#not more seriously as not more thorough with the plot or characters

[dearmyloveleys]

the way I can tell mdzs was written more seriously (tone wise) than the other two bc there’s no sword rental or immortal discord servers in there

[inolienkiki]

I'm being very vague about plot points and character names here in the faint hope that it may entice some of you to watch this show.

on my... 4th? 5th? rewatch of DARK I'm paying a lot more attention to the character arcs, to figuring out how everyone got to the point they did. For a while the extent of my Adam takes was "haha stupid idiot man point and laugh, you can't even kys correctly" but recently I saw a post that made me stop and think and actually try to empathize with this character. This was immeasurably depressing (which is probably why I hadn't been considering it before).

The material extent of my take hasn't changed- I still think Adam is a truly stoopid person and by far the dumbest out of the three main characters in this show- but the context I have for this has changed a lot. See, each one of these characters is a planner who develops strategies for years down the line and uses all the information at their disposal to make those plans- but the way they get that information, and therefore how much they're able to do with it, is VERY different.

Adam remembers information. Everything he knows he got from his younger self; he functions almost entirely on memory. When he does stuff, like sending his younger self to summer 2019, or sending his sister to the apocalypse, or even attempting to build the God Particle machine in 1888, he's doing it because he remembers how all this stuff happened, and thus needs to keep it that way. Adam never actually seeks out new information, because every time he has in the past, it's absolutely demolished his life. He was investigating at the very beginning of the show- going into the caves, talking to his family members to figure out how much they knew- but at some point, he stops. He's lost that. He no longer views the knot as something to discover or manipulate, he thinks of it as something to escape from, and often completely fails to take others' plans or ideas into account. For 33 years he was sitting on the information that alt-Martha said she knew him, and not once did it occur to him to figure out why she said that or what bearing it might have on his plan. Seriously! If he'd investigated that, he could have altered his plan so it actually worked! And I don't blame him.

Eva generates information. Everything she knows she got from her older selves. Because she has almost absolute control over her own domain, and because she's been working in harmony for almost her whole life, she essentially bootstraps the information back to herself. You could call this working on memory, too, but I think it's a clear enough distinction, since she's actually honest to her younger self once they start working together. We don't have much on Eva, unfortunately, but we do know that her son was responsible for the notebook, and somehow I doubt he went and measured the "megahertz values" of all the cave time travel when they could've just used Adam's notebook and copied them over. (I don't buy that he actually killed Eva, but that's a different story.) Eva's son also works with his younger selves just like she does. Noah and Egon seem to as well, working with her. It's smart, it's thorough, and it totally would have worked, if it hadn't completely backfired.

The White Devil researches information. Out of all the main characters, she seems to do the most research. First off, she's actually a scientist, so naturally it's in her background. Even before she finds out about time travel, she's looking into the incident at the power plant, questioning Bernd about it, and being weird with Tronte. The very first thing she does when she gets access to time travel is go 30 years forward and look herself up. When she can't find her future self again, she realizes she's going to have to do this on her own, and proceeds to do so for the rest of her life. When Eva presents her the opportunity to work with another version of herself, she decides she wants more information, shoots her in the fucking head, and thereby goes and gets it. I'm confident that out of all the characters in this entire show (apart from origin HGT) this character is the only one who has any idea how time travel works or what to do with it. I love her for it.

So, I guess... trust the numbers, not yourself?

[mauesartetc]

Have you seen adam and lute reveal? I don't know if you did yet so what are your thoughts on it?

...Lute? That's seriously what they're calling her? I mean "Vaggie" is still the worst by far, but man Hazbin Hotel has issues with nonsensical character names. If the other angels were named after stringed instruments, it'd make more sense as a tie-in with Adam's guitar. But at this point, I'm in no mood to hold my breath for sense in one of these shows.

I know basically nothing about these two's personalities, so I can't give a thorough crit on their designs. They're... fine? They're serviceable? I will say the blue in Adam's color scheme is a breath of fresh air, but I've never been a fan of this universe's edgy take on the angels' appearances. "They're not like other angels, see? They're covered in black and have horns and glowing doodles for faces! They look a lot like demons because heaven is evil in this universe, I guess." It comes off like something a high-schooler would doodle in their notebook without much consideration toward how this character would fit into a plot. And for a doodle created on a whim out of boredom, that's perfectly fine! But this is a professional, mainstream animation project where character designs are expected to undergo multiple iterations and have much more thought put into them, so...

I understand the desire to create a fresh interpretation that diverges from the same generic angels we've seen a million times in media, but does that interpretation tie into the story in a satisfying way? What's the backstory behind their horns? What's the symbolism of their faces being flat, with the features simply drawn on top? One of Lute's eyes is crossed out with an "X"; is that related to the one Vaggie's eye has? (I vaguely recall hearing that Vaggie might be a fallen angel, but I don't know if that's canon.) If the other angels still have crossed-out eyes like they did in the pilot, what's the narrative significance of that?

If there's no in-universe explanation for why the angels look the way they do, we can just chalk it up to yet another design choice based on aesthetics and nothing else. There's nothing wrong with an artist giving a character traits they find visually appealing, as long as there's a reason for it other than "it looks cool".

[wannab-urs]

The Spreadsheet Digest - Vol 19

Hi friends!

Thanks for being patient with me -- I had one hell of a day yesterday and didn't get the Digest out when I usually do. It's short this week: only 10 fics (still not bad, considering, lmao). I read a 40 chapter fic this week that was about 400k words (rec'd below) and I was hooked (am hooked, I have like 5 chapters left). Apologies to all my moots whose fics I have ignored in favor of having my face buried in AO3 for a week, I'm catching up now!

As always you can find the Spreadsheet here and all of my previous fic recs here. Tag me in your fics if you want to be included in a future Digest :)

Recs below the Pedro in a v nice suit:

you can't trust anyone these days - a Joel/Tess one shot by @walkintotheriveranddisappear

TW Noncon - read the warnings - I really thought this was such an interesting take on Raider!Joel. I don't usually see Tess there with him and I also liked the power dynamics/trust thing going on. The plot twist? That was everything!

All over you - a Javi G drabble by @theywhowriteandknowthings

This is super fucking hot ah!! I love needy men who can't wait to get their hands on you. You're at a fancy party with Javi G and you look so hot he has to drag you into a closet. So good

Take My Hand - a Pero Tovar one shot by @pedrito-friskito

Okay so the prompt ended up being Pero Tovar, “is this real? are…are you real?” for fluff and “take off your clothes before I rip them off your body” for smut. And it's perfect. It's got this touch of angst, but it's so fluffy and sweet and then the smut is so hot. I am in love

John Wayne - a Joel one shot by @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin

SOOOO fuckin sweet, man. Like it's heartbreaking obvi. You show up in Jackson and Maria is all "this is my husband Tommy" and you're like that's the brother of the love of my life (pre-outbreak). And I won't spoil what happens but I love it so fucking much

Cherub - a Joel series by @cherubispunk

TW Dubcon - read the warnings - Mean old trailer park drug dealer Joel? The mouth on that man... Yeah this is filthy in the best way.

Stay - a Javi P one shot by @millerscoffee

Motherfuckin daddy kink with Javi P???? Hell yes. Yes on every level. This is so fucking hot ugh. The mouth on that man is criminal.

Religious Corruption - a Dave York two shot by @absurdthirst

Just reading the fuckin warnings/content summary on this fic got me screaming. Reader is an innocent virgin beginning her freshman year at a very religious school and she gets a crush on her professor, Dave York. This is not your average loss of innocence fic, not your average Dave York fic, not your average professor fic.... This is unlike pretty much anything else I've ever read and I loved it. It's sweeter than you might expect, but it's got penty of angst and the smut is insane.

I Will Always Find You a Din series by @lahooozaherr

Bodyguard!Din is one of my favorite things ever, seriously. I have only read the first chapter of this, but I'm so excited to read more. The way the whole first part of this fic is a flashback and you know eventually you get kidnapped???? It gives you this feeling of doom the whole time you're reading lmao (good thing, I promise) but like... our Mandalorian is gonna save us, yeah?

