvira deals with an issue that up until her becoming the main villain of Season 4 was barely addressed in TLOK’s intro and glossed over in the ATLA comics: how would Earth Kingdomers feel about the United Republic being formed from the Fire Nation’s oldest Earth Kingdom colonies.

Or more specifically, how, after getting pressured by Fire National colonialists and those close to them, King Kuei and Avatar Aang worked with Fire Lord Zuko to give the oldest colonists the option of self-determination, which they exercised to form the United Republic.

This, even though the oldest colonies were dominated politically and economically by the Fire Nationalist colonists and their close allies, with the marginalized Earth Kingdomer masses having little to no say in regards to the above mentioned process.

(If you disagree with my characterization of how Earth Kingdomers would view the resolution of the Yu Dao crisis, please check out The Problem with Yu Dao and A Potential Solution where I go into much more detail about this topic.)

However, it is precisely because Amon and Kuvira represent previously unaddressed social issues in ATLA’s world that I dislike them.

For in Amon’s case, before his identity was revealed, I was interested to see how the Krew would defeat him, let alone defeat the Equalist Movement since it wasn’t a problem that could be punched.

However, after his identity was revealed, I quickly soured on his character since, with him being a psychic, 24/7 bloodbender, it became apparent that the only way to beat him would be having an Avatar State Korra fight him or through a deus ex machina, with the latter being the way how he was defeated.

And I started disliking him once it became clear that the Equalist movement died off just because he was exposed as a fraud and Republic City’s all-bender council got replaced by a democratically elected unitary executive, one who so far has been non-benders due to non-benders numerical dominance.

This is because the underlying issue of benders having an innate advantage over non-benders never really got resolved, and so I hate how Amon’s character was used to avoid a real discussion or give any real solutions to said problem.

Especially since in real life, even if a movement’s leader is exposed as a fraud, the movement, or at least some variation of it, will continue to persist since movements, or more specifically, underlying issues in society, create leaders, not the other way around.

Meanwhile, I dislike Kuvira because, despite growing up in a world where the horrors of the Hundred Year War and the failures of the Hundred Year War era Fire Nation were surely taught to children like her, she decided to repeat them with her concentration camps and illegal and immoral war of conquest.

(Yes, I know canonically Kuvira did not know about the concentration camps, but even if that is the case, I still hold her responsible for them.) 

(This is because commanders/generals in the real world are responsible for the actions of their subordinates when it comes to war crimes, and more generally, leaders are generally responsible for the actions of their subordinates when their subordinates are acting within the scope of their relationship. Thus, I hold her to that standard, even if the war crimes tribunal of the United Republic doesn’t.)

(Also, her attempt to retake the United Republic was an illegal and immoral war of conquest since the United Republic had been a sovereign state for over 70 years, with its sovereignty recognized by all the other nations in the world, including the Earth Empire’s predecessor, the Earth Kingdom. Moreover, even if it hasn’t been said explicitly yet in canon material, I am pretty sure in the 70-odd years between the end of ATLA and the start of TLOK the five nations signed treaties making wars of conquest illegal.)

This, even though her adopted grandma fought in the War and was friends with Fire Nationals who grew up in the Hundred Year War era Fire Nation, and more likely than not told her about her and her Fire National friends experiences.

And why does she do all that? Not because she actually believes that the way the United Republic was formed was immoral and an act of injustice against the Earth Kingdom, but because of unresolved abandonment issues.

And when she “redeems” herself, she does the bare minimum before finally admitting her fault and getting house arrest in Zafou, the closest thing to paradise on Earth.

I thought Kuvira could have been used to tell a story about the evils of revanchism, and how an inability to let go of past territorial injustices and focus on the present leads people to becoming the very monsters they claim to be fighting against.

That and what steps an authoritarian conqueror would have to take to credibly redeem themselves not only in the world’s eyes, but also in the eyes of their people, who they betrayed and misled with their lies about peace and prosperity through violence and subjugation.

Instead, we instead essentially get a sane, adult Azula who doesn’t have the excuse of indoctrination and got a really undeserved and unearned redemption that fanfics often give to a heavily woobified Azula.

This, all while never directly addressing the Earth Kingdom’s lingering resentment towards the United Republic, nor ever giving a concrete resolution to said resentment.

So to conclude, I dislike Amon and Kuvira’s characters because the resolution of their arcs were not only unsatisfying on a personal level, but also ruined the potential to meaningfully address key issues present in TLOK’s world, thus weakening TLOK as a whole.

