#likely due to its runtime

[misterradio]

it is really crazy how different quatermass (the character) is between the show and movie. like i went into the movie blind and thought okay he wasnt very likeable but it was a cool movie. then watching the show and reading the script im like wait these are totally different characters lol. i understand why ppl dont like the movie now 🤌

[suppermariobroth]

For every type of major collectible seen in 3D Mario games, there has been a different implementation of in-engine coloration in different games.

While regular Power Stars are yellow due to using a yellow texture, Grand Stars in Super Mario Galaxy are black internally, and are colored yellow at runtime. This is implemented this way to allow the "drained" effect seen on the first Grand Star to fade dynamically into its regular coloration.

In Super Mario Odyssey, Power Moons do not actually use differently colored textures, and are white internally while being colored into their various variants at runtime.

In Super Mario Sunshine, Shine Sprites have a white-black gradient texture that is applied at an extremely low intensity to an in-engine yellow color to create a slight gradient that appears like light reflecting off its surface.

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings | Source: 1, 2, 3

[atomicrebelfire]

📌 Caption:

I’ve seen posts dismissing Buck and Tommy’s relationship as shallow or forgettable — and I get it, it was short, Tommy’s a guest star, the arc ended quietly. But I think reducing it like that misses something much more interesting the show was actually trying to do — about Buck, about emotional intimacy, and about what it means to be seen in a relationship. This isn’t about shipping, or trying to make a case for “endgame.” It’s about giving narrative weight its due. And about why Tommy Kinard, even in limited screen time, brought something out of Buck we’ve rarely — if ever — seen before.

🧵 Re: That Buck/Tommy Take — I Disagree (Here’s Why It Deserves More Respect)

I got an anon earlier, and out of respect for their request, I won’t post it directly — but the gist was this:

“Buck and Tommy’s relationship wasn’t that deep. Tommy wasn’t a good partner. Why are people so obsessed with it? Can we stop fixating like it mattered?”

And respectfully?

Absolutely not. That reading misses a lot of what the show actually did — and what it meant. Let’s talk about it.

1. “It wasn’t that deep.”

Then why did it break Buck?

If it was just a fling, why did he:

Go into full spiral trying to get Tommy’s attention in 7x04?

Ask for a second chance and a coffee date — then invite him to Maddie’s wedding as a date (7x05)? That’s not something you do for just anyone.

Practically burst out of the closet to his family when Tommy showed up (7x06)?

Obsessively bake, spiral, and hesitate on texting Tommy again in 8x07? (Compare that to how he treated Taylor, Ali, or even Natasha post-breakup. Nothing. This was different.)

The entirety of 8x11 episode?

Start peacocking in a helicopter in 8x15?

That’s not surface-level. That’s a man who caught real feelings and didn’t know how to handle them.

And Tommy? He wasn’t untouched either. The shock on his face during the breakup, the sadness in the bar conversation, the heartbreak the morning after — and even in that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in 8x15, watching Buck’s hallway breakdown from across the room — all of it points to something deeper. He felt this.

Maybe he didn’t expect it to be serious. But it became serious — quietly, fully, and in ways that clearly left a mark.

2. “Tommy wasn’t a good partner.”

This one honestly stings. Because Tommy might be the best partner Buck’s had on-screen.

He respected Buck’s boundaries. Checked in often.

He prioritized Buck. He prioritized Buck’s comfort — comforting him post Buck’s basketball spiral, showed up to the wedding like it meant something, and turned into a doting boyfriend during the Billy boils drama.

He offered open, enthusiastic affection — called Buck hot, smart, impulsive, adorable… repeatedly. To his face.

And Buck? Buck called him “cool.” Once. At the very beginning.

Tommy gave emotional warmth constantly. Buck basked in it — but we never saw him offer the same back. That’s not on Tommy.

3. “They barely developed it.”

Yes, Tommy was a guest star. The screen time was limited. But don’t pretend there was no development — because there was, and more quickly than some longer arcs. (Cough Taylor.)

We got:

Initial attraction

Mutual admiration

Emotional hesitation

A breakup with actual dialogue

A post-breakup hookup, driven by unresolved feeling

Lingering fallout that continued afterward

That’s more emotional continuity than Buck’s had with multiple long-term love interests. If the writers didn’t mean for it to matter, they sure wasted a lot of carefully written scenes making it feel like it did.

And yes — we keep using the same five scenes to prove our point. Because that’s what we got. But what we got? Was charged. Focused. Intentional. Emotionally dense.

And let’s be real: screen time is scarce on a show like 9-1-1. It’s not a character drama — half the runtime is dedicated to emergency calls, visual effects, and procedural pacing. Everyone’s fighting for space. Ryan Guzman literally said scenes get cut all the time. Oliver and others have talked about emotional beats that never made it in.

So the fact that Buck and Tommy still got this much? That alone should tell you the writers wanted it to land. And it did.

4. Tommy brought out something new in Buck

What sticks isn’t just the dynamic — it’s who Buck got to be inside it.

He was softer. More grounded. He wasn’t chasing a high or trying to play a role. He was allowed to be unapologetically Buck — extra, campy, chaotic — and Tommy met him there.

No need to impress. Just… show up. And be seen.

Hell, even his whole look shifted — relaxed in a way that felt intentional. Not just a “new season” change, but a visible softening. His hair. His clothes. His vibe. It was noticeable.

That’s rare for Buck. And worth paying attention to.

Just because a relationship was short doesn’t mean it was shallow. Just because it ended doesn’t mean it wasn’t real. Just because you didn’t care for it doesn’t mean the story didn’t.

