#stan definitely improves as the series goes on but

[jesse-pinko]

Big fat disclaimer I love Stan he’s definitely my favorite of the Stan twins and I have no doubt that he loves both of the kids but in retrospect it’s kind of wild that there was a whole episode where it was established that Stan purposely treats Dipper poorly because he thinks that the way his abusive father raised him was acceptable and correct. And then the onus is put on Dipper, the child, to understand and come to terms with this rather than having Stan ever self-reflect and make an actual effort to change his behavior. Both of those old men projected allllll of their shit onto those poor kids go to theraprism!!

[oddygaul]

Astro Bot

now that’s fuckin video games.

I was kinda skeptical when I saw how effusive the praise was for this; look, I liked Astro’s Playroom too, but the comparisons to Mario Odyssey seemed like a bit much. Nah though, Team Asobi fuckin cooked on this one, and the steps forward they took from Playroom really impressed me.

Dante from the Devil May Cry™ series shaking his ass

My biggest issue with Astro’s Playroom, charming experience though it was, is that Astro’s moveset just doesn’t have the sauce. I’m a big gamefeel guy across all genres – if a character isn’t fun to move around as, what are we even doing? – but platformers in particular live or die by how good it feels to run around as your little guy. Now, well-done animations with plenty of snap and bounce go a long way, but I think what really makes movement feel great is a sense of momentum, and abilities that can be used expressively to keep that momentum going.

By genre definition, your time in a platformer is mostly spent yeeting yourself around a map at high speeds. For this to feel frenetic and engaging, rather than touchy and uncontrollable, it helps if your character picks up speed and gains momentum in an understandable, consistent manner. On top of that, the player must be given tools to make them feel like they’re in control of maintaining that speed. By including moves that can be chained together and deployed as needed, the player is given opportunities for skill expression: they’re not going fast because that’s just how the game is, they’re going fast because they’ve used the right tool for the situation, and have displayed mastery over the mechanics of the game.

Now, for me personally, the more options the better – half of Mario’s jumps in Odyssey are functionally similar, but the sheer number of tricks up your sleeve allows for a lot of expression. I stan for this even when it’s fully unnecessary: the defining factor that led to my purchase of NieR: Automata was seeing that 2B has a dash, an air dash, a double jump, a glide, AND a long jump, lmao. Still, you can get away without including such a complicated moveset, as long as the character has a satisfying way to build momentum and navigate their surroundings.

And Astro, unfortunately, simply doesn’t have many movement options. He can run, and although he picks up a little speed while doing so, it’s barely noticeable. His jump doesn’t affect your speed. His hover move, despite being an exceedingly clever evolution of the classic double jump / glide, also doesn’t change your momentum. And that’s… all you have available, at least as far as movement is concerned. When there’s obstacles and challenges, the little guy is pretty fun to play as, but whenever I got to a big, open area in Astro’s Playroom, where I just needed to get from point A to point B, it felt like something was missing.

Astro Bot, though, has largely solved that problem, and the way it’s done so was pretty surprising. 

So, first off, they added power-ups in this one, and most of them are movement-based. Even having one extra move in a level goes a long way towards allowing player expression, whether it’s rocketing yourself forward with a dog-jetpack or shrinking and un-shrinking yourself repeatedly like a manic Ant-Man. These help!

The cool thing, though, is that their main approach to improving gamefeel is to make the world itself inherently satisfying to move through. It’s commonly held that no one has used the Dualsense better than Team Asobi – Astro’s Playroom has been the high mark since launch, with different tactile feedback for things as minor as running across different surfaces like sand, metal or glass – and Astro Bot elevates that usage from a neat trick to a mission statement. The satisfying thunk-thunk-thunk as your metal-encased form rolls down a spiked ramp, the rush as you send a pile of gems or rocks flying through the air, even the satisfying plink as you collect a coin… these moments all feel good in a bespoke way.

And the way these experiences are deployed is what really impressed me. Rather than adding moves to speed up your traversal through a level and calling it a day, they simply pack the level with things to play with, so that there’s always something entertaining to do on the way from A to B. Instead of chaining Mario-style long jumps together to zoom through a big space, I’m instead interacting with an animal to see what cute animation they added, or spinning through a big pile of leaves and watching them flutter to the ground, or knocking a bunch of acorns off a tree. It’s a sense of wonder that brings me back to first playing the Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando demo in a Target, and how amazed I was that you could break the streetlights – fuck the mission, I went around smashing up the level for ten minutes, in awe of the physics. This design philosophy, it seems, is about adding innate satisfaction to the experience: fun isn’t just about achieving the goals of the level, it’s about play, and remembering that games can be toys.

I think it’s very funny that Astro punches his enemies, but has a big kick animation solely reserved for punting friendly bots

~ misc. gameplay & design thoughts ~

-I love that ice in Astro Bot makes your movement faster and more fun, instead of slippery and annoying -The peak of the game for me was the timestop ability, particularly in the casino level. Seriously, that enemy that throws a bunch of cards at you, requiring you to freeze time and platform across his cards to get close enough to hit him? Chef’s fucking kiss -They continue to find novel uses for the stopwatch, too. The other level with this power-up contains a pitch-dark room, lit only by occasional flashes of lightning… which you can extend and use by stopping the clock at the right time. Clever as hell. -The level fly-ins* remind me of some old Ratchet & Clank design wisdom: Insomniac always tried to start a level with a vista, so the player would have a sense of place from the moment they landed on a new planet. Astro Bot’s maps are quite different than Ratchet’s – its levels don’t curve around the same way, and so are spread thinner – but the level intros accomplish the same goal.

*the casino and Balloon Breeze, in particular

Astro Bot’s music bangs, too, with a nice blend of tight instrumentals and endearingly cheesy vocal tracks. My favs were the spooky cave theme and the casino level (link here). The music is utilized dynamically, too, with plenty of contextual remixes and track changes based on the progression of a given level.

Okay, so about ‘Muteki Funk’, though:

Bah gawd, that’s Machinehead Tetsujin’s music!

…seriously though, like, note-for-note. I reached out to Kenny Young, the composer, but he didn’t compose that particular track, and James Shimoji didn’t respond. I have to assume that horn line is a loop / sample from some soundpack they both used, but still, it FULLY distracted me when it first played. I mean, the power-up you get in that level coats your body in chrome, so… maybe Kemmei Adachi is a REDLINE fan…?

—

The role of branding in the game continues to be a mixed bag. I think Astro Bot’s pivot to game characters makes the references feel more loving, compared to the weaponized corporate nostalgia of Playroom; rescuing robot PaRappa and seeing him lay down a beat at the Crash Site feels much more like of a celebration of gaming than beating a level and receiving the Sony™ PlayStation® 2 Network Adapter. The handful of levels that directly ape Sony franchises succeed due to a similar level of care – the visual set dressing is certainly fun, but it’s the gameplay references that really sell the bit, such as shooting off robots’ canister weakpoints in the Horizon level, or the God of War level’s AAA Loadscreen-hiding Shimmy Crack.

Still, there’s a part of me that wishes Astro Bot spent more time building up its own aesthetic. Sure, technically all the enemies and NPCs are robots with a fairly consistent design language, but the level design is all over the place, and the game world doesn’t feel that cohesive outside of the PlayStation bits. Look, it’s not like I need deep lore for why Astro and the PS5 are cruising through the galaxy, but if you’re going to make the Big Bad some dumb ass alien that looks like he stepped right out of a fake mobile game ad, I’m gonna need at least a sliver of context to buy in to the IP in its own right.

Everything in Astro Bot is a machine, so how do you know this tree is dead? It’s unplugged, of course

;-;

—

Playing through Astro Bot also made me ruminate a bit on the evolving design standards of collectibles in platform games. Now, of course, collectibles in games have intrinsic value: your lizard brain loves to grab shiny coins and hear a ding. But they need to have extrinsic value to motivate the player as well, and methods for this have changed over time.

Back in the NES / SNES days, coins and rings and the like helped get you extra lives – and since the levels were tough as nails, you wanted to grab everything you could just to increase your chances of survival.

In the early 3D era (around N64 to PS2), the collectibles became a requirement for progression: you might beat the level, sure, but if you didn’t grab enough orbs along the way, you’re not gonna be able to unlock the next area. Typically, these systems involved multiple interlocking tiers of collectibles – most often one big, rarer class of item that grants access to new levels or hub worlds, and a more common, easy-to-find currency with multiple applications, such as unlocking new moves, paying off an NPC, or buying rarer items from a shop – but some games would have dozens of different doodads for you to grab. Some particularly overloaded titles ended up feeling like you were filling out a checklist, leading to the pejorative term ‘collectathon’.

Despite that negative connotation, this style was still enjoyable when done well – each unlockable macguffin represented a discrete task or challenge you needed to accomplish, and devs expanded on the intrinsic rewards by adding flashy, unique character animations for such items.

Modern platformers tend to take a more laid-back approach. There’s still usually a degree of progression gating – Astro needs a certain number of bots to unlock the next satellite, Mario needs enough moons to upgrade his ship – but the requirements are so lenient as to be fairly meaningless*. And the coins, instead of being mandatory, are only there to unlock goofy little extras, like outfits or decorations for your base. Astro Bot really brings the intrinsic rewards to their pinnacle, too, since its collectibles aren’t a uniform item, but a cool, varied cosmetic in and of themselves.

*Maybe I feel this way because I’m older, and it’s still a legitimate obstacle for a younger player. I just don’t feel like there’s any skill check as brutal as, say, having to do fucked-up minigames in Spyro 2 to get enough orbs for the next hub world

I dunno, I think it’s kind of interesting to be able to see the epochs laid out this way. Video games are getting old! We have third-wave platformers now!

[talkingbl]

GMMTV 2024 pt. 2 (Mostly) BL Prediction Thread

Predictions

JimmySea. And they DESERVE it. Listen, I was not a JimmySea truther until I saw them in Last Twilight. And while the series went downhill from me, and both Jimmy and Sea have some improvements they can make, it is clear is day they have talent and SPARK together. Their chemistry is different from any other pair I've seen. They give a very soft/comfortable vibe that's not really romantic but more like enduring and domestic. It's like two people who really trust each other come together in their pairing instead of a fleeting but passionate trounce. I really enjoyed them in the Last Twilight and I think the series did so well GMMTV won't hesitate to put them in something new.

PondPhuwin. They've been lying about going on hiatus for quite a while now and I'm no longer inclined to believe them. I haven't been too tapped in to them lately but it's clear by how much stuff they keep getting casted in and how overexposed they are that GMMTV sees something in them. I think they will either have another series as a couple or both star in the same series but not as a couple. But, at the very least, they'll continue to promote as a shipped couple with fanmeets/concerts/etc.

On that same note, one of them will definitely have a het series.

FirstKhao. Don't see a world where GMMTV's not looking at the success of SandRay and saying "yeah, run that shit back." They just have way too much fan support and forward momentum that it'd be weirder if GMMTV didn't have something for them.