Be-All and Endor - a Din series by @djarins-cyare

Listen... this is the most well researched Din fic I have ever read. The amount of thought that went into this fic is insane. The linguistics are fascinating -- I think she absolutely nails the voice of everyone in this fic, especially Din. The knowledge of Mando'a and Ewokese on display here is incredible and if you ever wanted to hear Din Djarin growl strings of (actually coherent) Mando'a (with thorough translations) right into your ear... This fic is for you. The characterization and the way that every single decision made by Reader and Din make sense and build to such a gorgeous character arc? UGH. And while you have to wait... a long time... for smut -- it is so worth it. GODS this fic is gorgeous. I love it so fuckin much. (This is the one I was talking about in the intro)

Breaking in the new house - a Din one shot by @beskarandblasters

AHHHH this is so fucking hot. It's literally husband (so helmetless)!Din fucking you on like every surface of your house on Nevarro. There is not a refractory period in sight in this fic and I love it with all my heart. He is so hot, I want to die. <3

--------------- my fics --------------

I finally made a masterlist for A Ghost of You and updated all the headers which I'm very excited about. I also added a new fic to that series called Faulty System. The series is a mostly angsty, sometimes smutty Dieter Bravo x f!reader fic.

---------- Oldies but Goodies ----------

Here's some fics from before I did the digest or made commentary!

Jack Daniels x tattoo parlour AU - a Jack one shot by @fuckyeahdindjarin

Early Morning Moments - a Dieter one shot by Jazzelsaur on AO3

Over and Done With - a Javi P one shot @loquaciousferret

Every fic by @frannyzooey (I have too many of her fics on my spreadsheet to rec separately lmao)

In an Instant - a Joel one shot by @mishasminion360

A fool for you - a Joel one shot by @supernaturalgirl20

It would be - a Din Series by @fuckyeahdindjarin

------------------------------------

Happy Reading!

[gethsemanegege]

Hello! What is elusive samurai? I think I've seen you mention it a lot recently, and I'm p. sure I've seen it on the viz app, but I literally have no clue what it's about (other than, presumably, a samurai who's elusive XD)

haiiii reyni !! i am so sorry. i know i usually try to give you, like, a thorough and fair explanation of a show that i'm currently into, but with elusai. there's no other way to say it. it's gorgeously animated, beautifully color graded, and lovingly rendered shotacon bait. that's. yeah. i watched it because i thought it was beautiful (and, oh my god, it really is) and finished episode 1 with the gobsmacked conclusion that this is just as horny as black butler and just as unashamed of it. perhaps more so.

with the caveat that i've only seen a couple episodes (it's completely out, i gotta finish it lmao), i would call it a very fun and straightforward shonen anime. standard plot: tokiyuki's family is slaughtered in a coup and he has to retake the shogunate, backed up by a merry band of children and a suspicious priest who gets visions of the future. the fight scenes are lovely, the characters are endearing (especially tokiyuki), and the main gimmick is that while his attacks are very weak, he is very good at evading in battle. because he finds it "thrilling"/"exciting"/"it makes him feel alive," descriptors i use when i'm being charitable. when i'm not being charitable i'd say he's getting off on Not Dying. the priest, meanwhile, is a pervert. and also voiced by gojo satoru.

like. it's genuinely very gorgeous and the shonen is what i would usually call "good clean fun shonen" ala black clover or the seven deadly sins. it's just also shotacon bait. i've been informed that this is actually thematic, on some level, as the show deals with themes like losing your innocence, being thrown into adulthood and the ramifications of that, and growing up too fast--it's also by the same mangaka as assassination classroom, of all people.

i'd absolutely say you should watch it if you want to see some gorgeous and really strikingly stylized animation and can either enjoy/overlook the shotabait! because. like. i know i keep saying this. but it is so, so fucking pretty. one of the prettiest things i've watched in a while, my god. the characters are fun and loveable, the narrative is straightforwardly engaging, and it's really well made, seriously.

it's just also unrepentantly horny T-T hope this helps T-T

[seventeenlovesthree]

Now that I have gotten to episode 9 of Pending Train, I wanted to write down a more thorough comparison to Digimon and... Believe me when I say that this won't be a complete analysis BY FAR, because the amount of potential references, call-backs and allusions is just too immense. I assume I will even have to come back to this post after watching episode 10, because it's just all way too insane.

I still want to take a look at some of the most central characters, which comparisons make the most sense, and what sources exactly you could base the comparisons on. It's interesting that it's not only possible to draw parallels to Adventure and 02, but ALSO Tri and even the stageplay and Kizuna. So, let's break this down.

(Disclaimer: Aside from the Digimon references, I recommend this series to anyone who is into the Sci-Fi/Isekai Survival genre, loves a good portion of drama with satisfying pacing and plot twists and absolutely amazing character/relationship development. So this is also your final spoiler warning if you want to watch the series for yourself. Because while I will not outline everything, this analysis will be spoiler heavy!!!)

Yuto Shirahama - the Taichi Yagami archetype.

Yuto is one of the first characters we're being introduced to - he appears to be some kind of love interest to our main heroine, so far so good. What struck me at first was the way he was dressed - I tend to make fun of "MC like characters who are wearing dark blue", because that is SUCH a Digimon thing in itself... However, I was not aware of how right I would end up being.

Not only is he consistently wearing things Kizuna!Taichi wears - he also acts like him, Tri!Taichi or stageplay!Taichi most of the time. His job in the real world is being a firefighter - so when the squad ends up in "a new world", he immediately steps up as "leader", gets called "dependable" and "reliable" by the people around him, he is calm, collected and has an aura of kindness and trustworthiness oozing from him. He is a force of positivity, who believes in the good in people, his main objective being that he wants to "save everyone" and bring them all back home safely.

... We're also not surprised in the slightest that this attitude is some kind of mask he uses to hide his own insecurities, self-esteem issues and, most importantly, trauma. Due to a mistake he once made, he got his senpai seriously injured, so he ended up in a wheelchair. So in his stead, Yuto is trying to "save as many people as possible", burdening himself with that task regardless of how overwhelming it may be - especially because now, everyone relies on him to make crucial, life-saving decisions... You can almost feel the heaviness he carries around, the anxiety and the pressure it causes him while he keeps pushing through, motivating everyone around him (if they like it or not).

So... He (almost) got someone precious to him killed and has to deal with the guilt and trauma resulting from it, huh... Now, where have I heard THAT before...?

It's basically a mix of Taichi's Hikari trauma combined with his Daigo trauma - although you may take this as an AU in which Daigo actually survived. The word choices are incredibly similar as well and you may want to compare Daigo's motivational speeches to Taichi to the ones his senpai gives to Yuto. Plus, Yuto also has "a person back home" that motivates him to do his best...

Despite him being the leader of the group, he isn't particularly close with a huge number of characters - except for two VERY vital exceptions, which we will get to in a minute, because... This is probably the most heart-wrenching OT3 I have ever witnessed in media. And I mean this in a GOOD way.

So before we can outline his relationship to these other two characters, we may want to take a look at them individually...

Naoya Kayashima - the most Yamato-ish Yamato you will ever meet outside of Digimon.

Despite the fact that the story is told by a female character, Naoya is usually in the center of promotional art. And for good reason, because his back story is probably the most elaborated on and developed among all the main characters - and maybe also the most heartbreaking one.

Where, oh where should I start to describe Naoya Kayashima? How do I do it without throwing something, biting and screaming into a pillow? They knew exactly what they did by writing his character like that - and the casting choice was also marvelous, because this guy is a phenomenal actor.

He's what happens when you create an AU in which you include all the (potentially) best (and worst) qualities of Yamato Ishida - picking from various media pieces, whether it's Adventure, 02, Tri, the stageplay, Kizuna, the reboot, you name it. The Tsundere lone wolf with the tragic back story who claims to be a loner, claiming to wanting to be left alone and being able to survive and go on by himself - even though he probably has the softest heart you can even imagine, a soft spot for the weak, helping "in his own way" wherever he can, even if he may sound harsh while doing so. And everyone who knows him for more than 5 minutes can tell what he is really like - that the cool talking, the sharp joking, the harsh wording, the lonely dismissal are nothing but a facade.