You don’t have to ship it. But pretending it was meaningless? That’s a disservice to what we actually got — and to a character who, for once, saw Buck clearly… and liked what he saw.

P.S. This isn’t about being a Lou Ferrigno Jr. fan account or trying to hate on people who ship other characters with Buck. I genuinely love character analysis — we’ve been doing it for others as well — and this post or previous are coming from that place, not from bias or bitterness.

You don’t have to ship Buck/Tommy. But if we’re going to talk about what the show chose to give us? Then let’s give it the credit — and the critique — it deserves.

[serpent-of-hope]

Watching the new trailer for The Murderbot Diaries! I'm still reserving judgement until we see the actual show, but there are two moments that have got the bees shaking in my bonnet:

1)

Gurathin: "What the hell!? You could have killed me!"

Secunit: "There was a chance, yes. But everything turned out fine."

Since when has Secunit been so cavalier with the life of one of its clients!? Secunit, who spent paragraphs internally berating a secunit being negligent about a client's life in System Collapse? Secunit, who is exceedingly competent at its job? Secunit, who repeatedly adjusts its strategies in a calculated manner to minimize harm to its clients, namely by throwing its own body at things???

Now, maybe more of that characterization is fleshed out in the show. Maybe in the actual show that moment is followed by narration saying, "Of course Gurathin was never at risk, but he didn't need to know that." That's why I'm reserving judgement. But as of right now? Oof.

2)

Don't love the framing of the workers recklessly partying in a mine and doing drugs. Specifically, because TMBD is so careful to point blame where it is due - at the company's greed and negligence, and at the fear and frusteration inherent to indentured labour. The events of "Compulsory" for example, are explicitly blamed on: frustration, accident, and the "cheap, venal bastards" that are the corporation. Notice who the books never blames? Ding, ding, ding - the blue collar workers. But the framing of that shot really makes it sound like the statement, "Humans are idiots," is aimed at the workers and not their bosses.

Again, hopefully the full runtime of the show corrects this. Heck, hopefully the events of "Compulsory" make it into the show! But right now that shot of miners dancing (?) is a disservice to the thoughtful critique of capitalism that is the books.

But, fingers-crossed, hey? I've rarely wanted to be so wrong.

[thewertsearch]

Decided to take a little look at the Formspring over the weekend. 

I’m not sure exactly where I left off last time, so I decided to start from the last question I commented on - which means that these are old questions, from way back in the Hivebent era. 

I don’t know if it’s because I’m fairly young, or because I’m not American, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a reference to either of these shows. I haven’t even heard of the second one.

Let me live, Hussie!

We get some hard numbers for Homestuck’s readership, although I’m sure it had grown significantly by the time Cascade rolled around. For reference, this was posted around the time of WV: Rise up.

Karkat originally described Semi-Perfect Jack as ‘something higher than a queen or a king’, which really made it sound like Jack was stronger than either - but I suppose this makes sense, too. 

Jack’s not necessarily stronger than the Queen was - but he’s definitely more dangerous, because he doesn’t follow the normal rules of a Ringbearer. The Queen was a bad-tempered moderator, but Jack is a troll who’s stolen the moderator’s password. 

Hussie’s constant teasing of Team Sleuth is honestly pretty funny. 

I suppose it makes sense that Prospitian Agents would have different priorities - but what about Prospitian Exiles, Hussie? We’re about to be introduced to four new ones, and they could be anyone. 

I like Hussie’s take on creating web content. I agree - you should be making what you want to make, not what gets you the most clicks. 

If I had to knock one point off of Homestuck’s rating, it would be due to the comic’s obsession with clowns. My apologies to all the clown lovers out there, but I simply cannot get into them.

I’ve never seen Lost, myself. I hear it initially had potential, but fell apart later on when it had to keep the promises made by its premise. 

But I think was sold it for me was when I got the idea to mix the pairs of slime from their respective guardians. The whole weird mess struck me as an especially novel origin story, and the thought of making these 8 babies all at once was just ridiculous enough to be irresistible. Not just because of the mad science/time travel/paradoxical novelty, but because of the new light it put the characters under. Especially the guardians I think. These weird automaton-like authority figures, mostly obstacles in the early going, are quite probably very much like the kids, just at different stages in their weird lives (i.e. the ones where they lose their facial features). They're all kind of like siblings in a way, even if not all biological. (Though some are!) And I think you could pick up on that from some of the early interactions, that for instance Rose was likely a very similar person to her mom. Her mom just happened to be an adult!

Hussie originally saw the Guardians as pretty similar to their kids - and Rose, in particular, would be quite similar to Mom. We’ve already seen that Rose takes after her father, but it sounds like Roxy’s going to match her vibes, too. 

Laughing my ass off at the implication that there’s an upper limit to that number. 

Damn it, I really was hoping for some sort of anime showdown during the finale. 

Mind you, Hussie’s not saying it won’t happen - just that if it does, it won’t take up a third of the comic’s runtime. 

God, I am so here for nunchuck Sollux, and I’m getting sadder and sadder that these forum threads are all gone. I wonder what other early headcanons people had for the trolls? 

Heh.

See, I kind of figured that Homestuck wouldn’t get fully into the nitty-gritty of a Sburb campaign - but damn, would I still love to see it. I suppose speculating about the game’s mechanics is just as fun, though. 

This answer seems to confirm that Terezi had no idea what the Doomsday Scale really was. 

I wonder what she thought about the fact that it bore her sign? Did she wonder about the Pyrope who left it there, or did she already have a pretty good idea of who it was likely to be? 