Lead role for Tay in a non-BL. For every BL TayNew does, they do 20 non-BLs to offset it 😂. I think the success of Cherry Magic, even in spite of all the production woes, proves that there's still a demand for TayNew together, and Tay and New individually. And while I would not be shocked to see a TayNew BL, I feel like GMMTV has set a precedent of giving Tay and New a lot of variety in between their BL roles.

Het series for Joong/Dunk. At this point their overexposure seems like it'll continue, for better or for worse. But I do see a world where Joong gets a het series. I can see it slightly for Dunk too just from a novelty standpoint, but at the same time no competent showrunner is going to cast Dunk with no promise of the JoongDunk-stan gravy train. He just doesn't have the chops for that IMO.

KristSingto. Obvious to everyone in the room lmao. If they don't get a series I'll be genuinely shocked. The way the pillars are moving these days it's like the girlies saw what TayNew did and said "Lord (P'THa), what you did for them, I want that for me!" That said, I can just as easily see them in separate BL series...

GL featuring Jan or Ciize. I don't know how well 23.5 is doing altogether (can only go based on the YT views), but it doesn't really matter IMO. I think GMMTV will do one or two GLs a year just to keep their portfolio diverse until GLs take off like BLs did. And for that, I see them casting either Jan or Ciize (or both?) since they are the most exposed female actors in GMMTV's queer media.

Lead role for Mark Jiruntanin in a BL (though I don't think Junior will be his partner?). This is more of a dark horse preduction. I'm not going to pretend like his story was one of my favorite parts of Cherry Magic, but the way GMMTV has moved with him, I can totally see them re-pairing him with someone younger/newer and seeing how that goes. Purely from a visual standpoint, I almost want to see him with Sky Wongravee but that feels like a pipe dream...

MarkOhm. surely I don't need to explain this one lmao.

Gem to take a break from acting to focus on music, otherwise his first non-BL role. Weirdly, Gem and Fourth seem to be at a point where they can pretty much dictate what roles they will and won't take. I have a feeling Gem is going to try his hand at being a full-time singer since that seems to more so be his dream anyway.

Soft launch of SeaKing as a GemFourth replacement. The mere fact the Only Boo! exists tells me all that I need to know. Sadly, the trailer for Only Boo! left me (and others) completely disengaged. Like I do not care to watch that show AT ALL. It's a poor concept with acting that seemed severely unpolished. It COULD pull an MSP and actually be good, but I just don't see that being the case (especially since the main reason why MSP was so good was because of P'Au and its unique cast...).

WinnySatang*. Asterisk here because I'm not sure GMMTV sees it for them to have a lead couple role just yet. I wouldn't be shocked if they get the recent Marc Pahun and [REDACTED] treatment until they can prove their acting skills in We Are (in fact, I suspect GMMTV has been doing this with many of their couples since the flop of My Gear Your Gown). They're not a super popular ship so, like FirstKhao, they'll need to break out on talent alone (can't believe this is a real sentence I just wrote...like what is wrong with this industry).

EarthMix. Now THIS is a bold prediction lmao. I heard Earth and Mix were in their divorce era? Not sure if that's true but these two honestly deserve so much better. Mix has been hard carrying GMMTV's BL talent (along with Gun and Fourth) and I would hate to see him not have more of these stories to his name. The hype for Moonlight Chicken was through the roof, but, unfortunately, Aof did what Aof does best and ruined the viewing experience like halfway through. I know they have that Ossan's Love remake allegedly happening within the next 2 years, but GMMTV is known for fucking up distribution of Japanese remakes, so I just don't think that's the best use of these two.

Only Friends 2: Electric Boogaloo. This was actually teased in the finale of Only Friends. But if they do this, I pray they don't bring back TopMew and minimize SandRay to focus on Nick and the new characters. Still, the status of this show could be up in the air given all the bs going on behind the scenes while the show was airing and months after...

We pray for:

An actually good series that's good from Episode 1 all the way to Episode 12/14. This would likely require some highly specific combination of story selection (something original with strong themes and consistently interesting plot), spectacular directing (P'Au or P'Nuchy only ATP), BUDGET (GMMTV, give this what you'd give Bright/Win in a het role), and acting (always love Gun but he stays casted, so would love to see some more for Fourth, Inn, First, some of the other newer folks, etc.). This is asking a lot because, honestly, no BLs have delivered this since...Linger?...but if GMMTV is smart, they'll see what some of the fan favorites did and recreate that.

On that same note, a period piece. I'm not sure how it'll work on a GMMTV budget, but I need Ayutthaya-era Thailand, with a deep and complex story.

Perth getting another screen partner. I THOUGHT PerthChimon was going to be very interesting since Perth is a good actor and Chimon is not too shabby as well. I neglected to consider that Chimon would so abhor kissing anyone that Kanghan looked like he was trying to violate a corpse in any of their kissing scenes. I demand that Perth gets re-paired with someone who actually wants to star in a romance.

(Not because of anything having to do with Gemini), I just want to see Fourth try another pairing, particularly with someone whose acting is out of this world. Unfortunately, I just cannot think of someone from the new crop who is not Gem who will be able to match Fourth's talent. Like, we haven't seen Chokun or Java actually act yet so it can't be either of them. As for Mark J., I don't think his acting is at Fourth's level. And I don't think Fourth would match First's energy well... It's just difficult to see who would complement Fourth in a role when so few people are at his level.

[lesser-mook]

Dianna Soriel is peak “Gundam Girl”

Queen of an entire race of moon people, she can improv the shit out of a speech without being preachy, and none of that Pop Singer shit like Lacus.

She sits proper, full of class, and so much composure. 

She can feign ignorance in one breath, and command the room in a second. And it’s not cringe “girl boss“ energy, she’s a PROFESSIONAL. 

It’s legitimate qualifications, you believe it she’s done this shit for a while as a career and is about it.

300+ Year old Queen that’s not above learning the joy of simply washing clothes lol, and will put a cap in your rump if you start rampaging in a mobile suit in her name.

She’s not having it:

"Do i even remember my parents"

Is something she says towards the end of the series, just before a battle, the finale battle. 

A very odd thing to just drop in the finale, but it’s little nuggets of character like that that puts her up there in the Gundam “character” list, not just the honorary female category, but Gundam characters period.

Now, i’m zero bullshit, the reason why she’s not as marketable among current day audiences as your Lunamaria, or Lacus, Nena, or Sayla. Is mainly exposure and sex appeal, let’s just get that out the way.

Turn A Gundam is underrated, so it goes under the radar (Exposure)

Dianna Soriel is too well written to be classified as a “waifu”, she’s not an infantilized idiot with a fat ass, and she’s not treated as such. (Sex appeal)

Turn A Gundam has it’s moments of fanservice but it’s not My Sus Academia levels of Pedobear- it’s entirely context oriented and it doesn’t dwell on it. It passes, and we move on.

So she’s not a sex symbol in this franchise, and for the most part is not flaunted like a piece of meat, she’s written like a Ghibli Studios character. 

Is that enough reason for her to go unnoticed? 

Unfortunately yes, to an extent. I’m a straight male with working testosterone, i know the game. 

Just look at your top “anime girl” lists and count on five fingers how many of them:

Got that spot because they’re well written vs possessing some blatant form of sex appeal, despite being 2D with eyes the size of a respiratory organ

NOT a Shonen female character

Not from a mainstream anime that everybody rides because it’s mainstream 

Leads their own series

And contributes something legitimate to the situation beside being there or being hot

Cause i guaran-fucking-T you you won’t see Marlene Angel on that list, her anime has fanservice, however the anime itself is like a cult classic type situation.

People in this anime straight have sex, and the narrative function is like Attack on titan, end of the world, creatures run amok.

People are trying to feel alive in the moment because it could be their last time.

That’s the context, it’s called Blue Gender, brutal, fucked up, tragic. I recommend it. 

You’re even less likely to see BALSA Yonsa on that list

And she’s a beast.

Explaining her story would take another post, just go watch her anime:

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

So because the anime is underrated and retro, and her sexual market value is not exploited-

No, she’s not going to get her due respect.

If she was treated like Makima is, she would also have stan group on Twitter compiling entire tweets dedicated to pointing out the anime itself featuring frames of her ass, chest, her in lingerie, the whole “woof” meme, lmfao. 

Because we’ve never seen that shit before. Originality. 

Niggas calling her “Mommy” and shit, bruv chiiiill with all that hogwash.

Can’t make this up, her relevance is being a fetish mascot, fabulous.

Writing 101: When your character is as transparent as a Ziploc bag, over compensate with sex, “that’s a neat trick”.

Can see it a mile away. Because at some point, writing wise, most people have done it, it’s definitely tempting, cause humans are sexual. And writing is freedom so you’d think, why not?

However, the measure of a writer’s competence in this context, is choosing not to do that. 

Because giving a character depth takes more work & EFFORT vs letting your fandom project their libido onto the character because you want to misdirect the fact that she’s not much of a character. 

And her popularity is founded on that, longterm, she’ll fade into obscurity when the Makima or Akane Shinjou  is introduced.

Oh? You forgot about that weirdly “foot fetish-y” sexualized teenager that everybody was panting over not long ago? 

Well don’t worry about forgetting she ever existed, cause so did everyone else-

And that’s my point.

Sex appeal by itself isn’t the issue, women are attractive, that’s not a sin. Active sexualization (especially of teenagers, cmon bruv) at the expense of presentation and characterization, is straight narrative laziness.

Laziness and wasted potential is the issue.

So Makima’s biggest contribution to the average normie is being a “Woman in a suit” aesthetic (Which i personally think is under-represented), but in the culture, that’s all the majority care about.

Which is not surprising because a lot of Mangaka’s do not use their work as a proxy to share their storytelling prospects & ideas like competent writers but instead insert their kinks to project onto millions like scumbags.

And it works, because the industry attracts and rewards that energy.

And of course the characters either succeed because the content is good, they're relevant for a few weeks cause they're cute, or get butt fucked in on rule34 for it then they're replaced by the next pinup girl.Trending today, forgotten tomorrow.

Trending today, forgotten tomorrow.

Dianna Soriel does not have this problem, because she’s not written to be an eroticized effigy to pander. She’s not a proxy, she’s a character.

And that’s partly why she’s under the radar for the most part.

 TL;DR Put respect on her name.

[doomalade]

Hi.

I’m here to torment myself and do a TLDR/Breakdown of this.

This is gonna be long and torturous. I will try to not be biased (but I will be if something really upsets me.)

Tier 1: The Sky.

“Planned from the start.”

Planned from the start is a phrase most commonly used by RoosterTeeth and RWBY Stans especially to support the other claim of Bumblebee being a long burn ship. The counter-argument of this often goes back to the earlier days of RWBY when things such as the Maidens weren’t added in until V3.

“hbomberguy video”

A video by YouTuber hbomberguy on RWBY titled “Why RWBY Is Disappointing” was uploaded in 2021. It covers issues surrounding creative decisions from earlier RWBY Volumes. It remains debated to this day, especially when discussing Rooster Teeth and the writing of the show.

“FRWBY”

FRWBY, also known as Fixing RWBY, is a rewrite on YouTube of RWBY made by CelticPhoenix and a small group known as the SketchyHuntsmen. Starting in 2017, this series continues to be heavily debated in the fandom. It also brought up several discussions of the practice of rewriting media.

