#so i'm gonna try and make sorting posts for the arrow characters

[leoruby-draws]

I did a whole bunch of drawings for Jason's team two weeks back, so now its time to concentrate on Steph's team! Here we've got 4 new characters for her team, with a couple extra tomorrow as well. Lets go into to them, one by one.

First up is the lantern for the group, more specifically a Violet Lantern apprentice aka Miri Riam! Her reasons for coming to earth is unknown at the moment but they seem to have some connection to Carol Ferris. Carol's also a Violet Lantern and Hal's(Green Lantern) on-and-off girlfriend and occasional antagonist. Perhaps Miri was sent to become Carol's apprentice? I've got more info on whats happening there, but thats for later.

As for why Miri was chosen for the group, I knew I wanted some kind of Lantern for the team, but couldn't find a green lantern that was both in Steph's age group and have fun interactions with them. But then I thought, does it have to be a green lantern? I had a red lantern for Jason's group after all. I looked around and found Miri! I don't know her exact age but I knew she was a young adult, so I'm just gonna have her be around Steph's age group.

The Violet Lanterns Corps are very ...enthusiastic about the power of love and Miri's no exception. She wants everyone to know the joy of Love, she's honestly kinda annoying about it. I remember this one GL issue where she was destroying a city just to get Kyle and Soranik to resolve their love troubles. That pretty much became the basis for how I'm writing Miri's personality. Like I said above, I'll get more into Miri at a later time.

Next is Maxine Hunkel aka Cyclone, granddaughter of Ma Hunkel aka the golden age Red Tornado! I already posted a drawing of her a while back, I thought she'd make a fun fit for the team. She's has such high energy and so much enthusiasm I couldn't help but find her utterly endearing. I think at a later point she'll end up joining the JSA but for now she's just having fun with this team.

Btw I thought that maybe her grandmother, Ma Hunkel, could fit a similar role that the other Red Tornado did for Young Justice, helping out a young hero team. Just a way to emphasize how Steph and Tim's teams can serve as foils to each other.

Next up is the archer of the group, Mia Dearden aka Speedy II. Tho she should probably have a different name due to Roy still being Speedy atm. Maybe Speedette? Ehhh, gotta workshop that.

Anyways here's Mia and Steph meeting as civilians, with Mia showing off her bow. Mia seems to be in some sort of school uniform, perhaps Oliver is sponsoring her to go to a fancy academy? Her backstory is similar to canon, with Oliver saving her from bad people. I'm not sure if her story should be exactly the same as canon, since Mia is 10 but terrible things like that do happen in real life to young children. But I don't know if a goofy au like mine is the best place to show that. But for now lets just say Mia is currently trying to heal and become a hero like Green Arrow.

I imagine Steph and Mia get along really well, they just get each other in a lot of ways. Steph can see Mia might be hurting inside and wants to cheer her up, hopefully with all of Mia's new friends she can.

Last up is Jaime Reyes aka Blue Beetle III. Unfortunately I haven't drawn him all that much so no individual drawing for him, tho I do like him.

As for why Jaime, I remember liking him in the YJ cartoon and found him pretty likeable in the comics as well. But I've always like the spiderman hero archetype anyways, which Jaime fits really well (I mean, it was done on purpose). Static and Sideways also fit the archetype and are in the team as well. Arguably you can say add Steph to this too, probably more than Tim in my personal opinion.

Another reason I wanted to add Jaime is that he and Steph almost became teammates in canon, in a failed Young Justice project. What could have been huh. Third reason is more silly tho, if Barbara and Ted Kord start to date in this au, imagine how grossed out Steph and Jaime will be lmao.

So there's four new teammates for the team, but! I've got a couple extra for tomorrow! And later on I hope to finally post some more doodles of these characters (some of them are real old, more than a year old). Especially Miri, she turned out to be such a fun character, and I've always liked the all the lantern corps. Here's a bonus doodle of them btw (with bonus unmasked Sideways):

So many new members, well, hope you liked all that!

[yeehawpim]

What's your process in making comics

And how do you make something so good with such a simple art style!? 🥺

(if this has been asked before could you send a link to the post?)

Alright so ive been sitting on this ask b/c I already know it's a long answer aflskdjf

Write dialogue/text down in my notes app Sometimes it's just me sitting there like hghghg as music plays and I stare at my phone for 10min. Usually it's 12am thinking about stuff while I'm in bed and I type some piece of dialogue down real quick. I'm nowhere near as comprehensive as comic script I've seen online that they give examples for, like there's no direction on what's happening in panels or anyth because it's just for myself and I just sort of remember composition ideas if I have them on the spot

Literally start drawing 😂 As previously said I sometimes go into comics with comp ideas already, like for this one I knew I was going to divide the page going in. Or like I know this is gonna be 4 panels and pretty static. Other stuff I fully wing it sentence to sentence because I can't bother with thumbnailing 😅 sometimes this bites me on the ass because I spend forever drawing smth I have to toss, but I've gotten better at doing stuff fast

I use photoshop, so for vertical comics I've been following this tutorial for years

Vertical comics are a lot easier to structure composition-wise for me, I started out making those because it was less intimidating

The red arrow is your eye direction as you read it. For me it's always the bottom of a page is one less boundary to worry about. You can be less precise if the reader is automatically drawn to looking down b/c they're scrolling and never sees a full page laid out. 😂 Also if I want to pace something slower/further down I don't have to worry about having to cram it in y'know?

This might be a weirdly specific thing to mention but I'm always thinking about it when I make comics because...

lol I gotta make up for being too lazy to spend more than 30 seconds drawing a character

jkjk but yeah my interests are more in slapping the story in my head on the page. I like doing compositions and writing stuff that interests me. I get tired when I spend too much time fiddling with stuff, so if I can get smth across with a rough estimation I'm happy. This does limit the type of stories that can be told cuz certain more rendered styles just work better when you're trying to convey certain things but! there's lots of things you can do drawing simply too!

there's defs more stuff out there that doesn't follow what I'm doing, lots of different styles. Eg American superhero comics are super text-heavy and boggle my mind. This is just what I like to do cuz I like reading way too much manga/webtoons lol

you don't have to be super technical to make comics! go out there and make one if you've got an idea!

if you want to of course haha

hope this explains my process a little (thank you for the compliment it means a lot 🤠🙏)

[bcbdrums]

I suffered through it so you don't have to

You can skip the Soul Eater NOT anime. Especially if you've read the Soul Eater manga. If you have read the manga, this anime will make you mad. ***Spoilers for Soul Eater NOT manga, anime, and Soul Eater manga in this post.*** I'm keeping this post vague though because frankly this anime isn't worth very many words. I may have had more positives until the last two episodes but well... No, not after those. If you want to experience NOT, then manga only. Really... I insist.

Things it did well: Overall, it followed its manga's story. Also they had the original Soul Eater voice actors for the canon characters except for Naigus.

Things that were neutral/acceptable: It re-ordered many, nay, most manga scenes, changed a few details, and added a little bit of extra stuff here and there that helped transitions and establishing settings the like, and moved the story forward faster. Nothing terribly wrong with that. None of it was necessary though, so trying to keep manga-canon and now anime-changes straight in one's head was confusing.

They briefly bring up "soul protect" which never came up in the manga, and is an important universe mechanic so it should have been mentioned.

They tried to add a few things to make some moments more emotional/relatable, and in most cases, up until the end it worked decently. But when they needed things to start to get serious and they began changing actual plot things...no, it did not help.

Things that start to go bad: Until about the last three episodes, almost every episode began with some sort of dream sequence (not in the manga; new stuff). This often involved under-aged nudity. None of these dream sequences were needed or valuable. Also, the show was full of under-aged nudity. To the point that the final episode had more under-aged nudity than it had battle against the villain.

Skipping manga scenes that were irrelevant was okay, but some scenes that would have added to the story were left out. And replaced with absolute trash. They had chances to fix some manga missteps, such as Naigus having no emotions over her partner's death, but they didn't.

Basically, almost anything that deviated from the manga in terms of actual plot was a bad decision. We did not need Meme randomly stabbing Sid with an arrow. All the creepy weird stuff with Meme and Shaula was grossly unnecessary. I could go on but... I don't want to remember all of it.

Things that are unforgiveable: The wings thing...from the Soul Eater manga. That is ALL I'm gonna say. That's too upsetting to even discuss. But if you really want me to? Ohhhh I will explain why that was the worst thing they could have possibly done. Ohkubo, if you wanted it in there so bad you should have made an accurate anime for Soul Eater. Not ruin something extremely important by throwing it in NOT in a way that literally cannot make sense with universe mechanics (so why is this even a discussion? it shouldn't be!) and completely undermines any value the thing has in Soul Eater

The final battle? Lasted all of a minute (after much unnecessary nude preamble), they moved it to the academy for no reason instead of having it at the dorm like in the manga, they eliminated Clay and Akane, and...they also eliminated a lot of the actual fighting scenes overall. And I do mean A LOT. They eliminated Lord Death's moment which was the only way to give any possible validity to the girls defeating Shaula, which even then is reaching.