[daystarvoyage]

Hi! I read somewhere about someone not liking Luz's ending since she "didn't grow as a person" at the end of the owl house. They said that she only became more depressed or traumatized but she's still the same cheerful and helpful girl like in the first episode of season 1. Do you agree?

Hello Hope you have a great day from the brown sugar queen, I know it’s late by the time you get this so ima clear a lot,

time for the tea.

Now i have all the love and heart for my girl Luz Noceda but lemme me tell you her personality made me look at how she was handled gave me a SIDE-EYE besides that,

Yes, i agree on this, definitely,

I felt That the crew wanted to do so much with the show but felt they had no idea writing Luz, however they too had there drawbacks, Yes I LOVE LUZS CHARACTER AND SHE IS SELFLESS A GOOD FRIEND (even if it’s the wrong person) Loyal, and cheerful. How we get moments that

Luz's character can be bastardized!

i feel fans try to view her as this bubbly girl boss, we know and love, however we overlook her flaws cause of discourse. she’s this impressionable, unruly, explosive girl with self imaging issues & unresolved grief, that effected her lifestyle.

I truly do depict her as a girl failure which ill get to a list of reasons, I’ll be getting into

EDITED its Masculization

heres a term masculinization comes to her character writing, style-wise, cause this word has been used throughout the animation to the point it’s a trope.

Now let’s get down to reasons why, she gets to the way she is.

Luz wants to do so much for others, that she hasn't practiced learning about self-love and acceptance, it all backtracks in her past of her deceased father & trying to relate to earth kids with opposite interests that can be harmful.

I felt they truly had fun time to an extent how they can push her in a negative direction, (this goes for hunter which I’ll do a post/video soon.)

how they wanted her to be more of an edge lord along the series run, (and the proper writing of the show didn’t help.)

Heck to the point in season 3, she never interacted with anyone on earth in her school, which is concerning, cause that can lead to self-harm or failed relationships, also known people as kikimora or talking to her other friends in season 3 coulda gave her a wake up call.

ALSO CAN WE BRING UP LYING TO HER LOVE ONES OUT OF NO WHERE! Season 1

DRAGGING THEM THROUGH MORTAL PERIL IN SEASON 2!

AND NO NEURODIVERAGENCE DOESNT EXCUSE BAD BEHAVIOR OR BLACK FEATURES BEING MINIMIZED.

2.They should've let a POC (person of color) write Luz cause of how she turned out Personality-wise throughout the series, which I rewatched, along critic videos and yes even in season 3 they decided to make her some shonen wannabe edge lord,(A wannabe Pokemon Goh But more emo.)

Luz's is flawed, as a character & written wise, felt the show didn’t know how to write for POC, cause fans who are another ethnicity might view this, and say oh, where portrayed as this etc, but without our black features or even how where portrayed in society in social norms.

Yes I did a post on her fashion & wardrobe and how it affects a character, boy they got my girl looking a hobo at times. ( and the good so called hair symbolism could’ve made Luz even better.)

ALSO (I may be ranting but hope ya listen)

Hated how they tried to Mary Sue her at certain episodes when she's faced with problems or issues that can affect everyone in dire times, for example,

her willingness to learn magic, which she can be impressionable and wanting Praise for the wrong reasons, but To be loved I Understand.

She is a person wanting acceptance and tolerance ( which that whole wanting to be understood season 3 dialogue could've been for season 1), just to be liked by a new world, would have fleshed out her character more, and given the viewers and her friends reasoning why she does staggering things.

also when she wanted to get to learn magic from her sensei, Knowing Eda knew how unpredictable & reckless at times luz can be, but Eda has her issues. throughout 4 episodes I think its been dragged out she has done stupid things to put others in harm's way even OWLBERT.

3.she can act nonchalant & ambivalent in dire situations, (to the point her friends should've Gotten angry with her actions, GUS AND WILLOW PERIOD) But don't worry all that's being glazed with the Mary Sue trope, discourse, & her being submissive to amity,

which she can take many stabbings and hits for a cause you know all is well with a Good ship. INSERT SARCASM

tragically i do feel she ended up a girl failure, But they Try hard at girl bossing her up, cause she was put in situations where she didn't have dire punishments and consequences. plus excepting a power she had no choice accepting at the season finale,

Comment below for more, about how Luz should be improved or the fact the series could've written her better.

Hopes this answers all your questions, have a great starlight day. glad we can unlock the topic with a key, & sip some tea.

A VIDEO I DID DOWN BELOW FOR MORE ON LUZ.