He has a little brother back home, one he had cared for ever since their mother left the family and the abusive father behind. He literally gave everything for his little brother, working his butt off as a hairdresser, saving money, but unfortunately, things didn't go as planned... (Sidenote: Watching episode 9 made me think that this could have been the perfect set-up for a potential Kaiser!Yamato plotline, because almost everything would have lined up perfectly; from him being unable to reconcile with his mother, to feeling inadequate to his brother, to him getting an injury that prevents him from playing the guitar working as a hairdresser, to him turning down the confession of someone he likes, to watching his foil breaking down... It would have been positively heartbreaking, but in a good way.)

So just like Yuto, he is ridden by guilt, trying to hide all his softness deep down inside. And... Are we really surprised that Yuto's "hero attitude" is getting to him? Pissing him off, riling him up? He himself lost basically everything he worked for, he has no reason to believe in the good in people - but he can't help but doing it anyway, deep down inside, even if he is living in denial. So being faced with an idealistic opposing force like Yuto is bringing up all his deepest wishes. Daring to have hope. Daring to believe that the things you work for will result in something good...

They clash. Continuously. They get into verbal fights, challenging each other's ideals time and time again... And yet... They also push each other to be better. They're each other's helping hand in times of need, they complement and, may I dare say it, actually manage to "save" each other.

... You can probably already tell where I am going with this, but to keep this as brief as possible: THIS, their relationship, their portrayal and development... Is what Tri!Taito/Taiyama SHOULD have been. Even for someone like me, who usually isn't the biggest fan of this kind of relationship trope, the tension, the yearning was palpable and although if it was also frustrating to watch at times... This series is so skilled at making the back-and-forth SATISFYING to watch. I don't even know how it does it, but the writing and pacing are SO WELL timed that the set-backs don't feel displaced, because there is SO MUCH emotional catharsis going on. Something that Tri, the stageplay or Kizuna, didn't give me in regards to Taito's relationship.

They had so many conversations, staring contests, touches, opening up, being honest about their motivations with each other, which I would have LOVED to see in Tri. Instead, they only ever had monologues or just talked to their Digimon... Or, actually, to a third character, whom we haven't even really included into their arc(s) yet.

Because this is not an MLM story. It could as well have been one - and also could have been the story of one of the greatest poly set-ups I have ever seen. Because - both their arcs are incomplete without the third part of THE OT3:

Sae Hatano - if Meiko had been written like this, Tri would have been the most amazing Digimon sequel under the sun.

Here we have the person who basically tells the whole story, our main heroine. Up until episode 5, I wasn't 100% sold on who I really wanted to compare her with. She appears to be somewhat reserved, shy and timid at first glance, but she absolutely has guts, the motivation and kindness to move forward - she is like the designated damsel in distress who decided that she didn't want to be one and feels so organic and genuine that you simply cannot not root for her.

And Digimon, please take note, this is how you write a love triangle/OT3, okay? Yes, of course everyone is still dense and of course there are misunderstandings and drama, but by GOD, is it well developed.

Sae had actually known Yuto from before they got into the other world - when she was working as a high school PE teacher, she felt inadequate, unable to be straightforward... But then she witnessed Yuto and his kind, heroic attitude during a fire drill and decided to change her life around as well. Be more positive, not letting the world get her down. They watched a rainbow together... And you can immediately tell that girl had fallen head over heels for "supposed MC-kun".

... Little did they know that Naoya was standing just a few meters apart from them, watching the same rainbow as well. I really feel the need to use the goddamn "I know what you are" meme right now, because... This framing is just too good to be true.

After arriving in the new world, Yuto and Sae bond with each other rather quickly, the latter is more than giddy to spend time with the person she admires so dearly - and since they're both so idealistic and caring in nature, they simply cannot NOT let Naoya exclude himself from everyone else. And so the story goes - Naoya tries to pretend not to want to be part of anything, but since the others (and he himself too) are too stubborn to just let him go, they just... Naturally grow closer to each other. Especially because Naoya also cannot not be protective of both of them in return. And it's just so... Natural and organic and you can tell that they all care for each other. There is the usual denial talk of course, but there is also teasing, there is mutual support, there are the most beautiful motivational speeches you will ever hear and then... There are a few plot twists I don't want to mention at this point, but let's say that it felt a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, like I said, this show is incredibly GOOD at giving you plot twists that make you go "OOOOOOOOOH, SO THAT'S WHAT IT WAS, HOLY DUCK". But still...

Long story short: I tend to switch comparing Sae to both Meiko and Sora, because there are two angles you can go with here: The Sora angle makes you go "Oh my God, I wish this was what Taiorato had been back then!!!" or it makes you go "Awww, if they had set up Taichi/Yamato/Meiko like this, it could have been great." Because no matter which angle you pick (even though the latter makes more sense in the long run), their dynamics just feel beautifully fitting for Digimon and that is great.

Either way, Sae, while not being as hands-on (and vibrant) as Yuto and Naoya, is still a wonderful heroine, who realized her own limitations, but still knows that she has to do what she can and takes initiative wherever she can and it's just great. Again, if you go with the Meiko angle, she is the version of Meiko that would have taken action much sooner. This is NOT meant to be Meiko bashing in any way, but Tri's pacing made her go back and forth too much and invalidated a lot of her own choice-making. Sae went through a lot of suffering too and she also had moments when she may have felt disheartened - but her development just felt a lot more clear. She is being inspired by Yuto and in that way, inspires others as well, including Naoya. She grows stronger and gets enabled to make her own decisions - which, again, is also a thing you may associate with both Meiko and Sora, so in the end... It's up to personal preference. (But really, thinking back on it... She was introduced wearing glasses. And then they broke. Which is exactly what happened to Meiko as well...)

As for the other characters - while the focus of the show with THAT many characters is clearly on the three mentioned above, it still does a fabulous job fleshing out other side characters as well. Their back stories are sprinkled in here and there and through the interactions with other characters, you learn so much about how they roll, what their function in the group is and there is also STILL room for minor development scenes for them. I will mainly focus on the ones that have Digimon character comparison potential, but really, all characters are worth checking out.

Shodai Kato, Rena Watabe and Daichi Yonezawa - the almost-Jyou, almost-Mimi and almost-Koushirou of the story.

I'm grouping these three together, because I found this picture hilarious - because while they do interact with each other, they are 100% not an OT3 in the sense that Yuto/Sae/Naoya are. In fact... The show sets these three up in a way that would make you think that Mimi is c*ckblocking Jyou and Koushirou (instead of her being the center of the OT3 as depicted in many fanworks).

Let's start with Rena being our resident Mimi - or not, because while they do have certain character traits in common, the way their values are executed couldn't have been more different. When I first saw Rena, I noticed her dyed hair and immediately thought "Oh, this could be something". She turned out to be somewhat spoilt and one of her first full sentences in the new world was "I WANT TO GO BACK HOME", which literally made me go "Oh, heck yeah, we found our Mimi". So let's start with the things they do share - aside from seeming somewhat spoilt and very keen to take care of her physical appearance, she is sincere to the point that it gets uncomfortable for everyone else. You may want to say that, this is what Mimi could have turned out to be, if she had stayed as Princess Mimi in Adventure's episode 25 of Adventure. Furthermore, she even falsely framed another character simply because she judged him by his appearance - and that is also where things drift apart quite heavily. Rena, similarly to Naoya, doesn't trust people. She has experienced too many disappointments in the real world, people acting maliciously towards her out of jealousy or because they looked down on her - so she actually ends up fancying to stay in the new world without humans, because that may mean that she won't get disappointed again.

... She also has a somewhat ambiguous relationship with "relationships" to be honest - which is something that definitely reminded me of Tri!Mimi. She claims that people naturally fall for her and that she doesn't quite get it, especially because she "doesn't really care for guys" anyway - it's Sae whom she says these words to, actually finally opening up to SOMEONE in the group. And the words that follow are: "Do you think I'm that sexy?" If that isn't A+ Mimi/Meiko (or Mimi/Sora) framing, I don't even know.

It's also another Tri callback, because previously to this scene, Rena asked Sae "So, if you had to choose, who would you go for, Yuto or Naoya?", basically being the first person who canonically acknowledges the triangle going on there...

While she does have moments with other characters too and gradually warms up to a few of them, she continuously clashes with Daichi, whom I will call Yonezawa from now on, a.) because Daichi is way too close to Taichi and b.) because "Yone-chan" is a nickname I will refer back to in a bit...

