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thankskenpenders · 2 years ago

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Sonic Prime!

The first eight episodes of Sonic Prime are out! I've been busy for obvious reasons this past week (I kinda released a video game), but I've now seen all eight episodes, and as such can give more structured thoughts on them.

Overall: pretty good! I like it! ...But it's not 100% there yet for me. In the spirit of Festivus, I'm here to air my grievances.

Let's start with one of the highest points. First and foremost, this show looks great. We FINALLY have a Sonic cartoon that actually looks like the games with no asterisks attached, even across multiple wildly different AUs. And everything from small acting choices to big, bombastic fight scenes is a joy to watch in motion thanks to the fluid, expressive, fast-paced movement, with characters pleasantly squashing and stretching in fun ways. It's so fun literally to just watch Sonic's face move in dialogue scenes. God, I wish the cutscenes in Frontiers had animation this good. I get why they don't, but still.

And those action sequences! Man, some of these are the most fun fight scenes in any Sonic cartoon ever, period. Lots of great shot choices, a good mix of recognizable moves from the games combined with new ones and improvisations, I could go on and on. The shot of Sonic leaping backwards down that long stairwell, only for the camera to pan around beneath him and show his friends following suit? There's a reason why they put that in the trailer. It rules. This isn't the greatest action series ever - it still has your typical kids' action cartoon problem where the stakes rarely feel adequately high and you can turn your brain off during fight scenes - but it's fun to look at in a way that previous Sonic cartoons haven't always been.

Really, with how strong the presentation is, it's the writing that tends to let the show down in this first batch of episodes. The writing isn't even bad - there's some really cool stuff to latch onto, and I'm optimistic about them leaning more into what's interesting as the plot continues to develop. It's just... well, it's a Man of Action cartoon.

I'm going to nitpick a lot here, so I want it to be perfectly clear that I like Sonic Prime. I think it's a solid cartoon, and firmly on the high end of the Sonic cartoon spectrum. There's a lot that I'm into, and if someone told me it was their new favorite Sonic cartoon, I could absolutely see why. It mainly just has three things working against it:

It can't decide whether or not it actually wants to be wholeheartedly faithful to the games.

It was very clearly written to be a weekly TV show and not a Netflix show dumped in large batches.

The bar has been VERY high for Sonic content this year across every other medium.

Faithfulness to the games

As has been touted in interviews, Sonic Prime is actually canon to the games, and in many ways it's slavishly faithful to them. Which only makes it weirder when it isn't.

The thing that'll immediately stand out is the new voice cast they had to get because Canadian production laws blah blah blah. Now, they're all good here, particularly Deven Mack as Sonic. His take definitely sounds similar to previous takes on Sonic, but I think he manages to find a nice middle point between the youthful enthusiasm of movie Sonic and the more experienced heroics of game/IDW Sonic. He's great. And not to knock Cindy's performances, but I think Shannon Chan-Kent's voice might actually fit Amy just a liiiiittle better here. But the problem is it gets harder to view this as the regular game cast and alternate timeline versions of them when everyone always sounds a little off. Knuckles in particular is really weird because his AU counterparts have a completely different voice actor, and neither particularly sounds like his current voice in the games. I have no idea why.

For another example, Green Hill is used as a setting in a cartoon for the first time ever, and it looks exactly how you remember it. Cool! But it's also framed as the place where Sonic and all of his friends live 24/7, which has never, ever been true in the games. Even Knuckles is here with no explanation for why he isn't guarding the Master Emerald. (One might think that not drawing attention to Knuckles' job allows the writers to just pretend it doesn't exist, similar to what Sega does in many games, but then we get a literal 16-bit flashback to him guarding the Master Emerald in Hidden Palace.)

This would be a totally fine concession if this show was just doing its own thing like every other Sonic cartoon. The different universes are all different bad timelines for Green Hill, with Sonic spotting the unique iconography of the level buried beneath whatever's taken over South Island this time - a smog-filled Eggman city, an overgrown jungle, an abnormally high sea level - to drive home how wrong the AUs are. It also explains why Sonic can always find the AU versions of his friends in Green Hill, and it probably cut down on the number of sets they had to model. But because it is canon to the games, things like this distract me as a hopeless Sonic nerd. It also leads to some repetitive dialogue in the first few episodes as characters constantly comment on the presence or lack thereof of palm trees, because their only reference for what the world is supposed to look like is Green Hill.

Rings are also treated as a minor plot point early on to incorporate another thing from the games, as Sonic is late for the big battle against Eggman because he was off collecting extra rings. But despite how often it's brought up in that context, they aren't actually a factor in the fight at all, and then rings are never seen again in the AUs.

Also Orbot and Cubot are in this in the regular universe and then we never see them again? Are they going to come back??

This extends beyond these pedantic nitpicks, though. To me, the worst offender of the show selectively choosing when to care about the source material is the dichotomy of the character writing in the alternate universes.

Every AU will have one or two takes on one of Sonic's friends (Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, and Big) who are The Interesting Ones, the spotlighted characters for each subplot. These are the ones that get actual character arcs, and they feel like they're written in conversation with their original game counterparts in interesting ways.

In the dystopian world, Tails is known as Nine, a cynical loner inventor who was never saved from his bullies and inspired to be a hero by Sonic - but who, when pushed, is still a good kid deep down. In the jungle world, Amy is the extremist Thorn Rose who rides around on a giant Flicky like it's a chocobo and prevents foragers from "stealing" from the forest, possibly riffing on her bond with the Flickies in SA1. She's still looking out for the little guy, she's just doing so at the expense of everyone else. And in the pirate world, Knuckles is the captain Dread Knuckles, who instead of diligently guarding a magic rock was a pirate obsessed with obtaining a magic rock, and who swore off of that quest (and fighting in general) after it cost him the trust of his original crew.

These characters and their interactions with Sonic are all fun - Nine in particular provided a lot of my favorite emotional moments so far - and it feels like it gets at why you would do a multiverse story like this in the first place. You get to examine the characters from other angles! It's just that then there's... the rest. Characters who aren't the focus will just kind of get inserted into roles as Man of Action rests on broad cartoon tropes instead of actually doing anything with the Sonic source material. The dystopia of New Yolk City feels like a good fit given the history of the franchise, but then the other two worlds we've seen so far rely largely on stock "tribal" tropes and pirates going yaarrrrr.

I'm biased, but the worst off here seems to be Rouge, who has yet to get her spotlight universe (assuming she gets one next). This really stings because she's spot on in the regular universe. She hasn't been retconned to be part of Team Sonic, she's invited herself over because she's got her eye on the Paradox Prism (even dropping in unannounced at Tails' workshop). She's got a bit of that playfulness that makes her so fun, and the animation is able to lean into it. But then you go to the other universes and it's all gone.

Pirate Rouge is pretty fun, I'll admit, but I'm shocked they don't play up her love of gems there. Rebel Rouge (yes that is her literal name, the other rebels call her Rebel) gets to be a spy with a fun dynamic with Knuckles at first, but it quickly devolves into her just being the serious, responsible girlboss leading the rebellion who acts as a straight man to Sonic's snark. In other words, she's a lot like... Sally? I hate making that comparison because SatAM/Archie fans have been derisively comparing literally every new female character in the franchise to Sally since the '90s, but it's really hard to shake. (Similarly, it's hard to shake comparisons to Bunnie and Mecha Sally with Rusty Rose, the evil cyborg version of Amy with extendable limbs.) And Rouge's jungle universe counterpart ("Prim Rouge") is also just kind of there as the no-nonsense leader of the tribe, similar to Rebel.

And it's in scenes revolving around the blander of the AU characters when I'm like... man, I kinda wish they'd just made a show about the regular game universe without having to watch Man of Action bust out the pirate joke book and write the dollar store version of Princess Mononoke. I want to spend more time with the actual characters. Because they nailed the tiny glimpses of the game world that we got. This isn't a constant thought I have - again, I like the show, and the major AU characters are cool, and I like seeing new things be done with Sonic. But I'd be lying if I said I never wished the show had gone a different way. My perfect Sonic cartoon continues to elude me...

Story construction

Let's back up a bit and describe the basic premise. On the regular version of Sonic's Earth, things are business as usual, although Sonic seems to be getting a little too cocky and taking his friends for granted. During a fight with Eggman, Sonic accidentally shatters our new macguffin, the Paradox Prism, creating a series of new bad timelines in which he never existed. In that way, I might almost compare it to a multiverse-hopping adventure version of It's A Wonderful Life. A pretty solid emotional throughline to give the show a little more heft. In each of these worlds, Sonic helps set things right with the alternate versions of his friends and finds another shard of the Paradox Prism in an attempt to restore his world. He also usually faces off with the Chaos Council, a team of five alternate Eggmen who are all different ages.

Beyond the fact that there are like five versions of most characters, it's not THAT complicated, especially in a time when damn near everything in pop culture is doing multiverse shenanigans. Which is why it's frustrating that the script seems to think it's fucking House of Leaves.

For the first few episodes, Sonic has a VERY hard time grasping the fact that he's in an alternate universe. This is to be expected to some extent - Sonic is our point of view character through all of this, and it's a kids' show, so he's got to go through a process of figuring things out so that it can be explained to the kids at home. The problem is that it takes him damn near the entire first mini-arc in New Yolk City to figure it out, which starts to come off as insulting and leads to EXTREMELY repetitive dialogue where Sonic wonders why his friends don't remember him and where all the palm trees went. You'd think that by the time Nine explains that his personal history is completely different from how Sonic remembers his time with Tails he'd get a clue, but no, not really. He continues to meet alternate versions of his friends, stubbornly refer to them with their original names, and wonder why no one remembers their previous adventures together. This then somehow even continues into the second universe, the jungle one, where he somehow thinks he's still in New Yolk City and wonders why the cyberpunk rebel versions of his friends are all covered in leaves and wielding spears now. Thankfully, by the time he reaches the pirate world Sonic finally gets a clue, so this isn't a pattern that's going to continue. But it does make the first few episodes a drag.

This, the many recaps, and the out-of-order presentation of scenes back in Green Hill so that they can have a flashback to the regular universe in every episode for context really make it clear that this series was written for TV, not for Netflix. It's assuming that every single episode is going to be some 7-year-old's first episode and that they need to have everything explained again. I'd probably be a bit more sympathetic towards this repetitive, patronizing writing if it actually was airing on Cartoon Network, rather than being a Netflix show where they're dropping eight episodes at a time.

Stiff competition

This is the least fair of my complaints, but I gotta say it. As solid as Sonic Prime is for the most part, it looks worse at the tail end of a year when we've been FEASTING as Sonic fans.

We got a movie sequel that pivoted HARD into game elements, giving us both really great takes on the characters and interesting remixes of old ideas. The IDW comics are still going as strong as ever, with the continually compelling arc of new villains Surge and Kit and now the wildly inventive and downright beautiful to look at Scrapnik Island. And, of course, we got Frontiers, a return to form for the series that adapts it to a semi-open world with the best and most interesting story we've had in god knows how many years.

And then we've got Sonic Prime, a pretty good cartoon that between fun action scenes and interesting story ideas frequently relies on genre pastiches that were tired 30 years ago and jokes that aren't particularly funny.