“Poser to Maya”

Volumes 1-3 of RWBY used an animation program known as Poser. It was well known for it’s exaggerated colors and overall more grainy look. Volumes 4-onward of RWBY uses an animation program known as Maya. It’s a lot smoother, handles greater details, and removes the grainy look. In V4-5, the animation in Maya was a bit choppy but has greatly improved since.

“RWDE and Anti-RWDE”

I’m going to loop these two together because of how intertwined they are. RWDE is a tag on Tumblr and other social media platforms created specifically to bring up criticism of RWBY. Anti-RWDE is the counter tag that often disagrees with the criticisms of RWDE. One thing is for certain, when RWDE and Anti-RWDE interact, it’s never pretty.

“The Propaganda In TV Shows Does Numbers on Y’all”

This phrase originated from a tweet screenshot discussing why TV shows often have minority character being bad guys to make the audience view minority people as bad. This point is most commonly brought up by RWDE posters when discussing the handling of the White Fang.

“The Granddaughter of a Hero.”

This is a quote from Weiss in V9C4 talking about her grandpa, Nicholas Schnee. She then follows up this quote with “and the daughter of a villain” in reference to Jacques Schnee. This line is debated in RWDE as framing the mega-corporation of the SDC as a good thing.

“V8 and V5���

Once more looping things together for simplicity. Volume 5 and Volume 8 are often debated as being the worst Volumes of RWBY, with Volume 8 especially bringing up several discussions of the writing choices.

“Critikal Drama”

This is in reference to when MoistCritikal streamed his reaction of RWBY V9 which led to him receiving several death threats after he critiqued the animation.

“HTDM”

The HTDM (Hatedom) is a term used to categorize people who hate on RWBY for no good reason. Although that definition has withered away from being just about trolls to people who often post RWDE or critique the show.

“#GreenlightVolume10”

#GreenlightVolume10 is a hashtag that began being posted during and after Volume 9’s release. This hashtag has been brought into question when bringing up work conditions at Rooster Teeth.

“Belts and Zippers”

This is often a joke made at the increased number of belts and zippers on character models, and it especially came up with the V7 designs.

“No Faunus”

In Volume 4, Qrow visits a bar that has a “No Faunus” sign out front. This sign was a one of a kind and never showed up again.

“GMod Cat”

This is a joke about the Curious Cat’s color scheme reminding people of the black and pink graphic missing texture most commonly seen in source games such as GMod.

“Weiss aiming her weapon at her little brother.”

In Volume 8, Weiss points her rapier at Whitley, her little brother. This is often debated as Weiss being violent towards her own brother.

Alright, that should be it for the first layer, I will continue this in a reblog for the tip of the iceberg. Please let me know if I missed anything or got anything wrong!

this is hell. i am in hell.

badly cropped versions of each tier below:

i would’ve added more, but I figured this was enough shitty takes, problematic canon and uncomfortable implications for one day. :)

[strange-destinations]

what's the game of rassilon thing???

Oh, thank you for giving me permission to invite all of your into my current hyperfixation hole.

The Game of Rassilon is a fan-made actual-play RPG podcast where a bunch of very funny and very creative people play the official Doctor Who roleplaying game. If you've been following me on Twitter recently you may have noticed I've done a fuckton of art for it. That's because it's extremely good! the adventures are well-thought-out, the roleplaying is choice, the goofs are hilarious and the emotional beats hit hard. it feels quite a lot like listening to a canon series of tv doctor who, except it's all improv and dice rolling and rpg.

the first two seasons are typical monster-of-the-week doctor who adventures with a gradually building plot revolving around the Doctor & co running from... someone (or perhaps something), and a Big Plan that even the Doctor isn't sure of the details of, at least at first. there is the Power of Friendship! there are Pokemon battles! there is freestyle jazz scatting, much to the Doctor's exasperation! it's all excellent. i haven't started season 3 yet because of Time Issues on my end, but I have no doubt it's going to be just as good as the first two seasons.

You can listen to it on their website (go to the start of the archive and start from the beginning) or on most podcast apps. The episodes are about 1/1-1/2 hours long each, and there's currently two and a half seasons out (20ish episodes each season, i believe) so it's not quite as intimidating as like. TAZ is. definitely not as scary as CritRole.

also i wrote fic for it. i would link to it here, but it's spoiler-y for all through to the start of season 2. and i am writing more, because i apparently just can't help myself when it comes to One Certain Character.

so yes. go listen to it and then come back and let me know so i know that i've got more people into it. i'm on a roll here. i will drag everyone i know into this very good podcast!

if you're curious about the content and don't mind mild spoilers, then come with me beneath the cut and I will introduce you to the Party, featuring some Fun Art From Me

The Doctor

played by Riley Silverman. eternally delightful force of chaos. 'the most 90s doctor', according to michael, and honestly he's not wrong. canonically trans! in the sense that her player is also trans and said 'if you think she's trans also i'm 100% behind you' and i choose to think she's trans

got stranded in the 90s for a while, which explains why the interior of her TARDIS currently resembles a 90s coffeeshop. gives very good very doctor-y speeches. stubborn. curious.

Travis Killian

played by Dan Peck (who is the sort of RPG player who breaks the game at least once every session. and it's great). worked at a library in New Jersey, 1998, and then Things Happened and now he lives in a time machine. you know how it goes. 'gentle ball of confident anxiety'. Star Wars fan, Pokemon nerd. basically half his character sheet is based around how much he loves his friends. Best Boy!! with a really genuinely excellent character arc.

welcome to the travis killian stan club. i love him very much.

Millie Earhart

yeah, that Amelia Earhart. big strong lady with a wrench who is very good at flying things! planes in particular but she's very adaptable. a bit of a walking paradox, considering she's supposed to, you know, die on a plane trip, but it's fiiiine. it's all fine. trust her! she's amelia earhart!!

Roman

technically an NPC (it's a bit complicated). still a member of the party, in my heart if nowhere else. i will not spoil anything to do with roman because his reveal is just too good to spoil. but please rest assured he's a delight and by s2 you will love him just as much as i do.

Carrie Vu

played by châu kate lê. carrie 'i think time lords should unionize' vu is also a delight who i will similarly not spoil, simply because she doesn't show up until about mid-s2. but i couldn't not mention her. also, she has a softball bat, and is keeping the doctor who tradition of 'tiny women going to town on aliens with blunt objects' alive and well. queen

Gunther

is the doctor's cat. she is a sweetheart and she is perfect and she is also currently my profile picture on most of my social media. we all love Gunther.

in conclusion come join me in the game of rassilon. i need someone to cry over roman with and i need to justify the fact that i've written over 50k of fanfiction from travis's point of view somehow

[floralovebot]

I really liked your aisha meta about her bonding and i was wondering what you think is her biggest weakness? And the other characters too if that's okay. Thank you:)

Oh thank you!! Hmm I had to think about this one for a second but I'll try to give you some good answers! Though to be fair, I think most of what I listed are things that have already been said aljdhgjladg

I do want to note, I think all of the major characters had room for growth and self-development especially within the first three seasons. We all know that characterization made a huge nose dive after season 4, so I'm not really going to be talking about the later seasons as they aren't super representative of their personalities (however, i will occasionally mention them for certain characters). \

Anyway, onto our beloved characters mental issues and why they should all be in therapy <3

The Winx

Bloom: I think Bloom is actually a very well rounded main character! She has positives and negatives and those don't often conflate with each other (and I think most of her "too perfect" characterization comes from later seasons). Because of that, I had a hard time thinking about what her biggest weakness is because,, she has a few. However, I think something that stays very consistent throughout the series is her escapism. Bloom is a major escapist, especially when she's feeling unworthy. She has a lot on her plate! And a lot of people rely on her, which naturally can lead to some pretty heavy thoughts ("Am I doing the right thing?" "Do I deserve to be the leader?" "What if they're safer without me?"), however those feelings, when they become too much, often leave her feeling like people are truly better off without her. Then she runs off to Gardenia or she shuts people out or she takes on some dangerous mission just to get away from people. Her escapism often leaves everyone, including her, feeling shitty and it would've been nice to see her grow from that.

Stella: Hmmm, so again most of the early characterization gave the characters a couple of weaknesses so I had a hard time thinking of what Stella's biggest one would be. However, something that I've always noticed about Stella that's always made me feel bad, is her extreme I Need To Fit In Or No One Will Love Me attitude. And obviously that goes into her childhood and upbringing, but it's something that stays with her even after meeting the Winx and having all those You're Perfect The Way You Are talks with Bloom. She often changes her personality/attitude/emotions to fit what she thinks other people will like most. But that heavily goes into her insecurities of thinking people only like her because she's pretty or a princess. Stella's a smart girl and she notices how people respond to what she's doing. But when she's changing something about herself to get others to like her and they respond positively to it? That's horrible for her overall self-esteem and to her just confirms her fears that people don't love her for her true self.

Edit: I absolutely don't want to come off as if I'm saying Stella's personality is fake! Here's a further explanation for hers!

Flora: I think some people might disagree with me on this one, but I genuinely believe Flora's biggest weakness is how often she rushes into something. On one hand, it's admirable and shows how strong she is, but on the other hand, it says a lot about how she lets her emotions run her and often doesn't think things through when someone she loves is in danger or she thinks she needs to do something Right Now. Unless someone else prompts it, Flora often doesn't plan or try to think things through rationally. I don't think it's a bad thing to be in tune with your emotions, but it can become a weakness when you only ever think with your heart and what it's feeling at That Moment In Time. Instead of trying to think rationally or make a plan, Flora often just follows her heart immediately, but that can be a bad thing when her heart is hurting and she's not thinking clearly.

Aisha: It's definitely her attitude of needing to appear emotionally strong all the time. Aisha gives more of herself than she receives from others and a lot of that comes from her need to be seen as Reliable and Good. However, that often means she doesn't get the time to sit with how she's feeling or she pushes her emotions down. She doesn't want people to know that she's feeling upset because she doesn't want people to feel bad for her or use their energy to comfort her. Aisha is definitely a "other people have it worse so what happened to me doesn't matter" kind of person and that's often what hurts her the most. She doesn't let herself be vulnerable and often only does so when she truly can't handle it by herself anymore. And I think this heavily goes into her childhood and how she's had to be independent from a very young age. Aisha doesn't know how to let other people in.

Tecna: Hmmm, on one hand I'd like to say it's her internal battle with her logical side vs her emotional side,, so I'm going to. Personally, I think Tecna is a lot better at emotions than she gives herself credit for, and I think that's her biggest weakness. She doesn't give herself any credit when it's something that doesn't come naturally to her. Tecna had to work on being more emotive and reading other people's emotions correctly and by S2 she's already doing so much better than she was, but she refuses to recognize that. Tecna is so stuck in the "what if i'm too logical/not emotional enough and my friends hate me because of it" headspace that she doesn't even see the progess she has made. Honestly, Tecna being too logical/not emotional enough hasn't been a real issue for years and she doesn't even realize that. It's a little ironic actually, she's so caught up in her emotions about being too logical she can't see how far she's come.

Musa: Her trust issues. Personally, I think Musa's biggest weakness is her problem with trusting people. Because she just.. doesn't. Musa has a really hard time letting people in (for rightful reasons) but she once she does let them in, she has a hard time trusting them too. This is most obvious with her relationship with Riven, but it also comes out with the Winx! She's constantly scared that people are going to leave her or that they don't really like her or that they do like her but she's going to end up driving them away and all of that negatively impacts her relationship with others. She just,, doesn't trust people and has an even harder time trusting herself. I think if Musa had been allowed to truly work through that, she would be much happier.

The Specialists

Sky: I think Sky's biggest weakness is pretty obvious! It's that he does not know how to interact with people. I think I'm one of the few people that doesn't actually hate Sky. I hate that, just like the other characters, he had room for improvement and self-realization, which got scrapped almost instantly for Perfect Prince Sky. Sky, like most of the other royal characters, grew up pretty lonely (and his parents are abslute shit). The only other people he would ever talk to are members of his family, other royals, or people who weren't royal but were close enough to it (ie Brandon and even Diaspro depending on which canon you go by). Because of this, Sky has a really hard time interacting with people in a casual setting. He's great in royal settings and all their missions, but that's because he's allowed to and supposed to act all serious and Business Like. When it comes to talking to people in casual settings, he often fails because he doesn't understand "normal" people and he's never been allowed to just,, sort through his own feelings. It would've been amazing to Sky grow from this, because even in the first season you see hints of Sky rejecting royalty and wanting to be normal. MAN I wish Sky got proper characterization, he would've been so much better if he did.

Brandon: Oh man,, I had a really hard time with this one, because Brandon honestly doesn't have a lot of weaknesses? I think something that could be considered a weakness is that,, he's very devoted once he decides he cares about someone. Which isn't bad! But it often puts him in dangerous situations because he wants to save someone. Like anytime Sky gets into trouble, Brandon is for sure right by his side. Or if someone messes with Stella? Brandon's there. And again, this definitely isn't a Bad Thing, but it can put his own life in danger. And in their line of work it often does. However, I do think this is mostly evened out because of Brandon's ability to call for help and think of a plan. He doesn't often just jump into things unless it's absolutely necessary. He's able to think things through clearly and strategize. Sorry anon but I honestly can't think of any Big Weakness for Brandon, because most of his weaknesses are evened out by some positive. (Like, I was going to say he's a bit of a pushover but,, is he? Then I thought well maybe it's because he's ready to die for Sky,, but like. That's his job? Idk man,, any Brandon stans wanna chime in please?)

Timmy: Hmmm I, once again, had some troubles with this one. Timmy has a few weaknesses, mostly in the insecurity region, but I had a hard time figuring out what his Biggest Weakness is. After some thought, I think it's his eagerness to prove himself, specifically when he doesn't need to. I think this definitely evened out in the later seasons once he got some confidence, but in the early seasons Timmy really wanted to prove himself. He wanted to prove that he was a good specialist, a good friend, a good partner,, just,, everything. He was really set out to prove that he was capable of things. This often put him in dangerous situations that he couldn't handle or something he could handle but was too nervous to. It didn't help that in early seasons some of the other characters doubted his abilities (cough tecna cough). But again, I think this really evened out by S4 and it's not a big problem anymore.

Riven: Ugh goodness where to start.. I think Riven's biggest weakness is actually a mix of Musa's and Timmy's. Riven has a hard time trusting people, especially himself, and he's constantly trying to prove himself. He wants to be seen as reliable and Good and that's where a lot of his competition with other characters, mostly Sky, comes in. But that heavily mixes with his distrust and hatred toward himself. I think most of his Trying To Prove Himself is actually him trying to prove something to himself. He's constantly looking down on himself and that need to prove and be better than other people is a product of that. And I think that's also why he has problems with letting people in. Obviously, he has some general trust issues, with wondering if people just don't like him and what not, but a lot of it is not trusting himself and not letting people get close to him because of that. Riven's biggest weakness is that he doesn't give himself any credit for the progress he's made and is constantly doubting whether or not he's a good person. And that messes with his relationships a lot because he thinks he's not good enough to be around people and that sparks his need to to prove himself. And even when his friends do try to comfort him or say he's enough, he doubts that too. Riven has a lot of problems but most of them go into how much he hates himself.

Helia: Well, as one of the resident Helia stans, I've thought about this a lot. And I've got to say, his biggest weakness is his complete inability to talk about himself. A lot of people think Helia is really good at talking about emotions, but that's only partially true. He's good at talking about other people's emotions. When it comes to himself,,, he's a mess. Helia is consistently really bad at sharing his feelings and even just general tidbits about his life (evidenced by all the times he does/says something and the others get surprised because they never knew that,, years into their friendship). However, this often strains his relationships with people because they end up thinking he hates them or doesn't trust them or something else. While I have my own issues with the later seasons, S5 did a really good job at focusing on this in the show (when it really only ever got hinted at or shown in the comics). The whole Flora/Helia/Krystal thing was a major product of Helia never sharing anything about his own life and Flora's insecurities over if she's good enough. With the mix of being able to talk to people about their feelings, but never his own, it creates this really awkward situation of people just like,, not knowing things about him and then doubting their relationship, but then not being confident enough to express that because Helia still talks to them about their feelings so he must care about them!! .. but does he? It's this internal struggle of he's obviously a friend but why doesn't he ever share anything about himself?? This is even shown in his relationship with Saladin, a literal family member!

I'm.. gonna stop here for now ajghaljdhglj I'm sorry this got so long! And that some of them were shorter than others..

[sneezemonster15]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about how Sakura is generally perceived by the Naruto fandom. I haven't been here for very long, but it's an understatement to say that man, they hate her. I guess apart from Sakura stans or SS stans (who I am not even going to give much space here because their reading comprehension of content is below par and almost unbelievably projectional), when almost every other subcategory of this fandom, even the dudebro kind, just like, abhors Sakura, like the stuff is pure vitriol.

But I am trying to be thoroughly objective here.

Throughout part 1, I can honestly say she appeared to be a character who was self absorbed, spoilt, skin deep and childish. But the thing is, she Was a child. At that point, I knew that I had long way to go towards the end of the show, so I knew being one of the supposed main characters, she would go through an arc, and possibly grow up. I couldn't begrudge her coming of age.

During the initial part of Shippuden, I could see that Sakura had grown up in some way. She definitely had matured to some extent. She had a better grasp of her emotions over losing Sasuke than Naruto at this point. She even comforts Naruto and defends him against Sai, and I kinda liked that moment despite myself ( I for one never liked Sakura but was willing to give her a chance at redemption at this point, well that and anyone defending Naruto gets a little bit on my good side). She was training hard. Even if it was unoriginal, she was kinda doing her own thing. I thought, hmm that isn't so bad. She makes a few bad choices, but she is also adjusting to new and improved Naruto in team seven, new responsibilities. Yes, she is not the best fighter but c'mon man, she was literally put in a team with two of the mightiest ninjas of all time, and it wasn't her decision. She was liable to feel insecure. Cut her some slack. Compared to team seven, all the other teams anyway look like benchwarmers.

It's mostly what happens after Sasuke is condemned as a terrorist that made me lose all hope for her. One bad decision after the other in this arc (and all the other arcs after this one). This convinced me Kishi had had enough of this half hearted development at this point, he just went like fuck it, it's time for fucking War, let's get fucking on it! This is where his SNS was going to shine after the long hiatus and overflowing anticipation of Naruto and Sasuke teaming up together (I mean just look at the ridiculous build up of their upcoming team up at the war, Kishi brought out all the big guns, the former hokages for Sasuke's entry, hahaha awesome. Then Sasuke and Naruto's own fights, especially the final one, just look at what the animation people did, the fucking detail, the atmos, the sound design, lord damn). Because let's be honest, it's battle manga.

After that, at such an advanced stage of the series, Kishimoto just like...spat on her 'legacy' over and over again in the war arc. Like it was almost painful. After Everything, when Sasuke slams his hand in her torso and puts her in his horrible genjutsu, just because she would have tried to stop him from getting hurt, I was like my God Kishi stop already! You have made your point! She may not be perceptive, but that was way too harsh. In terms of commensurate action- reaction, that was just way too much for a reasonable Sasuke to do, who btw had already had a pretty good time (all things considered) at the war fighting big bad villains alongside his 'best buddy' and had kinda temporarily come out of his Karin-killing phase. He certainly had the calm of mind to pleasurably mock Sakura and Kakashi now and again.

Well, Sakura had lost all credibility at this point of time and the ending of series was obviously forced. I see no point in even talking about it.

This is how I see it.

Now to come to my point. It's disturbing to see the amount of hate she gets from almost all factions. She is objectively written as a negative character, yes. Also yes, that I get how easy it is to get so invested in characters so as to find the lines a little blurred and one could perhaps project too much.

But some of it is just like, it crosses boundaries.

I get mad at Kishi for a lot of things, one of them being writing major female characters so badly, it made me detest those characters this much. Btw, this goes for both Sakura and Hinata. In fact, I find Hinata's character worse than Sakura's.

I understand why Sakura gets so much hate. But just the way some people choose to portray this hate makes me doubt if they like or sympathize with any character for the right reasons.

I could be wrong. But it takes a lot of energy to hate this much. I am just amazed at this extent of commitment.

From what I have observed, I think a lot of people in this fandom, including me, dislike Sakura because of the way she totally undermined her role amd significance in the story since so much was expected of her at the start, she was the only female member of team seven.

She was supposed to be a clever kunoichi (she literally just stands there during so many battles and cries), maybe a genjutsu expert (well..she ain't), someone who would eventually grow out of her fangirl phase (she never did), someone who would be more perceptive of other people (was literally responsible for Sasuke's attempt of killing her), someone who could be selfless for once (every attempt at proposing to Sasuke says not so much), someone who could fight alongside Sasuke and Naruto on her own terms (what can I say, she tries but it's pretty obvious how coloured her motivations are by the two bois; dudebros have a lot of fun with this).

Finally, someone who wasn't so oblivious. Like how is it possible that she didn't know Sasuke was an orphan! Like seriously! There's a whole ass scene where kids in class are openly talking about the massacre.

Kishi being so deliberate with it in this episode where Sakura mocks Naruto for being an orphan, he just didn't wanna give her a chance, he straight up wanted to establish the Real equation of team seven really early on. This is where he does it for the first time in the series, like blatantly. It is, what just the third episode maybe? Hahahha. He is so slick about it, that tease (but like also, most creators will establish the central theme of the series right away. So as to build tension and anticipation. In films, always pay attention to the first frame or the first sequence. It usually says much more than what's observed at first glance, anyway I digress). I find this episode really enlightening in terms of how Kishi wanted us to know that things were not what they seemed so we better start engaging with the content right away.

Sadly, Sakura could never be any of those things. Kishi never gave her a break. I kinda find it sad.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "What If...T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?" from Marvel Studios' What If...

Salutations, random people on the internet who already scrolled past this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

You know, a lot of people lost so much when Chadwick Boseman died. His family has lost a husband and a father, his fans lost an inspiration, and to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we lost both a hero and a king. His performance as T'Challa/Black Panther is by far the best the character has ever had, nailing the essence of the character while delivering so much more. So with the second episode of Marvel Studios' What If... one has to ask: Was Chadwick Boseman's final performance his best, or did the series failed to honor his legacy? Only spoilers can answer that question, so be wary as we analyze the second entry into Marvel's most ambitious series.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

T’Challa himself: I enjoy that because his story has changed, so did T'Challa's personality. There's this sly cockiness that we've never seen from the character before, showing how much influence Yondu and his Ravagers had on him. And it's actually pretty fun seeing a character who was so calm and collected now act so...not that. With that said, just T'Challa is now Star-Lord, that doesn't mean he's a copy of Peter Quill.

The major differences lie in the impact that T'Challa left on the galaxy. Instead of stealing for himself, he chose to steal for planets in need as his own version of Robin Hood. And that, in turn, is a way more intriguing and compelling character to me than Peter Quill ever could be. There's just something about the nobleness of choosing to be a heroic outlaw instead of being strictly an outlaw. It proves that despite having his history altered drastically, there is no erasing that perfect and intelligent King that we all know and dearly miss. It sucks that we'll probably never see him again, but at least the last time we did it was to leave one epic impression for the fans.

Korath is T’Challa’s #1 Fan: Not what I would have expected, primarily since the character never acted so goofy, but I appreciate this change nonetheless. Because it's oddly wholesome seeing how much Korath admires T'Challa, to the point where he honestly believes that they're best friends. Also, it's funny. Like, really funny. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this version of Korath is the funniest character in this episode. He's just too good.

It’s All Funny: Hey, we're on the Guardians of the Galaxy side of the universe. I'd personally be offended if it didn't have a sense of humor.

Yondu: Yondu seems to be the only one who hasn't changed that much through T'Challa's presence. Sure, he went straight because of it, but personality-wise, he's still the same. He still gives off the energy as this king of the idiots when dealing with his Ravagers, and you how he's this thief with a heart of gold. It's just that only T'Challa brought it out more than Peter did. Other than that, I personally don't mind that not much has changed. Yondu was already a fun character, to begin with, so I'm more than alright seeing him unaltered if it means we get to witness more of him.

The Galaxy is Better Because of T’Challa’s Influence: No, really, it is. Drax still has his family, Thanos renounced his genocidal ways, and Nebula not only remained in one piece but even has hair...somehow. It's impressive to see just how better everything turned out, and, in a way, it's also kind of funny when you think about it. Like, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the universe was in shambles because of Peter's existence...but it wasn't really better either, and I can't help my chuckles when witnessing how better off things were because he stayed on Earth.

Thanos: Not much to say here. It's fun seeing how chilled out Thanos is when he's not hellbent on wiping out half the universe. And I definitely chuckled a couple times when people called him out on his genocidal bulls**t. It's pretty enjoyable and made me glad we got to see his very surprising return.

Nebula: But this shocked me more. Korath becoming a T'Challa stan? Sure. Thanos acting as a respectful ally? Whatever. But Nebula becoming T'Challa's sexy thieve-in-arms girlfriend?! I don't think anybody in their right mind would have predicted that!

But putting aside the shock, this version of Nebula was surprisingly entertaining. It's nice seeing what she would've acted like without the tragedy as she acts like she's free as a bird but still a little devious. Although, despite having a much better life, that doesn't mean there isn't animosity between her and Thanos. He may not have torn Nebula apart as much as he did in the universe we know, but take notice of how she still has cybernetics in her left eye. That shows that T'Challa didn't get to fix everything, and I appreciate that the writers hadn't glossed over how much of a bad father the Mad Titan is, just because he's all sunshine and rainbows now. It allows a chance for Thanos to prove he really did change and gives Nebula an arc to forgive him. And while the pacing for that could have been better, it's still somewhat believable for me to get behind it. Thus surprising me even more with how not only did Nebula make a phenomenal appearance, but one that left quite the impact on the story.

The Collector: It's not just better heroes that T'Challa created. The Collector, for example, somehow became a genuine threat in this timeline instead of that pathetic dweeb in Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Infinity War. This again amazes me with how T'Challa miraculously created a buff-supervillain in his universe, where Peter did jack all. Maybe the galaxy really would have been better off without him...

Howard the Duck: This is the best way to utilize Howard the Duck if you ask me. He's a character that doesn't really scream "leading character" to me (unless given the correct type of writers), so it's better to let him stick to brief cameos and occasional supporting roles. It allows a goofy type of character to shine without causing audiences to roll their eyes over the idea of a talking duck saving the day.

Wakanda Theme Playing when T’Challa Found the Ship: It's just a cool callback. That's all.

Yondu Lying About Wakanda’s Destruction: A pretty solid reveal that shows how even though Yondu loves the kids he steals, he doesn't have the best intentions. What more can I add?

The Collector’s Wall of Weapons: The callbacks are nice, but I like implications from seeing Captain America's shield and Thor's hammer on that wall. It could mean that while the universe is a better place from T'Challa's influence, not everybody made it out alright.

Yondu’s Speech to T’Challa: I'm sure these beautiful and sentimental words have some implications toward Chadwick Boseman as an actor, but I was too busy being emotional to notice them. Well done.

What Happened to Peter Quill: Ok...I think we can just stop beating Peter down for dooming half the universe. Because how much lower can you get when finding out that this other guy practically saved everything with very little effort, only for you to end up as a worker at Dairy Queen? I'd honestly feel bad if I kept doing it at this point. The poor bastard…

(Sidenote: Love the implications that the world is still in danger because Ego still gets to Peter. It shows that despite the more interesting changes, not everything turns out all hunky-dory.)

The Tribute to Chadwick Boseman: A well-appreciated sentiment to cap off a perfect episode...or what would've been a perfect episode. 'Cause ya boy's got some nitpicks!

WHAT I DISLIKED

T’Challa Being Called Star-Lord: A small thing, but the reason why Peter called himself Star-Lord was because it was a nickname his mom called him. What's even the reasoning here? Because it makes no sense when you sit down and think.

The Black Order are still Boring: Out of all the improvements we've seen, it is still disappointing that these four remain as nothing more than cannon fodder for our heroes to go through before fighting the main boss. And pathetic. Immensely pathetic. I mean, for f**ks sake, THE MAW GOT KILLED BY THE PINK GIRL FROM GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY! Psychic powers and he still goes out like a b**ch!

Thanos Got Nerfed: The guy nearly killed the Avengers, with and without Infinity Stones, yet he can barely hold his own against these people who worked for him. C'MON NOW!

IN CONCLUSION

But those were just nitpicks. Despite them, I'd still consider this episode a solid A with 9.5/10. It was fun getting to see the changes T'Challa made to the galaxy, added with some pretty entertaining moments with other iconic characters. You couldn't have asked for a better final performance from Chadwick Boseman, and here's hoping that wherever he is, he knows that he shined brighter than any star in the galaxy.

[meowmeowmessi]

Was Dean really so abusive towards Sam through out the whole series?

I have been seeing some Dean hate a lot 😔 about him being oh so abusive to Sam. I know most of it probably because of season 9 gaslighting. That was so in character for him tho, like he will do anything to prevent Sam from dying. His whole character is protecting Sam, I’m not sayin what he did right in anyway, but I understand... he was desperate. And all the violence was when he was under the influence of the mark. I can’t seem to recalll anytime when he was downright abusive towards Sam. Was he?

Aw nonnie, don't feel down -- there's still plenty of Dean love to go around! *hugs*

Since you brought up s9, I'll start from there! Personally, I agree with you. I know it's a horribly unpopular opinion and Sam stans will crucify me for this one (which is something I find myself saying a lot lately.......), but I wasn't at all shocked or offended by what Dean did in s9. I mean, was it horrible? Yes. Fucked up? Oh yeah, definitely. Probably the most fucked up thing one brother has done to another in the whole show imo. But what were you expecting? It's Dean. Dean NOT stuffing an angel inside Sam to keep him alive and instead letting Death reap his soul would've been ooc as hell??? Jensen said so himself, Sam is the brother who has the strength to live on without Dean, not Dean (not that it means Sam loves him any less, ofc not. Just that they love in different ways). Once again, Dean gaslighting Sam was pretty horrifying, I won't deny it, but spn isn't a sunshine and rainbows kind of show. Sam and Dean's codependency is fucked up, but it's FICTION, so you can't apply your everyday logic to them. Now an argument can be made that the narrative during that arc was pretty skewed by being quite partial to Dean. Having Dean realize what he'd done wrong and apologize would've been nice and restored balance to said narrative, but we didn't get a chance to see that bc Dean went and took on the Mark, and the rest you know pretty well. Honestly? I kind of don't care anymore bc it's clear that after s10 (aka starting from s11) Dean has improved SO MUCH and I think his extra protectiveness of Sam in s11 was partially a result of the guilt Dean might have felt over the whole MoC deal and turning-into-a-demon-and-nearly-killing-Sam business. My humble opinion is that post s10 Dean has had significant growth and trying to hate on him by bringing up shit he did in the previous seasons is pretty juvenile.

For example: I stumbled upon a meta once about what a dick Dean is bc in s15 he tricked Sam into eating bacon by telling him it was actually veggie burger and equating it with the whole Gadreel mess and I was like ?????????? Are y'all high???????? I agree that a person's dietary preferences should be respected without question, but maybe take off your Literature Student Glasses for one goddamn second and try to see the scene for what it is? A big brother joking around and messing with his little brother to cheer him up? It's not that deep dude. Idk what to tell y'all, but siblings do be like that.

The Gadreel thing and the MoC issue aside, another thing bitter Sam stans bring up to paint Dean as "abusive" is the panic room incident of s4. Which is... pretty iffy, ngl. Bc when I was watching s4 I myself hated Dean (and Bobby) for putting Sam in the panic room without even telling him. It was pretty cruel. And while I STILL have gripes about it, I think it's just another example of how the show is fucked up, Sam and Dean's dynamic is fucked up (said with affection), and how Dean treats Sam like his possession. Sam is his. He gets to decide Sam's fate. He will revive Sam, he will (almost) kill Sam, and the authority to make those decisions is his, not Sam's. Bc once again, in Dean's eyes he pretty much owns Sam. After all, he's his little brother. Fucked up, yes, but you're kind of an idiot if you expected anything healthy out of these two.

And there's Dean hitting soulless Sam in s6 when he tells him there's something wrong with him. The thing is, Dean didn't give a shit about soulless Sam. None. Once he realized that Sam's soul was missing he was hell bent on getting it back, and he didn't give a flying fuck about the soulless version of his brother. And soulless Sam knew that. Imo Sam at that point was just an empty shell to Dean and he didn't care about hitting him and hurting him. Bc the one he really cared about was the Sam WITH his soul intact. Dean was positively BEAMING when Sam got his soul back and was acting like his usual empathetic self again and not the cold soulless one. And he was so so careful with him after Death erected the wall in his head. Hell, Dean temporarily died to make that deal with Death. How could you possibly say that Dean doesn't love Sam?

