#okay but genuinely i just. love thinking about this series so much lmao

[saphira-approves]

Okay so probably the scene I had to sit with the longest just because I loved it so much on my first readthrough was the reveal that Murtagh’s “cell” in the Varden was actually like. basically a cushy hotel room with free library access??? I remember being so so stressed while Eragon was running around just bathing and getting Introduced To Important People and dealing with the Twin’s bs, and every other page I just wanted to shake him and demand he go see his friend, dangit! And then he DID, and Murtagh was actually fine! Downright cheerful! It was incredibly relieving!

And then the rest of Murtagh’s terrible road trip happened and destroyed my emotions, so there’s that.

As for scenes that creeped me out the most, the burrow grub torture scene is probably up there, as well as everything else on Vroengard, but the CREEPIEST thing that still freaks me out just thinking about it is definitely those hooded figures in the ruins of Doru Araeba. Who are they??? What are they??? What do they want??? DO they want????? I have so many questions and I’m not actually sure I want the answers!!!

I would like a shadow bird though, I think they’d make a neat falconry challenge. They’d make an excellent spying partner, too, especially if you could form a strong psychic bond with it… so much potential…

And finally, my current pet theory I’ve been working on is how the Beors were made, and I think dragons did it. But like. Accidentally. Or accidentally on purpose. With magic. There’s a lot of talk in the first book about how dragons are connected to the land, “they suffer as the land suffers” and so on (and personally I think it should be a two-way thing, and that Alagaësia as a whole should have been doing more noticeably poorly with the loss of the dragons, and maybe it was! we just don’t get the POV of anyone who would know that), but I think that connection goes further than just draconic-terran empathy! For one thing, the Burning Planes are still. y’know. Burning. so I don’t think it’s out of the question that Weird Dragon Magic could have made the Impossibly Huge Mountains that are the Beors—maybe an ancient and forgotten conflict with the dwarves, or some other threat, or maybe even a natural disaster. In a geologic sense I think most of the range was made the normal way (tectonic plates colliding), but the size of Farthen Dûr’s hollow center and the endemic Giant Beasts (the wolves, bears, goats, boars, and dragon-cousins) smacks of Weird Dragon Magic to me.

Oh and also I think the Dragon Riders should have a moon base.

AND I desperately—DESPERATELY—need to know more about the unnamed Strong Lady and friends that show up, like, twice and saved Roran’s hide that one time. You know the ones. (I’ll find a page reference at some point)

Eragon fans

C'mon Eragon fans, go wild, tell me the craziest/coolest theory you got/read, or tell me what character you hate the most, or what scene you preferred, or which one it made you creeped you out, literally everything. I want to hear something about our little and precious fandom

[crehador]

parting thoughts on ragna crimson (first cour)

i think it was... the first episode? that i didn't really vibe with. felt like a decent enough fantasy, but unremarkable in just about every way

THEN A WEIRD GUY APPEAR

iirc it wasn't until the second week that we really met crimson, which is kind of a shame because imo the show doesn't really start to come together until then. i like ragna well enough, but it's really the combination of the two of them that compels me

always love a duo where they have the same goal, but drastically different personalities/values/modes of operation/etc

always extra love a duo that's like "team up with me, a dragon, to kill all dragons then once we've achieved our goal you'll kill me too"

(like vanoe but with dragons. i think. my memories of vnc are actually very hazy)

and always extra extra love when ayu gets to just do his thing, playing guys who are girls who are guys who are etc etc etc

it's certainly not the best of the season, and still overall fairly unremarkable imo, but also not really bad in any way. if there's one thing i find lackluster i guess it's that i feel like they don't lean enough into this... pseudo-past life thing that ragna has going on (with the powers and presumably memories of his 'older self' passed down to him)

like ragna is still more or less his 'normal' self in terms of personality, which is fine, he's got a fun enough personality, but if he had some like... old man tendencies mixed in there, or if we saw more of his memories with crimson maybe? i don't know, just feels like something more could have been done with that fusion of past and present (or rather future and present)

looking forward to the second cour but at the same time... hoping this series won't be too long lol

[zeropro]

Hi, what are your thoughts on Megatron? Most Starscream fans don't have very positive ones about him lol, but everyone is different and I would like to know that you think

I like Megatron okay, he doesnt bother me but im not like jumping up and down for megatron content yknow? but I get not liking Megatron as a Starscream fan. It's just, you can't deny how intrinsically the two characters are tied together. Really can't have Starscream without Megatron, which is unfortunate for someone like me who does not like drawing Megatron lol!

Maybe the reason most Starscream fans dont like Megatron is because of their abusive relationship? And let's be clear, due to the power imbalance, I do interpret it as an abusive relationship. Despite how much we like to joke that Starscream deserves the punishment he gets (I'm not entirely sure how attempted murder/political assassination attempts factor into an abuse allegory) no one ACTUALLY deserves to be abused. The fact that Starscream is low key also evil and has done evil things is a separate issue from Megatron's abuse of him, we can hold him accountable for the one while also having sympathy because of the other. For me personally tho? Megatron abusing Starscream doesnt make me dislike the character at all, it's honestly the main draw of the dynamic for me. Maybe I just like to see my blorbos suffer…

The G1 Cartoon Megatron is probably the most fun, and I think this dynamic is the most on the level in terms of Starscream dishing back as much as Megatron gives him. They're all just bullies on the playground, their toxic back and forths feel a lot more slap stick and silly than actual abuse. What makes it work I think is that Megatron is not as crazy powerful as he is in later continuities, and Starscream responds to the abuse like a cartoon villain, immediately bouncing back and plotting his revenge, so it's funny rather than upsetting! I also find it hilarious how Megatron is weirdly nice to all the other Decepticons who aren't Starscream lmao? G1 Cartoon Megatron is a 10/10 for me.

If G1 cartoon's Megatron and Starscream are more on an even playing field, Prime Megatron is like the opposite of that. Prime Megatron is so impossibly powerful it almost feels like no one has a chance against him in a fight, and Prime Starscream is so scrunkly and small it's almost laughable. I think I feel the most pity for Prime Starscream when he gets beat up by Megatron, but he almost always makes up for it by being possibly the most evil of the Starscreams. I like how in the third season, he genuinely seems happy to finally dedicate himself fully to Megatron, but you just know how much he'd been beaten down and broken over and over again to even get to that point. Good for him for trying to get revenge in the sequel series. As for Megatron himself, I think more often than not when I am reading fics I see Prime Megatron in my head, and it's his voice I hear. What can I say, it was the first Transformers show I watched haha. Do I love how his redemption arc was handled? Not particularly, it sorta came out of nowhere, felt really rushed, and he just goes away anyway so we don't even get anything out of it. I like redemption arcs in general, but I don't necessarily think this particular Megatron needed one.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't think the 2005 IDW Megatron deserved one either, only because when it comes to over powered, unstoppable, irredeemably evil Megatrons, this one ranked right up there if we take into consideration everything he did before Dark Cybertron. His redemption does kinda come out of nowhere. But like, idk mang! It's also really fun? Like, Bumblebee carrying him around cuz his pants got blown off is hilarious! Him actually upset at Bumblebee's death and then taking Bumblebee's Autobot badge and putting it on over his own was sweet! Him dealing with the crazy crew of the Lost Light is a lot of fun! And him actually having to confronting and deal with what he's done (and other characters dealing with him dealing with it) is a lot more interesting than just him dying. idk. The comics have been around for years by that point, and passed through the hands of many writers, so if a little handwaving and a little contrivance and a little suspension of disbelief is what is required for us to have an honestly pretty fun take on Megatron, I think I'm okay with that.

I do have one complaint tho, mostly based on content I haven't read yet so take it with a grain of salt. I have been told that the adjacent series to the Lost Light Megatron stuff covers Starscream's side of the story and that it does actually address his abuse at the hands of Megatron. My problem is that apparently (and again I haven't read that far yet so this is just hearsay, but apparently) the writers on the Lost Light Megatron stuff didn't get the memo so while Megatron feels bad for and is working at redemption for all the evil war stuff he did to everyone, the one thing he doesnt regret is apparently his treatment of Starscream? Haha, like come on! on the one hand it's really disappointing to me because id like the catharsis of Megatron’s remorse, but...on the other hand, I guess it's kinda true to life actually. Your abusers are people, and they can change and grow and become better, but it doesnt mean they will ever become better for you. It doesnt mean they will ever apologize or even feel bad for what they did. Maybe theres something to be said about having to move on and heal without that. I guess whether this is a complaint I maintain will depend on how its handled.

I get that some people don't think Megatron should ever get a redemption arch, because he's an abuser, a monster, a tyrant, and an evil warlord, and it's completely fair for your stance to be that he should just be killed and that would be justice. I personally really like continuities that treat him more like just some guy. I think Starscream put it best in 2005 IDW during Megatron's trial when he said Megatron wasn't some political genius or the most gifted strategist. He wasn't even the most evil man. In IDW, Megatron started out as a social advocate from the lower class, and despite the problematic narrative of "the bad guy had a point and just did advocacy wrong/went too far," I think the idea that Megatron kinda got swept up by his own hype and was used by people and powers more devious than he is a compelling one.