I think reading Scrapnik Island #3 really put this into perspective for me. Which, again, isn't fair. The comics target older kids and are ALWAYS heavily tied to established continuity, and a comic miniseries can afford to go way more niche than a Netflix show. But Scrapnik is just doing such amazing and original things, bringing back long-forgotten elements of the games and recontextualizing them in fascinating ways. That mix of both the heartwarming sight of the Scrapniks finding happiness in their new lives and the EXTREMELY atmospheric horror aboard the ruins of the Death Egg. It rules! It takes elements hardcore fans wanted to see again and tells a totally new story with them that's unlike anything we've seen before in the franchise. It's really, really hard for "what if Knuckles was a pirate" to compete with that.

But we're still early in Prime. Things are getting more interesting over time, with Sonic acclimating to the dimension hopping and more crossover between the different universes. Nine discovering a completely dead, empty world and wanting to start from scratch there was also really interesting, and I'm curious if that goes anywhere. Again, I've been nitpicking a lot, but the show is pretty good and I've enjoyed my time with it overall. I just don't quite think it's 100% there yet. But I definitely think it could get there within the next 16 episodes.

Misc thoughts

Rouge sleeping like an actual bat is cute.

I like that the environmental themes of the series are such a big focus here! They fall to the wayside too often

I like that the AU characters have different names for the sake of telling them apart, but some of them are pretty bad (the aforementioned Rebel Rouge) while others I just don't get. Why is the old man Eggman named Dr. Done It? Why is the teenage one Dr. Don't?

I thought the scene where Sonic was trying to talk to the New Yolk City crew after a battle and they had to keep ducking under a laser that was still slowly circling the room was funny

The new shoes and gloves are ugly and I think it's really contrived that they magically transform into the perfect tools for every new universe

Between this and Frontiers it's becoming a pattern that Tails and Knuckles can get explicit flashbacks to previous games to highlight their histories with Sonic, while Amy can't. I don't know what to make of this

Thorn is pretty good overall but I do think the flashback depicting her as just randomly snapping one day when her friends pick one too many berries is so hokey that it wraps around to being kinda funny

I've neglected to mention Shadow, but I like him okay in this. It's definitely modern Shadow, but I think "hardass, no-nonsense rival who thinks Sonic is an idiot who acts without thinking and thus wants to kick his ass" is a decent place for Shadow to be in, compared to just The Vegeta, even if it's not my favorite version of the character. I'm curious to see what his role is in the rest of the show, especially given the cliffhanger, and hope he's able to work together with Sonic instead of just being a pissed off antagonist the whole time.

I hate baby Eggman

#tkp post #other media

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ash-muses · 17 hours ago

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How do they talk to small kids? Is their tone demeaning? Do they go down to their level? Do they feel at ease? (Loki. u know i had to send it)

♡ Question from Minor Details About The Muse ♡ Additional tags: @mythical-muses (I thought you might find this interesting since we've been discussing Loki's reactions + relationships with kids, too) ♡ Notes: I'm excluding Avengers-era Loki because of Thanos' influence over him at the time (all debates about whether Loki was tortured by Thanos aside, we already know he was at least influenced by the Mind Stone). Also, no, I haven't watched The Office (I know, it's blasphemy, especially using a GIF from it *sobs*).

Ahhh, thanks for sending this in, Ghosts! ♡ Just a heads up, this post will probably be a bit long~

Most of you know how I am already when it comes to talking about my favorite little beans. ♡ For those of you who don't, I'm so sorry in advance and good luck.

Firstly, his own children would be an entirely different story than some random child(ren), so we'll focus on kids in general.

Secondly, I have to start with a short analysis (well, shorter than what I would like, because I could write for days and in-depth about this topic).

If you don't want to read the character analysis, that's totally fine! Feel free to skip down to the next banner under the cut ("BREAKDOWN").

Lately, I've received more questions about Loki and how he would interact with kids (his own or otherwise), which is really interesting to me. He has such a versatile nature, but something consistent I and many others have noticed is that Loki tends to put others before himself, although maybe not in the ways we would expect or consider to be in that vein. There are a few posts that I absolutely love that go into more detail about that (here and here; future ones will be posted under this tag for anyone curious).

SIDE NOTES (you can skip this, it's just my ramblings & other observations) While the second post talks more about how Loki didn't want the throne, I'd also like to point out that he was trying to do what he thought was best for Asgard and its people by protecting them from Thor's reckless and impulsive, albeit mostly well-meaning, behavior at that time (excluding his attempts at Jotun genocide, despite their realms having a truce at the time, as @mythical-muses and I have previously discussed). A lot of people will point out how Loki did this to further his own agenda. While that certainly may be a part of it, that post also mentions an important piece: Loki looks shocked that he was handed Gungnir, indicating it was an after thought (if it was ever considered to begin with). Mostly, it appears that his goal was to prove that Thor might endanger Asgard — as well as the rest of the Nine Realms — by being hotheaded. Ultimately, this gives leverage to Loki genuinely being concerned about his home and its people, even if his actions lead us to believe he was doing it selfishly; this is a pattern he displays frequently throughout the MCU, although in my experience, tends to be overlooked (I can't speak on the comics since I'm not well versed in those yet, so this is mainly for MCU).

Anyway, my point is that we already know Loki does that for adults. So for children, who are tiny beings that potentially (if not explicitly) feel more intensely, aren't as experienced, struggle expressing themselves, might feel insecure (whether it's about their appearance, skills, heritage, etc.), and may not have decent coping mechanisms yet?

I think that Loki would very much try to meet them on their level, down to the most minute detail and most respectful way that he could manage. I believe that he would want to be better than Odin, better than Laufey — really, better than whatever other adults in his own life seemingly, or flat out, failed him.

SIDE NOTES That isn't to say that the God of Mischief wouldn't occasionally blow a fuse or that he's perfect or that he could handle every situation with grace. There are probably times when he's embarrassed himself with an angry outburst or times when he's played a 'mean' (subjective) joke on them for not listening. I'm thinking about when he summoned that snake with the guard in the deleted scene in Thor 1 (something tells me that children wouldn't be immune to him pulling something like that, particularly if they were rude or ill-mannered).

So, with that character analysis out of the way, we know that...

♡ He's cunning and observant (that's a given, considering who he is) ♡ One established pattern is that he shows concern for others (despite his actions sometimes appearing as selfish) ♡ He tries to handle things diplomatically and/or respectfully (we see this numerous times: when he tries to gently tell Thor they should leave Jotunheim in Thor 1; when he approaches Laufey privately later on - this is debatable because of his intent, but ultimately, he approached Laufey with respect unlike Thor had previously done; when Loki tries to talk to Thor about getting on the Grandmaster's good side; when Loki meets Valkyrie; etc.) ♡ He's still a morally grey character (and will probably play 'mean' jokes on children who are rude, obnoxious, ill-mannered, etc.) ♡ He's understanding, to an extent (remember that he's motivated by various means and highly analytical, so he's probably already mapped out why others choose certain actions, speech, etc.)

Applying this to Loki...

Mostly, I'm talking about my version of Loki for my roleplays. However, this is also a general take I have from the character analysis I've done on MCU Loki since 2011.

He's been taught to be a Prince, so he's keen on manners, discipline, bartering/negotiations, etc. This also includes carrying himself in a certain way in public (this plays a bit into the next question below). With that being said, he has a sort of complex already built that has become a main part of his personality. Frigga has also played a huge role in building said complex, teaching him compassion, kindness, respect, that he doesn't have to be what others make him out to be, that it's okay to be different (fun fact: Seidr magic is typically used by women, whereas Loki learns it from Frigga), etc. Additionally, Loki seems like the type that would show respect until he had a reason not to (even when it comes to the Warriors Three, we still see him addressing them respectfully, despite them mocking him, threatening him, etc. so I feel like this would still apply with children or other adults; it seems like a part of that complex I mentioned above).

Do they feel at ease?

Generally when it comes to children, he's probably going to feel a bit uncertain yet maintain a steady confidence and/or an air of sophistication, although probably diluted or softer compared to his typical demeanor. After all, an adult typically knows who they're addressing (with some exceptions), including royalty/status, name, etc. while a child might not have all the information.

How do they talk to small kids? Is their tone demeaning?

I think he would address them as slightly lesser beings, but not unkindly and, for the most part, not carrying a sense of superiority. I think the superiority part really only comes into play when he's dealing with adults, particularly people who might challenge or threaten the amount of respect he's already earned, especially because he's had to fight for almost every ounce of it. His usual tone would most likely have a steadiness to it, yet an underlying gentleness. I feel like he would try to withhold his annoyance (if he had any; again something that's situational) because it could make it worse. For situations that require discipline, he may use a stricter tone or carry an air of authority (depending on severity, relationship with said child, etc.).

Do they go down to their level?

If the child is one he's unfamiliar with, he's probably not going to physically put himself on the same level. However, I think there's a few exceptions, such as if they're scared, hurt, crying, etc. Then, in order to hold their attention and make a sort of connection, he would probably kneel on one knee and make light contact (one hand on their arm/shoulder, holding out a hand to see if they're comfortable to take it, etc.) — something that provides comfort, support, and/or reassurance (that trait would, undoubtedly, come from Frigga).

#I'M SO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG #I can't shut up about him omg #also I've been waiting for this specifically for Loki lmao <3 #ghostsandmirrors #asks #ooc asks #mcu #loki of asgard #cs; loki #my loki #mine #scheduled

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bonesandthebees · 9 months ago

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ello bones hope youre doing good

just found even more cool songs thanks to you, how do you always have more???

also WE COULDVE HAD YOU DOING ASL??? aw man :( (/lh)

anyway, I just turned in my paper that ive been working on for the last few months (yay, finally, it ate like all of my free time and energy) and suddenly I have too much free time and not much too read or watch (I had saved so many fics I cant manage to read anymore)

any coming of age books (or fics) or movies recommendations? (I need me some honey and tangerines vibes yk? ive been listening to the playlist too much again. one day I think ill read that fic again, but today is not the day)

much love to go you all in the ask box, eli <3

I'm doing pretty good! went to a yoga class tonight and I'm seeing the tommyinnit live show tomorrow so it's shaping up to be a pretty great weekend!

I actually filmed a video to post here on language day and everything but I wanted to redo it so my face wasn't fully in frame but then I just didn't get around to it :( oh well next time

OOO congrats on turning in that paper!! that's a huge accomplishment, I hope you get a great grade on it. and yay for free time!

oh boy ok coming of age recs I can do this. I haven't read any coming of age books since I was a teenager though so keep in my my memory of these are all hazy

books:

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky - hallmarker of the coming of age genre, read this when I was 16 and cried, even if you've seen the movie I highly recommend the book

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire saenz - literally was one of my favorite books for so many years. I read it when I was 15 and became obsessed with it. I still look back on it so warmly it's just such a great book

it's kind of a funny story by ned vizzini - also read this one when I was like 16ish. I remembered enjoying it but not as much as the other two I've listed here. still very good though!

movies:

cha cha real smooth (2022) - actually one of my favorite coming of age films I've ever seen. it's a coming of age film about a guy in his early 20s instead of in his teens which is refreshing in its own. it hit particularly hard for me because I saw it when I was 22 and freshly graduated from college unsure what to do, the main character is 22 and freshly graduated from college unsure what to do. it's also a very unique setup and I really loved how they pulled it off

the edge of seventeen (2016) - this might be a controversial pick because the main character is actually pretty insufferable in this, but that's part of why I enjoyed it. the character is meant to be insufferable. she's a teenage girl dealing with the hell of being a teenage girl and she sucks! it's an intentional thing and it does it very well! I would say it still falls flat in some areas, but I'm mainly recommending it because it's so refreshing to have an mc genuinely be a shitty person

sing street (2016) - I count this as a coming of age movie but it's also kind of a music movie? it's incredibly fun no matter what. the songs are so catchy, the characters are all great, and the relationships are just all very well done

the kings of summer (2013) - genuinely why do I never hear anyone talk about this movie. I haven't seen it in so long but I remember it being incredibly funny with a great dose of summertime whimsy

hunt for the wilderpeople (2016) - tbh I never thought of this as a coming of age movie and it might be a bit different than most of the films on here but I was looking up lists of coming of age movies to try and remember which ones I've seen and I saw this one mentioned a few times. if you're a fan of taika waititi films, in my opinion this is his best one hands down. it's hilarious but also incredibly sweet and heartwarming at the same time

moonrise kingdom (2012) - very charming and storybook esque in the way all wes anderson films are, but with a really sweet story between two kids at its core. again, different from most of the ones on this list, but definitely an enjoyable one all the same

hope this list helps!

