#streamlining that would absolutely be the best way to go and I will never be upset about more essek content

[sassy-cass-16]

audhdbgsdhehHOLY SHIT YESSSSSSS

OK, but I love that Essek might be appearing in the Mighty Nein series before he meets the Nein! It's not just me wanting More Essek (though I do) or wanting to see more of what was going on with his dealings with the Assembly (which I also do). I think this could be super fucking interesting from a narrative construction standpoint.

Because I cannot see how you can include Essek from early in the series and not make it clear to the audience that he's the Dynasty traitor loooong before the Nein find out. Essek having stolen the beacons will not be a surprise. It looks to me like the cast are swapping out surprise for a fuckton of suspense. (Suspense vs surprise was explained to me when I was studying narrative structure as 'surprise is when a bomb goes off that the audience didn't know was there. Suspense is when they see the bomb being placed and have to sit there begging the characters to realise it's there.' In this analogy, Essek is the bomb.)

When we watched C2, the question was is Essek the traitor? In the M9 show, the question for new watchers will be when will the Nein realise that Essek is the traitor? When Essek meets the Nein, the countdown starts ticking; people will know that he is a danger. He is manipulating them. He is going to hurt them. Will the Nein realise before it's too late? But then Essek starts really befriending them, showing more of his loneliness and vulnerability, and... I think the mood will shift. Oh, shit, he really cares about them, doesn't he? What will the Nein do if they find out? Do I even want them to find out? What if they reject him and it makes him worse? He can't keep this up much longer, this is unbearable, they're going to find out - OH FUCK THEY'RE FINDING OUT -

It's such a fascinating choice and I think it goes to show that adaptation is an art form in itself! The actual events in the world will be the same, or at least very similar, but a new format means you can show those events in a totally new way and create a completely different tone! Narrative structure is the fucking coolest! I'm so excited for this show!

[phantomarine]

Clam's Quick Tips for Starting Your Very First Webcomic

Howdy! Here are the three bits of advice I tend to give people who ask me about getting into webcomic-making. Maybe they can help you jump into the fray with a little less fear.

1) Make Your First Chapter a Pilot Episode

You will be told by webcomic veterans to start with a short, simple comic idea first - which is wise - but if all you can think about is your big magnum opus, then you might as well hop in, right? Otherwise you'll just be glancing back at the other cooler project forever.

But if you can't start with a small simple story, start on a small, simple part of that larger story. Your first chapter should be a snapshot of the main conflict - show us a simple scene with few characters, ease us in slowly, keep things clear and focus on emotion/impact/clarity. Get the audience to care by offering something easily digested, but full of promise.

Once you're done with that 'pilot' chapter, and you're feeling more comfortable with the whole comic process, you can open the gates and show us the larger world. At that point, you'll be way more ready.

2) Simplify Your Art Style For Your Own Sanity

Always try to make your webcomic's art style as simple as possible - the standard rule is to use only 75% of your artistic skill for every comic page you make. Otherwise you will burn out quickly and terribly.

But you also need to be PROUD of your art style. If you're really feeling itchy, add a couple bells and whistles to your style so you can look at the finished page and say "Yeah, looks cool." You'll find the right balance the more you draw.

Also, don't be afraid to change your art style as you go along. Ultimate consistency is often impossible in webcomics anyway - so embrace your desire to try new things, streamline your work, whatever you feel needs to happen to be happiest. Sometimes the coolest part of reading a webcomic is noticing that style change - so don't hesitate to embrace it!

3) Resist the Reboot! RESIST!

The curse/blessing of drawing the same things over and over is that you'll inevitably get better at drawing those things. The trouble comes when you look back at old stuff and start thinking "Damn, I could draw that way better now."

You must recognize that this feeling never goes away. Not after a hundred pages. Not after three hundred. Not after a thousand.

I think everyone should be allowed one soft reboot for their first webcomic. Redraw some panels that bother you. Change up some dialogue if it doesn't make sense with your new story ideas. Do maintenance, basically. One of the beauties of webcomics is that they can be easily edited, without reprinting a whole book or remaking a whole game.

But if the ultimate purpose of a webcomic is to tell a story, then constant reboots will just be retelling the same story - slightly better each time, but the same at its core. We've heard it before. Most audiences would rather you save your strength and just keep going, rather than circling back year after year and going "Wait wait wait! I'll do it better this time."

Reboot early, not often, and only when you absolutely must! You're a storyteller, and you're constantly getting better at telling your story. Don't be ashamed of it - look back how much ground you've covered, and keep walking!

---

That's a good start. Happy webcomicking - don't be afraid to jump in, but be prepared to learn a lot very quickly. And if this advice doesn't work for you or adhere to how you did it, that's absolutely fine - webcomics are diverse by nature, and so are their creation processes. Feel out what works best for you, and good luck!

[yellow-py]

hello! you've probably been asked these before, but i'm here to ask how long it typically takes for you to make animatics, if you have any tips, preferred methods, and what you use? i saw your funger animatic and it looks absolutely gorgeous! i love all the detail that's jam-packed into the art and story telling, so i'm curious about your animatic process.

sorry if this is a lot! no need to answer if you don't want to. i love your stuff and i wish you well!

Hi! I don't mind answering some questions!

First things first, I'm not a professional storyboards artist. I've done a few things for some youtube channels. I wouldn't call myself an expert. This is to say that my method of doing things might not the best for people who actually work in the industry. 

Most of the time I work in Storyboard pro 7. But honestly, any editing software works as long as it can handle pictures and audio. For the disco elysium animatic I only used  clip studio paint and some random editing program called Camtasia. It worked alright but it takes a bit longer to finish stuff since storyboard pro is more streamlined. My go-to method right not is to draw the backgrounds in clip studio and the characters and editing in storyboard pro. That way, I get the best of both worlds. 

The funger animatic took about 2 and a half weeks to make. It usually takes longer, but the song wasn't that long so that saved me a lot of time. But as another example, my disco elysium animatic took +3 months. So it really depends. I did work longer on each frame for that one tho, so idk. On average, it takes me about 2 months. But that number keeps going up since my expectations of myself keep rising. 

Anyhow! I'll be bringing up my fear and hunger animatic as an example of my process. 

My animatics usually start out having the ugliest thumbnails known to man. It does let me experiment with framing and timing, which is absolutely crucial. I do not recommend that people start refining frames without having planned out things beforehand.

After that, I just save every thumbnail and import it to storyboard pro. I just scale it up to the current canvas size. Then I just line up every frame with the audio. It is a little bit tedious but you gotta do what you gotta do. 

After that, I begin to draw the backgrounds in clip studio. I do the same thing as in storyboard pro and just size the thumbnail up. And then I just sketch over that! Technically, I could have drawn the backgrounds in storyboard pro. But their brushes are pretty uggo so I prefer to not do that :)

As dumb as it might sound, it kind of stresses me out when my storyboards aren't "pretty". Which is pretty stupid since storyboards are literally made only to be a guide for what an animation should be. so in actuality, it's alright if they're kinda crusty. But since I never intend to animate my animatics I find it nice to spend more time on each frame. Which is sorta stupid because I'm shooting myself in the foot by working so long on every frame...

Either way, after that, I import the new backgrounds into storyboard pro and begin to draw the characters. Technically I could draw them in clip studio as well. But its faster to draw them in story board pro and it also allows me to do some semi-animated things and work faster. So, after a lot of experimenting, clip studio backgrounds and storyboard pro characters is the way to go for me! 

And just to note. This animatic might have only taken about 2 and a half weeks. Which sounds pretty good. But when it comes to animatics I can become a real workaholic if im inspired enough. So every day after school I would sit non stop working on this from the second I got home to when it was time to sleep. As well as every second of the weekend after I was done with my chores. So that is to say I work pretty fast and persistently, which i know is not healthy or realistic. So take my timing with a grain of salt. 

But that's kinda my process. I just draw backgrounds and draw characters until the thing is done. 

If I had to give any advice, I would say it's important to have fun when making animatics as a hobby. When I make an animatic, it's because I personally want to see that animatic, and if other people like it, that is a plus! If you're excited about an idea, it'll be a lot easier to add fun details and soul into it. 

But yeah that's it. I can't really come up with anything else to say. I hope I gave some good insight!

[ghostyolive]

I will always be so mad that FMA:B gave Greed a different dialogue with Bradley after the Devil's Nest massacre than in the manga because it feels like it just changes his characterization to be so much plainer and more cartoonishly assholish. Like they really wanted to rope you into thinking he was a bad guy so that his twist of caring about people would feel stronger, but it just makes me sad. In the VIZ Media Fullmetal Edition translation, the exchange goes:

Greed: "Whoa there Bradley. How could you do this to them? They were my people."

Bradley: "Feeling pity for your pawns? How pathetic."

