#so this is kinda just a poorly written version of those

[snuffysbox]

man the ending of BG3 was kinda... rough, ngl. Like, not the fights and stuff, that was about what I expected, but the cutscenes post final battle were... something.

HEAVY SPOILERS for Baldur's Gate 3 ending under the cut

listen man, I can respect not giving everyone a perfectly happy ending, but Karlach's fate felt unfair. It felt like there had been a way to save her in development, but it got scrapped somewhere in the process. why even have the quest with Dammon and the infernal iron if all you can do is delay the inevitable.

Astarion's wasn't much better. If you tell him not to use the ritual to ascend, he just. stays a vampire spawn forever then?? the whole 'oh I can stand in the sunlight' bit was just for laughs?? I was horrified tbh.

Gale's romance scene was... fine. Like, perfectly servicable, sure, but choosing what to do with the crown was his literal companion quest! and you don't even get to see it resolved, he just SAYS what he'll do with it. PLEASE.

Shadowheart had one (1) appearance and one (1) line of dialogue in my ending and that was a quip about Astarion's sad fate. Thanks.

No mention of the Emperor after killing the netherbrain with Orpheus. Really? He's just dead, apparently. Nvm that it was like... the original founder of the city. No no, just dead, don't even see him die if you didn't kill him during the fight.

NO EPILOGUE AT ALL COME ON MAN. I would've taken poorly written SLIDES over nothing at all.

The post-credit scene with Withers feels... so, so redundant? Like, why is he waxing poetic about foes who weren't even the stars of the show? It really felt like a version of that scene should've come earlier, maybe around the start of act 3.

There's a ton of other little stuff that I would've loved to see resolved, but those were my main gripes. It just felt veeeery rushed right at the end there which is pretty disappointing, considering how entirely excellent the rest of the game is. Like, I don't want games to be these infinite projects that studios revisit and expand on (in anything other than expansions) bc they didn't get it quite right the first time around, bc that shit isn't sustainable, but man.

[dead-lights]

the grand occult baking competition // in progress!

this is taking wayyyy longer than expected, but i'm finally picking up steam and making progress. episode 1 is fully written! the confessional set is complete! i really like the renders i've done so far (bc yeah to make the food stuff happen i kinda have to do everything in blender...)

unfortunately, i still haven't finalized my kitchen. i have two versions i'm working on, but i'm not very good at decorating and i'm unhappy with how both look. once that's done, i should be able to churn out everything else fairly quickly!

i'm so happy with how the confessionals turned out. i'm using a slightly edited RoM greenhouse as my set (bc i hate building sets). gotta nail that reality tv vibe, and nothing is more reality tv than a good confessional

I'm having some trouble getting fonts and sizing to look right across monitors/devices, but I'll get there!

very rough set previews + my complaints about how hard decorating is below the cut! i could use advice/feedback - i've been playing the sims since i was in first grade but this simblr stuff is comparatively new to me!

The countertops are intentionally bare - those are going to be set up specifically for each challenge. the walls/etc that will show up in the background are the issue. I really do like how a cluttered wall looks in the distant background, but whenever I try to do that myself I'm unhappy with the results :(

first set, based more on the design of the kitchens i see in baking competitions - sorta threw in those bookshelves bc i didn't know what to do. i don't like how the wall hangings look.

this overall looks good in renders in terms of positioning/lighting, and I'm happy with how some of the backgrounds look (also brandy is a cute cutie)

I'm less happy with other shots... it feels like my options are either a) poorly decorated or b) bare walls, but I'm sure there has to be a happy medium somewhere.

my second design: this one feels more like a classroom (those stairs just feel academic ok) and since my overall vision is that the competition is being held in Morgyn's converted alchemy classroom, this is kinda nice for that. I have a LOT of decorating to do though - like currently that back wall is completely bare and I don't know what to do with it. Probably a door/portal/staircase or something bc there's no other way out of the room, but when i tried that it looked bad. i'm not very good at this :(

anyway! it's going slowly, but it's going. i'm not sure when i'm going to finally start posting this, but if nothing else at this point i'm confident that i actually am going to get this done and online, and that feels nice!

[lunaekalenda]

sweet version - chocolates for satoru (part one)

You were sure that Satoru's locker would be full of chocolates, presents and love letters. You knew it was stupid to leave some for them yourself but, still, you're baking some in the middle of the night, a glass of coffee half empty resting near your phone on the table. You rap rhythmically on the counter with your fingernails, waiting patiently for the chocolate to melt on the microwave. The card, decorated with a simple kitty drawing and a heart, looks at your from near the bag you're gonna use to give the chocolates to him. Every second on the microwave makes you think. Are you really doing this for Satoru? The one that has half of the college students behind? Do you really think he will care about some more chocolates on Valentine's Day?

You're about to drop the chocolates but the cute mold you got for this stops you. Kitty chocolates. It was too cute to leave it at the store and, plus, that's kinda how you started to like Satoru, during that cold winter day, when a fluffy white kitty looked at you from inside his coat. When his eyes met your fascinated ones, he just smiled and took your hand, slowly resting it on the kitty's head, letting you pat him. "It was too cold for him to be outside. He doesn't seem to have a home, so he has now." That exact moment, when you took your eyes up and they collided with Satoru's blue ones, and he smiled so softly to you, with your hand still near his chest and the cat between your bodies, purring softly at your touch.

And, almost a year later of seeing him on the corridors, sharing classes and feeling your heartbeat race with every tiny interaction you had, now you're baking him chocolates. Pretty hilarious. Probably he won't even look twice at them. But, what do you lose?

After hours of mixing chocolate, sweet fillers and exasperating over bad-explained tutorials, your kitty chocolates are ready and on the fridge. With a last sigh, you close the door and go to sleep upstairs. You need to rest. Tomorrow will be a hard day.

His first chocolates were on his locker time before he arrived to school. There were also notes on his desk. Even on his chair. Satoru has definitely something (something more than his looks and his charm) that attracted everyone to him. It was so early and everything was so full of chocolates. Heart shaped ones, expensive ones, notes with cute calligraphy and even gifts could be seen on Satoru's place.

The kitty chocolates seemed to laugh at you when you looked at them, and the poorly-decorated card you were so proud of yesterday gives you a look back. Taking them on your hands, you search the closest exit to the gardens. Once outside, you feel how the fresh air takes the anxiety knot of your chest away. Sighing, you sit on a bench, in front of the pond. Taking your eyes to the chocolates, you look again at your creation. They really do look tasty.

You hear steps before a long sigh comes from your left. Satoru plays with a bag on his hands, before sitting by your side. It's maybe this your opportunity? Or are those his favorite chocolates between all the pile he has been collecting today. He takes a quick look to your hands.

"Valentine's present?" he asks. You stay quiet and silent, before sighing long. You nod once, twice, before speaking.

"Yours?" he nods again. You both sit on the bench, bodies close, but far at the same time. His long digits keep playing with the sweets inside the bag.

"Isn't it ironic?" he murmurs. "I've never took the first train to college." his whispers are audible when he sits a little closer. "I've never baked before." he gives another twist to the bag on his hands. "And I've never wanted to be here first than anyone." He releases a long sigh. "But, still, I couldn't be the first one." With a sweet smile, he stands up, letting the bag of chocolates fall in your hands. The card attached to it is written in big red colors, and your name is displayed on it.

It wasn't a gift for Satoru.

It was his gift for you.

Standing up quickly and reacting as soon as possible, without letting the cute smile leave your mouth, you run towards him, stopping Satoru near the entrance of the building. He mistook your sweets with a gift from someone. Standing in front of him, and keeping your eyes on his, you put the chocolates on his hand. His pale cheeks blush softly when he sees the "For Satoru" on the card. His eyes travel to the chocolates, and he can't help but smile when he sees the kitty shape. The moment reminds you to when you fell in love with him: close, with something making you both smile between your bodies.

"Is it Tami?" he whispers. "You baked chocolate Tamis... for me?" he seems incredibly grateful and moved. You nod under his attentive gaze. "Why?"

Taking all the air you could into your lungs, you leave your mind blank to avoid making any mistake, since you want your confession to be heard clear.

"Because I like you, Satoru."

[crisismoth]

I LOVE HELSKNIGHT RAAAAAAGHHH I NEED TO RIP AND TEAR

hes so. theres like 10 different helsknights running around in my brain. its like one kf those videos that are like 'top 10 cats: numero uno: gatito de leche' .

yeah helsknight numero dias. is redstone and skulk helsknight. he is having a MIDLIFE CRISIS. (more like. ambigous amiunt of time left life crisis) hdhsh. hes a angry guy pretending he doesnt do feelings (hes emo tbh) and he will KILL to protect his friends. hes a theatre kid. also bro got some religious stuff going on (erm. relatable!!!) . um i forgor what i was gonna say.

helsknight numero nueve!!!! like a hiuse on fire helsknight!!! 🔥 . bro got ripped from his life in hels hes stuck in hermitcraft (womp womp.) hes commiting to the bit (VILLAINRY AND ARSON) . hes a sad ouppy he wants to go home!!!! his ass may seem malicous but hes just winging it bro is LOST. desperate man driven to extreme actions. <333

helsknight numero ocho!!! my oomf helsex's helsknight. bro is HAIRY . she is SERVING 24/7. serving what you may ask. um. messy relationships!! and swords! . also. boob window armor. YEAHHHHH. a true icon.

helsknight numero siete: atp i dont got names or specific sources just vibes. this helsknight is CONCERNED about welsknigjt. he is like 'get ur shit together or ill fight you (with swords cuz HES A KNIGHT). of course hed never admit it. 'no i hate wels.' yeahhh right. then why would you do a rap battle with him huh. huh

helsknight numero seis: call this guy serious sam (hels. not a sam but ALLITERQTION )bro hunts wels for sport. he is EVIL (yay) . and mysterous. type of guy to show up and battle you in your dreams(nightmares cuz hes gonna win). unapologetically bad guy. [but is it morally bad if its like. judt what you are. his entire existsnce is born from wels self hatred. idk man.] . this guy is cool and will shove welsknight down the stairs (clankclankclankclankCLUNK.)

helsknight numero cinco: this one. hes just a guy who chills in hels. yeah he'll do anrap battle why not. hes a little prideful but hes just vibing. dgaf vibes. too busy being cool and scheming with his fellow alter egos.

helsknight numero quatro : ok. this one im only remembering now because bro is too tragic. fella from summers glooming by silverskye. imagine the fanfic ur from having glooming in the title you are a GONER. hes. he did what he could but theres only so much control over ur life when you live in the shadow of someone else. get him out of there!!!!

helsknight numero tres: idk what kinda ordering this is tbh. i know theres mkre versions of helsknight but gonna be real i might be out of distinct enough versions. maybe im a fake fan. no... it cant be. NEVER GIVE UP!!!! helsknight has awesome vibes. the dark armor, give him a flaming plume and fire powers... yeahhh thats awesome. omg ok yeah that brings up

helsknifht numero dos: DEMON helsknight. horns. fire. swag. and a tail that is so fun to draw. and evil lizard eyes!!!!. love this helsknifht. im gonna be real its 1am and i started writing this post at like midnight? because i had to express how much inlove helsknight bit i got carried away tbh. like the paint on my helsknight drawing is dry i can keep working on jt. i gotta be done writing this soon.

that brings us to... helsknight numero uno!!!!

this helsknight... is the helsknight INSIDE OF YOU. go get a stixk and pretwnd to be a knight and have an epic rap battle and channel ur evil swag. everyone can be helsknight......

ok the end. this post really got away from me. i aint readding allat etc so im posting as is. for the helsknight fans 🔥 🔥 🔥 . beautiful quick keyboard smash turned bit turned poorly written character analysis turned run on sentence. ok bye.

[madara-fate]

Being recent on Tumblr and in the Naruto fandom in general (I've been there for 04 months), this fandom has really made me see all the colors.

As a die-hard fan of Sakura and Sasuke who didn't particularly care about the prospect of them as a couple before, I tended at first to subscribe mainly to individual pro sakura and pro sasuke accounts, something I I quickly regretted it because lord, these two fandoms suck. I love both of these characters and it's very difficult to see their two fandoms being so vicious towards each other. If you don't like one of them, why talk about it? why make so many passive-aggressive comments to provoke the other party? They despise each other so much that it's difficult to have a moment of peace for those who truly love both.

And then, let's not even talk about the strange takes they have about them.

I swear if I ever come across something like "Sasuke was right" or "Sasuke Revolution" or "Sakura deserved better - that is, she deserved everything except Sasuke - or "Sakura lost all its development", I'm going to lose my shit.

Their views are biased, self-centered, misinformed and so oc for many that it sometimes makes you wonder if they even understand the characters they say they love. It seems more like they… project their problems and their insecurities onto these two and it's frankly disappointing to see. They like the fanon version of Sasuke and Sakura that they have built in their head and not their canon character and it's quite sad that such characters are reduced to stereotypes by their respective fandom. Not all of them are like that of course, but I've encountered so many of them that it ended up exhausting any good feelings I had towards these two fan bases.

All of this ended up pushing me towards the SS fandom because it's easier to find fans who like both characters. And finally, even though this fandom also has its own absurd points of view that sometimes make me want to throw myself out of a window as well as a blatant bias towards one of the two characters that bothers me, it's still better than the shit I've seen before. here at least I don't have to worry about reading crap like "Sasuke is toxic", "Sasuke didn't do anything wrong", "Sakura objectifies/is obsessed with Sasuke", "Sakura is poorly written" etc and I admit it's a relief. Plus, it's nice to see the fans celebrating them and their relationship, which is what I signed up for after all.