#ask #jiksvokrat

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letsplayzelda · 2 years ago

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Hey Listen!

This is my Zelda sideblog to word vomit about my fav lil guys throughout the series. Here I go by Twilight and use they/them pronouns. I'm currently playing through Tears of the Kingdom rn and may post spoilers about it.

Anyways, here's a list of which games I've played (thoughts and word vomit included):

The Legend of Zelda: I've beaten the first quest! Did not 100% it bc this game was too hard for me to manage that. This forced me to have quicker reactions in games and I'm greatful lmao

Adventures of Link: I cannot for the life of me progress. I'm definitely overleveled for where I need to be, but Death Mountain simply bests me every time. I'm still trying tho.

A Link to the Past: I've played the opening, but that's about it.

Link's Awakening: Finished the Switch version! I wanna play the DX version at some point, but that probably won't happen until I play all the other games in the series at least once. I get a little depressed every time I think about Marin...

Ocarina of Time: I have played this game like three times. First on GameCube, then the 3D remake on 3DS, and then the N64 multiplayer mod. I plan on 100%ing it at some point, but I just dread doing heart containers and skulltulas. I wanna play Master Quest at some point too. Agh Link at the end of this game just makes me wanna sob.

Majora's Mask: Similar situation to OoT (I have the Collector's Edition for GC), except I never finished the original version. I've only beat the 3DS version. Recently started the multiplayer mod, but we've only done like 2 cycles.

Oracle of Seasons: I have the 3DS Virtual Console version, but I haven't played it yet.

Oracle of Ages: I played a little bit of this game, but it's been so long that I'll probably restart it when I plan to finish it.

Four Swords: I literally bought a used dsi to get this damn game. I've beat this game, but I've yet to 100% it. Kinda hard to bc it's not as fun playing it single player.

Wind Waker: Playing this game was such a treat. I played the GC version so sailing took literal ages but besides that, I rly enjoyed Tetra <3 tho Nintendo did her dirty. On the trend of beating games, I haven't 100% this one either. There's so many side quests that I simply cannot invest my time in. Like the Goron one? No clue what's going on there.

Four Swords Adventures: Ik there's a sub-fandom that rly loves this game but that's literally the most ik about it. I've yet to play it but I'll have to hunt down a copy at some point.

Minish Cap: oooo I fucking love this game. I haven't finished it yet, but that's because I got sidetracked by so many different things. I've wasted so much time trying to get all the figures it's insane. Plus this game is gorgeous <3

Twilight Princess: I played the Wii version of this game and honestly, I wished I didn't. Not bc I don't like this game, but because I did not like the motion controls. And this was the first time Link was right handed which is kinda lame. So I'll probably play one of the other versions of this game at some point. BUT, I adore the story in this game. Love Wolf Link and Midna. I literally cried at the end of this game, it was absolutely devastating.

Phantom Hourglass: I'm like halfway through this game I think. I'm not a big fan of it's controls or graphics, but I enjoy the follow up to WW. Also Linebeck's character development is very sweet.

Spirit Tracks: Once I finish PH, I'll play this one. Ik I probably don't need to, but I like following timeline stuff.

Skyward Sword: I played the Switch version and it's probably the only way I would've been able to get through it. I mainly played with motion controls but would switch to button controls for certain fights bc I was sick of struggling. Link and Zelda's relationship in this game is very cute. I also rly enjoyed the dungeons and getting more of Hyrule's history.

A Link Between Worlds: My second Zelda game ever, and I still consider it one of my favorites. Ravio and Hilda are some of the best characters ever. I can't remember if I 100% this game, but ik I got very close if I hadn't. If ALttP is as good as this game, I will probably love that game as well.

Tri Force Heroes: I've played some of this game, but I feel it suffers from a lot of the same issues as FS since no one ik has this fucking game. Have I finished it? No. Will I? If I can find two people to suffer through this game with me. I enjoy that the game doesn't take itself too seriously and has a bunch of fun outfits, but that's all I can rly say about it.

Breath of the Wild: My first Zelda game!! I've spent almost 500 hours in this game and still haven't 100% it. I'm at like 86% with just 150ish koroks left but now that TotK is out, it will be a while before I touch the game again. I fucking adore this game (although I hated it at first) and the relationship between Zelda and Link is just. Mwah. Mipha, Sidon, and Urbosa are my favs from this one <3

Tears of the Kingdom: I've been playing this since release day and have been loving it! It definitely fixes a lot of the weird quirks BotW had, but I'm finding I have more issues with this game so far. I'm at around 130 hours with 3 dungeons done so far, but I'll likely dive deeper into my thoughts once I finish the game.

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apompkwrites · 3 years ago

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Hii! I got an idea for reader impact, I just finished the 2.7 archon quest and I wonder how Xiao would react about the whole thing that happened there? Like the cutscene when we got out of the chaotic space and yaksha story cutscene. If you don't like this or haven't played the quest then you can just ignore this :) Thank you and have a good day or night! <3

reader impact || the five yakshas

series masterlist characters: xiao genre: kinda angsty contains: 2.7 archon quest interlude spoilers, very sad xiao summary: with the release of version 2.7, alatus finds the new archon quest hits a little too close to home. it hits even harder considering everything happening to his favorite character. notes: so 2.7 huh? the yakshas are so pretty and for what? unrelated, i have twisted wonderland now, so that's fun :)

he'll get immediately worried for you upon your first appearance.

"ah! oh, it's (name)!" xiao's chat is, as always, pointing out how he physically reacted to the sight of his favorite character. his once rigid posture is now relaxed, his lips twitching into a small smile at the familiar sight of your sleeve. "oh, i came down from above. i heard a noise, so i followed it here." this is the point where xiao gets a bit worried. it's not what you said that caught his attention. it was how you said it. why did you sound surprised? he gets disappointed quick once you disappear, warning the others to not delve deeper into the chasm. his chat can see the way he slumps a bit in his chair once your model is gone.

the next time he sees, or rather hears, you, he's a bit distracted?

it's mainly because of the disorienting turning of the puzzle, but he'll pause when he hears your voice.

"bos... that... you...?" "(name)...?" he's very quiet at this point. the best way to describe him is just confused. before going into this quest, he was told by his chat to "prepare himself". for what, he wasn't sure. but now that you're involved and they told him to prepare, he's thinking the worst. "no... this isn't... look at me! don't make... fight you!" he's always been good at connecting the dots. he's read up on the lore that's been released about you so it doesn't take him long to understand what's happening. "which one is it, chat?" he asks, taking a moment after defeating the vishap hatchlings. "who are they fighting?"

he's really invested at this point. he gets really concerned when you start coughing in the spatial rift.

he thinks you're dying and it's literally taking everything in him to not cry.

you're his comfort character and thinking about you dying after all you've been through is enough to to break him.

it's not just because he's gotten attached to you like many people in the fandom. it's that plus the way he relates to you on a personal level.

so when he hears you in the depths of chasm and finds you again in another spatial rift, he's nervous to say the least.

"that's... new..." he has no idea what to say right now? your character appears on screen with cuts? first off, he was not expecting some sort of model change from genshin impact, yet here it is. so why did it have to be you and why did it have to be injuries? all he can pay attention to is the flowing, what he can only assume to be karma, coming from your cheek. "it's just a flesh wound." he will visibly roll his eyes at your words. it's not like he's annoyed at you, he just knows that you're brushing things off. it's pretty obvious with how your character was written in terms of the effects of karmic debt.

he's glad that you managed to get some rest during the quest :)

he will linger on the shot of you sitting on the floor with your eyes closed.

now, as much as he loves you, he will side with yelan during your initial argument.

he hates the idea of your character self sacrificing for the others.

so, moving onto the next time you meet, he's in awe at seeing you with your weapon.

he's also glad your wounds are gone :)

"stay back!" he actually kind of jumps at your shout. he wasn't really expecting it. "this is my fight alone. do not try to distract me."

as you continue to banter with your opponent on the battlefield, xiao is taking every piece of dialogue in.

he wants to understand what happened to your dear friend.

honestly, he feels like all of your words are an attempt at convincing yourself that the thing you were fighting was not your friend.

okay skipping a bit closer to the end.

he's excited to see an animated cutscene again :D

"general (adeptus/name) falling in!" he's in awe again, watching you don your yaksha mask and pour all of your energy while being surrounded by, what seems to be, spirits. he's not hyped up by the sight of yelan and yanfei fighting, unlike a majority of his chat. "come on... come on..." he's quietly urging you to pull through. and when the screen turns white for a moment only to show your archon, your savior, standing on the balcony of wangshu inn, he lets himself calm down for a moment. he absolutely adores your relationship with the geo archon. he lets out a soft "no" when he realizes that you can't pull through the pain. is it because he doesn't want you to be robbed of your well deserved moment of glory or... ...is it because he realizes what will happen next?

when (color) mist begins surrounding the characters, he knows his chat has also picked up what will happen next. paimon screams your name the same time he mutters it.

he is on the verge of crying when the platform shatters and you begin to fall.

and he nearly lets out a sob when he recognizes the golden symbol of geo catch you and lift you to the surface.

when you bring the traveler to pervases' temple, he's quiet.

"yakshas aren't the valiant warriors that the people of liyue love to paint them as," you huffed. xiao's still as quiet as ever, letting you talk and rant about your true beliefs. "we are slaughterers. nothing more, nothing less." "perhaps the most honorable thing for me, much like bosacius, is to die in the act of saving others." "...don't say that," he'll mutter under his breath. "...these thoughts of mine may be my own insanity."

when paimon relays ushi's message of living happily with people you love, it takes xiao a minute to pull himself together.

he's glad to get his bearings back to listen to you talk about your yaksha friends :)

in terms of the animated cutscene at the end of the quest, he absolutely loves it.

he's been attracted to the yaksha storyline ever since he met you, so being able to actually see what they look like for the first time is wonderful.

and seeing how close all of the yakshas seemed and how they ultimately lost their lives through insanity breaks his heart.

simply because he can see himself in you at that moment.

he ends his stream soon after. he just needs some time alone.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact angst #genshin impact xiao #genshin impact xiao x reader #genshin xiao #genshin xiao x reader #xiao x reader #reader impact

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paranoidpoltergeist · 2 years ago

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Starscream is genuinely such a tragic character because as much as he's just kinda crazy every iteration has something that just makes u feel so bad for him.