So yes, the overly honest girl who has a hard time adapting to her surroundings is having issues with our resident game designer-slash-computer nerd... Where have I heard that before? Yonezawa appears to speak whatever comes to his mind, mostly in polite speech, but also in a very quick manner - and sometimes, he may come across as blunt or insensitive because of it. His thought-dumps include several hypotheses as to "where they may be", whether it's a parallel world or them having been reincarnated... For as long as they work, he is seen using his tablet and phone before he switches to pen and paper, always trying his best to be of support. And have I already mentioned the slightly reddish hair?

He also isn't exactly like Koushirou, but as outlined above, does share quite a few of his positive qualities. He is not a fighter and actually fears being seen as an incapable coward and a failure, so he may hide behind funny phrases - even if he may not even be aware of that most of the time. One of his main themes is that he is having a pacifist attitude - with an incredibly kind heart.

You can also tell that he is very prone to get into hyperfocus mode - particularly as soon as he gets to know our resident Jyou a little better, because they do share a few interests with each other, particularly in regards to geek hobbies.

Shodai, or Kato(-chan) as I will refer to him from now on, is our resident Jyou without a doubt - despite the fact that he also inherited some of Koushirou's more common trademark traits. He is a medical student specializing in biology, so he tries to take note of all the plants they encounter in the new world, helping them to find edible materials. He's quite literally the brain of the group - and yet, he also started off catastrophizing at first, displaying a certain sense of self-esteem issues from episode 1 onwards. Through his back story, we also learn that he always had issues getting along with people, that he rather spent his time researching plants and bugs, that he was never able to make friends - and that even his girlfriend (whom we never see), whom he had actually already bought a house with, dumped him eventually. He is very soft and very kind though... So yes - a somewhat blatant Jyoushirou love child, if you ask me.

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, Kato gets seriously injured and the group has to work together to keep him alive - including Yuto having to make vital decisions, Naoya playing cool while still doing what he can, and Yonezawa moving earth and heaven to make sure they get the right medicine through all the notes Kato took... It's one of the most beautiful episodes in the whole series in my opinion, as it shows the development the entire group went through, working together to save a life. In addition, it also shows the beautiful bond between Kato and Yonezawa - a bond that will get only deeper from there. And even though it's more meant as comic relief (stageplay, I can hear you from here!!!), it's still very nice to witness the relationship development of "Yone-chan" and "Kato-chan", taking baths together and having other members of the group say stuff like "They really are close, huh?" (On a different note, you may see both of them as neurodivergent in their own rights and seeing them be friends and still accepted so nicely into the group as organically as that is a very nice touch.)

They're also always seen strategizing together with Yuto (and Naoya too), which makes this quite the interesting research core. Again, there are still other note-worthy characters involved here, but I will only try to outline three more:

Kazuma Eguchi & Koharu Sato - "They have to be Takari, right?"

I'm saying "have to be" and not "are", because... We'd basically have two Takerus in this story then, as Naoya's brother, Tatsuya... Absolutely passes as being Takeru, thus fulfilling all the Takaishida bro criteria quite wonderfully (down to the hair, the hat and green clothes, just saying). However, Kazuma still has a lot of traits that make you think of him as well, so I wanted to shed some light on them:

Kazuma and Koharu are, quite literally, glued to one another by the hip. At first, they keep to themselves and actually feel a bit antagonistic within the group, giving others cold glances or snide comments. It's not until Yuto (and Naoya) tries to talk some sense into them, as they try to go off on their own, revealing that their family lives had not been the best either and that they intended to run away as a couple... From this point on, they try to integrate into the group a little more. Kazuma, while being incredibly protective of Koharu, actually is a bit of a research nut himself and tends to join Kato and Yonezawa during plan crafting a lot quite enthusiastically. Koharu is a little bit more difficult to decipher, as she is very reserved and she and Kazuma even got c*ckblocked by Yuto once which actually made me laugh out loud in context of the characters I compare them to.

Hiroko Tachibana - The most Miyako-esque Miyako you will ever find outside of Digimon.

The final straws that made me think of Kazuma as Takeru was that, that one time Naoya patted his hair and praised him, he got completely puppy-eyed and you could FEEL the brotherly parallel they played here. Especially because they ended up having a heart-to-heart later on as well... Not only that - but it was also revealed that, back in the real world, Kazuma tried to literally smile all his dismay and disapproval of the world away, showing a fake mask to the world around him. Whereas Koharu was the only one who looked through him, so... If that doesn't feel Takari to you, I don't know. He's also terrified of the disapproval of his father, so that indirectly fits as well.

(Sidenote: If you don't want to have two Takerus, you may want to compare Kazuma to Daisuke as well, as the framing is also fitting here.)

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a solo picture for her, so have a group pic of basically everyone I mentioned so far summarized here. She's the one in the beige trench coat, red shirt and glasses - and while I wasn't sure if it was really her at first, there was not a single doubt in my mind anymore by episode 8. We're being introduced to her scrolling on some kind of Tinder equivalent, looking for "men that are into older women"... She usually appears to be quite polite and collected, but she can definitely be opinionated, loud, screamy - and takes charge when she needs to. Plus, she turns out as part of the research group as well, always willing to put her everything into the task - ending up as the only who capable of finding a power source of a factory and getting it back to full functionality once again.

And there is just... Still so much more I could say about this series. So many more characters. Because, again, we haven't even talked about the other Takeru, the potential other Sora equivalent, the research guys in the real world, the OTHER AMAZING MEMBERS of the group, the (Dark) Gennai comparison, all the plot twists, the auroras and glowing stones, the gates to other worlds, the May 1st equivalent to August 1st, the 3-year-gap, the word "chosen" coming up, trying to save the world... It also offers an interesting angle in regards to modern life, the impact of social media and the struggle of human kind, it feels very real in this regard. Of course the main idea of this show is based on common tropes, but the amount of potential Digimon parallels is just too stunning not to notice.

[koqabear]

okay i wanted to ask, because i see you writing such long fics but i can barely pull myself together to write this bomb-ass 20k word fic, how do approach a fic you know is going to be a long one in a way that you don't feel intimidated by it, or do you still get intimidated by it and just try and push through it?

okay so first off, thank you so much for sending me this ask 😭 you literally forced me to go through my writing process and caused me to make a huge breakthrough with one of my stories alfkgh

anyways, i'll try to be as thorough and clear as i can be with my process, i hope this helps! (but also im so sorry once i started i couldn't stop)

i think my process can be best described with three fics; Only You, Darling (40k), Killer Instinct (37K), and Memories We Made (unfinished but estimated to be over 30k.). With each story, I knew that they were going to be long, but mostly because I went in with the approach that it has to be long in order for the story to be executed right; characters have to be written thoroughly, and there are certain scenes that need to be written for the plot/character to progress-- like, if it's not written in, the story could lose those small details that make the fic feel more... alive, if that makes sense?

The most important part is making an outline! I know that's probably obvious, but outlines can seriously vary; like with OYD and MWM, I have a whole doc dedicated to the fic. I'm gonna show you what a bit of my OYD planning looks like, please don't point out how genuinely unhinged it is 😭😭😭 (so.. spoilers for OYD + fun fact it was gonna be Sunghoon instead of Jaemin in the story originally hehe)

This is an example of what my outlines can look like; but, it only gets like this as i write-- the first pic is my outline filled with things i added as i wrote OYD such as characteristics/important notes/things i wanna edit, and the second pic is what i started out with.

the first thing i do is brainstorm the bare basics of the plot; what kind of story is it, and what do i want to happen in it? you can see that i separated the story into the key plot points/arcs; and within each one, i also put how i wanted them to begin and end. (the numbers are the wc for each arc alskhg)

the hard part comes in when you're filling these arcs/key points in. because now the big question is, how do you get there? for example, during the first act of OYD, i wanted to establish beomjun's relationship with the mc, and end it off by having the two work together. but in order to do that, i decided to include scenes that showed yeonjun's relationship with the mc, and then beomgyu's relationship with her. now that i had the foundation, i allowed the two to interact; that let me establish beomjun's relationship with each other, and let them realize they had a common goal.

last, you add a catalyst (a character, a situation, etc.) that can get you to your end goal; the catalyst being jaemin, which brought the two to work together out of jealousy-- and that's how i was able to fill in that key point.

then i just repeated that process for all arcs! add scenes that elaborate on key points, then add a catalyst that can take you to the end!

another thing i do when plotting for my stories is record myself brainstorming! i let myself ramble and talk about the plot out loud, and that's usually how i run into plot holes/issues. i kinda let myself figure it out in real time, and once i've figured the plot out, i listen back to it and write it down. (i have voice recordings for OYD and MWM. MWM is 48 mins, if that gives you a gist of what i mean by like... brainstorming. and half of it is straight up fucking nonsense. just let out ideas, details about the characters, scenes you'd like to write, anything. it lets you become more familiar and comfortable with your story, if that even makes sense.)

also! whenever i'm writing but get tired and decide to take a break, i add a quick want to add note at the bottom; that's what the weird little spiel up there in the second pic is. it's where i wrote down the ending scene because i had a super specific idea of what i wanted and how i wanted it to happen. if you get any scene ideas like that for your fic, write them down!! there's a chance that you might forget about it/write it differently if you don't; plus, it could even help you add things in that could make the transition into the scene super smooth.