Starscream is Starscream, so who knows how much of what he says is true and how much is him lying, but this idea just rings true to me. It humanizes him. If handled well, I'm honestly not opposed to stories redeeming Megatron. I'm also not opposed to stories treating him like the devil and just killing him lol. I love a character that can do both!

Uh uh, what else. Earthspark Megatron is nice, I like him. There's...a bit of cognitive dissonance in trying to reconcile the things he chastises Optimus Prime for and the idea that he still was a ruthless warlord at one point, both of which continue to be left unexplored. Transformers One Megatron is neat, I was worried going in how they would handle the switch from Orion Pax's brother to lets start a 4-6 million year war, but like, I like the way he actually was super okay with accepting his lot in life. Like obviously he didnt like it but he didnt see a point in fighting it, and that adamant complacency as a coping mechanism is what lead to his feelings of rage and betrayal by the end. Also I think its hilarious how much younger he is from all the other Decepticon high command, especially Starscream XD.

I don't think I've read or watched anything else with Megatron in it. Man, I wrote a lot. At the end of the day, Megatron is a good character, I like the role he plays in Transformers, I'm not like actually that interested in him on his own but more what he brings to the table when considering Starscream's character. You can't have one without the other! Do I ship them? No, not really, no more than any other ship. But I'll still read Megastar stuff cuz sometimes you just want to watch two people be toxic and make it hurt so good. I'll always prefer Trine stuff anyway ha! Have fun out there!

[marichild]

ok i would LOVE to know more about ur interpretation of skk it sounds so based

sure anon [rubs hands] this is such an unpopular take but what the hell. so much of this was given form in dms with friends please

okay so when I say siblingcoded I absolutely do not mean I see them as siblings. it means: you know how siblings fight, and fight horribly, and get so angry with each other — only to forgive each other so easily without needing proper explanations for why you pissed each other off? when I fight with my siblings, it's loud and explosive and generally a horrible time for anyone else to be near us, yet you'll find me with my head on my sister's lap or yapping about anime with my brother the next day.

that's what skk are like — they fight and rage and whale on each other bloody but at the end of the day they'll always come back together without needing an explanation for why they did what they did. simply understanding that they managed to piss each other off and they fought but it literally doesn't matter anymore. what's the point of keeping it up? (this is especially true on chuuya’s end because he's incapable of holding proper grudges forever but dazai isn't and the way they both are about betrayal is fucking hilarious when contrasted actually).

the thing about them is that they've been falling into bed together since they were teenagers and it doesn't necessarily have anything attached to it; they understand the reasons they each do things and don't necessarily want explanations out of each other for things they know they're going to figure out eventually given time — this is most frequently highlighted in that chuuya is willing to go along with any insane plan dazai comes up with because it's dazai and he trusts that dazai will make it work somehow. dazai's never failed him where it truly matters and he does not believe that, as much as dazai annoys him, would ever purposely do anything to hurt him or endanger him.

something about bsd that I forever admire is the way asagiri handles priorities/ideals/values/loyalty/etc. vs. personal feelings for people. the thing is that the organizational divide literally does not matter to skk. dazai truly doesn't hold it against chuuya for being loyal to the pm and the same applies to chuuya about dazai and the ada. this is also why chuuya being so blatantly betrayed and furious with dazai over leaving the pm in fanon has always felt so...off, to me.

which is not to say it's not an aspect you can't play with and make fun in fanworks but as per canon chuuya really doesn't care that much the way I see it tbh. I mean — would he have been hurt and upset that dazai straight up disappeared without warning and then resurfaced working for an organization that they clash with frequently? of course. they were close in a strange way and trust doesn't negate that dazai does owe chuuya the truth. but I think it's important to remember two things:

chuuya is logical and rational, always has been, able to pick out and piece things together correctly based on even innocuous details, even as a temperemental and violent teenager (remember 15 and how he pinpointed rimbaud? or the whole of stormbringer?) which he is not anymore; his brutal physical strength doesn't negate his intelligence and ability to think logically in the face of emotions. how do you think he made it all the way to pm executive, if he were a firecracker and a liability to mori? (this is different from akutagawa who (1) brings results that are useful and substantial despite being a loose cannon (2) is mori's specialest little guy I literally have textual evidence from the manga for this that I can't get at rn bc no wifi lmao)

he fought with dazai for approximately ten minutes and then decided jt wasn't fucking worth it. this is his first appearance in the series. it is genuinely so funny to me that he was trying to play at dude who was pissed off as all hell (and of course he was, because again, dazai did just up and leave), but he knew and dazai knew that he just doesn't care that much anymore and honestly probably never did lmao.

extra third point that's more a characterization of chuuya complaint: it does irritate me that people make chuuya this angry guy swinging fists when he's literally such a chill and normal guy. the lab baby is the normalest guy in this series yall. once again he got as far as he did in the pm hierarchy for a reason 😭😭 he and dazai just revert to being 15 year olds in each other's presence but even then the difference between 15/16!skk and 22!skk is so clear in the way they interact and carry out their plans. they've both grown a lot as people. please give this to them <3 especially chuuya <3 this is also why the end of live action beast is simply not real to and ignites intense rage in me

all this to say: points to the siblingcoded point again to say. chuuya literally gets it + understands why dazai left the mafia. chuuya is one of the people closest to dazai who would've seen how the mafia environment was destroying dazai and sending him further into the pits of mental health hell — I don't think it takes a genius to realize that dazai's genuinely been better (but not entirely,) since he left.

also it's just like. chuuya understands how the mafia works and is loyal to them anyway and this is separate to his insane-trust-fall thing with dazai; he would've gotten that mori had gotten dazai's best friend killed and that dazai's other best friend had been involved in it. what does one expect dazai to do at that point? he was just eighteen years old — and don't take this as me criticizing mori PLEASE. this blog liberally blocks mori haters ♡ I am capable of nuanced thought in that direction too ♡

skk's thing is entirely separate from their loyalty to their respective organizations. they're partners who know each other the best. they know what makes the other tick. they move in sync even when it appears out of step. chuuya trusts dazai to not get him killed and dazai trusts chuuya to be able to perfectly execute his plans no matter how crazy they are because he understands chuuya the best. there are parts of them the other will never understand truly because they grew up into their current selves away from each other — and that's fine. it's truly fine, because it's not necessary for them to be eternally stuck together as a bonded-do-not-separate pair.

okay this brings me to my last point: doesn't this all sound romantic? sure. if you want it to be. but my constant thinking about skk doesn't agree. help. </3

to begin with I don't think it's cut that clearly considering (1) asagiri is very insistent on placing equal importance on everyone's relationships throughout their lives without giving them clearcut labels or placing them on a hierarchy, so to speak; connections make you who you are etc. (2) dazai is in love with everyone he's ever chosen to keep close in some odd way and it is not necessarily romantic he's just weird /aff forever (3) romance and friendship aren't mutually exclusive; they're different words for things that feel similarly but can be different if you so wish it to be. labels are descriptive not prescriptive etc. skk, to me, just happen to fall onto the side that's less romantic.

I probably have more to say but I'm running on 3 hours of sleep (again) and more caffeine than I should probably have in an attempt to trick my adhd into thinking it's working. placebos are so important....

edit: first reblog and it's already my favorite ILY KAVI LMAO

[gracefulserpent1207]

SONIC 3 MAJOR SPOILERS!!!

PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM

My Sonic 3 Review:

Opening the film with Shadow waking up to memories of Maria I am SICK

Maria... was playing... Live and Learn... on guitar... omg... my heart...

OZZY'S "You stole my hoomans!" LMAOOOOOO

The fact that when Sonic says to Tom "I don't know what I'd do without you, I'd probably be a completely different hedgehog", they cut to Shadow - that is PEAK cinematography!

SHADOW ON HIS MOTORBIKE!!!

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY AGENT STONE ON A MOTORBIKE HELLO???

Tails wanted to go the chao garden he is so adorable I love him so much 😭 and the look on his face when they start performing he's just a little guy 🥺

THE WAY THE CHAO WERE RUNNING ABOUT WHEN THE CHAO GARDEN WAS ATTACKED WAS SO FUNNY

Eggman watching telenovelas is so accurate actually

Agent Stone is just so in love isn't he? In fact the Stobotnik scenes in this film were some of my favourite scenes - Lee Majdoub you're amazing

Keanu Reeves was AMAZING as Shadow

Shadow looked so scared when he was put in the tank and it was filling with water poor baby 🥺

One thing that was NOT on my Sonic 3 bingo chart was COMMANDER WALTERS FUCKING DYING??? THEY KILLED THE OLIVE GARDEN GUY???

Maria drawing a bunny face over Shadow in the tank she is so precious I love them both so much 😭

The little montage of Shadow and Maria hanging out made me SICK (in a good way) especially that scene when he's running through the halls pulling her behind him on her rollerskates LOL

NOOOOO SHADOW YOU'RE NOT AN ALIEN FREAK DON'T LISTEN TO THAT STUPID MOVIE

"There's still light, even when the star's not there anymore" okay so I'm just gonna cry into my popcorn now thx

Stone calling Tails adorable he is so real for that

Eggman saying that he's "undesirable to all possible genders" 🤨🏳️‍🌈 'whoa he's bisexual I didn't know that!'

Speed reference!

"It's like we're in a movie and we're both being played by the same actor! *Slowly stare into camera*" That fourth wall break was BRILLIANT

I can't decide whether Tom's puppet of himself is absolutely hilarious or absolutely terrifying

The montage of Eggman and Gerald lol! (but poor Stone was left out ☹️)

The entire London break-in scene was great! Especially when Knuckles finally got to break the glass!

REVENGE GUAC

Can we take a minute to appreciate the complete contrast between Gerald saying "a WOMAN in the MILITARY 😒" and Shadow saying that the girl in the telenovela should kill both the guys fighting over her because she's "not a prize to be won"?

Also Shadow watching a telenovela and telling the girl to kill both guys is so accurate LMAO he really said 'YOU LEAVE THAT LATINA ALONE!'

Ngl for a hot second I GENUINELY thought Tom was dead that was SCARY

Are we gonna talk about the fact that Gerald and Shadow were ready to kill themselves if it meant getting revenge?

The way Shadow's face changes and he flashbacks to Maria when he sees Sonic knelt next to Tom begging him to wake up... The parallels between Sonic and Shadow in this film... Oh my goodness...

Sonic getting mad enough to steal the Master Emerald from Knuckles was also NOT on my Sonic 3 bingo chart - I thought we were gonna see them fight each other for a sec which was CRAZY

I'm not the biggest Wade fan but Sonic effortlessly taking the Master Emerald from him and him replying "well I tried" was comedy GOLD - all that training in the Knuckles series for nothing huh 😂

Sonic turning super for vengeance purposes oh my goodness...

Maria's death scene really gave me goosebumps - the way Commander Walters shouts "don't shoot they're children!" - the way Shadow's face changes when he sees Maria dead - the way Gerald was crying...

I think it really says a lot about G.U.N that in this version, they didn't even shoot Maria but they were still actively responsible for her death - that officer DID shoot and he DID try and aim at Maria and that explosion WAS caused by him

Obviously I hate G.U.N but I actually feel kinda bad for Walters now like he really did try to save her didn't he 🫤

Both Gerald and Walters refer to Maria AND Shadow as children which I appreciate cuz it shows how young Shadow really was when everything went to hell for him - he's just a baby your honour he didn't MEAN to blow up earth 🥺

Sonic attacking Shadow in super form was just... WOW! He was REALLY angry wasnt he?

SUPER SONIC VS SUPER SHADOW??? HOLY SHIT!!! THAT BATTLE WAS EPIC!!! 🤯

Sonic almost killing Shadow over him almost killing Tom was a really great way to relate Sonic and Shadow's stories - Sonic coming around when Shadow points to his heart, thinking about what Tom said at the start of the film parallelling Shadow then coming around after remembering what Maria said to him... This is one hell of a film!

Sonic and Shadow watching the sun come up together as Shadow repeats what Maria says about light and stars 😭

"Don't tell me you've got a catchphrase..." "Yep, and everyone loves it!" Another fourth wall break that did NOT disappoint.

LIVE AND LEARRRRRN!!! HANGING ON THE EDGE OF TOMMOROW— 🎶

THEY DID THE SA2 POSE!!! I REPEAT, THEY DID THE SA2 POSE!!! AND IN SUPER FORM TOO!!!

Did they just... fucking... incinerate Gerald... wtf.... RIP I guess...

Shadow attacked those robots with SUPER CHOAS SPEARS in one scene!!! Which is AWESOME!!!

Eggman switching sides cuz even he knows blowing up the world is a bad idea 👍

I could go on and on and on about the Super Sonic and Super Shadow scene IT WAS SO GOOD!!!

Sonic falling to earth gave me a heart attack. Tails then falling to earth whilst trying to save Sonic also gave me a heart attack. Knuckles going to save them both making me think he was also gonna fall to earth gave me a third heart attack.

The way I physically leaned forward in my seat when Shadow took off his inhibitor rings—

They pissed on the moon.

We've seen Shadow smile so much in this film and it is SO refreshing to see! That smile right before he and Sonic team up to attack those robots Gerald sends after them is my favourite smile we've ever seen on him.

Eggman dedicated his last speech before dying to Stone 😭😩🥹 AND STONE SAYING "I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN" THEY BETTER KISS IN THE NEXT FILM I SWEAR—

Team Sonic hug 🥹

Ending on the race was perfect (bonus points for Ozzy barking with subtitles again because that was HILARIOUS)

WE GON RUN IT RUN IT RUN IT TILL WE RUNNING OUTTA ROAD 💃💃💃

OMG AMY! AMY AMY AMY OH MY GOODNESS AMY! HELLO AMY! I'VE MISSED YOU SWEET AMY! AMY AMY AMY AMY AMY AMY!!! I GOT SO EXCITED WHEN I SAW THAT HAMMER! AMY ROSE! HI!!! YOU LOOK SO GOOD!!! AMY AMY AMY!!!

Oh yeah and Metal Sonic.

AMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

So great to see that Shadow's NOT dead (although tbf I did kinda expect that - it would've been unlikely that they genuinely kill him off when he's such a popular character)

Honestly I think the END end credits scene was a perfect set up for a Shadow spinoff, like they HAVE to make one now

I also think the two end credits scenes together show that Eggman isn't really dead either - again it would be unlikely for them to kill him off PLUS if Shadow managed to chaos control himself out of there he could've easily gone back for Eggman too (and I mean who else is gonna be responsible for creating Metal Sonic?)

AMY, PEOPLE, AMY!!!

Overall, I think it's pretty clear that I LOVED this film! It was amazing and I'm already excited for the next one lol! ❤️

[plasticflowersinahistorycemetery]

please diva stop starting things and never finishing, i'm dying re reading all over your fics and this sounds like a hate message but actually it is, i hate u! finish all ur fics now so i can sleep in peace at night i can't this feels like an addiction! i open ur page and hope that u posted but u posted something new THAT U NOT GOING TO FINISH we are in a toxic relationship, im sorry if u always give and i always take but i can't i try to find another writer that it's better than u but not of them have what u have but they finish everything and u write masterpieces but let me wanting more I CANT DEAL every time u post a new fic i just know u not going to finish it so i read with a hole in my heart

okay i think this was satire (i hope??) but waking up to it still kinda stung ngl 💀

just for the record, bestie: i do finish most of my series! the only open ones right now are malevolence and eyes too close to let me, and even those are in-progress, not abandoned, i swear. inviolable and don’t lie to me were completed—i just got inspired to maybe add a final part to them later. the colour!/lustre! series is a little more spontaneous, but that’s the nature of it.

i’ve been quiet lately because i’ve been slipping back into depression after a two-month stint of pure mania, where writing felt like a full-time job (which was amazing but also, uh, definitely not sustainable). so if it feels like i’m starting and not finishing—i promise it’s not neglect, it’s just me trying to recalibrate and not burn out. <3

i love that people care about the stuff i write (i love that you care about the stuff i write!!!) this much, but i also need space to take care of myself between posts. pls know i’m still here, still writing, still planning to finish things—just a little slower than before.

also!! the new series i just started—it’s a cruel summer—is something i’m genuinely obsessed with. it’s made me feel excited and motivated to write again, and i will be finishing it as soon as i can. i’m already deep in it and loving every second. so pls don’t worry—this one’s not going anywhere.

i love you guys so much. really. i’m sorry if it ever feels like i’m letting you down—that’s never my intention. thank you for caring, even when the delivery is unhinged lmao. <3

edit: i just need to add that i do also have a job that i have to work on behind the scenes, as well as a 4 year old son i'm raising. so this blog is kinda, my safe space... which means i am already spending all of my free time pumping out fanfic.

[pritong-baboy]

Absolutely adore your characterizations for Bumblebee & Shockwave respectively! They are so incompatible and wrong in all the right ways oughhh… it’s like someone shooting a bird just to capture and tame it, but the difference is Bumblebee is strong and smart enough to recognize it’s wrong & stick to that, and the entire “relationship” as a whole feels almost tragic on Shockwave’s end because he doesn’t have the capacity to even process how wrong it is. I’ve GOT to gush about how you write all the characters out in general honestly! They’re all so lively and filled with personality, completely in character in such a different setting. Nobody shown so far really feels “neglected” and it works so well because you can feel their absence when you switch back to Bee and feel just how lonely and suffocating it is being with JUST Shockwave

The scene where he meets the twins and have fun for a bit is so sweet & sad, call me shockwave but god that young ass man… i got maternal feelings for him 😭 take the boy out shockwave he needs sunlight…. And I love the tension in each chapter, even if Optimus & Ratchet are barely mentioned you still keep them in mind subconsciously and worry for them, and STARSCREAM!!!!!! His bicker with Bumblebee cracks me up, 2 hard headed bots put in the same room & forced to negotiate & breathe the same air. Their dynamic is so charming! I wonder if we’ll get the chance to see more of it through their temporary truce. I feel like them both possibly being the only ones caring about the twins is also something that could potentially be interesting but who knows what’ll happen next! I also wonder if Starscream isn’t doing this deal with Bumblebee purely to fix Shockwave, but also himself? Like maybe he notices he’s also beginning to care and Starscream just cannot accept that and wants to be rid of it immediately…but maybe it’s too early for him to recognize he doesn’t completely hate the twins. Regardless it looks like he just has beef with Bumblebee at the moment LOL

Sorry for the ramble!! I just really adore the horrific dynamic between Shockwave and Bee ESPECIALLY since it’s under a familial lense, it’s something usually so genuine put under a completely .. grotesque? Light and it works so well as an almost horror-tragedy type relationship & it’s so complex! So many layers to bite into! Absolutely adore it

As a bonus I feel like “Old enough 2 Die” by heart attack man & “Now that you’re Gone”by The Raconteurs really fit Shockwave & Bee :-]

ohhh this is so nice! thank you! the bird comparison is sooo good and captures them both so well auughh...

and lmao i relate to having a lot of feelings towards tfa bumblebee specifically. i really like portraying him rather young bc the implications of that are just VERY interesting to me. like, why is this guy here, why are they ALL OKAY WITH HIM BEING HERE. and also like, the themes ive written with growing up/capturing a childhood that you never had. and hehe, if you want even more things to think about, its a very deliberate thing that i talk about bumblebee's status as technically being a child solider and shockwave being "created for war"

and thank you so much for the song recs, bangers. (even tho one of them is funnily associated with That Series now LOLLL)

[codthefishgod]

Analysis post for episode 83 of Faroff, AKA Truth: Part 2

Split below for spoilers!

I am VERY sorry that this is late LMAO, this is probably one of my longest analysis posts so far and I haven't read through it all again yet so I hope it makes sense--knowing me I probably forgot something. 💀

Okay, unfortunately I did skip last episode's analysis post (I've been in a crappy place recently, I'm recovering more now though), BUT I'm BACK and THANK FUCK BECAUSE HOLY CRAP THIS EPISODE WAS JUICY-

First off, Tobias getting really and properly angry for the first time? Tobias in general seems to make a point of never showing ANY extreme emotions, happy or sad or otherwise. He's usually in a state of neutrality, and there have only been a handful of times where he's done otherwise (example of one of these times below.)

Fun fact, when I first saw this panel it was because someone on Instagram had it as their profile picture (they had it before the episode came out to non-Patreon subscribers), and I genuinely didn't think it was real (as in a canon panel) because I didn't think Tobias would show that much emotion until I actually saw the episode myself!

This is yet another way that he's the polar opposite of Fenn, considering Fenn is almost always showing extreme emotions and it's when he's calm that's odd for him.

Obviously this isn't because Tobias doesn't experience extreme emotions, but because it was dangerous to express any sort of vulnerability when he lived with his family. It's become ingrained in his behaviour.

So.

Him being genuinely, seriously, all out PISSED for the first time in Faroff history. Occurring at the same time as him being truly vulnerable about his past for the first time. It's no wonder that he has a lot of pent up anger about his past, considering everything, but what IS interesting is how it's manifesting, considering Tobias has never really directly spoken about his feelings towards his family on screen.

Most of his anger doesn't seem to be directed at his family for treating him badly, but at himself for not meeting their expectations.

He blames himself for them not showing him any love or attention. And he also seems to believe that maybe, just maybe, if he does the right thing or is in a bad enough situation, there's still a chance for them to accept him.

There's this panel to show that, not to mention that I've thought for a while that this is the reason behind why he's looking forward to going back to Vaylin (not so much since the Edward announcement but 😬.) I think he thinks that if he just does what they want for long enough, or at least stays out of their way, they'll care about him. If he fulfills this imaginary role he thinks he's supposed to, they'd love him. Of course, we know this to be untrue--just look at Edward--but one of Tobias' main motivations throughout this series has been shown to be the desire to be loved. And when all he's ever been taught is that usefulness = love, of course he's going to gauge everything by that.

Speaking of this panel specifically, this is actually kind of news to me, considering I've suspected for a long time that Tobias purposely failed out. Turns out that's not the case. He is genuinely, seriously, horribly bad at being a soldier.

Which brings me into my next point.

Fenn being forced to consider a new type of worth.

Throughout this series, Fenn has shown several times that he values himself entirely (or at least mostly) by how good a soldier he is. To him, that is All That Matters--serving your country and doing it well. Tobias has always acted as if he thought this was dumb, but it's being revealed to us now, that NO--Tobias was ALSO brainwashed for as long as he's been alive (though in a different way), and he ALSO values himself by how good a soldier he is. He's just a lot better at hiding that fact.

And this isn't a situation where Tobias actually is good at it and is just being hard on himself. He's the real deal. He fucking sucks at being a soldier.

But we also know that Fenn doesn't think Tobias is useless. We know Fenn values him. And Fenn knows that too. So he will be forced to confront this--that maybe being a soldier ISN'T all that matters, and there's more than one way a person can be important and worthy of love. Not only for Tobi, but for himself.

Continuing on the note of Fenn...

This also tells us some new information. What Fenn says about Tobias has a much bigger impact on him than previously thought. Similar to what I was talking about earlier, Tobias has always acted like Fenn's insults don't mean anything to him. But Tobias bringing up what Fenn has said about him in the past tells us something different--they DO hurt him.

I'll admit that I've seen the similarities in how Fenn (particularly early Fenn) sometimes talks to Tobias and how Tobias' family talked to him. But it's never been exactly clear how much this affects Tobias. It seems that he's been internalising at least some of the stuff Fenn says to him.

Now this is a dark take on this whole situation, but. Abuse victims are more likely to end up in abusive relationships because they're used to abusive dynamics, and may even see normal/healthy relationships as uncomfortable. I am NOT saying Fenn is abusive--he has his own reasons for acting the way he did, many of which are completely understandable from his perspective, though misguided. I AM saying that Tobias has acted uneasy and/or confused in the past when Fenn has acted in a way that contradicted his family's abuse (telling him his art is great, that his ideas are worth listening to, etc.)

This is part of why I think Fenn and Tobias aren't quite ready to be in a romantic relationship yet. There is a certain number of things that Fenn can show Tobias through treating him right, but Tobias shouldn't be dependent on Fenn to know what he deserves and what he's worth. And he should know what sort of treatment isn't okay. He should be able to tell Fenn if something he says hurts him.

Fenn would never hurt Tobias on purpose, but things happen when a person is prone to not speaking out for themselves. Tobias needs to have more character development so they can both have a more healthy relationship in the long run.

...Alright. Moving on.

Minor detail but it was confirmed that Tobias kept his identity a secret because he was afraid of Fenn reacting badly to it. I think most of us suspected that, though.

On a MUCH more positive note, we're about to get into Fenn's reaction!!!

In the past, Fenn has usually only helped Tobias when he's making an excuse for why it's okay, or when he's put their circumstances out of his mind and is refusing to think about them. For example, Fenn cooking for Tobias in the beginning and making the excuse that it's unfair if he's better fed than Tobias, or Fenn pretending that he and Tobias aren't enemies when they were slow dancing together.

But this time, there were no excuses. If he was following the law, he would report him. There was no ignoring their situation or putting it out of his mind. Hell, even Tobias himself threw it right in front of Fenn.

And yet he still chose to help him. I don't know if this development will continue as strongly after this episode--after all, Fenn tends to have a slight development regression after major steps in their relationship--but to me this is showing that he's at least getting closer to not needing some sort of excuse to justify him caring about Tobias. He's getting closer to being able to admit to himself that even if he didn't "have" to interact with him, he would still want to. And he's getting closer to being at a point where he would readily pick Tobias over Sona.

Not only that, but something else was missing as well.

You might've noticed that Fenn sometimes shakes before making a decision that'll bring him closer to Tobi. [Examples below]

I think it signifies internal conflict and struggling with making the decision.

He didn't do it this time, which to me means that this was not a difficult decision to make for him.

And that's not even mentioning the fact that Fenn called Tobias TOBI for the first time!!!

The way this went is quite vastly different from the way the first time Fenn called Tobias "Tobias" went. When that happened, as we remember, it was quite....DRAMATIC. Fenn basically regretted his decision almost immediately and flipped his shit.

But this time around, it was actually a very natural delivery. There was not nearly as much fanfare around it, and so far Fenn is not having the same sort of negative reaction as he did to calling Tobias "Tobias" for the first time. This makes a lot of sense to me, because the two names mark significantly different steps in their relationship.

Calling Tobias "Tobias" was the first proper break into "MAYBEEEEEEEEEEE he isn't the scum of the earth." Fenn reacted very dramatically to it because he had only just accepted that a truce between them was possible and was still deep in Vaylinians-are-inherently-evil-ville. He saw it as himself slipping up and I don't think he even really understood why he chose to do it the first time.

Calling Tobias "Tobi" for the first time, though? Definitely past the "maybe he isn't a bad person" mark. They already have a sort of relationship at this point, unlike the first situation where their "relationship" was basically them just shouting at and insulting each other. Calling Tobias "Tobi" is almost... A term of acceptance to me, if that makes sense? As in, "I'm NOT just doing this because we have a truce, or because I just feel guilty, but because I care about you and you specifically." There is no real excuse for him calling Tobias "Tobi." The only explanation is that he wants to, because he cares about him. It's calmer because it's accepting that. It was deliberate.

They also represent different things. I've talked in the past before about how Fenn says "Vaylinian" when he sees Tobias principally as an enemy, and "Tobias" when he sees Tobias as a real person. I think "Tobi" is not only seeing Tobias as a real person, but as an important person. A good person.

I also think "Tobi" is the signifier that Fenn and Tobias are officially friends now. Before, they always felt like they were this weird in between. Not friends, but not really enemies either. Now I think we've crossed the line into friendship.

And, though I may be wrong about this, I don't think Fenn will be calling Tobias "Vaylinian" at all after this episode. I just don't think Fenn will see Tobias in that way anymore, and now that he knows that Tobias has such low self esteem, I feel he wouldn't want to contribute to it.

Actually, I think this change may be one of the most permanent ones, purely because I don't think Fenn could bring himself to be mean to Tobias again knowing everything that he already thinks of himself. Tobias already thinks that he's useless, that he's a bad soldier, that he's a failure, that he's not someone worthy of love or friendship. Fenn is too good hearted a person to encourage thoughts like that. He can't just change his mind and go all "oh actually I hate you again," he has to think more about how what he does and says actually affects Tobias, and I think he'll become more considerate as a result. I even think Fenn will become more forthcoming about initiating physical contact and other positive interactions. (Speaking of physical contact, this isn't the first time they've hugged, but it's the first time Fenn has hugged Tobias and the first time they've both been an active part of a hug. The other time was kinda just Tobi hugging Fenn and Fenn being too in shock to respond LMAO.)

Overall, I think they're both going to be closer as a result of this interaction. This is the first time Tobias has been truly vulnerable with Fenn, and this is a great sign that the trust in their relationship won't be so one sided anymore (I do believe Fenn has trusted Tobias more than Tobias has trusted him on an emotional level.) Fenn's reaction was VERY important, especially considering Tobi's main reason for not telling Fenn about this was in fear of his reaction. It's proving Tobi's fears wrong and assuring him that it IS safe to tell Fenn about these sorts of things. This is INCREDIBLY important if we want Tobias to get some proper character development. I've always said that I don't think Tobias could get real character development until Fenn got his, and I think this proves that. This is the starting point of Tobias' development arc, and it would've never happened if Fenn hadn't gotten the development he needed to react the way he did. Tobias needs a safe person that he's never really had before, and it's starting to show that Fenn can be that for him, so he can begin to confront his past and realise he deserves better. Fenn's influence especially will probably help him accept the idea that he might not be in the wrong. :)

(I also think the more they both grow away from the people and forces that brainwashed them, the more receptive they'll probably become to the idea of trying to avoid being sent back to their home countries. Escape arc when? 👁)

Thanks for reading!

[ender1821]

re: shinyduo/gempearl being so not normal about each other after life series. other anon was so right why are they freaky.

pearl is definitely just as at fault imo. gem’s excellent at innuendos and tone of voice (“your red skin is my favorite~”) but pearl’s yes and filter falls apart in front of gem. the pickles a prime example, and the ren stream disaster wedding of course. she’s also very genuine and i love that for her. but that results in crazy lines like the “love you gem. always will. even if you dont want me, ill still be there.” TO STREAM WHEN GEM WASNT EVEN THERE.

and i need to mention the latest stream. Pearl “I only get asked if im gay when you’re in the picture” and how they both have to take a minute of silence to process that flejelejwkej. whose fault is that pearl? whose fault ?? to her credit she seems genuinely confused by the extent of her actions. the most damning evidence for her straightness i fear. rip gem though, she seems to be having fun anyway.

theyre both professionals and follow up in that stream with how the fandom will always play around with them as characters etc etc. good communication, very healthy, good for them. but this post is about why they graduated from shenanigans and innuendos to 2 hours of fanservice and it doesn’t even feel intentional half the time.

as for next life series, i would be shocked if they didn’t keep up this befuddling yuri bit. theyve mentioned seeing all the tierlist maker dream team posts and pearl had to ask her chat “OTHER than gem, who should I team with” so theyre well aware demand is there. theyre fantastic as enemies and well aware of that, but they could get some scarian level drama by teaming together, and i dont say that lightly. since pearl keeps stalling pvp on hermitcraft, theyre never getting that 1v1 without cosmic intervention or a declaration of love 😭

rambling now. love to hear your thoughts xoxo

yippee i love anon rambles!!! im glad we’re all unwell

im NOT gonna go on another rant about the life series alliance situation because as i’ve just demonstrated yesterday i can literally rant. for hours. and we don’t need that lmao. at this point whether or not they team up in the next one SOMETHING will happen. i have that much faith in them. they’re bound to run into each other and do something and that’s the shiny duo connection speaking god bless

like the other anon said, i do think they can work with just about any dynamic and it’ll be insanity-inducing either way. one of my favourite things about them just as a pairing (in any context, platonic, romantic, etc.) is just the way they will drift towards one another, to be linked in a way that’s indescribable, to always carry a piece of each other with themselves wherever they wander because the influence they’ve had on the other is irrefutable— and okay yeah they’re getting way too freaky about it get out of my fan fiction-esque rant. what are you doing here. why are you like this. what. like there’s something going on when what they’re getting up to creeps more and more into being what i usually read in fics. i. hello???

i really, really want to give them the benefit of the doubt. okay. listen. for every mention of feet and poking at pearl’s straightness, there’s a chat message behind it that warranted it, i’m sure. this isn’t the post to be getting into how fans are with cc boundaries and how we’re STILL bad at figuring our tags out, but i feel like this discussion eventually HAS to touch on the fact that it’s been made clear that they don’t want to see shipping stuff, and bringing it up in chat crosses that boundary just as well. i think they’ve handled it well in acknowledging that they’re aware it’s for their characters, drawing clear lines between what they’re comfortable with and what they’re not, etc. i think just the muddled lines from people continuously bringing stuff from a fandom space up to a cc contributes a lot to why we got. whatever happened on that wednesday stream. honestly, from these instances on stream i think it’s been shown that they just find this stuff amusing, and good for them, y’know? still doesn’t mean we should be regularly poking them about ships and. well. i dunno. literally bringing it up in chat?

but still. BUT STILL. god the ways they “yes, and” each other just keep getting worse. stuff like the pickles and the wedding (and the SL ep 4 ender dragon fight! still one of the most baffling “yes, and”s i’ve ever seen from them, i swear to god) were almost completely just them. that was just them. there’s no blaming chat for gem saying “wait, i don’t have a beard” right after pearl rejects ren for having a beard, and CERTAINLY NOBODY ELSE TO BLAME when pearl takes that and literally proposes to her. that was all them. and why. girl. huh??? i do believe, at least to some extent, that pearl is oblivious to the implications of what she does/says. but that only goes so far. sorry man i can only give so much benefit of the doubt for like 2-3 streams of 2 hour fan service. good lord

i was texting a friend who isn’t into mcyt about this whole. thing. and the way i described it was: imagine being a gempearl shipper, and you’re enjoying life, driving this train with fanfics and fanart and everything’s all good… and then for some reason gem and pearl jump on the train, hijack the conductor seat and starts directing the train elsewhere. nearing the end of that stream i was questioning my life and screaming for a way off this train. that’s how it felt to me. of course i’m exaggerating but like. genuinely how did we get here

[irmakkockan]

SECRET RELATIONSHIPS EP 8: SORRY, THIS IS MY WORST TAKE BUT I JUST NEED THE CRAZY

This is the hardest goodbye.

I just can’t deal with the fact that it’s over. Like, how? What’s next? I genuinely don’t know what to do with myself.

So, was this crazy, or was it FUCKING CRAZY?

OF COURSE, the kidnapper was Jaemin. I mean, that man is DERANGED. And I totally called it - “UNTIL WE DIE NATURALLY OR I KILL YOU” was his note (lol in fact lmao) - but I never imagined he’d take it that literal right in that moment. I was SCREAMING every time he said something unhinged or did something even crazier.

What this show did so well is how it built Jaemin’s insanity knot by knot. When his smile disappeared the moment he turned away from his students. When he kept causing problems between Daon and his family. When he paid someone to take Daon’s naked pictures. When he paid someone to hurt Daon’s sister. We should have known this would happen. This was inevitable. And yet, watching him lose it completely was so much fun. But honestly, ninety percent of this belongs to Kim Hoyoung. HOLY FUCK, sir. You were a sight to behold, and I’m committing to every single series you’ll ever act in.

Now, what about my actual obsession, my one true love, Suhyeon? Guys, don’t come at me. I know that man should be in therapy and nowhere near a human being (but I can fix him, okay??). I AM AWARE. My love is ninety percent Cha Jung Woo, ten percent for THE BEAUTIFUL CHAOS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN. The series is over. Just let me live.

I don’t know how I feel about Suhyeon freezing and even stepping back when Jaemin charged at Daon. Like, the show wants us to call him a coward (and Jaemin DID, which is just… wow), but this man almost MURDERED a guy for trying to assault Daon. He beat him with his bare hands. What I actually think happened is that the writers needed an easy way for Suhyeon to finally let Daon go. That’s why I’m conflicted - because, yes, on-screen, he’s a coward, and obviously Daon deserves better, but it feels like a cop-out for his character. Suhyeon deserved another kind of realization that he’s lost Daon, not just freezing up and letting Jaemin of all people call him out. UGH.

Also, um, maybe - like how are we normalizing throwing yourself in front of a knife for someone else? Like, I get it. I get the symbolism, the sacrifice, the whole “kill me instead” moment. But. Is this really a requirement for love now? Because I cannot deal with this being a standard. YES, I KNOW IT LOOKS LIKE I’M JUST MAKING EXCUSES FOR SUHYEON. I AM AWARE. This is my last post on this series, guys. JUST BEAR WITH ME.

At this point, I can finally acknowledge the manhwa now that I’ve read it. Manhwa-Suhyeon? Less violent but still problematic. That forced kiss scene still happens (there is even some sex!). But there’s an undercurrent of emotions between him and Daon - something that never quite went away. Which makes their final separation even more painful.

And this also makes so much more sense when we think about the contract. Both in the series and the manhwa, Jaemin tells Daon that he rejected him because he knew Daon had always been in love with Suhyeon. The contract was Jaemin’s entire plan to stop their love before it ever started. But in the show, this deep love feels more like Jaemin’s delusion, whereas in the manhwa, it’s actually true. What Daon felt for Jaemin wasn’t even remotely close to what he felt for Suhyeon. AND THAT IS MY VINDICATION. 😭

So, I think the show did Suhyeon and Daon’s final goodbye dirty. In the manhwa, you feel the hurt. Even though Daon knows he won’t end up with Suhyeon, there’s still so much pain in their parting. In the show? We barely even see Daon react. And that undermines the entire reason Jaemin pulled his contract stunt in the first place. IT WAS BECAUSE DAON LOVED SUHYEON ALL ALONG. 😭 But I know most people won’t care about this as much as I do - so I’ll just sit here and suffer in silence. Apologies for the rant.

Of course, the best scene in the entire finale was Jaemin and Suhyeon’s confrontation at the police station. A fucking masterclass in acting from both Kim Hoyoung and Cha Jung Woo. I think I’ve rewatched that scene at least five times now. And honestly? I’m still impressed that Suhyeon managed to grab Jaemin and lock them in a room despite being surrounded by cops. LOL. Suhyeon, you crazy, perfect bastard, I love you. 😭

And then, of course, we get the happy ending - Daon and Seonghyeon are together, Suhyeon is finally free of his obsession (and sad, yet always hot), Jaemin is locked up where he belongs. What more do you need?

I did enjoy the kisses and the softness, but for me, the show ended the second Jaemin and Suhyeon walked out of the scene and took all the crazy with them (pls don’t kill me).

DEAR SECRET RELATIONSHIPS, I LOVED YOU SO. GOODBYE. 💔💔

[sanguine-prince]

okay so i just finished helluva boss (but not the shorts which i don’t think i’ll watch)…

and i enjoyed it for the most part. it’s a fun little show and i think that’s how people ought to treat it. i’ve a few thoughts below the cut. i’ve read a lot of glazing and a lot of hate and tbh i think i’m somewhere in the middle which seems like a rare thing in this fandom lmao

my favorite characters were fizz and moxxie & millie (tho the camp episode was so boring oh my goddd) and also ozzie however his design drives me up a wall why does he look like that. however his VA is sooo good

why do they say fuck so much

it feels like a show made for edgy high schoolers idk like it’s fun but it’s 90% sex jokes, ‘witty’ one-liners, and ship content

they interact with issues shallowly—like classism in hell and possibly racism (? if imps are a separate race ? idk)—and tbh i think they should stick to shallow examinations. social commentary is not their strong suit. things won’t hold together if they try to go deeper with this; it’s not a serious show and it should not be taking itself seriously. it works best when it’s interpersonal

i have a big issue w how viv/the writers/character designers portray fat ppl. i rly didn’t get the fat jokes about moxxie in that one ep like was it supposed to be a running gag? the character designs make everyone thin as a toothpick except for mammon who also happens to be the one sin they portray as being the worst and most disgusting. even bee who literally *is* gluttony is disgusted by mammon in that one scene where he’s chowing down in the courtroom. like what sense does that make.

which gets me to my real question that consistently bugged me throughout the whole series: what is the standard of morals in hell? the sins are personifications of their domains, so why are most of them decent folks? does this imply that people are sent to hell based on very conservative christian views—like is that the moral standard in this universe (i haven’t seen hh if this is explained)? like there genuinely weren’t a lot of indications for me for why a sin was a sin. ozzie emphasized lust being consensual; bee was concerned for blitz overindulging; but then verosika and her friends sexually assault moxxie and it’s implicitly brushed off as funny and not a big deal because oh well it is hell after all. idk it just felt inconsistent to me and i’m not sure why everyone and everything was so sanitized if this is supposed to be a terrible place

i liked the backstory episodes those were fun

i feel like they babygirlified stolas by making stella so unlikeable. it feels like the show runners were begging for us to sympathize with him when i thought he was a plenty decent character on his own and they could have made him much more morally complex by letting stella be an actual character. i was hoping there would be a little more ambiguity to it (rather than ‘yay stolas is finally divorcing that bitch’) because i genuinely was a little confused by why octavia was so mad at him at the end of s2 when the show covers his bases—she saw that stella wasn’t letting him call? idk i feel like the conflict should’ve come around the stars episode not the end one it just didn’t make sense to me. her struggle with the divorce made sense in s1 but by s2 they’d made stella such the clear-cut villain that it seemed like she never had a happy family to mourn the loss of. it felt forced that they transferred the conflict she seemed to be set up for having with her mother to stolas just to give him something to be upset about.

i’m not a big fan of stolitz im gonna be honest. idk why they like each other. they went from stolas essentially being a funny thirsty character to making their relationship the main plot line. it felt forced on blitz’s end especially like he went from not caring about him to ‘no actually he’s just too insecure to admit his feelings’ to madly in love?? within the space of a few episodes? there was also the problematic classist overtones as well but i think giving them an overtly toxic situationship would’ve been better and more fitting to the fact that they’re in hell than airbrushing things away so they can be an uwu yaoi pairing.

i enjoyed some of the songs especiallyyy the asmodeus one is s1 that was groovy as hell

i love fizz and ozzie they’re really cute :)

some of the designs got on my nerves (like ozzie and striker etc) but some of them were pretty cool (like fizz and stolas!)

in closing, i think the show is fine and a pretty fun watch it just shouldn’t take itself too seriously because then it breaks down.

[buniibloom]

tw for yapping + opinions pls don't jump me but i've been rereading mdxs and i wanna yap sobsobs

Y'know I partially like Lan Wangji, a little. Cause he seems like an overall interesting character....to a degree anyway.

If I'm being genuine, I suppose the only reason I even tolerate him as character is solely because compared to MXTX'S Hua Cheng and Luo Binghe, his life doesn't revolve fully around Wei Wuxian if that makes sense? Like he helps people and all that because he wants too and not because his love interest wanted that? I could be wrong though I usually skip all his scenes for Wen Ning and everyone else lmao

Idk something about him is...not okay for me. Like I said, he's tolerable but if I have to be honest I genuinely cannot bring myself to like him because he's so. Urgh.

I usually like enemies to lovers but the way he hates (?) Wei Wuxian in the flashback sequences is so....not okay with me ngl 😭 like I knew they were endgame before I picked up the series but still, the way he acted and treated Wei Wuxian was very much the same reason why I don't like Mu Qing much. Not necessarily actions as it is the personality and LWJ is such a dick in my personal opinion.

Yeah fine he likes WWX later on but he's still. Uck to me. Idk why people like him more than Jiang Cheng 😭 Jiang Cheng has flaws and feels like an interesting, realistic and fleshed out character but Lan Wangji is...a Gary Stu I think. Never done a single thing wrong, is so utterly perfect....idk I cannot stand characters like that. Even THE Gary Stu my sweet Binghe had his own flaws and problems but Lan Wangji just exists. Right there.

If I'm also being honest I absolutely despise him because of the smut scenes. It could simply be due to the translations though because apparently the English translation isn't too accurate? But still even so...

1) Homie I know you regret it but why did you still kiss a guy blindfolded just like that without warning? That's so fucking weird. IDGAF if you're the male lead because genuinely no offense but if this was a girl doing that literally everyone would be mad because "consent is key". AND IT SHOULD REMAIN SO D:<

2) That dream sequence chapter....why are you fantasizing about forcing your (younger) self on (younger) Wei Ying...and why would you also fuck while watching your younger selves fuck?? Is that not weird?? Even SVSSS's smut scenes which made me uncomfortable (I'm pretty vanilla with stuff like that) felt better than...THAT.

I don't like wangxian and I just. I don't like LWJ. I'll tolerate him but I dislike him a lot. He's so basic. Basic ass bitch. 😭 Why are you as the male lead so basic. Look at Binghe. Look at Hua Cheng. They're male leads and aren't so...basic. and annoying. Bleghhh

-- I'm adding the correct tags this time so plsplspls do not jump me if you like wangxian and LWJ. I still like the ship but the only way I can tolerate them is if Lan Wangji is a bottom because somehow he's better like that.

[crazylittlejester]

Opinion time

honestly, I like the hero of time as much as the next person- OOT is one of my favorite games in the whole entire series and I love the characterization Jo-Jo gave him, but that doesn’t mean I can’t admit he’s an extremely flawed character

and I mean this in a good way, Jo-Jo wrote a character you can know did bad things and still like him /pos

but I didn’t like how, in the timeline parts, wind does confront and ask him “why did you leave?” And times only response is, in my own words

”I left it behind cuz I felt like it LMAO”

..????? yes he took percussions to make sure ganon “didn’t come back” (which.. he did, time knew the seal would break eventually. ganon literally screams out about how much he hates him and is coming for his descendants)

leaving an entire world behind to rot is just written off as “shit happens” and you can’t say “well time didn’t know what he was doing” because, at some point, yes he FIGURES OUT his actions have consequences /nm

Imagine being rulie, your entire world is a wasteland and you ask the guy who CAUSED its downfall “why does my land suck so much” he just goes “oops my bad”

in the child timeline he just fucks off, in the downfall timeline he dies, comes back, and says forget everybody else, he only really started giving half-a-shit in the adult timeline with twilight. We can see this with his blatant favoritism over him.

anyways this was me screaming at the clouds about how time isnt a cookie cutter hero, he’s flawed and he’s made mistakes and honestly? It makes his character better and more enjoyable. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk (feel free to give ur opinion on the matter)

okay sorry for any spelling mistakes or oddly autocorrected words, this was kinda a lot longer than i thought it would be alkjslkjs 😭

Okay this is an incredibly interesting perspective and I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone else with this exact take on Time. I have a much different view of his character and his actions, though it was nice to read yours! /gen

First off, I completely agree that Time is a incredibly flawed person, and that’s part of why I love his character so much. He is not perfect, he is not the best leader, he makes mistakes. I genuinely think that the only reason he’s leader of this group and why the others tolerate him being the unofficial official leader is because even they can acknowledge that Time is just the best person for that role. He is not a perfect leader, he is not and I don’t know if he’ll ever truly reach that, but looking at the other options, he really was the best for the role. (Warriors would’ve been incapable of fully separating the others from the military in his mind, Twilight wouldn’t have been able to go off as Wolfie without causing mistrust or doubt towards him in the beginning, and Legend simply didn’t WANT that. The only other person who possibly could’ve lead the group would be Sky, and while I do think that could work, Time has way more experience)

Time has made a lot of mistakes, in his games, in the comic, he’s not flawless. I think in the comic (LU) we most commonly see this through how he’ll say things that come across as incredibly flat, snappy, or a bit harsher than what was really necessary for the situation. And this is just something it seems like he’s always been like, at least with how Jojo characterizes him, because in that one sketch with him and Malon when they were younger, he said something that did very much come off as snappy/rude, and he immediately realized how what he said sounded and tried to make an attempt to apologize. In the most recent update, we see how his stress and emotions made him much snappier and harsh towards the others than he really needed to be. I’d even argue in some moments, when he’s talking about his past and we see parts of his past, he’s a BIT arrogant. He certainly isn’t that way anymore, or at least he’s not as arrogant, but we see some moments where he comes off ass a little full of himself, the one I remember the clearest is the expression on his face when he got into Gerudo Town and a bit how he was talking about it. He’s also able to admit his flaws and that he was too distracted and let that get in the way of him helping the others while Twilight was hurt

Where I disagree with you (AND THIS IS ALL MY OPINION AND MY INTERPRETATION) is on Time’s thoughts surrounding the whole timeline thing. I do not think he had ANY idea that he was creating a whole other timeline, nor do I think he really even had a choice. He was sent back in time in an attempt to stop Ganon from destroying everything, and I believe he’s spent all the years since thinking all he did was go back in time. I don’t think he ever even considered the fact that Wind’s timeline continued on without him there (screenshots taken from Timeline Talk 1, art credit to @/linkeduniverse)

He DIDN’T know what he was doing. He was like, 9-10 in the body of (roughly) a 17 year old, he was doing whatever he was told by Zelda, Rauru and the sages, the goddesses, whoever. And I don’t think ANYONE realized the consequences of sending him back in time like that. I genuinely think that this right here is where he realizes not only that the timelines split, but the timelines split because of HIS adventure/journey. And when faced with the idea that every time he used his ocarina he abandoned hyrule (kingdom) he seems horrified (also from Timeline Talk 1):

I also don’t think the others have any idea at all that Hyrule and Legend are on a separate timeline from everyone else. I think everyone who comes after Time on ANY timeline has heard of him, but Legend and Hyrule haven’t had the chance really to talk about their timeline with Time, at least not really like how Wind did. And even if they had, again, Time DIED in their timeline, which could not possibly in any way have been his fault 😭

So yeah, he did leave Wind’s timeline (which is the adult timeline), but he genuinely had no idea that it got ABANDONED. I think the way he was looking at is was like erasing and starting anew and not just writing over what was already written and leaving that there (if that makes sense). And even if he had realized he completely abandoned that time, I’m not sure it would’ve even been possible for him to go back, and if he HAD, there’s only one Time. Twilight either wouldn’t have been born, or he’ve been born in Wind’s timeline. Which raises some INTERESTING theories because if Twilight had been there, would his game have happened? If it HAD, would Wind even be a hero? Given that whole theory that Wind doesn’t even have the hero’s spirit and he CHOSE the hero life instead of the other way around. That’d honestly be so interesting to explore!! I kinda wanna write a fic on it

Time did was he was told to do, he did was he was guided to do by people older than him or who had more ‘power’ than him. He was around ten years old, I don’t think he had a “Lmao fuck this shit” attitude when timeline hopping, I don’t think he understood he was timeline hopping at all. He didn’t understand what he was doing and he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, he was just trying to survive, and I’ll even bet he really thrived on what little acknowledgement and appreciation he got for saving hyrule (kingdom) because he seems (to me at least) like after losing the Great Deku Tree and the Kokiri he was REALLY lonely

And yes, he definitely for sure has a soft spot for Twi. But aside from Twi JUST being his descendant, I think Time feels bad that Twi followed after him in the hero business. He probably realized Twilight was descended from him and then really LOOKED at him and saw everything that young man went through and Time probably felt AWFUL. And after realizing that Wind’s entire timeline suffered because of something he did, I’m sure he feels the same way towards Wind. Because he may not be Time’s blood, but he’s a KID and he’s been through so much. Also there could be an argument made that Time is such a hoverer around Twi rn because he was hurt. I’m sure Four could’ve been the one who was hit and Time would be hovering over HIM instead

TL;DR: Yes Time is incredibly flawed. That’s what makes him interesting, that’s what makes him a good character, I wouldn’t like him very much if he were perfect alkjslksj. But I do not think he intentionally abandoned the other timelines, nor do i think that has anything to do with why he seemingly favors Twi. He was a kid, I don’t think anyone understood what was happening. I think if Wind had never spoken up, Time never would’ve known

(also Timeline Talk 1):

but thanks for sharing your perspective! It’s always interesting to see the different ways we see the same character :) /gen

[stupidlittlespirit]

Can you give me more examples of Alex disliking Ford? I’ve always kinda felt it, but I never really had much of a real grasp on it.

Okay so this is the part where I look crazy because I can't give you specific examples LMAO but I'll try to explain what I mean. It's more in what he doesn't say than what he does.

Alex doesn't ever come right out and state 'I hate Ford', but he implies his distaste for him through his treatment of him. The way he hasn't gone harder/more explicit on drawing lines about Ford's abuse, or talking about how Ford suffered terribly during the time he was alone, for example. The way he blames Ford inherently for a lot of stuff that Ford, while not blameless, isn't fully at fault for. It's little things, and I'll detail them below.

TW below: Abuse, discussions of victimhood and irl consequences.

He extends more sympathy to other characters whereas Ford is sort of an afterthought. I don't actually think Alex has fleshed Ford out very well in his own head. Remember when he said that he didn't even know that Bill was going to be the main villain? They were flying by the seat of their pants for a lot of the series and it's quite clear in some elements. Obviously, the series is wonderful, I love it, it's one of my favourite shows of all time and Alex is a true talent, but it's obvious which characters are more important to him. He favours Bill a lot, too, so when his disliking of Ford/being ambivalent about him meets his enjoyment of Bill, only one of those dogs is coming out of the fight alive and it ain't Ford.

I think Alex is a genuine talent, I admire his work and his writing. He seems lovely. But I do also think he lacks in skill when it comes to complex abuse depictions.

I see a running theme that he isn't very good at portraying it specifically via 'unlikeable' characters. I mentioned on a previous post that he did this with Pacifica until people expressed empathy with her, and then he decided to round her out. He stated that himself during an old interview; I can't source it but I remember it vividly because it flagged red in my head that he couldn't see she was just a product of her environment. She's a twelve year old girl, for god's sake, she isn't 'just a horrible person', it makes a person sound like Bill when they beef with kids like that lol.

Another thing is in TBoB, there's a really horrendous page where Ford is tortured. It is visceral and awful, and tbh I wish I'd have been able to ask Alex what his top 5 horror movies were when I saw his talk because the scene is very reminiscent of a lot of my fav horrors.

But anyway, it is literal torture and it is also communicating about how helpless Ford is. He's a victim and a 'weak one' at that. Nothing he can do will stop Bill's abuse, he's stupid for trying, he's pathetic, he deserves it.

Now, that is a take I see with Ford a lot. He deserves it. He's asking for it. And it's a really upsetting one. It's also a common narrative told by people who blame victims for the abuse they suffered.

Not once have I ever seen Alex defend Ford. Not once have I ever heard him say 'Ford didn't deserve this', 'Ford suffered as much as Stan'. Not once.

Considering that he said he took 'inspiration' from his friend's 'toxic' relationships (I also think this is a strange and slightly perverse thing to do btw), I would have thought he might feel more strongly about pushing away this narrative about victims deserving their treatment.

I, obviously, also don't know for sure that he did take inspo from friends; he could well be describing his own experiences and just not feel comfortable saying so because men do suffer a different kind of stigma around being abused. That's fine, he doesn't have to out himself or anything, that would be horrible. That's something else entirely and not something for me to speak on.

There are many types of abuse. Ford's experience is familial, relationship-wise (platonic, because nothing about his relationship with Bill is romantic in the most basic sense of the term, if anything you can liken that side of things to sexual abuse) and personal. Ford then abuses himself as a reaction to outside abuse. Not his fault, again, but it does happen and it's a common thing for victims to do. I did.

Ford does nothing but suffer.

I truly don't believe that if you loved and cared for your character, you would be willing to watch your audience tear them apart like that after they had already been through so much and were not actually a villain themselves.

Especially if you had, or knew other people who had, experience with that kind of abuse. He doesn't let it happen to Stan, he came down hard on people when they did it to Dipper, and to Mabel, too.

It would kill me to let my OCs be bastardised like that by an audience and I'd be damned if I did a disservice to victims everywhere over something like this.

I think his lack of care is displayed in his treatment of Ford, as opposed to him outright saying he doesn't like him.

I also understand that this analysis also comes from a deeply personal point of view and my own experience with this topic, too.

This is a TV show, it isn't real and I don't need to take it so seriously, but what I do take seriously is seeing the real world reactions of other people. That does hurt. It hurts to see someone who is (very inelegantly and heavy-handedly, btw) depicted as a victim of abuse be laughed at and made into a joke, or flipped on their head and made to be romanticised with their abuser just to make a ship happen.

Fiction doesn't need to be taken seriously except when the lines begin to blur over into real life. We know people are cruel to irl victims and we can see where these lines blur quite obviously.

I think abuse and uncomfortable topics should be depicted, but I also think that as a creator, if you use them, you have a HUGE responsibility to teach and guide your audience into understanding why these things are bad/what makes them so. You shouldn't make jokes about the topic or encourage other people to go off the rails with it.

You can't control people, of course you can't, but you can hold their hand a bit and show them towards the light. If they choose not to follow it then they're probably not bright enough to pick up what you're putting down and that's on them, but you have to try.

Maybe if I hadn't (and my friends and other victims hadn't) been subjected to exactly the same reaction, we wouldn't feel so strongly about this, but it really does feel like a kick in the teeth to see a large number of people behave so grotesquely about abuse.

And just as an aside: I am a victim, I have been/am an unlikeable one, but it does not mean that I deserved what I got and that goes the same for every other 'unlikeable' victim out there.

*deep breath* but other than that I'm totally normal about Ford and not at all mentally ill :)

[m1ckeyb3rry]

tell me (someone who doesn’t know who nagi is) why you like nagi. scholarly pursuit of knowledge i’m curious

so this did in fact prompt an entire essay from me let it NEVER be said i am not a nagi fan SDKJHF adding a cut for the sake of the lurkers and the dash

omg...okay so the first thing i have to say is like aesthetics alone he is pretty much exactly the kind of character i go for!! he's tall (190cm/6'3), has white hair, and generally a very sweet appearance (is this phainon or nagi do yfm) LMAO he also does have just very very pretty panels he's definitely one of the author's and illustrator's favs LMAOAO AND HE IS DEFINITELYYYY the animation studio's fav like genuinely bllk anime may suck quality wise but they never fumble a nagi scene 🙂‍↔️☝🏻

i think when i first started watching i liked the whole 'genius' aspect to his character as well!! since you don't know who he is his whole thing is being like effortlessly good at everything but also being super lazy and i mean. I Thought He Looked Good SKDFHJ he's simultaneously very cute and one tupperware container tall while also being very skilled and intimidating in his own right?? he's frequently shown/drawn with skull motifs and his 'aura' is quite literally death itself/stars and space/a black hole which is just really cool to me (and also why i always wish i could kidnap him and put him in a more interesting verse than fuckass soccerland)

also!! he seems like a very shallow and lame character on the surface and he lowkey has a lot of haters but genuinely he is very sad when you think about it and also quite misunderstood by the fandom at large. there are a lot of 'nice' characters in blue lock but very few of them are 'kind' whereas nagi is the opposite — he is blunt and awkward at times but he always is thinking of Other People and how he can help them!! until like a year before the events of blue lock his only friend ever was his pet cactus and his parents are said to be never at home (he lives by himself in his own apartment and he mentions that he has a friend-like relationship with them which. is fine but like those are your Parents ykwim) so he's doing as well as you'd expect. yes he is lazy and makes other people do his work but a) real asf b) pretty much all of the traits that people complain about in him are very very commonplace for parental neglect victims and i think when you reframe your thoughts with that lens it's so much easier to understand that just because he doesn't always come across in the right way he is easily EASILY the kindest/most empathetic character in the series

he also is just a generally peaceful guy like he doesn't get into fights much and even when he does (he has like MAD beef with one character) it's always funny HAHA like he's just super chill and sweet and gets along well with pretty much everyone but he's also lowkey the sassiest character...he's very like dreamy and soft-spoken so it doesn't have the same effect as someone like rin who is the stereotypical black haired emo sarcastic man (think levi aot or megumi jjk) but he has some CREATIVE insults probably because he is a gamer SKJDHF he's always trash talking someone i fear 😰 there's also a few additional times (post-credit funny scenes) of him just being stupid with his imagination...he and isagi the mc imagined the guy who he has beef with (they're also friends/teammates) as a maid so now there's been like multiple scenes of that guy just wearing a maid dress LMAOOO like doing the world a service just for that one istg 🙏🏻 he's very creative and we get to see him being sillier as the show/manga continues

i think in general he looks very cuddly too like SDLKFH big warm sleepy man save me...save me big warm sleepy man...he's like nonchalant but also very chalant?? it's weird but it does make sense LMAOO he just sucks at communciation 😓 but he is getting better!!

honestly there is probably more bro i LOVE this guy LSKDHSF but also even i don't quite know why He is the one who i became so attached to...like why did it have to be the guy from the fucking SOCCER SHOW 😭 but yeah this is definitely a starting point .. i am nothing but a nagi glazer down to my core i will literally always go off about him with little to no provocation 😭

[lesbianjackies]

the yellowjackets’ favorite books hcs bc i saw one of these and disagreed with all of them 👍

jackie: okay i’m so sorry but this girl only reads trashy romance novels she found on booktok. it drives shauna BONKERS because she’s incapable of getting jackie to read anything she likes.

natalie: i don’t think she’s a reader but if she was she would be a comic girlie. dc > marvel and she gets into fights with van over it regularly.

laura lee: she genuinely really likes theology books and she FOR SURE grew up on american girl and still loves them. she will pick up anything if she hears it’s gay or christian but she has really high standards and she’ll dnf any book that doesn’t meet them.

lottie: she’s an astrology girlie for SURE so i think she reads a lot of books on that to compile as much knowledge as she can (so she can psychoanalyze her friends). i also feel like she was a greek mythology kid so i think she’s read a lot of the original myths and likes a few select retellings (but they’re not the popular ones. she, like laura lee, has really high standards).

van: okay SHE is like definitely a comic girlie for sure. marvel > dc. she’s also just into those classic middle grade books every queer person read as a kid like harry potter and percy jackson and still has a lot of nostalgia for them. oh she was also a warrior cats kid for SURE. lmao.

misty: WARRIOR CATS KID AND IT SCREWED HER UP FOR LIFE. big into harry potter & lord of the rings and also just random niche fantasy series. reads a LOT and she’s active in a lot of fandom circles and she tries to get everyone she talks to into the books she reads.

taissa: def a nonfiction girlie. books on law, books on feminism, books on queer history… van thinks everything she reads is boring as fuck and she thinks everything van reads is stupid. true love 🫶

travis: ough okay i think travis is ALSO a comic girlie. but i think she’s more niche with it. i think she likes like….. umbrella academy type shit idk. and i think as a kid she was into stuff that was “for girls” until her dad bullied it out of her and now she gets really upset when she sees those series / hears someone talk about how they read them.

shauna: CLASSICS. brontë sisters, jane austen, edgar allan poe, emily dickinson…… yeah. she’s SO pretentious about it too she has two copies of each book so she can have a pretty one on her shelf and then a torn up copy that she can write notes in and she’s always carrying books around and reading them in public to show people she’s smart……. yeahhhh.

mari: mari doesn’t read that’s for fucking nerds. (she was a warrior cats kid and she’s obsessed with harry potter, percy jackson, and the lord of the rings. tell anyone and she’ll hurt you badly.)

akilah: rainbow fairies kid!!!!!! doesn’t read as much as she used to; if she does pick up a book it’s gotta be something that really speaks to and connects with her.