Other minor things that bitter Sam girls/Dean haters use to prove that Dean is "abusive" include: Dean punching Sam in s2 (in the episode where they meet Gordon for the first time. Can't recall the name of the episode rip). Dean was hurt and angry and grieving John, and yeah, maybe that's not any reason to hit Sam, but he's human. He's more prone to violence than Sam is. Doesn't make him abusive. Siblings hit each other all the time, dude. It ain't that big of a deal. And Dean even apologized afterwards. And Sam FORGAVE HIM. Same goes for Dean punching Sam in s7 imo. Anger born of worry and all that.

And lastly, one meta madness I've seen is how Sam flinches whenever Dean has an outburst of anger. Some people use this as proof that Dean (and throw John in the mix too why don't you -_-) abused Sam as a kid and that's why he reacts that way. Which is such utter bullshit lol. Sam has PTSD. He flinches at the sound of closing doors, when he hears sudden footsteps, and just any abrupt noise in general. It has nothing to do with Dean aBuSiNg him as a kid and everything to do with the trauma he suffered throughout his life as a hunter (and then there's the Cage. And the multiple times he's been sexually assaulted. And on and on and on...) (and the reason why Dean doesn't have the same reaction as Sam is bc the symptoms of PTSD are different for everyone, bc rest assured, he too has trauma).

This is just my personal opinion tho! You can think whatever you want, but for me, Sam and Dean's relationship really can't be judged based on our standards of "normal". The things they do to (and for) each other are all part of their codependency. So no, I don't think Dean is abusive to Sam. He's done shit that can be called abusive, sure, but Sam and Dean operate on a moral compass that's completely different from our own, and we have to consider their actions with that in mind.

[comingoutofthecauldron]

Sometimes I'm like broooo how did leigh make such good books with soc and ck with such good characters and plots and wordbuilding but she had made a (very entertaining) trilogy but with so many grating 2D characters and sometimes the plot was just ... not it

Like soc and ck obviously have their flaws too but not to the same extent as the trilogy

Like did you feel leigh was very unnecessarily sympathetic to the darkling and treated Nikolai as a mostly good character in the text even though he did sooooo many shitty things

And that zoya was treated (unknowingly) with a lot of misogyny in the narrative which has caused many people in the fandom to hate her

And alarking and nikolina were romanticised in the books and in the fandom far too much

???

YES OKAY so this is a Big Thing for me. very controversially, i prefer tgt to soc solely because i find it much more enjoyable to read. HOWEVER, there's no denying that leigh's writing definitely improved from tgt to soc, i agree.

while i think that leigh clearly portrayed the darkling as a villain (she didn't tamper down his crimes or make them seem less horrific), i agree that the narrative was definitely (arguably too) sympathetic towards him. i could use a lot of examples for this, but none work quite so well as:

“Once more,” he said. “Speak my name once more.” He was ancient, I knew that. But in this moment he was just a boy – brilliant, blessed with too much power, burdened by eternity.

“Aleksander.”

His eyes fluttered shut. “Don’t let me be alone,” he murmured. And then he was gone.

leigh's choice to have alina, one of the people who suffered most at the darkling's hands, sympathise with him and even grant him his last wish, was a bad one. this man is a thousand year old p*dophilic mass murdering sex trafficker and she had the nerve to describe him as "just a boy" and "brilliant [...] blessed [...] burdened". of course you can argue that this is the residue of his grooming of alina, but i just think that after all the shit he'd done by this point, after a whole book of alina talking about how manipulated she felt and how much she hated him, these few words offer him clemency from the narrative that he does not deserve. all he did to earn alina's kindness (not forgiveness, to be fair to leigh) was die.

and yes, nikolai was hero worshipped by the text for absolutely no reason. even though we see both alina and mal put up a lot of resistance to him + the shit he pulls (punching him, criticizing him etc), the narrative basically shoves their eventual "pity" and "admiration" for nikolai down the readers' throats.

“[...] Nikolai might never have made it out of the Grand Palace.” It hurt me to say it, but I forced myself to speak the words. “He could be dead.”

and

The too-clever fox. Even once he’d abandoned his disguise as Sturmhond, that’s who Nikolai had been to me, always thinking, always scheming.

and

[to nikolai] “I’m just happy you’re alive,” I said, hastily blinking my eyes clear.

imo this sympathy + romanticisation is much worse and much more prominent throughout the latter half of s&s and the whole of r&r than the sympathy with the darkling, purely because the bad things nikolai does are essentially never acknowledged. there is (unsurprisingly ig) no talk of his imperialism, no talk of his pursuing alina when she's a minor, no talk of his racist remarks and generally very little talk of him being an asshole (particularly to mal).

moreover, i agree that nikolina + darklina were too romanticized by the text. i have a very complicated relationship with leigh's portrayal of alarkling, because a lot of alina's earlier feelings and sympathy for the darkling stem from his grooming and manipulation of her, which i think this quote from the start of r&r shows pretty well:

Even now, after everything he’d done, I wanted to believe the Darkling, to find some way to forgive him.

but then we get the whole mental house call thing that alina + the darkling do, in which they can visit each other and no one else can see the other. that was a mistake narratively. the ability to do this implies a sort of deeper bond, and even though the darkling then uses this bond to show alina the corpse of the only mother figure she'd ever known, it still carries almost romantic connotations with it throughout the rest of the book(s) for some reason. this dynamic is similar to a lot of "soulmate bonds" in mainstream ya (namely sjm's mating bonds), which helps to explain why so many people ship darklina; it is written & coded the same as the majority of (abusive) ya relationships, so readers pick up on this as a sign of romance rather than some attempt at narrative foils or something (bc in reality zoya is alina's foil). this isn't even mentioning the repetition of alina's desire to forgive the darkling and her confusion over her "feelings" for him, which once again just reinforces darklina as a viable ship in a lot of readers' minds.

as for nikolina, as a less prevalent ship in the series it gets less attention in the fandom. most often, i see people turn to nikolina because they don't like malina or the darkling, or because they wanted alina to become queen (to which i remind everyone that alina never wanted to be queen). at first i was alright with leigh's portrayal of them because alina punches nikolai + is angry with him for kissing her non-consensually etc, which is the closest the narrative ever comes to condemning him for his actions. but later on alina seems to forget all this and considers marrying nikolai, even joking with him a little when he proposes:

[during nikolai's marriage proposal]

“Stop that,” I said, still grinning.

“What?”

“Saying the right thing.”

there is zero acknowledgement of how predatory nikolai is, and instead the narrative goes on to sympathise with nikolai and have alina feel guilty for rejecting him. imo alina's characterization (her initial disdain for nikolai, which was much more in character) was sacrificed to raise up nikolai, and also show him to be a plausible and "likable" love interest for zoyalai, which is where leigh obviously intended for nikolai to end up (zoya is even mentioned during nikolai's proposal).

finally - yes, zoya in tgt is basically a manifestation of leigh's internalised misogyny. from alina's initial slut-shamey disdain for her, to leigh weaponising her against malina (repeated sexual encounters with mal), to zoya being seen as evil & a bitch by the other female characters just because she's powerful + isn't "nice", zoya's character was assassinated before it even had chance to materialize. even though zoya was also a victim of the darkling and is, as i mentioned before, alina's narrative foil, alina has very little sympathy for her and assumes that she's an evil bitch. tbf, this gets better with each book, but even in r&r there's a lot of tension between zoya and the other characters because she's seen as unlikable and difficult. i can't speak to her characterization in kos or soc, because i haven't read one and don't really remember the other, but i have heard that it improved from tgt to kos.

anyways this has been a long ass rant and i'm very sorry to anyone who scrolls past it on their dash. fuck the darkling, fuck nikolai lantsov, and stan malyen oretsev

[kyojuuros]

am i the only one that feels like so many fans, even newer ones (0-3 yrs) are overreacting over 137/progression of snk as a whole? i've been reading since 2012 & i was most immersed in the fandom in 2013-2015 when anime-only theories were so out-of-wack it was funny. despite the theories themselves changing, the negativity around 137/post-timeskip/etc strikes me as the same problem: they invent theories, get too invested in them, & whine when new canon info doesn't match. these feelings caused the exodus of fans post-s1, again in post-rts, & again post-rumbling reveal or whatever. point is, canon owes nothing to their theories. if i make a headcanon, i don't feel entitled to see it validated by isayama himself. not saying that getting invested in a theory is bad either; a theory/headcanon can be good, engaging storytelling WHILE BEING non-canonical; that's what we call CANON DIVERGENCE. i just wish people would stop saying "canon has gone to shit" because what they thought would happen didn't & vice versa. let the man tell the story he wants to tell.

For sure, anon. I loved theorizing for the longest time because there was so much mystery to the series and it was engaging to put a microscope to literally everything and try to figure out what it all means and where it’s all going. I’m certainly no stranger to being hopeful my theories will be correct (especially as an anti-rumbling eren stan lmao). 

Honestly, once the rumbling initiated and it was clear my theories were beyond awful and wrong, I kinda just stopped with it altogether and found my enjoyment of the series had improved since I could no longer be disappointed over and over again. lol

But I definitely took notice of all the complaints toward ch. 137 and much of it definitely was rooted in people expecting something different from the series than what we are getting. At the end of the day, this is Isayama’s story and how he chooses to end something so huge will pretty much define his legacy as a mangaka. I’m sure he’s put a lot of thought into where he wanted things to go and how he wanted to wrap things up. He’s said a few times that he wanted to “betray the readers” and I think a lot of people have interpreted that to mean he wants a very dark ending where everything goes wrong for the cast (and it still might, though I doubt it). But really, it could mean anything. I don’t really know what he believes his readers’ expectations are lol

I suppose this is the cache 22 of getting into something that is ongoing. You have no idea if it will end in a way that will make you satisfied or not. I got super into Game of Thrones after season 6 aired, and I was massively upset by the final season of it, so I understand people’s anxiety when it comes to how snk will be wrapped up. But unlike D&D, Isayama is actually a good writer and everything in this story has made sense and tied together almost perfectly, imo. Even if I have been wrong sometimes. 

He’s just put so much of his heart into this and it’s just a bummer to see so many people being negative about it. Though, this is kinda why I started to just stay in my little corner lol

[livia-dovehallow]

Can you say what the things you liked the most of the book? And which pnes the less? For me the most would be one Thomas goes to see Alastair after Elias died like eventhough they were in bad terms he shows he cares and it is just so pure

WARNING: CHAIN OF IRON SPOILERS WARNING: THIS IS VERY LONG

You have opened a whole factory of worms, here, Anon. 

Let me begin with all my top 5 favorite moments, in order of appearance.

#1 - Christopher Lightwood

My baby, my love, my precious bean--Christopher Lightwood. He is mentioned, several times throughout COI in fact, that he is extremely kind and gentle. I love him more every single time I see his damn name in this book. Gabriel and Cecily: you created a wonderful piece of sunshine.

The only other person in the entire world I feel this way about, fictional or not, is j-hope from BTS. If you know, you know.