Greed: "Pity?! Do you forget who the hell you're dealing with?! I am greed incarnate!! Money, women, henchmen, everything-- they're my possessions! They're all mine! I won't let you take away what belongs to me!!"

...And the exchange in the English dub of FMA:B goes:

Greed: "Whoa, that was a little excessive. Killing me is one thing, but they're not coming back."

Bradley: "Pitying the lost lives of your pawns? Pathetic."

Greed: "Excuse me, are you senile? Did you forget who I am, old man? I'm the living incarnation of greed! Those weren't my friends, Bradley. They were my possessions! Money, women, henchmen-- They're all possessions!"

And that difference is absolutely insane! His manga version is in some ways more obvious and in some ways more ambiguous about his care for his friends. On the one hand, he staunchly refuses to pity them. (I would say that this is because he respects their right to self-determination and what they signed on for when they followed him, but that's almost pure speculation.) But on the other, he specifically refers to them as "[his] people." This really effectively toes the line between multiple meanings-- "[his] people" colloquially would refer to friends, but it also emphasizes ownership. It sets up his arc of acknowledging friendship while also not detracting from his care for the Devil's Nest gang.

The anime just makes him... indifferent and snarky? On a surface level, it makes his character arc far more clear as somebody learning to love and care about others, but it also really devalues his experiences with his gang. I guess I can almost understand why people just forget about them aside from the bit with Bido when they only watch FMA:B considering that it absolutely glosses over just about every part of the manga that makes you care about them. Why should people consider those random guys in the beginning when he makes it clear that he never cared about them? /s

And it's more than just the writing that I have a problem with. Even the animation is so distinctly different from what's shown in the manga that the tone ends up absolutely flipped on his head.

(Note: this online scan doesn't use the official translation) Greed's expression here can best be described as one of pure rage. I think you could maybe loosely interpret the first panel as a grin, but the second panel clears up how he's feeling pretty well. It's especially poignant since the three panels preceding these two entirely obscure his expression. Any calm and collectedness has been shed in the face of his gang's massacre and his eyes are bulging and furious in a way that they haven't been drawn before. And how does the anime handle this absolute gut punch?

Um. Not good, frankly. It's definitely got the wildness of his original expression, but it conveys none of the anger. It throws off what's essentially his greatest display of hypocrisy-- That he only gets angry when his gang is hurt, just like how Ed only gets angry when Al is hurt. Absolutely nothing about his reaction properly conveys rage or frustration, and that honestly just sucks. While episode 13 served as a pretty decent and streamlined recap of chapters 25-28, episode 14 really screwed with some of the moments that made Greed's arc feel so powerful and bittersweet.

Tl;dr Please oh please go read the manga version of og Greed's arc <3

[avelera]

Ugh, popped on Twitter to geek out about the Wheel of Time S2 and immediately find a bunch of WoT dudebro fans complaining that a 15 book series of 800+ pages each isn’t getting the exact word for word adaption that exists inside their heads when they read the books. And let me remind you all, these books were my life, my first fandom, and basically my personality pretty much from when I first read them in 1999 until Robert Jordan died (alas, I read to the end but Brandon Sanderson never quite captured the magic of RJ’s writing for me again, even if I think he did the best job anyone possibly could.)

So let me just say from a place of deep respect and obsession with these books that any hate for the show based on it not being a page for page adaptation is patently insane. Much of Wheel of Time relies on the strengths of prose which are untranslatable to a visual medium. Stuff like how magic (or the One Power) feels to cast makes up a huge proportion of the book. You can externally portray a feeling, sure, but there are still limits.

They forget that Book 1 was written to be standalone and has a ton of inconsistencies with later books that need to be shored up. That means logistical changes which cause necessary alterations almost all of which have actually been massive improvements in my mind. For all my love of Wheel of Time, its pacing is atrocious and I think even RJ would agree that if he could go back with the whole story in mind and edit it to be more streamlined, he absolutely would have. The show HAS to do that or we’d still be in the goddamn Two Rivers with the book pacing.

Centering the first season on the White Tower and Moiraine’s POV makes sense. The book relied on Moiraine being a Gandalf figure that gave information away at the pace of reader reveals, in tiny drips meant to tantalize a slow-paced book’s reader. That would be immensely frustrating for a tv show viewer of a story set in a sprawling fantasy world that needs tons of explanation and world building up front to have any idea what’s going on. Focusing on Moiraine, who has the answers, instead of sticking to the ignorance of the kids isn’t just a good choice it’s very nearly the only choice you can make. The White Tower is one of the most complex and interesting parts of that world. Centering it and introducing it earlier was an incredibly wise choice.

Other smaller choices make sense too if people thought about it for two seconds. Aging up the kids makes sense. They’re teens in the books and it would be incredibly awkward on screen. But once you age them up, it makes sense that at least ONE of them has been married before. Perrin makes SENSE to have been married if he left Two Rivers later. He’s a responsible guy with a good trade and a level head on his shoulders. He’s sweet and caring and mature. Of course he got married, he’s from a small farming community in a medieval-esque world with shorter life expectancies. Furthermore, I love Perrin to death but his obsessive fear of hurting Faile later is frankly ungrounded in anything that isn’t benign misogyny on some level. It doesn’t update and translate well on its own. Giving him Laila, giving him the manner of Laila’s death grounds his later attitudes towards Faile so well I literally gasped when I put it all together.

Other changes like in S2 having Min and Mat meet the way they do in Tar Valon was genius. It matters more that Mat and Min have rapport than that they meet in the same circumstances as the book (and Mat wouldn’t even remember that meeting anyway lol). The rapport set up and the way it showed Mat’s genius and con artistry was brilliant. Showing these characters LIKE each other was incredibly engaging and endearing which is so important because the adaptation has to be enjoyable to non book readers too, especially since the 15, 800+ page books of meandering pacing are pretty much impenetrable to new readers. Book readers simply can’t make up the majority of the audience, there’s not enough of them to sustain a show with any kind of budget which WOT requires. Thus, it needs to be an enjoyable show in its own right, not just a meandering exact adaptation ffs.

I can literally point to any show change and say it was either logical, practical, thematic, or simply genius. Wheel of Time desperately needs an edit to be accessible to modern audiences. What an adaptation prioritizes is always a risk that’s going to be run for a fan of the original material but so far I’ve been wildly impressed by every choice made in how logical or thoughtful and most of all loving it was to the actual important emotions and themes of the book. Any complainers are seriously missing the point of what an adaptation even is.

[dnvrsmedia]

w-what if reader gets hurt? how would goalie!abby react? 😞

oh you best believe goalie!abby is SO protective of you (on & off the field)

it’s 85th minute of the match. your team is up 2-1 thanks to a beautiful goal by you and a teammate. the other team is getting desperate for a goal to tie or win the game. they are resorting to fouling like none other, especially fouling you. the second you are in the ball there are limbs flying everywhere. dirty slide tackles and pushing results to you ending up on the ground more than you’d like to be.

Abby feels herself starting to get frustrated for you. she knows that your tough, but the ref is throwing a blind eye to the fouling that you are receiving. she tries to make herself feel better by telling herself that you’re okay. as long as you keep getting back up.

until you don’t.

Abby heard the terrifyingly soul crushing screams abs groans let out from your mouth as you punch the pitch with your fist to distract from the pain in your ankle. your teammates yelling at the ref to pause the game increasingly frustrates Abby as it takes way too long. she is finally able to run to your side when the ref calls on the athletic trainers onto the field.

Abby practically sprinted towards you and was by your side, holding your hand with her sweaty goalie glove.

“it hurts abs it hurts!” you cry out to your girlfriend.

Abby’s heart snaps on two in seeing you in so much pain. all she can think of is ripping that girls throat out for hurting you abs making you cry. but that will be saved for after. right now? she needs to make sure you’re okay.

Abby caresses your face and wipes the blades of grass off of it.

“i know baby, i know. you’re gonna be okay i’ll make sure of it.” Abby kisses your forehead.

the athletic trainers decide that you need to be taken off the pitch. Abby helps you walk off the field and makes sure to absolutely glare down the opposing team.

your team ends up winning 3-1 due to the penalty received from your injury. the rest of the match felt like it went on for hours. Abby couldn’t be more glad that the horrifying game was over. all she could think and hear were your screams of agony. she’s gonna make that bitch pay.

at the end of the game, abby streamlines it to the player that broke your ankle with a terrifying glare. she takes her hand in a handshake while squeezing with all her might. abby sees the fear in the girl and she smiles. she leans down to talk in the girls ear.

“hurt my girl again and i will personally make it so that you will never kick a ball again, got it?” she squeezes the girls hand tighter. she steps back from her ear to look into the players eyes to see nothing but fear and pain from the tight grip. the player nods and tries to let go. abby tightens her grip once more.