IDW Starscream is something I couldn't scrape the surface of if you gave me 107 days. G1 Starscream's is not only mainly just used for comic relief the poor guy, but he lost his partner who then turns around and in his eyes betrays him. I mean Skyfire had every right to go "what in the fuc" and dip but the fact he went with Starscream in the first place tells me that somewhere along the way something happened to make him go coocoo.

In prime he was seemingly manipulated into joining the Decepticons and then constantly talked down to. From my perspective it honestly just seemed like Starscream was after praise or recognition which he never gets, now if this is because Megatron's a dick or because of the dark energon idk. I mean he kept the Decepticons afloat the entire time Megatron was gone chasing what was by all accounts a myth and did more then we saw Megs do THE ENTIRE SERIES. He managed to kill an Autobot, we never actually see any casualties and they've got a steady flow of energon.

I mean even in RID his main goal was to just kill Megs and tbh if I'd been beat down over everything I did, even if it was wrong bc I personally thought it was the right way to go about it, I'd be majorly pissed too. Yeah he wants control of the Decepticons but(and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong it's been a very long time since I've watched prime) I only remember him actually attempting to kill Megatron once or twice. Sure he was self serving but just bc he wants respect.

Bayverse Starscream was just the saddest thing I've ever seen. He could breathe and Megatron was drop kicking him off a building, didn't even get to be the treacherous sic jeez💀

Dude the WFC Trilogy was so wild idek how to word it so kind of a take on his character as a whole here. It was weird and characterizations were way off but I actually liked Starscream. He was still the guy we know and love but with a neat twist. He still had that tragic feeling to him especially getting traumatized and all but Dinobot telling him everything he went through wasn't an excuse to hurt other people was just *chefs kiss* bc it's really not. As tragic as Stars character is it's not an excuse for him to hurt the people around him. I mean no matter how bad I can feel for Prime Screamer he still used and manipulated everyone around him(Knockout for one). This is in no way me trying to justify or make him a good guy, a character can be tragic while still being a bad person. Somebody get him in therapy lol.

Oh man and don't get me started on the Unicron Trilogy Starscream. Probably the most tragic of them all, poor guy did not deserve any of Megatrons abuse. Allow me to let him speak for himself "I tried to gain favor from you, but nothing was ever good enough. No matter how many battles I fought, you always found fault." He really just wanted recognition, he literally sacrificed himself just so Megatron could get it through his thick head he needed to team up with the Autobots, and I recently had someone point out to me Starscream probably could have done some damage to Unicron with Swindle but he knew he was gonna die and he didn't wanna drag his mini-con down with him. Just ow.

Animated Screamer was just wild idek what he was on I can't defend him lmao bro opens the show trying and almost succeeded in killing Megan. I'd comment on Cyberverse if I could but I haven't actually got to watching that yet whoops. I feel like I remember seeing a clip of him talking about wanting the respect he deserved which honestly could have been his ego talking or really sad idk, but back to what I was originally saying.

Almost every time he shows up and you pay him any attention besides comic relief he's a super tragic character and it's not only what makes him one of my favorite but it makes me sad when I see people completely disregard everything but whats on the barest of surface levels. I feel like that's all Micheal Bay did he remembered Star being comic relief and so thats all he was. He's like an onion for lack of a better analogy, got a million layers, might make u cry, and you either love him or hate him. He could be such a compelling interesting character like with IDW but no one wants to look below the surface AND I GET IT 9/10 were literal children's shows so they're forgiven but Micheal Bay is on my hit list for that one.

edit: bro if this makes absolutely zero sense I literally wrote and posted this at 3am and then just scheduled it at a normal time for reasons I'm not actually 100% on so sorry💀

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 2 years ago

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if you're up for it out of the ones you know how would the other non-comics Edwards rank? (Unburied, HQ Show and whichever else you've seen?)

this is going to be considerably more hinged because I just straight up haven't seen a lot of the cartoons that Riddleboy has popped up on and generally have less feelings about them; the comics are where I really get crazy get stupid about him. but let's talk about a couple highlights! no ratings, they're all good little bastards.

John Glover (Batman: The Animated Series)

he's not my FAVORITE favorite but like. come on. he's a good little Riddler! he riddles like crazy! and I like BTAS rogues on principle, I love that they can definitely murder people but stay classy about it.

I usually prefer Riddlers who are driven to riddle by a desire to fuck (with) Batman, but I actually REALLY respect that this guy originally just wanted to murder his shitty former boss. that guy sucked and he did deserve to get disemboweled by a mechanical minotaur in an enormous labyrinth that Eddie apparently spent a year building on his own dime!

I'm also kind of indebted to his existence because Eddie in BTAS spinoff comics is just. my favorite little guy. him!

Dave Franco (Young Justice)

I'm gonna keep this quick because there isn't a lot to say: this Riddler kind of sucks but is also pretty much spot-on. like he's irritating but the whole narrative knows he's irritating; sweet baby Dick Grayson seems fucking exhausted the second he shows up and all the other villains at Belle Reve bully him like a bunch of cunty middle schoolers. I'm a simple man; I love when even the other villains want to kill this man on sight. his design also kind of sucks; like there are so many elements here that sort of work but just aren't that remarkable altogether? he looks like he does other bad guys' taxes.

having said all of that I do genuinely adore that in his first episode he's the only guy who manages to break out of Belle Reve during what was planned to be a mass breakout, especially given that the aforementioned bullying would strongly suggest nobody even told him that was going to happen. I love when he's the slippiest boy! escaping things is sort of a riddle; let him have that.

also, hey, I have to say this: it's just. so weird that he's Dave Franco. he's not bad in the role at all but. why.

Jim Rash (Harley Quinn: The Animated Series)

speaking of animated shows that know he's annoying and just roll with it!!

I like the Harley Quinn series quite a lot for a lot of reasons, mainly because it's not precious about the DC mythos and will frequently just do some buckwild shit with very established characters with absolutely zero hesitations. the Riddler is the opposite of that; this show knows exactly why and in what ways he's supposed to be an insufferable little freak and they go for it full throttle. don't love the bald + question mark tattoo look but he's gay so it balances out.

Hasan Minhaj (Batman Unburied)

yeah there's no normal way to explain this one, this version of the Riddler crawled deep inside one of my brain wrinkles and is still sitting there chirping like a cricket. I can't even explain why but if I think about him too long I begin frothing at the mouth. I think about him a profoundly abnormal amount and I feel great about it. he's only in four episodes and managed to rot a hole in my psyche in significantly less than that. I just think he's neat. he's awful. he's pathetic. he's my little meow meow. I don't want anyone to fix him. I'll cry if he gets worse. I want to see him implode. I've said it before and I'll say it again, whatever happens in season 2 of Unburied is going to make me truly unbearable as a human being.

#edward riddlehands

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extorchic · 4 years ago

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TOP 5 SK8 Episodes

So I got tagged by @akira-cr to make this list, it took some time but I think I've sorted out my mind, thank you for considering me 😊. Now here comes the list, sorry if it's supposd to be objective, but I'm gonna let my heart out over here (It's gonna be a long post and I'm not gonna cut it ):

NUMBER 5 - Episode 6 - Steamy Mystery Skating?! (A.K.A. The beach episode 🏊‍♂️)

Well this is supposed to be "breather" episode, and it's basically the one that sold the series to me. I like how fun and chill this episode is, although it does (further) foreshadow Reki's insecurity issues. The music is of course SUBLIME! "Seize the Moment" is probably my favorite insert song of all time! (it's been present in Reki's beefs as well, but here it really reflects the fun nature of his character and the show overall). And of coruse, FANSERVICE, not so much in how the boys were in swimsuits (though I gotta admit Reki does look good in them), but on the RENGA interactions!

That hug gave me life! How Langa was worried 24/7 about Reki being injured, at the end when they skated together to escape from the Bantu! I gotta admit that I have some mixed feelings about the implications of Reki being attracted to the faceless girl (I mean, Bi rep is very important too), but I guess my shipping side was just as jelaous as Langa was supposed to be (according to the fans LOL).

NUMBER 4 - Episode 11 - King vs. Nobody (A.K.A. Reki rising! ✨🌺🌞⚙️)

Reki is, without a doubt, my favorite character. He doesn't need to win, he doesn't need to be super flashy while skating, he just needs to be himself. He's been through a lot, many people (including me) have felt tremendously related to him, and seeing him in this episode is just satisfying. With his issues behind, with a promise to skate with Langa after he wins and no longer fearful, Reki rematches against Adam; and the way he does is fantastic! Taking advantage of his creativity, observative skills and mechanical knowledge on skateboarding, he faces up against the main boss and manages to not only endure his violent ways (which were gruelling to see, TBH), but also SOUNDLY HUMILIATE HIM in front of the whole S Community!

Yes, Adam, the "God of S", in the ground covered in mud by a boy almost everyone dissmissed! It was really sunshine through rainfall! I must also add how much I liked to see his renewed relationship with Langa, how much they treasure their company after patching up. I want to elaborate on this in its own post but I personally see that their interactions from this point on are more, I don't know, tender, caring, still playful but not in an entirely comedic way. The way they see each other is also deeper, anyway, it's just what I see.

NUMBER 3 - A DRAW: Episode 8 - The Fated Tournament! and Episode 9 - We Were Special Back Then (A.K.A. The month in which I was in an emotional crisis because of anime sk8t3r b0is 🍎🐍😭🛹❄🍵🌸 )

This is the point in which I got into the show, and the fandom (Yeah, haven't been around for too long). At this point the show wasn't the same, and I realized it when I caught up. Though there were some cool skating scenes in these episodes, the events that caught my attention were outside the road (Yeah, this was no longer just a skateboard anime, it's a whole lot more). Though I had been mainly focusing on Reki and Langa, I really liked having more backstory related to Joe, Cherry, Adam and Tadashi. Seeing how Adam went through a terrible childhood, convoluted teeange years to culminate in an adult with too much power for his own good and a twisted sense of "love", along with some extremely serious psychological issues was very interesting.

I acknowldge him as a complex villain, but that DOES NOT justify what he did to Cherry. This only proves that just because we know his backstory, we don't have to sympathize with him (Adam's just such a terrible person). On the RENGA side, we see Reki avoiding Langa after their rift, and how this affected both. We have Langa's sadness increase scene after scene, as well as his passion for skating dwindling as progressively. Reki on the other hand, just falls deeper and deeper in his depression, but also being unable to stop thinking about Langa, and he ends up going to S to see the latter's match against Joe. It's hard to see whether there's envy, jelaousness, frustration, admiration, pining or fear of being left behind in his mind. It must have been hard for a 17 y/o.

Reki also defends Langa from people speaking behind his back and shouting his name during the race boosts Langa's performance tremendously. This culminates on Reki realizing that the thing he actually wanted was to skate alongside Langa, not on the side, not as support, but together, he just couldn't. There's also the scene which may or may not confirm that Langa's feelings for Reki are more than just friendship! (Felt represented, for reals).