[moldingtundra]

thought I’d talk about my interpretation of unpleasant because yes (also I might make an ask blog about it)

Ok so lord timeee!! Content warning for some really sensitive topics (genocide, murder, prostitution, implied abuse, etc.) so watch out.

so unpleasant gradient (aka gradie) was born because his mother was a prostitute (so was his dad but much less so) and his fathers parents found out so they made him marry her, obviously that does shit and eventually when he turned 7 his father left and he was left along and u can kindddaaa imagine what happeneds when ur left with this type of mom whis also an alcoholic and smoker…yeahhh, so he gets two sibs (one if them is older the other is younger, same mom) pleasant gradient (older, named penny) and monotomous graident (younger, named mono) who took care of him when his mother escaped without him at 11 years old including a third sibling who used to take care of him when he was a toddler but ran away from home due to his mom (they were mutated gradient). (gradie has a shit ton, you can imagine why lmao) but he only sees it once and never again, so the three brothers have to survive the famine and genocide going around (it started before gradie was even born) but obviously u can imagine what happens in this typa scenerio (gradie had to almost say bye bye to half of his body bc of a bomb at 12 and watch penny die and mono run away then escape at 15 (the scars dwindled over time dw but it’s still there )) and then there is an opurtunity to escape the country with a bus, but theres only one bus ticket, so a random woman gives it to gradie and sends him off bc she knows he has the most potential and promises to find him (its been 45 years he still hasnt seen them) here’s art of what he looked like back then:

so after he escaped he rebuild his life in the land equivalent of AMERICUH and he attends this high school and he falls in love with builderman but decides not to confess and they both decide to graduate together and try getting it big, builderman did it by building the robloxia community and gradie byt writing his experiences with genocide and hiking high feets no one reached, like he won some guinness world record and some new york times bestseller thing- my guy was packed!!!…..until he got hit by a truck and couldnt do anything anymore (sad 💔) ON TOP OF THAT builderman married jane doe and had thier kid (infected) and graide would by to babysit infected since he was a wee little baby.

so kasper got infected at his 12th birthday. But the infected turns him into a vicious furry or whatever (werewolf if you want) and the first time that happened, he fucking ate his parents and gradie literally just came by to give them lasagna and infecteds present, so now his parents are dead, and graide decides to adopt infected (who hates it lol) and they just raise infected while tryna deal with his furry issue (his furry issue caused him to eat his own cat and some residents) and graide is just like tryna fucking hold himself together bc if the kid u had to babysit thats from ur one sided gay lover who married a fugly woman decides to kill yo one sided gay lover and u had to adopt him I wouldve eaten my organs)

and that’s basically it! Expect an ask blog for him soon this week or before I die lol

toodaloo!

[nautilusgays]

Live reactions to Episode 2 of AMC's Nautilus

SPOILERS SPOILER SPOILERS SPOILERS

Oh the N rising out of the water is beautiful

Humility's massive skirt is pissing me off I'm having a viceral reaction to it - Oh yes it's getting ripped up - I think the fabric just looks like I would hate the texture

Ayyy it's going up

'Captain Crazy' lmao Ned Land would approve of that title.

Oh god that like cockney/sailor accent hurts

ANOTHER TWINK!? Oh god he's a brat 'algey boy' oh god no

Lmao they are literally giving Humility Aronnax-esq dialogue - except she's apparently lying?

'ah Mon dieu' just incase we forgot Benoir was French

'you are not going back to the underwater boat. Get back to the underwater boat' marvel called it wants it's dialogue back

Look I love a competent woman but ahhh her writinggggg

YES DOGGOOOOOOOOO

Nemo speach time - oh a threat instead of motivational - he's looking good in his rolled up sleeves and waistcoat tho.

Oh dreadnaught is back - more like Twinknahght there is three of them now!

Listen to the fucking captain you shareholder dickhead he actually knows how ships work (he's giving "and a (business) partnership was the only ship that he ever had seen" - a Gilbert and Sullivan lyric)

Oh! He knew Nemo??!

Oh god that comparison Humility babe - HUMILITY NO

'that will be none of your business' I love the way she did that slay

'its hope that brings people together'

Lmaoooo Lord Pitt is Humility's fiance??? Oh twink on twink violence.

Youngblood has some positive view of Nemo yas

Mate Pitt is weird af

HUMILITY! Her foot in mouth disease is real I kind of love it

Benoit sweetie! I love him. Also hope him and Humility have a cute father daughter-esq relationship.

I love submarines so much!

Oh this is adorable!

Him and Nemo are brainy besties I love it. "He has his reasons for being the way he is." Mate just give him some 2010s emo music and he'll be fine.

I love them messing with the kid so much omg it's so cute.

'hey concentrate' mate you put me in front of that window I will focus on nothing but the moving water and fish.