OYD was honestly a bit intimidating for me when i wrote it, because i knew that it had to be extremely detailed and long. that's why i made sure to properly plan things out, that way so i didn't forget anything that could skew the execution. but one of the biggest tips is that you should brainstorm scenes you want to add in each key point, that way you don't feel as intimidated when writing-- because now you have a guide, yk? I'd love to show how my MWM outline looks like, but the fic isn't even out yet 😭 but it's literally a scene-by-scene outline of how i want the story to go! now all i have to do is flesh out the said scenes :)

then there's fics like killer instinct. i went into that with pure vibes, no outline, no planning; more of a mental outline, if anything. so if you find the idea of the whole written outline + scene & key points boring/not for you, i'd still suggest to get the bare basics down; but what i did with killer instinct was that i brainstormed as i went, and added small notes to keep track of important things so i wouldn't screw with continuity-- age and time is pretty important in that story, and i kid you not this is the only thing i had for killer instinct outline wise (bc im not counting my doc of mma notes.)

but for killer instinct, i kinda winged it; i knew what the general plot was, but allowed myself to have fun on how to get there. the only thing i will say though, is that with every scene, you should try to plan out the next one-- like, intro to killer instinct is introducing taegyu, then i'll introduce the mc. then i'll introduce the world and background. and now that i have a foundation, i'll add extra scenes, then a catalyst! this leads into the main conflict, then y'know the rest. but instead of planning it out bit by bit, i kinda let myself go with the flow...? it also let me be a lot less intimidated by the fact that I knew the story would have to be long.

as for the story i had a big breakthrough with, i'm definitely a bit intimidated by it! i know it has to be intricate and emotional and intense, so in order to help with that, i've made playlists to get me in the correct mood, watch shows, read other fics, anything to help me get comfortable with the genre and spark inspiration. I'm currently winging it as well.... but have three key points im sticking to-- it's gonna sound a bit confusing and vague but it's like... add foundation + the male lead is introduced -> background is given to let ppl know motivations and stuff -> final scene. and whenever i run into an issue, i brainstorm and try to get to the root of why im stuck. like, is it plot, the character, or the scene? in this case it was all three so. pray for me.

anyways. i hope this helped and im so sorry if it didn't 😭😭😭 because then that just means u read this painfully messy explanation for nothing. but when writing long fics, pleeeaseee make sure to take your time with it-- if nothing's working, give it time and don't force yourself to write whatever! (mwm has been in my wip for a solid like. year..? but this is a rare case plus im insane)

and if your word count ends up surpassing/being under than what you originally expected, don't panic! (killer instinct was estimated at 20-25k. so.) sometimes certain scenes just aren't necessary, and other times, you find that you may need to elaborate more in order to make things work.

im seriously wishing you luck on your project!! and if you found this somehow did help and have more questions, don't hesitate to ask! oh and if you found something i said confusing (bc i do have the tendency to not make sense) pls lmk and i'll try to clear it up asdglsh 😭

[lurkingshan]

Bed Friend

Overall, I really liked this show! Uea and King felt like very fully realized characters to me. They were interesting, flawed, very human in their reactions to each other and the stressful situations the show put them through. The actors had excellent chemistry and really made me believe in their connection. For me, the peak of the series was episode 6 - it was the height of the tension between them, just after we started seeing that they had something real, and featured the only pre-finale bed scene that actually felt deeply intimate and sexy to me (this is not a knock, I think this was quite intentional on the part of the show).

After that, some of the plotting got a little dicey, with very serious conflicts suddenly getting dealt with far too conveniently. I didn’t like rich boy King just making a few phone calls and neatly dispatching all of Uea’s abusers; those resolutions didn’t feel equal to the magnitude of the trauma we were taken through with Uea. And there were a few instances, like the confession scene at the end of episode 8, where I believe the translations were bad because the emotions and reactions of the characters just were not lining up with what my subs claimed they were saying. But even with those quibbles, the core relationship stayed solid and I believed in their emotional development, and I appreciated that the show took some time getting back to their physical connection once they decided to be serious about each other, and that we got to see Uea essentially adopted into King’s family. The finale was just a horny epilogue (I’m making fetch happen @shortpplfedup) and fluff fest, which felt earned for this show more than most.

Many smarter people than me have already done a ton of thorough analysis on this show, so I’m just gonna reblog folks like @wen-kexing-apologist instead of attempting to break it down myself. But I do want to weigh in on a couple things that were on my mind as I tracked reactions (with help from excellent weekly recaps from @bengiyo and @waitmyturtles) and considered whether I wanted to watch:

Is it realistic for this much terrible shit to happen to one character?

Does this feel like trauma porn?

On the first question, let me just say it unequivocally: YES. I have personal and family experience with a lot of the types of trauma Uea went through, which I won’t get into because… I don’t wanna. If you don’t, and therefore find it hard to believe a parent could be that awful, or that this many predators could find one person, I am glad for you. But the truth of the matter is that yes, some parents are really that hateful toward their children, and it’s quite common for victims of abuse to be perpetually targeted over the course of their life. Abusers have some sort of uncanny radar for vulnerable people.

On the second question, I won’t speak for anyone else, but for me the trauma depicted in this show did not feel gratuitous or exploitative. Uea’s experiences, and their effect on his mental health and ability to connect with others, were taken seriously. King, while certainly not perfect, treated him with respect and supported him as soon and as much as he could with the opportunities he was granted. We got to see Uea find some peace, make a new family for himself, and truly start to heal. If you’re going to lean on trauma to drive characterization and relationship development, this is the way it should be done.

This show gets two thumbs up from me, and I will be enthusiastically seated for Middleman’s Love.

[gatoraid]

Recs for Kinky BL Manga

I made a short rec list for a friend who wanted to read BDSM themed BL that's not dom/sub universe, and I thought I could share it on Tumblr as well. These stories depict the characters (mostly) knowingly and consensually engaging with different kinks, but bad BDSM etiquette, dubcon etc can still occur. I've provided links whenever an official English translation is available. Please support the artists by reading from official sources if possible.

Kinbaku / Shibari

Suji: May I Tie Up the Yakuza This story tarts out pretty horny, as the MC, a professional rope artis, just wants to find a hot top he can tie up while they have sex. Although there's plenty of spiciness, this manga is also actually really touching. I just loved the ”pitiful yakuza with a tragic past and a kind, loving rope artist” couple dynamic. Overall a very healing story, and it takes shibari seriously and treats it with respect. Tapon: Entwined In Red Two classmates, a "normal" nice guy who is secretly turned on by ropes, and a seductive son of a yakuza who is forced to sell his body, get entwined in this story that is also ultimately about healing. Shibari is present more as an aesthetic; the couple engages in much lighter bondage in the actual sex scenes. You can read a more thorough write-up on this manga on Renta's blog: Healing From Trauma’s Scars: tapon’s “Entwined in Red”

Masochistic Main Character

akabeko: 蝶と花の関係性 / Chou to hana no kankeisei This workplace romance between a newbie worker who wants to be bossed around and humiliated and his senpai who's willing to indulge his whims is one of my all-time faves when it comes to kink themed BL. I especially love how their relationship also allows the seme character to take back his agency after being sexually abused when he was younger. Akabeko is a master at spicy scenes and this manga is no exception.

