#one of the most iconic series finales of all time but also the most devastating ever

[devilsskettle]

The Pink Opaque — season 5 finale

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

So I Spied Another Day...

You know it was a good show when you can’t decide whether your heart is so full from all the love and joy, or so empty because it's over.

Really do buckle up, because this is a long one.

So the show went a little like this. They played the Spies pro-shoot on a giant movie screen, but any time a song started, the audio changed to the instrumental track, the video typically faded to simple background graphics, and the cast came out to perform the number live in concert style. There were also a series of audience participation prompts up on the movie screen, such as standing to deliver a line in unison, giving Lauren a standing ovation for the Pay Attention! Reprise, enthusiastically booing Dr. Baron von Nazi and the still infuriatingly catchy Not So Bad (for anyone who’s curious, in addition to encouraging boos and yelled disagreements with von Nazi, they also cut the audience participation bit from the song).

The energy in the room was so electric and full of joy and warmth. People shouted out iconic lines, went wild for everyone’s entrances, and absolutely lost their damn minds over Curtwen at pretty much every opportunity. And the cast were clearly having just as much fun. Doing This has always been my favorite, and there was something so sweet about them singing it again all these years later. We finally got Joey performing Spies Are Forever (Evil Reprise) again and it was just as chilling and beautiful as you’d expect. And One Step Ahead was just on a whole new level. I don’t want to give anything away, but the details in that performance were INCREDIBLE.

It was simply so special seeing most of the original gang come back while also bringing some new friends along. Shout out to Mariah for coming out at the top of the show so ready to play, setting the tone for the whole evening. Shout out to James for putting his comedy chops on full display (LET JAMES BE FUNNY MORE) and dancing the hell out of One More Shot (another favorite number). And shoutout to Carlos Alazraqui (taking over the roles of Sergio and Vladimir Poopin) and Tommy Link for coming into this crazy part of our world with such enthusiasm and silliness. Brian deserves a medal for agreeing to once again play the most cringe-worthy character in all of Pulp-StarCanWrecked history, and for sounding so fucking good while doing it. Tessa was having a blast in full unhinged glory and I gladly worship at her altar. Lauren is maybe the funniest person alive and deserved her standing ovation, prompted or not. Seeing Joe Walker perform live has been Item Number One on my fandom bucket list since I moved to LA a couple of years ago, and I still can’t quite believe I managed it. I’d wondered if he’d be rusty, but honestly he sounded great; it was like no time had passed. Mary Kate still has one of my all-time favorite voices and her Tatiana remains forever engaging. Joey showed up dressed to slay as a gay evil genius Bond-movie supervillain and proceeded to thoroughly deliver on that promise. And Curt… every time I watch Spies I am increasingly blown away by what he does with this arrogant, broken mess of a character. He clearly loves Agent Mega as much as any of us, and to see a performance refined and powered by such clear and thoughtful passion is just a huge treat.

(And while he wasn’t in the cast, I can’t not mention Corey. Between his roles as director and co-writer, so much of what Spies is comes directly from him and we don’t appreciate that nearly enough. And shout out to Esther Fallick for her wonderful work as Susan and the Informant. She might not have been there in person, but her incredible performance was with us the whole time.)

I know this is preaching to the choir, but Spies Are Forever really is such a special show. It’s a story about recovery, and devastating as it can be, I think there’s also something deeply healing about it at its core. For one thing, I know it played a huge role in mending my relationship with my asexuality. I will forever be grateful to it for existing, to TCB, Talkfine, and the original cast for creating it, and to those same people for maintaining its legacy with the amount of love and care it deserves. It was a privilege to be in the room as so many people came to celebrate this miraculous little musical. There were a couple of minor tech glitches (I wonder if they’ll even include the “big one”—the projector jumping over most of the staircase scene before getting fixed—in the digital ticket version), but nothing that could even begin to damper the magic of the night.

We all know that spies never die (except for Owen and the Informant, oops). And at times like this concert, I think this special little show with its short run in 2016 will prove to be just as immortal.

[aviculor]

Engaging with the One Piece fandom has led me to realize that people don't generally like Thriller Bark even though it's one of my favorite arcs.

The aesthetics

The concept of the Strawhats getting lost in their world's version of the Bermuda Triangle and winding up on the doorstep of one of the Shichibukai who is now targeting them. It's a setup that's basically the perfect self-contained adventure.

Gecko Moria himself is a great villain who sets up Kaidou as this devastating, demoralizing threat looming in the background until that finally comes to fruition in Wano.

Moria's zombie army contains more call-forwards such as the legendary samurai Shimotsuki Ryuma, who also becomes relevant in Wano. Zoro defeating Ryuma is how he obtains Shusui, arguably his most iconic sword. I'm also pretty sure Oars is going to be relevant very soon when the Strawhats inevitably to go Elbaf. And there was Captain John, a member of the Rocks Pirates whose treasure map is what convinces Buggy to help Luffy's jailbreak from Impel Down.

A lot of minor zombies are memorable too, like Tararan the giant spider monkey. It's also been implied Hippo Gentleman is a subtle reference to Wapol becoming a toymaking mogul after his defeat, as all of the Wild Zombies are based on toys Perona owns.

The Kage Kage no Mi is cracked. The sheer creativity it took for Moria to use a shadow-manipulating power to raise an army of not even just zombies but Frankensteinian supersoldiers. Because it turns out shadows function as auxiliary souls and can be placed into new hosts to breathe life into them and it doesn't matter if those hosts are alive, dead, inanimate, or biologically impossible abominations that are literally stitched together. Moria basically has another Soru Soru no Mi that does even more. His own shadow is basically a second him that functions like a logia user. He can switch places with his shadow at any point, allowing this 30 foot tall man to functionally teleport. He can put his shadow into your shadow and control you like a puppet. He can absorb his entire stockpile of stolen souls shadows and turn into a kaijuu with the combined strength of thousands of people. He can just plain stab you with a shadow like Kyoraku Shunsui. Plus, as a kicker, the mere act of Moria removing your shadow means you will die in the sunlight like a vampire.

Dr. Hogback is another great villain. The sheer depravity it takes to steal the corpse of a woman who rejected you and reanimate her as a servant who you physically abuse. Chopper used to idolize this man. Few villains in the series are quite this reprehensible, especially pre-timeskip.

Perona is best girl

Sanji laying into Absalom for eating the fruit he wanted to eat is yet another call-forward to Wano due to Sanji's Raid Suit, Stealth Black.

Luffy asks no less than three undead creatures to join his crew. One of them actually says yes, and Brook remains an invaluable member of the Strawhat Pirates.

You know what? Just Brook himself.

Robin's outfit

Usopp's outfit

Nightmare Luffy, which is a powerup Luffy liked so much that he modeled Gear Fourth after it.

Another of Usopp's lies turned into an accidental truth, as there was a cerberus.

"NOTHING HAPPENED."

"I'M ALREADY NEGATIVE!"

"AN OLD MAN WITH A WOUND!?"

Lola turned out to be one of Big Mom's children and is actually the first Charlotte to appear in the series, tying Thriller Bark into Whole Cake Island as well.

Lola is also the first person to actually tell us what a vivre card is. The vivre card of Big Mom that she gave Nami became a whole-ass MacGuffin on Whole Cake Island.

This is the first time we actually get to know Bartholomew Kuma after his introduction which was a glorified cameo. He shows up out of nowhere (literally) and what news does he bring? Blackbeard has become a Shichibukai, having bribed the World Government for the position by capturing one Portgas D. "Fire Fist" Ace.

Between the above point and Sabaody Archipelago introducing us to the Celestial Dragons and ending with the Strawhats getting absolutely destroyed, you could argue that Thriller Bark was the last relatively low-stakes and "fun" arc. Sure, they were fighting for their lives, but there weren't any like...global-scale consequences or repercussions.

Zombie dance party

[stageplaymlp]

Hi I wanna start Trigun and you're the person in my feed who mentions it most, should I start with the manga, the old anime or Stampede?

Honestly? You can start wherever. The main three versions of Trigun (1998 anime, the manga, Stampede) are all incredibly varied and you'll get different things out of them. It's a "pick your poison" type deal. I'll give you a quick run down of the different versions so you can choose which is best for you, anon

It's also worth noting that my personal journey with Trigun went: '98 -> Stampede -> TriMax -> BLR

(Oh yeah, there's also a movie called Badlands Rumble. We'll get to it)

'Trigun' / 'Trigun: Maximum' manga: I think it'd be best to start this discussion with the source material. If you're looking for the most complete and rounded story of Trigun, this is it, mainly because it ran the for the longest out of all versions, and is a finished work (Stampede is ongoing). It's also worth noting that this is the darkest version of Trigun so far and goes into some very heavy subject matter (gore, (mostly offscreen) SA, suicidal ideation, etc.) There's a tumblr post listing the various trigger warnings that I'll link at the end of this section. That said, it is definitely my favourite version of Trigun narratively and BOY is it an emotional roller coaster. It's what gave me the brain worms. It's got a good mix of the silly and the sad, while also going BUCKWILD near the end. It's great. Highly reccomend

Oh, yeah, the manga is also split into Trigun and TriMax because the magazine it was published in got canned. Trigun was then picked up again by a new publisher with an added subtitle. Trigun is 2 volumes while TriMax is 14. The manga as a whole ran from 1995-2008. It's all one continous story so don't worry, with the events of TriMax picking up two years after the events of Trigun in-universe

Here's the post btw: https://www.tumblr.com/blackblockconsortia/719247451003977728/and-now-for-trimax-general-warnings-for-trimax