Not to say one is better than the other because the whole Naruto fandom is shit anyway but at least there is more room to like these two characters without getting attacked in this fandom than in the other two.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

You know, your experience of the pro Sasuke and pro Sakura fandoms hating on each other, essentially being what pushed you towards the SS fandom, kinda echoes what pushed me to being a SS fan as well. When the series ended, I was fully neutral on them, but I definitely expected them to get together because it was just obvious. But after seeing some of the absolutely absurd takes that a lot of the fandom had towards them, it made me want to defend them because what they were saying just wasn't true. So much like you, I was also pushed towards the SS fandom due to fandom hatred.

And yes, the SS fandom also has it's fair share of absurd points and biased takes, as I've certainly had to argue against some of them before. Yet, it's still better than the toxicity and the sheer delusion exhibited from a very loud portion of the anti fandoms.

[aquaburst3]

I've seen TikToks where people dunk on Rollo and Honest Fellow, and others, mainly in the Spanish and JP fandoms, being confused about this reaction. To play devil's advocate, the main reason is how the game handled them and that they're poorly written characters. I can pinpoint a few reasons why that is...

Honest Fellow: His motivations to make him sympathetic and his actions are at odds with one another.

In that arc, Honest Fellow gleefully turns people into puppets to sell off to the highest bidder, even hinting at some people using them for sexual pleasure in the JP version. Why is he doing this? Because the school system is hard and he wants to get back at rich people. Yes, really. That's one of the dumbest villain motivations I ever heard! How does that justify what he did or put his actions into perspective? He's a human trafficker! By making the reason why he's doing this something so disconnected from the story makes him seem like a sociopathic monster on par with the Coachman. It's like if someone murdered your pet and said they did that because had a hard time in school. That's horrible, but that has nothing to do with that action nor does that make you like that more any more.

(Personally, if I was writing this arc, I would've made his boss the TWST Coachman, who is threatening to turn Giddel into a puppet if he doesn't do what he says. That makes far more sense, and makes his actions more understandable. I think a lot of us had shitty bosses that forced us to do things we disagreed with or would do a horrible act to protect a loved one. It makes him more like his movie counterpart due to Honest John and Gideon being threatened by the Coachman to convince Pinocchio to come to Pleasure Island, despite Honest John thinking it was fucked up. Idk, that's just me.)

Rollo: While he's better written than Honest Fellow due to his motivations at least making sense, he's still not the best written character either. Shitty and lazy character name aside, being a woobie and not adapting the character in a...questionable manner.

A woobie, for those of you who don't know, is an older fandom term used to describe bland pretty characters with a tragic backstory that the author expects you to feel sorry for them and get away with everything. Oh, boy. Does he fit that definition in spades. He's pretty bland. His only real standout personality traits are that he hates magic and the fae, prideful, traditional and possibly athletic. That's it. He has a sad backstory where his brother died in a fire after his magic got out of control. Fine, that's cliche, but it works. Hell, it's kinda clever in a sense where it's inspired by the Hunchback of Notre Dame off-broadway musical. Characters like Idia point out the hypocrisy in Rollo's ideology and that he is really doing this thanks to his own guilt for his brother's death, which is a good thing. The problem is, outside of him being boring as a character, that despite wanting to suck out all of the magic in the world, he got away with it scott free, and his only form of "punishment" was living with the guilt of knowing everyone thinking that he was some sort of hero…despite Malleus wanting revenge on him five minutes earlier. (I don't get it either.) I think a lot of this problem plays into a reoccurring one the game has a whole—the character stagnation and Yana's utter unwillingness to let them face any consequences for their actions. Rollo is also prejudice against the fae if him covering his nose whenever he's around one is to be concerned, which is also never addressed.

I think the way he was handled was in poor taste. Frollo is one of the most realistic villains in the Disney canon and is triggering to a lot of westerners due to his ties with the Catholic church. Unlike the other Great Seven, there's no way to possibly turn his story to make him seem like a hero nor are their any admirable traits. The fact of the matter is that by making Noble Bell honoured after Frollo, who is such a realistic character and is tied up in a lot of religious baggage for westerners, the game is glorifying his actions to an extent. While I know Christianity is a minor religion in Japan, so adding Christian elements to "spice things up" is common in anime, the developers know that the game is being distributed internationally and should've known better. The game should've made Rollo like the staff where he has no dorm or school honoured after his counterpart. That would've lessened the impact a lot.

Both of them: Like I said with Rollo, they completely get away with their crimes, despite everything they did. That is asinine. All actions have punishments, and that goes for them. Plus, the NRC boys are based on villains! Wouldn't they want to exact their revenge on them, especially in Honest Fellow's case who wanted to turn them into living household items and sex dolls! You are based on villains, act like it!

(This is also a huge problem with the game as a whole, but I wrote other posts about that before, so I don't wanna get into it here.)

So, yeah. There reasons why many English speaking fans dislike or despise these characters. Hell, if anything the reason why they are so beloved in JP and Spanish fandom circles is more bizarre to me. I get it. Honest Fellow is hot. But outside of that...Really? So I guess it goes both ways and we can be baffled at each other's choices. xD

[parachutingkitten]

I’m gonna be honest it just sounds like you’re calling Sora a Mary Sue and I really don’t care for that because of how much the Mary Sue ‘critique’ is rooted in misogyny. I just don’t care at all for the term ‘sympathy card’ in regards to female characters when fandom and even society is just overwhelmingly critical of women. Like Misako for example.

I'm not gonna discount the idea that I don't like Sora because of some sort of internalized misogyny. It's certainly possible, and at the very least shouldn't be eliminated as a contributing factor. But I do think there's a bit more to my criticism than that.

For those who don't know, Mary Sue is a term that sprung up describing a particular brand of bad female character that's often a little too self insert-y. They're good at everything, naturally beautiful, have close to no actual flaws, and generally just don't feel like a real person. For the record, this is bad writing, and are valid things to criticize about any given character. Unfortunately, it has kind of been co-opted by idiots who just want a fancy way to hate on female characters, especially if they think they're 'too empowered'. This is not at all a valid criticism. The most prominent example of this sort of thing is probably Rey in the new Star Wars movies. A lot of people had criticisms that essentially boiled down to "her jedi powers are too powerful" which is kinda whack. Additionally, you'll notice that this criticism being used to describe solely female characters is a bit whack as well. The fact that even the original version of the criticism is specifically about female characters does taint it a bit. All characters can feel fanfic-y, unflawed, and overly bland no matter the gender. For this reason, even if I do feel a character fits the Mary Sue criticism, I try to avoid the term. It's fine that the name originated from a female character, but the fact that it's seen as a female only criticism inherently makes the criticism slightly suspect.

Anyway, back to ninjago.

As for your misako example, I feel like she's a prime target for a mary sue criticism. She's overly kind and composed at all times. She's so attractive that she's the center of a decades long love triangle. She's pretty much good at everything she picks up, and rarely ever has a moment where the narrative criticizes her. That fits a lot of the mary sue criticisms, and I will say that her having a few more flaws, getting into a messy divorce, or being paranoid about how leaving her kid affected him, would probably make her a better and more interesting character. I don't really think she's too overpowered, I think it all seems pretty believable for her circumstances, but if she were to become a more prominent cast member, I could see the need to nerf her a bit. Now, the important thing to note here is that none of this information should make you hate her like... personally, as a character. You should not demonize her for being poorly written. The misako vitriol is way crazy, and though it all sources from some sort of valid criticism, it ends in people making hate posts about her, vilifying her, and blaming her for a bunch of other stuff she isn't even responsible for, when she is entirely a victim of bad writing and nothing else. The way things are presented in narrative, she has done nothing wrong. She made a hard moral choice about her kid a long time ago, which has since been long forgiven, and she's been a saint since then. There is no actual reason to hate her. Again, it's the writers who should be absorbing that frustration from you.