“if i ever see you again i’m going to make your life a living hell.” she lets go of the players hand and smiles like nothing happened.

no one hurts you and gets away with it.

[ninjatrashpanda]

Season 8 Episode 3 Write-Up

Okay, so. This was the grand conclusion of our opening disaster, and I personally think that while it was good overall, the whole ordeal could have been two episodes. But more on that later. If you want to read my thoughts on Episodes one and two, you can find my masterlist here.

Also, I’m gonna try to streamline these a little and go ‘Storyline by Storyline’ rather than ‘Scene by Scene’ like I did the last two weeks.

1. The Cold Open

The episode decides to immediately show us Athena’s leadership skills and determination, two of her best qualities. It’s one of those moments that show you why she had the opportunity to become lieutenant (I think it was Season 2 or 3, but don’t quote me on that), and why she would have absolutely thrived in the position. Of course, Athena is infamously frequently abusing her power, so I guess it’s ultimately a good thing she didn’t take the job.

Also, I still think the heart attack on the copilot was pointless. It didn’t provide anything except padding the disaster’s runtime to fit three episodes.

2. Bathena

“I need to speak with Athena. I need to hear her voice, and I need her to hear mine, just in case.”

“Bobby, she already knows.”

“That’s not good enough.”

We’ve had many Bathena moments in the past. They range from playful and sexy, to angry and sometimes frustrating, to loving and tender. However, I’m not sure when we last had a moment that encapsulates what makes them special the way everything in this episode, but this short conversation between Bobby and Maddie especially, does.

Bobby and Athena have both loved and lost before. This is Bobby’s second marriage, and Athena’s third. (Yes, she and Emmett didn’t get to get married, but I’m counting him anyway.) From the beginning of their relationship, Bobby and Athena have shown us that love is not a finite thing, but something ever expanding, something that can never run out. I don’t think they are each other’s ‘Love Of Their Life.’ Marcy and Emmett are. But I’d argue that makes Bathena almost better because they show us that even after losing their The One, they’re still capable of loving more and more and more. Love never ends or runs out, and we never lose the capability to love, no matter what, and Bobby and Athena have shown that since they started dating.

Coming back to this episode, and the quotes in question, they’re simple. Bobby knows Athena loves him. He knows that she knows that he loves her. But she’s in a crashing plane, and there’s a big chance this might be it, and simply knowing just isn’t enough. Bobby’s last conversation with Marcy before the fire was them fighting over his drug addiction, the last words he ever said to her was him lying to her about the kids being okay. Bobby was never really able to properly apologize and say goodbye to Marcy, and it’s clear that he won’t let something like this happen again.

So, he needs to speak with Athena. He needs to tell her that he loves her, he needs to hear her say that she loves him too. Just in case. It doesn’t matter that they know. Bobby practically begging Maddie to try to move hell and high water to get Athena on a phone line to him is already one of the greatest depictions of their love, but the episode then says ‘Nah, guys, we’re gonna go deeper!

Maddie manages to get through to one of the passengers, and Bobby gets to have that talk with Athena. And between him calling her ‘baby’ (my heart 😭) and promising to meet her at the baggage carousel, I’m already in tears. Then she tells him that they aren’t going to LAX anymore because the plane can’t turn, and how a lot of people both on the plane and on the ground are in danger. There is of course a touch of Athena’s selflessness in there, that she thinks of everyone that might die except herself, but at the same time, at least to me it seemed that there was an unsaid ‘Bobby, this might be it’ in there too.

And Bobby responds to it by asking what she needs. And he proceeds to clear the freeway off cars so she can land that plane. She doesn’t have to ask. She doesn’t have to suggest anything. He just knows she needs him, he just knows exactly what he can do, and he goes and does it. Bobby isn’t in a real fire truck right now, he isn’t even an acting captain, but he still does whatever he can to ensure that his wife, the woman he loves, can protect all those people and then return to him safely.

“I’ll be right here waiting for you.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be there.”

“You’re gonna do great. I’ll hold up a card with your name on it.”

It should be illegal how much these two are making me cry this episode. Just…he trusts her. So much. Sometimes even more than she trusts herself. And it’s that trust he has in her that gets her to believe that she can do this. That she can land that plane. 

I just love them. They’re such an integral part of this show, so important not just to draw in viewers because it’s Angela Bassett and Peter Krause, but because the show’s core of love and trust and understanding is always best shown by Bobby and Athena. They’re the heart and soul of this show, the blood that runs through its veins. Sometimes I think we take them for granted, that we don’t fully appreciate what they’re doing, both for the show itself and for us, the viewers. We joke when we call them our Mom and Dad, but in the end, that’s a great analogy, actually. Those of us with good parents tend to not appreciate them the way they deserve either until later in life. In that sense, yeah, Bathena really are Mom and Dad!

No matter what else happens, Bobby and Athena, to me at the very least, will always be one of the greatest relationships on television. They’re a tale of redemption, of loss, of finding love again. And I love them more than I could ever say with words.

3. Athena and Jem manning and landing the plane

We jump right into Athena attempting to fly the damn thing to LAX, everything looks good, the ground crew are coaching her properly. Everyone is celebrating (again, wtf, has nobody told them to not celebrate until it’s all over?!) which is of course when the plane falls apart further and damages the rudder with debris. The plane can’t turn anymore, and LAX becomes unreachable.

So, maybe unpopular opinion, but this scene is generally more padding for runtime. It does show off Athena’s resourcefulness and intelligence when she suggests finding a field or doing a water landing, but ultimately, there isn’t much of anything that gets provided otherwise. Some action maybe, sure, but like…how did the story benefit from this? Yeah. This ties back to me thinking the whole disaster could’ve been two episodes, but again, more on that later.

Fast forward through me bawling my eyes out about Bathena, Jem then reveals that he always crashes the plane when it’s time to land in his game. Kid, you should’ve told us this way sooner! I mean, I get it, you’re a kid, and you probably like feeling important and didn’t want to let Athena and everyone down. But maybe a bit of a heads up next time you have to land a crashing plane? kthx

All jokes aside, I love that the show takes the completely bonkers scenario of a child landing a fucking plane, but still makes the kid act like a kid. Of course he didn’t tell anyone that he always crashes the plane in his game. That’s embarrassing! It probably didn’t even occur to him at first that this part was gonna come, and once he did realize, he was already in too deep. You’re still wonderful, Jem, and I will forever love you 💖

Athena reassuring Jem, telling him that they can do it together if they believe in themselves was a nice moment, especially when she says she’s sure his mother is looking over him. I’ve said it already last time, but her empathy and ability to calm and console people is easily one of Athena’s biggest virtues as a character, and I wish the show would tap into it more often!

Also, shoutout to Jem for reminding people about their seatbelts! Those are important! Thank you, Jem, for your vital service!

Now the landing scene? Is phenomenal! I love how tense it is despite all of us knowing it would work out. The chaos in the cabin, the wheels bursting, how the thing comes to a halt directly in front of Bobby, who doesn’t move an inch because of his immense trust in Athena. I love that Jem freezes and has to be snapped out of it, too. Like I said earlier, the show actually portrays him as a child, and that’s wonderful. That Athena gets it and doesn’t hold it against him, without getting angry or overly frustrated, is another testament to who she is, too. These past two episodes have been really great showings for her, and I hope we get to go forward more with this Athena than the Athena breaking every protocol in the book because she thinks she knows best.

And God, Jem hugging Athena in the end!!! I just…I can’t. It’s so good. I love this. I don’t know what else to even say anymore.

4. Clearing the Freeway and Triage

Like I mentioned before, Bobby has no authority whatsoever. Hell, I’m pretty sure that what he does here actually breaks some laws. He still does it because it has to be done. And just like in Season 2 when he confronted Freddie, he’ll probably be excused (as he should!) because, well, he’s kind of a hero. Who knows how many people would’ve died if he hadn’t stopped the 110 dead in its tracks?

Right off the bat, Buck in the background trying to find actual equipment on the TV show truck is a funny background event, and him casually stealing that guy’s bike was amazing! I hope he gets it back though. Do we count him jumping into oncoming freeway traffic as another near-death experience?

I can’t explain just how big that smile was that I had when all the characters from last week’s episode came sliding out of the plane. The background music was sublime, and the touch of comedy with Brad passing out over Donna’s gross leg was hilarious. In fact, all the small quips of comedy we’ve had were pretty well done. From Buck’s ‘I never knew he was British!’ (3Meta5Me) to ‘Bloody hell, Bobby!’ to Athena’s ‘That sounded better in my head.’ All providing a nice sense of levity in an otherwise tense episode.

And of course, then something explodes. Because we’re only halfway through the episode, and we still gotta pad the runtime a little more. Again, I’ll talk about the padding later in a separate point.