'Trigun' 1998 anime: Ah, the OG, for me at least. Watched this back in 2018 and started me on this ride. It should be worth noting that at the time of 98's creation, only the two volumes of Trigun and the first two volumes of TriMax were out at the time. Due to this, the 98 anime is about 60% filler (as in, anime original content) and it has its own ending, too. I consider it its own story compared to the manga, despite directly adapting a number of its storylines. 98 is only 26 episodes and leans very heavily into the comedic, episodic element in the first half of the story. The manga has this too, but 98 commits to the bit more. Then the second half rolls around and punches you square in the gut. It's great. Not nearly as dark as the manga or Stampede, but 14 y/o me was DEVASTATED by the end of it. Absolutely iconic. Also, while the ending is different to the manga with how things shake out, it's satisfying in its own way

'Trigun: Stampede' 2023 anime: This here is what reignited my love for this series. Now, Stampede is a VERY DIFFERENT BEAST to the 98 anime, which I think is part of why people were hesitant about it on reveal (including me). Stampede is a lot more serious in tone and less episodic, keeping to a consistent plot episode-to-episode (for the most part). It's also only 12 episodes in length as of season 1. The anime is also 3D, but the animation is BEAUTIFUL. Studio Orange know what the fuck they're doing. I also need to mention that Stampede is a reimagining of the manga, not a direct adaptation. It takes the same concepts, lore, characters and themes and moulds them into something new (kind of like the different versions of TMNT). If you watch 98 or read the manga before this one, you will have to go in with an open mind and heart. It's good, though, I promise. What's fun about Stampede is that it came out after the manga was finished, so characters and backstory elements that never got adapted into 98 (because they didn’t exist at the time) finally get animated. I'd say it's more faithful to the story and tone of the manga than 98, but with its own flavour mixed in. It was clearly made with a lot of love for the franchise, too

'Badlands Rumble' movie: BLR came out in 2010 and treats itself like an extra episode of the 98 anime for the most part. It's its own self-contained story, and plays off of the dynamics and characterisation of 98 than other versions, with a number of nods to the anime mixed in. Hell, a new version of the 98 anime opening 'H.T.' even shows up in the soundtrack. It doesn't tie into the wider story of any version of Trigun, but if you want another silly adventure with some killer action scenes, then I'd reccomend it. I'd suggest watching 98 before this, though, but it won't ruin the movie if you don't. You can know fuck all about Trigun and enjoy this. Although, warning for Vash being a bit of a weirdo to the leading lady. He needs to calm down

There was also a tie-in manga for the release of the movie called 'Trigun: Multiple Bullets'. The first two chapters directly follow the events of BLR, while the rest of the chapters are an anthology made by guest artists. Warning, though, most of the other chapters take place after the events of TriMax and can contain spoilers. In terms of quality, the chapters are... Okay. I like some more than others. Boichi (mangaka of Dr. Stone) drew a Very Manly Vash and he scares me. Also, I should mention the storyline about the side-character, Rei-Dei the Blade, has offscreen SA and CSA. It took me off guard because I didn't know it was in there, and it's pretty messed up. I'd still recommend MB if you want some extra Trigun, and some of the chapters are genuinely funny and heart warming, but I wanted to give the heads up

Now, with all this considered, there are two places I'd reccomend starting Trigun: the 98 anime or Stampede

The 98 anime is more lighthearted and keeps a lot of answers to the lore close to its chest. I found discovering more about the world through other versions to be narratively satisfying, like one big unravelling mystery. TriMax and Stampede also greatly expand and improve upon concepts in 98 as well. It's a good way to ease you in to the world of Trigun while making you want more. You fall in love with the characters, and THEN the plot whacks you upside the head with a frying pan. I like the slow burn

Stampede is the opposite. You get right into the action out the gate. It offers answers to questions far quicker than 98 ever did. The ball is rolling and it rolls FAST. You want the meat and potatoes of Trigun shoved in your face? Stampede is for you. It's also better if you prefer serious, story-driven media. Although, Stampede isn't complete yet, so you will have to wait for 'Trigun: Stargaze' to come out for the full narrative to resolve

AND THAT'S WHERE THE MANGA COMES IN BABYYYYYYY!!!!! It has the humour and slow build of 98 AND the complex story and tone of Stampede. It's the best of both worlds. You get all the answers, you get that satisfying resolution, and you get to cry on the side of your bed from the amazing writing (like I did). You won't even get that spoiled for what will come after Stampede, because who knows how much of it Studio Orange will take from and how. All roads lead to the manga. That is my advice

Also all the OSTs for Trigun (98, BLR and Stampede) are AMAZING. Go listen to them. They're all on Spotify, if that helps

I wrote this at 3am. I hope this is coherent

[runningwithfangs]

Vampire Chronicles Book Review/Rant #2

The Vampire Lestat

I think we can all agree, what a turnaround! So completely different from IWTV. I’m not sure what I was expecting, probably something more like a Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edwards’ perspective) or a Slayer Chronicles (to the Vladimir Tod series) Turned out to be more of The Saga of Larten Crepsley (to the CIrque du Freak series)(I was raised by vampire books, apparently).

Anyway, what a ride! About halfway through I was feeling a little frustrated that we hadn’t gotten to when he met Louis yet, but I was also having so much fun reading about this Chaos BisexualTM. So much happens, so many dumb Lestat adventures, Nicki, Lestat’s turning, Gabrielle, Armand and his coven, Marius, Akasha and Enkil, Louis and Claudia, Rockstar music video films, vampires ablaze out of nowhere! 10/10 Romp, I had so much fun reading this.

Lestat is so many things, he’s cheery and determined to brighten the day of those he loves, he’s been beaten and abused by his own family, he hopes and dreams like any young person, yet also deeply fears the meaninglessness of life itself. I can for sure relate. 

I also enjoyed the way it was written, easy and lighthearted, even in darker parts Lestat describes things with humor to mask the pain.

Favorites:

I appreciate when Lestat takes the time to describe the wonders of the modern world, what stands out to him, what doesn’t. He’s blown away by film, excited by women in bare arms, that even poor people could eat meat. In later books he’s so excited by pens that can write forever. Super interesting to think about, and the though experiment of “what would a vampire think of world through the ages” is one of my favorite things about vampire media.

Lestat and Nicki’s relationship is so cute! Their drunken afternoons in “the conversation,” they take turns comforting each other from their familial demands and expectations. They go to Paris and live in a shitty apartment while they work their asses off in the theater trying to pay rent. It’s almost like a CBS sitcom, but like, in a good way. It’s so devastating to me that Vampire Nicki ended up like he did.

Gabrielle, my love! What a queer icon. She cuts her hair, wears men’s clothes, even Lestat gets in on it, trying to find her the manliest jewelry. I think about the freedom female vampires must experience in this series a lot. Gabrielle clearly hated being a mom and wife and living in a crumbling castle. And now she is finally free, freer than any of her wildest fantasies.

When Lestat asks her if she had become a vampire first, wouldn’t she also send money and gifts to the family and keep caring for them, and she’s just like, oh psssh yeah, of course 😂 

Armand/Lestat being worsties.

Marius spending eons hiding Those Who Must Be Kept only to pick up Lestat, go: I like ya kid, you got spunk, let me spill all the vampire secrets. Only for the Most Special BoyTM

When we FINALLY get the 3 whole paragraphs about Louis and Claudia at the end of the book, it’s not enough, but what is there is lovely. “Even in his crudest moments, Louis touched the tenderness in me” “But I loved him, plain and simple” UGH, Anne PLEASE. 

Least Favorites:

Why did Lestat slip his mom the tongue 😭

Not enough Louis 😡 (Little did I know there would only be crumbs of him from then on)

Vampire Nicki 😣 He hated Lestat in the end and then Armand cut his hands off! He deserved better. 

Smutt:

Nicki and Lestat getting drunk and making out at the tavern! Love that for them.

I am NOT counting Lestat/Gabrielle kisses.

If I missed something maybe y’all can let me know.

Nonsense Meter:

Medium nonsense, I think. Especially considering the books to come. 

Lestat flying and SCREAMING at the Theater. Lestat showing up to the catacombs to utterly destroy the cult with facts and logic and “New evil for a new era.” Lestat giving into the intrusive thoughts to kiss Akasha and play her the violin only to nearly get killed by Enkil, and OF COUSE, the whole Rockstar Lestat thing, with the music videos and the song lyrics and the Halloween concert. 

Misc:

It was Marius’s fault for sending Lestat to go live a human life! Thank you/goddamn you.

I am confused by how at the start of the book Lestat is interested in rock, he goes to jam with Satan’s Night out and loves the attention that would come with being a rockstar, but it’s only after he reads IWTV and gets all upset about it that he decides he’s going to get Louis’s attention by becoming a world-famous rockstar. “I ached for him, ached for his romantic illusions [...] his physical presence.” But once Louis does find Lestat, not much happens.

I was so excited for the reunion once Louis find’s Lestat and his band chilling before the concert, would they fight?! Would they make out?! And it was. . .ok, Louis tries to warn Lestat, and they dance around their feelings, and that’s kind of it. Lestat doesn’t even ask about the book!

Then I was excited that Gabrielle (post-concert disaster rescue) got to meet her shit son’s ex-husband! Was she going to be disapproving (no one is good enough for her boy), furious about the release of IWTV, or maybe try to convince them to give up mortal world shenanigans and go climb waterfalls with her? Nope, we got nothing, just wondering if it was Marius setting all the fledglings on fire. Anne . . . I don’t get it.