Aw Benoir is such a bleeding heart!

Nemo angst projected onto whales

Pfff dramatic waistcoat removal I love him.

Wait are those sperm whales??? (I don't think so but I can't tell lol - my bro is the marine biologist not me)

Wet cat Nemo fr fr - need a fic where Pierre sees him in a wet white shirt.

Damn Nemo savage!

"That was theft" why is that so funny to me

NOOO Humility baby imma hug you her sad puppy eyes

"they're made from whale bits" "the fish that made these are dead already" savage queen Imao

How tf did a mouse get on-board??

Horizon scanning is the favourite past time on the Nautilus.

"big boat with big big guns" that's how we should describe the dreadnaught from now on

Ugh competency is sexy - also I now realise why that the open waist coat and shirt combo is so sexy it's cause Nemo got that lesbian fit

UGH 'we better use our wits then' CUTE PATERNAL REASSURACE IS ALSO SEXY HES A GOOD DAD

Archie NO

Crawley mate don't fight the shareholder

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Oh stowaway?

"then the next stage of our journey maybe a spiritual one" NEMO NOT HELPFUL SWEETIE

Benoit and Humility make me happy (it's probably the daddy issues)

"how deep were they tested?" "50 fathoms" YOUNGBLOODS EXPREASION OMG - I love the plots of shareholders not understanding how science and engineering work and the people that do having to deal with it - I hate it in real life tho: looking at you RBMK Reactors and The Challenger! - I hope Crowley gets his commupence for not listening to experts and the actual competent people get to save the day (to make up for it not happening in real life)

This is so stressful

I like having the viewing port on top of the saloon window

Oh no a Brit

[diabolicalcunt]

I feel the need to pin this cause I’ve always been notorious for people loving me when they first meet me, and then finding out that my political views are not extremely liberal. So here’s all the reasons you will hate me once you get to know me. Or not. I honestly don’t care I’m just sick of the ‘You aren’t who I made you out be in my head!’ conversations.

So my unpopular opinions in no order-

1. They/them is something that’s being encouraged by big brother to see yourself as non or less human.

2. DID isn’t real and you just disassociate a specific way. I look like I’ve been drugged cause I fall down ‘inside’ myself like a well and have no reaction time and can barely speak. I’m like a sloth. You pretend to be a anime character. It’s just coping.

3. The concept of trans genocide is fear mongering by big brother and means to keep boundaries between social groups.

4. To build off 3, the push to medically transition underage children is a move by big pharmaceutical companies to create a permanent customer. Because whether you decide to stay transitioned or de transition, you’re going to be on medication for the rest of your life whether you like it or not. There’s also the whole issue with child exploitation. You’ll be judgmental against Dance Moms, but you won’t say anything about a mom who transitioned her child when they were two years old and made them a social media star.

5. Trans men and women who have been charged with a crime belong in LGBT prison wings. Because we have created a culture where male rapists can put on its dress and be rewarded with a permanent stay in the hen house where they can victimize more women and the system will just cry transphobia and call the victims liars. You got a problem with that? I have never seen a trans man pushing to get put in men’s prison. I wonder why… 😐

6. Blair White is queen.

7. I will fight Henry Cavill on sight. I don’t give a shit how bad you want motorboat him. He’s a fucking pedophile.

8. Same goes for David Bowie. When I get to the afterlife I’m gonna make him wish he could die again. Ask me if you want my full on sight list. 😂

9. I stand with Palestine. Yes I think Islam is a horrible religion that is anti woman. I still don’t think kids should die for the grievances of adults and I think it’s fucked up Israel is doing the same shit Nazis did to them and expect us to nod and smile!

10. Qu**r is just as much of a slur as f*g*t or n*gg*r. I don’t use it and if you do I will block you no questions asked. Say gay! Say lesbian! Say…bisexual! 😱

11. Butch women are valid as fuck and I adore y’all . They aren’t trans men, fuck your lesbian phobia.

12. To build off 11, the new LGBT movement has been infected by woke homophobia and the new trans movement is nothing but conversion therapy in a mask.

13 . Radical feminists are women’s last hope.

14. Marvel movies always sucked, we were just kids and ate up the pretty colors.

15. Dune is a white male savior story.

16. Your fave is not autistic, trans, gay or whatever. You just need validation cause you have no confidence.

17. The Boys should have never cast Jensen Ackles and the Supernatural fandom needs psychological help.

18. Too many of y’all try to primp and posture as the gods of your fandom and yes I say that as someone who did the same and stepped away when I realized how cringe I was. Lording over autistic adults and actual children is pathetic. Get therapy and a real hobby.