#2 - Blackdale/Ghostwriter

EXCUSE ME? Not only does Jesse nonchalantly declare that he is in love with Lucie, to Lucie, but he is also a self-proclaimed SIMP. “...pining away in a dusty attic...” I am deceased.

#3 - Blackdale/Ghostwriter cont. + Blackthorn Siblings

There is so much happening here on this single page that I had to physically put the book down and take a lap around my house before I could continue.

First off, “As if I were your husband.” JESSE BLACKTHORN. SIMP.

Second of all, Lucie you smooth criminal. Where did you learn to flirt like that? It certainly wasn’t your brother. 

Thirdly, Jesse talking about his sister kills me every time. No matter your own opinions of Grace, seeing the way Jesse talks about her warms my heart. He genuinely loves and cares for her in a way that Tatiana never did and never will. Jesse has such a huge heart and it’s admirable that he never faltered in his loving way being alone with Tatiana for so many years.

Lastly, the fact that the first thing Jesse did when he realized he had come back as a ghost was to go to his little sister because he heard her crying. “...[I] knew I must go to her.” 

This whole page made me fall in love with Jesse Blackthorn more than I already was. I think Lucie is in love with him not only because he is obviously very good looking and sweet, but because her family always gave her high standards for who she gave her heart to and he meets them. Her father is utterly devoted to her mother, her uncles devoted to her aunts, and her brother always protective of her. Lucie Herondale had high standards--and Jesse had exceeded those standards.

#4 - Christopher Lightwood being Chaotic

Need I say more? 

Why does this boy have a beaker of Raum venom in his shoe?

(Personally, I like to think he is trying to create a vaccine or antidote to Raum demon poison specifically. Why, you ask? Because his mother nearly died from Raum demon poisoning. Christopher Lightwood you adorable, loving, subtly protective sweetheart.)

This passage had me rolling.

#5 - Eugenia Lightwood

I have many thoughts about this passage that I will lay out for you now:

First off, Eugenia Lightwood is a fully trained Shadowhunter! I just knew that Gideon and Sophie would train their daughters too, regardless if they decided to pursue patrolling duties or not. With Sophie’s past with men and the life of Nephilim, there is no way she wouldn’t want her daughters to be able to defend themselves. I am ecstatic to see Eugenia’s training in action.

Secondly, Eugenia is one bad bitch. August-ass ruined her and broke her heart but she still saved from from a certain death by Leviathan and then proceeded to call him a useless piece of shit. 

Thirdly, of all people, Christopher being the one to say that seeing Eugenia do that was “unexpectedly satisfying.” Not only that, but then Thomas agreeing with him! It’s not surprising to me that the whole Lightwood family does not like August-ass, but for Christopher of all people to express that outwardly was the cherry on top of this scene.

Now, on to my least favorite parts, of which I do not have any photos because why would I want to remember the parts I did not like?

#1 - Jordelia/Fairstairs Tension

Why, oh why, did this need to be a thing? 

I hate love triangles with a passion. Overused. Overused. Overused.

You would think that Cassie would tire of love trianges in every single damn series. I am!

What was the point in pushing off James telling Cordelia that he was under Grace’s spell the whole time and professing his true love for her? I get ~suspense~ but this was wholly excessive and unnecessary. And Matthew running off with Cordelia to Paris? I loathe this. There was really no need to. What happened to Cassie’s teaser that this love triangle was unlike any of the others she’s written? I was so hopeful that it would mean Cordelia would reject Matthew because she did not want to lead him on and was still in love with James. I am not at all excited for these three in Chain of Thorns. I am annoyed.

#2 - The Lack of Gabrily

This is definitely a very subjective dislike and it is obvious I am a devoted Gabrily stan, but come on. Why repeat, many times, that Gabriel and Cecily were temporary heads of the Institute and then NOT GIVE US ANY CONTENT ABOUT IT?

Also, correct me if I am wrong, but all those mentions of Cecily and the queen didn’t have a single line of dialogue in the whole book? I am angry.

[I will be rectifying this egregious wrong through fanfic, don’t you worry.]

#3 - Anna Lightwood

After Chain of Gold, I was pretty indifferent to Anna. Didn’t love her, didn’t hate her. She was interesting, but not my favorite.

After Chain of Iron, I wholly dislike Anna.

There was absolutely no need for Anna to be so damn nasty and rude to Ariadne (Kamala). I get that she broke Anna’s heart, and Anna has every right to be upset about it still, but the way she spoke to Ariadne and treated her was vile and I am not at all pleased with the way Anna’s character turned.

I know I will probably get some hate for this because there are a lot of Anna stans out there who defend her to the death and I am not coming for any of you! I am just really unhappy with the way Anna acted in COI and will not pretend otherwise just because she is Queer. I am Queer, too, and I do not see how that is relevant to her behavior other than the lack of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the early 1900s.

#4 - The Subtle Introduction of Gracetopher

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I do not ship Christopher and Grace at all.

Nothing against either of them individually--obviously I love Christopher with all my heart and soul and I don’t mind Grace. Actually, my opinion of her has improved greatly after COI. But them together is a no-go for me.

They’re cousins. First cousins.

#5 - Cordelia’s Overall Behavior

Nothing against Cordelia herself, really, but more of the way Cassie portrayed her in COI. She definitely did not act like herself at all and only tried to save face by having James repeat that “Daisy is a hero. Daisy is strong.” Like, okay? But where is it though?

It was better at the start of the book, but toward the end I was annoyed with her behavior. This isn’t like Cordelia at all. I get she mistakenly pledged loyalty to freaking Lilith, but to run of with Matthew to Paris when she is married? Whether she thinks James loves her or not, they both made promises to each other and had kept them (mostly--James is another can of worms) for like 90% of the book.

Not a fan at all of that whole situation. I really hope Cordelia is able to realize what she needs to do and does it, whether it be confess to James how she feels, release herself from Lilith, etc.

I also really want her and Lucie to be parabatai, but at this point, I don’t see how they would. They kept way too many secrets from each other.

Phew! Hope you enjoyed my dissertation on Chain of Iron. This sure took me a while to write out. 

[millllennia]

I HAVE FINISHED ACOSF

thank you guys for dealing with my spam live blogging these last few days. the one friend of mine that reads didn’t get her copy until today so i had no one to scream at 

overall, I’m giving this book a 4/5 stars. I was surprised at how much I liked it. I do have some issues with it (and SJM, as per usual) but I am happy that I read it and I’m thrilled to see that she is improving on some things. slowly. not quick enough. 

detailed review below the cut

starting with the things I didn’t like about it because there aren’t very many:

i have my usual qualms with SJM. those haven’t changed. but there wasn’t a “killing calm” and the boob talk was limited to the first half (mostly) of the book which I appreciated. there was still no gays. every single one of the priestesses that got described was described at pale. her diversity isn’t any better and she needs to be aware and listen to her fans. 

I wish we’d gotten more of cassian’s perspective in the first little bit (like first hundred pages). it felt like that dragged a bit, which might have been a style choice because that’s where Nesta was at mentally, but I didn’t love it. 

There wasn’t enough Mor. making a character come out and then promptly sending her off to a foreign land is lazy and pandering. also one of Nesta and Mor’s only interactions being Nesta getting weirdly jealous for no reason was gross and uncalled for and no. if Nesta believed that she didn’t deserve cassian, she should be happy that he has another woman in his arms and punish herself with the image. that’s how that motivation base works. you don’t just get jealous weirdly one time and then never have it come up again. 

I fundamentally do not believe that SJM is going to kill any member of the court permanently, so the whole storyline about Feyre and Rhys and Nxy and everything fell flat. Rhys is SJM’s favourite and Feyre is her self insert and I just don’t think that she’s going to kill them. Not that I want them to die because I don’t (even though I don’t like Feyre, I think she does bring something to the story) but I just wish that I felt the stakes and that SJM would kill some people. 

NOW FOR THE THINGS I DID LIKE BECAUSE I AM SURPRISED THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF THESE

sjm needs to stay in new adult fantasy. her smut is SO MUCH BETTER when she doesn’t need to come up with creative ways to say dick. also she can have actual smut dialogue so it isn’t just hanging dialogue tags without the filthy talk attached that sound awkward and animalistic and it’s just all. so. much. better. I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS DEVELOPMENT YOU HAVE NO IDEA

also the smut was good. just generally good. I didn’t feel like there was too much of it. consent was a thing without it being like ‘loOk fOlKs tHiS iS cOnSeNt’ which was better. have I read better fanfic smut? absolutely. but also this is a published book and there are different rules and I overall really liked it. 

the lack of feyre was wonderful (stans don’t come for me). she is a fine character but I don’t think she’s interesting and I don’t like her relationship with Rhys and I think they are kinda boring together (despite the fact that Rhys is fascinating. that’s how boring Feyre is. she sucks the life out of rhys) so I was happy that we had some space from her. also Nesta needed that space and Im happy she was given that. 

im very very happy that it was in third person and not first. that’s purely personal preference but I don’t enjoy first person. maybe that’s part of why I don’t like feyre? idk 

it didn’t feel like fake girl power. as much as i love the tog series, there were a lot of moments that felt like pandering. nothing in here felt like pandering and i really really liked that. the whole blood rite thing was well set up and well executed and it wasn’t just “hey girls are as good as boys!” 

nesta is super interesting. cassian is super interesting. i love a reverse slow burn. their relationship isn’t perfect but it’s good and I genuinely like it. I could have done without the mating bond but it actually had a purpose. it wasn’t just ‘ah they like each other so they are now mates’. like there was plot around it. which we love. that is definitely an improvement.

the little moments we get of azriels inner thoughts (like the thing about his scarred hands while holding the baby) made me HURT A LOT but it was really good and i’m hoping we get another book about him and elain? because the subtext is there. im annoyed that the subtext is there but it’s there. I don’t love the three brothers getting paired up with the three sisters because heteronormativity and i hate predictable relationships. but they do seem like they’d be relatively compatible. maybe. and i’d like to see a relationship that goes against the mating bond 

Emerie is a baby sunshine sweetheart that needs to be protected at all costs and I did not miss her queer subtext and maybe that’ll happen??? i just really hope it isn’t her x Gwyn because that would break up the sisterhood. maybe her x Mor? also GIRL GET YOUR WINGS FIXED YOU DONT HAVE TO HOLD ONTO THE SCARS 

speaking of GWYN IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT HER

eris is everything????? he’s definitely one of the coolest antiheros i’ve read in a long long time. I really wanna know what the real story is with Mor. I hope we get more of him. 

I was very happy that this book didn’t end with another surprise army. she did it twice. twice was too much. she’d better not do that again. but this one was good and I was surprised (which rarely happens with her books) so that was nice. 

i’m glad nesta didn’t win the blood rite. it was so much better to have her stand in the pass. like yes that was such a good plot choice. 

I feel like her actual writing itself has improved. this feels like a stronger book and a stronger story and I am weirdly proud of SJM which I lowkey hate myself for saying but it’s true.

so there we have it, folks. 4/5. not bad.  

[animayo]

“They don’t make tombstones for stray dogs.”

Megalo Box, S1 EP 13

Welcome kiddos to some extremely underrated anime,,, seriously why is no one talking about this?