And this is the problem we run up against when talking about characters who circle anywhere near mary sue territory. Most of the time, there are valid criticisms at the core of whatever we're talking about, but if you express them incorrectly, you run the risk of riding a hate train you don't mean to be on. I would like to make clear that no matter what I'm saying here, I don't hate Sora personally. I'm just not connecting with her- and that's fine. Most importantly, in no way do I blame her for that, I blame the (male) writers who had majority control over her portrayal. If anything, I think Sora deserves better.

Now, I listed a lot of reasons I don't like Sora, but admittedly a lot of them boil down to her feeling very main character-y, which is in fact adjacent to a Mary Sue criticism. However, I made this pretty clear in the post that these tend to be tropes I just don't personally latch on to. I hated Lloyd for years while his shtick was the whole "I'm the most important person in the world and it's so hard" thing, but that mellowed out in the eleven minute era and I like him a lot better now! I tend not to like Kai's main character moments. I absolutely despise Jay in Skybound, and Cole isn't particularly interesting in MotM to me. Main characters just aren't my jam. I like Sora much better in season two, when her struggle isn't centered on how important she is, just like all these other characters. So, I think this line of criticism is pretty typical for me, regardless of gender.

The other factor at play is the entire show of Dragon's Rising. I am not connecting with it. I think a lot of the show tends to be signaling the right story beats to gain sympathy and feel deep. It's not a Sora specific criticism. I have a whole long rant about the nightmare scene specifically and several thoughts on how they handle Lloyd's panic attacks which I feel sort of encapsulate my feelings towards a lot of the writing in general. It's surface level. It doesn't have ideas it really wants to share, it has time to fill and some topics they've seen better media cover, and so feel they should include to be meaningful. It feels very by the book. They've plugged in the equation for good storytelling without adding anything to it. And this is how I feel about Sora as well, go figure. I don’t think they wanted to tell a story about a child genius who gets their work turned against them in order to express any ideas or explore any concepts, they did it cuz it's cool, and sounds like a dramatic storyline. It's a bunch of cliche's, unfortunately one's that I'm not partial to, slapped together with no new twist or spark to them. It's fine. It's competent. It's just not interesting to me.

In that way, I think my criticisms are Mary Sue adjacent. It feels a little fanfic-y. The characters feel like they're made to be "ninjago but like with angst you guys!" But this goes for a lot of the other characters too, not just Sora. Lloyd is pretty bad about this in part 2, I'm already getting these vibes from Jay, Arin slips into it in part 2 and I think Nya has it a bit across the board. But Sora, being the main character for season 1, unfortunately feels the most main character-y.

I understand that 'sympathy cheat code' might sound a little dismissive, so if you prefer you can reword my criticism to "does not utilize the backstory tropes they've included in a way that feels genuine or deeper than surface level". But you've got to admit, Sora does have, just a bunch of those feel bad tropes in her backstory, and a lot of the screentime is dedicated to laying that backstory out to you in season one. I am not accustomed to ninjago being a feel bad show. That's not what I'm in this game for. It's the reason I hate skybound. I didn't like it when they did it to jay, and I don't like it when they do it to sora. It just feels a little repetitive to me. None of these cliche's really shine as being particularly well done either, aside from maybe the climax where she turns away from her parents? But even then, I don't feel it was really built up to especially well. The main relationship she seems to care about is Dr. LaRow, not her parents. She seemed pretty secure in her identity when separated from Imperium, so asserting it doesn't mean a whole lot. We don't feel betrayed by her parents, because we never got to like them in the first place. That wasn't a support system we ever saw her benefit from, so her leaving it behind doesn't really mean much. These same tropes could have been played a lot better if they just had a bit more depth to their implementation that actually invited you to care beyond a surface level.

If you've seen the mega video, you'll know I don't typically relate to female characters who have a pronounced tough cynical streak in them, but am sure to make clear that it's just a character type preference. The stem girl isn't a bad character type at all, just pretty overplayed at this point in time (again, because i think male writers see it as an easy way to be clear they want to empower their female characters).

Idk. I think Sora's writing is a little hollow. I also think Dragons Rising's writing is a little hollow. I can see how those criticisms might come off a little iffy in isolation but, the ask was about Sora, so that's largely what I focused on. I think the criticism makes sense within the larger context of my opinions as a whole.

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

an awkward encounter

summary: its a small house. 

WC: 906

warnings: kinda gets a bit steamy (🔥) (poorly written tbh) and just cursing.

A/N: ALL PARTS UNDER THE TAG -The Byers Harrington Story-

was gonna do a different version where there were three different encounters: nancy and reader, jonathan and steve, and then steve and nancy. but that might be a separate post in the future. kinda wanted this longer, but whatever, its fine.

series masterlist

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June 14, 1985

“Hand above the shirt, sweetheart.”

The smirk on your lips stopped the scene, “aye aye, captain.”

And that just caused Steve to groan and you to laugh at his annoyance with the phrase, especially during this current moment.

Both of you lay atop the bedding, Steve under you with you straddling his waist, knees digging into the mattress. Steve is shirtless, but wearing sweats, while you’re wearing an oversized shirt, but no pants, only your light blue underwear peeking out. His hair was sticking out and twisted in different directions from the pull of your fingers, even your hair was falling freely around your face, Steve using the opportunity to tuck strands behind your ear every few minutes.

Both your smiles could rival the sun that was shining brightly outside your window, cheeks starting to ache from the nonstop tug. Skin buzzing and tingling from the trail of electricity left behind by each other's caressing touches. Bellies started a gentle fire, slowly building in intensity as the kisses got deeper, more lust-filled, the hands holding skin more firmly.

Steve’s hands started to wander below the seam of your shirt, fingers resting just above the band of your underwear.

“Thought we were keeping hands above the shirt, Harrington?” Kisses trailing along his jaw, his head moving to give you more access.

“I’m not a very good rule follower,” his hands slithered further up, resting on your waist.

Your lips were set in a groove, one they’ve memorized over and over again, dancers doing their daily routine. Soon Steve’s tongue slipped into play, a sign telling you he was getting more heated by the minute and you couldn’t wait for the coming dance.

Steve took the lead and grabbed at your shirt, silently asking for permission. You pulled away and lifted your arms above your head, your shirt thrown to the floor and your bare chest was on display.

“Beautiful,” Steve voiced, your heart rate picking up a beat or two with a slight heat forming on your cheeks. You didn’t say anything further, not knowing how to take compliments and just wanting to get back to indulging in Steve.

One of Steve’s hands tangled at the back of your hair, keeping you close, while his other hand slid further and further south until the tips of his fingers were buried under the underwear's waistband. You shuddered a breath as his fingers teased you, stopping just above where you needed him. He was being a fucking tease and you weren’t having it.

“Steve, if you don’t put those fingers where I need them right now… this will end early.” Your breath skated across his agape mouth.

“So bossy today, aren’t we? Thought you liked foreplay?” He reached for another kiss, but you pulled away.

“I do like foreplay, but also, this is my house. Privacy isn’t always guarant-” Steve stopped your talking short when his fingers dived in.

Your hands on his shoulders kept you from collapsing atop his chest, back arching causing your chest to stick out even more. Steve moved the hand from your hair to one of your breasts, giving a firm squeeze before pulling away, licking his thumb and forefinger and returning them to your nipple and twisting. A low moan was pulled from your throat with your head thrown back. Moving your right hand from Steve’s shoulder, your hand touched his cheek before moving to his chin. Your thumb tugged at his bottom lip, then pushed in just a bit, enough for your nail to run along the bottom of his top teeth.

“Ste- Steve, oh, right- right there.” You moaned and sighed as his fingers moved in and out, working their magic.

“Doing good, baby?” His deep voice added fuel to the fire.

You couldn't respond, only nodded your head when a moan was ripped from you. 

“Steve-”

“Oh god!” A voice yelped.

Your eyes flew open at the intruder, arms instantly covering your bare chest. Steve ripped his hands away from you, allowing you to fall off his lap and onto the floor with a dull thud. You peeked over your bed and at your door, taking note that Steve rushed to get under the sheets. With the door closed, you looked for a shirt and threw it on before rushing to see who it was, hoping it wasn’t Joyce.

You only allowed a crack to see who was on the other side, Jonathan with his back leaned against the wall with his hands over his eyes.

“What the hell! Haven’t heard of knocking?” You screeched.

Jonathan just sighed, “I didn’t think. Steve’s car wasn’t in the yard and the music was pretty loud… I need to flush my eyes.”

“For the love of- what was so urgent that you needed to rush into my room?” Your exasperation showing.

“Honestly nothing, I wish I actually had something. Just scared myself for nothing.” He ran a hand through his hair, “I’m just- I’ll be in my room.”

He rushed to his room, “at least we’re even!” You blurted out.

Jonathan just sighed again before his door was shut behind him. You closed your door and took five steps back to your bed. Steve had a sheepish expression plastered across his face, cheeks and ears burning red from embarrassment.

“Even?” His brows were raised.

“Walked in Jonathan and Nancy one day,” you shivered, “the image just flashed before my eyes.”

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

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[sandraharissa]

Even tho ‘Nina makes Crowley realise he’s in love’ has become quite a popular interpretation I’m still sticking with my previous interpretation of ‘Crowley knew the whole time, likely since the Eden wall scene’. It’s bcos this twist on their relationship does nothing for me and all I see from other ppl who liked it is ‘Oh Crowley’s such a dum-dum, of course he’d just do all those things but remain oblivious, he’s so silly’.

Now I’m not mad at anybody specifically for having a different interpretation but I wanna share my own thoughts about the interpretation itself, and by ‘share my thoughts’ I mean bitch about it.

In s1 so much of Crowley’s behavior is so intentional, he’s the one always pushing for them to have more interactions, he was the one who suggested the arrangement, he’s always inserting himself in Azi’s life, he’s the one insisting they are on their own side, he’s suggesting running off to Alfa-Centauri, he’d do anything like postpone Satan and any other of Azi’s whims just for him, he’s the one who at the end when they’re waiting on the bus appeals to Azi again trying to reinforce that they’re together on the same side, but probs the most obvious example of all the ‘you go to fast for me’ scene. There’s so much potent drama and tragedy there for Crowley if he’s pursuing Azi the whole time, how else would you even call what he’s doing in s1?

“Well, can I drop you anywhere?”

“No, thank you. Oh, don’t look so disappointed. Perhaps one day we could… I don’t know. Go for a picnic. Dine at the Ritz.”

“I’ll give you a lift. Anywhere you want to go.”

“You go too fast for me, Crowley.”

So when I watched this exchange the first time and assumed it has a deeper meaning cos they’re both talking in code and using the car as a metaphor for being ready to take their relationship to the next level I wasn’t right and the scene isn’t really that deep or romantic cos Crowley was really just suggesting spending more time together that evening like always and had no deeper desire or meaning to convey and also completely missed the meaning of Azi’s words?

For the love of God he walked into a church burning his feet for Azi’s sake in this grand sweet gesture just completely unaware of why he’s actually doing it? Doesn’t it take away so much depth and agency and meaning from that interaction? If it’s not intended by Crowley as a grand sweet gesture cos ‘he’s the love of my life, I’d do anything for him’ but as far as Crowley’s aware he’s doing it just because?

I think that’s why I dislike it so much, it exchanges the imo super compelling drama and a tragic angle to Crowley’s character with ‘oh it’s just so typical of them to be so smart yet stupid ha ha’. Like honestly, yeah sure, I get it, it fits the Pratchett-esque type humor, it IS in character for them to be dum-dums but it’s kinda disappointing imo if this comedic aspect of their characterization was taken so far as to be used as an explanation for really serious aspects of the development of their quite tragic relationship.

I think part of this is also this paradox of how having inhuman characters in stories doesn’t mean anything cos fundamentally they still need to behave human in order to be relatable to the audience and not come off as flat and simplified versions of ‘human’, what ppl often think of as poorly written characters. And oftentimes attempts to create ‘otherworldly’ characters that are still compelling simply result in cishet writers making all their robots/aliens/angels aro/ace/trans, so creating completely human characters with human experiences. I think there’s a limit to how far you can take a character who’s lived with humans for 6k years and presumably loves them and say that he wholly misunderstands the most basic and important aspect of humanity like ‘feeling love’ before the character becomes ‘silly’ beyond understandable or relatable.

Azi being clever yet stupid cos his internal character conflict results in him not knowing how to reconcile his relationship with heaven to his relationship with Crowley? Fantastic. An extremely human experience of dealing with an abusive family too, and not at all anything truly celestial/alien.

Crowley knowing Jane Austen personally from a heist but missing the fact that she wrote novels and their cultural relevance, a la grandpa who lives under a rock? Or him organizing a heist to *looks at notes* steal holy water, a la demon who doesn’t know how christianity works and that he could get it for free by asking? Hilarious. Crowley having character quirks like his thing with ducks? Great.

Crowley spends 6k years consistently and vigorously pursuing one person (one!!!) and performing grand romantic gestures but sike, it was unintentional cos he’s so removed from the human experience and emotions that he’s got no self-awareness? Meh.

