#or what storylines and roles theyre given?

[sonknuxadow]

"the sonic franchise has never had a misogyny problem" <- person whos never played a sonic game in their life

[itlivesproject]

i feel like harper's writing is not talked about as much as it should be and i just wanna say that ilw has given me a newfound love for them that ilb hadnt quite managed to do!

also i dont mean this to come across as demanding and greedy but a horny bitch gotta ask: had you ever considered doing a harper pov for ch23 for some sexy times👀 or had that never been in the plans? im aware, and thankful, of how much work it was to do all the devon routes (and ig all those sex scenes were much more, as weird as it sounds, anticipated than the ilb routes bc ilb already had sex but the cast were minors in ilitw. though i wonder if theres a 'diamond' option for devon to just hang out w their friends if they have no li or do they just go to bed?) i cant help but feel like ilb kinda got the short end of the stick somehow, compared to the ilitw cast who were more present in ilw even though its not their story anymore, but ig theyre more connected to the ilw storyline than the ilb cast bc they are from westchester while ilb not.

i still love the story a lot, its quickly become one of my fav 'playchoices' (heh) stories, i just kinda want to start a conversation more than criticise, if that makes sense.

thank you <3 i personally really love harper and i LOVED writing them so much. the ilb scenes were some of my favorite to work on.

to answer your question, let me first say that i am one of the few probably who actually prefer ilb to ilitw. so i went into ilw wanting ilb rights 😂 secondly, i will say that the crux of the answer comes down to technicalities behind writing variants.

interestingly, we actually were considering the idea of Elliot being part of the ilw crew when we first started and having a nerve score! the idea was that a) he's a guaranteed survivor so we wouldn't have to write variants around it and b) he had gone to connor when harper vanished and they were working together more actively in looking for harper. we ended up scrapping the idea however, because he didn't feel necessary. him in that role really felt like extra baggage, and there wasn't really room for a character arc for him. so we changed it to how it ended up being. we also were considering having one ilb crew member being part of the ilw crew as well, since at least two of them are guaranteed to not die and not leave, but that idea quickly got tossed because it was simply too many variants.

when it comes to ilitw, every single character has the possibility of being dead, so one of the earliest things we did was come up with a "contribution" for each character. we didn't want it to be like in ilb, when you just have this awkward one-off conversation with each one and they're all in the same room but not talking to each other for some reason?? so we decided to separate them out from each other more and make their contributions independent of each other. we also had to figure out what happens if they are dead and unable to provide their contribution.

Ava - obviously her contribution was coven leader. If she's dead, Sunny is the leader.

Stacy - she attends the dinner party with rowan and connor and allows you to bring your LI along with you.

Lucas - he helps work on the cure, and his survival is necessary to being able to fully cure the horrors at the end of the game.

Andy - he helps revived devon/noah in the physical therapy scene

Dan - he provides therapy to rowan which comes with some nerve gain

Once we had all these contributions, we had a really hard time thinking about what ILB crews "contributions" would be. And because they weren't from Westchester, it didn't make as much sense for them to be involved. Secondly, because someone's always guaranteed to be alive, the scenes of all of them together are actually a lot easier and possible to write, where ILITW's scenes like that are insanely difficult. so instead of having their "contributions," ilb crew's involvement was mostly considered by us as a group thing, and it was focused around harper's disappearance arc. We had discussed ways to make them more involved, but it didn't really fit and we felt like it distracted from the main story we were trying to tell. It was a tough balance to figure out how to make previous books matter and bring back old characters while giving the new characters the screen time and focus that they needed. I hope this makes sense!

I know a few people were disappointed that Harper didn't do much in chapters 21-23 but you have to understand that Harper could never be instrumental in their success, because they can be dead, and we didn't want to lock mc succeeding behind harper being alive or not. secondly, that ending scene had an insane amount of variants, from rowan secretly being a traitor, to devon/noah who was human and who was the ghost, to LIs dying and/or leaving, and throwing harper into the mix would have been extremely complicated for a character whose involvement wouldn't be able to fundamentally change anything, for the reasons i explained above.

Now, moving onto the horny scenes, we actually were planning on having ilb sex scenes when we first started, but when we realized how many sex scenes we were going to write (it ended up being a grand total of 21 lol) we were like. never mind 😂 the spot it was going to go was actually after harper was saved from the breach and you play as them. originally their leg wasn't broken and they weren't in the hospital, so that's where it was going to go. but as the scenes changed and we got burnt out from writing sex scenes, we decided not to include it, our rationale being a) they're in the hospital and b) they got two sex scenes in ilb whereas ilitw lis haven't ever gotten one. it definitely would not have worked for the epilogue, because I think it would have really thrown off the pacing to just take turns playing as each mc getting it on with their LI lol. but everyone is free to hc what harper and their LI did after that bbq heehee

[scalproie]

FINAL(?) THOUGHTS ON MK12

the story in general: enjoyable if you take it as face-value and dont dig deeper than the surface level, also if you dont have any passionate attachments to what came before.

the earthrealm champions storyline: genuinely liked it. Kung Lao/Raiden/Johnny/Kenshi's introduction and characterization were strong enough to carry them through the story. It was pretty easy to fill the gaps between timeskips and the dynamics were enjoyable

the outworld storyline: lots of players in this one but having a clear villain (shang) that ties everyone's motivation together makes it easy to follow. Overall I did like it.

the lin kuei storyline: as per usual, its isolated from everything else, but it's given NO screentime to actually develop, and even seem like an afterthought. I'd even dare say that with a little tweaking, you could remove them completely and the story would be no different. The only thing accomplished here is making explaining who the characters are harder than necessary, and I swear if I see one more person with vague knowledge of what theyre talking about trying to explain them to people who know even less and getting it absurdly wrong because of this game, I'm going to lose it. By far my biggest disappointment.

The timelines shenanigans: in a weird limbo where it's simultaneously too much focused on and not touched on enough. It felt like it was here for spectacle rather than smth they genuinely wanted to explore, but then again we have one interactions thats kinda sweet and satisfying. Overall, the entire story revolves around this so its pretty solid? but I also did not quite like it on a fundamental level. So it was... whatever.

INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS:

Liu Kang: the closest thing we have to a clear protagonist, as he ties everyone together, which is fitting for his role both out and in-universe. I dont mind him even tho he is definitely flawed as its impossible to write a character with that much control as 100% good (we wouldnt have a game otherwise). Think he shouldve kept the white god hair tho.

Raiden: his role being switched with liu kang's was expected and the logical following of their storyline in mk11, I am more than fine with that. Raiden feels like himself in a different circumstance. I sure do wish his electricity was inherent to him and not the product of an amulet tho, I have no idea why this change was made. I did like him overall.

Kung Lao: Kung Lao is consistent in his characterization and this familiarity made me like him even more than usual. He gets really sidelined early on but I know the chapter system is to blame for that. There is a lot of cute moments involving him.

Johnny Cage: god, the writers fucking ADORE him do they? As one of mk's sole comic relief characters, I get he is the only one able to deliver a bit of comedy to the mix but fucking hell they almost abuse him in that regard. BUT they also give him a shocking lot of nuance too? The scene with his future ex-wife and everything involving kenshi? He gets a LOT of screentime and development and he is nothing BUT characterization, hence why, as someone who doesnt care that much about him, at one point it starts to feel really fucking unfair. Johnny is fine but I have to check myself because if I get too much exposure to him (which is inevitable) he genuinely starts to piss me off so fucking bad

Kenshi: he's fine. Kenshi here, like Johnny, is a character that isnt tied to anyone else, so the both of them having a joined development thats resolved in this very game is pretty good. I dont have a lot of things to say about Kenshi, he complete his arc and gets his job done in the narrative.

Geras: Geras has only been in one game prior so he does not have overwhelming expectations weighing him down. I really liked him here, his relationship with Liu Kang really does both of them favor.

Sub Zero: Bi-han fit the antagonistic role he was given well enough. Sadly it comes at the price of his already feeble reputation of an originally neutral character. But even when I lower my expectations, here he is given no nuance and no room for growth, not in a satisfying way anyway, as things are right now. The "depth" (read: one or two lines) he is given feels more like inconsistence on the writers' part than him having complex feelings. As usual, he COULD have been great, but he isnt. I'm really disappointed.

Scorpion: Utterly Unrecognizable. He is not fully Kuai Liang on account of being Scorpion, and he is not fully Scorpion on account of being Kuai Liang. This isnt a character, this is a checklist: 1) get the scar (Kuai Liang part) ✅️ 2) be shirai ryu (Scorpion part) ✅️. He is the only character to be given this treatment, or at the very least, the only one where its THAT noticeable because he is made of arguably the most popular characters of mk. We are missing CRITICAL parts of his and his brother's characters to make us care (his motivation comes from an unknown and unseen dead father that never existed before and such a massive big deal is never given development or focus, despite being all they're talking about), their entire storyline rely on nothing other than the HIGHLY popular rivalry between "Scorpion" and "Sub zero". No love and care was brought to his character, nor his brothers', nor his storyline.

Smoke: Smoke... sure as hell was there. Personal thoughts: but the more time passes the more I Do Not Like his characterization. He is written no longer as an equal to Kuai Liang but as what I can best describe as a sidekick, even moreso than usual thanks to him being written and played as younger than the brothers. Yet another thing I dont like about the Lin Kuei storylike. Literally miss (bi-han) after miss (kuai liang) after miss (smoke) for me. They're out.

Hanzo: genuinely ask yourself. Are you happy that hanzo is here? His presence in mk12 is the same as nrs holding up a cardboard picture of him so people wont be mad that he's absent. Everything that he had has been given to "scorpion" aka kuai. He cannot be important because he is young. And when we get a timeskip of him being finally being older then what? The only thing people want of him is dying and coming back as an angry wraith? That's all he is and will be? I'd rather have no Hanzo at all rather than him being stripped of what made him him and used in an unsatisfying way.

Harumi: Harumi went from being the wife of Hanzo Hasashi that dies to being the prize of Scorpion's character. She is finally given development but said development is so confined to the game she's in that it doesnt even matter to me, adding to the fact that they're going in a direction I find boring (to my tastes) with her.

Kitana: she was also there. Which is surprising because kitana always felt like... the protagonist when outworld was involved? While I understand her role, I personally am not that fond of her being relegated to a supporting character.

Mileena: she is an entirely new character with mileena as a basis. I think her story has holes but on the surface it gets the job done. She is definitely one of the more focused on character all the way til she gets her own chapter to conclude her arc, and she has plenty of relationships to bounce off of, so she's definitely one of the more rounded characters here. I dont mind her, but I cant hide personal pettiness that her popularity mightve been the reason why she's so important.

Sindel: I genuinely DID like sindel but I look at her and in the back of my mind there is always the devs' voices going "sorry sorry sorry". Still, I liked her. I liked her death also! It made sense and, while I think it couldve been done MUCH MORE EMOTIONALLY, Im fairly okay with the way it was done. Idk if her being a flawed leader is completely a feature or a bug but I did like it!

Li Mei: I literally did not care that much about li mei until the revelation that she and sindel used to be friends, and then a lot of things clicked together, so I would say THIS was good. Other than that, li mei is whatever to me.

Reptile: one of my main issue with him just boils down to him being hot. I do not mind him having one big monstery form and one human form, but the two are clearly not treated equally, and yeah yeah I know its easier with a human model or whatever BUT LITERALLY BARAKA EXIST. So him being "good looking" 75% of the time with sad backstory and an IMMEDIATE nice an easy going personality (even tho imo he should maybe be a bit angry and grieving that his fucking family died in the living forest until at least his own chapter) = the writers trying too hard for me to give him my sympathy. And I dont like being forced. Aka reptile lost most of his edge with me, it's like hes trying so hard to be likable he has no flaws and so he annoys me a bit in return. But I still like him. I SHOULD love him, so much even, but when I try there is always smth bugging me. I want him to be more fucked up, and no, eating a bug once (1) doesnt count, its what should be NORMAL for him.

Tanya: she's so weird to me. Tanya is mk12 is like, if she was from a mirror universe where she was the good version of an evil jade, if you get what I mean? She's not tanya in almost every way, yknow? Also, usually if you think the writing staff do anything with shipping in mind, you're reading too much into it, and shipping itself is not smth that's seen with respect... BUT THAT BEING SAID I genuinely wonder: if tanya/mileena had never been a thing, would they still had picked tanya for this role, or would they simply just have picked jade.

Rain: to fully appreciate rain you have to hunt down everything involving him in mk12, cutscenes in storymode, endings, intros... my man literally has SO little. But. What he has is literally so inoffensive to me, I actually quite like this rain a lot. He has his own thing going on and I like the direction it took!

Baraka: his inclusion feels like mileena's story was thought of first, and baraka's was built all around it to support it. No, I still dont like the tarkatans being a leprosy allegory now, and no, the new identity Baraka has doesnt do anything for me even if (or because) it was made completely out of nowhere for the purpose of mk12. People dont want SOME characters to suffer (even tho it makes for an interesting story), but when baraka is reworked into doing nothing but suffering, nobody bat an eye because he is no one's favorite. Also he is severely underused in story mode, where he could give us more insight on tarkat and the flaws of the regime, but doesnt. He also helps the earthrealmers out of the kindness of his heart but it really does feel a bit forced, especially when intros show he is not actually that kind in general. Still, just like reptile, I liked baraka.

Shao: funnily enough shao is given interesting depths in this story, but because shao has been an absolute fucking bastard in his 30 years of existence, nobody seems to notice or care. But I Do, despite myself I notice and care about whatever weird thing shao has got going on this time around. I know he has to be a lil bit problematic in there if I dig a little but nothing BIG on the surface so far??? And its the addition of MISGUIDED BUT NOBLE GOALS in shao that were previously non-existent thats so fucking weird to me. I'm literally looking at him under the microscope.

Reiko: Jobber Supreme. Reiko was funny. He is carried by his relationship to shao but it could legit be interesting so yknow what Im gonna let this silly fucking guy entertain me. What can I say, I like when villains have positive interactions and relationships.

Shang Tsung: Shang Tsung (both of them) was funny af. 10/10 no notes. Extremely entertaining. No fucking redeeming qualities. Critical amount of Kunt being served here. Evil and having fun about it. Caught being stupid in 4k by his own self. His plan(s) was pretty straightforward and I can appreciate that. I have nothing bad to say about Shang.

Quan chi: Quan chi was there to make funny faces and be mean gays with Shang Tsung. I dont mind him. Him being an outworlder and "turning white" is not smth I enjoy much tho, whats wrong with him being tied completely to the netherrealm?

Ermac: his design is something you eventually get used to. But as soon as you do he fucking get That Face. I swear I almost end up hating Jerrod in spite because of how they used Ermac. I cant deny it technically makes sense why they wouldve used him like that but I cant help it, I Did Not Like It. didnt liked it in mk9, dont like it now. I think I wouldve liked more the idea of Ermac being influenced by Jerrod rather than him being downright possessed by him. My opinion was much more scathing before the leaks but I have since calmed down a bit. But Ermac gets treated so badly in this game, he actually gets all my sympathy and more, compared to other characters.

Ashrah: Ashrah is okay. I like what she adds to the earthrealm team (and god know they needed her bc damn this was the no girls allowed club before she showed up) but I'm not sure I would enjoy her on her own without someone to bounce off of. Because she also was a character whole neutrality got removed to make her a fully good-aligned character. One thing that really endeared me to her tho was her "I've never had a home before!" line and the genuine happiness she showed there, I wish this part of her had been more explored. And she is also one of the characters that gets a lot more fleshed out in the intros to me. But still, like I said, Ashrah was okay.

Nitara: yeah the megan fox voice acting is objectively bad but it could also be way worse. I know its different bc this one is just an optional skin and not the character's actual voice but fucking listen to JCVD's voice acting. As for nitara, Im really sorry but it feels like she is just here to fill a niche, and said niche being "fanservice". So i'm really sorry for people who like her but yeah she is outshined by her VA and the "well she is a 3d era character that hasnt been shown for awhile so lets bring her back for the people" sentiment. As for her role in the story, I know we need jobbers but she is so isolated from everything they could remove her and it wouldnt change anything. Her personal motivation is not even given the time of day even tho it's the ONLY thing she has, so yeah Im having a hard time to care. Which is sad.

Havik: as soon as I saw his bio I knew he was going to be done dirty, the trailer he showed up in implied it but him having such a sympathetic backstory all but confirmed they were gonna go the "guy with good reasons to change the system fucking take it too far so you cant endorse him" trope with him. Everything with him seems a bit random (which is ironic considering he is mr. chaos) like, why is scorpion the one to give him his iconic open jaw look? (It also cements scorpion as the checklist character ngl). Anyway I do understand the reason for his inclusion as well as the story needing jobbers, doesnt change that I still think he's whatever tho.

[dojae-huh]

speaking of SMCU lore, I’m a bit curious how they’re gonna patch up the storyline with all the people that have left SME in past year or so. (correct me if i’m wrong but idt they’ll participate in smcu related stuff anymore tho theyre stilI part of their groups)

I think the lore is vague enough/ not too centered on a particular individual that they don’t have to really explain too much as seen from how they’ve handled other departures(eg exo and suju) but that being said certain big “characters” such as Taemin leaving might have a larger impact since he was previously playing a significant part of the lore, being one of the possible main villains or at least that was what was theorised, so I don’t know what direction they’ll be going with. unless they decide to just gloss over them like they never existed ….

I'm curious myself. Aespa is coming back to its ae that were absent for a couple of years. Which should mark SM 3.0 finally picking up the pace with SMCU lore.

I think every loss will be glossed over with the roles given to new actors. How it is usually in long-running tv-series, where a lot of subplots and foreshadowing never pays off either because actors leave the show or the public demands certain ships and not others.