I just saw Megalo Box when I was scrolling through Netflix options and ya’ll know I love a good underdog story. The show was created in honor of the 50th anniversary of the manga Ashita no Joe. The story is centered around Joe, an underground illegal boxer who does fixed fights to survive. On the other side of the river where the wealthy prosper, the Shirato group is holding a Megalo Boxing tournament called Megalonia. Joe almost crashes into Yukiko Shirato and his encounter with her bodyguard/champion, Yuri, sets Joe on a path to prove himself worthy to fight him. 

Before going really in depth, I’d just like to say that this short series is absolutely amazing. There is so much to unpack with Joe’s journey and they really provide insight into each character in only 13 episodes. I really could not bring myself to hate anyone because really, they’re all living and surviving for their own goals. And the animation during the fight scenes and overall soundtrack is unreal. Honestly, I was so anxious for every fight and the animators did an amazing job of making it feel like you’re there with them.

Megalo Box is not dead yet. Season 2 will be back hopefully this year.

Now, real talk under the cut! (SPOILERS)

Right from the beginning I got chills. Joe is unreal and everything I love in a main character. And his main goal? To reach Yuri and fight him in his own ring. His journey to reach the top is not to become famous and steal any titles, instead it’s to be able to fight Yuri, the one person who challenges him more than anyone else. Each opponent he faces beforehand is just another bump to overcome but he continues to learn and improve. What really sealed it for me was him fighting gearless. Megalo Boxing is advanced fights with gear that enhance their performance, so for Joe to beat these pros with nothing is crazy. 

Joe, Nanbu, and Sachio really went through it for the entirety of the show. I mean, obviously to do fixed fights, there has to be some sort of conflict and shady business. That’s why I was skeptical of his trainer, Nanbu, in the beginning. And it only got WORSE after he seemingly betrayed Joe and everything they worked for. But alas, they fought their way through it and beat the cringey American (?) fighter dude,,, I can’t remember his name. Oh well, it doesn’t matter much because our real goal is Yuri, the ultimate champion. Yuri wears this ultimate gear that was designed by Yukiko Shirato, or as he calls her, Owner. We find out the Yukiko basically saved Yuri and gave him a reason to live and continue fighting. BUT Yuri finally defies her when he goes to fight Joe in the final episode. He gets his gear removed, which is like removing a piece of himself, in order to meet Joe as equals. I think this part was really important because it was the first time we really see Yuri act for himself. He’s never faced someone who makes him feel the way he felt when fighting Joe. They were absolute ultimate opponents. But basically, Yuri as a character was so amazing and I love him. He respected Joe so much for all the he sacrificed to meet him at the top and so he made sure to never let his opportunity to fight Joe as HIMSELF slip away. It’s important to note that the flashback we see of when Yukiko first met Yuri and saw his fighting, everything slows down and we see almost sparkles radiating off his form. The ONLY other time we see that again is when he removes his gear and is practicing for his fight with Joe. Yukiko also sees it and I think it played a huge role in her allowing the final match to happen and remembering why she chose Yuri in the first place. She might have seemed to be selfish throughout the story but I really believe that she loved Yuri and did want him to be happy. I think she just didn’t understand at first.

Anyway, stan Yuri :)

Also Nanbu? Fucking redeemed himself so much. He really gave up his eye sight in order to help Joe reach his goal. I cried when he was crying during the final fight because he said he can “see” the fight even though he didn’t have his eyes. That moment was so heartwarming and really just brought their entire group together. And Sachio with his rapping and prickly little personality is so cute. I hope he gets trained by Joe and starts boxing.

The ending was so satisfying to see. We don’t find out Joe wins until the very end during the credits, although it seems somewhat obvious. A year after the fight, Yuri is reduced to a wheelchair and we aren’t sure if Joe is still fighting. Team Nowhere FINALLY has a gym and everyone is just there enjoying each others presence. Yuri and Joe as best friends? Ugh absolutely cleared my skin. They both showed each other what it really means to Megalo Box and Joe was definitely the real deal and everything Yuri was looking for. Everything about it was amazing and has brought Megalo Box to No. 2 in my favorites.

- K

[yourwakingnightmares]

Even leaving aside the terrible plots, the horrific writing, the nonsensical contrivances, and the decimation the new Star Wars movies did to the universe, let’s talk about ‘Rey’ for a moment. Now, I would like to say that, while Star Wars lore will obviously be mentioned, I’m not going to talk about any of the above mentioned things as issues, because I seriously want to focus on this new -and unfortunately increasing -characterization in film and books lately.

Rey is one of the most horrifically written characters I’ve seen in a major franchise in years, for many, many reasons. None of them having anything to do with her gender, despite what thousands of critics like to loudly proclaim.

Firstly, let’s talk about how Rey just ‘does’ things. There is no learning curve with her; there’s no payoff for a journey well traveled. Everything Rey does, she simply does well. In the first movie alone, Rey is...

1. A phenomenal pilot, despite having never flown a large starship. She does this in a ship that -we’ve seen from previous movies -is old, and cantankerous; like many older vehicles in our own world, the Millennium Falcon has it’s own little quirks that Rey simply knows how to deal with, or counter effectively while flying for the first time in what’s referred to as a ‘dog fight’.

2. She’s a phenomenal mechanic. She knows how to repair space ships, to a point where she feels confident yanking out what looks to be a type of computer chip, while flying through space.

3. She knows how to use the computer systems of this ship, opening doors, plotting courses, etc.

4. She’s a crack shot with a gun after her first three shots miss wildly; after that, she rarely misses a shot ever again, regardless of circumstances, or distance.

5. She is able to speak or at least understand, several languages that are either incredibly rare (Wookie), or that are nothing more than a series of beeps and boops (droids), or that we see from random space aliens in random settings.

5. She is an excellent light saber duelist; despite using a weapon that’s considered to be incredibly dangerous for the user, she not only doesn’t harm herself at all, but she is able to defeat someone who we can safely assume has had 15+ years of dueling training with these weapons.

6. She is able to lift very large objects using the force, despite every other character in all 9 movies requiring training to do. But Rey simply does it, and on a much larger scale than what we’ve seen before previously -even from Anakin Skywalker, one of the most powerful force users in the trilogy.

7. She is able to use advanced Force techniques, purely by accident. Force Lightning and Force Healing are things that -in the books, the movies, the games, and the television shows -that require years of training, a focused mind, and will and intent to use them. Rey, however... simply does it. Out of nowhere.

This is a small list of things that Rey is simply able to do, with no training, no learning time. She’s an orphan girl from a scavenging desert world, with minimal technological advances; she shouldn’t even be aware that half of the above mentioned things are possible, much less to do them with ease. The other half are things that require training, and experience to be able to do, and yet still: Rey does them with ease, and much better than many other character who have had that training and experience.

Now, onto a more psychological note. Rey is simply good. She has no flaw that she needs to develop, no weakness she needs to improve. She is kind, helpful, persevering, plucky, humorous, quick-witted, intelligent, loyal, and believes in the good of people. The only things we see about Rey that are presented as flaws is her need to bond with people, and her unwavering belief that there’s good in any one.

But despite these being presented as Rey’s ‘flaws’, they are not shown to hinder her in any real, significant ways; they don’t cause her any lasting consequences, they don’t hinder her in any important way, and in fact, are used to show us, the audience, that she is simply good. Her immediate trust of Finn, her belief that Kylo can be good, and so forth, are all presented to us as ‘look at what a great person Rey is’.

The few ‘mistakes’ Rey makes, never leave her with any consequences at all. She accidentally releases the Rathors? How convenient that they eat all of her opponents instantly, while leaving her friends alive for her to save. She runs off on her own, and gets captured? How convenient that it left her exactly where she needed to be to destroy the base, and save her friends.

Nothing bad ever sticks with Rey; her mistakes don’t make her question herself, her actions don’t ever leave her injured, her quips don’t ever come back to bite her in the ass. She simply continues on, with no negative side effects.

Despite people’s resistance to it, this is indeed the definition of a Mary Sue; a blank slate character we typically see in fanfiction writing, by younger, or more inexperienced writers. These characters are presented as perfect, because the people making these characters don’t know how to make a sympathetic flaw, or how to create a compelling character arc for their character. Characters who the author wishes they could be, perfect, in every way. (Also, despite the name, there are many male ‘Mary Sue’ character out there -it’s not a ‘female’ problem).

Movies and books are both the same thing: a way of telling a story. If we go back to some of the oldest stories ever told, ones that are repeated today, we see characters who are flawed, characters who struggle, characters who fail at their task, time and time again. Gilgamesh is vain, arrogant, and proud, yet he does everything in his power to try and save Enkidu, a one-time slave who has become his closest companion. Beowulf, like many story warriors, is arrogant, and insists on his own superiority against a clearly superior foe; however, despite this, we’re told that his men loved him, and that he was a good king. I could go on and on with examples of this throughout history.

But the example I find most fitting for comparison here is the Lord of the Rings series. While far more simplistic than Star Wars, the characterizations in LotR are vastly superior. We’re shown that Merry and Pippin aren’t the brightest creatures in Middle Earth, but they’re loyal to a fault. We’re shown that Aragorn is a strong, good man, but he’s so afraid of failing that he won’t even let himself try. We see Boromir, a man who just wants to protect his people, and be a hero, that he’s willing to risk it all. We see Legolas and Gimli, two people from different species who spend most of the first book/movie bickering over slights that no one else even remembers. We see Frodo, a Hobbit who falls repeatedly, but keeps forcing himself back up. We see Sam, who can’t fight, can’t sneak, hell, who can’t even swim, going on the most dangerous journey ever undertaken in their world, to try and take care of his friend.

And we watch these characters overcome these flaws as time goes on. We see Merry and Pippin go on to bring the Ents into the war, and fight side by side with Men against vastly superior foes. We see Aragorn finally accept his destiny, and overcome his fear of failure to accept his responsibility. We see Boromir realize the mistake he’s made, and die trying to protect the Hobbits, while telling Aragorn that he has shamed himself with his actions. We see Legolas and Gimli become best friends, to overcome the millennia of hatred their species share, to spend the rest of their lives together as friends. We see Frodo and Sam persevere against all odds to finally succeed in their goals. 

Part of the emotional high we get from watching or reading about make-believe characters is the journey itself; what they do to get from point A to point B. The mistakes they make, the flaws they try to better, and so on, and the consequences they suffer because of the mistakes made, and the flaws they have.

So while watching Rey, we’re deprived of that emotional high; we know Rey will succeed, because Rey is all that is good. We know that Rey will succeed, because nothing bad ever happens to her. We know that Rey won’t fall to the dark side, because she literally has no flaws to speak of. We know that she’ll suffer no lasting consequences of her actions, because she is simply there to succeed and move the story along.

This is lazy writing. This is a Mary Sue character. And for the first female main character -I don’t consider her to be such, I stan Princess Leia now and forever, but many do -it was a disappointment. An epic let down. We received no emotional pay off, no rollercoaster of events, no hesitation or doubts in her abilities...

It was the ‘Rey Does Everything’ show, with the audience around to act as the live studio audience to clap when appropriate.