It’d be another thing if the whole time Crowley was shameful and in denial of his feelings and behaved like Azi e.g. “we’re not friends and I don’t even like you”, with him I totally agree that he must have realized recently and has still not processed it and his family trauma, but the intent and purpose and intensity with which Crowley pursues a relationship, even just a friendship, with Azi in s1 really makes it unbelievable to me that he’d do it completely unaware. During the talk with Nina he may have realized that his relationship with Azi is comparable to the human romance and opened his eyes to the possibility of e.g. kissing and realized he needs to make a move and stop dancing around the topic but I completely reject the idea that he didn’t know he loved Azi.

Warning. Bitterness incoming: Currently waiting for s3 to inspire an interpretation that *that scene from s3* is when Azi realizes he’s in love, cos he hasn’t done so in 1941, s1 and s2, and during the kiss scene apparently.

[this-is-chaos-magick]

I agree that the Wanda hate feels very disingenuous and not made in good faith. Hell, I think Wanda is harder to hate vs other characters in fiction in general, including characters people suck off like Homelander.

Wanda is a character that I view as a kind character. Someone who has a view on herself akin to Rocket, aka hating herself and doesn’t view herself as a good person, but she has done selfless things throughout her life. It’s like people only view her as the government in the MCU view her and I don’t think that’s fair, but more importantly, it’s also not even a good way to look at her and her character.

Idk, point is I really love her, and I really wish people would actually talk about her character in good faith.

me too, I wish people would just see how interesting her character is,

I think one of the reasons that there are so many 'Wanda hate' ....is because she's a woman, I know they wouldn't admit it, and they are always going to say that it's she's because 'she's poorly written'...well she's kinda is after Wandavision....(Also saying them her in Dsmom don't make sense is kinda not true at all like sure her villain arc is rushed but where her anger is not hard to understand)

you can tell they didn't care about the writing either because that doesn't stop from loving badly written male character before

Wanda Maximoff have everything they would like to a character, if she was a man, they would be all over her by now, but since she's not they so "can't relate to her" or "she wasn't cool enough"

I once see a post on TikTok making edits about characters with "aura" or whatever trend thing is trending there and all of the boys in the comments are whining about her being included....

Like I don't understand how in hell somebody could think that someone like Homelander or the joker to be better than Wanda? Oh wait because they think those characters is 'cool' and have a "valid or cool reason to be villain" and is "well written" ... totally not because they project their horrible "sigma" or whatever fantasy to these characters....

And they always use the reason that 'Wanda stans' are annoying... but most of them are literally just defending Wanda's "crimes" which is fine because she's a fictional character, or is saying she's the most powerful avenger...which she is...Feige himself said so....and they don't like it

Like it's fine to hate on mcu's version of Wanda Maximoff if it's because of the casting choice... it's understand to be upset about that...or you understand the character but you simply don't like her? That's fine....but come on if the hate is simply because it's a 'trend' or because you're upset about a female character being stronger than a man....then 😐😐😐

Sometimes I feel like the "Wanda hate" is more annoying than Wanda stans...like a fan could literally be talking about Wanda like a regular fan and somebody is always going to fucking whine... that's why I left twitter I can't even post about Wanda without some asshole replying or quoting it....you couldn't watch a viral Wanda edit on TikTok without a manbabies talking about how a [random male character from another popular media] is better...they were always so fucking upset...like it's so obvious that its not because of anything she did or the casting problem and it's just annoying you can't do anything to defend Wanda against these freaks either because if you sounds to agressive you're now apparently a "toxic Wanda stan"...like omg toxic toxic toxic...all of this started because since WV ended these people couldn't stand that Wanda is someone that is powerful I swear the strongest avenger debates is hilarious in earlier days but God after that "you surpass the sorcerer supreme" line thingy [if I remember it correctly] in WV drop I feel like that's where all hell Break loose...and then it got worse pre and post dsmom,....like obviously Wanda stans are you going defend Wanda... that's our favorite character....and it's a normal thing in a fandom.... I don't understand why these people are upset other than misogyny....

It's so obvious...like you don't have the right to talk how 'horrible' Wanda's action were....if the character that you like is someone that is worse... like

And also I hate how people downgrade Wanda's reason on being a villain....like they always say how her motives "weren't enough"... like they ignoring everything that happens to her on purpose...like what happens during her childhood are literally a valid reason to be a villain and no idc if other people suffers more than her', different people process sadness and anger differently...this woman at the age of ten loss her parents in one of the worst way possible and probably did not get to chance to bury them properly and process her emotion at such a young age....and then her brother die years later and just like that she's alone all over again and everyone around acts like she's a walking time bomb that can explode any time, she's in a foreign country that she used to hate and is the same county that where the bombs that kills her parents come froms a country that worship the man that is literally the reason her parents died,...and then there is vision... somebody who is an outcast like her... I hate the fact that everybody treats vision like a sextoy shut up shut up no he isn't, that man is the only person in there that love Wanda truly....they understand each other and they were happy.... before Thanos ruins everything...and then boom their happiness is shattered and suddenly she have to kill the only man in the world that cares about her....she have no choice..she have to kill the only man in the world that loves her that understand her for people that don't care enough wether she lives or die,....God she was probably so happy when she got turned into dust.....and then she's back to life again...and she realizes she's alone again....

Wanda is literally a good person...she cares about people...she care about those who she hurts...

Because if she was somebody who is 'evil'

She wouldn't switch sides during AoU, she wouldn't cry during the Lagos incident, she wouldn't kill vision and would probably just escapes and she wouldn't let go of Westview....but she did all of that because she cares to much about the lives of people who don't even think about her....she just wants people to accept her...man like she just wants somebody to understand her...all of the stuff that happened in dsmom is because people treat her like shit

...she makes me so freaking sad I am sorry I am rambling with my bad English...I was just so upset that people downgrade Wanda's character....and I am glad other people get me

[stinkrascal]

Do u get nervous to post ur version of Vlad/the vatores when so many versions of them exist? I have a townie I want to post but they’re popular in another story and Im scared lol

with vlad, no, bc ive written with him for so long, and ive developed so much about him over the years, that i feel very confident writing about him. i feel like there's a very obvious distinction between other ppls interpretation of vlad, and My Vlad, so no anxiety there.

with the vatores, definitely, bc i am not as confident writing w them, sometimes i fear they aren't as developed or as interesting as other ppls interpretations of the vatores.

but at the end of the day everyone's interpretations of canon townies will always be influenced by your own experiences and by the narrative you wish to tell, so honestly i wouldn't be that worried about it. i think ts4 is really unique in the sense that the canon townies don't really have set personalities, i mean like they kinda do bc of the poorly implemented trait systems, but it isn't the same as a tv show where you see the characters in real time behaving in certain ways that furthers the narrative of the story. as a ts4 storyteller you create the narrative from scratch, even if you're using the townies as templates, they have such vague lore that if you want to tell a story to its natural end you would have to fill in the blanks. there's a lot more room for interpretation just based on the way ts4 plays as a game. and i think in regards to your question, this fact can be used to your advantage!