[oatmealdoodles]

I promise I’ll make Murder Drones art but let me get this out of my system

GUYS I AM READY TO MAKE THIS MOVIE MY WHOLE PERSONALITY

Going in I was a bit weary since I did in fact watch the original on broadway, and honestly, it didnt really click for me. Don’t get me wrong I LOVED the story and characters but I just never felt emerged, either due to the theater setting or its break-neck pacing. Luckily this movie works WAY better for me, and thats mostly due to them extending the runtime of act 1 to nearly double its length. We really get to breathe and be with these characters, and surprisingly I never once felt bored it was all so well made and paced.

The biggest concern I had though was that they were going to play down the charm of the original to make it “less broadway” and appeal to broader audiences. Mostly because I watched the new Mean Girls movie be so ashamed of being a musical that it got me worried for the whole genera. Luckily they didn’t they turned the campy charm up to 11, with full group choreography and some insanely creative set designs (Dancing Through Life). Like these are the EXACT VIBES I wanted from this movie.

One of my favorite parts of this movie is actually the production. Specifically the set design and filming, where they actual made almost all of the sets irl. They planted thousands of poppies just for the opening number, they actually made Munchkinland and Shiz, it’s all real. This movie also just looks great (ignoring some lighting) like the colors were POPING OFF the screen colorful especially in the beginning of “What is This Feeling” this movie is a visual treat. They really kept CGI to a minimum (obviously the animals but whatever) in order to pay homage to its theater roots. And it looks absolutely PHENOMINAL huge props to the team on that. Secondly they filmed the singing in direct, meaning no voice overs. And that weirdly didn't sound off at all the singing quality was amazing

that reminds me Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were SO GOOD. They ate, they slayed, they Cooked, they every-other-gen-alpha-term-of-praise-I-can-think-of. Their casting just fits the roles so well with a 110% commitment coming from both of them. Cynthia’s Elpheba might actual be my favorite interpretation of the character I’ve seen. Also the part they added with the original actresses (Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth) interacting with the new ones was maybe the most fan-service thing in this whole movie and I was here for it I gasped in the theater along with my friends.

Like I can’t overstate enough how much I ENJOYED this movie (I guess an essay long Tumblr rant will do) theres just an infectious enthusiasm and passion radiating off the screen. It really feels like a movie made with love, like everyone making this wanted to make it.

I can’t recommend enough that you go watch it if your a fan of musicals or broadway you'll have a ball with this one. 9/10.

[paper-mario-wiki]

i have now watched all of what has been animated of Overlord, here is my review:

okay i'll watch the fifth season but if Renner doesn't act like a fucking freak openly on-screen in at least half of the episodes im gonna be pissed. to be quite frank, and quite self indulgent, there are SO few yandere women that are given proper screentime these days-- and that's in manga AND anime. why is nobody brave enough to go full yuno gasai? what's wrong with these people? have they forgotten one of the core dere archetypes? my god. the only time girls get to act crazy on screen in anime is when they're an abusive guardian, a power ranger tier villain, or traumatized into helplessness. i want to watch someone whose derangement gives her power and i dunno, maybe she wields them selfishly for the one she loves! and that SEEMS like it's whats been promised to me in the 5th season, but ive been wrong before!!! theyve strung me along with the promise of seeing her do some real insane shit with no more than 6ish minutes spread thin over the 1248 minutes of animation the show's runtime has been composed of thus far. but god dammit. im still gonna watch.

anyway, everything else was pretty cool too, at least enough to keep me interested in the meantime. the animation was pretty bad for most of it. but the writing, voice acting, and overall direction were able to keep the story enjoyable despite that. to compare it to another isekai with a similar premise, though executed very differently; the politics are more interesting in this show than in Slime Show, but Slime Show's world feels more consistent, and the events contained within more justified, where Overlord does ass-pulls often. but i like this world too. i like these characters. i like how complicated they are. much of it is very edgy, and it's chock-full of what i'd call "anime bullshit", but that's a seinen story for ya.

my ratings for the seasons are as follows

6/10

7/10

6/10

7/10

Overall verdict:

this show is hard carried by its sprawling cast of deeply insane women, and god dammit they carried my girl-loving ass through 52 episodes. and probably 13-26 more depending on whether or not the studio really does end up wrapping up the story in the next season. due to the shamelessness of this shows content, i don't know that i can think of many people who i would recommend it to without feeling embarrassed about it. HOWEVER. if you're the kind of person who kept reading this because of the multiple mentions of really, really insane women, and that was enough to get you to read this whole thing, you'll like this show. i mean. as long as you can tolerate all of the *blech* Heterosexuality.

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

Coming in hot this week with a new show plus an ongoing favorite. We also have Takara no Vidro and Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! next week--we are back in the jql flood (yay!). Look forward to those and pray for international distribution so we can all watch TNV soon.

I Hear the Sunspot

I am so hype for this show. Twelve whole episodes to tell this story properly! The film version, Silhouette of Your Voice, is very cute but suffers from its short runtime. This one seems like it will be a more faithful adaptation of the full manga and I am thrilled. We started strong this week with the introductions of our main characters, Kohei and Taichi. I really love the way they are calibrated in this version, and Taichi is an instant blorbo. I also liked the choice to open with a look at Kohei's despair in the future before going back to the start, as it grounds everything nicely in the stakes for him. The show is also already doing a great job of unpacking Kohei's perspective on his hearing loss and the way others treat him as a result.

@nicks-den is also planning to fan sub this one, so look out for those updates. I recommend watching on Gaga when it comes out to give it the views and then revisiting with the better subs later in the week.