I remember seeing all the live bloggers complain about Athena staying on the plane to do CPR, and that the guy was dead anyway, etc. And I get that a lot of those were jokes, obviously, but like…if you were serious, then you don’t understand Athena’s character at all. There was no way that she was gonna leave that man behind. If there’s even the slightest sliver of a chance that he’ll make it, she’ll make sure to at least try to save him. That’s just who she is. In fact, that’s who all of them are. Bobby is like that too, and so is Buck, and so’s Eddie, and Chim and Hen and even Maddie and Josh and Tommy. It’s why they’re all first responders. It’s part of their identity. They would never leave someone behind to save their own hides. Plus, Chim literally says that the copilot lived because Athena didn’t stop.

The cavalry arrives and Bobby instantly takes over as IC, because of course he does. Really, who else would do it? I love that Eddie doesn’t even question it, and that Hen is openly just rolling with it. Why wouldn’t they?

To round this one out:

“Where’s Gerrard?”

“Buck put him in the hospital. I could elaborate, but this is funnier :D”

Chim, I love you. The people who hate you just don’t get that you’re amazingly amazing the way you are <3

5. The conclusion to Dennis’ storyline

Okay, so. I did kind of suspect that the feds were in on Fulton’s thing in one way or another. So that wasn’t much of a surprise. I didn’t expect the agent himself to be in the book though. And also, uh, the whole dramatically walking out of the shadows was a little extra, but know what, we appreciate a little diva moment on this blog.

Dennis taking a bullet for Bobby was sweet. And him than shanking Agent Whozitagain in the balls even better. Truly Jeffrey Hudson 2.0, you gotta love it.

But of course, the true meat here is the hospital scene between Dennis and Athena. And I loved that one. I love that Dennis admits that he did run from the consequences of his actions, but that he’s done running from them now. Because he’s still willing to go back to prison if Athena wants him to. Hell, he fully expects that she does and acts accordingly. I’ve said it before, but Dennis is such a genuinely good man.

His family showing up was such a nice surprise, and then of course, we get to Athena. Athena does not forgive Dennis for killing Emmett. And she shouldn’t. In any capacity. No matter the circumstances, or what he did with his life afterward, he did kill Emmett. So she doesn’t forgive him. But she does give him her blessing to use the deal to get back to his family, his job, his life. Not because he deserves it, but because she realized that arresting him didn’t bring her closure.

She was still angry, at him, at the world, at everything. She kept holding onto that anger, maybe because she was afraid of forgetting about Emmett if she did, but she realized that holding on to it only hurts her in the long run. So, knowing that Dennis is a legitimately good person, that he repented by being a social worker and helping children in need for the thirty years since Emmet, she decides to let go of her anger, hoping it will help her heal some of the pain. I think it’s clear she still hate Dennis, as is her prerogative, but she acknowledges that making him suffer won’t bring Emmett back, never mind that he would have wanted Dennis to get that second chance.

So she tells Dennis to live for Emmett the way she is. She tells him to honor Emmett like she does. She tells him to help people like Emmett would have, the way she is helping people. And honestly, she looks a lot lighter when she leaves the hospital room and rejoins Bobby.

In my first write-up, I talked about closure, and how Athena and Mrs. Washington deserved to have it, no matter what Dennis did himself to repent. From what we know, Mrs. Washington got that closure by Dennis getting arrested and tried. Athena, evidently from these past episodes, didn’t. She thought she would, but she didn’t get closure until she properly met and got to know Dennis more personally. She got closure by letting go, by knowing that he, too, honors the man he killed.

And I think that’s kind of what I wanted to get at back then. Closure isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing. Some people get closure from talking to the person who wronged them, by knowing their motive, by them maybe repenting and regretting what they did. Others get closure from a level of retribution. Others again get closure simply by healing and living their best lives, or, in case of losing someone, by letting their lost loved one live vicariously through them, by living in a way that would make them proud.

I will always defend a victim’s right for justice and closure. If a victim wants to see the person who wronged them punished to get closure, then that’s what should happen. Period. Culprits never matter as much or more than the people they wronged. And that’s a stance I refuse to change. Please stop telling victims their feelings are wrong or that they aren’t allowed to have closure. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

6. The most awkward closer in history

Yeah, uh, part of my Buck-and-Gerrard theory from last week is already coming true.

I just love Brian’s acting here. He’s so over the top, it’s amazing. Calling an exclamation point in a formal report vulgar the way he did absolutely sent me, him going paranoid (?) and accusing Eddie of not approving of the way he wrapped his head wound was freaking perfect. Great acting, both by Brian and Ryan.

And then of course he hugs Buck in the most awkward fashion imaginable. “Do you feel these arms, son? This is me taking you under my wing!” The sheer WTF look on everyone’s faces was such a good visual to end the premier with.

This is one of those scenes where I want to see the outtakes. Because you just know that they laughed their asses off way too many times to count.

As is, I’m really looking forward to how this storyline goes and how Gerrard’s ‘mentorship’ affects Buck and Tommy’s relationship.

7. Final Thoughts

Okay, so, right off the bat, let’s talk about how this three-part-premier really could’ve been two episodes. To begin, let’s shave off the scene of Buck saving Gerrard from the saw blade and have him save Gerrard later during the plane rescue instead. Same effect as what we got, but it leaves some breathing room in episode 1 to insert the scene of Athena and Dennis getting on the plane. That way, we don’t have to do it again in episode 2.

Having Buck save Gerrard later also gets rid of the follow up scene in episode 2, shaving off some time for other scenes from episode three to be in here. Additionally, the copilot didn’t matter in any way imaginable, so I almost feel like he should be DOA. Both Donna and Jordan’s rescues were more compelling, so I’d like to keep them. 

Additionally, I’d have the rudder damaged right off the bat, too. The escalation of the plane’s gradual destruction added some tension, yes, but for the most part it did just feel like pointless padding to me. With the rudder damaged and the plane unable to turn from the get-go, ATC has to think differently, but the result is the same. Bobby, Buck and Brad clear the freeway to allow the plane to emergency land there.

Now, I’d still have Athena stay on the plane for a hurt passenger, but I feel like that should’ve been Dennis. Maybe when the plane landed, he hit his head or something and is out cold or something. The 118, including Gerrard now, enters the plane and gets him out when the explosion happens. This is where I would have Buck save Gerrard. Just like with the saw, he senses somethings off and the moment the explosion happens, he pushes Gerrard out of the way.

The emergency ends with Dennis and Gerrard being loaded into ambulances, Bathena embrace and kiss, and everyone is happy. The Gerrard scene at the end happens as is.

“But Julian,” you may say, “what about Dennis’ storyline?” And to that I say…let it continue. I feel like it should have kept going, honestly. That should’ve been Athena’s big storyline this season, maybe concluding in the mid-season finale. The conclusion we got felt super rushed to me personally, and I definitely think seeing Athena snoop around to find whoever has it out for Dennis, maybe seeing Dennis actually work with the feds, etc. would’ve been more compelling.

But that’s just me.

Overall, I think this premier was still great, despite my few little gripes. In general, the Tsunami still reigns supreme, and I think the earthquake is also still ahead of this one, but it’s better than the cruise ship or the blackout. My biggest wish honestly would’ve been more involvement from the rest of the main cast. In the old opening disasters, everyone had a storyline, something to do. Hen, Chim and Eddie barely having three lines would’ve been unthinkable. I’d like those opening disasters to come back

And, of course, the lack of Tommy. Am I a little disappointed? Yes. Am I a bit confused that the pilot wasn’t involved in the plane crash emergency, even though Tommy was explicitly brought back as Buck’s LI because he would be easier to involve in the plot? Yes. And I think that’s fair criticism. Like, I’m not gonna send Tim death threats over it, but not involving Tommy in this particular set of episodes was a baffling decision, imo.

And that’s it. If you read to the end, thank you for reading! If you want to discuss things with me, write a comment, reblog, shoot me an ask, whatever you want! Or don’t, that’s fine too. I’m gonna be back with more random thoughts next week.

Bye bye!

[sparxaf]

Another Day Another S6 Rant

If you're enjoying S6, please disregard. This is for the grumps, haters, and complainers among us who thrive on poking our own wounds just to re-live the pain.

Oh, Amelia. On day one, this ho had the nerve to say I was the attention seeker between us. And then made every day afterward about her. Imagine the absolute egomaniacal gall of going to a party and stopping everyone's good time dead, to announce that you met someone who made your panties damp, and then demand that everyone congratulate and toast you for it. Then, because no amount of attention is enough attention, yank your sister from the party you effectively ground to a halt, and demand that she validate your choice of panty dampener. And if she doesn't get upset, be a bitch to her until she does. Because you can't spell victim with A-M-E-L-I-A.

I know some people are having a really good time right now (Andy stans out here thriving, living their best lives 🤣), but for me, these episodes were nothing but boring filler. No actual conversations about anything fun or interesting (other than Hamish being hilarious). It was just: Grace whinges about Ozzy, Amelia apologizes for things she's def going to do again, people bring up Eliot like we were in love, and CA boys ask if you've changed your mind in the last ten minutes since you rejected them. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

The sad thing is, if you removed Amelia from the equation, this season could have been pretty fun. Especially the dumping. But because none of Amelia's drama/behavior is allowed to be resolved, it's dragging YOUR story to a halt with pointless, tedious distractions about her, a character you're not really allowed to know in any way beyond vague nostalgia.

The forced relationship is awful. It would be better if you could have started and maintained a path of either indifference, friendship, or antagonism with her. But all you get is a grey wasteland where she behaves like a complete shithead and you really have no way to address it beyond a tiny, petty emotional outburst that she promptly brushes off, and then a moment later the game forces you to act like none of it ever happened anyway because 💞SISTERS 🙄. I literally said I don't forgive her and I didn't bother saying I loved her when I left, but now suddenly we're besties again? Noooooo.

Do you know what could have been fun? If the double trouble wasn't about MC and her twin, but instead, Amelia is your estranged childhood best friend. And the relationship ended over someone you both developed feelings for. So now, you can choose the path of liking or not liking her without the manipulative "but she's family" angle. It'll be based on actions and behavior. In this imaginary season (that has actual branching), on the first day, when the girls ask about your first love, the way you answer it would determine your story with Amelia. 1. My first love and best friend fell for each other and I lost them both (path of forgiveness and friendship where Amelia wants to make it up to you and supports you without hoovering up your scraps). 2. Found out my horrible childhood best friend slept with my first love and never even apologized (path of antagonism where Amelia steals your LI's). 3. My childhood best friend and I fell for the same person. It was complicated and no one ended up happy. (Path of indifference or maybe a mixed path with some drama and some friendship depending on how you react to her).

The upside to this will be if Amelia cracks on with someone you like or want to get with, there wouldn't be the unpleasant vibe of, wow, this persons genitals have rubbed on mine AND my sister's. Which, I mean, the drama and smut of it is interesting, but it doesn't really lend itself to a fairytale romance scenario.

This could also streamline the story because what if Amelia was the obstacle in the slow burn path to Ozzy instead of Grace? Reliving and reversing what happened in the past, giving us the opportunity to heal and grow and form strong new bonds while we handle things better this time around...

ORRRRRR, we could be or be people who joyously refuse to learn any life lessons and make everything much, much worse just for funsies.

Either way, what a fun season that would have been. Sigh.

[sasquach-scratches]

Unfortunately that poll of "Your Most Hated TES Game" has got me thinking again about my level of disgust across the series and tbh i kinda need to update that so I guess I'll use this to organize my thoughts lmao

For the record, though, I haven't played EVERY TES game out there and those I did weren't finished half the time

Anyways let's get into it

Arena-Actually, lemme separate them into categories cause can you REALLY compare them all equally given how different they are

The Eldest of Scrolls

Arena: Probably the only one of the old-school games I actually finished. Big ol dungeon crawler. Magic goes boom. Hard to really "hate" the game cause I don't feel too strongly about it which is funny cause it's technically the first TES game I played (I waited a month for Oblivion to arrive in the mail)

Daggerfall: Never finished it. As I understand, though, it's Arena but More. I think this is one I'd have stronger feelings about had i actually stuck to playing it till the end

Battlespire: Arena but More but Without the Extra Roleplay. Probably more polarizing but again, barely got an hour or so in lol

Dawnstar/Shadowkey/Stormhold: Never played, but want to (especially Shadowkey) I hear they're all full of jank tho so who knows if i'd enjoy it

The Modern Scrolls

Redguard: Never played.

Morrowind: Played a full game and got through half of another, but given how hogwild I go with the modern TES games it doesn't feel like it's enough to deserve that "Worlds Biggest Hater" energy from me. I do think the "combat sucks" thing is overblown, though. Not saying it's perfect but maybe y'all are too used to the actionized games and/or using the wrong weapon for your skillset. Do not like how easy it is to get lost cause if you don't have Mark/Recall or an Intervention spell you can't just jump to a familiar location.

Oblivion: In short, it's the first TES game I truly played. So I love it for that but also hate it for its shitass levelling and whitewashing of lore/the Empire in more ways than one. I love it more now because of how streamlined Skyrim is. I hate it more now cause it was definitely a low point for Bethesda's worldbuilding. LOVE the CC and I remember spending over an hour creating my first character then immediately rerolling cause oops I overdid it. It's my problematic fave

Skyrim: Love the OCs and the adventures I made for it. Hate the fandom it grew. Love the art direction in comparison to Oblivion. Hate the "gritty" filter put over it. Hate its shitass writing and quests. Love the addition of skill trees but hate their implementation. Absolutely LOATHE the downgrade to magic (idc if it's "story integration" it still sucks) Heavily dislike how little choice you get at CC as far as your skills go. 50/50 on the cosmetic side of CC cause on one hand you can't go ham on face creation but on the other you can change things like weight and nose/eye types but on the other other hand weight is just muscle mass unless you're using the fem body where it's SLIGHTLY thicker

Spinoff Scrolls 2: Finger on the Monkey's Paw Curls

Elder Scrolls Online: This one's...complicated just by virtue of being an MMO that's STILL updating. When I first played it, it was a breath of fresh air over the previous entries not just cause of different gameplay but because having multiple characters was an actual tangible thing in-game. I'm an OC whore okay. The story of the base game felt a LOT tighter, too, given it was actually linear. 'Course, the writing always felt really good or really bad and rarely was it in-between. Either way I got very, VERY invested in it in a way I knew I would never be able to experience again and I will never forget that. The CC is Phenomenal and easily the best one in any TES game so far. (Boob and ass slider? FOR MEN TOO???)

Lore also was hit or miss, with me being VERY appreciative of them touching things that Bethesda never bothered with if it wasn't for killing (i.e. types of food, clothing, toys, etc) but also while the lore team did consult with Bethesda there were and still are some glaring oversights that feel like they shouldn't have happened (especially earlier in the game's life) Given there's still some hiccups I'm guessing the Bethesda team doesn't actually consider it very important (makes sense, the main games also bend lore for the sake of gameplay/Todd's whims A LOT, just look at Oblivion lmao) I also love love love that they touch on the weirder topics, even if sometimes it's done in a way that feels too...on the nose? idk how to explain it

Recent ESO, though? Writing got more and more bland, with some standout sidequests. Lore still hit or miss so that's whatever. I stopped caring for the gameplay after...Orsinium?...when I gave up on relearning how to play with the regular changes to combat. Gave up trying to fit my OCs stories into the new content too, even with new characters (helps that they're not as developed lol) Still play out of habit but I defo think it fell off and this recent change to the yearly content doesn't seem to be helping but then I haven't touched new content since High Isle lmao

Legends: Seemed interesting but never played it much lmao, lore/story seems to follow ESO's example of being hit or miss from what I saw

Blades: It was okay I guess. Another game I developed a habit for then promptly dropped after I finished building and upgrading my town. It's a mobile game so idk what I expected, annoying ads begging for money abounded. I did all of it without paying a single cent on my Switch and it was a slog but I did it. Pretty meh about it tbh

Castles: Looks cute. Never played it and probably never will.

[sickenoughsteve]

Beef, Bars, and Banter: Navigating the Drake vs. Kendrick Feud and the Hilarity Ensuing

When I first came across Pop Base’s prompt to write something for their newsletter based on modern-day pop culture, like Drake, I wanted to hire a ghostwriter. 

Allegedly! Anyway…

I went to ChatGPT to see if I could streamline the process and create something funny, witty, and on-trend without spending too much time. It didn’t work at all. What came out (with specific prompts, even) was incredibly corny and very clearly written by AI. This is why we need REAL writers to be compensated fairly and given the correct resources to entertain and inform us properly.

Anyway, that’s my little rant on writing. But let’s go back to Drake. Right now, this man is getting cooked by the entire industry, yet it seems he’s holding his own? Whether our favorite cornball, who everyone admits is actually somewhat appealing in a way none of us can explain, is your favorite, or if you like the Pulitzer Prize winner, Kendrick, you must tip your hat to the revival of beef in the rap game.

This is fun!

I mean, The Weeknd is out here singing sultry diss bars, Future is butt-hurt for what seems to be the first time ever, Metro Boomin is catching strays simply because he’s good at making beats but doesn’t rap, Rick Ross is on IG calling Drake “whiteboy”, J Cole avoided a massacre but might have lost some respect in the process, Pusha T is somewhere saying “I told you so,” Kanye is continuing to be his same insane self… even Quavo and Chris Brown are getting intensely and perhaps almost violently disrespectful on the undercard for this headliner beef.

That said, rather than diving into this beef from all angles, I want to acknowledge that this is a lot of information to digest, and many battles are going on in this war. That’s why I will do my very best to give a bird’s-eye view of this whole situation and see if this perspective can help all of us enjoy it for what it is. Not necessarily to tell you who to “support” but rather to recognize that negativity might save us in 2024.

We’re missing pop culture events that unite and get us all thinking about the same things. That’s where I believe Kendrick and Drake are doing a massive service to hip-hop. Putting it all on the line gives us something great to sink our teeth into. I, for one, love it.

So, as far as comparing this beef to past beefs, I remember in middle school, hearing Nas on ‘Ether.’ It rocked my world. I was raised on Nas and thought of him as the ultimate rapper. A rapper’s rapper. Instantaneously upon hearing “Fuck Jay Z” several times in succession on the song, I became a bonafide 100% Jay Z hater.

Did I have a problem with Jay? Not really. He was a star. I liked his music and had absolutely no issues with him. But not anymore! Nas had set the stage for me to learn as much as possible about Jay Z and become skeptical of everything about him.

This time around, the same feeling is back. However, it’s even weirder because the internet is out here internetting. Drake has a team of social media people who ensure he has the best and most impactful content strategy any rapper in a beef could ask for.

The internet is all about timing and trolling. Drake and his team are certainly better equipped there. And it’s showing to be necessary. However, one could argue if the bars are all that matters, Kendrick might have him beat there. Hence, the need for Drake to win these small battles on social media.

I think the best thing about beef between world-class musicians is that we are instantaneously reminded that everybody is insecure and we all make mistakes. The goal of beef is to expose those missteps and air out those insecurities. Before, I never would have guessed Drake had a BBL, fake abs, and other body modifications. Does that make me hate him? Not really. Does it even bother me? No. Does it make me think he’s very weird? Hell yeah.

In this politically correct world, toxic masculinity makes a resounding comeback whenever rap beef is declared. That’s probably the most upsetting thing about this all, but at the same time, let me reiterate that it’s fun. In a world of Israel and Palestine headlines, one of the most significant elections of our history, climate issues, and other general sad, sad truths, this is something we quite certainly NEED.

Silly bullying.

Drake making fun of Kendrick’s shoe size is, frankly, hilarious. I don’t care at all that Kendrick is short. Why would I? It doesn’t matter one bit. But if you put it on a song, it’s GOING to be funny. But of course, he refers to him as “midget” a few too many times for our PC culture to be happy with him. I found this most interesting when stepping back and thinking about it all. To come across as “real” also means NOT being politically correct.

Drake came for Kendrick for making music with Taylor Swift. Meanwhile, he’s in a commercial singing and dancing to Taylor. Is working with one of the biggest stars of all time something you should be ashamed of? Clearly not. But it’s not manly. So we have to be embarrassed by it. Beef is confusing in 2024; that’s all I’m saying.

And Kendrick isn’t guilt-free, either. He told Drake he doesn’t like it when he says the N-word. Of course, Drake has a black father but was primarily raised by his white mother. Now, he must feel bad about using our culture’s most controversial word. Of course, there’s a lot a sociology professor could unpack about why this is wrong, but in rap beef, it’s fair game. And it works as a way to poke holes in Drizzy's entire being! So it plays.

Another thing. Before we had Rap Genius and could look up what these guys were saying, some more subtle jabs would go under the radar. But now, the whole thing—from Kendrick naming the song ‘Euphoria’ because of the HBO show Drake is a producer on—and the connection there to pedophilia to Drake calling his diss ‘Push Ups’—there’s simply lore everywhere you look.

I used to write for a company that covered Marvel/DC, comics in general, and action franchises, and the main thing I took away from it was that people love Easter Eggs. We love digging into the material and finding references to the past or things meant to not just be on the surface. That’s what we love most about rap beef - especially nowadays.

We want to make discoveries about these greats that make them less untouchable, to bring them down a peg. Interestingly, human nature is to humiliate those on top whenever possible. 

But alas.

So, whether you “don’t trust” Drake or love and agree that he’s winning this 20v1, you must admit this is “for the culture” and far from over. So buckle up; this will be a hilarious and fun ride.

[renatogpadilla]

My thoughts on the AtlA Live Action as someone who's fresh off the original Show:

I won't say it was bad, because it wasn't. Hell, up until the fourth episode it was done about as well as the Live Action One Piece! The problem is that they tried to streamline too much and they tried to fit too much unnecessary stuff in.

This is more of an issue with Theming rather than Timing. While they DID have the time to fit in the entire OG Season 1 scene by scene, even if they did, there would be the problem of "episodes have to have a theme".

For example, the third and fourth episodes, "Omashu" and "Into The Dark" had bits and pieces of Jet and his Freedom Fighters, the Artificers and Cave of Two Lovers.

And the streamlining of it was good! Because it made sense to streamline that knowing that in Book 3 we're gonna have to have them all show up again.

Unfortunately, after episode 4, the streamlining gets out of hand. By trying to fit as much as they possibly could in one episode (Heibai, the Spirit World, Sokka and Katara getting sick, June and Roku's Island) they lost track of every individual thread of said plots.

For Example: Heibai never gets healed, instead giving more screentime than he deserves to Koh the Face Stealer, which was AWESOME TO SEE, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't fix the problem.

Having said that, I do gotta give it props for a bunch of things:

- The cast FEEL like the characters, with only few exceptions (Roku isn't that goofy, Azula isn't vicious enough for this time in the story, Zhao feels TOO out of control, even for him, etc) and they genuinely tried their absolute best with what they were given.

- The locations and sets are AMAZING (I don't really care about the look of The Volume)

- The Fight Choreography is CRAZY! The Mixed Martial Arts into the Bending was INCREDIBLE!

I'm just honestly gonna list a bunch of things in the Show now, so you can judge for yourself with the info you're given:

- Momo's barely in it. (Like, seriously, he has 5 scenes in the entire thing.)

- Appa is in it only a bit more.

- Sokka's sexism being gone wasn't even that big of a deal. If anything, it was a lesson on studios needing to shut the fuck up about their shows until they release.

- Iroh doesn't bust himself out. It's done in a way that makes you see more of Iroh's story through the eyes of someone else, so it's okay, but it was still something I missed.

- Katara still dealt with Sexism over at the NWT.

- AANG DOESN'T ACTUALLY DO ANY WATERBENDING IN THE ENTIRE SEASON. (This is my biggest complaint.) In fact, they don't go into the Bending AT ALL. No "Fire comes from your breath." No explanation of how Waterbending feels different than Airbending and no Jeong Jeong to teach Aang Firebending and use it as an excuse to wait to the last season for it, etc...

- Mai and Yue don't look like their characters. Like, the feel is there, perfectly, but not the look. Mai is too chubby to be a flipping and dipping weapon thrower martial and Yue's hair was... Off. Something about it was a little much.

- Yue's betrothed wasn't an asshole.

- Koe the Face Stealer gets some original plot which would be REALLY COOL if it wasn't taking the space that could have gone to Zuko carrying Aang out of the NWT.

- NO HARU. AT ALL. HE DOESN'T EXIST. NEITHER DO THE WEED BENDERS BECAUSE THEY SKIPPED THE SWAMP WITH THE SPIRIT REALM. And they're not doing the Library it seems, because they used the Owl already.

- No big blockade in front of Roku's Island, and Roku doesn't fight. We DO get Kyoshi fighting to counterbalance it, though!

-No romance between Aang and Katara yet, which I get, given how the kids that play them are still a bit young for that, but they should have left Secret Tunnel for Season 2 if they weren't gonna do that now.

Stuff like that. There were a bunch of things that worked (the OG Music being there and a remix of "Leaves from the Vine" for Iroh's theme was GOOD!) and others that were complete misses that I'm willing to overlook if they use the "saved" time to focus more on Toph training Aang along with Katara.

Either way, it's a solid 6 outta 10 for me... Wouldn't watch it again for me, but would like a Season 2!

[safetycar-restart]

Pollens still being mean, but lets gather the braincells.

So ds au for motogp, considering how crashes are rather different from f1 do they have more team doms? Are the doms more tied to a person and switches team when they do? Im thinking of that poor ducati engineer who was duck taped and handed over to ktm i believe after the last race last year. Cause that has so much potential in a ds au.

Perhaps they move with the riders if they go from moto2 to motogp and such?

The doms have crash kits of what said rider needs after a crash. Marcs dom would have nerves of steel and that kind of bag that contains everything like some grandmas big bag for every evantuality. Also nowadays questions any doctor who is very positive marc can ride with broken bones, that way marc can try and let go of the anxiety and his dom can be the 'mean' one.