like lilith vatore for example, some people write her to be extremely good-natured, some people write her to be morally grey, and some people write her as straight up evil and none of them are wrong bc that's just what the narrative calls for in their stories. those versions of lilith don't read like a misinterpretation of a canon character, but rather bringing a character to life thru the story each individual wished to tell. while they're all different imaginings of the same character, they feel like Real Characters bc those characters fit appropriately into the narratives. it's almost like having 3 different women who are all named lilith vatore but are otherwise completely different people with their own wants, desires, thoughts, and feelings. does that even make sense?!?!?!?!?!? i hope it does lol

basically at the end of the day i don't think most people care. if anything i think a lot of ppl enjoy sticking to certain townies, i know i certainly have my favorites who are also basically everyone else's favorites lol. but as long as the characters feel thoughtful, nobody's gonna care that you have interpretation 103040825 of lilith vatore. bc at the end of the day there would still be a piece of You that's detectable thru the characters, and that's the thing people latch onto, the interesting and various ways in which we think about the same set of pixels. the end goal is you wanna treat them like your ocs, don't feel restricted to what other ppl are doing or what vague lore ts4 gives us just do whatever you think works for your story and have fun 🤸‍♂️

[thephantomcasebook]

So I'm really trying to be positive with the Alys casting but I saw an interview with her and her accent is kinda ummm harsh sounding. Like really? Is she going to be another"strong progressive female character " on the show...cause I highly favor the book version of Alys. I really am fond of the show characters and adapted to them but this is a stretch for me. I was just wanting Ewan Mitchell to have a relatively feminine love interest on the show for his Aemond.

Like I've said, I was sold completely on Jessica Brown Findlay before she dropped out last minute.

Her voice just has this beautiful lilting quality to it that just screams magical or Elvish.

But, if wishes were fishes, eh?

Umm, look, I don't think Gayle Rankin is a bad actress at all. She's interesting looking, and I know from watching some of her stuff that she's good with accents - her American accent is spot-on. She's, you know, fine enough as a last minute replacement with zero prep-time.

But you're right, because she didn't go through the process of auditioning and chemistry reading like JBF probably did, Rankin is going to be wholly reliant upon the writing and the strength of the script that she is given. Which means that if Alys isn't well written or well realized in the scripts than they're basically setting Rankin up to fail.

I don't know if you saw the Alys audition tapes that got leaked and then quickly taken down, but the characterization ... isn't very good. She's more like a vessel for Condal to take out his frustrations on the Daemon fangirls and fanboys. She was written as a mouthy girl-boss that in the ASoIaF Universe would've gotten her raped and her tongue cut out ... especially a no-name bastard woman.

So, yeah, I don't know. There are some really talented female actors like Jessica Brown Findlay and Jenna Coleman who can take the sort of Mary-Sue and Smug insufferable poorly written female character and find humanity in them that makes them actually likable much less tolerable. But, Rankin just kinda got the phone call and showed up for early shooting basically the next day. So, I don't know if she'll have the time or the instinct to ground Alys if the writing is as bad as the Audition scripts.

As for her chemistry with Mitchell, I mean, I don't think those characters even meet till the end of the season. Alys - reportedly - spends most of her time with either Daemon at Harrenhal or Daeron in the outlaw lair this season. So, if anything, I would imagine that JFB and other Alys actresses tested mostly with Matt Smith or the actors going out for Daeron.

Time will tell, but, with the production Hell and the nightmare stories about how bad some of the scripts for Season 2 were - so much so that HBO hired someone third party to come in and script doctor them into something coherent ...

I don't think Gayle Rankin deserves any of the blame if shit goes south this season.

[halestrom]

Oh, oh! 😧/📓/🃏 for Angsty John!

😧 What are you worried about with this fic?

So, I started writing this because I've never really written true angst, and I was in a negative headspace bc I was tired and so I wanted to try it. And so I just sat down, and started writing it and as a result, I feel like I'm being mean and I'm not used to it, and it did help, so then I drew it back a little bit. So mostly, at this point I'm worried that it's a bit of an 'easy' fix, I say as if I don't have like 20k moreish to write. Maybe more.

And, it deals with John post canon and what I consider to be him in a depression, but its not something I have experience with and so that's always complicated. Because I know its not a one and done fix, and so I want to make sure that comes across that john might be better, but it's something he's always going to have to watch out for.

📓 Share an out-of-context sentence or fragment from your fic notes

'It was hard to communicate with your wife when you wanted your best friend.'

🃏 Wildcard, dealer's choice: share a snippet, a thought, a concern, a feeling, anything you like!

So, one thing I also wanted to address in this fic was how poorly I think Jennifer was handled in season 5, especially when she turned into nothing more than a trophy, and I am kinda loving her in this, shes coming into her own and a lot sassier and settled. And I like it? Even if a lot of it happens in the background.

And while, overall this story is about John, it's also about everyone else because they all make the decision to save John and just go when he's in trouble. And this bit is from a moment between Rodney and Jennifer as they're getting ready to save John and I just really really like it.

Also, Jennifer and John end up as super bitchy friends to each other and its fine.

Jennifer sighed. “I,” she stopped and shook her head. “Listen. When we were doing all of those dinners and going out, you were so nice, and I was nice as well because we had to be to all of those people, but then as soon as we were beamed back you started yelling at people—”

“—I’m not going to yell at you,” Rodney interrupted.

Jennifer held up a hand, stopping him from talking. “I know, and I appreciate that. I do. But it’s not that you were yelling it’s that suddenly you seemed more like you than you had been.”

Rodney opened his mouth, wanting to argue against the point but Jennifer stopped him with a look he had never seen before outside of the moments when people had been injured and she had been in her element. Directing everything around her so people got the treatment as quickly as they could.

“And the thing is, I want that for me,” Jennifer said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and lifting her chin. “I…look. You’ve met my Dad. He’s got some old-fashioned ideas about everything.”

Rodney nodded slowly, remembering the interrogation her Dad had given him when he had met the man for the first time. If Rodney hadn’t spent the better part of his life working for General’s he would’ve caved under the man’s direct, no-nonsense questions. “What does that have to do…?”

Jennifer shook her head. “I don’t want to get married. I don’t want to give up my career to become a stay-at-home Mom.”

Rodney frowned. “I’d never ask you to do that.”

That got Jennifer to smile and step closer, resting a hand on Rodney’s arm. “I know, and it’s one of the things I love about you. But the problem is I want to focus on my job, especially if I get to keep it on Atlantis. And I want to focus on my research because I really think I have a shot at helping you guys defeat the wraith. I want to do the things that I love, and it’s not fair to either of us to wait around and see if you like the version of me that I also like.”

[thegirlwhowrites642]

'Enchanted to meet you' or 'Unfair' for the WIP game (I kinda wanted to nominate all though 😂)

♥️😘

Wip game

Ah, thank you! I'm glad the titles sound interesting.

Enchanted to meet you has been tormenting me for like six months? Because the thing is... The idea was to write snippets that showed Harry and Ginny meeting for the first time in various universes. The problem is, the scenes became too long to work into the fluid structure of the one-shot I originally had in mind, but at the same time they are too short to be separate chapters. So I don't know how to publish all this stuff I've written, and it's really annoying because I think there's some pretty decent stuff in there. If it isn't clear, I'm very frustrated by this thing.