Bonus: Ossan no pantsu ga nandatte ii janai ka

Episodes 7 and 8 have been made available on @isaksbestpillow's blog, and this show continues to be glorious. Highlights from these episodes include the return of Hasegawa (with newly glowing skin) and Kakeru continuing to make friends and settle on a career path in makeup, Mika learning to let her family appreciate her, Makoto's confusion about whether Kakeru likes boys or girls, Kakeru's frustration that he's trying to figure that out at all, Daichi's anxiety that he is making Madoka's life more difficult, Madoka's fear of losing him due to his inability to come out, Makoto's continued efforts to confront his senior and change his workplace for the better, and a lot of hard won bonding and connection at the festival. Phew, this drama packs in so much in every installment and it all feels so natural.

My favorite thread in these episodes was the parallel they drew between Makoto and Kakeru and their struggles with communicating effectively. Kakeru's impatience and dismissiveness toward his parents' attempts to connect with him at the start of the story are akin to Makoto’s own former impatience and dismissiveness about anything he didn’t understand, and it was such a huge moment of growth for Kakeru to recognize that. Part of growing up is developing empathy for your parents and recognizing your own similarities to them, and I love that he is starting to open up and give Makoto grace as he earns his trust back. I also loved the conversation between Makoto and Madoka and the way they helped each other understand their respective situations better. This show keeps surprising me with how attentive it is to all of these relationships and connections.

Passing to @bengiyo for a manga update.

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Netflix Picks Up Starz Series ‘Black Sails’ From January 2024

Netflix will be starting the New Year off strong with the news coming today that the streaming service US will be picking up multiple seasons of the Starz Original series Black Sails from January 1st, 2023.

From executive producer Michael Bay, Black Sails is the historical drama series that serves as a prequel set 20 years prior to the beloved 1883 novel Treasure Island. It ran on Starz as an Original series for four seasons across 38 episodes between 2014 and 2017.

The series scored 3 Primetime Emmy wins throughout its runtime and remains a hit among fans with it currently carrying an impressive 8.2 on IMDb. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a mix of One Piece for its slavish ships and sets mixed with the historical drama and action of The Last Kingdom.

Amongst the vast ensemble cast for the show featured Toby Stephens, Hannah New, Luke Arnold, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tom Hopper, Toby Schmitz, and many more.

When will Black Sails be on Netflix?

Multiple seasons will be coming to Netflix US on January 1st, 2024. The exact number of seasons coming to the service hasn’t been confirmed, but we suspect it’ll be all four.

The show is expected to continue to reside on the Starz streaming service.

We haven’t found any other Netflix regions scheduled to get the show. We also checked Netflix in the UK and Canada, but they’re not expected to arrive in either. That’s not to say this couldn’t be licensed to others down the road, however.

For more on what’s coming to Netflix in the United States throughout January 2024, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.

Netflix in the US doesn’t have access to many Starz titles like it used to. Netflix US has previously held titles like Ash Vs. Evil Dead and Spartacus, while Netflix internationally carried Power. One significant exception is Outlander (although that’s licensed from Sony Pictures Television), with new seasons coming two years after their original air date. Season 6 of Outlander is due to release in 2024.

Source: What's On Netflix

[trafficrarepairzine]

Someone asked in the Google Form if polyships are allowed and I was actually waiting for that question (just a reminder that if you want your question answered somewhere you're likely to see it, to send an ask! I don't check the Google Form all that often and I don't get notified when people respond to it).

Polyships are totally acceptable!! Again, we just ask that the polyship itself has less than 400 works on AO3, and that within the fic there's either an emphasis on the more rarepair dynamics or that the entirety of the fic is dedicated to the entire polycule, rather than specific parts of it.

To clarify further, let's say someone wanted to write for Flower Court. Flower Court (which is Jimmy/Tango/Scott/Martyn) only has 43 works on AO3. (I personally have contributed several. Flower Court my beloved <3) However, FC includes multiple ships that are pretty popular (Ranchers and Flower Husbands, as well as Majorwood which isn't hugely popular, but has 480 fics, leaving it just outside of our definition of a rarepair).

A fic like my fic is there a man out there? (someone to hear my prayer) would probably meet this event's criteria for a rarepair, because it is Tango-centric and devotes roughly equal time to Ranchers, Snowbugs, and Firewood. Two of those pairings (Firewood at 36 and Snowbugs at 219) meet the criteria for a rarepair per this event, and since the more popular pairing, Ranchers, is only about 1/3 of the fic, I would consider that to be a valid submission.

Meanwhile, a fic like my fic Fire Lilies would not meet this event's criteria for a rarepair, due to spending a considerable portion of its runtime on the bigger pairings (it's 18k and I think I spent 7k on Ranchers and another 4k on Flower Husbands so you do the math on percentages there).

Obviously, none of the fics in this zine are going to be as long as either of the examples I've just given; the range for this project is 500 to 1500. That is, I think, a perfectly reasonable oneshot length that could very easily encapsulate one or two scenes with an entire polycule. If that's the case, all good! As long as everyone's involved and interacting with everyone else, no problems at all.

Art is a little more cut-and-dry because it's static and takes less time to consume. One piece of art that depicts, to continue with the same example, all four members of Flower Court would meet this event's criteria, such as Flower Court in the viral strawberry dress (modified) or this beautiful Flower Court poster both by the eternally lovely @slooopes (please follow her. She's my best friend and my partner in Flower Court ramblings).

Anyway I hope that answers the question in enough detail. Please forgive me for my incessant rambling.