[crystalstunes]

crystal's tunes #3: Romance is Boring by Los Campesinos! (2010)

"First and foremost, oh, let it be said/I am writing this at 7:10AM/On the hard dry tarmac of a vacant forecourt/Astronomically speaking, it's the first day of Autumn." - I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know (Track 11) this album has been a staple of my taste for years, it's overdue that i write about it, and of course the first day of autumn is the perfect time.

the third Los Campesinos! album, romance is boring, is the perfect cap on the original lineup era of the band. containing some of their greatest lyrical work, satisfying instrumentals and a sense of humour that perfectly harmonizes with some of it's more sombre themes. released less than 2 years after their debut album (and 1.5 after their sophomore), this album is a much more mature in its songwriting, but retaining the immature, verbose lyrics they're known for, referencing romance and sex often despite the album title. however, these are largely about toxic relationships and miscommunications, with gareth usually portrayed as pathetic in the narrative of the songs.

one great example of this is Straight In At 101, one of the most iconic songs from the album. the track starts very directly with the line "I think we need more post-coital, and less post rock/Feels like the build-up takes forever, but you never get me off", and then progressively describes a break-up, getting cold feet, and a series of failed attempts to get laid, before finding out that his breakup didn't even make it onto a tv show of the 100 most heart-wrenching breakups of all time. he should be happy about this, but is instead embarrassed and shameful for his breakup not being more devastating.

as we reach the second half of the album though, the tone begins to transition to themes of existentialism and mental health, though romance is still the through-line between the songs. gone is the occasional comedy of the first 7 tracks, now we have discussions of headstones as "rows of engraved middle teeth, hungry, waiting for me" - Who Fell Asleep In (Track 8), eating disorders, abuse and self-harm.

instrumentally there's a change in vibe here too, with a lot more slower-paced songs and darker chord sequences in this half. the lyrics also become more violent, and start making fun of the listener for being so invested - "broke down laughing and screaming for more, but if this changed your life, did you have one before?" - I Warned You: Do Not Make An Enemy Of Me (Track 9).

in I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know, the protagonist is unable to detatch himself from the person he has a crush on - "i've displayed marriage proposals on the jumbotron of ball games you've not been at/i've written eulogies in guest books in galleries in the hopes that you might pass" - but by the end of the song he finally realises his fault, but still deals with it in an immature way: "i promise after this i will pick up the phone book/and pick the name my eyes fall upon on their first look/aim all of my poorly composed declarations there in the future".

the emotional culmination of the album comes in the track The Sea Is A Good Place To Think About The Future, a song describing his girlfriend's declining mental health, and the unhealthy coping mechanisms she uses to deal with it, and the chorus describing the girlfriend's suicide by drowning herself in the ocean. the tone here is deadly serious, and the song is absolutely incredible.

the final track on the album, Coda: A Burn Scar In The Shape Of The Sooner State, leaves the end of the narrative intentionally, describing a death and then ending with the line "I can't believe you chose the mountains every time you chose the sea". overall this album is just the perfect encompassment of this original era of Los Campesinos!, from the instrumentation with violins, horns and duet vocals to the sexual lyrical content, sense of humour and unusual number of football references. i'd say it's their most essential album, and it's certainly influenced my taste in music since i first listened to it five years ago. i can't wait to see them live next week.

[maiavonsneeper]

Video Game 2023 recap!

So this year i played heaps of games lol honestly crazy to think about.

Thought I'd do my own wrap up and look back.

I may mention spoilers.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Cute! Its my first Kirby game in forever (last game was on the DS) Again its cute, fun, funny and its body horror for kids!

🐀Happy Sneep ^_^

Bayonetta 3

I've watched the previous two games so this was my first time playing a Bayonetta game. I was worried about getting into its combat so I played in casual for most of it. Did play in standard later and it turns out I was doing well lol

The story and ending was..something tbh I expected a lot based on the past two. Still I had fun as a newcomer and I enjoyed the customizing.

🐀 Neutral (confused) Sneep :-1

Yakuza Like a Dragon

Funny to think that I unintentionally played this game and I guess the rest of the series lmao Honestly iconic I loved Ichiban, I loved his friends, the usual RGG side stuff was fun and full of charm and the english dub was really well done. Am glad to have played this especially after I watched Penny Parker play this.

🐀a Happy Sneep about it but was left devastated at the end ಥ_ಥ

Yakuza 0

Loved it, a great way to get into the Kiryu saga, to know what Kiryu's story is (and Maji's) after playing through Ichi. I had quite the reaction to playing a game that can be so violent but also can be very weird and also feature a dress up game.

🐀 Nishiki simping Sneep (unaware of whats to come) (っ❤◡❤)っ

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Its Xenoblade...it was a rollercoaster of a story to go through. Also very relaxing to play especially after Y0 and B3 lol

Enjoyed coming along with Noah and the gang. Loved Eunie and Taion and I liked seeing refs to 1 and 2.

🐀 Sad Sneep (at the ending) OTL

Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

I basically put aside everything while playing TotK lmao

It was so fun exploring and seeing newer things added in. This is the only game so far that made me replay the final boss, like I NEEDED to play the final boss again <3 a battle between dragons.

🐀 Speechless Sneep (◡‿◡)

Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core Reunion

I was surprised at how its a linear game and a pretty quick main story. And the missions are there to build more playtime.

the main story i liked, it was nice getting to know Zack and seeing characters from the og 7 in a different perspective.

Teared up at the ending :(

I wish that the story slowed down, so to get to know other characters more esp ones that Zack meets for the first time (Cissnei, Aerith and Cloud) and parts that were just skipped/skimmed through like Costa del Sol vacation time or when Zack inherits the buster sword after getting back to Midgar etc.

I also liked pointing out stuff I can connect to the og 7 :D

🐀Emotional but also being a silly Sneep

Yakuza Kiwami 1

A fun game. The Majima Everywhere system did make it feel like a horror game at first lmao Majima really gave me jumpscares.

The story? .....I'd rather not think about it TwT

🐀 A devastated and also kind of paranoid Sneep :-Σ

Unpacking

Just a relaxing game to play. And it is one of those games I was interested in before cause how I saw it on social media but at the time couldn't play it myself so I'm grateful to play it through the game pass yay.

🐀 Satisfied Sneep (◡0◡) ~3

Yakuza Kiwami 2

I will say I had a lot of fun with K2, such as the cabaret club minigame coming back, taking a lot of selfies (esp in front of dead bodies - Killer Kiryu) and the Majima saga. But unfortunately so far it takes last place out of the RGG games for me.

The main story didn't have a focus on the multiple plots and just revealed all the plot twists at the end.

Ryuji, hes hot but I came to conclude that hes very overhyped. He didn't have that much screen time :/ If it weren't for his popularity and spin-off appearances, I would've forgotten about him.

And I think major of all of why its last place is THAT ending...what. Like really a fake bomb? And did they have to make out?

🐀 ...Confused Sneep ಠ_ಠ

Yakuza 3

This is the gayest game I've ever played.

I honestly feel betrayed I wasn't given a yaoi warning while starting up the game. I hear that 3 is infamous for some stuff and can be quite divided between fans. BUT bro its a game WORTH PLAYING play it for dad Kiryu time, play it for Mine lol JUST PLAY IT.

🐀 Got yaoi devastated and diagnosed with MineDai syndrome Sneep _(╥︣0╥๑ゝ∠)

Frog Detective Trilogy

Simple and hilarious lmao So far I've only played the first of the trilogy. It was cool to play an Aussie game.

🐀 Suddenly anti-books Sneep

Yakuza 4

Gameplay wise it was fun. Really like how interesting it was to play as different people and how they experience Kamurocho in their own lives. Cool change to always playing as Kiryu and from Kiryu's pov. Akiyama and Tanimura were fun to play as especially Tanimura's radio thing which I found interesting. Saejima's section I felt was limited, I think the police guarding everywhere scared me away from doing his substories; so I ended finishing his part earlier compared to everyone :( (luckily I got to do his side stuff at the finale part)

And I realized at the end I struggled with switching and adapting between each character's style. Because of that I very stuffed up at the final bosses and stuffed up so bad that I forgot how to play as Kiryu..

The story is..interesting lol It is definitely soap opera-ish. I actually got into it at the start and the part where Hamazaki spilled the tea but because of the freaking rubber bullets twist I couldn't take it seriously towards the end like I even laughed and was just howling. There were scenes where it was just presented dramatically, like theres one where it zoomed into peoples faces with a sfx which instantly made me think of those Indian soap opera memes lmao

🐀 Indian soap opera edit style Sneep O_o = ☉.☉ = o_0

Yakuza 5

Very recently finished the main story. And honestly I forgot how the story goes lmao its a very long game. The character profile mind map from would've really helped and also summaries like in 0 too (which I'm guessing is an improvement since that came out after 5)

It was fun how each character came with a second game (such as Saejima's Hunting Simulator for the Nintendo Wii and Project Diva)

The enemy encountering is very annoying /: separate enemies being close by each other in the same area ughhhh

🐀 I forgor Sneep....<;(' .' )>

[empressawesomecoolness]

Doctor Who: The Ultimate Speedrun Marathon - Series 2 (2006)

Woah. I mean, what a Series! I didn’t know how Tennant and Piper would follow up Series 1, but they did a great job, not just in carrying over aspects from Series 1, but doing new things and carving out a new niche for the 10th Doctor. A lot of fun from all angles.

General Thoughts

I’ve always really loved David Tennant as an actor. Even before I properly started watching Doctor Who, he was my personal favorite Doctor (that might change over the course of this marathon, but that’ll come much later). Now having actually fully seen him in action as the 10th Doctor, I’m really happy that he met my expectations and more. He’s fun and snarky, same as McGann and Eccleston, but he brings this new sorta wide-eyed manic energy that one would probably expect from a 900+ year old time/space traveler. His look is also really fun and iconic, with pinstripe suits, long trench coats, and spiked-up hair. It compliments Tennant’s already tall and slim figure, giving 10 a lanky look reminiscent to a sort of alien Sherlock Holmes. The converse are a fun touch, too.