19. While gender neutral fanfiction has its place. The trend that all fanfiction needs to be gender neutral is literally killing the creativity and frankly the spice to fanfiction. I hate this trend where piece of media needs to be sterilized so it can be consumed by anyone, even people just passing by. It goes against the concept of creating at its core. Sometimes things are made for specific groups. Sometimes it’s made just for you. The things you create do not need to be sanitized to the point there’s no substance, just a hollow consumption. Think of it this way. Would you rather have a hot pizza of your preference or would you prefer to just drink a bowl of water because someone on the other side of the world might not like pizza?

20. The WWE Divas belt was iconic. I get the whole take women wrestlers seriously movement and I agree! But god damn it, it’s a Bratz belt!!! Gimme!!!!!

21. I fucking HATE koalas. They literally only exist because humans have dumped millions of dollars and keeping them alive. If natural selection were allowed to take his course, they would’ve died off 100 years ago. The food they consume has so little nutrition that they have evolved to have the smallest brain to cranium capacity of any animal to create a built in helmet!! Why? Cause they are so stupid they literally fall out of trees and drop their infants!!! They shit on their young and have permanent diarrhea due to the 0 nutrition thing. They carry chlamydia. They’re so fucking stupid they can’t fuck and have to be artificially inseminated to continue the population. If I couldn’t get laid on my own, the government would not drop millions of dollars into making sure I do!! So why did koalas get it? Literally a waste of resources that could be going to feed thousands of hungry children and instead we’re keeping a fucking retarded (I’m on the spectrum fuck you) animal alive who should have gone extinct hundreds of years ago cause it’s supposedly ‘cute’!! God! I hate koalas!

[thenixkat]

will stew over fic ideas (specifically the Ted comes back wrong au) now that I know what happened after Ted's death i know that the comics after Infinite Crisis skipped ahead one year instead of dealing with the direct aftermath of shit

but i also know that there's will shit and, like, as much as I hate the nice guy-ification of Ted and Barbra's friendship that was fucking contrived for Ted to be alone, her freezing him out played a hand in his death so she shouldn't have his money in my book. Especially when she left Booster Gold in a lurch when he needed help too and supposedly Booster is Ted's best friend

i can come up with up with a decent reason for Ted and Barbra's friendship to go icy at least from Barbra's side that isnt nice guy-ification like she did pressure him to go back into the field after he retired (clearly with the mindset of if you've got the power its yer responsibility). (there's so much wrong with Ted dropping off the face of the Earth more or less between his diagnosis and Countdown but like that's what happened)

Like I could see an aftermath of Ted getting diagnosed with his heart condition and going 'That is a sign if there ever was one' and perhaps not looking into ways to get it potentially fixed or mitigated so he can do more hero wise and wanting to go back to basically retired tech support and Barbra being miffed about it. Cause unlike her paralysis that she's refusing to get fixed unless the tech to do so is widely available to the public (I think i'm remembering right) Ted's condition is potentially fixable with modern technology especially since it wasnt specified any more than ''degenerative heart condition' which could be a lot of things and some of those things are fixable

might need to workshop it, but that's what comes to mind

like that makes more sense to me, Barbra getting icey on 'you could fix yer shit and go back to helping people in the field but are choosing not to which is selfish' and not that incel friendzoned shit the writer pulled out their ass

it also bothers me so much that no one questioned why Ted was back in costume in Countdown to Infinite Crisis which is set after he got diagnosed. Yes it was most likely just the writer being ablest, but it fits that bullshit superhero mentality that heroing is more important than anything else and you should be out on the field even if its actively killing you. Like sure Ted's heart could give out on him at any second but he should be in costume and doing things

I still loathe the absolute fuckery of Ted being a joke to the entire superhero community that no one takes him being in trouble seriously… but… I could blame that on Maxwell Lord if he can just… brainwash fuckers through audio recordings. And has enough of a grudge/is targeting Ted on purpose. The shitty writing can be explained with enough application of other shitty writing

the issues of having to work with shitty writing to make a follow-up au fic for the shitty writing just the sheer 'wow that's bad and makes no sense but if i dont use it this fic i'm making wont work'

[sara-likes-things]

I'm gonna preface this by saying I have no problem with representation. I love queer stories, especially when they're organic and natural. I'm bi, and I've had fulfilling relationships with women as well as men. Honestly, I would love a spin-off on Brimsley and Reynolds. It didn't feel.....forced. the characters were new and their story grew organically. Michaela? No. I'm trying to articulate how I feel without sounding like I hate the queer community because I genuinely don't. I appreciated Benedict's story line even if it was a little jarring. He's exploring, experimenting and that's fine. It still doesn't take away from his story. But the introduction of Michaela felt like a guy punch. It felt wrong. I've never particularly like gender swapping in stories based on an original IP, because it changes a lot of dynamics. It changes a lot of story lines. And yes, it's fiction, but I'm sorry I cannot get over it, especially when it's such a blatant case of pandering. It makes me feel as if I'm wrong to question this change and I've somehow internalised homophobia. If so, then why wouldn't I hate other queer characters or be similarly uncomfortable?