[sepublic]

            I realize I never did give my insight regarding the info Dana gave during the opening of her Gallery Nucleus, so after basically a month I may as well!

            Firstly, in the ORIGINAL idea of the show, Luz was going to Hell, but Dana clarified she wouldn’t have died to do so; She’d meet a witch and learn dark magic. Given the pitch bible is how the show was initially pitched to Disney, I presume that either Dana had a prior failed pitch of the show, or this was a draft she’d made before settling for the pitch bible, and then settling on the final version. Because W O W could you imagine that???

            I guess the cosmic order of this TOH’s universe would not be so cruel as to condemn an innocent teenager like that, but it does make me wonder if Dana would’ve delved into the whole concept of Christianity, if Hell WAS the fate of sinners, or if it was just its own independent place outside of any grand scheme, and it was humans who labelled it that way; Perhaps that’s the origin of the first episode’s line about how all human myths came from the isles.

            Dana confirmed that King was always going to be a Titan prior to the shortening, which I suspected; I mean, people were guessing it since the first episode just from his design alone, it was always there. But what really got me was the confirmation that the Collector WAS always intended to be part of the show pre-shortening, specifically Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door; And THEN their character was revised to be a child that King could get along with!

            This is all deeply vindicating, and goes along with what I’ve speculated before; That the Collector was always planned as this cosmic entity that Belos got the draining spell from, but due to the shortening, the writers revised them into a much more reasonable, negotiable character, thereby making a resolution with him a lot more attainable within a truncated runtime; Otherwise, they’d have to figure out a way to defeat such a powerful being. And they might’ve!

            However, the Collector was reimagined for the sake of King’s arc, to give him a friend to accompany him throughout each other’s eternal lifespans! Given the shortening, this certainly makes up for a truncated version of King’s intended character arc, and gives him a less existential resolution by the end of the day.

            I’m not surprised that the Collector sequence in K3oHD was pre-shortening; Production takes a long while in advance, and this part was likely written into the script, which was done before the storyboarding and animation. And it’s not a brief still like the Grimwalker book, which could’ve been added last-minute into S2A’s production so the writers could save runtime on things besides setting up that concept; It was a whole scene!

            So this ‘Beta Collector’ as one could call it likely would’ve been a malicious entity, may or may not have been freed near the end of the show, or just remained that way as karma. Who can say for sure? Them and S2B-onwards Collector were different enough, due to having different intentions, that the writers retconned the Collector’s first appearance as a separate character, as it’s implied; More than likely one of their Archivist siblings! They were different characters on a meta level, so the writers took this to the natural conclusion by making them separate in canon.

            That adds to my theory that the Archivists were created specifically to account for this different characterization, but also be the actual murderers of the Titan genocide because let’s face it. If the whole point was to give King a friend who could grow with him, having that friend be the murderer of his species would’ve made their eventualy dynamic so nonsensical as to be impossible.

            Even if the writers went with the idea that this Beta Collector didn’t know about death, on King’s end, I don’t think he could find it in himself to ever forgive this character, or at the very least be friends, if that happened. And in the end, the Collector’s revision was for the sake of one of the core protagonists of the show, go figure! Thus, King’s needs were prioritized.

            I do wonder what the Song of Stars in the original Elsewhere and Elsewhen Storyboards was; Was it just a previous take on the draining spell, and would’ve involved Beta Collector doing some sort of twisted music? Would they have been the final villain of the show, remained trapped, been destroyed alongside Belos? Again I liken the three Archivists to the three petrification statues, but that would imply there was always supposed to be three Collectors.

            On a lighter note, Dana confirmed that bard instruments have their own magic in them? Yeah, that made a lot of sense, it tracks with Raine’s viola, although tbf Dana did confirm it also contained a transformed version of their Palisman Fiddlesticks. But otherwise, I imagine bard instruments, like healing/construction glyphs, training wands, or oracle orbs, are essentially potions but for other forms of magic; Someone else’s magic, but stored/enchanted to be used at later convenience.

            And outright confirmation that Oracle spirits are just that; Spirits, but not the deceased! I always suspected and operated as such, otherwise there’s a whole can of worms regarding which characters could come back as ghosts or not. Especially when the finale cemented so much the idea of death being permanent.

            So oracle spirits are intangible entities but not the dead, and I recall likening their situation to how Ghostbusters has some ghosts be just like that; Fittingly, there was a reference to TOH’s version of ‘Ghostbusters’ who handled an outbreak from the ghost dimension that Eda caused during her years at Hexside… We also hear mention of ‘Astral Planes’ at one point, you think they’re the same, the source of these spirits? Imagine if we’d gotten an episode delving into this other dimension (if that’s what it is), it could’ve tied into Luz’s attempts to get back home!

            There’s also one more question Dana answered, which I’ll answer as its own post.

[nutterzebutters]

Yk now that we got a taste of shadow milks true intensity due to the new CRK trailer today I think it's safe to say that behavior is exactly why pure vanilla had to go through 12 whole trials, or at least a good damn reason. Knowledge governs the principles of being able to do something, and therefore governs the nature of the virtues, similarly truth governs over the nature of the lights the ancients inherited, bc without it you really can't achieve the true form of these lights; to be in tune enough to actually carry the soul jams.

A jam so powerful that it can fold the mind of a cookie literally baked for it in half and then some, a principal so encompassing that it's only natural for it to be the worst offender when something goes wrong, and the brightest light when things go right. I believe you can also use the word "polarity" and slap "extreme" in front of it and it would fit the description of this seemingly clover shaped gem.

Now I haven't checked the ep 9/10 story as of recent, I'm sure it's since changed, but at a very early point in the runtime of this game dark enchantress cared about that jam the most. The rest were like bonus powers, trophies next to the big one. The light of truth in particular was quoted to be the one that would help her mold the world in her image (which I'm sure is one of the reasons she's reviving the beasts, is if she can't get PVs she might as well try for shadow milks while the beasts help her create that perfect cookie business) and I hope they haven't forgotten about that.

Also would like to add voice acting is done with multiple takes, for the purpose of finding the correct tone, empathsis, what have you. It's one of the reasons games like CRK will go back and work on the story of earlier chapters, and in Odyssey clotted cream purposely empasized that against Holly and cacaos jams, pure vanillas didn't seem to share many common properties other than what made it a soul jam like it's kin, and likely still doesn't share properties with cheeses in any real regularity. Freedom can be arguably like truth and it's interesting to see how these lights tend to reflect their previous natures regardless of the purity process. Even going as far as to select cookies that share the same traits, or are prone to the same mistakes as the beasts, the only difference is that these cookies have the tools, the experience to push through while the beasts really didn't.

I don't actually have any predictions, usually I would. Ik that I would like to see some conflict with wind archer that does NOT prevail or save the day and it does seem likely he's either going to fall, no message sent

He's going to fall, but at least the message is on its way to the others

Or he does get out (which wouldn't make for a very fun plot point tbh)

The trailer for those who haven't gotten to it yet

[chiarrara]

Songs4u by Cuco (2017) is the Most Satosugu Album in Existence...

I wanna be your one and only / If something just ain't right, it will be because you left / I waited way too long to say a thing / Ghost of my past haunts my present / He said I′ll be gone before you know / look at my baby shining eyes / Been searching for a light to guide my soul tonight / The bridge between winter and summer seems like a bummer / I hope that I can catch up to you in the end / Say a thing or talk to me, but don′t try to convince me I should stay / Figured that I'd best be gone if I couldn't find a purpose with my ways / Swear I want to be alone until the day I die as of now / But who knows, maybe you and I will grow old in another life

It's not just the lyrics, it's the hazy, reverberating tones running through the whole album, imparting a dreamlike nostalgia where each moment of recollection bleeds into all the others in a saturated wash of emotion. It flows non-linearly between moments of hopeful infatuation, grief and heartbreak, longing for connection, blossoming affection, memorium for a deep love, and the descent into endless sorrow.

The ache of lost love permeates through every recollection of youthful optimism, and deep-seeded fondness is the unavoidable root of every bit of dulled regret. At moments, the barriers between the longing of the past and the loss of the present seem to blur together, and every unsure, hopeless emotion can be felt at once. It's an endless blue spring, three years of youth, and 10 years passed all at once.

Take a moment to listen through this short album (its runtime is just over 30 mins), and follow along with the condensed lyrics, and accompanying quotes for each song, under the cut.

One and Only

"My best friend did, my one and only."

Girl, I wanna be your one and only I wanna be more than just a homie I hope that you wanna get to know me Baby, hit me up if you get lonely

Show me what you want ′cause I know I want you I know I'm not confused, my feelings here are true I hope you think of me the way I think of you On gloomy days like these, wishing you were next to me When I′m feeling puzzled, girl, you put me back together And if never is forever, then let's always be together If something just ain't right, it will be because you left So let′s make this life our best, I′ll take care of all the rest

I hope you know you're my desire I hope you know you′re the one I hope you know that I think about you when I see the sun

Winter's Ballad

"Just a little tired from the summer heat. It's not a problem."

Due to my frustration I waited way too long to say a thing Sure I accept that I was sad, so I guess now it′s not so bad I lost the memories deep inside my head

Show me that tonight I'm only yours and no one else′s Too blind to see sometimes that you're the one Now I see you're everything or just maybe my nothing They say that nothing lasts forever

My bed was meant for two, and now I′m missing only you Or was this spot reserved for no one more My lonely days are here, I don′t think I see you here I wish that I could sleep until forever

I don't think it′s hard, just to tell me that you love me But you're far away from here and have my heart So shoot me with the bow that cupid′s quiver has one more The last time I might get to fall in love

We Had to End It

"If you want to kill me, kill me. There's meaning in that too."

Me and my lover came to an end I didn't want that But I guess she did

Sleepless nights have only begun Swear I thought she was the one The girl of my dreams

All my nightmares came to ruin my life Mercy had no time And time had no mercy on me

I felt so dumb thinking one day you could be my wife Never thought you would lie When you said you loved me

Nothing can bring me back to life After you left me to die On a road far away

Love and lies shine so bright 'Cause they both made me blind And I crashed as I looked away

Ghost of my past haunts my present As there he welcomed My agony and pain

He said I′ll be gone before you know Just finish this song And you'll be where you belong

Neon Baby

"We're the strongest."

Me and her ′til night, look at my baby shining eyes Look at her highlight shining brighter than bright skies Under common hopes, I hope you could get to know The green lights showed the unknowns So exploring we should go

Notice maybe Neon baby You could sway me Being wavy

Neon city baby Neon city baby Maybe you could sway me Maybe you could sway me

Neon baby in her neon city Neon baby in her neon city I've been looking for you and your absence was made clear I don′t even know you, but I know I want you here Pink cars take us far, just if you know who you are Dressed up like a star, you were staying after dark

Stay for a Bit

"Suguru. --- ---" "You should at least curse me at the end."

Try to make it right I wanna make you mine Let′s hope that things go well tonight Try to make it right I wanna make you mine Let's hope that things go well tonight

Save me a seat next to you Let′s go out and find The sky is yours tonight

I know you've been wonderin' where I went Been searching for a light to guide my soul tonight The city wants us to know, things we need alright If maybe you were mine, if maybe you were mine Hoping my presence would be clear The question I've been holding is if you wanna go on a date

City lights ignite the path to you I don′t know if you meant to come my way but I hope you are Swear its just too real to be true I can't tell if you′re real Cause in my dreams I was messin' with you

Night Night is your canvas Give it many colors You′re just like no other You could be my lover Treasure hunting pleasures But I've found my treasure Stay here for awhile Will you stay for a bit? Or Forever

Lava Lamp

"He was my best friend. But we fought, and it's been like this ever since."

Someone′s out there waiting for me I have to find her and tell her that I love her Someone's out there waiting for me I have to find her and tell her that I love her

You′re a million miles away The bridge between winter and summer Seems like a bummer but it's worth the wait

And I know you'll shine the way With your lava lamp, lava lamp In the middle of your room

From my window I could see Bright blue light was shining deep Like the sea on New Year′s Eve Wishing you were next to me

Yesterday in L.A. It was sunny but it rained In my room (in my room) When I wrote a song for

If only you′d hold me And I wasn't one billion miles away If only you′d hold me And I wasn't one billion miles away

Rest Easy, I'll See You Again

"I have to catch up"

Did you see who you wanted to see? Did you say the things you wanted to say? Or did you sell, and it just went away? Pull me in, is it just too late?

I′ll never see you again I hope that I can catch up to you in the end

Lost / Heart

"This is the life I've chosen. All I can do now is give it all I've got."

Help me I′m looking for my heart again Is it gone I don't want to wake up to this again In my mind

Say a thing or talk to me But don′t try to convince me I should stay Figured that I'd best be gone If I couldn't find a purpose with my ways

Don′t apologize Don′t come and cry You had your chances right But instead you left me crying every night

Lost in my thoughts Losing myself The weight of pain has sunk me down the drain

Memories inside of me The tears are running out Swear I want to be alone Until the day I die as of now

Never close to feeling comfortable You find to be so kind Always left my heart at home So close, but I found mine But who knows Maybe you and I Will grow old in another life

I've Left My Body and I Don't Want to Come Back

"If you'd like to return to who you once were, go south."

[instrumental, ends abruptly]

---

thanks to @annadante for help finding quotes

[niobiumao3]

So, here's what X-Men 97 did that TBB did not, for its main character death. Obviously, huge X-Men 97 and TBB spoilers.

The death happens at a pivotal moment story wise, but is NOT immediately abandoned for other plot.

Remy (Gambit) dies towards the end of an episode which is in and of itself a real jaw-dropper, much like Plan 99. Out of nowhere a safe haven for mutants is being glassed, and Remy sacrifices himself to put a stop to it, because he's a little crazy but also well aware of what he's capable of and knows it might be their only chance to save SOME of these people who are his fellow mutants. The episode ends with his lover, Rogue--who's finally decided she agrees with Remy on things and is going to choose him and the X-Men over an alternative--holding his lifeless body in her arms.

Tech, on the other hand, dies 1/3 into an episode and vanishes from sight. Our POV character here, Omega, is injured and doesn't witness most of the ensuing escape, so when she wakes up, she demands they go back for him, crying, and we see Wrecker cry and Hunter explain he didn't make it.

...and then the episode keeps going. They're betrayed. A villain tosses Tech's broken goggles at Hunter and threatens them. Omega is captured, the remaining members of the Batch barely escape. For almost twenty minutes of runtime AFTER Tech dies, the story keeps going and has NOTHING to do with him dying (save the dig about the goggles). His death gets maybe, at most, 2 entire minutes of focus between Omega and Wrecker's reactions, Hunter's when Hemlock gives him the goggles, and Echo looking at the empty pilot's chair. That's it; for the bulk of the episode Tech's death has next to ZERO involvement in the story. It's not the climax. it's just A Thing Which Happened, and that massively devalues it from a narrative viewpoint. No one stops for more than a single breath to react to it, thus we as the audience don't.

(If anyone is winding up with 'that's because they can't due to the everything', this is why it's NOT GOOD WRITING. If you want the death to matter to your viewers/audience then you need to MAKE the time for it in your story, somehow. This isn't real life, you DO in fact control the horizontal and the vertical when making your plot.)

In X-Men 97, the death is the immediate focus of the next episode and a character's entire arc of the ensuing episodes. In TBB, it's a footnote.

In the following X-Men 97 episode, Remy has a funeral which Rogue doesn't attend, not because she doesn't care but because she's off raging against the machines, trying to find those responsible and kill them. There's a gorgeous eulogy for Remy, some thinking back on who he was and what he meant to them, a friend angry at Rogue for not being with them. It's so good. We cut to Rogue, absolutely furious with grief and looking to take it out on, well, everyone. She winds up putting herself into a coma as a result.

Literally nothing like this happens for Tech. Nothing close. There's a several month timeskip in S3 eps 1-3 which negates any immediate mourning or revelations to people who wouldn't know (Crosshair, Phee, Shep and Lyana), and we see NONE of Wrecker, Hunter, OR Echo's processing. Just what we saw in Plan 99, which again, is almost nothing. For a main character who as of S2 had the third most screen time of any character.

In X-Men 97, Remy keeps coming up as someone to remind them of what they're fighting for, what he would want for them. Tech is a skillset and a pair of goggles.