Conclusion: Skip this anime. It took a cute and okay-ish manga and made it bad. It took a thin plot and made it thinner. None of the characters and their development in the first ten episodes mattered in the final two, those were so poorly done. They just used nudity to be edgy in the end and it did not work. The actually good plot points from the manga were undermined by changes and bad execution in the anime.

It's just... It's so bad. Those last two episodes. I can't fathom why they did what they did. EXCEPT... In terms of cutting out most of the battles, I think a lot of it was to avoid complicated animation scenes. Something I've noticed throughout is that, frankly, if it's not the hot girls...the animation is just bad. Stein for example, especially in episode 11, is dreadful. Anatomy went out the window there. And most weapon transformations throughout the show were done so that the weapon came from/vanished to somewhere off-screen and walked back in so they didn't have to animate the transformation actually happening.

And as for the plot changes in the last two episodes... There's no explanation. I think they had to change the plot since they chose to save money on animation. Without those animated battles, there wasn't anything else. So they had to add more stuff.

Oh yeah, and we didn't need the unnecessary boob-anchor weapon on Meme. Didn't see any of the other mind-controlled characters with a boob-anchor weapon...

And the show ends on two boob jokes. Literally, the last lines.

Skip this anime.

Time to purge it from memory with actual Soul Eater, which is brilliant (both canons).

[caparrucia]

I just finished God of War Ragnarok, and I wondered what your thoughts on it were? I loved all the little callbacks to the first one throughout the game

I hope you enjoyed it, anon!

I really enjoyed my playthrough right until I hit post game and the combat really started to piss me off. It was a bit disappointing. It's not unique to Ragnarok, I had similar issues with the combat in 2018, but the fact Ragnarok had so many moving pieces to its combat (4 weapons, if you count barehand/fists, and different amulets and two arrow sets, and artifacts, and such an emphasis on special effects in armor sets... etc.) really made the places where battles became essentially puzzles with very specific answers, and if you're not willing to meet the game in its own terms, you're gonna have a Bad Time. My bone with gear-based combat is that it reaches a point where your skill level doesn't matter. Your understanding of mechanics and combat doesn't matter. If you're not geared up appropriately, the game will not let you through, or will make the experience excruciatingly obnoxious. I found the valkyrie fights, and specifically Sigrun, to be one of the best combat experiences in a game, because it became... a conversation, of sorts. I did not feel that way, about a lot of combat encounters in Ragnarok. Some of the berserkers were incredibly infuriating because it seemed like anything I tried to respond with resulted in a loud "NO, WRONG! TRY AGAIN!" from the game, because I wasn't spec'd properly, and I mostly ended up overleveling to tank damage and get through some of the toughest fights. The fight with Gna was frankly disappointing, when compared with Sigrun, because it had a lot more about status effects and pushing towards specific needs in your gear load out to make your way through it. Which to be perfectly fair, it's a logical extension of the original gear-based combat in 2018, it's just not one I particularly enjoy.

That's about the only thing I didn't like about the game. Everything else?

Holy fuck.

The music, the visual compositions, the camera work... I've heard quite a few criticisms about rushed writing, but I think the writing of the entire game is superb. I think it's definitely much more effective than 2018's - I think the "Atreus goes mad with power" sections of 2018 are pretty maligned and often blown out of proportion, but Ragnarok definitely doesn't have a section like that. I think the writing reveals a deep understanding of the component blocks of each character and a clear, chartered plan to where they're going. I love that the twists are very well setup and you can actually call them if you're detail oriented (@darkpuck clocked The Spoiler in my streams over an accent mark!) and that the development feels like pay off. Most of the story and writing in this game is just. Aggressively to my taste. People in my streams called out that Kratos echoes a lot of my personal choices writing characters like Cor and like... yeah! Yeah! He's pure Rie-nip. It's great.

The music is absolutely gorgeous and works fantastically well with the visual design. I love the care put into every bit of everything that appears on screen. There's a lot of love and thoughtfulness put into every aspect of this world, distinct design that creates tiny dialects and languages across the different groups of people, the different cultures. I specially loved the way the team clearly knew the mythology, and every specific choice they made, that changed or contradicted the mythology, was done purposefully and with enough build up that it felt like a fucking wink. It was amazing.

I'm going to be having feelings about Kratos, Freya and Mimir wandering the realms and having adventures and figuring out shit for approximately forever. It was a GOOD game. (I just got really salty about the post game combat.)

Speaking of callbacks, the way the most important scenes in the entire game reuse dialogue from the previous one, but fundamentally changing its meaning in the process just... GodDAMN.

I seethe with envy and jealousy at the master skill on display.

[knowlessman]

bonko no honko I ran out of good jokes a long time agodemia (bnha)(if I ever had any) s3e1-3

(I forgot about the prequel minisodes but I'm already here, maybe I'll watch them later idk)

ooh this OP's got a pi-aner in it. I dig it. some of the opening bits sort of reminded me of homest - why is bakugo swole wtaf

(void teleport business slenderfrend watching all might on tv) patrick star: I hate this channel -- why IS slendervoid so fucking dapper tho

"worst character? worst-character-in-training?"

…"Vlad" has orc fangs instead of vamp fangs : \ huh

there's that "be a fuck[bleep]ng superstar" thing again. it's so jarring every time -- (going down the list of all of Class A's quirks) …like, yes, we do know all these things already, and it is recycled footage, but I'm not finding that I mind it -- I knew they weren't gonna do the same for Class B's but. I mean. idk

"you said you were gonna use the pool for endurance training, right?" already hovering finger over the right arrow key -- breaking news: anime school has girl's swimsuits that are actual clothes. granted, figures it'd only be for a joke

guy with literal jet engines in his legs: hey, who wants to do a race? -- oh come on, none of you are even touching the water -- iida you fuck 'XD I thought you were the rules guy

(flashback) the bit where deku says "you haven't put a single scratch on me yet" when all of his fingers are broken and todoroki is at full health is still fucking hilarious tbh -- (still flashbacks) "I am the younger brother of a hero you attacked" also still reminds me of that "do you have ANY IDEA how little that narrows it down" meme -- yes, yes, you're all protagonists, this is a recap episode huh

"don't hold back on me, half n half!" "okay" freezes bakugo and deku and wins easily -- (eraserhead butts in) hehehehehehehe -- ("pool's closed, go home") aw dammit, I wanted him to make them do the last race legit 'XD

…has this show been doing these Marvel-ass after-credits scenes this whole time? …well, hopefully it doesn't mean I've been missing any needed context when I didn't watch the credits all the way through

"what, Class A is taking extra classes? did you fail? did you fail?" oh shut up Ditto, I gave up liking you ages ago

who is this Charlie-Brown-side-character looking mfer, what's their deal 'XD

uh…… huh. well, the Jellicles have arrived.

who's the grumpy kid who looks like he wandered in from Bleach. …or Digimon. idfk. he their manager? is he hiding cat ears under that hat?

(wonders something, checks the dub) aw, I can't even comment on what they translated God Explosion Murder (you know, that guy who got kidnapped by the slime monster)'s catchphrase to in English because if I type it here FB will ban me : [ (also I'm too lazy to change these much before posting em to tumblr regardless of what order I do em in)

am here for action banjo I guess

kaminari that thing is literally made of dirt, it couldn't be any more obviously Ground-type wtf

…o-kay. mineta gets a new friend in superhell tier I guess

wheeeeeze 'XD what the fuck, I can't - what - why? fuckin' brat just punched mr nice guy in the balls -- guy whose sole defining trait is bullying deku: "heh, he reminds me of me"

"hey kota, can you bring those vegetables? they have a sticker on them that says Vegetables in English, but don't look at it too closely, you'll get a headache" what did the artist(s?) think we were gonna think was in that box anyway?

ugh, not hot springs, we just did this gag

deku looks pretty darn normal when his head isn't on an anatomy figure : |

yooo, class b's here too, hellyeah

(going through how everybody is trying to level up their powers) all choji and hagukure have to do is hide and seek, huh. all this support tech and all and they still haven't invented anything hagukure can, idk, wear or use that's as invisible as she is or that can become invisible?

swolecat might be okay

secret hideout? isn't that just the cave where they had tokoyami doing his crona-ragnarok training? -- (camera pans to show a hole in the cliff) is kota a cognate for kyle? also is that meme still funny? idk

literally a cenobite. who let clive barker into the writing room, this is a family show. …that occasionally says "fuck" in the background.

dancing boy is waiting for a full party

why does it not surprise me that bakugo's apparently good at cutlery. he probably says "die" in his head as he chops

("bravery test" game thingy) …yeah no I'd better not even try to understand this one, I still haven't gotten around to googling what a cavalry battle is -- "revelry in the dark" kthx sasuke allen poe or wever

'XD they passed up the opportunity to pair bakugo with deku and decided to stick him with half n half instead

is it zombies again. or midnight. -- oh, it's dancing boy making a move. hm.

no after-credits scene this time, only spoilers. maybe it's only for first and last episodes of a season, who knows.

got stuff tomorrow. …I think. stoppin here for now.