It is not hard to do with neos, as only Taeyong has a major well-established role. We can just pretend Sungchan, Shotaro, Lucas and Taeil were lost in the real world or in the dream world and couldn't synchronise with the others anymore.

Exo's or Shinee's involvement was very vague. They exist in the universe, but they weren't given any big roles yet (I mean, EXO split the universe to hide the Tree of life to begin with, but they can be left in "the distant past", brought up only in passing). Taemin is a harder case. We lost Super M, which gave us a lot of lore bits, as well.

One of the ways to deal with Taemin is to downgrade him from a major villain to a puppet/vessel of a major villain. And this villain can be a giant creature from aespa lore, for example.

[thekingofwinterblog]

what would you change in MHA, or do you think it's mostly perfect?

Change?

Holy shit there is a lot i would change about My Hero Academia if i had been writing it, or been Hori's Editor.

and for this one, im not even going to touch the final arc, which is saved mostly by the fact that every climax ultimately worked(with one exception) and it was just the road getting there that needed some mayor overhauls.

anyway, in somewhat chronological order.

Bakugo and Izuku's Relationship.

One of the most contentious aspects of My Hero Academia, is the relationship between Izuku and Bakugo.

However, i actually thought this relationship as it was written was fine innitially, as though i came to despise Bakugo's ultimate role during the final battle, for the most part i Really liked his character... But looking back on the series, i ultimately have to agree with the haters.

This relationship was a trainwreck... or at least after a certain point.

See, it's painfully, obviously clear that Hori had an idea of how he wanted this relationship to go all the way up until their fight at night on the school grounds.

After that though... While there were moments where Bakugo showed that he had grown, ultimately Bakugo's interaction with Izuku did not fundamentally change, the only thing that changed was that now Izuku had finally stopped having a mixture between disdain and admiration for him, and now just admired him, which makes for some incredibly hard and frankly depressing reading.

there is one comedy gag page that perfectly illustrates EVERYTHING bad about this relationship post a certain point.

This page... is funny. it's very much a crossing the line twice kinda humor where something is just so wrong that it goes right back to being hilarious.

The problem... is that this page takes place AFTER that big rematch between Izuku and Bakugo.

Thus what could be very dark comedy, instead just hammers in the point that Bakugo hasnt changed. ironically enough he's changed with a lot of his classmates, but not izuku.

He is still an abusive cunt towards izuku... only now it's not treated as a horrible flaw of his character, and instead just a wacky quirk of his.

I hate it.

I dont know what caused this direction, wheter it was Hori not having any idea of how to take bakugo after this fight, or his editor not wanting bakugo to change too much, or whatever... but whatever it is, it is terrible.

it is the worst direction you could have taken these two short of hooking them up.

There are ways to make Izuku ultimately forgiving bakugo and moving on compelling... but this sure aint it.

why is is the depressing tale, of Endeavor's storyline about trying to make up for superpowered eugenics, raping his wife to produce his third and fourth child, beating and abusing his sons, and all of their various reactions to all of it, given infinitly more depth, nuance and frankly more compelling dynamics and outcomes than izuku's most defining relationship outside of his relationship with All Might?

SERIOUSLY, WHY???

There are SOOO many BETTER ways to do this, wheter Izuku actually forgives bakugo or not, this frankly is one of the worst directions MHA ever went.

and speaking of Izuku's "most important" relationships...

Izuku/Uraraka

People joke that Izuku and uraraka has way more dynamic relationships with their respective rivals and theyre not wrong.

At all.

This relationship, is boring. very, very boring.

And that's withouth taking into account that it never gets off the ground(and frankly speaking, i DONT CARE if it does during the last few chapters.), and though they have a few nice moments during the series that shows they are good friends, ultimately they never reach even the bare minimum of the kinds of dynamics that makes "Will they or wont they?" stories fun to read.

Honestly Hori should either have gone all in of actually making their relationship a defining aspect of Izuku's journey, he should have paired izuku up with someone else, or he should have never opened the can of romance in the first place.

I honestly dont care which, so long as he had stuck to it.

I read about this exact relationship in the main pairing of Hajime No Ippo, and it was about as interesting there, as it was here.

none whatsoever.

More Arcs to let Class 1-a Develop.

one of the biggest issues MHA has, is that Hori wasted the potential 3 years the main cast had at school, during which he had more than enough time that he could have developed his characters.

He did not need to make this series as long as One piece, but he had plenty of potential for getting more out of his school setting before he tore everything down during the first war arc.

and the biggest casualty of this rushing of the story, is that half of class 1-A never really got an arc to shine, before everything went to hell, so their development had to be crammed in at the very end.

Ultimately that worked for Aoyama, but not anyone else.

So just for fun, i decided to make a chart of every member of 1-A who never really got any real development or arcs or at least mayor parts of arcs devoted to their development, by the time the final battle came(not counting aoyama who worked pretty in his role), and it had to be rushed, rushed, rushed.

mina, tsuyu, ojiro, Kaminari, Kouda, Satou, Shouji, Sero, Hagakure, Mineta.

10 all in all.

im not saying that all of 1-A needed the kind of arc dedication Todoroki got, but the fact that half the main cast was horribly underdeveloped with little exploration of their backstories is a travesty(i dont think we ever even learned WHY Tsuyu became a hero, which illustrates the problem quite well.).

There were room for more arcs, given Hori could have had Shigaraki's transformation period last for way, way longer.

Star and Stripe

I really liked star and stripe, and given how her little arc ultimatly amounted to nothing, and just how broken Shigaraki ended up being during the final arc, i have NO idea why the hell her swan song wasn't there instead.

Seriously, just from a thematic standpoint, it would have made so much more sense for her final sacrifice to happen during the great climactic final battle, rather than a scirmish in the sky that had no real plot signifigance whatsoever.

Have Izuku and Eri spend some time together before she goes back.

i dont really get this one.

From a basic storytelling perspective, izuku should would need to develop at the very least some kind of actual bond beyond bumping into her, for her going back to have its full impact.

and it wouldn be hard either. Have Izuku and mirio pick her up as a lost child, have her pal around with them during the patrol for a chapter or two, have them bond with her and us getting some idea of her personality... then boom, her going back home has WAY stronger impact as we at the very least actually know the girl.

It would be an easy, simple and effective change.

Develop the Paranormal Liberation Front

the whole, rushing to the war arc didnt just hurt class 1-A, but also their opposition.

Hori could have devoted an entire arc to Hawks infiltration of the front, and learned how it's main non league members actually ticked, how they ended up here, and what their actual personalities were at the bare minumum.

If he had, at the very least the final arc could have had better minor antagonists who we had some connection to, rather than a bunch of nameless filler characters.

would have given a lot of the final arc's lesser fights a lot more omph thats for sure.

Im sure there is more, but at the moment i cant actually think of anything.

Anyway, there area lot of issues with MHA that could have been fixed with a redraft.

[tealisa]

I really wish marvel never made the Captain America villains nazis bc they handle the subject to terribly outside of the Winter Soldier arc doing an Operation Paperclip analogy about how the Western powers rehabilitated the nazis after the war. That was the only time the cap villains felt well used, but in the past decade marvel's big cap runs are just turning giving Steve Rogers or Bucky Barnes character-assassinating villain heel turns with the Nazi Cap and outer circle nonsense, and I cannot overstate how awful the writing is

and there's no way it all gets retconned like every other time they did this bc they've destroyed too many characters to force this "Cold War" plot (with countless jingoistic pro-USA historical references) but even when it gets wiped away, I'm still pissed that they think it's good storytelling.

And its ridiculous bc the only logical conclusion for the Winter Soldier arc was everyone's (esp the ones personally impacted: Bucky & Steve) questioning their loyalty to a government that hired nazis who politically and literally puppeted them as weapons, but no, marvel's office always wants more Cap'n 'Murrica so they stay loyal supercops until its time to do another "must protect the new Captain America from the old one who's my oldest and best friend and now suddenly a fascist" storyline again

it's like marvel thought the reason why people likes the Winter Soldier arc was bc of the Bucky Steve fight, so they never bother depicting them as how close and inseparable platonic soulmates that they are introduced as an instead come up w convoluted reasons to make them fight again, which means one of them siding w the nazi villains for shock value...

idk how anyone can like reading this, just flipping between destroying a character's entire ethos and udnermine the role they originally played in the foundation for CA-canon: they're supposed to be the 2 WW2 vets who fought the Nazis originally in the USA's last good military act, it's supposed to be impactful when they both come back to the 21st c. and find their own government hired the nazis they fought, but instead marvel editorial makes them nazis for shits and giggles and bash their characters to a pulp //

I know the nature of (American) comics demands more Cap bs, but Bucky and Steve's stories should've progressed long ago to them abandoning their American-ness and being disillusioned by their country, at the very least for the harm they themselves suffered personally. If marvel office needs more Cap shit, they already have a new one who's a modern USian military man and much more believable to continue doing that, by instead of letting the old Caps be free from the stars n stripes and let them develop outside of that pro-USA nonsense for once, instead they make them nazis/fascists in the most "yeah, this is all definitely getting retconned and wiped from everyone's memories immediately" storylines ever

I mean yeah agreed. The nazi villains are important to Captain America history given his creators and date of publication, but yeah like most things nowadays marvel has ran the good stuff and the punk parts of this franchise to the ground and filled it with neoliberal bullshit. It's like i said in the first ask you sent (idk if youre the same anon, but im assuming so). In the end all i wish is for marvel and disney to go bankrupt paying the creators what theyre owed, and for all of marvel's IP to go into the public domain

[mudzdale]

Care to share some of your sfm cowboy au???👀

oh anon NOW youve done it (affectionate)

OK SO i only have a GENERAL idea of the storyline + caveats but. largely

PREMISE: habit is an outlaw, bc its a cowboy story and what fun is a cowboy story without an outlaw (: he runs an unofficial, unrecognized little settlement constructed from the remains of a old ghost town... name creativity was a sliding scale at those times, so it probably wound up being called "Habit Town" or something, rather than The Habitat, and the name unfortunately stuck lol. also thinking of making the year 1894, because 100 Years Difference Funny

habit is of course motivated by his childhood floral/lily-related trauma, as in canon, BUT he also is fueled by his parents disallowing him from being a farmer/horticulturist (which was like. a backup plan for him not being a florist), forcing him into doctoring/dentistry, and then his rejection as a dentist by society at large. medical professionals (and unprofessionals, as it happens) were not trusted by civilians, and often for good reason, but ):

fed up with the lack of control over his own life, habit takes to drifting. he probably ""officially"" becomes an outlaw around this point in time, committing petty crime to sustain himself along the way. eventually he discovers the shell of a half-built ghost town in the wyoming wilderness. it was abandoned before its completion, due to a combination of disease and resulting economic failure, and lays long forgotten now. habit sees opportunity to take control of One thing in his life, and develops the remains into Habit Town.

kamal is, like habit, a college graduate. he came all the way from the east coast and also found difficulty in being accepted by westerners. he was a dentist as well (they likely met back when boris was trying to establish his dental business), but recieved a more thorough education at his school. not long after joining habit’s scheme, he consequently wound up being pressured into the role of ""mayor"" of habit town (a hugely nominal title, since habit is really the one pulling the strings. despite this, hes proud of it... but, it's not exactly what he signed up for.....)

the other habiticians are either outlaws alongside boris, a la robin hood's merry men, or simply other societal outcasts who are brought/lured to habit town by boris, to the end of whatever Evil scheme hes cookin up. im leaning more towards the latter, where theyre just like "uh we just live here... the guy who runs the place is. ok i guess. But Man Is He Weird."

but a town of outlaws would also be hilarious, and fun...

fk as a character is also flexible in whether they stick to game "canon" or have a more unique story. i think theyre some sort of farmer, and definitely a gardener. they could come to habit town For Their Own Reasons, like in the game... but again you could get really creative with that, since the setting is so flexible. i had this thought of habit stealing something from fk's farm, like cattle maybe, and in turn fk pursues him all the way to habit town. do they seek only to retrieve what's theirs? to enact justice upon the thief? or just give him a smooch and then go home... that'll be up to them.

really stuck in what the Evil Plan in question will be actually /: given the setting, i feel like it could be something different than the in-game "artificially build the worlds biggest smile." could be a little more westernish. idk. especially since boris' motives are a liiiittle different as well, due to the rougher environment (less hippie, more survivalist).

on the other hand... if it aint broke, dont fix it. he'll be working on building the worlds biggest smile until i can come up with something clever..

this pursuit gig could be fun narratively bc along the way story advancements Could happen. like no matter where they set out from, its going to be a Long way to habit town, which is incidentally set squarely in the middle of buttkick-nowhere. there are many difficulties that face travellers on the road, proving a danger to even an experienced rider. maybe habit has a brief scrape with a gougar cougar on the way, which knocks his saddlebags loose... breaking his journal, and losing a few of its pages to the winds... containing valuable backstory info, just blowing off to conveniently findable places behind him..

if anything i Do know that The Big Event is TOTALLY going 2 be a Showdown At High Noon. its great. the faceoff is declared but u can only see the shadow-habit silhouette thru the beams of bright sunlight at the end of the street... u both turn around to take ur ten paces... and then BOOM everything goes black bc he CHEATED and knocked u out before u even got there. fk then wakes up in the dentist chair or whatever the Evil Plan ends up requiring. idk after that point lol. tooth lily does need to happen for "true" end, as usual

after the dust settles, and assuming habit survives, the Society of American Florists will have had an established presence for at least a decade, and im certain would be more than happy to take on another member (: but otherwise thats pretty much all i got so far! looking forward to doing more with it if i can <3

[davinaswp]

you know what, this episode would have been a pretty good episode to end on. We get daemyra wedding, alicent finally losing her shit and the whole aemond thing. They should’ve stretched out the storyline from these past episodes to last until ep 10 and it would’ve been fine ? It would’ve given us more time with characters like Laena and Harwin who might die before the dance but are still important to the characters involved. Laena dying so fast without us seeing her relationship with daemon and rhaenyra was the first time I disagreed with the shows changes from the books. Especially because they made her a poc in the show too so actively reducing her role from her yt book counterpart felt icky in that sense.

I don’t get the dummies saying alicent took Laenas screentime tho since their stories aren’t even related. Alicent has been one of the best changes from the book, even now whether you like her or not, her arc has been consistently developed and well thought out. To take that away reduces the quality of the show bc she is an active participant in the dance and her story/POV matters.

“rhaenicent stole from laenyra” theyre in diff timelines? laenyra would have gotten close during rhaenyras marriage to laenor AFTER she and alicent had broken up. one did not take away from the other? they should’ve both been able to exist

also would just like to point out that if anything, laena was mistreated to show how daemon only loves rhaenyra, it’s obvious the show wants to portray daemyra as soulmates and doesn’t want us rooting too much for the other couples. again tho, they all shoulda been able to all coexist, fawk this time skip, all my homies hate time skips 🙅‍♀️🙅‍♀️

[demadogs]

Hi!

So you answered an ask a little while ago where you said that you don’t think s1 has any Byler content/doesn’t really hint to it, but that it may contain hints that Mike is gay.

Given the fact that in Will’s original character description it said he struggles with his sexuality, and that in the actual show numerous characters make references to it (“Lonnie used to call him a f*g” “Will’s in fairy land all happy and gay”) does that change anything for you?

Like if s1 definitely hints to Will being gay and possibly hints to Mike being gay as well, would that imply that the intention from the start was to make them a couple and that there is Byler evidence in s1? Or would that be more of a coincidence/otherwise unintentional?

Thanks! Love your blog/theories, I was just curious about this certain topic :) <3

i do think the duffers intended byler from the start!! i guess i didnt make that clear but i totally do and i only mentioned mike in that other ask bc i thought will was more obvious but yeah wills been hinted at being gay since the very first episode. i just think in comparison to seasons 2 and 3 i dont see why deep diving into s1 all that much for byler content is necessary when we have sooo much for the other seasons.

in s1 before they realize the actual situation, mike is mourning his best friend. some people take the scene of him looking at his drawings and try to make it gay but like hes an 11 year old kid who thinks his best friend just died. i think hes responding the way anyone would?? and theyre showing his response instead of lucas or dustin just cuz he has a bigger role that season. i dont like when people are like “look hes stroking his hands over wills drawings!! he loves him!!” like bro he thinks he just DIED like?? thats grieving not pining.

i dont think the duffers put anything that could hint at byler in the first season bc they didnt know how huge this would be. also they had to have his storyline with el being a love interest so if they made other feelings for someone else obvious it would just be confusing. but when they became the biggest netflix show of all time just after one season they were like “ok we’ll be renewed every time we can start foreshadowing this relationship thats at least two seasons away from actually happening”.

some things tho that i can see peoples point on for mike potentially being gay is the fact that el is mistaken for a boy so many times and when mike pushes troy after he said homophobic stuff about will. also there are some things that could hint at mike just feeling like he SHOULD like el cuz shes a girl and he genuinely does care about her but not romantically. like when lucas said something like “youre just happy a girls not grossed out by you”. he didnt mention his feelings at all just him liking the idea of being with a girl. not that i think lucas knew anything about it, i just think it was interesting writing. but will telling mike he rolled a 7?? and will hugging him in the hospital after he nearly died in an evil alternate dimension???? thats not queercoding that what any best friend would do.

[skybristle]

I'm really interested to hear about your episode 11/12 CRK rewrite, do you mind explaining the plot? If it's too long to explain or smth, can you at least give some basic plot points/major changes?

[pls rb] It's a bit messy tbh since i never got into the nitty-gritty of the exact play by play events, but i had a lot of thoughts on how i would like to have restructured it / rewritten certain parts. its always bugged me how tonally distant the hb kingdom is from,,,, everything else in the main storyline, especially compared to pv and cacao's plotlines. one of the key things is that i took the mention pitaya burned down the kingdom at one point WAY more seriously than the plot does - as well as them 'taking over' the kingdom. i should note that they aren't nessacarily malicious, moreso trying to bait hollyberry out of hiding to fight them and going about it in the worst way possible. The timeline of cr is so messy and conflicting [esp now with the implication roguefort was very young when their family died in the ob christmas event and they died in my fanon BECAUSE of the pitaya attack but i had other stuff before that that said it was only like 6-7 years ago but. AUGH. WHATEVER]. TLDR the hollyberry kingdom has rebuilt but they're still kinda a mess and slowly losing faith in the royal family and turning to the great houses - leading to a setup similar to the princess contest [i think the 'princess contest' is stupid as hell, like, especially when princess herself shows up for it but it 'must go on'].

TO SUMMARIZE SOME THINGS. For my fanon in general i've kicked gingerbrave and co out of the main plotline - nothing against them, but persoanlly them being shoved into every plotline makes their narratives suffer drastically [at least in my fanon] . i've weighed the thought of either rasp or princess being the main protagonist but like . princess probably makes more sense im just HEAVILY biased towards rasp. Background stuff thats important to the characters -rasp has been staying in the cookie kingdom for a while and becoming dissalussioned with her house and hollyberry kingdom as she spends time away from the suffocating enviorment and begins falling in love with parfait - but cant commit because she can't be in love with a commoner under her house's watch. puts off going home until a carriage shows up asking her to come back to the kigndom for the contest. Is not havign a good time and only gets more and more upset as the plot goes on - batflower [oc of mine] was a heiress, but lost her manor in the pitaya attack. she's a power-obsessed asshole who does Not value people unless they contribute to her amusement or game. Is a literal fucking serial killer! - uhhhh i wanted to do more with tiger lily but the brainrot was never there. i think it would be sillly if part of the reason she went missing was related to hollyberry's dissapearance - i also kicked out the cookies of darkness not because they're irrelevant or completely gone i just liked using batflower and pitaya as the villians wayy more. they might be around but probably serving a more minor role - like how affogato is the main antagonist in chp 13/14 but theyre still around OKAY SO. It runs mostly the same but the one to poison their drinks is - suprise suprise - batflower ! nyx holds a lot of envy towards the remaining heiresses [especially rasp who is trying to walk away from the privlidge she'd been given that batflower so desprately wants back] and she spikes the heiresses' drinks with something similar as to what wizard/strawberry get in the original. And raspberry's already having her emotions run high and is pretty pissy and her and princess do Not Get Along so they start fighting before dueling [11-27 boss fight] - though it gets interupted by batflower showing herself, unfurling her wings and mocking them for falling right into her play. Yadda yadda drama stuff yadda yadda rasp falling even deeper into her want to leave her role because she sees the reflection of what it can do to people in batflower but also. THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING [batflower replaces the 11-30 boss - it fits nyx well since its in a garden and nyx has plant magic it uses to make its poisons]. Once batflower is beat she retreats. Probably shows up later at minimum as an observer but i havent figured that out. Rest proceeds mostly as normal, with hollyberry showing up having realized how badly she failed her kingdom and what pitaya has done to it as 'ruler', and promptly beats their ass into next week and probably makes them do community service /LH. i wanted to do more to hb's characer arc and i DID mostly but im trying not to get too deep into the psychology of the events [as i often tend to do] and just tell it as it is. i think it would be cute if wildberry was with her [since she took him in while she was in hiding] and when its revealed shes the queen he gets promoted to her personal bodyguard. just thought that though idk a lot of this is loose Rasp at this point is done, goes home, gets in a fight with mousse and leaves the kingdom for good - though that probably wouldnt be featured in the plot. what WOULD be featured is a tiger lily reuinion with her family - i havent thought abt it much but it annoys me to NO FUCKING END that she is completely written off despite being LITERALLY *the missing princess*. And they do nothing with her besides jungleberry offhandedly remarking "oh that might be her,,," like GIRL YOURE NOT GONNA ?? INVESTIGATE ??? i think thats it . i might be forgetting something but whatever.

[sonicunleash]

SONIC PRIME SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 (THIS IS LONG. THIS IS LITERALLY ALL MY INITIAL THOUGHTS.)

OKAY SO FIRST OFF. GOD. Everything with new yoke is so so good. By far out of the universes they made new yoke a very very engaging one-- all the characters feel complex and thoughtful and it's not just a one-off universe. You care about their plight and while circumstances have changed them as people, theyre all still believable and complex like you can see why they've become this way. They dont feel like theyre being forcibly FIT into their roles in new yoke if that makes sense.

On that note, god Nine is so good and CARRIES when he has the focus. He's such a good introspective on Tails, and his deeper feelings and who he is without sonic, who he would be if he had to make it on his own. They do a wonderful balance of showing he's been forced to "grow up" because of the eggman empire, while also showing that he's still just.... a really lonely 8 year old who thinks the world is against him. So when sonic shows up and reaches out to HIM, gives him the first good connection he's had... he clings to it and clings hard. But he's new to connections and friends and doesn't really understand yet how to work them I think. So when sonic doesnt make it to save him, when sonic can't stay in the grim because he has other friends to save, nine takes it personally. It's all just. so so well done and in my opinion, out of all of the introspections they try to do with sonic's friends-- the most faithful, heartfelt, and engaging one. Which, is somewhat a given since it seems like Nine is going to remain a major, overarching character, along with the rest of new yoke.

ANYWAYS. Nine and New Yoke aside, I think another thing sonic prime is doing well so far is building up stakes with its main plot. Its not throwing nonsensical plots twists at you, but just builds in this great steady way that you're putting the pieces together on the situation the same time the characters are, and realizing just how deeply things are getting fucked. It's been REALLY engaging on that front and I'm happy for it.

But uhm. On a different note, the universes outside new yoke were.... lackluster. Both try to delve into another one of sonic's friends, and their feelings and sonic's relationship with them, but I think like... In the writers' heads right now, new yoke is the "main" plot heavy universe, and the others are one-off side universes that exist only as stepping stones to forward it. And you can... tell. Neither of the other universes' storylines are as engaging, and none of the alternates of the characters have the thought and depth that the new yoke ones have. And I think it kind of hurts the storyline, cause, well. You can tell. They WANT to engage you emotionally with amy and knuckles' nuances but they just fall flat and lose that impact theyre going for.

And god dont get me started on thorn and the jungle universe. That was just the biggest waste of what. 2? 3 episodes? I ever watched. I could not fucking care about that plot at all.

Uhm what else.... Well I think shadow is done... alright. He's being helpful, or, well, an ally (kinda hard to be helpful when youre a Void Ghost allowed only like 2 minutes of screentime), rather than a pointless obstacle, and his anger at sonic has reasoning behind it. His voiceacting also isn't as terrible as I thought. It's still not Right but its not kirk thornton-- and doesnt have that overexaggerated roughness. He is still very obviously sonic primes hype man though. He's got something going on, and clearly they want to do some kind of plot with him, but over the course of the 8 episodes he gets a little... repetitive. He kinda just relays the same thing to sonic every time we see him. Like Okay Sonic Fucked Up is Shadow going to just keep telling sonic that or is he gonna like. help.

I guess we'll see. I gotta be honest until that ball gets rolling im more invested in Nine and whatever happened there with Rusty Rose seeing Black Rose. someone please help rusty

[demigirljoycebyers]

You're right but I meant by decent line the way it was said that he doesn't get to do much or talk much not the quality of the actual line 🤣 my bad. As for the quality of screentime etc yeah I can tell will is not getting much and for me because I love Steve, the reviewers are raving about him and the actor but it's what I read they're doing with him romantically that's making me upset bc it feels so regressive so I think he's getting screentime and good scenes but I'm afraid of where the whole thing is going. Also a lot of these people haven't even seen 7 on top of 8 and 9 so like you said that 5 hours and half of story so I'm going to try and reserve judgement thank you for being so calming and reasonable and answering my asks.

sakaksdk no thats my bad sakksdk

no worries! and honestly, i feel like the fact that they havent really talked much about steve might mean thats hes a bit too involved to really get into it much, yknow? reviews are meant to build hype but theyre also not supposed to reveal too much... its a fine line to walk and i can see why seeing only trivial things in relation to hopper and steve might make you lose hope, but given that this is the most serious series yet, I'm sure there must be more to their storylines than just that! Especially given the impressive runtime and the tendency for stories to crescendo towards the end, im sure will and steve will get an important role to fulfill in order for the cast to win against this seasons threat! =^-^=

[antiloreolympus]

6 Anti LO Asks

1. wasnt there a myth where ares dates demeter? (sometims erinyes instead) and they have a CHILD together? i know RS doesn't really research so it wont come up, but ... how awkward would that family reunion be? "hello, barely-legal version of the teenage girl i tried to mack on, i knocked up your mother"?

2. (Bit of a rant so be warned) I wish that RS had characterized everyone better, I mean I still can’t get over how Apollo was characterized (I got into LO before I fully delved into mythology and once I read on how Apollo really was I didn’t know how to feel about the story). It would’ve been so amazing if she portrayed them differently than they were in the myths in a way that made sense, like Aphrodite given a fully developed personality outside of being a bitch with a pretty face (she was a very loving mother in the myths and very much loved Ares, who adored her as well). And let’s be honest, persephone being a “cinnamon roll that can secretly kill you” trope is kind of getting boring, RS could have had some more fun with her character by portraying her much differently. Another trope that’s getting old is Demeter being an overprotective, controlling mess of a mother towards persephone which sucks once you really think about it (I mean the poor woman lost her daughter in an instant and didn’t know what was going on until she had to go to Helios to find out, she deserves a better portrayal than what RS gave her). Heck my favorite portrayal of Demeter that feels accurate to how she is mother-wise in the myths is from Mythic the Musical (“Mother’s Do What Mother’s Have to Do”). Also don’t get me started on how dirty she did Thetis (I love her design but my god was she done wrong personality and even role wise). I remember when I first started reading this and read through the majority of the comic and I genuinely loved it, not thinking about how weird it was until I read through this blog and it kind of just hit me. Hades is a creep in LO and he could’ve just not been written that way, she didn’t have to write Persephone as a literal 19 year old (even 119 is young for gods but at least that would’ve been a more comfortable number) the baby shower gift thing was gross once I thought about it again. If I had to put my main frustrations with this series I would put these as the main problems: Gods/Goddesses being done dirty in terms of personality and role in the story, Hades being a high key creep, I heard that Chiron is being portrayed as female which defeats one of the purposes of his character (he’s a genuinely kind man which is rare to find in Greek Mythology, he’s awesome), not utilizing other Greek mythological figures to help move the story along or even help persephone (for example, Ganymede who’s story starts off very much like hers or even other figures who were SA by gods), and Persephone not only being a self insert but a major Mary Sue which is a massive yikes when it comes to a serious storyline. Oh and her “erasing” the incest factor of Greek Mythology is hysterical because even with how she changes it up, Hades and Persephone are STILL technically related because Demeter is Hera’s sister, who is married to Zeus (Hades’ brother) still making Hades her uncle by marriage smh. Demeter considers Persephone her daughter so that doesn’t erase the incest completely. At least Percy Jackson made it clear that it was a thing, and they handled it very easily: they’re divine beings that don’t have blood and they’re not mortals, despite that Percy and the other demigods express obvious disgust at the topic. Done and done. At the end of the day I’m still not sure how I feel about LO and maybe I’ll continue reading it for the hell of it or just give it up since from what I’ve heard, the story has gone off the rails

3. i like how just off that timeline, we're supposed to feel like "aw look both hades and persephone had traumatic childhoods and important life changes at 19!" instead of being like yooooo this seven year beat the shit out of his dad and took him out? why would i care about hades' teen angst and then late 20s man pain whi lusts after a 9 year old when a goddamn second grader can kick ass? also yeah depending on this timeline theyre all pedos and zeus is actually a vicim 🤷🏼‍♀️

4. Okay, I could be misremembering things but, didn't Hera have a file on Persephone (which listed her under the TGOEM program) that she made for "possible suitors" purposes? And she included Hermes and Ares and Hades?

Again, I could be misremembering this but doesnt the TGOEM require the goddesses to, not be in relationships? Romantic or otherwise? And if thats the case, then why the f*ck was Hera making a "compatibility chart" of possible husbands for Persephone?

Was it because she noticed that Persephone and Hades had a thing for each other? Even though she was potentially still having an affair with Hades at the time And knowing he was having an off and on again relationship with Minthe?

Also isnt Persephone in college on the TGOEM scholarship? So wouldn't Hera want to like, talk to Athena + Hestia about that? And be like "Hey so I know Kore is in your program, but.... I want her to marry Hades" And I know Hera is technically Queen of the gods but wouldn't she still check with them?

Also, I had a seperate thought. So I know Hades says something like "I thought we agreed not to (see each other) back in the 80's" - now it feels like because Hera is/was having an off-and-on againa affair with her brother in law that her putting Hades and Persephone together and setting them up as a couple is an excuse for her to cover up her affair.

(Like if Zeus ever got wind of Hera's affair with Hades and he was upset she could just try to side sweep it by being like "oh, no thats not what was happening. I was really checking to see if Hades is a good match for Persephone and he is!" So she doesnt get in trouble for having an affair).

5. okay, legitimate question: if artemis having a ton of uber-devoted female followers is enough to make her a lesbian ... why is ares not gay? because like ... not only were soldiers/male athletes famously homosexual, a lot of them basically ritually gave themselves to ares. it's heavily implied that this means that they considered themselves spiritually his eromenos'. the whole practice's bad implics aside ... ares should be SUPER gay? oiled up gym-rats wrestling nude levels of gay.

6. Okay so normally I don't care and or don't want to know, but - in this case I am a bit curious - is Persephone just RS's self insert character / Mary sue? Because if she is then that means that all the other male characters simping over Persephone (Hades, Hermes, Ares, Apollo, etc) gets a lot more concerning.

[reyeslonestar]

Question what are some things you wanna see in season 3 of lone star? Character development, plots, anything

I want to see Tonya Kong write every episode. that's all. thanks for asking!

-

sadfkja I joke, I do have other ideas, but that is definitely high on my wish list! i'm gonna go through by character and talk about what I'd like to see for them, so this is gonna get quite long whoops...

the main thing that I'd like to see overall, though, would be evidence of an overarching season plan or arc - it doesnt necessarily have to be a plot that stretches through all the episodes or anything major, but I'd love them to have plotted out the season before they start. from watching this season and then reading interviews after the finale, they dont appear to plan many things from the start and end up throwing in ideas as they go along. if they plan it from the start they can foresee how theyre going to affect character development more, and they can have a bit more balance in the types of episodes they have, so that the season is less insane and more naturally ebb-and-flow with a few light episodes to break up the drama.

okay, onto the characters! just going to do this in billing order for simplicity's sake. customary reminder that these are just my own opinions and thoughts, and this is more of a wish list than a realistic expectation.

if you want to search for a specific character, ctrl F for one of these terms including the dash at the start:

-Owen

-Tommy

-TK

-Grace

-Judd

-Marjan

-Paul

-Carlos

-Mateo

-Nancy

press “j” to skip the whole post.

-Owen

okay so I'd love to see them actually develop his character. Owen has been given a lot of backstory with lots to play with development-wise, but to me it feels like the show never goes anywhere with it. he's got a lot going on what with 9/11, feeling responsible for the fates of his fellow firefighters, the codependence of his relationships etc. I'd like to see him go to therapy and see him grow some self awareness and seek to manage himself better, rather than all his screentime devoted to him being a hero when other characters have the situation handled. it would really show him as a good leader if he drew on the skills that his team has and refer to them for advice/ideas. realistically he is the main character, so I'd like them to develop him like one.

also, I kind of love the chief role for him? I think it would suit him really well. but it would drag him away from the 126 and split up the dynamics too much so it would make for bad tv and I wouldnt actually want to see that. good for his character though.

-Tommy

I love Tommy :) just wanted to say that.

so obviously Tommy's got a lot of grief to handle next season, and I don't want them to shy away from that. I want it acknowledged and processed. (I'd also like a little bit of seeing the twins' grief too, because they're also suffering a massive loss). maybe something with Judd helping Tommy learn to manage her grief with his own experience of losing the original 126, encourage her to go to therapy, plus Tommy, Grace and Judd all feeling the loss of Charles together. after all, Grace and Judd were his friends and they will be grieving too.

I'd also kind of like to see Tommy have something outside being a working mother. obviously we're going to need to deal with that a lot especially now that Charles is gone, but I feel like she's been assigned the Character TraitTM of being the working mum and I'd like to see them give her a hobby or something. idk. and give her a night off with Grace or something. give her something just for her.

-TK

okay so I think theres a fair likelihood that theyre going to return to looking at TK's addiction next season which im not averse to. I think him struggling with his sobriety would be worthwhile to see for his character and to show that its not a straightforward path, plus it makes sense with all the insane stuff they've thrown at them in s2. however, Id like to see it in the context of his friends and family rallying around to help and support him and show him that he's got people to rely on, and that he's allowed to rely on them, plus the support of his AA meetings and therapy. I also need them to lay the groundwork for him struggling, so putting in signs of him deteriorating so the situation makes sense. this storyline doesn't need surprises to be interesting or good, and frankly it shouldn't have any.

as for him and Carlos, I definitely want to see them househunting! I'd like to see the combination of househunting/Carlos with Tommy's kids/Grace and Judd having their baby have an impact on their perspectives regarding their future and spark that conversation (like, looking at houses with more rooms and thinking about kids, future, marriage etc). I think that maybe one of them, probably TK, or maybe both of them those boys have way too many parent issues having anxieties about being a dad could be an interesting way to add tension without being too drastic, and then that can be resolved in a way that reassures them of their relationship and reaffirms their strength as a couple. the talk about the future would also lay the groundwork towards a proposal at the end of s3.

-Grace

grace :) my love :)

I could watch episode after episode of Grace kicking ass and saving people over the phone. I'd love to see an episode set there? like, some kind of story within the call centre with all the handlers having to resolve that between them, but also tie in the first responders, so we see the fire team, the paramedics and Carlos all working but we only see the bits that Grace and the other call handlers hear, if that makes sense? also an actual Grace/Carlos team up where they are coming in from the different angles with different amounts of evidence and figuring out the best way to solve something together. plus I'd like to see her maybe get some recognition for being awesome at her job, maybe another handler coming to her for advice on how to solve something.

of course we've got the baby Ryder on the way, and I want that to go comfortably and smoothly for her. she deserves that. lots of wholesome excitement for her and Judd from the whole extended firefam, baby shower, gifts, the full works. pamper grace please.

-Judd

judd4captain2k22. please.

yeah I know its not gonna happen, but I loved judd stepping in as captain this season and I'd love to see that continued with him taking more leadership, and Owen deferring to him for advice/council in a work environment rather than personal life. maybe set up a long term idea about judd being a captain someday.

he's gonna be a dad :') so what are his anxieties about that? why were they putting it off before? was it related to his PTSD? he's got lots of people relying on him now, how does that make him feel? what if his kid loses him? id like to see him still using therapy as a tool to help himself deal with everything. lots of meaty questions to dig into there :D

-Marjan

I'd quite like to see more of her balancing her daredevil nature with the impact of that and realising how much danger she puts herself in sometimes. or on the flip side, maybe the team is dealing with a really dangerous situation and they utilise her fearlessness to save people. her relationship with social media could also come back? but bring in the development they gave her this season, and her Firefox presence is more serious, less flippant?

I think that theres now a space for her to explore her sexuality/romantic experience now that she hasn't got her engagement with Salim as a kind of failsafe. maybe she wants to put herself out there and date, but thats really daunting as shes never really had to do that before? personally I think this could tie in really well with a self discovery/exploration regarding her sexual orientation, but I doubt they’d go there with her, so thats just my headcanon.

-Paul

I want them to draw on Paul’s observational skills and perceptiveness more, especially on calls and in emergencies. I remember someone (sorry I cant remember who) pointed out that he would have been a great character to centre the arsonist plot around in terms of noticing the clues etc, so id love a storyline that revolves around him dealing with an emergency like that. I also really want a Carlos and Paul friendship so maybe them collaborating on a call to solve something, that’d be cool.

can we give Paul a girlfriend please. if im not complely insane, there was a reference to someone in like,, 2x04?? someone who put mayo in his sandwich? idk I havent checked (edit: it was aioli in his banh mi! thank you @meneatyoghurt), but if there is someone can we show him having a fun and loving relationship please. I dont need there to be any drama. just them having fun on a date or something.

-Carlos

so I know that some people are keen to see him in his police role more but I really don't need much of that. on calls with the 126 I'd like to see him be the officer in charge more, but I don't need police-exclusive storylines. I've talked about it here if you want to know why.

the only area that I'd like to see would be in the direction of reform/addressing the flaws of the system, and I think they can do that on a personal level for him, because he and Mitchell need a chat. if they'd gone with her decision in 2x08, he, Mitchell and the bank robber would all be dead, and I think thats gotta have some impact. also the fact that he was suspended for trying to preserve life. theres a lot they could work with there and maybe have him thinking about how he can do good and how he can effectively protect and serve. not to mention, the opportunity that would provide in terms of addressing his relationship with his dad and how he maybe sought approval by pursuing a police career?

also I’d like him to learn that he doesnt need to accept blame/preemptively put blame on himself and that he doesnt need to apologise when someone else hurt him. kind of want to send him to therapy. kind of want to send all the characters to therapy. but yeah, him learning that he can accept apologies and understand that he doesnt have to make people feel better for hurting him. hes allowed to be hurt and feel pained about it. and that can tie into his relationships with Mitchell, with TK and with his parents.

I think I mentioned most of the tarlos stuff in TK’s section, but I wouldn't mind at least one instance for them where we see it all from his perspective instead of TK’s.

finally ive mentioned above how i’d like a team up with Paul on a scene and both of them figuring it out together. I'd also like them having a friendship outside work, just the two of them, bonding over books and being relatively sane people compared to the rest of their friends.

-Mateo

Mateo is so sweet. I loved 2x14 and the recognition he got, more of that please! also theres still so much I want to know - one of the more consistent things they set up for him in s2 was his faith, so I want to know more about that. what's his relationship with religion and God? he's pretty isolated from his family so how does he feel about that? is his religion something that helps him feel connected to them? maybe the church helped him find a community when he first came to the states, before he got settled with the 126, and he finds reassurance in faith that God is looking after his family while he cant be there? I think maybe there's scope for a conversation between Marjan and Mateo about that, about that distance and caring for their families through faith and prayer.

also, if he's still with the horrible firehouse, I'd like to see the other firefighters being won round by his resilience and stepping up to look out for him, and someone backing him up against the captain. Mateo is used as the butt of the joke most of the time, but I'd also like to see a bit more acknowledgement of things like losing his house and the bullying hes going to get more of from this firehouse.

-Nancy

I think that her speech to Tommy in 2x14 was really telling, and I'd love to see them expand on that a bit more. first on the loss and fear of losing her friends and coworkers, but then also on her hopes and aspirations - she said she wants to be a paramedic captain so lets see her working to take her exams and qualifications, and showing initiative on scenes etc.

id like to see more of her being integrated into the 126 group. she and marjan turned up to the hangout together, so lets develop that relationship more. I would love it to be romantic but I'd also love to see that as a friendship. but also her forming bonds with others in the group as well as more of her and TK being a chaos duo. I love that they stole the ambulance, more of that insanity please!

-

I think thats it? if youre still reading, youre insane and I appreciate you a lot! honestly im open to all sorts of things in s3, this isnt a prediction or anything, its just stuff I think would be interesting based on where the characters are now. 

[skyeblue379]

So let’s talk about the newest episode of WandVision there is of course a spoiler warning from this point on

First let’s talk about theories disproved

So the town is made up of the citizens of westview( as far as we know ) the fact the several citizens actors such as the milkman, mailman , and “norm” were shields of agents in previous movies is a conciedence

It’s looking like Anges is a regular citizen not Agatha Harkness, who in the comics was one of the original witches of Salem, a mentor of scarlet witch who was eventually killed by her when she went crazy and almost destroyed the multiverse, but as she was not one the citizens who was identified there is still a chance but we’ll have to wait and see

Okay so let’s talk about what still up in the air theory wise and what we do know thus far

Let’s talk about Mephisto

i still believe that this is how Marvel is choosing to introduce him since he plays an important part in wandas story arch in the comics ( for those who don’t know Wanda creates the twins using a bit of his power/soul and he arranges for them to be stolen by his minion Master pandemonium who uses them as Arms to try and regain Mephisto’s stolen power ( yes you read that right the 80s were wild)

I still believe that he is the one orchestrating everything behind the scenes but I have a new theory on who he is or at least one I have seen but I’m sure is out there cause let’s be honest I’m not that creative lol

I think during the aftermath of the snap Mephisto took advantage of the chaos to take the identity of Hayward the new leader of SWORD

Think about he could’ve seen that there was a chance to take power in the upcoming new agency and knowing marvel they might pull an ego, he might’ve had a had in hand in Maria’s death to make sure that he got control of SWORD and to have Monica have a personal investment in this fight

If we go with this theory that explains why he seems to have vendetta to make out Wanda as the villain and dangerous and why we didn’t see the “ footage “ of Wanda stealing visions body my guess is he is trying to alienate wanda from everyone else so she’ll have no where to turn

The reason I think this isn’t entirely wanda is because while in the comics Wanda is one of the most powerful mutants in the entire multi-verse thus far in the mcu she hasn’t shown that level of power and while I would LOVE if they gave Wanda the power and recognition she deserves I don’t think that’s going to happen given The writers treatment Of the marvel women so far and if given the chance they will make the all powerful villain who manipulating the poor defenseless female who couldn’t help but fall for his evil schemes * cue southern lady hand to forehead swoon*(oh I’m going to piss off some fanboys with that one lol) but really think about it Hollywood as a whole doesn’t like bestowing the mantle of most powerful on women or POC especially in action movies which , whether or not you want to admit it , as a genre is engineered to please cisgender straight white men but that’s a whole other debate and I’m already going off enough tangents as is

I don’t think that it was wanda who left the boundary or if it was I don’t think it was entirely of her own volition I think it was a tactic to further villify Wanda in the eyes of SWORD and cementing the distrust of her by them so Hayward can weaponize SWORD against Wanda and Vision

Expanding on that based on what We’ve seen so far from the eps and the previews it’s going to end up being a battle between SWORD/ Mesphisto who is manipulating everything and everyone to make it seem like it’s Wanda controling the town against Wanda and Vision, with the help of Darcy, agent Jimmy Woo, and Monica after they begin to realize what’s happening

Moving on to Wandas role

So I agree with Visions assement that while Wanda Wasn’t initially consciously aware of what was going on she “ woke up “ at some point is now actively manipulating her surroundings and while she doesn’t want to directly hurt anyone as evident by her protecting Monica while sending her flying through walls and the barrier which could’ve killed her but should’ve at least broken a several bones but she came out with out a scratch

We can see that she knows what she’s doing is wrong but the looks of guilt when confronted with what she is doing she is trying to make sure the citizens are living as normal as possible as seen when she mentions making sure they mow their lawns and make it to their dentist appts and she thinks by controling them she’s making it easier on them but she knows it’s wrong like for example when billy and tommy ask her to bring sparky back to life the look on her face when she tells them there are certain things you can’t mess with and Vision walking up right as she says that I’m guessing within the next couple of episodes she admit to herself that what is happening is wrong

The Twins

So far in the series we see that Billy and Tommy at least posses some of their mother’s power as seen as they can age up seemingly by will power

In the comics billy becomes Wiccan , who takes after his mother’s powers and tommy is speed who inherited his uncles super speed but we have yet to see if these powers will transfer into the show

Side note if they try and change wiccans or speeds sexualities which in the comics wiccan was canonically gay and in a long term relationship hulking, who he eventually married , and Speed who was bisexual and in a relationship with prodigy I will riot

I’m guessing that mephisto is going to take the twins leading to Wanda joining dr strange in his show traveling the multi-verse in trying to find them or some version of them since we can only assume that’s how they are introducing the introducing mutants to the mcu

Speaking of introducing mutants to the MCU

So at the very end of the episode they get a surprise visitor- quicksilver (which several ppl saw coming ) we see that the X-mans Quicksilver arrive at the door

While I am glad that they are reintroducing Quicksilver as his early death was my biggest problem with age of ultron, we will have to wait and see how this pans out in regards to the series as a whole

When we hear the knock we are being lead to assume same as vision that it is another diversion by Wanda which we’ve seen her do several times at this point she seems as confused as he is so I don’t think he’s appeared by her powers proven by the fact when he introduces himself as her brother she’s visibly thrown and understandably confused before hugging him

My guess is that Mephisto( who in the comics also has the power to manipulate reality tho not on the scale that scarlet witch does which is why he needs her) brought him in to distract Wanda and Vision from discovering the truth

Now we can only assume that because of his appearance that other X-men and ppl from that universe will make an appearance in the mcu but to what extent we can’t be sure yet it will largely depend on what actors agree to resign on to their contracts to continue playing their characters so we can assume that Wolverine will not be making an appearance as Hugh jackman has previously stated that he will not be reprising the role but with everyone else’s we will have to wait and see

Let me know what you guys think what you agree or disagree with, further theories etc

EDIT: I apologize it’s been almost a decade since I’ve read the series of comics feature the storyline that WandaVision were based off it was pointed to me by @Hapllucigenia123 that there were a few inaccuracies in my post

the guy with the baby arms was master pandemonium who while he was working under the direction of Mephisto is not him

the twins were made purely out of fractions of Mephistos soul in the comics and he arranged them for them to be kidnapped in order to regain the power he had lost

This doesn’t change my theories much since I don’t believe they are going to have master pandemonium appear in the series because he was a middle man and the writers are going to probably have a bigger villain name to help draw in more views.( also don’t think theyre going to have anyone use the twins as arms cause I don’t see it being taken seriously in this day and age but imagine the memes if they did lol but I will go back and fix the information when I can thank you again @hapllucigenia123 who can also be found in the comments if the tags don’t work

[v-poreons]

kova's backstory is so sad, like I knew it was sad but reading that still :((( anyways more kova lore bc I'm invested

I can talk about the campaign he was in then! :))

I'm so mad Tumblr deleted everything I wrote hold on while I try to fix this

Basically what I said before was so fucking long I simply can't rewrite it in as comprehensive a way i did before so this is gonna be a lot shorter I'm PISSED.

I don't remember everything that happened in the campaign because it was four years ago but the party was me as Kova, Asher (Wood Elf Ranger), Lan (Changeling ((in the form of a High Elf)) Fighter), Mislia (Tiefling Sorcerer), and Savory (Tiefling Monk, we had an inside joke that Kova spells her name Savoury).

We were on a job delivering some stuff from one town to another I believe when we were attacked by some goblins who we beat the absolute shit out of. Lan was checking one of the goblins when she found a ring with an eye symbol engraved on it. She put it on and it latched itself to her finger and shot a beam of light into the woods, presumably for us to follow. We hid our wagon and set up camp in a cave for the night. I don't remember who was on watch but we were ambushed by some Dark Elves who took us to the Underdark to their queen who welcomed us and decided to throw a party in our honor.

We were all varying degrees of intoxicated but Kova, who was nursing his first cup of ale since he hates drinking since it inhibits his reasoning skills and he was a little wary of the whole thing. Lan also was suspicious so the two chatted for a bit and planned to do some investigating together later. When we had been escorted to our rooms we found out that we had been magically locked in so we found a way to bypass the spell and sneaked out with the rest of the party, but we were caught and taken into the throne room where the queen revealed she had led us here for a reason. She activated a big rune on the floor and we all blacked out. Then when we woke up our skin was translucent and you could see our skeletons under our skin because plot twist we were dead and had been sent to the underworld (the reveal slapped so hard david if ur seeing this u popped off so hard)

We ended up having to do like a gladiator type match where Kova and Lan created the legendary knife cube combo (Kova casts cloud of daggers Lan throws enemies into the cube and theyre promptly turned into bad guy soup). We won and were brought before Hades and Persephone (Kova and Savory charmed her because they're both nice :) ) and then we were thrown in prison because Hades had a stick up his ass.

We met Brutus and Milquetoast in jail and decided to do a prison break I'm not sure exactly how it went but it involved the warden and a prison riot and Lan killed the warden and was inexplicably drawn to this dark spooky hallway which supposedly held Thanatos but when she reached the end of the corridor all that was there were empty chains.

We had a sick ass chariot race with Hades and Lan flipped him the bird as we escaped down a big cavernous hole in the ground. We woke up at the bottom and learned if we wanted out we each had to go through trials to judge our characters.

I don't remember the exact order we went in but Mislia's was a fight with their ex wife and ended with them choosing Savory's life over the ex, Savory's took place in her old monastery which she had been banned from, Asher's was a puzzle that ended in a fight with his former friend and leader (who happened to be his player's other character from a different campaign remember this it's important), and Lan's (which was the last trial and also the last session since we unfortunately didn't finish the campaign) took place in her childhood hometown but everyone but her had lost their memories and she had to convince us all to come with her and get our memories back.

Kova's was a quiz show type trial during which we would gain or lose things (body parts, knowledge/memories, items, etc.) The trouble with playing a character who's smarter than you is when ur DM asks you what the components are to an X level Wizard spell (something Kova would probably know but I sure as hell didn't) you end up spinning the bad wheel (a la taz suffering game) and losing Kova's harmonica which was a gift from his dead friends dead daughter. Also it got turned to ash :)

The game show host ended up being Medusa and we killed the hell out of her and Lan and Kova struck the final blows.

I ended up asking the DM what the campaign would have gone like from the last session and he said the twist would have been that Brutus was Thanatos and I don't remember how but he could not longer continue being Thanatos so Lan, who had the ring, would be given the choice to become the new god of death or not.

From there we have two endings:

The 'canon' ending, in which Lan accepts her role and remains in the underworld while the rest of the living party members return to their lives. Kova is alone and lonely returning to his travels but has healed somewhat and learns to accept people into his heart again.

In the ending where Lan refuses, the party returns to the living world and parts ways. Lan and Kova reluctantly separate since Kova wishes to keep traveling and seeing the world but Lan is exhausted by everything that has happened in her life up until this point and just wants to settle down. The two visit from time to time but reminisce on their past and wonder how they could have remained close and developed their relationship (art in the video is drawn by Lan's player lil.bunny.prince on Instagram)

In both endings (and here's where you remember that importance regarding Asher's trial), because the story has established that it takes place in the same world as another campaign, Kova meets

Gwyn, and becomes a father figure to her and essentially adopts her. They're perfect for each other. Gwyn was cast from her clan and disowned by her family, and now she finally has a solid adult figure in her life who loves and accepts her and helps her overcome her fears of rejection and accidentally hurting the people she cares about. Kova has lost so much and with Gwyn he is able to raise her like he would have helped raise Iris and learns to overcome his survivors guilt and both of their scars and trauma heal together I love them so much.

Kova does outlive Gwyn by a couple hundred years (damn dnd lifespans) and whichever direction his life goes his endings are always bittersweet but he is able to heal despite always feeling a little sad and when he gets older he settles in a nice town and owns a library. And obviously his canon storyline isn't sad enough so I have aus for that (villain au my beloved). ❤