Remy is the first thing on Rogue's mind when she wakes up from her coma. She's instantly grieving him all over again, and mentions him numerous times throughout the remaining episodes as someone who wouldn't want this for them, or would have hoped for that. He's a guide for her even though he's gone. The rest of the characters reflect on him off and on--not his skills or abilities, but who he was, his nature. Remy's death completely changes Rogue's behaviors, almost 180 degrees, as well.

Tech is mentioned for what he could do, not what he liked or didn't like, how he felt about things, save for once: when Phee reveals he told her all about Crosshair. This is the only time someone talks about him like people talk about Remy in X-Men 97, and it happens twelve episodes after he died.

No one's actual narrative course changes trajectory in the case of Tech's death either. No one is shown making different decisions based on his loss (just the lack of his skills), no one is bringing him up as a rallying call for themselves, nothing. He is excised from the show in terms of his emotional, character impact. The loss is of someone who can decrypt things or knows stuff, not of a beloved sibling.

Remy's presence remains throughout the rest of X-Men 97, despite him dying in episode 5 of 10. Tech vanishes and becomes an occasional reason they have to do something the hard way and a background prop.

If you want to know how to actually write a main character death and have it MATTER and make it good story telling, watch X-Men 97.

[snapscube]

i am curious, with infinite wealth, do you think some of the more emotional things with kiryu had a different effect than if you'd been more familiar with his games? asking because i saw some people say IW is a great introduction to him as a character, but i've played all of them up to that point.

oh almost certainly!!! i will say, basically the entire first half of the game is almost purely focused on ichiban in a way i found extremely comforting as a newcomer. so knowledge of kiryu's full journey is not at ALL required for a very large portion of playtime, HOWEVER there is a threshold point where suddenly they start to really give his history the spotlight and at that point i could tell that there was a lot that would Hit Different if i had played games prior. HOWEVER, in defense of playing this game without that context and with credit where it's due, RGG does a really consistently good job not only filling in necessary exposition when required JUST enough to get you over the finish line if you don't have everything committed to memory or you're just new... but ALSO a lot of the emotional beats were just kinda universally recognizable for me? there's a lot i was able to put together either through bits and pieces of pre-7 titles i HAD seen, or even just through context clues based on the dialogue i was presently hearing/reading and general familiarity with character archetypes. i can NOT say that i experience Infinite Wealth with the FULL WEIGHT that it can potentially have, but i CAN say that i don't feel like my experience was COMPROMISED. i still cried like 6 times in the whole second half of its runtime haha, it's really emotionally powerful and a lot of its themes stand alone just fine.

[arminthada]

Spare Me Your Mercy is less a "Sammon series" than it is a "Wo+Lux series"

So I came across this Reddit post where OP explains how they're unable to enjoy the ongoing "Sammon series" aka SMYM and Petrichor.

And it just doesn't make sense to me how people keep categorising SMYM as a Sammon series when she didn't even do the screenwriting on this one, at most she's consulted for professional and specialised knowledge. Meanwhile Petrichor is based on the novel "Rust in the Rain" (หยดฝนกลิ่นสนิม) by SixTeenSeven but it's a Sammon series because she wrote the script for Petrichor with five other screenwriters.

I don't know but for me I'd find it more appropriate to compare Spare Me Your Mercy to series like To Sir With Love, Century of Love, Laws of Attraction or even Kahon Maha Ratuek which are directed by Wo & written by Lux.

Spare Me Your Mercy has already deviated itself by being an adaptation of two volumes of Euthanasia by Sammon rather than being a close-to-novel adaptation of one Sammon novel like MOD and Triage. Perhaps it having similar characteristics (rural settings, cops, doctors, thriller, crime, mystery, investigation) is enough for some to brand it a "Sammon series" but it's not the case for me.

Absolutely no idea where I'm going with this but I'm just really frustrated at people calling it a "Sammon series" when all the "underdeveloped", "rushing" sentiments are due to the major condensing of a large body of source material rather than a weak story (I have my tiny qualms with the novels as well, don't get me wrong but that's a story for another day. Great books though, could do with better translations).

Like you don't compare a Ma-Deaw Chookiat Sakveerakul work and a Wo Worawit work just because they have source material from the same author. That is not to mention that production company aka producers can have large influence over a story (especially its ending) and thus politics of producing a series for a BL koojin can also affect quality of a work.

Condensing stories wise aside, I do think Spare Me Your Mercy is doing a great job on sparking the debates on euthanasia with fair amount of scenes spent on Kan & Tew talking about their clashing views on this topic. If Lux and Wo's sole goal in making this series is to showcase a crime investigation series with two main characters having clashing views on euthanasia, I think they're doing well.

It's surely debatable whether the main characters' romance is convincing or not (This discourse I will I leave this to the non-readers who are getting to know KanTew throught the series and not reader audience like myself). Characterisation wise, I would say they're the exact same as the novels, with the lacking aspect being a lack of runtime to flesh out and develop the serial killings/the investigation/the development of characters' relationship.

I'm probably getting beside the point but perhaps if you want to watch a good suspense lakorn from screenwriter Lux about a cop investigating serial killings with his lover being a prime suspect, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Kahon Maha Ratuek กาหลมหรทึก (2018) (engsub grey watch here)

No idea what my original point was in writing this since I'm not a stan of any of the mentioned creators (Wo, Lux, Sammon...) so I'm not writing this as a defense for anyone... I just prefer that critical comparisons be made with understanding of context and acknowledgement to different creative teams of respective series instead of crediting/attributing everything to one popular name in BL-sphere and using that to make quick judgements of a series.