Okay I think I can make my argument clear with an example. If anyone has seen the movie Love Lies Bleeding, I think they'll get it. The sexual orientation of the characters didn't matter. It felt right. And it was not important to the story. It was just an established dynamic and we could enjoy the plot easily. It wouldn't have mattered if it was a heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple, the story is largely unchanged. If Michael becomes Michaela, here's the issues I see. Who inherits Kilmartin. We've already established an estate will go to the next male heir if the current owner dies. A major part of Michael's story was his guilt over his inheritance and his imposter syndrome. His story arc taking his place in parliament. It's all gone. I mean, I know the show isn't interested in the plots other than the main character pairing but this felt so wrong. If they wanted a lesbian lead, the just make another show with original characters why force this? I'm not looking forward to Francescas season at all. I'm sure a lot of people will like it and that's their prerogative but for me, personally, the only thing keeping the story moving forward is Benedict. Maybe Eloise. But I feel like the story of the show has lost its charm and has dug itself into a hole like Disney or marvel

I can see why you feel that way, for me its kinda like that but more so how they went about it.

I dont mind the gender swap but hate the way they went about it, diminishing the relationship francesca has with lord killmartin when they spent all season saying to violet and us how love stories are different but that doesnt mean theyre not as good but then go and do exactly the opposite??? I think if instead of francesca michaela reacted the way fran did then it would be less jarring because at the end of it its the same dynamic, but making fran react like that after just getting married means she doesnt really love lord killmartin as much as she told her mom and thats a problem.

Also i think the problem with the gender swap its that it doesnt really work with the overall story of francesca haha like if they wanted to gender swap one character there was sophie or maybe try that change with eloises story, you know, stories were someone getting pregnant isnt necessary.

I do believe bridgerton has lost some of the aspects that made it so good, the production feels cheaper and the writing too modern and simple, it feels like another show but even if im not that excited as before i know im gonna keep watching so 😐

[acourtofthought]

I'm so tired of the fact that FEYSANDS (!!!) want for Lucien to die or smth bad happens to him and never ends up with Elain... I mean I completely ignore E/riels for this bc its obvious why they want this to happen.

But Feysands who are mostly also Feyre stans would blame Lucien for the things that happened to her in Spring Court and that's it... they don't see what happened to him as well!! Like Feysand is my fav ship of all SJM couples but I still saw (and still see) Lucien and his situation, I don't want to get into details bc we've already been through it hundreds of times.

But if you can forgive Rhysand for his deeds why can't you forgive Lucien? Yes Rhysand had a reason for everything he did but also Lucien he's not the bad guy here lol he never was! They can put themselves in Rhysands place and listen to him telling his stroy from his point of view but they can't do that for Lucien. They don't even want to hear his story!!! And the little we know from his past everyone ignores it...

They're morally gray characters FFS you can't tell me you can forgive Rhys and can't do the same with Lucien wtf

For whatever reason I assumed that most of the Lucien hate stems from those who prefer E/riel rather than it being Feysands and Feysand alone (more like Feysands who also like E/riel).

But anyone accusing Lucien of this that or the other thing is a pot calling the kettle black situation. I love Rhys. I love Feyre. I even like Amren. Az is fine too even though he's an idiot right now when it comes to women. I did struggle a bit with Nesta because the constant disdain and verbal abuse were for selfish reasons. With Rhys's questionable actions, his reasons were multi layered. He did benefit from them, yes. But he was also trying to save their entire land and help Feyre. With Lucien it's more of the same. Of course every action (or inaction) had a note of self preservation, I'm guessing he didn't want to risk Tamlin's wrath considering he knows for a fact what Tamlin is capable of. But he also told Feyre that it was important to the land and it's people that they present a united front. That those people were struggling after being held captive for 50 years. He also realized Tamlin was struggling and not coping well. There were bigger things at play than one females depression (sad as that is it was the truth), and Lucien was never going to be able to do what was best for all the people who looked to him to do what needed done especially because of the conflicting interests. Back to Nesta, her vitriol and hatred were a protective mechanism for the hatred she had for herself and her father and as a result, Feyre (for doing what neither Nesta or her father would do) and while I do understand that, her reasons were pretty much 100% selfish and all about Nesta versus characters like Amren, Rhys, Lucien, etc. who, while having a small percentage of their own interests coming into play, often were looking out for the greater good and the bigger picture.

Lucien again... People are doing the reading equivalent of selective hearing if they can forgive every other character and move on from the mistakes they made but not Lucien.

The more responsibility someone has, the more difficult it is to do what's right for everyone and it's impossible to handle things in a way where it only really benefits one person when multiple people are looking for their needs to be met.

Sure, he could have done more for Feyre but.....would that really be fair if it meant Lucien himself would be physically assaulted? Would that be fair if it meant Lucien would be causing more distress for a High Lord who was going through his own PTSD while trying to help the land of Spring to recover after Amarantha? Would it be fair if by causing more issues for Tamlin, it meant the people of Spring would suffer? Whatever action Lucien took, he'd be bringing about struggles for someone. We're meant to empathize with Feyre because it's her story but when you stand back and actually look at what was important at that time, I have to say, it probably wasn't making the needs of a 19 year old who had only been in their world for a few months the priority over an entire court of people who had been tortured and forced to do unspeakable things for 50 years or even Tamlin struggling to get everything back up and running.

That doesn't mean I'm a Tamlin fan or anything or that his inability to control his temper was excusable, but I am saying the entire situation was impossible and the only reason Rhys was able to give Feyre what she needed is because Rhys's people were not rebuilding in quite the same way since he kept them hidden and he was her mate, therefore she was his priority.

And when ACOMAF ended, Feyre knew she had Lucien by the balls because she was using Elain as a pawn against him. She used Lucien in her revenge against Tamlin.

To me, that's actually a worse offense because again, Lucien struggled to help Feyre more because he was worried about the state of Spring, he wasn't purposely trying to hurt her. But Feyre actively chose to hurt him with her schemes.

Do I hate Feyre for it? No, I understand why things happened the way they did. But when people claim she was a better friend than he was I cringe because he never sought out to use her, he was actually worried for her throughout the series (even when he tried to "kidnap" her back to Spring, he legitimately thought Rhys had brainwashed her which is valid considering Rhys wanted people to believe those things about him, he was under the impression she was being tortured) though his hands were a bit tied.

[skydigiblogs]

i totally forgot to even mention that i read through all of digimon next, i think bfhjsdbfjhsdbfs

i mean i also didn't mention reading through all of v-tamer but i feel much less negatively about v-tamer than i did about digimon next

i can go into more detail if people want i guess but at the end of the day i think you're gonna need to go into next with more critical thinking pants than v-tamer (which i would argue requires maybe only critical thinking shorts), and that has to do in main part with two very large parts of their plot.

this is gonna be long (but i mean, that's what you come to this blog for lol), and, unfortunately, i have a lot of not-so-fun gripes with digimon next.

characters with disability (and how that disability is portrayed or discussed)

train kid yuu's disability is functionally cured in the digital world, and a large part of his arc has to do with him getting the courage to have heart surgery. i don't think this was handled with the kind of nuance that could have made him more interesting to me, especially with yuu calling himself a "weakling" at one point (internalized ableism is a thing, but i don't think it was written well with yuu).

folks familiar with v-tamer might ask me what i think about rei, and i feel similarly that it's a little weird to have a disabled character lose their disability in the digital world. however, i at least like that rei seemed to acknowledge it beyond mentioning surgery to get rid of it, and multiple times it was mentioned that despite being able to use her legs, she had no feeling at all in them while in the digital world.

neither of these portrayals are particularly good pieces of representation, and signify to me that the authors really didn't know how to fit someone with disabilities into their story without it being for the purpose of angst.

barbamon

barbamon just. is a whole essay i don't want to write at the moment because of how extremely antis*mitic its design is. if you don't know what i mean, look at barbamon's mask. guess what? look at barbamon's concept art, too. that huge nose is a mask in the final design, but the fact that at one point the demon lord of greed was considered to have that be its actual nose is uhhhh.

bandai what can i say but yiiiikes.

digimon next had an uphill battle the entire time almost entirely thanks to picking barbamon as its antagonist. when you use an antis*mitic caricature as your antagonist, it's going to be really hard not to pull on antis*mitic tropes, too! or at least, that's what it really felt like with next, considering barbamon's whole plan is literally some great r*placement theory "kill all non-aligned digimon and control birth itself" bullshit.

while destroying/conquering the digital world is textbook digimon antagonist bullshit (every series has one), the elements and aesthetic of barbamon in next particularly bothered me because they really do not reflect well when paired together.

i'll remind you too that barbamon in next has a notably militaristic army in "the commandments." this also isn't foreign in digimon--- a few years after next, we would see troopmon in bagramon's army, as an example. but like, again, one of these antagonist leader digimon is a caricature.

i am assigning homework for anyone who read(s) next, and that is some literature on antis*mitism and what it looks like in media.