He’s definitely different from his immediate predecessor, but in a good way that makes sense given his new found attachment to Rose after Series 1 (or at least that’s my reading of it). He’s got a bit less angst, although it does peer through in good dramatic moments. Overall, Tennant’s able to juggle what made the recent previous Doctor’s special and memorable with his own acting sensibilities and personality. He really lends himself well to a character like the Doctor.

In companion news, Rose is just as strong and likable a character as ever. I knew new companions would show up eventually, so this whole Series I was just dreading the moment when it became clear that she’d be gone for good. Although I didn’t expect her departure to be THAT devastating! I mean holy fuck. Despite that ending though, Rose never stopped being an intensely compelling character, despite my assumption that her time as a companion was coming to an end.

As for the other campions, we only see Mickey return in this Series. When the Cybermen return to the show in a parallel universe, Mickey decides to stay behind there and help fight their invasion. It was another welcome surprise moment of character development from Mickey, especially when he finally realizes that he has a life and agency outside of Rose. However, when he’s able to return and help Rose and the Doctor fight the invading Cybermen and Daleks, it feels really truly earned on his end.

Also, how cool was it to see Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen) and K-9 (played by K-9) again?! That was a really cool and welcome surprise for me. It also avoids being a plot line of mere fan-service, since we get really cool insight into the life and mind of companions left behind by the Doctor decades before. However, they do eventually reconcile with the Doctor in their own bittersweet moments towards the episode’s end. Although, that reconciliation is a little bittersweet, given Rose’s fate at this Series’ end. I hope she gets something similar later in the show.

Favorite Episodes

Tooth and Claw

New Earth

School Reunion

The Girl in the Fireplace

Love and Monsters

Favorite Moments

Queen Victoria’s hemophilia being explained as a strain of alien lycanthropy was very funny and very Doctor Who. The running gag about Rose trying to get her to say the supposed “We are not amused” line was funny as hell too.

The 10th Doctor meets alien Satan.

Cassandra returning was a shock. I know she got a bit of a redemption arc in this Series’ premiere but I don’t really care. fuck her

I felt so clever picking up on the little references to Torchwood before they were properly revealed towards the end teehee. Making up for not noticing most of the Bad Wolf hints in Series 1 ig.

Madame de Pompadour getting a whole episode to herself in order to fight against evil French masquerade nightmare robots from the future was a welcome surprise.

Alright, that about wraps up everything I wanted to say about Series 2. A great Series itself and an amazingly solid start to Tennant’s iconic tenure as the 10th Doctor. Now, onto Series 3.

[crazyexdirkfriend]

What's the behind the scenes for shag etc? 👀 (also the icon on your blog theme is so cute...)

ty ty! it's from chapter 2 of two short hours etc. in case anyone didn't see it. okay this might get long so read more time

I have so many behind the scenes for that. Firstly: the playlist. this is what I made because my huge dirkjake playlist isn't thematically consistent. but to elaborate on the Lore of my choices:

dirt-emma blackery is actually the song that gave me the idea for the fic, and then down for the count-bowling for soup played afterwards. the key being snarky bits like "then you came on twitter saying i'm bitter, honey have you looked in the mirror" "how far down will you go on me, ONLINE" "guess things go sour after they pass their sell-by-date"

dead girl walking (reprise) was initially on my playlist for calvariæ and strip away my conscience (FIFTY SHADES OF MORALLY GREEEY) was on my two short hours etc. playlist, but both made the migration over thematically

someone gets hurt is solely on this for POOOOR LITTLE ME ALL TRAPPED IN THIS FABULOUS SHOOOOW. jake in a golden bird cage of his own making.

the bit where jake walks out on stage to endorse karkat with the back light is based on the music video for taylor swift's "i bet you think about me" when she...well comes out with a back light to "the voice is so loud, saying 'why did you let her go?'" it's very revenge dress moment for jake here. rip princess diana, she would have loved my fanfiction where dirk and jake hunt each other for sport.

i'm on it by the cast of nashville is on this because "the only over i'll be is over your shoulder" is why i have jake make those stupid billboards to haunt dirk with.

god is a freak is on this. but dirk is god in this scenario. WEIRD YOU'RE ACTING LIKE MY BOYFRIEND :///

Some other behind the scenes lore, like deleted scenes: I was supposed to rehash the scene where Roxy (and Jake) comes out as NB but it didn't fit in the end. Here's the excerpt I did write

There was also supposed to be a scene where Jake sent Dirk this meme but I forgot to put it in. I instead complained on Twitter about forgetting to put it in and then my third level lecturer SENT ME MY OWN TWEET and then offered me work. I am still haunted by this fact. I have no idea why this happened. Deep deep lore. Here's the image btw

This scene was also supposed to be in it but I had no idea where to go with it. Raccoon was supposed to be a series regular.

This note on the final conflict scene is the only time I used the term "emotionally devastate." The fic was unnamed until literally 3 days before its release bc I couldn't think of anything other than "the blood between us is horrendous but in a vacillating manner as opposed to a xenophobic one- (Troll Taylor's Version)" which was way too long considering no one ever types the full name of shag emotionally devastate etc. anyway lmao

The billboards and the bloat advertising on the dating apps are things I've had Jake do before in RP, both deliberately and accidentally. I find it so infinitely funny to think about the idea of Jake believing so hard that Dirk would never love anyone other than him that he (hope powers) makes it functionally impossible for Dirk to move on. Dirk looks for him in nothing and finds him there anyway. Buys a drink at a bar and Skaianet sponsors Orange Crush now. Is on a date with some guy who is like "hold on, you're jake english's ex? you broke up with jake english? sorry I could never date anyone stupid enough to let jake english go" (shoving breadsticks in purse). I think Jake would also set up Tinder so he pops up every three swipes but when Dirk swipes right on him eventually he just gets a Skaianet helpdesk bot

Other behind the scenes hmm. I spent the vast majority of 8-10 weeks not writing this and 4 weeks actually writing the bulk of it, but most of the time was spent hand wringing on discord because I was convinced that this fic would not be received well so I'm actually hugely pleasantly surprised that people have liked it!

[llycaons]

ep31: (2/2): they're bad! they're bad!

this moment is just done so well. the dramatic shots, the slo-mo falls, the shocking spurts of blood, wwx's trembling horror, this final shot of jzx dead on the ground. excellently made

xz's expression is killer here. he just nailed the sickening shock and horror and despair and terror of what just happened. jzx's death has both massive far-reaching political consequences and extremely painful and close personal ones as well

like this, this is devastating. they were waiting for him! they wanted to see him!

I saw a post ages ago about how 🥺 they were all dressed up nicely they planned this! and I think that's a bit dumb because obviously they're dressed nicely and what exactly did they even plan since jc and wwx's plan consisted of 'make it known that the jiangs and wwx are finished' and it was lwj who suggested the invite and jyl who requested her husband to go through with it so I'm not giving jc any credit here

was this meant to be comedic because omg

xl's performance here was also SO devastating. you can see the moment the rug is ripped out from under her - there's that sudden, sickening emptiness swooping in your gut that I think she conveys rly well. and jc is so concerned for her too oof

wwx being constantly badgered by the resentful spirits he controls...

wwx is truly at his breaking point here. he has never attacked wen ning, never been aggressive towards someone innocent. and it just shows how deeply upsetting this is - and not just for himself and jyl but for his baby nephew too!

he's also questioning his decisions. not reminiscing or regretting, but actively questioning himself and his choices. wwx has never had to wonder, he's always been so confident in the right path even when it hurts him

god, hearing him ask this like a lost child is really sad. the world just pushed him to this place

first of all who is a-shu second of all WHY WOULD YOU SAY THIS AND THEN EVERYONE LEAVES??? at LEAST tell him about the baby. this bothers me every time it is the single most annoying plot hole in this show

in the novel, there's some really unpleasant scenes in the beginning where wwx climbs into bed with lwj in hopes of being kicked out of CR and lwj slaps a paralyzer on him for it and they just sleep like that which I feel like would be a really awkward and uncomfortable situation to be in but after this scene I feel like it wouldn't be surprising if wwx has genuine trauma related to be made immobile

the last time this happened, myu tied him up and sent him away from his home, about to be destroyed, about to die. and now wn and wq are keeping him paralyzed while they tell him about their plans to turn themselves in, facing death and worse. and wwx is absolutely powerless to help them. I can imagine being paralyzed as trigger for him, putting him back into some of the most traumatic and guilty and grief-laden moments of his life. but of course nothing wwx and lwj ever do with each other is anything but mildly awkward at worst

I do remember that wwx liked being tied up later after they're together but I actually understand that. playing with something that can be/was used to hurt you in the past but it's something you have control over so you're able to play with it and make it something safe and fun. I do think a lot of fics go too far with it and I don't really see kinkiness for their cql selves but I get it in theory. anyway

wwx is still trying to survive this. he's not an optimist, really, he's just refusing to give up. and wq is more pragmatic. she knows the world she's living in. and she loves wwx

so so sad how even though wwx has sacrificed so much and hurt so much for others, he still bears guilt for not being able to do more. it's not fair! there's so much suffering in this series

this is also so fucking sad oh my god wen qing

the iconic words 😭 wq is very somber and gentle in this scene, much different than the brusque and sharp-tongued woman in the book. I think this suits the atmosphere much better. she's crying and so is he

we've seen this sleeping-tear before

and here she is, smiling at her family. what I gather is, they all decided to come with her and wen ning too. and since wwx was asleep, they couldn't tell him about a-yuan

but still, shouldn't ONE person have stayed? to look after the toddler? he was FEVERISH when lwj found him! to look after wwx? he's been paralyzed for days and he doesn't have a golden core

god you know I usually see these tragedies filtered through wwx's experienced because he's my focal point, but this is so fucking tragic just for their sakes. they're ready to die here. and the jins will scatter their ashes to the wind

back to jyl, who's looking miserable enough to make me sad too

the funny thing is, jyl's story is very sad but she still has a chance. she's of noble birth. she'll reincarnate. and yet it's her scenes with wwx that still hurt my heart

the wens met a more tragic end but I was so happy when they carved out a place for themselves and lived their lives with wwx. it was a joyful little community. maybe because by the end, their story seems resolved. even if there was no justice, wen ning and lsz are alive and they'll honor their memory. but the jiang siblings don't have a clean ending. there's still a bleeding wound there, even at the very end. one sibling lost, and one warped beyond all recognition into a hateful and vile thing.