NUMBER 2 - Episode 7 - We Don't Balance Out (A.K.A. This was supposed to be a fun show!😭⛈️💔️)

I wrote a lot about the episodes in the previous spot, but this is the one that flipped the tables, the game-changer, and the one that hit closer home. It is a sad episode, no races there, it's just here for us to see how the circumstances affect the characters. It was hard to see how Reki, who at this point had been nothing but supportive and proud of Langa, starts to see him flying farther from him. Is it jealousness? Dissatisfaction? Is it fear of loneliness? Adbandoment issues? Is it feeling inferior? Frustration? Not being able to improve? Admiration? Care?

And on top of that a broken promise. I just can't imagine how hard is it for a 17 y/o to deal with all of those conflicting issues in his head, as well as the toxic competitive environment on the "S Community". This just came to show that he wasn't just the excitable, goofy sidekick character, he goes deeper than that, and makes him relatable. We also see a deconstruction of the cool, aloof prodigious character in Langa, as he just can't comprehend what's going on with Reki, and he's hurt by it, but still needs to figure out his own ambitions and desries. This leads to the emotional conclusion of the episode (which in turn left me in the aforementioned 4-week-long emotional crisis, thank you)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Episode 12 - Our Infinity! - The race was cool, the Renga hug gave me life and everyone had a happy ending

Episode 5 - Passionate Dancing Night! - Despite the beef between Langa and Adam being cool, we start to see Reki worrying about Langa and opening up to him, further deepening their bond.

Episode 2 - Awesome for the First Time! - There's just something special about sharing something you're passionate about with someone else. Watching Reki teaching Langa the basics of skateboarding was heartwarming

NUMBER 1 - Episode 10 - DAP Not Needing Words

After 4 weeks waiting, the anticipation for this episode was gargantuan. Reki's depression was hitting its lowest point, bordering in self-harm, and hurting others as well. Langa continues to look for Reki after seeing him briefly at the hospital while visiting Shadow and we get to see this loving scene where he watches videos of Reki learining how to skate. After confronting Tadashi and realizing that he loves skating because it's fun, he returns home to find out that Langa had been waiting for him but left shortly before he arrived.

This leads to a heartful reunion, where words can't express their feelings, so they resort to do their thing, to skate, and that's where the feelings flow. This is when Langa tells Reki how he admires him tremendously and Reki understands that Langa'll be there by his side, and leaves his fears behind. With a mutual desire to skate together infinetely and a new dap, they rekindle their bond. People watched this show for different reasons, and though I like the skateboarding aspect because it looks cool, my interest leans more on the relationship aspect, and Reki and Langa's is so deep and intimate, and I liked seeing it grow from zero through different hardships (in other words, in all of the years I've been in a fandom, I had never shipped any other pair like these two, I needed to say that).

So I guess it's time to tag some people:

@pico-sour, @sleebycryptid, @elizabethslee, @itsamole, @kaorucherry, @blueflame97, @trieizieme, @tardiskitten, @lady-pendragon-9

So, if you've read until this point, thank you very much (I know it's not supposed to, but this post is yet again a very long "I love Renga" one, but it's what my heart wanted me to write 😅). I'd love to see people other than the ones I tagged showing their lists 😃

#sk8 the infinity #sk8 #sk8 reki #reki kyan #sk8 langa #langa hasegawa #sk8 renga #renga #lanreki #rekilan #top 5 #sk_8

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tricewithaz · 4 years ago

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THOTS ON SHADOW AND BONE

Hello everyone! it is I, Trice, and i come with my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone show cause ive got many

I'm gonna divide this in what i liked, what i disliked, and what i think could have been better but didn't really bother me. Feel free to send your opinions too!

As a whole, I really liked the show and I think it's a great adaptation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy. It's super well done! and every episode had me glued to the tv even though I knew what was going to happen.

Beware this is long

To start,

What i liked

Mal and Alina

I never really liked Mal in the books, mainly cause he had like, nothing going on for him, and not having his pov made him no favors whatsoever. Alina's perception of him was everychanging, two factors that didn't make him unlikeable necessarily, but that made me not want to read about him. In the show he's way more likeable and even though he still doesn't have a lot going on for him, you can see that he's always trying to protect alina, and you also see a bit of his demeanor through Archie's acting. I think he made a great job at portraying him. And Alina! Alina who in the books was essentially a y/n sort of character (although she did get better over time), her character, likes, dislikes, her DRIVE was incredibly portrayed in the show. Also Jessie (loml, marry me) and Archie have incredible chemistry together and they sold their yearning SO WELL (and so did the kid actors portraying them as children oh my GOD)...yall...i cried when they held hands. My favourite scene was definitely when Alina took care of Mal's wounds (a favorite trope of mine). And the HURT in their eyes whenever they thought the other was in danger....i saw the show dubbed but I'm sure their voices made it beyond incredible as well, their face acting was just on. point. Overall the show rEALLY makes me root for them both individually and together which is something the books didn't manage to do.

The Darkling

AAAAA i really enjoyed the Darkling omg, incredible charisma, Ben does such a great job (and so did his voice actor in Spanish oh my GOD). His acting was just as I imagined it in the books and i loved how he could be as sweet and mysterious as he could be menacing. In fact! i liked him more than i did in the book, and i think it was a great choice to make him more human. I'm not sure if this was Ben or the writing, but i could really see his yearning for an equal, for Alina, his loneliness and his thirst for power and control too. Great love interest, even greater villain. And his wardrobe was phenomenal. I also really liked how they implied that The Darkling was a name given by other people, it was very believable that people would call someone who literally controls shade something akin to "son of the dark" or something of the sort, instead of it being a name he gives himself or his job title (both if which are incredibly pathetic and cringy to think about).

Jesper

No comments. He was just great. I love Kit.

Nina

Omg Danielle did SUCH a great job at portraying Nina, it's exactly how i imagined her in Six of Crows.

Helnik

THE. YEARNING. THE. CHEMISTRY. I didn't love their scenes at the boat but once that was over I was practically screaming at the screen to jUST KISS ALREADY. Calahan and Daniell have such good chemistry together and the few changes they made only served the story better. I did wish they had development over more time cause Matthias' change of mind felt too quick, but i get why they had to rush. Because of how good their chemistry was, their fallout also was incredibly painful.

Inej's fear of the Menagerie and her morals

Amita's portrayal of Inej's hurt, devotion and her refusal to kill (and later hurt cause she has killed) is incredibly subtle but so SO effective. She's so talented really and truly sold Inej's feelings throughout the show.

VFX

Man.....the fold, the volcra, the grisha powers.....kudos to the animators and overall artistic team cause they were incredible. Also seeing the different title animations in each episode was such a tiny detail that made me so excited and they all looked so good.

Ketterdam

Again, kudos to the artistic team, everything about Ketterdam felt so alive (and weirdly moist), truly sold a kind of aesthetic and life that is so characteristic if the Barrel, even when i didn't imagine it that way in the books.

David

He appeared like, twice, and both times were so cute and charming I can't wait to see more of him both on his own and with Genya.

The Wardrobe

So, at first i hated the keftas. I thought the looked tacky and costume, but when you see them on screen they're just perfect (although i have to say the patterns on some of the keftas were kind of...cheap looking? and the training keftas were just kinda boring. My favourite was the Darkling's. Aside from that, i really liked Kaz's and inej's clothes too. Very distinctive and recognizable (although it was kind of weird seeing Inej in teal instead of purple lmao).

And the queen's dresses. Chefs kiss.

It's...so cheesy (affectionate)

The whole show felt like the kind of movies I would watch as a kid like Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. The writing was stylized enough to make it incredibly dramatic and overall there was just so much heart behind all of it. Definetely a show to watch again and again and feel all of it, cause that's what it being so cheesy managed, to make me actually feel for it. It feels like something to watch on a rainy afternoon after a bad day....it's great okay i really enjoyed it, even (specially) the most unbelievable parts of it. And here's the thing, it's something that i think a lot of newer tv and film have lost, so this is good.

What i didn't like

Zoya

Mostly cause of the writing. Originally, in the first book, i didn't like her, neither as a character (stereotypical mean girl with no other motivation than to bang the love interests....all three of them....what's new i still think it's an incredibly sexist trope) or a person (hey at least this was intentional), but over time i grew to LOVE her (mean girl turns out to have a good heart and actually respects the mc and decides to fight alongside her cause it's what's right, without necessarily liking her or giving up her character??? AND she has strong motivations??? now THAT'S new). In the show, i hoped they would keep her mean girl nature while foreshadowing her depth, but all they did was turn her into a petty seductress with barely any screentime, and that only makes her not even a bad antagonist but just a boring character to watch. Not only that but they took away a big part of her character that needed to be developed in the next books. I wanted to watch her rivalry with Alina, her unjustified venomous tongue too, I wanted to be entertained by her and I wasn't. This was also a problem cause when she finally changed teams, and when she hugged Alina, it was incredibly unsatisfying, it would have had a way stronger effect if we had seen her being Ruthless Zoya with a big ambition. I also didn't like how we were told that she didn't like alina, or that she had a family, instead of it being shown on screen. Just from the show, all i can tell you about her is that she likes to bang people and she has a good moral code i guess. Yall, I'm so petty about this.

Kaz

So, I didn't hate him, in fact i think I would have enjoyed him if I hadn't read the books first, cause the two things that bother me about him were two essential characteristics of him in the books. FIrstly, he seems so strained, instead of the seemingly laid back, almost chill looking (even though we know he's not chill at all) Kaz we see in the books, the Kaz that always knows something that you don't. Show Kaz doesn't seem to always be in control, to always have the last word, the last laugh. Instead he seems strained, all the damn time. And I think this is mainly a writing and directing issue. And he also seems weak, something Book Kaz would never do. This is also an issue cause because he doesn't have the same presence he has in the books, the times where he is weak, don't seem as effective. Sure, Pekka Rollins has essentially reduced him and humiliated him, but I haven't seen enough of Kaz being actually dangerous for this to be shocking and for Pekka to seem even more hateable (and, i really liked Pekka, loved him as an antagonist more than i did in the books). Idk, Kaz was so charismatic and just fun and engaging to read in the books that his portrayal in the show felt lacking.

Alina's power's VFX

The little suns were cute and all but the light coming from within her was just ugly I'm sorry.

SFX

A lot of the sound design was just too stylized for the tone of the show i think. I particularly remember the sound of Mal's punches....what's that about.

What i think could have been better, but didn't particularly dislike

The Crows' storyline

And i think part of this is a consequence of Kaz not being as witty as he was in the books. Where's the incredibly complicated heist moves? the even more unbelievable C and D plans when something goes wrong? I didn't like that them getting Alina was essentially just luck, cause i didn't see enough of them being smart and quick on their feet. I also think it was unnecessary to have their storyline mixed with Alina's, i would have enjoyed watching a different heist, maybe in Ravka as well, and them incidentally crossing paths with Alina, more than i liked this storyline. ironically enough, the heist was the part i was least interested in

Genya and Alina

I just feel like her relationship with Alina wasn't strong enough, and i think it's because the show tried to make us believe they were much closer than they were without spending the necessary time in them.

Overall, I really really enjoyed the show, i will be watching it again (particularly cause i want to watch it in English) and i cannot wait for the second season omg (although i have to say, I'm scared for Nikolai)

I think that's all! I would also love to read yall's opinions and have a conversation.