[darkwinterchild]

Laurel Lance - Gryffindor

“Dinah Laurel Lance. Always trying to save the world.”

Laurel, in many aspects, is the classic Gryffindor knight: idealistic and passionate, she made it her life’s mission to stand up against the mighty to protect the disadvantaged. She’s brave, defiant, bold to the point of recklessness, tenacious and determined, unwilling to give up an inch in battle (a stubbornness that has a tendency to get her in trouble).

“If we can't win a class action suit against a man who swindled hundreds of people out of their homes and life savings, then we're not fit to call ourselves a legal aid office.” - Laurel’s first line in the show.

“You and me against an army? I like these odds.” - Laurel’s second line in the show.

More under the cut!

Laurel also has a certain thirst for adventure (for danger) that explains her strong fascination with the Hood (who’d appeal to both this side of her and her idealism). “We both know that she has a pretty strong track record of being attracted to guys who are dangerous, who break the rules.” - Tommy in 1x13.

Even though she’s an intelligent woman, Ravenclaw is perhaps the house that is less her, because ultimately her intelligence is just a tool that she uses to accomplish her very Gryffindor goals of protecting the innocents and bringing those who abuse their power to justice (in the same way she’ll later use her fighting skills).

Slytherin: while she can keep secrets from others if she feels she needs to (particularly in order to serve her Gryffindoriness), in general she’s more honest than dishonest. Enough so that when she does lie it stands out as out of character to people who know her (“She’s lying to you? That doesn’t sound like Laurel.” - Oliver, 1x13). Her secret-keeping usually comes about when she wants to hide something potentially dangerous she’s doing from the people who’d try to hold her back (like meeting with the Hood), not to manipulate others. She’s actually pretty susceptible to manipulation herself: for example, Moira (an actual true Slytherin) found it easy to use her feelings for Oliver along with her idealism and inability to turn her back on people to make her agree to represent him in court, against her better judgement (1x05). Unlike Slytherins, she also usually doesn’t do subtlety when she confronts an enemy, whether it is as a lawyer or a masked hero: she’s direct and bold, sometimes even if it is a stupid thing to do, because she can’t hold back her Gryff impulses. She doesn’t lack ambition, but ended up working for a free clinic in the Glades because ultimately what she wants isn’t money or power, it’s fighting the big fight for those who can’t (“The experience of helping others is its own reward.” - 1x13). If anything, I think she’d be more interested in glory (whether by publicly taking down the criminal elite of the city as a lawyer or by becoming an icon as the Black Canary), and that’s just another thing that makes her a Gryffindor.

After Gryffindor, Hufflepuff is the house that fits her the best: Laurel is loyal, a true hardworker for whom justice and equality matter a lot. She’s also forgiving and has shown several times she’s willing to offer her support even to people who hurt her (after her initial lashing out, she proposed to be there for Oliver if he needed her on their second meeting, she accepted her mother back after she abandoned and betrayed her, etc.). She’s been shown to be a very dependable person in general (she took care of her father after the Gambit went down and helped him through his alcoholism, she took Thea under her wing when she needed her, she stood by Tommy after his father cut him off, she was there for Joanna when she lost her brother, etc.). These are all Hufflepuff qualities (they’re just drowned out by her extreme Gryffness).

[legendaryvermin]

Had an idea for a fantasy game mechanic this morning that I thought I'd share! If this is cool to you, go ahead and use it as a hack, or codify it in the rules of your game. Message me if this happens, I'd be really into seeing how this works at a table or in a bigger set of rules!

Mechanical Epithets and Sobriquets

Epithets as in like "John Heroman, the lonesome tree, hero of five forks, skull crusher" are a really fun thing from fantasy (and real life) that tell us about the deeds of characters without having to get the whole story. They paint broad strokes about a person and give us a vibe, but leave the actual details of their deeds up to the imagination.

Kinda like the best TTRPG character backstories. 👀

So a couple of assumptions to make this microhack work:

The Characters are Already Known Heroes

We aren't writing the story of their lives before the game starts

We want to discover what (at least some of) our character's abilities are during play

After you've got the basics of your character sorted out, take a minute to come up with (or pick from a pregenerated list) a handful of sobriquets that feel right for your character. I'd say somewhere in the area of 2-4 feels right, with more established adventurers having more epithets.

They should all be vague and evocative, and paint right up to the edges of what you have already established about the world. Name drop battles and gods that haven't been established, give your character stories that are part of their legend but that don't yet make sense to you.

And then, during play, have characters use them. Player characters, NPC's, gods, bosses, random goblins. Make your epithets into threats "You dare defy the The Evening Rook!?" or appeals to your authority "Do it not for a stranger, but in the name of the Leyfinder". Establish how people feel about those epithets, which ones they love you for, and which they fear or hate you for. Know what your character feels about each of these epithets, and start to know in your heart how they got them.

Then, when it's mechanically and or narratively appropriate, declare to the table that you're using your epithet to gain a new ability. Tell the story of how you earned the title to the rest of the table (you should already know how people feel about the title, which ought to make this easier), and write a new ability based on how you earned the title.

Don't worry too much about being good at ability writing, just tell the table what you want to be able to do, and people will help you come up with something that feels right. And if you find that your ability or someone else's isn't working down the line, is taking some of the fun out of the game, or anything like that, just have a conversation about it. You're (probably) an adult, and if the people you are playing with are friends, or at bare minimum decent people, they will understand and try to help fix the problem.

After the readmore I'm gonna write like 20 of these so that the post comes with a picklist/roll table to get you started. Happy adventuring ttrpg nerds!

Oakenheart

Venomistress

Unburnt

Night Thunder

The Seamstress' Eye

Wicked Arrow

Goldentongue

Velvet Hammer

Unshaken

Gxlrick's Bane

Wolf Eared

Sorrowfont

Crystal Keeper

Lowport's Vengeance

Mother of Asps

Godslayer

Nimblehand

Chosen of Seriha

The Clipped Wing

Doomspeaker

I'd love to see any epithets/titles/sobriquets that people come up with for this, maybe in the comments? Have fun!!!

[thequiver]

How do you feel in relation to Sin? I think I've seen your posts about Dinah not wanting to be a mother and I'd like to hear your thoughts on her and Dinah's relationship, her background is a little messed up I'll admit but I actually like her character. Could you also give me a better explanation on the Dinah not wanting to be a mother topic please? Is that bcs of her mother or bcs of Ollie?

okay so this is a bit of an involved ask so I'm gonna try to separate it into parts.

A. My views on Sin B. Dinah and motherhood

A

Being completely honest here I never really got into Sin. It's a combination of how awful her background is and that she's from what is honestly one of the worst comics I've ever read, I just never got attached to her. Her introduction felt like such a backwards step in Dinah's character to me and like this sort of continued push for Dinah to be a mother which is not just a role she doesn't want but one she isn't suited for. I don't have anything against Sin, I do however want to get free reign to deck Gail Simone. Perhaps if she'd been created by anyone other than Gail Simone I might have gotten attached as she's the kind of character I can see myself liking and she's a character that I want to like, but I do have standards when it comes to writing and narratives and everything about Sin's story did not meet those standards.

B

Yeah so some context surrounding Dinah's statements around the idea of having children is needed because as I've found from my inbox the last few days, there are an astonishing number of people who have no idea what Dinah was like before BoP and I need to fix that ASAP (I can fix y'all /srs). So despite Grell's Dinah coming after DC got rid of her Earth-2 origins (meta for why that's the best Dinah backstory in the works as of 11. Jan. 2023) the characterization he uses is still that of the Dinah who was an immigrant from Earth-2. This means that this Dinah's characterization was that of a widow who started seeing Ollie shortly after she left Earth-2 following the death of her husband, and this is actually a pretty important element of her story to keep in mind when talking about her statements around children.

NOW- this being said, when we look at what Dinah says about having kids, she doesn't actually make it about Ollie, in fact she even says that she'd love to have kids with him (also just a little odd to assume that a woman not wanting to have kids is just bc of her partner but uh go off ig?). What she says is that she won't raise orphans. And it's there that her being a widow comes into play, because her husband had died during a battle as part of the JSA and she's well aware of the danger being a hero places her loved ones in. Add onto this that this conversation is happening after Longbow Hunters and her own capture and torture and the picture becomes clearer.

Dinah's issue with having children is not about Ollie or even on any level that she might be aware of at this point about her mother. It's about her own understanding of the danger she and Ollie are in on a daily basis as a result of their choice to pursue heroics, and fundamentally what it boils down to is her prioritization of pursuing heroics over the idea of having children. It's the kind of thought process we see Ollie have in Green Arrow (1988) too, where he says that he'd be willing to give up Green Arrow to be a father- but Dinah doesn't even entertain the thought of giving up Black Canary to be a mother. To her it's very clear, she is Black Canary so she won't be a mother.