Yuitsu: REVERSE A police officer who gets turned on by dangerous situations is caught up in a fuck buddy situation with a dangerous guy who later turns out to be associated with the yakuza. Basically it's porn with some crime drama, the plot wasn't especially deep or memorable but still a hot, entertaining read like a lot of Yuitsu’s stories.

Humor & Comedy

Harada: 変愛 / Hen ai Can't make a kink-themed list without mentioning Harada. Hen ai consists of episodic stories about an idiot couple who do all kinds of scenes together including student/teacher cosplay, bondage, shaving etc. The seme character claims to be into "normal" sex at first but always get super carried away once the uke character eggs him on. I just love how they are also very affectionate with each other in their own silly way. The titular tankoubon only has one story about this couple but you can also find them in Harada's short story compilations Positive and Yajirushi.

Azuma Kaya: 桜田先輩改造計画 / Sakurada-senpai kaizou keikaku Yes, this is the same Azuma Kaya best known from The Scene of My Rumspringa. This story is much less serious, featuring a total S&M queen seme who tries to punish his idiot senpai at work but senpai gets waaay too into it. This was such a fun read, and I loved the constant flipping of the character dynamics, like how the seme character is an experienced dom but becomes a trembling mess when it comes to some stuff he's much less experienced with.

Serious & Melancholic

Ido Gihou: 夜はともだち / Yoru wa tomodachi A thoughtful, at times even sad story about a more vanilla guy who gets into a somewhat strange relationship with a guy who is a pretty hardcore masochist. The loneliness of trying to understand one another is the first thing that comes to mind from this manga for me, rather than the spicy scenes. This is probably one of the first BL manga where I encountered these themes handled in a more realistic/serious way, so in that way it could probably be called a classic?

Matsumoto Miecohouse: The Beautiful Greenness A recluse author MC with lousy eating habits and a cheerful greengrocer who wants to cook him healthy, delicious meals - and tease and degrade him in bed - make an unlikely pair in this 3 volume manga. Parts of the story are very uncomfortable to read, like the main character's homophobic remarks and the way he judges other people. But it's only through being forced to give up control and to face his own ”ugly” desires during sex that he can start to accept both himself and others more. Matsumoto Miecohouse always has unique, interesting stories even if their art might not look like much at first sight, so I definitely recommend checking this and their other stories out!

[andersdotters]

Oh my gosh, thank you so SO much for taking the time to outline the process! I don't even know where to begin with expressing how much you've managed to help me and how much I've learned from you :D

You actually gave me a whole new perspective to think about such as how contrasting traits in a character/person's personality isn't unique. For example, the people who appear the most confident in public may also be the ones who show the most insecurity in private. Here I was thinking it was unique to an individual, but that could very well be a standard for confident people (or those who appear most in their element) that I just never noticed. You really connected the dots for me, thank you!!

And third attempt?? The amount of effort you put into this-- I appreciate you so much <3 It really shows how much effort you put into all your work and the outcome is always incredible (case in point!)

And don't worry at all about the length!! Alongside appreciating how comprehensive and thorough your explanations were, this was so fascinating and fun to learn about. I could seriously read what you have to say about analysis all day!

Once again, thank you for all your help. From the top to the tags, everything was such a treat to read. I feel ready to pick up a pencil and give it another go!

PS. The Dottore example made me do a double take and cackle :')

This is such a late reply, I’m sorry, but thank you! I’m glad you liked it and am even more glad it made sense!! Sometimes I try explaining things and end up overcomplicating everything. LOL The most important thing is to remember to view them as normal people.

I’ll give you a bit more advice when it comes to writing because I saw a post earlier today that got me thinking. Regardless of what kind of fanfiction you write, don’t project your preconceived notions of how things should look like. By this, I’m talking about familial relationships, friendships, romantic love, etc. Just like real life, characters have tolerances for different things, so you should adapt your fics to suit them.

More below

This is something that is very evident when people try to write romance. A lot of people assume romance is characterized by flirting, physical touch, sweet words, physical attraction, etc. Majority of the character x reader fics have majority of these traits. The reason why is because this is what most people have been taught romance looks like. That’s how mainstream media presents it to us. But if you look at real life, this is not necessarily how it looks.

Just like real life, some people are terrible at flirting. Others lack a romantic bone in their body. Some people are wordy, others are not. Some show bombastic displays of love, while others show love in the small things. Some people are touchy, while others find it awkward. Some people immerse themselves in love while others try to keep a logical mind.

Romance changes depending on the character. Just because (the metaphorical) YOU wish to be treated a specific way romantically does NOT mean the character is naturally capable of it. This is a habit that so many in the character x reader community have. If you wish to write a character realistically, you need to take their capabilities in mind, not what you desire to be true.

That being said, the power of fanfiction is that you can make anything possible. If you want Alhaitham to make flower crowns with a smile on his face, you can do that. Nobody is stopping you. But it’ll take a very deep understanding of his character to write such a thing true to it and not ooc.

I say all of this like I am skilled at writing characters in character, but I still have a long way to go. I try to keep these things in mind because this is how I enjoy to write. In no way do I expect others to feel the same. Some people write just to write and that’s okay. But if you want to try and write characters more realistically or have more realistic plots, these things are good to keep in mind.

[bunnknightnight]

Recruiting for Literate+ 1x1 Sefikura(Sephiroth x Cloud) Discord RPs!

Accepting multiple 1x1 slots

I'm looking for a partner to play as Cloud in a 1x1 Sefikura RP with me. On special occasions, I will be willing to roleplay as Cloud, but I am more accustomed to writing Sephiroth as he has been my muse for over 5 years, and he is my favorite character of all time.

Rules:

1. You must be 18 or older.

2. I am an advanced literate roleplayer. Thus, you must at least be a literate roleplayer with fluent English, even if it is not your first language. I do not roleplay with people who write in script or at the semi-literate rp level, and I do not rp in any other languages.

3. You must be okay with mature, darker themes, swearing and blood. This is not to be confused with ERP, though it is permitted if we both consent, and as long as that is not the sole purpose of the entire rp. I just enjoy more mature themes and when the rp is taken seriously.

4. You must be able to be active, and don't ghost me if you lose interest. If you cannot be active, don't message me at all. I do not want to be in an rp where I am left waiting for a reply for days, weeks, or months on end, as that is not fun at all. If you get busy, just let me know, and I will wait for you, but if it takes longer than 2 weeks for you to get back to me, I will leave.

5. You don't have to be perfect at roleplaying Cloud, but please have a thorough enough understanding of his character.

6. You must be able to help me develop a plot. This is a group effort, after all! While I do have many plot ideas, they are very vague and will need to be expanded on by both of us.

7. The roleplay will take place on Discord, but I will only be handing out my discord handle to people who have messaged me on here first, so be sure to dm me here if you're interested.

8. This can take place in canonverse or an AU. I do not mind either way as long as we can have fun.

9. Please be direct with me.

10. Know how to differentiate reality from fiction. If you are not okay with me roleplaying as a man despite being a woman, I do not suggest we roleplay. On another note, just because I may like to rp a specific topic, it does not mean I believe it is okay in reality.

If you are still interested after reading my rules, go ahead and message me with any rules & triggers you may have! Optionally, I would like to see an rp sample, too, but that is not required. I will send an rp sample upon request as well.

If we end up being compatible after talking a bit on here, I will send you my Discord handle and ask you to friend me on there so we can start roleplaying!