I never really got over jyl's death. maybe it'll be different this time

the way he's imagining her nor finding fault with him...ough

wwx running out of the abandoned BM community to the gentle refrain of that song about missing the past...just kill me now

[ask-tamatoa-with-axes-for-claws]

well, since i’ve finished the arc (finally) it’s time for my ✨dressrosa wrap-up✨

fourth gear luffy was very cool!! also seeing devil fruit awakening powers in action (for the first time, i think?) really cool and opens up a lot of options for how fruit powers can be used in the future!

USOPP AWAKENING OBSERVATION HAKI!!! MY BOY (also, in knocking sugar out the second time, the method was very funny. it was also funny the first time but it was funnier the second time.) also god usopp...iconic

i am DELIGHTED by bartolomeo, he is such a lovable dipshit. also for new characters, issho is a pretty rad dude, especially compared to...most of the admirals we’ve seen so far. he has a legitimate sense of non-sociopathic justice and isn’t blind to the flaws o. is aware of the flaws of the world government and their overreach and corruption. also glad to see sabo and luffy reuniting

my bellamy woobification arc...this dude is just straight up having a bad time

CORA MY BELOVED...god, law’s flashback is one of the hardest-hitting flashbacks in the series so far, probably up there with brook’s and nami’s (robin’s is still the most devastating to me)

okay time for me to be a hater. i simply do not care for law very much outside of when he’s trying to be Badass McCoolGuy and being reminded that he lives in a cartoon world and has formed an alliance with the cartooniest guy in that world. there are way too many times in this arc where there’s a death fakeout, then it turns out he’s not dead, and it’s just like. come on, man. his powers as shown in the previous arc are already insanely broken to the point it feels like there’s little-to-no tension in a lot of the fights he’s involved in somehow. 

i did not care for half the crew going off to zou partway through the arc and being offscreened entirely. 

ughhhhhhhhh everything about rebecca’s writing kind of sucks ass! this has been talked about in excruciating detail before but she ultimately does nothing of substance and is forced to be rescued multiple times. despite supposedly being one of the greatest gladiators in dressrosa, she’s repeatedly put in situations where she cowers in a corner, sobbing for someone to save her. the resolution to her “fight” with diamante, with her big strong dad coming in and going “girls shouldn’t fight! you need to remain Pure and Pristine!!” would probably have come off as incredibly sexist no matter what, but if there had been more of a focus on rebecca being forced to fight despite not wanting to, and in her feeling guilt over hurting and defeating the other contestants, it could have felt slightly less insulting

does anyone like the tontattas

seriously, anyone

maybe i wouldn’t have minded them so much if not for the stupid introductory scene where they crawl into robin’s dress (speaking of women who get sidelined hard in this arc...hoo boy) and the consistent official translation phonetically writing their dialogue in cutesy baby talk but like. they do nothing for me. i do not care for them. 

the same goes for, uh, basically all the gladiators? and also basically all the executives (except senor pink) ??  we spend a hell of a lot of time watching a bunch of dudes we’ve never met before this arc and have no emotional connection to fighting a bunch of other dudes we’ve never met before this arc, and honestly instead of introducing 50 new characters i would have preferred the offscreened strawhats get to fight instead. 

because of the multiple plotlines, it feels like we jump around every 2-3 chapters to a different story, and as a result, it feels like not much progress is made in each line. i really hope other people who were reading this were super invested in all of the plots because otherwise you spend multiple chapters in a row waiting to get back to the shit you actually care about 

overall i’d say the arc is...there are parts about it that work (everything that directly involves doflamingo, the doffy vs. luffy fight, issho) but unfortunately a lot that feels like it’s spinning our wheels waiting to finish up the main plot. i appreciate the dark parallels to alabasta and the vision of “here’s what would have happened if crocodile had won”, but i feel like alabasta handled it much more concisely, with characters i was more invested in, and allowed all the strawhats (and vivi) to be a key part of stopping the villain’s plan instead of having half of them leave halfway through the arc 

[nayru-wisdom]

 🔥- What first drew you to Rengoku Kyojuro/Tanjiro?:

I think it was the iconic sleepy scene on the train for me. I didn’t read the manga previous to watch the movie, so that moment caught me off guard the first time like: ”h-he..he’s rlly sleeping on his shoulder? that peacefully?? omg??!!11″ After how awful was the Hashira reunion with Tanjiro, and then he is sleeping like this on his shoulder, Kyojuro being also so relaxed with him like didn’t bothered him at all. What can I say, I’m weak for sleeping scenes between characters, couldn’t stop myself to not ship them instantly ♥

☀️ - How did you watch Mugen train for the first time? (In theaters, at home…):

I watched it at home. Now I regret soo much not going to watch the movie in theaters back then. I was kinda overwhelmed with KNY while everyone else was all the day putting big spoilers of each chapter, so I watched the series 2 years later I think, when people stopped with the spoilers & relaxed a bit.  I saw the summary of Mugen Train in theaters with the Season 3 first episode now! Maybe it’s not the same but I was so happy n crying while watching him on the big screen. I also buy the DVD on christmas so I could rewatch it again in European Spanish (? 

⚔️ - More importantly, did you cry when Rengoku… yknow… died lol:

I knew the spoilers. I knew what was coming.  But I was crying like no end. Seriously, I got devastated. The last moments my eyes were so wet with tears, my vision was blurred

❄️ - what are your feelings about Akaza? Was he an effective villain in the story? Do you like him in AUs?:

Okay, I need to be very honest with this. I despised him. A lot. 

I was bitter towards him, because I was so angry that he killed him like that, I hated the killing donut style like in Jojo is very common. I also was mad as hell because I think is just, so unfair. He was about to win actually, but because Kyojuro was previously drained from saving TWO HOUNDRED PASSENGERS & having to use lots of his stamina while the train derailed. If it wasn’t for this, he would have been more than ready to kill Akaza. 

I keep being bitter about it when I readed n heard ppl telling me things like “he was so weak lol” “Akaza contained himself during his fight with Rengoku (Not true)” “He’s the weakest Hashira” bla bla bla. 

But, well, yes, everyone who told me about Akaza’s backstory were right. In the end, I couldn’t stop being so sad about him. I found him the Upper Moon with the most tragic, cruel and saddest story, very logical to turn him a demon. Rewatching his scenes after the fight with Tanjiro & Giyuu, it made more sense about his vision of the weak and why he was that amazed with Kyojuro’s fight spirit. I think he is the only Upper Moon who was inconsciously more related with his human past, like how his combat style was the same, his names attacks & even the snowflake were called after fireworks because his memories of his fiance. And his decision of not eat or fight women, every detail of Hakuji is still on him, that’s what I love the most and I find it very interesting. Thanks to that, now I can finally say he’s my favorite Upper Moon but not forgive him for what he did to my beloved Kyo. He even spend his fight with Tanjiro talking all the time about Kyojuro. Boy, he was THAT horny on main for this man. Can’t blame him tho. He’s more of a Rengoku simp than me. I like when he’s the same as obssesed with Kyojuro in AU’s, wish they could write him being jealous over Tanjiro’s crush on Kyo or viceversa more often </3

💤 - what are your feelings about Enmu? Was he an effective villain in the story? Do you like him in AUs?:

I like him! He’s one of the low ranked demons I think I like the most. He could have been very powerful if he had eaten that many people, the fusion idea with the train was good actually. But he did the villain stupidest thing: sent random minions do his dirty job. Don’t see him that much in Au’s but is hilarious on Kimetsu Gakuen as a pervert guy with a weird fetish with trains LMAO

❤️ - what are your favorite kind of RenTan stories? (Canon, Rengoku lives, modern… etc):

-I love the Rengoku Kyojuro Lives tag, best thing ever that keeps me giving serotonin. ❤️ -I like canon divergences where they can interact while the canon story progress and Tanjiro living in the Rengoku state as he’s training with Kyojuro as his tsugoku. If the story makes them have slow burn, sexual desires, first time, love confessions, and hopefully a happy ending is my favorite thing.  -To be honest I’m very picky with Modern Au’s, specially with Rengoku-sensei. I don’t like when is a college AU but not like Kimetsu Gakuen, when I read Rengoku as an American history teacher is...weird. Can’t read any fic like that sorry (?  What I like in modern Au’s is Baker Tanjiro + Teacher Kyojuro and/or Rentan Childhood friends! And Hikomomo implied as well

🥵 - what are your thoughts about their rank difference? Did you want Tanjiro to study under Kyojuro?:

Is so hot n spicy to think of Tan training hard along Kyojuro. He would have been an amazing teacher for sure. I like to think that Tanjiro, in the very middle of puberty, would be having much trouble of concentration because his master looks so attractive while he talks about flame breathing with a high ponytail n sweaty bare chest. Tanjiro feeling so nervous & embarrased, how can he feel aroused with Rengoku-san, oh such impure thoughts for an elder son & tsugoku hng 