This snippet is from a muggle AU where Harry is a policeman and Ginny is a criminal (but for a noble reason). Harry has been after her for years:

"Now," he said, his low voice making things to Ginny that were very inappropriate at the moment, "Very slowly, bring down your hood," Ginny's hands trembled, she didn't know if out of fear or due to the thrill that Potter discovering her true identity caused her. Soon she heard a gasp and she knew what he had seen: red hair put together in a bun and a very obviously feminine neck. She smirked. "Tu--turn around," he ordered, and Ginny did. His green eyes were looking at her with poorly disguised shock. She had never realised how green they were. "You are a woman?" "Now, Potter, that's a bit sexist of you,"

Unfair is about Ron seeing Ginny have a mental breakdown after the break-up with Harry. First time I write from a pov that's not Harry's or Ginny's (I have written from Audrey's pov and I have a wip from Lily Luna's one but they are substantially OCs so it doesn't really count). It's terrifying btw. I'm too used to Harry and Ginny.

I really wanted to explore how Ron felt about the break-up seeing that it's a source of conflict with Harry more than once in DH.

I've got just the end written though.

Ron could admit, in the privacy of his mind, that he had thought a couple of times during the years, in his lowest moments, that maybe he would have been better off if he had never become friends with Harry Potter. In those circumstances, he had been selfish and petty and jealous. Now, while he held his crying sister, it occurred to him how becoming friends with Harry had affected way more people than just himself. And that maybe, Ginny too would've been better off if he had never brought Harry into their home. Sure, Ginny had been infatuated by the legend of the Boy Who Lived, but he knew now, years later, that what had made the difference had been his letters about his first year. He had never met anyone who admired courage mixed with a healthy dose of recklessness more than his sister. It had been there that the damage had been made. His sister broken heart was in good part his fault, and he had no idea of how to fix it. For the first time in nearly three years, he was overwhelmed by the urge to punch his best friend. "Ron?" she whispered against his chest, "You and Hermione, you'll go with him, right? You can't let him do it alone," He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was trying to not cry. "Yeah… we'll go with him," he assured her, coming to the sad conclusion that maybe he had nothing to do with it, that maybe in any world, in any version, Ginny would fall in love with Harry if she still managed to love him in this one. How unfair it was, he couldn't help but think, to be in love with someone who found it so easy to walk away.

[hexitca]

I kinda wish mighty ducks the animated series was more detailed.

I like some of the concept ideas (it's fucking wacky and there are parts where it's TOO ridiculous) but so was TMNT and that series manages to have more gritty and detailed versions in comics/reboots etc. I really like the characters when they weren't poorly written (which... wasn't a whole lot of the time lol) they had very small moments of interesting character building.

MDTAS was clearly trying to just be a show to sell toys which didn't do so well (I had one of those pucks from McDonald's lol) but some of the plot was interesting. I don't want a reboot but it would be kinda cool to get a comic series that expanded on their war and then being trapped on earth. And maybe finish it off.

But MDTAS, while kinda fun in its goofiness, I can see why it was mostly forgotten. Interesting characters and a semi interesting concept can't save a show from poor writing and poor pacing.

Sad bc it is a fun concept (yes even the hockey lmao) in the same vain as TMNT is. The tmnt in the 80s-90s was pretty similar but was just enough decent to survive (and it wasn't on disney lol) I am curious though, what would it have been like if MDTAS did gain popularity like TMNT did? Was it bc TMNT started off as a comic and MDTAS didn't? Who knows.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Im about halfway through Party Crasher rn and its insane how bland Adrien is normally and how endearing he is when we get to see him hang out with his friends without him being on this pedastal by Marinette. Its not even like hes always that boring when Marinette is around or like this show cant write them being cute together because when they were hanging out as "just" friends in season 2 they were honestly pretty adorable! I also really liked them when they thought they were a couple in Oblivio, but for some reason the writers insist on writing Marinette as this bumbling fool whenever shes around him so anytime theres an opportunity for them to spend time together and develop their relationship, we need to get through this barage of bullshit hijinks where Marinette can barely get a word out and then the episode ends with a small moment where something kinda cute-kinda romantic happens but it doesnt actually affect their relationship in any meaningful way

I honestly think focusing more on Adrien would make the romance so much better because it would actually gives us reasons for Marinette to like Adrien because as it stands she really only seems to like him for shallow reasons but the show doesnt really acknowledge that? Like, they try to paint characters like Chloe and Lila as in the wrong for only liking Adrien for his looks and money but its fine for Marinette to do the same thing because idk, shes nice ig not a poorly-written caricature of the Mean Popular Girl archetype ? Granted, MLB has that False Ideal Self/True Flawed Self dichotomy-thing going on with Adrien obviously being that false ideal self in contrast to Cat Noir so you could say it kind of is calling her shallowness out but idk, this just reeks of misogyny to me

Also, before anyone accuses me of anything, I dont mind Marinette being the sole protagonist of the show while Adrien is just the love interest rather than the co-protagonist like you would think from the full title, I just think romances inherently work best when all of the people involved get an equal amount of focus and get fleshed out equally. I think if they wanted to have Marinette be the sole protagonist, it wouldve been better to focus more on female friendships (which is what actual magical girl shows tend to do anyway) and spend more time exploring the relationships between Lila and Chloe and Marinette/Ladybug. That would be a pretty interesting way to handle the theme of Persona vs Real Self with Chloe bullying Marinette but idolising Ladybug and Lila despising Ladybug but wanting to be friends with Marinette (ik that doesnt actually happen but shhhh Im trying to dream up a better version of this bad show) and you could even do something with Kagami outwardly being the type of person you would expect to be Ladybug but no actually being Ladybug and maybe even wanting a life closer to the one Marinette has

Also, to kinda bring this back around to Party Crasher, one of the things that I do apperciate about the show is how the Miracuclass feels like a big 'loose' friendgroup with smaller more close-knit 'sub' friendgroups within it. I dont exactly know what french school culture is like, but it seems like once the classes are picked, youre gonna be spending most of your time at school in the same group for several years. Its like that in germany too and since most popular media is american and about The American School Experience, I dont often get to see that dynamic portrayed in media and I appreciate that. I just wish we could have a few episodes that focus a bit more on those smaller dynamics, like Max and Kim have a pretty sweet unlikely friendship going on, the person Nathaniel texts his bad excuse to is Alyx and they have similar interests and seem happy to sit next to each other but I feel like they hardly interact, it'd be nice to flesh out Marinettes Girl Squad and some of their individual relationships a bit because aside from Rose and Juleka and Marinette and Alya I kinda feel like the only reason they hang is just that theyre all the girls in their class who dont suck ass. Also, this isnt really based on anything in canon, but I recently had a thought that Nino and Luca would probably get along well since theyre both musicians and theyre both meant to be Cool Guys, just in different ways and I like Adrien and Ninos friendship and the few times Adrien and Luka got to interact I thought they were cute and idk, ive been getting really attached to the idea of Adrien, Luka and Nino as a trio