At its core, Dinah's desire not to be a mother is about HER, not anyone else.

[void-inked-pen]

Yo, sorry for the Like spam, but I have some questions, if you've got time?

I was reading through your posts about the turtles' fighting techniques, just because they were interesting at first, but I have a 2012 AU I'm working on in which their fighting styles change drastically over time, and I learned a ton from those posts. Trouble is, I... Don't actually know much of anything about real martial arts or combat in general. I want things to be more realistic in my AU, mainly because of how each weapon ties into their character development. If you have any, like, "actually decent combat techniques for dummies" video recommendations, that'd make my life a million times easier.

More importantly than that, though, I'm interested in what you have to say about archery. The AU is called "Sniper Leo" for a reason; he swaps to a bow in the middle of season 3 after discovering (or rather, finally accepting) that his knee injury isn't just something that can be brushed aside like Splinter was raised to do, and sure, he doesn't have all the same capabilities he's used to, but he's still a badass, competent leader with a longbow instead of twin katanas. His disability has changed his life, but certainly hasn't ended it.

(Similarly, as Don takes more of a tank role, she finds another weapon that fits her new style and allows her to adapt, but I'm not sure what it is yet; meanwhile, Casey gets a tomahawk, bc (1) he's Seneca and it ties him back to his roots before New York was New York - I'm native, this is important to me, y'know? And (2) that hockey stick is cool and all, but it's not great for fighting up-close and personal, so he needs to have something capable of dealing serious damage and punishing opponents who get too cocky, thinking they can just duck in past the effective range of his main spacing weapon. Plus, it's great utility-wise.)

Infodumping about traditional Iroquois weapons aside, my main three questions are:

(1) What kind of bow would best suit Leo, if he's trying to be stealthy, make use of his absurd upper-body strength from all that katana training, stay at a safe distance, and pierce enemy armor where possible? If those three things don't mesh well, what compromises would you suggest?

(2) What kind of secondary melee weapon would be good to combine with this? If someone manages to sneak up on him, he'll need a smaller, likely concealed Plan B to defend himself while his siblings are busy on the front line. I'm thinking a blade of some sort, since he has training with them and it'd lend nicely to him getting a better variant when Splinter... Y'know. There might be more fitting options, though, and any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated!

(3) What sort of hurdles would someone go through when switching from melee weapons like katana to a long-range one like a bow? Like, any base technique concepts that he might have to unlearn. I'm guessing there'd be a lot to do with positioning and stance, but again, I'm just kinda assuming right now.

This is a long-ass ask, and if you read all the way to the end, thank you. Even if no answer pans out, I appreciate you taking the time to listen. Keep being badass ✌️

your not spamming dont worry! i'm happy to help with this (I actually get these kinds of asks all the time on discord so this isnt anything new lol)

One of the biggest difficulties that your gonna face when switching weapons is the different requirements that each weapon needs. Bows, believe it or not, actually need more upper body strength than most melee weapons because of the tension in the bow itself and pulling the arrow back. Patience as well as accuracy long range is gonna be his main issues i thing both narrative speaking and training with a new weapon. Imagine being in a leader role for so long, running into the fray yourself, and then suddenly switching to being long range where the goal is to stay as far away as possible from your target but still in range to hit?

in terms of what kind of bow? i would suggest he get a more current era bow. old style bows like the traditional long bow in japan require a huge bow that doesnt really allow for much movement but are VERY GOOD at shooting long range. Japanese long bows were able to pierce through samurai armor and same for Europe long bows (which had to pierce through chainmail and steal.) so putting current era bows with a strong arrow head which gives the bow its flexibility, range, stealth, and piercing ability (plus maybe a little donnie tech on the side) could EASILY get through robots and armor, no problem! I would suggest you look at this video of the worlds greatest stunt bowman who helps with movies and stuff to give you an idea on what leo could still do with a bow:

for a secondary weapon, i feel like he'd still stick with tradition. which is a short katana. Japanese archers tended to have both a long bow and a short sword to defend themselves if samurai broke through the flank or came at them from behind. (they also had something guarding their back like a samurai to help with that but short katana helps too). I've seen people also have archers use the pieces of their bow as weapons in a fight as well like wrapping the string from their bow around an arm or their neck to stop opponents, stabbing with one of their arrows if they got to close and couldnt draw their sword, that sort of thing.

you don't HAVE to follow traditional martial arts to make a fight interesting, in fact the reason fights can be cool is because a character uses the weapon that has a traditional style for something new and unique! having an understanding of the basics DOES help with how a fight should go and what could be possible for a character but creativity is also important in a fight. not every fight is gonna work like a traditional "honorable" dual or tournament match.

I think leo would just have to relearn to be a stealth fighter, fighting long range, hiding in the rafters so his enemy has to find him with some interesting arrows that could cause smoke screens or explosions (both of these are actual things traditional bowman could do, especially ninja. this is not like a "oh donnie would come up with this!" kinda thing no it is very common to attach things to an arrow it just depends on how you use it creatively). it would be cool to see him become a long range expert when he used to be so close range. like he gets good at Senbon (throwing needles) which target pressure points but dont kill, or throwing knives, maybe even darts!

leo stepping back also... lowkey might be good for his mental health just saying~

(also to comment on the hatchet thing, i would LOVE TO SEE THAT HAPPEN!!! we dont see hatchet combat much anymore and its such a good and useful weapon for both long range and close range. like hatchet throwing? sick as shit. also imagine casey throwing a hatchet above an enemies head, teh enemy being like "haha you missed" and they look back to see casey running up to them, jumping to HANG ONTO THE HATCHET IN THE WALL and use it as momentum/leverage to kick harder! just an idea ;3c )

thank you for the ask!!! I appreciate talking combat like this, trust me~ feel free to ask any other questions anytime! (that includes anyone who reads this lol)

-Pen

[snarktheater]

Hey, d'you have any French book recs? I'm trying to work on my French, and rn I have downloaded one of my favourite book series' French translations, but I figured maybe books already written in French might work better? Also have you read the Ranger's Apprentice series? 1/2

RA's def flawed - the books' narration does like to point bright arrows at the protagonists' intelligence, and the last few books def have the tone of 'old white man trying to write feminism', although at least he's trying? - and it's aimed more to the younger side of YA, but it is still a very fun series, and I can ignore the flaws fairly easily, at least partly due to nostalgia? This rather long lol but I'm wordy.

I'll start with the second question: no, although every time the series is brought up I have to check the French title and go "oh, right, I've seen these books in stores". But I've never purchased or read them. It sounds like something I probably would have enjoyed as a teen but I just missed the mark, and these days I'm trying to drown myself in queer books, so that probably isn't happening.

As for your first question, geez, I haven’t read a French book in years, so this is gonna skew middle grade/YA, though that may not be so bad if the point is to learn the language. I will also say that as a result, these may read a little outdated.

I'll put it under a cut, even if Tumblr has become really bad with correctly displaying read mores. Sorry, mobile crowd.

It's also likely that old readers of the blog will have seen me talk about most of these. I don't feel like going through old posts.

One last thing: while I was curating this list I took the time to make a Goodreads shelf to keep track of those.

The Ewilan books by Pierre Bottero

(It's a testament to how long ago I read these books that these are not the covers of the edition I own, and I can't even find those on Google. I'm settling for a more recent cover anyway since it'll make it easier to find them, presumably)

There are at least three trilogies (that I know of) set in the same world.

The first trilogy is essentially an isekai (so, French girl lands in parallel fantasy world by accident) with elements of chosen one trope, though I find the execution makes it worth the while anyway.

The second trilogy is a direct sequel, so same protagonist but new threat, and the world gets expanded.

The third one is centered around a supporting characters from the previous books, and the first couple of books in it are more her backstory than a continuation, though the third one concludes both that trilogy and advances the story of the other books as well.

Notably these books have a really fun magic system where the characters "draw" things into existence. It's just stuck with me for some reason.

A bunch of stuff by Erik L'Homme

I have read a lot of this man's books, starting with Le Livre des Etoiles.

They also skew towards the young end of YA, arguably middle grade, I never bothered to figure out where to draw the line. They're coincidentally also using the premise of a parallel world to our own (and yes, connected to France again, the French are just as susceptible of writing about their homeland), but interestingly are set from the point of view of characters native to the parallel world.

It also has a very unique magic system, this one based on a mix of a runic alphabet and sort-of poetry. I'll also say specifically for these books that the characters stuck with me way more than others on this list, which is worth mentioning.

This trilogy is my favorite by Erik L'Homme, but I'll also mention Les Maîtres des brisants, which is a fantasy space opera with a pirate steampunk(?) vibe. I think it's steampunk. I could be mistaken. But it's in that vein. It's also middle grade, in my opinion not as good, but it could just be that it came out when I was older.

Another one is Phaenomen, which was a deliberate attempt at skewing older (though still YA). This one is set in our (then-)modern world and centers a group of teens who happen to have supernatural powers. I guess the best way to describe it is a superhero thriller? If you take "superhero" in the sense of "people with individualized powers", since they don't really do a lot of heroing.