Fabio being the tactile being he is most likely have a lot of lotions and massage oils for his after crash kit. Comfy, brightly colored pajamas most likely feature as well. And cuddles of course but think careful cuddles is something they all require?

Enea and bezz dom both most likely after a crash focus a bit also on their hair? Feels like that might make them relax.

The doms rutinly get together to bitch about the stewards and eat things not in a riders diet methinks

Cheers from 🏍 anon

I LOVE THIS!!! Honestly I think my new obsession is the d/s au with MotoGP because this is so so good. If anyone has more thoughts about this…. I need to be informed immediately. Im gonna do some general thoughts and then talk a bit about a few riders.

Firstly, I agree that Doms would be a lot more individual. I think that the general rule would be that the teams have to provide a dominant for their rider if the rider doesn't already have one. If they do have a dom, then the team will hire that dom because that's usually what's best for the rider.

I think that dominants and submissives would be a lot less streamlined in Motogp? F1 teams have a whole system in place where their riders dynamic is dealt with on a scheduled basis for optimal health. Whereas Motogp is lot more individualised and they mostly let the riders choose dominants for themselves.

So yeah, I do think each rider would have their own dom as opposed to a team dom for both.

MARC:

Oh yeah Marc's dom has got have the BIGGEST crash kit. In fact it's probably more like a crash suitcase. Of course you some stuff like lotion, massage oil, muscle tape, wrist guards, etc but you also have his favourite comfy clothes (which are actually your clothes), his favourite energy bars, etc. I also think that you might keep a book in there?

I think that Marc gets stuck in his head a lot after crashes and the best is just to read to him, so you always have a nice selection of his favourite books for him to choose from.

I also love the idea of Marc's dom being the 'mean' one. Marc never, ever goes to a doctor's appointment or physio appointment without his dom. Ever. He will, and has, move appointments if you can't make the original time. He doesn't ever want to have to go to the doctor himself.

In fact, sometimes he'll request that you put a formal collar on him before his appointments? He's received bad news so many times that those appointments are now a source of anxiety for him and having a formal collar on can make him feel much better.

FABIO:

Fabio would LOVE having lotions and massage oils in his crash kit, absolutely any excuse to be touched!! I also think he's very specific about scents though? He loves coconut and mint scents, but not much else.

Maybe you regularly change the coloured PJs that are in his crash kit, and they are PJs. Most Doms will have comfy clothes in their sub's kit, but you have actual PJs. There's something about changing into PJs that really helps fabio calm down, and actually you also have comfy clothes for yourself packed? Fabio won't be able to calm down if he thinks you're about to walk out the door, so you have to also change.

Every time he uses the PJs in the crash kit, you'll swop them out for other ones so that every time it's a surprise for Fabio as to what brightly coloured PJs he's getting. Sometimes you'll even buy him new ones. It's just something small, but the surprise always makes fabio smile so it's well worth it.

And of course cuddles! He's very tactile, and I think that maybe you include an iPad or tablet in the crash kit? This is so that you and fabio can watch videos or movies together. It's really just an excuse for cuddles, but Fabio's mind tends to race if you aren't watching something together too.

ENEA:

For Enea, i kinda love the idea that you're a new dom for him? Maybe his old dom retired or chose to stay with his old team and so Ducati had to find him another dom.

So the Enea's first weekend with Ducati is also his first weekend with you, which unfortunately is also the first weekend you have to use the crash kit for him. It's not as personalised as you would like, since you don't know him very well, but there's comfy clothes and a blanket and snacks and you include some self care stuff too like face masks and bubble bath and a hair mask.

To your surprise, Enea immediately gravitates towards the haircare stuff in the self care things? He asks, very softly like you might actually say no, if you could wash his hair for him. The poor thing is so sad and in so much pain and so worried he might not be able to race for Ducati for a long time, so of course you agree to wash hair.

That's really the first time the two of you really bond? You've chatted before and scened before, but it's all still at the superficial phase when he crashes that first weekend. But sitting in the bath with him, washing his hair and whispering promises that you'll be there throughout his recovery? That's when the real bond begins to form.

[shotbyafool]

I completely agree with your thoughts on hadestown but i just think it’s interesting to look at it in comparison to a show like great comet that a lot of the same people love for a lot of the same reasons as hadestown (any version but nytw particularly) and wonder if great comet had made more sacrifices and made more changes to appeal to a wider audience when transferring from its off broadway run, would it have lasted longer? personally i do think so and idk i just think it begs the question of is it better to have a production that’s true to the show’s original purpose and has that charm that makes it an objectively stronger piece of theater even if it won’t last as long versus a more sanitized production that is more widely accessible and therefore has a greater longevity?

brilliant take here anon. so much of this conversation is going to be tinged by subjectivity (I personally think the few changes that Comet made in its transfer were generally quite excellent and only worked to streamline the story... and there is also of course the behemoth that is Dust and Ashes) but Great Comet did, in fact, refuse to make concessions in its transfer. a lot of my issues with the concept of the NYTW transfer for Hadestown come from me finding most of the choices so utterly inexplicable on an artistic level that I can hardly fathom being Mitchell and killing my darlings like that.

but to the actual point, I think Great Comet also had an uphill battle in its subject matter, and its marketing team (and Malloy himself, in songs like Prologue) had absolutely no choice but to lean into the inherent insanity of making a musical out of War and Peace. which necessitates a trust in the audience, and one which I think certain audiences really relished in (having trust like that built in is bound to pet ones ego; I know it petted mine as a 16-year-old!). but at the end of the day, it was always a tough sell to tourists (to whom our industry is so reliant on!!!), and this is totally regardless of its insane per-week costs for its technical elements. as an adult, I can realize that it never had much of a chance at a long Broadway run, especially with its behind-the-scenes issues which I will not discuss since they've been beaten to death. and I do wonder if there was less trust, would it have lasted longer? but to me Malloy is not an artist who necessarily dreams of Broadway; I think he works on passion projects and never expected Great Comet to make it to a Broadway house. good for him! so he didn't concede, but then again, how could he have, with the subject material and the concept of the musical to begin with?

(then again, Malloy was so terribly spit up on by the industry for Great Comet in a way that makes me feel livid. what personal vendetta robs him of a Tony for orchestrations?)

yesterday I (drunkenly) posted that I think no shows should aim for Broadway, which of course was a simplification of a situation. to me the best fate of a show in the long-run is probably starting Off-Broadway, transferring to Broadway for a season or two, then transferring back Off-Broadway when it's harder to fill those massive Broadway houses (but you're still getting audiences in seats) - a very different show, but this is what happened to The Play That Goes Wrong, which to me works so much better in an intimate stage anyway. then again, this still allows for the initial edit onto Broadway to occur, but I think Mitchell always dreamed about Hadestown having an expansive open run in the Walter Kerr and that it has done. so like. kind of shrugging here. the changes made in the transfer are (insanely) so... careful, done so much with an artistic hand that to me it's clear that Mitchell did it, but WHY for some of them. it's going to keep me up at night.

like of course, shows can't run forever, but it's a bit of a 'die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' or whatever. and it is so miserable that the Broadway machine necessitates a watering down of material or else you are fated to a short run; A Strange Loop of course enters the conversation at this junction, and of course upsets me. I have nothing else to say in particular and I think you are absolutely right, and I am upset.

[queenlua]

let's see about 5, 11, 12, 13 for the ask meme?

5. What game would you recommend to someone new to the series?

ugh this is so HARD because i don't think there's any game that's perfect for this...

if they're new to the series but have enjoyed at least a couple older video games at some point (and thus have some tolerance for a bit of gameplay cruft and GBA-era rough edges), i'd be really tempted to throw Sacred Stones at them. absolutely gorgeous sprites, good music, probably the most solid/focused/best-executed story in the series, fun support conversations, and very good gameplay whose only flaw is "it's kinda too easy." but it's satisfying and if someone likes everything about it but "too easy," then that's an easy problem to fix with subsequent games lol

i suspect Awakening is probably the objectively-better answer, though. first "modern"-feeling FE in terms of how streamlined and nice the mechanics feel, the depth/multiplicity of strategies, the storyline is weaker but still has definite highlights (especially when the kids show up), etc

Three Houses is a solid contender but the game is kind of bloated with extras that i think can make playing it feel like a bit of a drag; i know a lot of people who just kinda flaked out or gave up b/c of all the monastery stuff, and i wouldn't want someone's first FE to end that way

i do love the Tellius games but i wouldn't recommend them as starter games. the 3d sprites are kinda ugly and it definitely shows its age a bit in terms of gameplay cruft

11. A character that deserved better?

Edelgard, tbh. she's fantastic when the game isn't trying to make her all woobie/waifu/etc. wouldn't even take many changes to fix this one!

also Renning. i love what's on the page but he gets so little and shows up so late. give the dude some damn base conversations plz

also Meg. the game is so mean to her, goddamn.