"sky, if you hated next so much, why are you posting about it?"

first off: because it's my blog and i can, lol

second off: because i wanted that sweet sweet yggy lore

as much as i have my issues with digimon next, i think it introduced some very fun tools that could be built upon. yggdrasil, and the fact it just sent its girlsona to the human world because it was worried humans didn't like digimon enough? EXTREMELY funny on paper, yes, but also a fascinating idea!

in next, we see that yggy is able to detach its consciousness from its core, and i think it would be fun to see that explored further. what if, instead of someone external taking control of the core, we see something similar to, say, a split (yes i'm bringing plurality into this). that's to say, yggy mitosises off its girlsona or something, cloning its consciousness to assess the situation beyond its core's reach. yggy core and yggysona, however, are split up because yggysona needs to go collect data. what if there was conflict between yggy core and yggysona because the data retrieved just doesn't make sense with the data yggy core started with?

furthermore, we see some interesting ideas with yggy's kernel, where it's guarded by a magnaangemon (who we see both fall and quite easily reclaim their status as magnaangemon). the implications of this are that yggy can sometimes be the god that angel digimon serve, and that it is possible for fallen angel digimon to become unfallen.

and then next drops NEO on us, calls it "a power beyond yggy" AND REFUSES TO ELABORATE? NO, GET THE FUCK BACK HERE, WHAT DO YOU MEAN GOD IS MADE OUT OF THE COLLECTED MEMORIES OF DIGIMON SPECIES? that's such a cool concept to me (and i am also a sucker for chimera characters, so uhhh), especially read with a metaphorical lens. like. the idea of god being our experiences has endless thematic storytelling potential in a series that is all about its characters Having Emotional Experiences.

anyways uh

digimon next, huh?

[kyogre-blue]

Time for my ultimate hot take before Fontaine starts: ranking the archon quests.

None are good, but if we go by "least bad," then it's...

Mondstadt > Inazuma > Sumeru > Liyue

Mondstadt is ridiculously simple and short, so there's much less room to fuck up. They still have bad pacing and, as I said before, they need another scene for about every two existing scenes, to better flesh things out, but the story is... fine. It's fine.

Liyue on the other hand is just awful. The only thing going for it is that the final battle has the coolest set piece in the game, though they don't really make meaningful use of it in terms of gameplay. Still looks cool. Oh, and I guess there's Zhongli ASMR, if you're into that. But the story? Good lord. Just try to follow any single character's logic and perspective through these events, and you will immediately realize that you don't know why most key events are happening or someone's motivation, or that there's just flat out logical contradictions behind what someone wants and what they do. Absolutely awful, everyone has just forgotten since it's been so long.

Inazuma is a mess, but it has a very cool concept, and the first two acts do set up the situation and your place in it in a way that works overall. Yes, the NPC cancer is in full force, but it's not like that ever gets fixed, and if you just accept the NPCs as characters, it has certain emotional weight. The issue is that Act 3 is wildly rushed and fails to manage the two playable character arcs it tries (Kazuha and Sara). And, more damningly to the casual audience, they mismanaged Raiden's position in the story, seemingly assuming that everyone will side with her on the emotional level, except they've spent two and a half acts building up how everyone in her nation is suffering. Still, the concept is at least interesting. There's something to work with here, and Raiden does get probably the most complete character arc in the game, and Ei-Miko is like... an actual relationship. Two wins for Inazuma.

And then there's Sumeru. Actually, I hate Sumeru the most, but I will admit that it's overall better writing than Liyue. Mostly because Sumeru is an extremely simple story that needed maybe 2.5 modestly sized acts and instead got about three times the duration it could possibly use. As a result, we run endless errands and busywork to kill time and pad out a storyline that simply has nothing going on. And of course, NPC cancer is still here, there are no meaningful relationships among the cast, no one except Nahida actually matters. Scaramouche's backstory is exposited in the most boring way possible, and then it no longer matters. Nothing was gained, and a whole lot of time is lost. I might finish the Inazuma replay one day, but I am never touching Sumeru and its dragged out, repetitive story or its godawful thought matching minigame.

See you in Fontaine, which I cannot imagine will improve on these issues.