...I really need to brush up on genre terminology, don't I.

The Ji series by Pierre Grimbert

This one is actually adult fantasy, though it definitely falls under "probably outdated". It is very straight, for starters, and I'd have to give it another read to give a more critical reading of how it handles race (it attempts to do it, and is well meaning, but I'm not sure it survives the test of time & scrutiny, basically).

If I haven't lost you already, the premise is this: a few generations ago, a weird man named Nol gathered emissaries from each nation of the world and took them to a trip to the titular Ji island. Nobody knows what went down here, but now in the present day, someone is trying to kill off all descendants from those emissaries, who are as a result forced to team up and figure out what's going on.

I'm not going to spoil past that, though I will say it has (surprise) a really unique magic system! I guess you can start to piece together what my younger self was interested in. Which, admittedly, I still am.

Once again, this one also has a strong cast of characters, helped by rich world building and the premise forcing the characters to come from many different cultures (though, again, I can't vouch for the handling of race because it's been too long).

The first series is complete by itself, though it has two sequel series as well, each focusing on the next generation in these families. Because yes, of course they all pair up and have kids. Like I said: very straight.

A whole lot of books by Jean-Louis Fetjaine

OFetjaine is a historian, and I guess he's really interested in Arthurian mythos especially, because he loves it so much he's written two separate high fantasy retellings of them! I'm not criticizing, mind you, we all need a hobby.

The former, the Elves trilogy (pictures above) is very traditional high fantasy. Elves, dwarves, orcs, a world which is definitely fictionalized with a pan-Celtic vibe to it. The holy grail and excalibur are around, but they're relics possessed by the elves and dwarves with very different powers than usual. Et cetera.

Fetjaine also really loves his elves (as the titles might imply), and while they're not exactly Tolkien elves, there's a similar vibe to them. If you like Tolkien and his elf boner, you'll probably like this too. And conversely, if that turns you off, these books probably also won't work for you.

This series also has a prequel trilogy, centered around the backstory of one of the main characters. I...honestly don't remember too much about it, but I liked it, so, there you go, I guess.

I said Fetjaine did it twice. The other series is the Merlin duology, which, as the title implies, is a retelling of Merlin's story. Note that Merlin is also in the other trilogy, but it's a different Merlin; like I said, completely different continuities and stories.

This one is historical fantasy, so it's set in actual Great Britain, and Fetjaine attempts to connect Arthur to a "real" historical figure...but, you know, Merlin is also half-elf and elves totally exist in Brocéliande, so, you know. History.

Okay, that's probably enough fantasy, let me give some classics too.

L'Arbre des possibles et autres histoires - Bernard Werber

Bernard Werber is a pretty seminal author of French sci-fi and I should probably be embarrassed that the only book of his that I read was for school, but, it is a really good one, so I'll include it anyway.

It's a novella collection, and when I say "sci-fi" I want to make it clear that it's very old school science fiction. It's more Frankenstein or Black Mirror than Star Trek, what we in French call the anticipation genre of science fiction: you take one piece of technology or cultural norm and project it into the future.

It has a pretty wide range of topics and tones, so it's bound to have some better than others. My personal faves were Du pain et des jeux, where football (non-American) has evolved into basically a wargame, and Tel maître, tel lion, where any animal is considered acceptable as a pet, no matter how absurd it is to keep as a pet. They're both on a comedic end, but there's more heartfelt stuff too.

L'Ecume des Jours - Boris Vian

(no cover because I can't find the one I have, and the ones I find are ugly)

This book is surrealist. Like, literally a part of the surrealist movement. It features things such as a lilypad growing inside a woman's lungs (and, as you well know, lilypads double in size every day, wink wink), the protagonist's apartment becoming larger and smaller to go with his mood and current financial situation, and more that I can't even recall at the moment because remembering this book is like trying to remember having an aneurysm.

It is also really, really fun and touching. Oh, and it has a pretty solid movie adaptation, starring Audrey Tautou, who I think an international audience would probably recognize from Amelie or the Da Vinci Code movie.

I don't really know what else to say. It's a really cool read!

Le Roi se meurt - Eugène Ionesco

Ionesco is somewhat famous worldwide so I wasn't even sure to include him here. He's a playwright who wrote in the "Theater of the Absurd" movement, and this play is part of that.

The premise of this play is that the King (of an unnamed land) is dying, and the land is dying with him. I don't really know what else to say. It's theater of the absurd. It kind of has to be experienced (the published version works fine, btw, no need to track down an actual performance, in my humble opinion).

The Plague - Albert Camus

You've probably heard of this one, and if you haven't, let me tell you about a guy called Carlos Maza

I'm honestly more including this book out of a sense of duty. The other three are books I genuinely liked and happen to be classics. This book was an awful read. But, um. It's kind of relevant now in a way it wasn't (or didn't feel, anyway) back in 2008 or 2009, when I read it. And I don't just mean because of our own plague, since Camus's plague is pretty famously an allegory for fascism, which my teenage self sneered at, and my adult self really regrets every feeling that way.

Okay, finally, some more lighthearted stuff, we gotta talk about the Belgian and French art of bande dessinée. How is it different from comic books or manga? Functionally, it isn't. It really comes down more to what gets published in the Belgian-French industry compared to the American comics industry, which is dominated by superheroes, or the Japanese manga industry, which, while I'm less familiar with it, I know has some big genre trends as well that are completely separate.

The Lanfeust series - Arleston and Tarquin

This is a YA mega-series, and I can't recommend all of it because I've lost track of the franchise's growth. Also note that I say "YA", but in this case it means something very different from an American understanding of YA. These books are pretty full of sex.

No, when I say YA I mean it has that level of maturity, for better or worse. The original series (Lanfeust de Troy) is high fantasy in a world where everyone has an individual magical ability but two characters find out they're gifted with an absolute power to make anything happen, and while it gets dark at times, it's still very lighthearted throughout, and the humor is...well, I think it's best described as teen boy humor. And it has a tendency to objectify its female characters, as you'll quickly parse out from the one cover I used here or if you browse more covers.

But still, it holds a special place in my heart, I guess. And on my shelves.

The sequel series, Lanfeust des Etoiles, turns it into a space opera, and goes a little overboard with the pop culture reference at times, though overall still maintains that balance of serious/at times dark story and lighthearted comedy.

After that the franchise is utter chaos to me, and I've lost track. I know there was another sequel series, which I dropped partway through, and a spinoff that retold part of the original series from the PoV of the main love interest (in the period of time she spent away from the main group). There was a comedy spin-off about the troll species unique to this world, a prequel series, probably more I don't even know exist.

Les Démons d'Alexia

Something I can probably be a little less ashamed of including here.

Some backstory here. The Editions Dupuis are a giant of the Belgian bande dessinée industry, and for many, many years I was subscribed to their weekly magazine. That magazine was (mostly) made up of excerpts from the various books that the éditions were publishing at the time; those that were made of comic strips would usually get a couple pages of individual scripts, while the ongoing narratives got cut into episodes that were a few pages long (out of a typical 48 page count for a single BD album). Among those were this series.

For the first few volumes, I wasn't super into this series, probably because I was a little too young and smack dab in the middle of my "trying to be one of the boys" phase. But around book 3 I got really invested, to the point where I own the second half of the series because I had canceled by subscription by then but still wanted to know more.

Alexia is an exorcist with unusual talents, but little control, who's introduced to a group that specializes in researching paranormal phenomena, solving cases that involve the paranormal, that kinda stuff.

As a result of the premise, the series has a pretty slow start since it has to build up mystery around the source of Alexia's powers, but once it gets going and we get to what is essentially the series' main conflict, it gets really interesting.

Plus, witches. I'm a simple gay who likes strong protagonists and witches.

Murena

There was a point where my mtyhology nerdery led me to look for more stuff about the historical cultures that created them, and so I'd be super into stuff set in ancient Rome (I'd say "or Greece or Egypt" but let's face it, it was almost always Rome).

Murena is a series set just before the start of Emperor Nero's rule. You know, the one who was emperor when Rome burned, and according to urban legend either caused the fire or played the fiddle while it did (note: "fiddle" is a very English saying, it's usually the lyre in other languages). He probably didn't, it probably was propaganda, but he was a) a Roman Emperor, none of whom were particularly stellar guys and b) mean to Christians, who eventually got to rewrite history. So he's got a bad rep.

The series goes for a very historical take on events, albeit fictionalized (the protagonist and main PoV, the titular Lucius Murena, is himself fictional) and attempts to humanize the people involved in those events. Each book also includes some of the sources used to justify how events and characters are depicted, which is a nice touch.

It's also divided in subseries called "cycles" (books 1-4, 5-8 and the ongoing one starts at 9). I stopped after 9, though I think it's mostly a case of not going to bookstores often anymore. Plus it took four years between 9 and 10, and again between 10 and 11. But the first eight books made for a pretty solid story that honestly felt somewhat concluded as is, so it's a good place to start.