💭 - In a world where the train ride lasted longer, what do Rengoku and Tanjiro dream of?:

I want to think that Kyojuro would had more childhood memories with his family. Happiest moments before his mother died. And times when he was with his father and Senjuro as a kid. Mundane things, but so tender that would be engraved in his heart forever. Deep down, he would like to turn back to this moments again. I’m sure he would dream about the days his mother was pregnant with his little brother, wanting to protect both of them while his father was in a mission as a Hashira. Touching his mom belly n getting so excited to meet his baby brother, putting his head to hear the heartbeat n talking ( too loud unfortunately) about how he wants to play with his little brother and be his best friend & love him so much already 😭 For Tanjiro, I think the same, but dreaming more about his dad as well with his family like he does in the movie

🍠 - what are your opinions on the Rengoku family, and how Kyojuro was raised?: 

Oh god. Where do I start I love the Rengoku family so deeply. I felt his family so human n also hits close home to me. In the series, most of the characters also has tragic pasts with their families, but I find the Rengoku fam more closed to mine. Watching a wonderful and wholesome family got broken with their mother’s death, the consecuences of depression, such as ending with alcoholism, emotional distance and parental abandonment. Seeing Kyojuro, the elder son, having to repress his sadness for the sake of his little brother, being a father figure both of them doesn’t have anymore, and Senjuro feeling lonely in the house, a failure for not having enough skills as his brother & father to be a demon slayer. Both brothers needed his father appreciation, but they coulnd’t do anything about it. Just supporting each other thru their sadness, grief and loneliness.  That’s...so real. So accurated and realistic.  I feel like Senjuro so much as I’m the youngest sibling with my sister, who’s my support as well.  I love everything about the Rengoku family so much  😭 😭

🪨 - what are your opinions on the Kamado family, and how Tanjiro was raised?:

I also love his family! They were so adorable and tender, Tanjiro is a wonderful, cute big brother with each one of his brothers n sisters. Their ending is truly painful, is impossible not to cry or feel sad about them. They deserved more, that’s why I love when in any AU they’re all alive n happy with their bakery (Even Tanjiro’s father, poor man, he’s mostly dead all the time. Give this guy some interaction pls)

���️ - just tell us everything you love about Shinjuro: 

Hnng the Dilf of the Rengoku’s. What a hot angry daddy ❤️‍🔥 Yes, he deserved the headbutt. But, contrary to what many thinks about him, he’s written so well. He’s a very good and hurtful realistic representation of what having an alcoholic dad looks like. What dealing with grief for the loss of a loved one and how someone can’t really get over it looks like. It doesn’t mean it condones all his actions towards his sons, but saddly that’s how it is. This man did loved his family, he was so in love with his wife, that reading his resentiment towards the demon later Kyojuro would fight before become a Hashira, saying why he has to forgive an evil creature like this, but his beloved wife, a good person, had to suffer an illness and die. God, it broked my heart to pieces.  Not to mention how he was drowing himself in more alcohol than before with his eldest son’s death, as a way to forget the pain. The way he cried for Kyojuro, is the answer to know if he did loved his son. He does. He cried as he realised he still loved him and cared about him, even if he didn’t deserved it for all the hateful comments. The way in the end he’s walking grabbing Senjuro’s hand is the most beautiful moment in the manga. PS: Requiem of a Redemption is a Masterpiece of a fanfiction. The best way to explore Shinjuro’s character *chef kiss* 

🎴 - do you ship Tanjiro with anyone else? If yes, who? If no, why not?: Actually I only can ship him with another Rengoku. With Senjuro.  I can see them as a friends to lovers, penpals lovers, first love, or even with angst with Tanjiro loving Sen as a way to keep remembering Kyojuro 

❤️‍🔥 - do you ship Kyojuro with anyone else? If yes, who? If no, why not?:

Yes, ironically I can ship Kyojuro with more. He’s a himbo everyone would need in their lives. I ship him with Tengen and now I’m falling more and more for AkaRen.  

💣 - share your most controversial RenTan take. Set your thoughts ablaze!! I hate  when they draw Tanjiro extremelly girly & delicate. Like, come on, he may be a teenager boy, but he trains like crazy. His body ended to be a tiny muscled body but with a baby face w round cheeks. Also, he was born in the mountains and worked hard, even when he was dressed as a girl, his cute baby face couldn’t hide the shape as a young man.  My other take is that Tanjiro isn’t always “softie uwu”. He can be so mad, he says more swearing when he’s really angry in the manga, did we forget how he screamed back at Shinjuro? Well, if Kyojuro tells him something that could be very mean or just disagree with him, Tanjiro would reply back for sure, even if he could be very ashamed of himself later, he can’t stand injustice and can be brave enought to tell his master, a damn Flame Hashira, to shut their mouths up.

RenTan ask game!

Grit your teeth and join the fun.

Please reblog so everyone can see!

🔥- What first drew you to Rengoku Kyojuro/Tanjiro?

☀️ - How did you watch Mugen train for the first time? (In theaters, at home…)

⚔️ - More importantly, did you cry when Rengoku… yknow… died lol

❄️ - what are your feelings about Akaza? Was he an effective villain in the story? Do you like him in AUs?

💤 - what are your feelings about Enmu? Was he an effective villain in the story? Do you like him in AUs?

❤️ - what are your favorite kind of RenTan stories? (Canon, Rengoku lives, modern… etc)

🥵 - what are your thoughts about their rank difference? Did you want Tanjiro to study under Kyojuro?

💭 - In a world where the train ride lasted longer, what do Rengoku and Tanjiro dream of?

🍠 - what are your opinions on the Rengoku family, and how Kyojuro was raised?

🪨 - what are your opinions on the Kamado family, and how Tanjiro was raised?

🗑️ - just tell us everything you love about Shinjuro

🎴 - do you ship Tanjiro with anyone else? If yes, who? If no, why not?

❤️‍🔥 - do you ship Kyojuro with anyone else? If yes, who? If no, why not?

💣 - share your most controversial RenTan take. Set your thoughts ablaze!!

[naruhearts]

I’m done keeping my composure.

Sorry, this will be a LOADED post! (And I’ll be repeating the points others have made)

for real, to everyone being nasty and telling heartbroken fans that “Dean was always supposed to die get a grip you’re just butthurt etcetera etcetera—” F you royally.

How dare you police the brutal feelings that’s been embroiling us since the Finale That Must Not Be Named aired. 

The show you think you all watched, the show you all believe was the same SPN from Season 1-4, changed at some point. Kripke wrote his original vision, put it to screen, saw it through in S5 as he intended, and closed the door on that era.

In 2008, Supernatural was adopted and inherited. As you know, there was a supreme paradigm shift post-Kripke era. The show FLOURISHED (we won’t talk about Gamble thanks). It evolved, transformed, grew beyond trauma-induced self-worthlessness and toxic masculinity and endless death and hegemonic social ideals and conservatism and repressive anti-revolutionary ideas. Castiel, the iconic favourite and beloved staple of the series portrayed by Misha Collins, was introduced in Season 4 as the core lead character, and he ushered in a brand new era of Christian mythos that SPN took advantage of. Longevity SKYROCKETED. Audiences were INTERESTED. SPN amassed an incredibly groundbreaking fanbase infused by non-nuclear principles. A massive subversive wave began, fighting the Status Quo of the times since 2008. It’s precisely why such an abysmal ending to a show of extensive Freud-Jungian metanarratively meta META complex stature and social POWER will render us totally and unbearably broken for years to come.

Point is, DEAN WINCHESTER NO LONGER WANTED TO DIE. HE WANTED TO LIVE. HE WANTED TO SIT ON THE BEACH, PLUNGE HIS TOES IN THE SAND, AND SIP UMBRELLA DRINKS WITH HIS BROTHER AND HIS BEST FRIEND. He said this in Season 13. And then, a season later, he told the ghost of his long-deceased father — the source of his deep-running trauma and the figure of self-reductive authoritarianism permeating his arc since Season 1 — after being questioned why he didn’t pursue the Nuclear Fam, that he already has his own: his brother Sam, his adopted child Jack, and Cas.

Dean’s best friend Cas. Oh god, Cas, who made his inevitably permanent mark on Dean’s soul beyond allyship. Castiel, renamed to Cas, God’s -iel removed by Dean. Dean, the human spark that lit the fire of pre-existing autonomy in the inherently rebellious angel who was, this entire time, the catalyst for free will in God The Writer’s puppet show. Their friendship set on goddamn fire. I can also write paragraph upon paragraph about my love for Cas while devastated tears stream down my face, but I digress—

Cas’ romantic love for Dean pushed our main Heart of SPN to love himself. Love is free will. Free will is also love. Of note, Cas’ love confession in 15x18 was supposed to offset something so vastly important and fundamental...to maybe (read: most likely) pull the trigger on SELF-TRUTHS in conjunction with free will. And The Great Anticipated Follow-Up to the episode penned by the passionate Berens should have included (read: seemed like it was going to be) Dean, closeted trauma survivor in love with his best friend, being given the opportunity to do it right: to SPEAK HIS TRUTH, and then that very singular opportunity was STOLEN so grossly. After poring over it for days, I refuse to believe we made their years-long story up out of thin air, spun it out of fantastical-delusional dream cotton candy, because we DIDN’T. IT WAS REAL.

As I said in another post: “I’ve just been feeling physically ill for the past >40 something hours with the terrible knowledge that 19/20 undid years of vital progression towards healthy interdependence, autonomy, and a positive endgame, where Sam, Dean and Cas close the ring of found family in final empowering self-fulfillment...where Dean, no longer repressed and set free, is able to use his words and speak his truth as a queercoded trauma survivor, henceforth confirming and self-affirming his own bisexuality since S1 by reciprocating — by telling Cas that he always loved him, too, loved him endlessly, which would have altogether divested Supernatural of its cult status and catapulted it into global worldwide significance as the longest running sci-fi genre show in American broadcasting history that actually dared to defy and, by proxy, empower LGBTQ2IA+ everywhere who found profound personal meaning in Destiel through VALIDATION,” — found themselves mirrored in Dean and Cas’ respective character journeys individually and as each other’s queer love interests.

THIS IS WHY DEAN WASN’T MEANT TO DIE.

THEY WERE SO ESSENTIAL, NOT JUST TO THE OVERARCHING STORY AND HEALTHY INTERPERSONAL THEMATICS OF MODERN SPN, BUT ALSO TO THE SOULS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD WHO FOLLOWED THEIR JOURNEYS, HOPED FOR THEM, ASPIRED TO BE LIKE THEM, TREASURED THEM, WEEPED FOR THEM, AND FOUGHT FOR THEM, LIKE YOU AND ME.

Heck, how could anyone think Sam Winchester had a well-deserved characteristic ending? He didn’t. Dean’s brother was shafted so badly. He stopped hunting when seasons ago, he had canonically accepted that he no longer wanted an apple pie life. He simply...turned the lights off in a resoundingly empty bunker and left — abandoning his dead brother’s room — never to return (he did return later to get the Impala, family photos etc, I mean this symbolically)...as if — dare I say it — Supernatural itself eerily told us, in the negative-spaced pitch blackness, that the organic show and the wonderfully complex, matured characters we’ve grown to love weren’t going to survive or be revisited...that it was all going to perish, and that they no longer gave a single shit about their own show, which, to me, is the worst cardinal sin, because how dare they throw Team Free Will, an immovable and indomitable and passionate found family they built from the ground up, a found family CHOCK FULL TO THE BRIM OF LOVE AND LIFE RAGING AGAINST THE AUTHORITARIAN MACHINE IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE FREE WILL, under the bus no matter who is to blame. Growth was stomped on.

Then Sam married a faceless wife who wasn’t his textually established (and deaf) love interest Eileen, named his son Dean Jr., and grew old miserably, still mourning the passing of his older brother, shaken and sombre. Back to square one. IT WAS ALL ANTITHETICAL, even OUTSIDE a shipping context, and I ripped my hair out at this point in sheer disbelief.

This 15x20 ending would have fit somewhere between S4-7. Now? IT DOESN’T FIT. IT’S A JAGGED PUZZLE PIECE THAT DOESN’T BELONG ANYWHERE. IT’S THE FOREBODING UNKNOWN STRANGER IN ITS OWN LAND, BOTH LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY. This kind of ending was basically an illogical, unsound cluster of metastasized cells that, to me, ruined the viability of previous seasons to sustain bold praise and respect and dignity and rewatches and classic nostalgia in such insidious ways.

Dean Humanity Winchester and Cas, after everything they’ve been through, were silenced and lost in death, ripped apart from each other, unable to love each other the way they deserved, because of disappointing, vile incompetency and homophobia. The greatest love story ever told, again obliterated in less than 60 hollow minutes.

You know what this tells your audience, CW SPN? Death without self-growth is the way to go, and no one is allowed to forge their own path to freedom.

HOW INSULTINGLY HARMFUL IS THAT?

I don’t think I’ll ever stop grieving.

We all deserve answers.

[the-chosen-half-of-one]

I also have BtVS inscribed on the inside of my very soul, and have had so for over half of my life by now (I started watching when I was 11). What's your favorite season, and are there any rants you'd like to unleash?

Yesss, Buffy is peak soul inscribing media. I couldn't imagine it hitting me the same at 11, but everyone is different, so I started watching it when I was 15 (despite being recommended it at 12-13 and me balking at it, but I wouldn't have it any other way because I don't think it would have resonated the same with me had I started earlier) and then I finished it when I was 18, (I may have drawn it out indefinitely for a while because I never wanted it to end), so in a way it kind of felt like I was growing up along with the characters, when they were 16, I was 16, when they were graduating, I was graduating, and when they were feeling out of place after high school, I was in the same boat, and etc. etc. and it just, it became such an integral part of me. Load bearing media.

Oh my you may have just unsealed the hellmouth with those questions. I think I'll put a readmore for this because I will ramble forever if left unchecked:

My favourite season is a tossup between 3 and 5 because I think they both exhibit peak Buffy in every way, such a good balance of humour, emotional drama and just overall storytelling and character growth, especially in their finales because their finales were like real finales, you know? They had the sense of being an ending you could find closure in. Season 3 of course has some of my favourite happier scenes of the whole show, I'm going to be cliché and point out the class protector award and Angel showing up at prom, and everyone joining in at the battle against the mayor, it is so beautifully cheesy in so many aspects. And I'm going to sound cheesy as well by saying that class protector award scene specifically, is legitimately the first time I understood tears of joy. Buffy literally unlocked in me a range of emotions I hadn't even experienced before. And her speech to Angel in Amends, I think about that every other day. It really holds a special place in my heart to the point where I even quoted the mayor's graduation speech in my own graduation speech, the way it aligned with events in my own life, it just sticks out to me. Not to mention the fact I'm a huge sucker for Oz's character, but hey.

Season 5 then of course, Ben is Glory is priceless, the villain arc is definitely one of the strongest of the show to me, though maybe I'm biased as it's sandwiched between season 4's and season 6's villains, but I don't know. Then Buffy's final words to Dawn in The Gift is just another one of those constantly on my mind quotes that makes me lose it. I can't really articulate very well why I think season 5 is one of the best, but you know, it just is?? It really brings together all the strongest and most classic aspects of the previous seasons and delivers the cleanest/tightest/most organized arc of the series. Should I even bring up The Body?? While I don't consider it one of my favourite episodes, I do consider it one of the best portrayals of grief I have ever seen in any piece of media ever, I was crying the ENTIRE episode, and Anya's speech about fruit punch and all, it haunts me, truly haunts me in how real it is. So while I usually tend to name season 3 my tentative favourite based solely on choice memories, I think season 5 is technically probably the better season?

I'd also give a shoutout to season 2, Passion especially due to the fact it also made me cry for about half an episode, like legitimate sobbing cries, not just misty eyed here. And the whole Angelus storyline in general, devastating. Not to mention this season had the introduction of both Oz and Spike, and Dru, there's such iconic setups in this season, such iconic lines and scenes, though can I truly in good conscience name any season with Ted and Bad Eggs in it as my favourite? Just kidding. On rewatch, I actually found a startling amount of interesting possible foreshadowing in both those episodes just by the way, but anyway. Uh, I think season 2 is also one of Buffy's best, but I still felt really young when watching it, so certain main plot points relying heavily on sex and sexual metaphors were still a little out of my personal wheelhouse. It also feels a little disjointed in quality at times. But strong overall, and the season I try to tempt people with when failing to win them over to watch the show.

Then just a couple comments about the other seasons: Season 1, I do find it dates itself, and hasn't found its groove yet. Upon first watching the opening episodes, I was skeptical about the show and kind of looked at my sister like, really, you watched this whole thing? But then about midway through, I was saying the opening spiel and tearing through it on my Christmas break, but I also find it so hard to get any one else into the show based off season 1 because I'm like I gotta, I gotta warn you about the mantis, but I swear it gets better, I swear it'll make you cry, why did they put the mantis there, why so early, why did they want to scare my friends away from this show. Anyway.

Season 4 let's jump to, I find it suffers from following season 3, a consequence of its finale like ending making it hard to pick up again with the new beginning in college for Buffy. The broken class protector award is kind of symbolic of them breaking what they built in those 1st 3 seasons, she's back to no one knowing what she does for her classmates as the slayer, back to being on the bottom and having to find herself again, which honestly is accurate to life out of high school, which is probably why it's also riding the scale of... not all that fun to watch as it hits close to home. But season 4 is also riddled with a very flimsy villain arc, unused potential in the Initiative, and just a generally unstructured feeling that also doesn't help. Though it does give us such gems as Hush and Restless (I wear the cheese), it's just a very underwhelming/unmemorable season overall.

Meanwhile, I find 6 has similar issues with the unstructured story and villain arcs being shared, and the following of a finale that was extremely strong and.... final, leaving it a chore to try to pick back up again. And so I am in the category of referring to it as season sucks or season sex as I've seen online. Because I personally find it's too gritty, too real, it tears the characters down and rips away all that made them so interesting in seasons 3 and 5, tears away the closure we were given and reopens what once was a healing wound before rubbing salt in it by taking away the delicate balance between humour and drama and opting for just straight drama, which is not what Buffy really is... In s6, the big bad is life and while previous seasons had this fact layered in monsters and metaphors, six strips a lot of that away and shows you that open wound. I think while this can be seen as a deliberate move and a strength to the story it was trying to get across, with the consequences of Buffy dealing with the depression of returning from the dead and being ripped away from Heaven, from an audience standpoint, it was not fun to watch as a whole. It made me tear up but not in a "damn that's good storytelling" way or "this tragedy will imprint itself on my brain forever" way, just in a hollow, "wow, that was depressing" way. Though 6 also has some of the best episodes of the show, me being cliché again here by saying Once More With Feeling is possibly the best episode of the series and the only successful full musical episode of any show I've seen to date with catchy original songs, that I unironically listen to casually and bought the CD for now even years later, that fit the characters so perfectly in style and that each are relevant to the plot and over arching storyline, literally no one is doing it like the Buffy musical episode does it. It's not just a one off shoehorned in concept, it is integral in itself and moves their stories forward. I just, I have a lot of feelings about Once More With Feeling. I also have feelings about the yellow crayon speech, but season 6 mainly just makes me sad and angry, which I think was the intent, but I can not like the intent as well.

At last, 7, I don't have all that much to say about 7 surprisingly. I categorize it the same way I do 4 and 6 really, in that it has a lot more "real" and kind of just generally hollow/sad feeling episodes with cynical and character retcon-y ideas that make it somewhat less enjoyable. Along with annoying new characters and old characters acting antagonistic towards Buffy not doing it any favours. While I remember liking it more than 6 vaguely, I can't actually tell you an episode in this season that stuck out very much to me, though I can tell you Spike's blue sweater and messy hair is a look™. And let's go cliché and state my appreciation for the cookie dough speech and the "I am the thing that monsters have nightmares about" line. I do think The First is an interesting villain however, I liked their first appearance in s3.

I will spare you any major rants on other things or we'd be here for literal ages, but I will leave you with some random other comments on different things, the first being Riley. I actually don't mind him as a character until they start with the storyline of the jealousy and him going to the vampire drinking places, I think he was a decent boyfriend for Buffy, who just suffered from following Angel as the love interest, which is understandable, I mean Angel was Angel and I still miss him, but I don't think Riley deserves all the hate. Same goes for Dawn, I've seen Dawn labelled the most annoying Buffyverse character like a million times, and yeah she can get on your nerves sometimes, but considering the circumstances of how she came to be, of what she is, I think people should cut her some slack. I mean, 1st, she's 14, but 2nd, she's not, she is a ball of mystical energy made into the shape of the fabricated memories of a 14 year old and she has just found out her entire life is a lie, made up memories for a made up being who didn't exist mere months before, her world is crashing around her, how does one cope with the realization and knowledge that they are not a "real person?" I think she's entitled to a *little* acting out, even if I don't care that much for her character, she is, again like Riley, not nearly as bad as everyone says. (If we're talking real most annoying Buffyverse characters, don't even get me started on Connor.)

Another rant topic would be me being annoyed when people reduce the show down to a hollow shipping war of Bangel or Spuffy or just the romantic aspects when there is so much more to explore of the themes in this series that I wouldn't be able to shut up for months. Nothing against shipping, of course, or having fun with it, I have my preferences in that department as well, but while Buffy's relationships are an important aspect to the series, defining her by *just* those relationships does a grave disservice to what the series is about in general. I won't go into much detail on that though now because I've held you hostage long enough.

Uuuhhh, I highly doubt anyone is still reading my rambles by this point, if you got this far, congrats, gold star. I haven't said much of substance for my rants, but believe me if given a day or week or so to collect my thoughts, you'd be getting essay length analyses of half the episodes and themes and everything in this series, starting with its impeccable understanding of psychology and especially its understanding of grief in the way no other show I've seen has ever accomplished, as well as the above forementioned balance of humour/drama/action/heart that I have yet to see successfully replicated anywhere else as well, though have seen cheap imitations fall short of.

Oh oh on that note I would also love to rant some day about how I think no other media that has compared itself to Buffy has an actual understanding of what made Buffy so good in the first place, they think they can just slap a coat of cheap humour on a female protagonist who fights monsters and call it a day, but THEY DON'T GET IT. They don't get the emotion, the depth. Everything I've seen that has deigned to call itself similar to Buffy has been hollow and empty, ripping off superficial aspects and ignoring the true heart of it all and it just it makes me want to scream and give the writers a whole lecture and crash course in Buffyverse.

In conclusion. I am physically restraining myself from rambling more. How about you, what's your favourite season? Do you have any rants??

[archies-litterbox]

You know... tonight I'm thinking about how I and much of the rest of the fandom had alot of positive feelings about Wizards, even though it had its share of imperfections, in comparison to ROTT, which had such an overwhelmingly negative response.

And I think it's because much of the criticism of Wizards was centered around what we didn't get to see, while criticism of ROTT is largely centered around what we did see (and what we shouldn't have seen).

Two of the most popular criticisms I saw of wizards when it first came out were:

1.) The story was so tightly condensed that there was alot that didn't get to be explored.

2.) Zoe didn't get to have a larger role.

And I think both of these criticisms share one uniting sentiment: we wanted more. The audience loved what we did see, and we wanted to see more of it. We wanted more of Douxie's time in the spotlight/more of Camelot explored/more of The Pink-Haired Girl And What She Means to Douxie. It's INTERESTING and WE LIKE IT.

Since the show only had ten episodes, there was alot that had to be squeezed down/removed to fit in the time allowed, but Wizards spent the time it did have giving us amazing characters, compelling dynamics, and interesting lore expansion that the audience was ENTHRALLED by, to the point where much of the criticism of the installment comes down to: the audience was so intrigued/fascinated by this content that the fact that there isn't more sucks.

Now... cut to Rise of the Titans.

With its runtime of nearly two hours, it theoretically had the chance to do more of what Wizards, as great as it was, couldn't fit in: more of Douxie in the spotlight, expansion on his other relationships (like Zoe & ADP), compelling lore expansion, and smart utilization of characters & completion of character arcs for a satisfying ending.

And... it didn't deliver.

Firstly, let's get one of the big ones out of the way: it used a good ~10 minutes (?) of its runtime, which it could have used for doing something like 1.) a scene of characters who didn't get to interact much in the trilogy 2.) showing us why douxie and nari stopped running/them running at all 3.) my personal favorite, a scene of human jim coming home to his mom - and used it to give one of its side characters with the best character development I saw in the series... one of the grossest "comic relief" subplots I've seen in a long time. I would have rather Steve not been in the movie at all (like perhaps he heard arcadia was in danger and went to make sure his step-dad was okay) than seen that.

...Moving on.

What Douxie was able to do in the movie was good: he was VERY enjoyable to watch on-screen, and his big brother/baby sister dynamic with Nari was simply too precious.

But, like Wizards... it wasn't enough.

After finally getting his chance in the spotlight in the last installment, Douxie was sidelined and kept losing the people he loved left and right for what seemed to be for the mere sake of making him suffer (Nari dying as she killed Skrael/Archie getting stuck in the Hong Kong Trollmarket) when he'd already had to grieve Merlin in Wizards. He also doesn't use his most iconic item from Wizards: his spellcaster guitar. Sometimes, honestly, it seems like all he was there to do was 1.) suffer 2.) do spells (guitarlessly) to help people out and 3.) scream "NARI!"

(But Colin's voice acting DE👏LI👏VERED! Everyone's did, really. There were honestly alot of other aspects to the movie like voicework/animation/music that were really good and it sucks to see it dragged down by all the staggering missteps in writing.)

And arguably the worst aspect of that? His sidelining wasn't even unique to him; to me, every protagonist from the subsequent series' post-trollhunters seemed to be sidelined for the sake of Jim's spotlight.

Which wouldn't have been a problem... if it was used for any other confliction/crisis than him doubting being the trollhunter without the amulet, a question that was already answered in Trollhunters.

Aside from the fact that Jim felt strangely out of character, the whole ~confliction~ he had over being an amulet-less Trollhunter was redundant and felt unnecessary (I sort of wanted Merlin's ghost to show up and thwack him and say "WHAT DID I SAY!? WHAT DID I TELL YOU!?" and dip back out). In my opinion, a better confliction to explore would have been his connection to his humanity, which he'd just gotten back, or coping with what he'd done as a beast under the order's control. But instead, it badly recycled an old aspect of his arc that was already discussed in Unbecoming.

Besides Jim being what I never thought he'd be, an irritating and honestly sort-of unlikable protagonist, other characters were greatly underutilized as well.

...Especially Nomura.

First of all, they made the ridiculous decision to send two trolls with Douxie to Brazil in the daytime, knowing trolls TURN TO STONE IN THE SUN. But THEN, just for the sake of showing how deep Nari is under control, she pulls Nomura into the sunlight and shatters her when she gets petrified. It happens out of nowhere for complete & utter shock value.

To me, it seems like they brought in Nomura for the sake of having Nomura, and then they didn't know what to do with Nomura, so they killed Nomura.

And honestly, not knowing what to do with the characters and deciding to just nerf/kill them was this movie's whole thing.

But it's okay, because we have... the COP-OUT-ENDING-O-MATIC 3000! 🥳🎉

Oh, wait, sorry... the kronosfere.

[underwhelming party favor noise]

There's really no need to repeat myself on what it did - if you watched R*TT, my condolences you know what I'm talking about, and if you've read this far along, you're probably ticked about it too.

So, because of this little ball of SHAME AND BAD THINGS combined with Jim's edge-brood OOC-ness, not only did the movie give us underwhelming/unsatisfying/devastating-and-not-in-a-good-storytelling-way plotline and giving us so much that was... bad, it took away everything that was good - everything we loved. It was the second worst thing introduced in the story (the first is the entire garbage heap that is 7 kisses = MPreg (even though akiridions are projections from CORES)), and to be completely honest I WISH skrael and bellroc broke Nari and Douxie's spell before nari could say "kronosfere will make right"

(...AND the ninth configuration thing too tbh)

So... while Wizards spent the short time it had giving us something amazing, Rise of the Titans, instead of continuing to deliver on what Wizards couldn't fit in, squandered the potential it had as a finale and used its time to give us gross subplots/frustrating once decisions/underutilization, as well as to take everything else down with it at the very end with the Green Shame Orb.

And... yeah. Technically, it's not exactly two months post-ROTT anymore, because it's like 2 am on the 22nd, but I thought about this a lot felt compelled to share.