I hope to find some partners! Trust me, I'm not as intimidating as I may seem, so just reach out to me if you think we would make a good match! ♡

[iridescentis]

EPISODE THREE WOOO

party time!!

this is so sweet :( <3

okay set up what are these two up to today

nooo why does everyone want to just act like dead people never existed why is this a thing?? i think we all need to go to therapy here

they set that up like this was going to be a huge plot point nope fran just pulls up the security footage likes it's nothing and wooo everything is fine

okay im not a fan of jade she is just too much

angie my love <3333

her dad seriously needs some thorough therapy my god

HOLD ON WHY ARE WE HAVING ANOTHER ROMANTIC MUSICAL NUMBER WHAT

awh fran is so lovely <3

i don't understand why this guy is so obsessed with his own daughter not finding her mother's stuff. what does he think is going to happen??? did he kill her or something?? im so confused

i cant remember friend boys name but this is a fun plot

honestly fran just seems like the best friend ever she's just got it all covered

gregorio blink twice if you need help

i dont know why the bread phone was so funny but i love that

girl why are you stalking him what is this going to achieve

i really need to learn dinosaur boy's name OH ITS MAXI OKAY they just said it

OH okay the boyfriend is león alright

is this like an afterschool school or?? do they teach like maths and science too or is this like an extracurricular thing

ludmila is precious she can do no wrong i do not care

okay how does the old man think she's her mum?

OKAY! damn good for you león that was actually a decent judgement! but as i said she can do nothing wrong sorry sir </3

is jade on drugs? i know she isn't but it really feels like she is constantly high

pretty girl needs more lines

ah the classic cliffhanger this can only go badly

WELL that was interesting! there are quite a few characters i don't remember the names of yet and so much is happening so fast but im getting invested now!

[macaronichewtoyz]

Webcomic Devlog #1

For a few years now, my brain has been overrun by this weird furry comic world. On my now abandoned Instagram account, I spoke often about this project. I’ve started to try and take it more seriously this past year and genuinely want to sit down and start working on a more thorough concept and eventually an actual script.

What do I have so far? Mostly, characters and worldbuilding. The plot itself is in some smaller, very poorly defined parts that just sort of float about in my mind.

Mostly I want to make these sorts of blog posts to talk about my comic and help keep myself accountable for working on it and to hopefully get some people interested in my work that means so much to me.

♡ ♡ ♡

Here is the basic rundown about my comic:

The working title is Juice and the Scary Dark Thing. It centres of course, Juice, a furry cat who lives in Animagix, a world where everyone is a furry with a magic power. Magic powers are called loveforces in this universe. Juice is sent to an elite magic school called Silver Waters Academy, and meets some other weirdos, shenanigans ensue.

Of course there’s more to it than that. But we have lots of time to delve into that in future logs. For now, that’s all! Also, im happy to answer any questions about my characters or my world, it is a special interest of mine.

[mauesartetc]

Thoughts on Helluva Boss Episode 203 (”Exes and Oohs”)

Pros:

- Crimson’s facial animation is great, especially when Moxxie and Millie first walk through his door, and when he finds out Chaz isn’t rich. His expressions convey a lot of menace through the timing and eye movements alone. It’s subtle, but I hope whoever animated those scenes knows their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.

- I like the concept of Crimson’s trophy wall, which shows he actually keeps mementos of those he’s killed, seeing them as no better than animals for him to hunt. Now if there are actually cops in this version of Hell (which the existence of jail implies), this would look very suspicious if they ever stopped by, like a serial killer displaying the hands, eyeballs, etc of his victims. But I guess he could always press a button and flip them all to the dildo side if he didn’t mind the weird looks he’d inevitably get.

- I actually liked Moxxie’s introduction to Blitzo in the flashback. It showcases his fast-talking, big-thinking personality well. Shame he’d go on to treat Moxxie like shit after this.

- I wasn’t expecting the dildo scene to get a laugh out of me, but goddammit it did. It’s such an absurd overcompensation from an old straight dude who thinks he knows what the gays like that it caught me off guard. It’d be kinda tasteless if Moxxie were the butt of the joke, but clearly he’s the straight man (no pun intended) here. The real source of humor is Crimson’s misguided, ridiculously silly attempt to accommodate his son, which just shows how little he really knows (or cares to learn) about him.

- Fuck YES, Moxxie standing up to his dad. Great, satisfying scene. Now do it to Blitzo, Mox. It’s been a looong time comin’.

- Millie’s climactic fight scene is pretty good. The choreography is fluid, the kills are creative and fun to watch, and the music fits perfectly. There’s just one aspect holding the sequence back from being great, which we’ll get into later.

- Good ending. Shows what became of Chaz and hints that Crimson might try to get revenge on Moxxie in the future. More Crimson is a win in my book.

Cons after the cut.

Cons:

- Dammit, the “Moxxie is fat” jokes were never funny, show. Let ‘em die.

- So Crimson lives in the Greed ring, yeah? Why is everything green? The color traditionally associated with greed as a sin is yellow, while green is reserved for envy. For that matter, you’d think all the sharks here would fit in better in the Envy ring, since it’s ruled by Leviathan, a sea creature. Did they seriously just slap the wrong name on the Envy ring? They used the traditional deep blue for the Lust ring back in “Ozzie’s”, so this is a glaring inconsistency.

- I’ve mentioned before that Viv Medrano likes using the same design elements a bit too much in her characters (bow ties, gold teeth, differently-colored fingertips, etc), and it looks like we can add concentric eye rings to the list. Notice how both Striker and Chaz have these.

The other sharks in the mob have them too, but Striker’s an imp, not a shark (despite looking like he was ripped off from a shark), so it’s not species-related. Does it represent the characters’ personalities or serve any sort of plot function? Fuck if I know.

- Bit of a nitpick, but the black “cross” shape at the tip of Chaz’s nose is wildly inconsistent from scene to scene. Sometimes it’s thin, sometimes it’s thick, sometimes it has pointed tips, sometimes it has rounded ones. More thorough model sheets for the cleanup department would help mitigate this in the future.

- So prison is a thing that exists in Hell, huh? And so are banks, I guess. And they look exactly the same as they do in the human world. See, this isn’t the kind of episode that’d necessarily benefit from worldbuilding, since it’s not relevant to the plot (or not yet, anyway, but we’ll get there). But seeing all these ordinary settings just reminds me of how pointless the entire “Hell” thing is, and how no one could be bothered to invent a new world for the characters to live in. (Seriously, demon characters disguised as humans in the human world. I’m tellin’ ya. Barely anything in the story would change.)

- Guys, ya didn’t have to explain the Titanic reference. Most viewers probably would have caught it even if Blitzo hadn’t pointed it out. I’m sure even the zoomers who hadn’t been born when it came out would at least recognize the meme. Give your audience more credit.

- I’ll level with y’all: The dildo pixellation is distracting as hell. If a show made for network TV had it, fine, I understand. But Helluva Boss is made for the internet, which has much more lenient censorship standards. Hell, BoJack Horseman, a Netflix show, features a sex robot with a couple attached dildos, neither of which are censored. Is this just a Youtube monetization thing I’m not aware of? Because I checked their community guidelines, and while they mention “using sex toys to give viewers sexual gratification”, there’s nothing remotely sexy about their use in this episode. They function only as comedic props, not tools of titillation. All about that context, baby. Not that I’m super gung-ho to see a bunch of multicolored dicks in their full glory; the censorship’s just a little annoying.

- I understand the need to give Moxxie a reason to fear Crimson, but the physical violence is a tad gratuitous. Crimson didn’t really need to hit Moxxie’s mom in the past, or Moxxie in the present, to be intimidating. Abusers don’t have to lay a finger on their victims in order to frighten them.

I’m starting to see a pattern: Stella tried to hit Stolas, too. It’s like these writers think abuse needs to employ some physical element, or else it’s not really abuse. Which... no, that’s not at all how it works. And considering how Moxxie escaped an abuser only to find himself working for another one (oh, but he’s hard on him because he CaREs, guys! Yeah, bullshit), it only makes this sequence harder to watch. Mox deserves so much better.

- Helping his dad drown that guy seems like a traumatic memory for Moxxie, so why is he in a business where all he does is kill people? Hasn’t he ever wanted or tried to be anything else? A musician, maybe? We know he can sing and play guitar, so...

- Holy shit, did we really need that shot of Crimson with the dildos just after the exceedingly dark flashback? Talk about tone whiplash!

- I mentioned earlier that worldbuilding wouldn’t affect this episode’s plot... for the most part. The wedding scene is a case in which it would.

So, really think about this for a second: We’re in Hell. And there’s a wedding that looks like a typical one would in the human world. We’ve got flowers, an aisle, a block of chairs on either side, and...

A priest?!