[veliseraptor]

Love your writing and I can tell you've thought a lot about Xue Yang, so I'm going to ask you what your thoughts are on his age in the CQL version? I made a costume post jokingly talking about how he's hot in the Chang massacre scenes and got to thinking and am now worried he was still a minor at that point. I headcanon everyone in CQL as like 18 to start w and was shocked to find out WWX n co were like 15/16 in the novel. From what I could find online, XY's age is up in the air. He refers to himself as a "fully grown man" in that scene. I'm gonna tweak the post probably anyway but I'm curious about your thoughts on his age in CQL specifically. (Also I wonder if you have any thoughts on JGY's age, as he'd have to be at least 18 to ship him w LXC or NMJ without being weird about it. He shares a bday w Peacock. I can't imagine Yanli, who is years older than WWX/JC in CQL, being in love w a 15 yr old at like 19. At least hopefully not.) I hope this all isn't creepy! The age thing has just been bugging me.

oh l o r d. I have thought a lot about Xue Yang but I try to think as little as possible about CQL’s timeline because frankly they seem to have kind of gone “the passage of time? what’s that, don’t know her” and thrown any sense of coherence of time passing and what happens when and how long there is between any given scene more or less out the window. 

I mean, just right off the bat we see the show open with “sixteen years ago” for Wei Wuxian’s death, but then for the flashback (at least the translation says) “sixteen years ago” also, which would mean that all the events of the flashback episodes happen over the course of a year, which considering there is I’m pretty sure a canonical year gap and definitely at least a three month gap, and a nine month gap for Jiang Yanli to be pregnant in...is kind of mathematically impossible. 

and it just kind of gets more bonkers from there!!!

as a rule, therefore, I just kind of tend to fling my hands up in the air about ages in CQL and go “WHATEVER! THEY’RE [MUTTERS VAGUE NUMBER] AND I’M GOING FORWARD FROM THERE” because...yeah, I mean, it’s just. bizarre and kind of unintelligible. 

I put Jin Guangyao as close to Nie Mingjue/Lan Xichen’s age but a smidge younger, I put Jiang Yanli as about three years older than the Gusu Lan trio, and don’t get too fussed about the age gaps w/r/t pairings because nobody’s getting into relationships until they’re older anyway. 

and there’s a big power imbalance between Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue, for instance, in their early relationship, that has nothing to do with age and everything to do with station and I think if we’re talking about “healthy” relationships (we’re not, that relationship isn’t healthy, it is a mess) then I’d put that as probably the bigger problem.

but also I maybe am not the best person to ask about any of this because besides the fact that I look at the CQL timeline and give up except on relative terms I also tend to be sort of “eh” about the whole “if you ship a character who is under 18 with a character who is over 18 it is pedophilia” because...yeah, there’s just. there’s not a magical line that makes you an adult the day you turn 19, actually, and power dynamics are not all about age, and consent is not all about age, and anyway I’m going to quit while I’m not too far behind.

anyway, all that being said, I do figure that Xue Yang is probably close in age to the main trio in that scene, maybe even a smidge younger (you will meet a lot of teenagers who will claim to be grown up, and also idk what that translation is so I can’t speak to its accuracy) but also I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with going ‘Xue Yang hot’ in that scene because to be frank his actor is...not a minor, and is hot. it’s just kind of how it is.

(I mean, Xiao Zhan is hot in the Cloud Recesses scenes, and he’s supposed to be like 15 there, and I’m not going to pretend he does not look mighty fine in the scene where he’s firing that arrow and does a thing with his tongue. I am a human woman looking at a very nice looking young man who is very definitely not a teenager.)

that’s my two cents anyway, I have no idea how helpful this is, but thank you for asking!

[saebrfan]

Stephen Amell on a Divided 'Arrow' & What Has Him 'Pumped' for Oliver's Prison Stint

Arrow is back for its seventh season and things are clearly not vigilante-business as usual in Star City. Mainly because orange is the new green for Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who has be remanded to Slabside Maximum Security Prison for his Green Arrow antics and the rest of the team has been forced to curtail their own heroics in order to avoid further prosecution.

Obviously, something will have to bring the gang back into action, but it won't be Oliver. According to series star Stephen Amell, the hero who has given The CW an entire universe to play around in, has his hands full behind bars and won't be free to fight crime for a while.

Here, Amell explains what's got him so excited about the season's changes and how new blood behind the scenes has sharpened Arrow's edge.

Ok, you are a few episodes into the season, how's it going?

Stephen Amell: Everything's going great. Everything's going great, it's been a very strange, a very unique start to the season for me.

When I spoke with [showrunner] Beth Schwartz this summer at Comic-Con, she pretty much said that Oliver is not getting out of jail quickly.

Yeah, and so no, he doesn't. It's not like a season of 24 where Jack Bauer is put in prison by the Chinese government but then you realize that they're not gonna keep him in China for like nine episodes. [Laughs] He's gonna show up like 20 minutes into the show! So we've really isolated Oliver in prison and it's been a very interesting dynamic because I haven't been interacting with a ton of the cast.

Does it feel like you're on a different show right now?

It totally feels like I'm on a different show. We've seen in the preview that Oliver interacts with both Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) in the premiere, but then I go a stretch of episodes [alone]. In fact it was just last week, I worked with one of the regulars and that was the first time in months. It's been really strange, although there are people in prison that Oliver interacts with where there's some familiarity that we haven't yet seen in the previews.

Does being separated from the cast mess with your head at all?

It's strange. I always worry so much about quality control on the show, just in terms of continuity and making sure that stuff's true to character, so when I'm not around, I have a tough time loosening my grip. But at the same time, one of the things that we're doing a little bit differently this year is, we've had either a producer or writer on set for every episode and that has really empowered them to make a lot of unilateral decisions because that is their episode. And that's been very helpful because I spend a lot of time talking with them and it gives me a lot of confidence that when I'm not there, there's not any sort of dip in quality. Not that I'm the one who's solely capable of keeping up the quality of the show. Far from it! It's just it allows me to relax a little bit because I've had several episodes where, because I'm in prison, we'd block my stuff at the top of the episode. I'm on a stage, because it's prison, and then I've been off for like 10 days

So you're running to Palm Springs every break you get?

[Laughs] We've gone to Hawaii and spent a week in L.A.... I'm mentally preparing for the start of the sort of crossover season and also kind of our prison-centric episode.

OK, you have to be careful how you say this because spoilers and all, so let's just talk about when we come back. Oliver's in jail...

Yeah, we've been five months in prison.

And from everything you've posted on Instagram, it has not been a walk in the park for Oliver.

Well, he's been laying low. And also the name of our season finale was "Life Sentence," so he isn't focusing on getting out on good behavior, but he's passively avoiding conflict and trying to stay out of everybody's way. One of the things I talk with the writers a lot about is that Oliver can break out of prison any time he wants. We've broken into prison, we've broken out of prison, I can't count how many times during the show. [Laughs] So there has to be a reason that he's staying in there and right now, it's the fact that he's done this to keep his friends from being arrested, has the FBI and A.R.G.U.S. looking for Diaz (Kirk Acevedo), and Felicity and William are theoretically safe. But the moment that all three of those things go away, then there's no reason for him to be in there anymore, that wouldn't make sense for the character.

OK, and where is the team at this point?

Felicity is in witness protection. Oliver doesn't know where and Diggle's at A.R.G.U.S. and the rest of the team, they are still in Star City, just not putting hoods and masks on.

So the whole band has broken up.

The whole band is broken up, yeah.

I am assuming that this is gonna have to be, in some way, resolved before the crossover.

[Laughs] That would be a safe assumption, I think. But the one thing that I can tell you is there aren't any breakouts of prison planned, so assuming that Oliver does eventually get out, I'm very, very excited to see how he gets back into society because, again, he's out as the Green Arrow now. People know, everyone knows it. So what does that mean, how is that gonna affect him?

And before all of that, you have all your own story inside of Slabside?

I'm very pumped, I'm very pumped with the work that we've done. I've got a lot of really nice notes from staff that the show feels different, that it looks a lot different. I don't know, there's just something about what we're doing this year. And you could put your thinking cap on and come up with a hundred different ways that the first episode might end and you would never guess it.

Really? Nice.

It's fantastic. I was so pumped when I read it. I think that there's been a lot of new blood in the writer's room and, not to say that things were stale, but it's important to have that happen and I think that a lot of bold moves are being made and a lot of things are being put in the scripts that can never be undone. That's something that I feel like we did a little bit more in our earlier days and then we maybe went a little bit of the safer route in some instances and I've always said if you have a good idea, let's not save it. Another season is promised to nobody. So if you've got a good idea, let's do it.

It's almost like you had to be the safe and responsible show while you were launching all the spinoffs. Now can go back to being risky.

We have no responsibility now! We can just to go and do our own thing and it's been a lot of fun. The only thing is, we've got a lot of new team members on the set and a lot of new cast members that I just haven't had the chance to interact with yet and so it's been very strange and I always like to try and make people feel at home and feel comfortable and see if they need anything. So to have people who are now a part of the family that I've just never seen is strange.