#Shadow and Bone #Shadow and Bone spoilers #sab #sab spoilers #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #six of crows #malina #helnik #shadow and bone series #sab review

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cuttlefishkitch · 4 years ago

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hello! i haven't talked to you before, but ron said that i could ask you for some advice on writing eds? (i'd like to know things to avoid/common things that could come up in everyday life that would be good to mention/the sort of aids and stuff they'd have maybe?/anything else you think is relevant)

Hi! Sorry this took so long, a combination of ADHD and chronic pain slowed me way the fuck down. Thank you for being patient!

EDIT: WEIRD HEEL THINGS I FORGOT!!

So, before I get into this I should probably say I technically haven’t been diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS for anyone reading) because it’s one of those syndromes that takes forever to get diagnosed with (it took a friend of mine’s mother over 30 years to get dxed). Many doctors, and everyone I know who does have EDS agree with me that it’s probably what causes my chronic joint pain and some of my other chronic issues. But just because three separate doctors have said “Yeah Probably” doesn’t mean I’m diagnosed!! Only a geneticist can do that!! And they had two-three year waitlists BEFORE the apocalypse happened.

I am diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Small Fiber Neuropathy, and potentially misdiagnosed with Fibromyalgia (once I get properly tested for EDS I might get undiagnosed with this because I don’t have most of the main symptoms of Fibro, but I got diagnosed with it anyway because it’s what doctors misDX you with when they don’t know what’s wrong with you and don’t want to do more tests).

All that said, I’ve done a lot of research about EDS (mainly because it’s the only thing that explains all my symptoms since doctors seem incapable of doing so), and know a few people who have either confirmed or suspected EDS, so I’ll link to some stuff, talk about the symptoms that often come with EDS, explain how the symptoms I have affect me, because just because someone’s not diagnosed doesn’t mean they aren’t having symptoms, and probs elaborate a bit about writing physical disabilities and chronic pain in general because it’s super important to me!

So RESOURCES aka how to make sure your post never sees the light of day because you’re linking things and tumblr hates it when people give other people information!!

Youtubers! If you want to know about the day to day of living with EDS or any disability or chronic illness I super suggest finding a youtuber that makes videos about their life. My EDS favorites are

Jessica Kellgren-Fozard

Annie Elainey

Amy Lee Fisher

Websites! If you’re asking random folks on tumblr I’m assuming (and hoping) you’ve already done the basic WebMD google searches and looked over the seemingly ridiculous lists of symptoms and related conditions, so here are a few websites that are made more for people than for doctors.

The Ehlers Danlos Society

OhTWIST (That’s Why I’m So Tired)

ChronicPainPartners (the fact that they have an entire section of articles called “Dealing with Doctors” should really tell you something)

Books! If you feel like doing actual reading! I suggest reading books written by people with Ehlers Danlos, to get a feel for how they portray themselves. I’m not saying steal, but it’s probably a good point of comparison to see how your portrayal feels. (haven’t actually read these b/c my ADHD doesn’t let me read)

Ria Ruse by Morgan S. Ray (a superhero book with a disabled super MC!!)

Mysteries of Maybelle by Imani Benfell (Imani is still in high school and has already written and self-published a book cause she didn’t have enough representation for herself how cool is she!!)

Bodies in Motion by Liana Brooks (tw for pregnancy problems and miscarriages in the link, because it’s a blog post talking about integrating EDS symptoms into the story without explicitly naming them as such)

OKAY, now for some rambling about EDS SYMPTOMS!!!

Ehlers Danlos is one monster of a genetic condition in complexity and variety. There are THIRTEEN different identified types of EDS, it often comes with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and/or POTS, and can lead to various other conditions like gastroparesis, chiari malformation, craniocervical instability, and/or bad teeth. So if you’re going to be writing a character with EDS consider what other comorbid conditions they might also have. I’m mainly going to be talking about Hypermobile EDS (hEDS) because it’s what I probably have and what I’m most familiar with. That said there is a lot of overlap in symptoms with the other varieties.

I started typing this section and realized I was going to have to break it down even more so we’re going to talk about Chronic Pain, Unstable Joints (Dislocations and Subluxations), Skin Things, Mobility Issues, and Other Weird Shit and how those things get addressed separately.

Gonna get the Other Weird Shit out of the way first. Because EDS is a malfunction of connective tissue it can fuck up all sorts of random things. For instance, I and many other people w/ hEDS have trouble swallowing. Shit gets stuck in my throat, I sometimes choke on and have to cough up food, and pills can be hard to swallow, which sucks cause I take A Lot Of Pills. If it doesn’t cause full-on gastroparesis it can cause IBS or other digestive problems b/c the digestive tract is mostly made of connective tissue. It can potentially cause heart problems even if they aren’t as big of a risk as in some other forms of EDS. Premature osteoarthritis is common because what you need is more joint pain. And Fatigue OH BOY THE FATIGUE. And of course the headaches, can’t forget those pesky migraines can we!

AND piezogenic papules!! I completely forgot!! Piezogenic papules are little white bumps that appear when you put weight on your heel. In some people they hurt, but in others they don’t. They’re technically tiny little herniations of fat peaking through the fascia in the heel. They were added as part of the diagnostic criteria for hEDS in 2017!

Now for Skin Things cause it’s not as big a thing in hEDS as it is in other forms. Basically, in a lot of forms of EDS, the skin is extra stretchy and extra delicate. It bruises and tears easily, people with the extreme versions of this can accidentally scratch something into an open wound if they aren’t careful. My skin is pretty soft and sensitive, I def have the typical velvety skin, and as is pretty par for the course of someone with hEDS my skin is a little stretchy, and sorta delicate. I’m not as tissue-papery as some people get, but I almost always have at least one mystery bruise or scrape b/c existing is hazardous. Most of scars are also pretty normal, unlike the extremely papery and atrophic scars (though I have a few tiny acne scars that are atrophic) that are common with other kinds of hEDS. Something that I DO have is Lots of Stretch Marks, all over my thighs, and even down to my calves. Which wouldn’t be abnormal, except for the fact that I’ve never been over 145 lbs and I’ve never been pregnant. Having a lot of stretch marks or striations in the skin without due cause happens because the structure of the skin isn’t as strong as it is in people with a normal amount of connective tissue.

I don’t have to worry as much about my skin but people that do are usually very careful with adhesives because they can irritate or tear the skin, which sucks when you need a lot of bandaids cause your darn skin won’t do its job.

Now on to the meatier stuff and since I’m mostly working backward let’s do Mobility Issues!! These can happen in loads of ways, but a lot of what causes these in people with EDS are the other two things I wanna talk about. Unstable joints lead to increased risk of injury when doing stuff people with fully functioning joints can do.

For context, I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user, meaning I can walk, but a lot of the time it’s better if use a chair. Mine is mostly for my POTS symptoms, but the fact that my legs aren’t also in absolute agony is a big plus. I use a custom manual wheelchair with a SmartDrive (b/c I’m very fucking fortunate and have good insurance) whenever I leave the house and have to be “walking” for more than a few minutes at a time. I can’t fully self-propel in a manual chair because it would be damaging to the joints in my arms and hands, but the smaller chair is easier to maneuver in less than accessible spaces (like almost everywhere). There was about a month-long span where I used a very cheap and very bulky electric chair while I was waiting on the ideal set up I have now. Before that, I also briefly used, and sometimes still use, an up-right posture cane.

People with EDS have widely varying mobility issues because of how uniquely it can manifest. My cane only gave me a little help with balance because if I used it in any prolonged capacity any pain it took away from my legs was relocated to my arms, and as an artist, my arms are more important to me!

If you’re going to write a character with EDS having mobility issues as a result of their EDS the best thing to do is to narrow down their specific needs. Are their knees complete and utter garbage but their shoulders and wrists strong? Maybe they can get away with using a cane. Can they not stand for longer than 5 minutes because of the vertigo from their POTS? Maybe they need a manual wheelchair. Would propelling themself damage their back and arm joints? An electric chair might be necessary! Plenty of people with EDS use all sorts of combinations of these aides to get around their life, consider how your character’s good and bad days would be. Do they have back up plans if they overestimate themselves? There can be a lot to manage, but don’t let it scare you off! Sometimes I try and make it into a resource management game (because I’m a game designer and that’s what I do), to make evaluating my energy and mobility needs more fun!

But now let's tackle some of the reasons those mobility aides might be needed. Unstable Joints.

Ever stepped wrong and rolled your ankle? It hurts for a few steps and then kinda fixes itself, or maybe it bothers you for the rest of the day and you put it up and ice it when you get home? When I was walking around outside my house that would happen AT LEAST once a month, usually more. Some times I’m sitting wrong and when I get up my knee isn’t a knee anymore and decides to just give out from under me. My knuckles are made of unruly popcorn and they Don’t Want To Stay Home!! Oh! And my shoulder is more often out a little out of its socket than it is fully in.

Unstable joints lead to Dislocations and Subluxations of varying intensity, and some people get them more frequently than others. Some can be severe enough to necessitate hospital visits and even surgery, some subluxations are so banal (like my fUCKING SHOULDER) that you just learn to live with the pain.

If a character is going to be in high action, combat-heavy scenarios, chances are they’re going to be popping out joints left and right. Hell, depending on the severity of their joint laxity they could be doing the same sitting at a desk. Again, it’s incredibly varied. I’d suggest setting some sort of baseline for yourself, of what a character’s joints can and can’t stand up to, and maybe do some research on which joints are most likely to pop out in general (hips and shoulders are big culprits being the wacky ball and socket motherfuckers they are). Then maybe have something pop out or hold up every so often when it shouldn’t cause hey! EDS is kinda just like that! Unpredictable!

Some ways people manage joint laxity is with braces, KT tape, and physical therapy. Braces come in many different forms, since I’m currently getting pretty much no treatment for my shitty joints I use mostly compression braces made for sporty people. It really is amazing how much a bit of tight fabric can do to keep my wrist in place.

More specialized braces often have solid parts to prevent the joints from hyper-extending (bending the wrong way) and causing further damage. If you ever see someone with what looks like diamond shaped rings around a bunch of their finger joints, chances are those are Ring Splints, and are there to keep the finger shaped like a finger. I want to get my hands on some and get some on my hands Very Badly, because my fingers hyper-extend SO MUCH when I type, and it makes my hand pain way way worse.

KT tape is another thing people often use. It’s stretchy tape you put on your skin and it basically functions kinda like a second ligament as well as reinforcing the joint and keeping the bones mostly where they’re supposed to be. The problem with this is a lot of people with EDS have very sensitive and fragile skin like I mentioned before, so KT tape can cause allergic reactions, chronic skin irritation, or just straight up take the skin with it when someone goes to remove it. Hence a lot of folks are really careful with it.

Physical Therapy is kinda the best (and only) treatment for joint laxity aside from Very Invasive and sometimes Highly Experimental surgery. It focuses on strengthening the muscles around the joints so they can do the work all those bone ropes made of body glue can’t. The problem is finding a physical therapist that 1) knows what EDS even is, 2) knows you have it, and 3) knows how to treat it without doing stuff that’ll Phucking Hurt You Worse!! Because exercising wrong with EDS can do Permanent Damage!!!

Again most folks use a combination of all of these things, or have next to no access to them b/c healthcare sucks.

Anyway, on to one of my favorite topics, Chronic Pain!! One of the reasons this post took me so long!!!

Chances are if your character has chronic pain as a result of their EDS there are gonna be some things they hate, including stairs, rain, thunderstorms, stairs, hills, uneven terrain, oh and did I mention stairs??? It’s going to vary person to person, but almost everyone I’ve met with pain from EDS has complained about their knees. For me the most debilitating pain is in my fingers and wrists. They’re by far my least stable joints but I use them constantly for stuff like drawing, typing, and sewing.

Because my joint pain is so wide spread, like most people’s with hEDS, it effects every single part of my day to day life. I can’t carry a heavy ceramic plate, open a bottle, or even use my computer without pain. It’s practically impossible for me to get comfortable in any position be it sitting or laying down, and as you can imagine that makes it hard to sleep a lot of the time. Moving too much hurts, but so does sitting still. I’m constantly taking braces on and off or cracking/stretching my joints so they pop back into place and hurt less.

Also being in pain makes everything else That Much Worse. I get tired way faster than I did before my pain was this bad (I had chronic pain for a while before actually realizing it wasn’t normal to not be able to walk down the block without feeling like your foot bones are trying to escape). My sensory issues and anxiety disorder are more easily aggravated because my base level of comfort is way worse. It fucks with my depression. And OH BOY does it make my ADHD worse because being in pain is fucking distracting as hell and makes it harder to make decisions and switch tasks. Also my ADHD often makes my other symptoms worse cause I forget to take my meds, don’t drink enough water, or can’t find my fucking braces because the item eating black-hole that comes with ADHD stole them. The intersection of mental and physical disabilities is probably a rant for another time though, so back to chronic pain.

Does it suck? Yes, undoubtedly. Is this incredibly debilitating? Of course it is, I spent the last several months unable to feed myself without assistance because there was a staircase between my room and the kitchen and I could only manage to climb it once a day. Is it overwhelming? Definitely, I’ve frequently broken down crying from a combination of pain and frustration because I’m having a bad day and there’s no relief to be found. Am I able to predict when it’s going to rain with uncanny accuracy because any change in barometric pressure makes me feel like every bone in my body is trying to kill it’s neighbors? You bet your fucking ass I am!! Does it sometimes make me irritable, angry, and occasionally dismissive of when abled people get cold or a temporary injury because the stuff they’re complaining about is my life every single day and all avenues of treatment and recovery I have could take years and still not entirely solve my issues? Yeah, and while I deserve a little extra patience I also have to be sure to check myself because I don’t want to turn into someone who’s nasty to be around. Do I sometimes need to sleep for 17 hours straight because it’s raining, I have migraine, and I’m in too much pain to be conscious? Yup, sometimes a few days in a row. Does living in constant pain mean I’m unable to do all the things I want to and does that sometimes make me wanna curl up in bed and never leave? Yeah, it happens.

But! And here’s the big important but, that’s not everything! I still write, draw, and talk to my friends!! It might take me a little longer but I get there. I’m still happy and excitable and make the time to write out five page long posts about EDS because it’s something I’m passionate about! My chronic pain doesn’t stop me. I refuse to let it. I never really wanted to go mountain climbing anyway, so I’m perfectly happy being able to make it up and down the six steps in my house, even if sometimes I have to sit and bump down them on my ass, or crawl up them like a cat. Chronic pain isn’t all I am. It isn’t a fate worse than death. It isn’t the only thing your character should talk about (though I do talk about my pain a lot cause I’m a complainer about almost everything). You can have your character be hindered by their pain, realistically they would be. You can have them seek comfort, support, and relief. Other characters can commiserate and be sympathetic, but it doesn’t mean their whole life is going to be one big pity party, that would be incredibly fucking boring. I know I’d be bored out of my mind.

All that said dealing with chronic pain, especially from EDS, is Complicated. Physical Therapy is the gold standard, but like I said before it can be a long and difficult process, and isn’t always accessible. Stabilization methods like I talked about before can help prevent pain, or reduce it by keeping bones mostly where they belong. Heat and cold help joints, relax muscles, and reduce inflammation but keeping them applied is rough and the relief doesn’t always last. Doctors prescribe anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, and sometimes even anti-epileptic medication to help manage pain, but everyone’s mileage with those varies. And I’m not at all qualified to talk in-depth about narcotics or other heavy duty pain-meds, but suffice to say the war on drugs fucked shit up for people that legit need that kind of help BIG TIME.

Now for my closer/bonus rant about EDS and Disability Writing in General!

Everyone always says write what you know, so if you really want to do disabled people justice, get to know disabled people! Make friends with disabled people, get involved with advocacy groups, consume content made by disabled creators both about disability and not! Disabilities are so fucking diverse, even EDS is such a complex disorder, and comes with so many potential co-morbidities, that practically everyone with it has a unique experience. There’s no way I can fully explain everything in a tumblr post. Hell, even if I could talk to you for hours probably couldn’t give you enough info to answer all your questions (especially since I’m still in diagnosis hell :,) ), so talk to a wide range of people with EDS and other disabilities!! I know it sounds like a lot of work but trust me, disabled people are some of the strongest, raddest, coolest, people you will ever meet that it won’t feel like it.

And don’t be afraid either, the fact that EDS and other disabilities are so wildly varied means that you have a little bit of wiggle room with your character’s experience. There’s so little disability rep out their I think people are WAY to scared to try their hand at writing it. So long as your character is a fully developed person in addition to being disabled, you give some logical thought as to how it would affect their life, and you don’t make their disability the butt of any joke it isn’t difficult to avoid ableist writing. PLEASE WRITE MORE DISABLED PEOPLE AND PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN/CHRONIC ILLNESS!!

Okay that’s it, again sorry it took so long for me to get back to you! My fingers were being little pests about it, and my ADHD (which is honestly more disabling than everything else a lot of the time lmao) was being an asshole! Hope this helps, and feel free to ask me more questions if you need clarification! It might take me a bit but I do love talking about this stuff.

#neela-chaan #ehlers danlos syndrome #EDS #hEDS #hypermobile ehlers danlos #disability #writing advice #disability writing #Chronic Pain #asks #SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG IM JUST SLOW #also i'm sorry the formatting is such a wreck #my adhd won't let me go back and fix it #and i've already spent way too much time

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rubycenter · 4 years ago

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wait I haven't kept up with LoveLive since μ's and a bit of Aquors what's all the new stuff?

muse and aqours are so old school now lol prepare for a LOT of content rn

basically the next “generation”* of love live after aqours is nijigasaki high school idol club, a group of solo school idols who occasionally perform together.

three of them--emma verde, kanata konoe, and shizuku osaka--were previously unvoiced N rarity cards from school idol festival. a popularity poll was held i think in 2017 asking fans who their favorite N girls were without really explaining what the poll was for, and those three came out on top and became voiced characters in the next series, which at the time was dubbed “perfect dream project” or “PDP” for short (they don’t use that name anymore). the rest are original characters. their anime just finished, you can watch it on funimation or do a little yo-ho-hoing if you know what i mean 🏴‍☠️ there’s no 2nd season or anything confirmed at this time, but i wouldn’t be surprised if we got one

nijigasaki has kinda broken the mold of muse and aqours in a lot of ways. besides all of them being solo idols instead of a real “group,” they also have 10 members now, instead of 9, and possibly more coming in the future. unlike previous gens, all their seiyuu are pretty experienced singers and voice actresses, and because they’re all so busy they don’t do many livestreams or events all together.

*should be noted that nijigasaki is NOT an official “generation” of love live, they’re a side project that got more popular than the writers intended. they were never even supposed to get an anime in the first place. everybody argues semantics over whether or not niji IS a real love live gen idk i consider them to be but it’s all subjective. the official next gen is:

liella. their group just got named and their seiyuu are doing their first livestream in 2 days where they will probably reveal a preview of their first single. they’re still VERY new, we just barely learned who their seiyuu are. this is a group of all first years who attend yuigaoka, a new school that just opened up after being closed for some time. most of the seiyuu are complete newbies, i think the only one who has a singing career is liyuu, a popular cosplayer who debuted musically in 2020. one of the seiyuu is even still a high school student! this group notably only has 5 members, as opposed to the traditional 9 from previous gens (tho nijigasaki already kinda broke that formula so it’s all up in the air rn). if they follow the same pattern as the other gens, they’ll likely get an anime some time after their 2nd single releases, so probably in 2022.

school idol festival, the game, has mostly stayed the same with a few UI updates. it’s kind of in a weird transitional period rn from corona and also possibly preparing for liella to be added into the game, so it’s really boring to play rn and lots of the cards that come out are really ugly huehue but don’t worry, now there’s

school idol festival all stars. the newest game, it’s a rhythm/strategy RPG with 3d models that perform the song choreography in the background while you play, and you get new outfits by scouting the cards. the game features muse, aqours, and nijigasaki all together, and the story mainly focuses on nijigasaki, with muse and aqours being the experienced groups that they learn from. instead of muse being 5 years older than aqours like in the anime canon, all the characters are the same age in SIFAS. you also play as an actual character now, takasaki yuu, who wants to become a manager to her school’s idol group. here’s a gameplay video from the japanese server, it’s a little outdated but it’s mostly the same. this game is WAY more focused on strategy and scoring than actual rhythm skill. the beatmaps may look simple, but there’s a lot more going on than you might think. i’m not going to outline all the gameplay elements here bc that’s like a million word essay but suffice to say if you’re looking for a regular rhythm game, you might be disappointed here. still, the MVs look nice and the card art is better than ever

also, aqours’s rival group, saint snow, had an official debut! they had a solo concert and a single release and everything! very proud of them

ummmmm love live fes 2020 happened. muse, aqours, saint snow, and nijigasaki all performed together, and it was muse’s first performance since their final live in 2016. it was really special and i cried. muse released a new single too, also their first time releasing music since 2016! they aren’t officially “coming back,” but it’s nice to see them still doing love live stuff from time to time :”) i missed them

that’s like a really bare-bones description of the newest love live developments. there’s SO much stuff i glossed over, like nijigasaki’s 2nd live (which was streamed online w/ no live audience bc of covid), aqours’s 5th anniversary campaign + all their new music, aqours subunit solo lives (azalea’s was postponed twice due to covid and is scheduled to happen in february), more events that got cancelled/postponed, the aqours live in los angeles (I WENT TO IT!!!!! IT WAS AMAZING) where an earthquake happened during the middle of brightest melody lol, lanzhu zhong giving us the first love live song to feature FOUR languages in it, mia taylor giving us the first love live song almost entirely in english, new aqours solo songs and ruby kurosawa’s acid trip of an MV, and lots of other stuff especially in 2020--despite everything, that year was STACKED for love live fans.

that’s basically it tho have fun lol

#sassk #*DEEEEEP BREATH*#side note cotton candy ei ei oh is the best thing to happen to love live in all its 10 year history #long post #does anyone actually block the long post tag #Anonymous

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sotorubio · 4 years ago

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Thank you so much for answering in depth but omg I totally forgot that Alexia and Arthur were a main couple. I completely repressed that. Yeah also not a good couple because of the cheating. I didn't left them out intentionally.

I definitely understand all the points you mention and agree!

I don't even remember much of elus conflict in later seasons (haven't watched watched the seasons, just kept an eye on it). I remember there was a lot of drama and a kiss? And misscommunication I think. Have the grown from it?

And I am also not that on the Basile Hype train. But he is a good bf to Daphne.

You probably have talked about it before but do you think the other skams manage their romance better? Like davenzi, crisana..? Especially in concern to if they are a healthy couple etc.

Would you consider all evaks instalove? Because their relationship is very fast moving forward?

OMG ANON RELATABLE we should all repress the hell out of alexia & arthur lbr smdjskjd n don't worry i didn't think they were intentionally left out i just assumed they weren't worth mentioning smhflshdkd

understandable! the main conflict w elu esp in s6 was lucas being a bit hostile toward lola while eliott was friends w her, he was "jealous" & afraid lola n eliott would "drag each other down" bc they're both mentally ill, that was a looot of drama (which is a whole another convo abt the ableism of the situation...) also lucas was self conscious in arthur's season bc "eliott has more options" & eliott had a weird speech abt ✨acceptable cheating✨ which was kind of a inner conflict for Lucas but we never saw eliott's reaction to that as far as i know. which was actually the main problem all these would've been great talking points but they were all "solved" (aka everything was suddenly fine n it was never mentioned again) off-screen, so have they grown from it? well that's the message the show wanted to send but we literally never saw them grow or even solve these things so.. also somehow the kiss did in fact exist but was a none issue bc i guess eliott kissing underage girls is just fine by lucas 😗

i definitely think the other remakes (at least españa w viri x hugo, norandro & crisana and druck's couples especially davenzi) have much better development on that part & most importantly they maintain those relationships well! my favorite example is the problems cris n joana have continued to have irt joana's MI bc they show that it's not always easy n they r a complex couple but they present it so healthy! cris never blames joana or tries to baby her but is still rightfully frustrated when things r hard. we see their relationship on the side but it isn't reduced to that lovey dovey utopia where nothing is never wrong + when things r wrong we get all the necessary information via the main character that cris is friends with (amira or nora depending on the season) or through the social media, which means the conflict solving is clear n thorough. we don't have to guess if they're still fighting or how they managed to make up! this is mostly bc the conflicts r kept realistic n down to earth instead of drama seeking "spectacles" for example: joana isn't relapsing out there partying when she shouldn't be n cris doesn't have to pick her up from a police station, instead she just has worse days w her MI which is much more sensible to work through as a couple off screen in a "tell, don't show" kinda way. that doesn't work w bigger, more surprising issues. the healthiness there comes from the fact that the show explicitly states that they have sorted out their problems n alludes to how they did it & when it happened whereas France did. virtually none of that

also for davenzi i might be biased bc they're my fave evak but they definitely seem to have a similarly healthy n developed relationship!! david doesn't have an (established) MI so there aren't as many conflicts related to that but they're both v distinct characters that have a developed personality outside of the relationship. also they r just the perfect example of best-friends-in-love + a realistic teens-experiencing-first-love trope. their season had other issues but i think that the relationship itself definitely wasn't one. it wasn't so much of a ✨soul mates that will endure anything by the force of destiny✨ but more like They're teens who caught feelings for each other n they're a bit confused in their first relationship but they're making it work via communication n care!

also for if all evaks r instalove i think to an extent they r. for example most of them say "i love u" SO early which i don't vibe with at all. and a lot of them have this "meant to be" trope around them from the start instead of just a naturally developing romance. but since the evak season is mainly a romance plot (yes there r other important themes such as internalized homophobia & mental illness but the plot line follows the progress of a romance n it's a central part of the season) it's more understandable to move faster bc u have the time to expand on the relationship n kinda explain the feelings aka the relationship still grows on the audience along the way. but compared to smth like lola's seasons where the central theme is loss of a loved one & addiction, instalove just comes out of nowhere n has no chance to be expanded on since it's not a main theme of the season n has little screen time. this is what usually makes it boring or one dimensional at least for me! but also i'm not trying to rly defend the evak instalove either altho i think there is this difference. like it still pushes me away from og evak & elu a little bit + even crisana at the start of their season even tho i think it's more tolerable & understandable than in other seasons

#inbox #anon #i tried to use punctuation i swear 😭 i'm sorry if it's messy #feel free to ask me to elaborate if u still have questions or u can't read my incomprehensible text SMGJDJ

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angelofbenignmalevolence · 3 years ago

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Fanfic Writer Meme I: How many fandoms have you written in? Do you have a favorite?

I find this question to be a bit more difficult, since I've written a lot of crossover in my day and not everything I've written has been posted publicly. So I suppose I'll give a more roundabout answer.

I've definitely written for Thunderbirds, Resident Evil (the Video Game Series), Lord of the Rings, National Treasure, The Psy-Changelings Book Series, Sailor Moon, Wolf's Rain, Witch Hunter Robin, Yu Gi Oh (back in the day), Marvel, The Night Manager. I have lots of ideas for other new fandoms like Castlevania (the netflix series) and Arcane, but haven't written anything for them yet.

As for which fandoms are my favorites? I feel like Sailor Moon and Thunderbirds have a more welcoming sort of vibe as a general rule and so I find it super nice to write for the fandom because there's room for experimentation. But mainly, I like to mix fandoms like a drunken alchemist. If there is a way to combine things, I want to see how the characters play together.

Basically, I like to stare canon in the face, kick sand it its eyes and write what I want to read. Sometimes it's motivation enough to write for myself, and sometimes I just let ideas flutter around in my mind until they let go because I'm too afraid to share them with anyone. [shifty eyes at crossover idea that has latched onto my mind like a rabid moose]

Thanks for asking!

If you have any other questions or if anyone else wants to play along, take a look at this post here and give me some more questions.

#ask meme #maligned musings #writing #my writing

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urxviteas · 7 years ago

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do the rest of the numbers you haven't already done

1.What is you middle name?Elaine!!

 2. How old are you?21!

 3. When is your birthday?Dec. 4

 4. What is your zodiac sign?Sagittarius

 5. What is your favorite color?Light purple

 6. What’s your lucky number?7!!!!

 7. Do you have any pets?Two cats that live with my mom!

 8. Where are you from?Lawrenceburg, IN

 9. How tall are you?5'7

 10. What shoe size are you?9!!!

 11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?Uhhhh like 10 I think

 12. What was your last dream about?It was a very good dream about the bf 👀

 13. What talents do you have?I can play 5 different instruments and sing, but also can overthink just about ANY and EVERY situation I come across.

 14. Are you psychic in any way?Nah

 15. Favorite song?OH DUDE Woodwork (Acoustic) -Knuckle Puck

 16. Favorite movie?ANASTASIA

 17. Who would be your ideal partner?If we’re talkin in general, someone who is kind and sweet! And will put up with my dumbass LOL

 18. Do you want children?I haven’t really given it much thought, maybe one day?

 19. Do you want a church wedding?Eeeeeeeehhh. That depends on who I end up with and there are a lot of factors that could make or break that decision.

 20. Are you religious?I wouldn’t exactly call myself religious but I’m somewhere in the middle??? I don’t know really.

 21. Have you ever been to the hospital?Oh god plenty of times LOL

 22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law?Nope!

 23. Have you ever met any celebrities?I met a country singer, because they played at my school??? And I was working the sound and light booth. Uhhhh RYAN SCOTT GRAHAM AT WARPED TOUR 

24. Baths or showers?Showers I guess

 25. What color socks are you wearing?I’m not wearing socks

 26. Have you ever been famous?I WISH

 27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?I would like the cash, not so much the lack of privacy.

 28. What type of music do you like?I like a little bit of everything!!! As of late it’s mostly been Indie Alt and musicals.

 29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?Once, yeah!

 30. How many pillows do you sleep with?At least four.

 31. What position do you usually sleep in?You know the one where one leg is straight and the other brought up??? Idk if that makes sense.

 32. How big is your house?It’s decent sized!! 4 bedroom 3.5 bath!!

 33. What do you typically have for breakfast?I don’t generally eat breakfast, but if I do it’s eggs.

 34. Have you ever fired a gun?Nope!

 35. Have you ever tried archery?Yes and I’m TERRIBLE AT IT.

 36. Favorite clean word?HECK

 38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?Two full days

 39. Do you have any scars?Oh hell yeah. I have a scar on my tongue from getting hit by a drunk driver. Scars on my knees bc I was a clumsy kid. I could go on and on

 40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?Nope

 41. Are you a good liar?That’s debatable, I don’t think so!.

 42. Are you a good judge of character?NOPE

 43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?A slight Irish one??? But i can only do it while reading “twas the night before Christmas.

 44. Do you have a strong accent?I don’t think so!

 45. What is your favorite accent?I’m in love with Aussie accents wowwie

 46. What is your personality type?INFP

 47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing?I have a dress that I paid like 135 dollars for that I only wore to Haley’s wedding LMAO

 48. Can you curl your tongue?Yes!

 49. Are you an innie or an outie?Innie

 50. Left or right handed?Right

 51. Are you scared of spiders?Y E S

 52. Favorite food?Mac n cheese

 53. Favorite foreign food?Chicken paprikush  

54. Are you a clean or messy person?

 I’m in the middle!

55. Most used phrase?I don’t know???!!!

 56. Most used word?Uhhhhhhhhh probably heck

 57. How long does it take for you to get ready?About 15-20 if we’re talkin full face of makeup, 5 without!

 58. Do you have much of an ego?I try not to have one at all tbh

 59. Do you suck or bite lollipops?Suck

 60. Do you talk to yourself?Only when I need to remember things

 62. Are you a good singer?I don’t think so, I think I’m pretty mediocre tbh

 63. Biggest Fear?Loosing the people I love.

 64. Are you a gossip?People come to me to gossip, and if I do gossip it’s mainly only with Donuts.

 65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen?Not a fan of dramatic movies tbh

 66. Do you like long or short hair?All kinds of hair

 67. Can you name all 50 states of America?Yes but not right now

 68. Favorite school subject?MUSICA

 69. Extrovert or Introvert?Ambivert, but more leaning toward introvert.

 70. Have you ever been scuba diving? 

nope

71. What makes you nervous?Almost everything tbh

 72. Are you scared of the dark?Nah

 73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?Only if it’s big enough for me to care about.

 75. Have you ever started a rumor?Nope!

 76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?Yes, several times. Wasn’t what it was cracked up to be tho.

 77. Have you ever drank underage?LMAO yeah

 78. Have you ever done drugs?Ive smoked weed like twice.

 79. Who was your first real crush?Oh god. First grade, his name was David. I heard he’s married now, good for him.

 80. How many piercings do you have?Just my ears!

 81. Can you roll your Rs?Yes!

 82. How fast can you type? I can type at a speed

 83. How fast can you run?????? Who honestly gauges themselves??? I know my last mile time was 8:02 SO IDK

 84. What color is your hair?Medium brown

 88. What do your parents do?My mom is a manager at a restaurant, and my dad is a nurse!

 89. Do you like your age?It’s okay, but it’s nothing special.

 90. What makes you angry?A lot of things, to be completely honest

 91. Do you like your own name?It’s okay??? I guess

 92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?I’ve always liked the name Max for a girl, and Everett for a boy!

 93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?I don’t care either way tbh. If that should ever happen, they will be loved no matter what

 94. What are you strengths?I give good advice sometimes, and I am a good listener.

 95. What are your weaknesses?I literally ruin everything

 97. Were your ancestors royalty?According to my grandma, yes?? But she does that ancestry.com bullshit so who knows

 98. Do you have any scars?This is on here twice??? Weird

 99. Color of your bedspread?Yellow!!!

 100. Color of your room?Boring old white walls

#long post #asks #ty anon

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