12. A game that deserved better?

oh boy. the problem here is, if i finished playing an FE game, that means i liked it well enough over all, even if there's stuff i didn't like. like, i wish Awakening's storyline was stronger, but it definitely feels like it executed on exactly what it wanted to do, so i wouldn't say the game deserves better per se

so i guess i'll say the two FE games i tried and failed to play:

fe6: i ragequit on the map with the fucking reinforcements that move the same turn that they spawn. motherfuckers. why

fe14: i was already pretty "eh" on the story and then that one fucking "defend [x] turns" map (unhappy reunion iirc) took SO much finicky effort to survive that by the time i finished it i was like. ugh. i'm so tired. and then i put it down for a while and never picked it back up oops

13. What do you like most about Fire Emblem?

...god this is going to make me sound SO uncultured but, the support conversations, especially in the older games, are just so delightful. delightful in-and-of-themselves (especially when they would happen DIRECTLY ON THE BATTLEFIELD lmao), and also, were probably weirdly influential in how i thought about game writing / writing generally. conveyed a huge amount of personality & implied huge things about the world & in a relatively small space; and also refused to let anyone be just a rando soldier in your army; you can look back at short fiction i wrote in middle school and see how much i was striving to get that huge-cast-small-space-feel in that format. simple but effective approach

also it's nice to have a big-name game series that executes so well on story and gameplay, on average. i've played a lot of Final Fantasy and i love those games but. often the gameplay is just kinda mediocre/grind-y, right, and i'm forcing my way through for the story? could NOT be fire emblem lol

[lunanoc]

2, 13, 17 !

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

In general there’s a few, but not all of them would work with the pairing I write primarily at the moment (PingXie from DMBJ) because I’m a big believer that just because you enjoy a trope doesn’t mean you should shoehorn it into every ship you like because they just would not work. Unless it’s an AU setting, and even then you’d probably need some serious mental gymnastics for some. Anyway 🏃‍♀️

For PingXie specifically I’d like to try a Hanahaki AU because I don’t know that anyone’s ever tried that (I have a specific scenario in mind, we’ll see if I ever get to actually writing it), or an A/B/O AU, which I know is a trope a lot of people dislike for understandable reasons, but if done correctly and from a certain angle it could be interesting (and not necessarily for smut purposes, I may or may not also have a scenario in mind for this 🏃‍♀️). This isn’t really a trope but I think the biggest thing I’d want to try is writing a real Long Fic™️. And by that I don’t mean word count, I mean something with a real intricate plot where there’s character development, plot twists, etc. because there are very very few of those for DMBJ, and that I know of a lot of the ones that do exist are for my no-no ships or tropes.

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

I don’t know that I’ve ever come across advice that I tried to replicate mostly because when I write it’s vibes for better or worse 🏃‍♀️ BUT that being said, I think the best indirect advice I have that isn’t even advice per se, more observation, is that studying literature is a good way to realize that taking cues from commercial writing advice isn’t necessarily a ground rule for good writing. Can it help you and get you started? Absolutely. You might resonate with it and that’s fine too. But anyone who calls themselves an “expert writer” because they’ve read a lot of books on writing and takes the liberty to police others with way more confidence than they should have about how chapters need certain word counts to keep the reader interested, that scenes need to be structured a certain way etc. is a red flag to me sorry. Saying art has no rules is a little bit exaggerated because it does, but in a sense it’s true. If there was anywhere where rules were meant to be broken or subverted it’s artistic creation, and though that might not be palatable for commercial publishing, doesn’t mean artistic license is worthless. There’s no one way to write, even commercially successful authors have their own distinct styles, so as long as it’s something you can make work and hone into a cohesive body of work, commercial writing advice in those “How to Write For Dummies” books aren’t the be all end all, and anyone using those as the exclusive guide on how to write and never evolving away from them are using them as a crutch they feel they can use to belittle others, but that’s just my hot take 🏃‍♀️

17. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

From start to finish more or less. Cohesion happens as I’m writing and no amount of planning is going to account for what actually ends up making up the filling of whatever framework I’m going off of. I’ve tried writing a few scenes out of order once because I got frustrated and skipped ahead, and I hated myself when I went back to edit/rewrite (because editing for me isn’t so much editing as it is rewording and sometimes rewriting entire portions because I’m not happy with the flow of the first draft). I think I write too streamlined to ever be able to cut things up like that 🫠

[esta-elavaris]

Do you have any advice for someone trying out writing for the first time? No matter if it’s fanfiction or an original work is there something you would suggest or a mantra you try to go by? Or maybe advice you would have told your younger self?

I started stupidly young (like I decided when I was nine that I wanted to be an author) so I can't specifically remember what worked for me when I started, but I still have a few things that I think/hope will be helpful! There was a period around 2017-2019 where I wrote an abysmally small amount because of shitty mental health and then I revamped/reclaimed my writing habit at the very beginning of 2020 and there are a few things that were helpful there.

This book is very, very good (The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, if the link doesn't work) to the point where I literally buy it as a gift constantly for creative folk in my life. It's a very quick read, I reread it often, and it frames procrastination and that sort of self-conscious anxiety that makes writing difficult at times in a really new and clever way. The author has done a few podcast appearances if the book isn't something you can access.

Another person who I've found really inspiring/motivational is David Goggins - his stuff is more overtly tailored towards physical exercise and that sort of realm, but what he says can absolutely be applied to creativity, too, but he's a bit more of a divisive figure - some people love him and his brand of encouragement, others despise it. He has a couple of very good books, a tonne of podcast appearances, and he posts smaller clips on IG. Personally, I adore it, he's one of my favourite humans.

At the heart it's all about not letting the shit your mind tells you impact what you actually do, and a massive part of writing (at least for my anxious self) is ignoring that voice in the back of your mind screaming that every sentence/paragraph/chapter is hot shit and you should just quit. So I don't really have specific mantras, just stuff by those guys as well as a few different songs that hype me up.

In terms of specific advice, the game changer for me was deciding to write every single day as a rule. It's the best thing I ever did for my writing. The original plan was to only do it for the entire year of 2020 to get back into good habits, but then that year ended and I haven't stopped yet, with no plans to do so - I'm literally on my 1200th+ consecutive day right now. It's tough for the first few months, especially when you're getting used to consciously making time for it (I've literally written on my phone at bus stops, or when everybody else has gone to bed at a sleepover/party, the works to maintain the streak), but eventually it becomes second nature. Not every day can be good and groundbreaking, but you have to get through the mediocre days to earn the great ones and writing as much as possible sort of streamlines that process. Creativity is like a muscle in that regard, the more you use it and the more you show up, the more it'll show up for you.

Kind of linked to that last point, I'd also recommend working on a couple of different things at once. That way if you're stuck on one project, you can switch to the other - and by the time you get stuck on the other one, you'll probably be ready to go back to the first one. It's a good way to keep writing and keep yourself in the habit of writing even if you're taking a break from one specific thing. I could never just work on one thing 24/7 because I'd end up getting painfully bored and it would show in the project.

ALSO final bit of technical advice - the pomodoro technique is great for this sort of thing. There are plenty of YouTube videos that do the timing for you if you search for stuff like "study with me pomodoro" etc. and it frames things in a much more doable light. It breaks down your time into 25 minute chunks of work, and then rests in-between, so working on a project no longer feels like "man I need to write a whole chapter", it's just "I need to write for 25 minutes".

Finally, books in general are your best friend. Not just for inspiration, but because they can really help with insecurity. If I think I use too many dashes as punctuation, I pick up a few books and go hunting for them and see I don't use a stupidly higher amount than some of my favourite authors. If you look at books as a writer, you can find paragraphs that exist just to get the characters from point A to point B without containing any groundbreaking bits of literary prose. The sort of stuff you don't usually notice if you're just reading as a reader.

You can even find passages you don't personally like but that don't ultimately detract from the book being good (or if it does in your opinion, you can probably then find droves of people online who ADORE the book and think it's perfect, which is a good reminder of how subjective this whole thing is - I love reading negative reviews of my favourite books for that reason, it's a good reminder that there's no pleasing EVERYBODY so there's no point in trying) just to counteract any perfectionist tendencies.

Essentially, write as much as possible, read as much as possible, and have fun doing it. The only thing I'd really tell my younger self is to keep going for it, and to never quit.

This is a whole ass essay now, sorry about that -- if there's anything specifically that I didn't talk about, feel free to lmk. And thank you for asking! I'm majorly flattered that you'd want my advice on the topic 💜 good luck!