You have so much investment in the show, have you finally decided direct an episode? It's time.

That's a great question. I do have a lot of interest in directing, but I actively do not want to direct Arrow. To that, the answer's no. I really hesitate to say never, but I'm pretty sure never.

Arrow, Season 7 Premiere, Monday, October 15, 8/7c, The CW

[desolateslove]

Just Some Thoughts

So, I haven't made a Tumblr post in almost 10 years or so because of hate I got from a certain fandom (CW's Arrowverse) and from certain shippers (Lauriver vs Olicity *eyeroll*) so this is gonna be mostly off the top of my head. I'm going to try to avoid using any ship names (except Arrow screw that show) in this post to try to avoid any unnecessary drama. I also want you all to know this is my opinion, and just like assholes, everybody's got one, so let's be cool about this, ok? ok.

So.... Ironwood. (I know coming out with the hard hitters but that's how it goes sometimes) I know a lot of people have a lot of problems with this character, but I honestly don't really have a problem with him or his development. (Sure, I've got nitpicks I could put in here but that seems to me like such a spoiled child thing to do and I was never a spoiled child) James' paranoia. This is something I always saw coming from the first time we see his ships coming to Vale, because nobody brings that much backup if they aren't being paranoid about what's going on, and the fact that he was right in the end does not make him not paranoid, but that's not what caught my attention on my last rewatch in regard to paranoia. It was the scene where James, Qrow, and Glynda are killing Grimm in the city and (I believe) James says the area is clear and they need to set up a safe zone for the civilians (early evidence of James having the people's safety at heart) and then the part where Qrow brings out his scythe and James, instead of assuming that there is a Grimm behind him, he automatically assumes that Qrow blames him for what's going on, even tho they have been.... really good friends.... for at least a couple decades if I had to guess. Jumping to Atlas Arc, James could have made some better choices, sure, but all in all, he did the best he could with what he had to work with. Also also, just because he had a downward spiral in the end because of the pressure he put himself under, that doesn't make him a bad character, at least to me.

On the other side of that coin, RWBY+.... one thing I have heard so much about is how the kids screwed up James' plan and that they didn't trust him when they should have. I'm not going to argue those points, because from an objective standpoint, yes, they should have trusted James, but let's also not forget that that is neither RWBY+ fault, nor is it James' fault.

It's Leo's fault.

Let's go back to volume 4. RNJR are going to Haven to get Qrow looked at, who has been telling the kids that once they get to Haven, they will be safe.

That's the problem right there. Haven was supposed to be safe. Instead of being a safe place, Leo turns Haven into a death trap, not only for the main characters but also for the unknown number of Huntsmen and Huntresses that Leo led to their deaths. I don't know about all of you, but if I was betrayed in such a way that could have taken my life, I wouldn't be in a hurry to trust again after that, I don't care who you are.

Let's jump back to Atlas. The first look they get of Atlas is a Kingdom that is ready for an attack. They have the ships around the city and all that, right? right. So, with the impression of not trusting any of the other Kingdoms after Beacon, how are the kids supposed to feel at home when the current state of things automatically puts them on the defensive? You could say that they should have trusted James after he gave back The Relic of Knowledge, and, from an objective standpoint, you would be right, they should have trusted him. But, and more importantly, from a subjective standpoint, why would they???

They do not know James, just like they didn't know Leo. James told them that they could trust him, just like Leo told them they could trust him. James said he wanted to help them, and he gave them a place to stay, just like Leo (sort of lol) but do you see where I'm going with this? It's not James fault that the kids didn't trust him, he made every effort to gain their trust. It's not RWBY+ fault they didn't trust Ironwood either. It's not easy to trust anyone, no matter who they are, if you've been betrayed and lied to before. I know this from personal experience; once trust is broken, with anyone, especially someone who's supposed to keep you safe, it can be really hard to trust anyone at all, even someone who gives you every reason to trust them.

Qrow....nope.... not today....

I don't expect this post to change anyone's mind (I'm not that naive) but these are just some thoughts on the show that I wanted to put out there since I have a spiffy new gaming laptop (that I've already spilled soda on lol) and I think I've gotten past the traumatic days of my youth enough to be able to put my personal opinion on here and not have to worry about being triggered by hate and death threats (I vividly remember them from my time in the CW Arrow fandom. Screw that fandom and that show and all the spin offs too. Seriously, RWBY isn't bad at all comparatively)

[meowsaidmayaanime]

What I'm Watching June 2016

Here I will post the anime's that I am currently watching or re-watching, of course this does not include simulcasts as they are in a separate category all together. No, this is a list of the (some partially completed) anime that I binge watch. This post is constantly updated, as I tend to go through a single anime in its entirety within a couple of days, so keep your eye out!

6/25 Blood Blockade Battlefront

Let me get this down now. This anime is visually beautiful, sooooooo much time went into the art and details. Its movie quality beautiful, which is very unusual in a series. So onto the series itself it's about a boy who began living in a post apocalyptic New York after the gates between the human world and the 'monster' world opened. The characters are great, the premise was great, the episodes were great, everything was going wonderfully. Until the anime took an arrow to the knee... Metaphorically of course. So much was left unresolved, and in the last few episodes an obstacle was haphazardly thrown at us. I didn't check the episode count before watching the anime so I was shocked when I found out that there were only 13 (well 12 really) episodes. I get the impression that the studio was initially expecting to do a full 24 ep season considering the pacing of the anime up until episode 10. Evidently this is where the anime diverges quite a bit from the manga itself (my guess is that its unfinished. SOOOOO many anime are left in disappointment because the anime company decides to start a series before the manga has a chance to complete itself leaving the anime with a weird and out of place ending. sigh)

It really is a huge shame that Blood Blockade Battlefront ended the way it did. And its a shame that this recent trend of only creating 'half seasons' has once again resulted in a poor ending. I really liked this anime too, like I said earlier it was amazing. Seriously here's a quote from Toshi Nakamura who wrote a review of the anime itself.

"All in all, Blood Blockade Battlefront was a beautiful jewelry box filled with glittering stones that are individually beautiful, but when you put them on a string to make a necklace, on a whole, they lose a lot of their shine. Plus it feels like some of the most precious gems were left in the box."

My thoughts exactly. Those loose gems left in the box being the other 12 episodes this anime deserved in order to make one complete 24 ep season. I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Its so hard trying to recommend an anime when the end is a let down. I want people to see it because the first 9 episodes are fabulous, but I don't want to subject an unsatisfactory anime to anyone. Its not like the ending was bad, for how last minute it was, it was pretty well done, and it did make sense. It just wasn't the ending this anime deserved. If your willing to take this on I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the paranormal genre. Maybe it would just be best to read the manga. Its definitely on my list to read.

6/21 Sankarea Undying Love re-watch

Last time I watched this anime it was in high school after a friend recommended it to me. So I figured why not watch it again? Its a short 12 episode zombie love story. Haha, yup a zombie slice of life love story. In the world of American media, its a really unusual combination of genres, but in anime its no real surprise. I suppose the only real surprise about the anime is the fact that its relatively good, and not at all a harem like High School of the Dead. Its very cute and I think well done. The main female characters father is a total creep and wack-job but that is one of the reasons why he is the main antagonist. For being a zombie anime, its very laid back and you'll find out why as you watch it. Sankarea is an anime that I would recommend to people if I was aware of what kind of anime they liked. If you like the zombie scene but want to watch something not totally gruesome and hyped up, or if you like unusual/ supernatural/ paranormal/ ect. romances I think this is worth a shot.

6/17 Barakamon

WOW, this was really good. I initially started watching this because Funimation's YouTube channel posts trailers and promo videos for its anime. I watched the promo trailer for the English dub, recognized a lot of the voice actors in it and decided to give it a try. I'm gonna say this now, it's probably the best slice of life anime I have seen. and I mean full on slice of life, no paranormal or fantasy or anything else, it's pure slice of life. Its well written, the episodes flow, and its got a great story and great characters. The premise is that a young 20-something artist calligrapher Seishu punches a man who criticized his work as being unimaginative. As a result Seishu's father sends him to live on a rural island to 'cool his head'. The anime then follows the life of Seishu as he makes unexpected friendships and discovers who he is as an artist.

I just loved this anime, If you like slice of life, yes DEFINITELY watch this. Same if you like watching characters grow and their struggle to discover themselves, or if you like comedy, or if you like realism, or if you want a well made anime to calm down with after watching an emotionally draining one. Even if your not into the genre I recommend you give the first episode a try at least. I was immensely impressed with it.

Oh, and the full series won't be released in English until August 9, 2016, but Funimation is releasing the first two episodes in English on June 28th. I know I will definitely be re-watching this when the full English dub release comes out!!