Seriously, the dude officiating is dressed up like a Christian priest. White robes, hat, the works. Sure, his outfit and book have inverted crosses, but that doesn’t explain why everything else looks so similar to what you might see in a Christian ceremony. It’s like the demons of Hell saw a Christian wedding and were like, “Oh cool let’s do it exactly like that”. Don’t you think Lucifer, the king of Hell in this universe, might have a tiny problem with this??

And for that matter, why is marriage even a thing in Hell? Why do demons feel the need to justify their long-term relationships with human customs? Why can’t they form their own traditions to celebrate their love?

I get that this is all visual shorthand the audience will be familiar with. I get that they’ll take it all in and recognize this event as a wedding in seconds. But in earlier scenes, Crimson already established that a wedding would take place the next day. So with that label in mind, the audience should be able to tell that this ceremony was a wedding, no matter how it looks.

Would a more unorthodox version feel out of place in the very “humanized” culture and surroundings the show has established? Yeah, kinda. But there could be a throwaway line from the priest explaining that he insists on doing things the old way, with the traditions demons once embraced before Hell was overrun with human souls and human practices (”This is how we did it back in my day, before the sinners came.” Then Chaz is like, “Ha! You said came!” or something). This could be a glimpse into a demonic subculture fighting to preserve their heritage, which future episodes could explore further. Think of all the subtext and story potential packed into a single sentence. But, y’know, creating a by-the-numbers world is just easier. So.

-  Remember how I said there was one thing holding Millie’s fight scene back from being great? It’s the camera. It zooms in too far and moves around way too much, to the point where it’s hard to see what’s going on at times. Ideally, the animation and frame composition should work in tandem, hitting all the snapshots of action they need to hit for visual clarity, and doing little else. A bit of camera shake here and there is fine, but there’s no need for all this wobbling back and forth. I shouldn’t need Dramamine just to watch a damn web series.

- At one point, Crimson says to his minions, “What the fuck! She’s a dame! She’s a broad! Kill her!”, implying that women should be easy to kill. I don’t know if Horvitz improvised those lines or what, but considering that Crimson’s gang has two female members (one of whom we even saw moving a body earlier), it feels like there’s a disconnect between the dialogue and the art department.

I dunno, man. If women aren’t that tough, maybe don’t use them as soldiers in your crime syndicate?? Inconsistencies aplenty in this episode, sheesh.

In conclusion, running the script by another set of eyes during the writing stage would benefit this show immensely. I know it seems like I had a lot of gripes with this one (what else is new, amirite), but honestly, this is one of the better Helluva Boss episodes. When the series ends (or when the writing gets so bad I can’t watch anymore), I might post my personal ranking of all the installments I’ve seen. For the first time in a long time, I’m actually curious to see what kind of story the next episode will tell. It’s almost like a series with an episodic plot structure can be interesting without the creator’s favorite ship hogging the focus. Funny how that works.

Later!

[madaraservingcunt]

What are your fave manga

I love these types of asks! And I love lists too, so I'll tell ya all about them.

❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙🩵💜���🖤🩶🤍

Top four favorite manga in order

#1: Death Note

Death Note was the first anime I ever saw which got me interested in the manga.

The art is gorgeous.

One thing I like about manga is the little side comics the author adds. It's amusing to see their humor added, especially for darker stories.

I like the manga better because it fits better for this type of story. The anime is also pretty inconsistent with the art quality. But then again, Naoya Uchida is one of the voice actors, so it's forgiven.

#2: Jujustu Kaisen

It's funny that I got this ask today because I just binge read this entire series last night. Fucking excellent story, but some of the explainations for their powers are pretty confusing and dumb, if I'm being honest.

Stunning attention to detail. The anime does a great adaptation and is better than the manga, in my opinion, because of how well the fight scenes are animated. Seriously amazing show. If you've been thinking about checking it out, do it!

Guess who is my fav character...

#3: Legend of Zelda:

Majora's Mask

Cute adaptation of my favorite video game!

The video game is pretty thorough with the plot, but the manga adds some more layers from Link's perspective, and it gives him a spunky personality. It's nostalgic for me and the art style is cute!

#4: Naruto

Despite what this blog may lead you to believe, it's the lowest on my list. Not to shit on it by any means. It is a unique story that undoubtly influenced many manga artists and storytellers, and Kishimoto really shows off his artwork skills. The manga is better than the anime, in my opinion, again for consistent art styles. There are some fight scenes that are adapted well into the anime, but overall, the story fits better on paper.

And it gave us Madara Uchiha of course.

As far as the story goes, it's all over the place and has lots of plot holes. There are better mangas, but Naruto holds a special place in my heart.

I guess to sum it up, I appreciate the attention to detail for art, and if it has a unique story, that's a plus!

[coulson-is-an-avenger]

I’ve never read moby dick in my entire life but seeing you post about it so much made me want to give it a try! any warnings before I go into it? :D

oh my god gbskxjs okay first of all im honored that my mad posting has had this effect :DD!! you are so powerful for this, genuinely 💙💙

and secondly YEAH ok i can absolutely give some warnings!!!! this answer got long tho so I'm gonna put it under the cut 🐳💙

Firstly: the main thing most people struggle with in Moby Dick (myself included) is how utterly rambley the narrator is.

there WILL be pages upon chapters at a time where he simply Cannot get to the point, which is frustrating!!! something that helped me to keep in mind, though, is that Ishmael is doing that on purpose to avoid having to relive his trauma. It helped me to think of his whale rants as either a friend infodumping, or a desperate plea for the story to stop repeating.

if that doesn't help, you can always look up a summary for a chapter to see if there's any plot you'll miss by skipping it lmao

The Racism. This is a novel written by a white man in the early 1800s. There is some bullshit in this.

Although Melville does try to be conscious abt race and stereotypes, and has a very diverse cast, he still majorly fucks up. He regularly refers to several major characters as "s*vage", uses outdated terminology for Black people, throws out all sorts of shitty descriptors for folks, and rarely lets the characters of color speak for themselves. It's important to be aware of that going in.

This one is a weird dichotomy though, bc like. on one hand. all of that is infuriating. but on the other hand, the love interest of the narrator is literally a Pasifika man who is a gorgeous character that undercuts a ton of stereotypes and is allowed to be a nuanced person with a life that exists outside of the white characters. There's several characters of color who get to be People and have nuanced experiences and vibrant lives!! Pip and Tashtego and arguably Ahab himself are all fascinatingly nuanced folks that are not entirely bound by stereotypes!!

However comma, there's also an entire character who isn't allowed to exist outside of "evil zoroastrian stereotype" so hgbbjggbngmdhhf. it's a whole thing. Be aware of it.

Animal death — this is a book about whaling gbsjfjjf

Seriously though a significant portion of the book is dedicated to violently killing and then harvesting the corpses of whales. It does get sad! Some whales are killed more brutally than others. There is gore.

Rope violence/strangulation

This is just a safe one to mention. Lots of shit goes wrong with the rigging/harpoon lines in the book. Several characters are seriously injured or killed directly due to this.

Suicidal themes/tragedy

The first chapter literally starts off the book with this gbskfjwjd but it is a present theme throughout, and especially in regards to the final tragedy. A significant portion of the story involves characters thinking that they have no choices left but to die.

In tandem with that, this book is a tragedy. Like a "everybody dies" kind of tragedy. Do not go into this story thinking that you're getting a happy ending out of it LMAO. there's love and joy and good times within the story, but it ultimately ends in tragedy.

This is a long ass post, but hopefully it's thorough enough to give you answers!!! On the more uplifting side: I did have a fantastic time reading this. The characters are all super compelling, the queer rep is incredible for the time, the narrative is truly awesome, and it genuinely left a huge impact on me. It definitely earns its place as a masterpiece of American literature imo.

I will also note that if you would prefer to engage with an adaptation of MobyDick that is not narratively racist to its characters, generally more accessible, and also gorgeous, I will always recommend @pocketsizedquasar 's Moby Dick (Or, The Webcomic)! It is, as of yet, unfinished, but they're currently releasing pages weekly, and it's what got me to read the book in the first place. There's a ton of heart here.

But yea thanks for reading this long ass ramble, and definitely do whatever you need to keep yourself safe! 💙💙💙 happy reading if you choose to!!! :D 🐳