6/16 Charlotte (re-watch)

I LOVED this anime when it came out last year. I remember getting to the last few episodes and going to the public library to finish watching it because the power went out in my house. I just finished re-watching it with one of my friends who had never seen it before. Haha, she was mad at me cause she got so invested in it. It is a doozy. But anyway, it follows high school boy Yuu Otosaka who recently became aware of a supernatural ability of his to be able to control a persons body for 5 seconds at a time. After abusing this power to cheat his way into a good high school, a girl named Tomoe catches him and makes him transfer to a school for people with other abilities. It goes on from there showing their lives, introducing characters and fortifying relationships until the REAL plot reveals itself~

If you like supernatural anime this is a really one, full story in only 13 episodes. It also touches up on quite a few 'heavy' topics, which it actually handles really well. I do recommend this to anyone actually, it was my third favourite 2015 anime of the one I watched that year.

(Bonus: I don't know who wrote this or how far into the anime hey were in, but I agree.)

6/14 50% Off (re-watch)

Oh man, I love this show. I just watched their two A-kon panels from a few weeks ago, and it's great. Just watch this show, make sure you watch it. Here's a link to my post on my favourite parody/abridge series where I talk about this show more. You don't have to know the original anime to enjoy it (I didn't watch Free until recently), so get on YouTube type it in and get going!

6/13 Princess Jellyfish (re-watch)

Alright, So now you guys are up to speed on the anime I watched during my vacation, I just started re-watching Princess Jellyfish. Oh man, I completely forgot about this little gem. I first watched it my freshman year of college (two years ago), and LOVED it. It's basically about a household of otaku young women, and one in particular who is in love with jellyfish, who make friends with their arch enemy, a stylish person! Haha, it is hilarious and a great commentary on stereotypes/social norms in Japanese culture (and really many other first world cultures for that matter.) I am having so much fun re-watching this series, it is slice of life so there is not much of an overarching plot so much as it is just following the exploits of the group after becoming friends with said stylish person I mentioned earlier. Each episode flows naturally into the next creating a constant story with each episode having to do with the next. So despite it being a slice of life, there are no filler episodes that forgotten or have nothing to do with anything. it also consistently references pop-culture and media not just from Japan, but from America too. Really, I can't express how great it is. Watch it, you won't regret it.

6/9 & 6/12

HEY! Sorry for the inactivity, I was on vacation out of state. While I was not able to do anything on this site for the past week, I was able to watch a few anime! AND hey are new ones!

So during my summer vay-cay (haha, thats such a terrible word) I watched:

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia

and Amnesia

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia was good. It's about a high school boy who makes a friend out of a ghost, Yuuko, who doesn't remember anything from when she was alive. In terms of content, while they do try to figure out how she died and who she is, a good portion is about tellig the story of the two main characters. Doing high school activities, developing relationships, ect. While the anime does frequently talk about the mystery and paranormal throughout these episodes, its not until the end of the series that the mystery of Yuuko ACTUALLY begins being solved, and they find out REAL information of her past. In hindsight, her past and the climax of the series is thrust upon you towards the end. It would have been better in my opinion if the events and info were more evenly dispersed throughout each episode from the beginning. I still really liked this anime, though I'm not sure as to how good it is. If your into the sort of subdued paranormal scene, then you may want to give this a shot. Its short, its sweet, I really liked learning about Yuuko's past when it finally got around to it, and I personally really liked it. But again, if you like the paranormal, you may like this. If your not into paranormal stuff, then I wouldn't recommend it.

Now Amnesia was a whole different box of pillows. By that I mean body pillows, and by that I mean I am sure that there area tons available. Why? Because this short anime was adapted from a dating sim called Amnesia: Memories. I wish I had known that before I started watching it, but no matter. In terms of dating sim adaptations, it's pretty good. In terms of an anime, not so much. The premise for both the anime and the game is that you are a girl who just woke up and knows absolutely nothing about herself, where she is, or who anyone else is. She has, you guessed it, amnesia. Amnesia caused by a fairy 'bumping' into her? which doesn't make too much sense. (but hey at least it wasn't because she performed horrific acts of manslaughter, created a patchwork monster, and played a huge part in nearly destroying humanity all so Alexander could become godlike, am I right?) Anyway, she wakes up and begins jumping alternate worlds in which she is dating different guys, thus the dating sim part comes in. In therms of the anime itself, the plot is a little wobbly waiting until the last 2 or 3 episodes to actually explain her true past and give a substantial story line. Because in the game, the female character and her name/personality is you, the anime version of her is left 'blank' for self insertion. Making a poor main character being pushed to and fro. But I will tell you this the music was REALLY good, the opening, closing and background music were absolutely fantastic. SO, if you have played this game and enjoyed it then I would definitely recommend it. If you have not, and have absolutely no interest in self-insertion romance, then its not worth the watch for the plot. Although I did like it myself. It's a good addition to my, quote-unquote, "trash anime" (watch out for a post in the maybe near future). Basically a list of guilty pleasure anime which are terrible when it comes to plot and characters, but I just can't resist. Its like reading trashy romance novels, but better and worse at the same time.

6/5 Red Data Girl (re-watch)

Another re-watch, maybe June will be a month of oldies~ (at least for me). RDG is an adorable anime, its a short 12 ep, one season series based off the Japanese novels of the same title. 6 novels (no official translation, but this person on tumblr has been translating them in their spare time), 4 manga novel adaptations, and one anime as mentioned. I'm not familiar with the novels or manga, but I do know that the anime covers most but not all of the novels. One person said it covers the first 5 novels but that's it. Anyway, the anime is super cute, and I really like the premise. My only issue is that the end felt like the completion of a smaller story arch within a larger one. Leaving no REAL ending, you can't even argue that the end is open to interpretation because they didn't leave you wondering what happened, they leave you without ever continuing the main story arch. Without explaining the endless questions that rose with the intention of it being resolved later. Hopefully the manga will give me some solace but with 4 books, i'm not sure if it will... I really like it, and I really wish it would continue.

oh btw, as of right now it's available on netflix, the English voice acting is ok, its not bad, but its also not great. The voice actors are able to but the right voice out, but not give the voice the emotion that the words give. I greatly prefer the Japanese voice acting, but I'm able to live with the English if I'm multi-tasking. (random note: the ending theme is super pretty. Actually, a lot about this anime is pretty)

6/2 Blue Exorcist Movie TOP PICK FOR THIS MONTH (new)

The movie has nothing to do with the plot of the anime at all, and takes place after the events in the series. Atleast I'm fairly certain it does? There's an important (and spoiler-y) thing that happens at the end of the series, that is never addressed or acknowledged in the movie which I think is really weird..... Either way, the movie itself is simply a completely stand alone story from the series. And it was absolutely stunning! Sooooo much detail went into all of the backgrounds and items. On top of that its very well scripted, and the plot flowed incredibly well together without being convoluted, which is surprising since a number of movie sequels to tv series's tend to go overboard by stuffing too much information into an hour and a half.

It was amazing. Its possible that someone could watch the movie without watching the single season anime, just because of how it was written. However you would not know the relationships or the back story of the main character, which helps to explain a lot of the terminology and setting. Especially the part about demons ect ect.

Either way, I LOVED this movie. I didn't even know that there was a movie at all until just now. I'm going to re-watch it with a friend when she gets back into town and I am soooooo excited because I KNOW she will love it too. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. I RECOMMEND THIS SO HARD.

6/1 Blue Exorcist (re-watch)

Well I can't sleep, so what better opportunity than this to re-watch Ao no Exorcist in the English dub~ Ah, I love this anime. Its funny, has great main characters, a good story and writing, and I seem to have a week spot for exorcist anime's, haha. Man, I remember watching this when it first came out in high school, I have a distinct memory of watching one of the later episodes before going to one of my friends concerts. There was a movie made about a year later, AAAAAND a series of specials. Oh, man the movie was so amazing. It has nothing to do with the plot of the anime at all, in fact the anime wrapped up everything rather nicely. The Movie itself is simply another story in cinematic format. It was absolutely beautiful, well made, well scripted, and the plot flowed incredibly well together without being convoluted. Would 100% recommend.

Oh, right! The dub isn't that bad, I mean I wish they had a different voice actor for Rin, I just don't feel like this one really lives up to the character. The other voice actors are great though, really fit the characters. The dub is well done, but I think I preferred the Japanese voice actors (they have a better pick than we do.) I just think that someone with a slightly lower, more thug-ish voice would have been better. The English actors voice is a little too high for me, it's even higher than Yukio's voice ._.

6/1 Black Butler (re-watch)

I decided to re-watch the show (minus the second season) after writing up my post from yesterday about anime whose second season could just go and disappear from existence. I love Sebastian, he is a saint, well a saint among devils. Not only is he one hell of a butler, but one hell of a contractor too, he REALLY get into his jobs, and it is amazing. Even I would enter into a contract if I could have him as a butler~ It's a goon anime, not sure if its recommendation worthy though. I mean yes it's good but it's not something that you HAVE to see, or something you would be missing out on. It's surprisingly fun and while it can and does get intense in certain areas, its not so intense that its going to mess you up.  As long as you never touch the second season, NEVER.

Bonus image, cause why not: