#that doesn't mean I don't have any criticisms of the show

[some-ghoul]

I'm gonna ramble for a minute for something that's been eating at me ever since this dropped. I find it wild the amount of flak and hate this video is getting and from chuds who are now going to videos a decade old and saying "they've always been bad/jello fell off".

I should preface saying; I fucking love one piece. It's one of my favorite pieces of media and I have tattoos to show my love for it. I've grown up with this, I've watched the entirety of it and read it to its current release, I've done so for the past 20 years. So I really mean it whenever I say this series is important to me!

This video AIN'T fucking wrong about the points it makes and it's criticisms it has!

Luffy's last heartfelt interaction with a crew member of his was Whole Cake (before that was probably pre-time skip at Sabaody)

Anyone who isn't the big 3 don't get nearly as much screentime whenever things are happening or having a bigger role besides exposition/needs to be rescued

Don't fuckin lie to yourself about women having shit rep in OP

The sexualization of characters is a real fucking issue that so many people have with the series.

The 2 types of women in one piece boob and butt or shaped like a wide bowling pin.

Oda who has multiple times stated, "We could really learn a thing or two from Shojo writers" WHILE REFUSING TO EVEN TOUCH ON WHY PEOPLE WHO ENJOY SHOJO WOULDN'T EVEN GIVE OP A CHANCE

The series is really over-bloated with so many side characters where injuries/death means as little as it would in dragon ball I'm listing more just watch the fucking video

I had an interaction with someone who doesn't even stay up with it, watched the video, and then went, "yea I dunno he was a little mean to Oda I think that's fucked up". Brother, if this was any other random manga author you wouldn't even bat a fuckin eye about the jokes made at them. You just got a take from the comments and decided that's the one you're going with it.

Fuck, then there's the group bringing up the whole dubbing thing and like. I'll just be honest. If you're trying to spin a story to me about someone who got a dream job position, hired to do a show they hated and has pretty queerphobic rep, and instead they say tuck that and do it their way? I dunno man, that's pretty fuckin cool of someone who wouldn't compromise for their morals.

Someone tried saying one of the characters in the cut section was a trans character so it's just virtue signaling more than anything and I'm like, "ok. What pronouns do you use for Yamato then?? You apparently really care about the representation of queer folk so, OBVIOUSLY, we're not gonna have a bad discussion about this yea?"

This isn't even me trying to be like, oh I gotta defend my favoritest widdle guy who I have loved since forever. I'd do this shit on some randy who just dropped this with no other previous content!! Just because someone finally laid it all out there and took shots at the guy who's never really been criticized harshly for the bad stuff in their long running series of 25+ years and the mistakes they've made throughout it doesn't instantly invalidate the genuine issues the series has!

Also the Franky joke is funny! I sure would love more stuff to be done with that character IF ODA DECIDED HE WOULD WANT TO DO SOMETHING WITH THE CREW THAT WASN'T JUST FROM THE EAST BLUE!!

The first So This is Basically in many a moon.

CAST & CREW

WRITER/ANIMATOR/NARRATOR - Me! ARTIST - Bo Hello MUSIC - PLASTERBRAIN

MACHVISE - William T. Sopp PRINCE GRUS - John Van Doran MORLEY/CARROT/SHITTEN☆FARTER - Zack Maher DON KRIEG - Jason Marnocha ZORO - Cyrus Rodas VIZ USING TWO HYPHENS INSTEAD OF AN EM DASH - Oz Ryan ADDITIONAL VOICES - Ryan Palmer

[mamawasatesttube]

Janet lives au my beloved, I love the difference in the Janet lives vs the Jack lives au :)

Happy holidays! :D

thanks, happy holidays to you too!!!

also aughgh right??? there is so much to ponder wrt janet our collective beloved janet... i think often about this. like. his issues with jack would both shrink and grow because on the one hand jack is no longer actively around to do shit to feed into tim's many complexes. on the other hand, he now has jack up on the Perfect Dad pedestal in his mind because he's dead. can't criticize your dead dad that's fucked up and horrible. right?

and on the other hand. man. so lets posit he has a better relationship with janet than he would with jack (because janet is a better parent than jack, and let's be real, that isn't really a high bar. but given jack's... everything, i just kinda really get the vibe that he left most of the actual parenting to janet). now at first you'd think this is solely a good thing! ...but can you imagine how much more agonized tim is about having to lie to his beloved mommy???? all the time??? he's even more torn between The Mission and his filial piety this time around!!! augh!!!

like all those times jack didnt notice tim hiding bruises with makeup ? if janet's around it is sooo possible that tim steals HER makeup for this specifically at least once and She. Notices. deeply possible that she puts together "tim showing up with mysterious injuries he keeps trying to hide and also lying to me about it" with "tim getting closer with dick grayson and bruce wayne while i was away" and deduces that she doesn't know WHAT they've gotten her little baby boy into, but she IS going to kill those guys. tim keeps insisting that they're very nice to him but that really isn't helping anything. but just the entire concept of janet actually paying attention to tim's injuries - noticing if he steals her makeup!!! - or paying attention to things like. *checks notes* one of his classmates being SHOT DEAD at their SCHOOL ???? hey jack how did you not even check on him once after this. whats wrong with you. i just wanna talk jack

so i think she'd find out tim's robin way faster than jack. he probably would agonize about wanting her to know but The Mission and the need for secrecy, etc. but notably, when she finds out, i don't think she'd force him to quit - she'd really really want him to, because this is so dangerous and he's her baby and she doesn't want him to get hurt!!! but if he pushed back and tried to explain his side of it, she'd actually be willing to at least hear him out (unlike jack).

but also. not to be predictable but. i think it would be really funny if at some point during this drama kon-el shows up on the front doorstep looking for robin, and eavesdrops just enough to understand that janet knows now. because. hear me out. this is how we once again arrive at tim walking into his own house and home and just balking because kon is at the kitchen table hanging out with his mother. mom why the heck are you giving superboy my oreos!!!!

(also, calling back a little to the concept of baby kon somehow befriending janet, but. very specific vision in my mind of "janet lives past identity crisis too au" where at some point baby kon mentions to tim in her earshot that hes never had a mom and wonders whats it like?? and she doesnt say anything but this strikes her to the heart. several years down the line when timkon are established at some point she's like conner sweetie i know a long time back you said you don't have a mother, and i understand that completely and don't mean to try and take any place in your life you don't want me in, but if you ever would like to have a mother-in-law… and tim is just like. MOM. ARE YOU TRYING TO PROPOSE TO KON FOR ME??? THIS IS SO CRINGE. UGH MOM STOP)

[thekirammanjinx]

Let's talk, this got long, addressing continued ignorance and misunderstanding of caitlyn and vi:

"Am I the only one who hates caitvi" no you're not, there's plenty of people with the same ignorant misunderstandings and virtue signaling ideologies. The same people who will spout false information and project their opinions onto the media vs taking the information the media is giving them and actively interpreting it.(that's not to say you can't be indifferent to caitvi. But all the hater are literally so dense and spout the same nonsense.)

"Who you have oppressed for decades" first of all CAITLYN didn't oppressor anyone. So saying she oppressed them is ignorant and a blatant lie. Caitlyn did not have any control or contributions.

Speaking on oppressors; silco and the chembarons have actively been oppressing and beating down their own people. Making zaun a thousand times more unlivable than when piltover did with vander. The firelights came to be because of silco and shimmer. Now, caitlyn did not gas an ENTIRE city. She targeted those afformented groups who have contributed to a downfall and hostile environment in zaun.

(lest we forget the council literally wanted a full scale assault on the entirety of zaun to aquire jinx. So even if caitlyn had done nothing zaun was doomed either way. War was looming if she did not act, you literally cannot talk about this without mentioning it, so the amount of people who choose to exclude this information to skew their "critical analysis")

Caitlyn didn't suddenly become empathetic because of vi. We see her being gentle with the jaw guy after he gets shot by jinx, she listens to vi before they even become more, yes she's apprehensive at the start but to say she changed because vi? Were you watching with your eyes closed and the TV on mute?

Saying that "these are her people" about vi. These are not her people. She actively hated silco and those aligned with him. Also she never was a freedom fighter for zaun. Idk where you got that. She just wanted a better life for HER and her FAMILY. Not to mention a tactical force to get chembarons off the streets isn't an act of oppression. That's a military action of snuffing out a drug cartel who are actively oppressing and harming the people of zaun.

(why are yall so in defense of the chembarons? Like yall truly don't give af about the people of zaun. We literally hear ekko say how bad the chembarons and shimmer have made zaun???)

"If the show didn't paint them good" you must be stupid if you thought the show was presenting it as good. The show is telling the story, it's giving a visual, just because it's there doesn't mean it's good. Or bad. Yes the show presents it as the BETTER option but it still shows how it is not 100% a morally good thing. But again you'd have to watch the show to see that wouldn't you??

(And again why are yall fighting for your lives trying to justify the chembarons existing and treating zaun like their own drug playing grounds.)

And to even say you like ambessa but not caitlyn & vi just feels embarrassing and you definitely missed the mark. People truly miss ambessa role in the entire season/series and it shows.

(i enjoy ambessa as a character but it's wild to see people try and tear down cait and or vi while praising ambessa in the same sentence. But this goes back to "we can handle evil characters but not good characters that do morally gray/bad things--which some of yall really need to have some introspection)

"Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons" there's literally a song IN THE SHOW with lyrics adjacent to this. No not verbatim, but it's basically right there. I'm convinced this person has not actually watched the show. There's no way. There is NO way.

"I'm not done with arcane" then idk, stfu and finish the damn show, if you feel the *narrative* is painting these actions as good that's a you problem. You do not know how to interpret the media in front of you. Because that's literally not what's happening.

Giving a character motives and reasons isn't justifying their actions or painting them as good. It's giving them a fleshed out story with emotions and said motives. Putting reason behind the actions. Not to mention this show is all about showing how people are complex, but you want to target caitlyn and vi for what?

Jinx targeted caitlyn literally because she was jealous and wanted vi to choose her over caitlyn. She wanted vi to shoot caitlyn. Caitlyn had personally done nothing to jinx. Jinx then killed 3 councilors, unprovoked.

So we can see how "targeting" a group of people for the actions of 1 is bad when it comes to caitlyn and vi, but we cannot say the same for jinx, or silco, or the likes??

(caitlyn strategically targeted chembarons and the shimmer cartel. Something ekko and the firelights were trying to do in s1. But everyone forgets that. Explaining and understanding what caitlyn did does not mean writing off her actions. But some of yall need to learn not to vilify her for doing what other characters wanted to do in the first place. She simply had the resources and means to do it. If a different character did it yall would not be so up in arms)

[lauralot89]

So I watched Nosferatu

poor Nicholas Hoult keeps getting tortured by vampires

also

that certainly was a penis

it has been years since I watched the original Nosferatu and I no longer remember what it did with any of its characters or plot so I will not be comparing this to that

so if you're going to do a Dracula/Mina romance (or in this case, Orlok/Ellen) and you're not going to base it around their shared hobby of reading train schedules, this is probably the best way to do it, because this isn't actually a romance. This movie gives Mina/Ellen the psychic sensitivity that Lucy/Anna has in the book, and establishes that Ellen has had mental connection with Orlok since her childhood, and he essentially groomed her. She even calls him out on it in the film. Yeah, there is one moment toward the end of the movie where she comforts him, but she isn't trying to save him or anything and also even in the original novel, Mina was the one who said Dracula deserved the most pity.

Yes, there was the scene where Ellen was saying Orlok loved her more than Thomas/Jonathan but she was clearly possessed

There is no romanticism of Orlok/Dracula here. He's the worst and he doesn't even have the illusion of civility that most adaptations provide.

also I was told by early reviewers that this movie was very horny and I think they must have watched a different cut than I did. I mean, sure, you see (flaccid) vampire dick once and some nudity throughout but the movie has two sex scenes and both are deeply unsexy in that in the first, you don't see anything and also both characters have gone out of their minds, and in the second, it's not even really sex. You can't just show me a dick that's not even in use and tell me that's horny. Come on, people. Raise your standards.

I don't say this to be mean but: I think the original Orlok makeup from the silent film was scarier. I get what they were doing here, I do, and the makeup was immaculate (as were the costumes, the set designs, etc. It's an Eggers film) but I personally find Original Orlok scarier, and this Orlok was most intimidating when he was kept in the shadows.

This movie felt very much like a fairy tale. It even sets up a "three nights" limit at one point sort of like the earlier versions of Cinderella. I find that Dracula adaptations, particularly in film, often put vibes above, say, characterization, and this movie felt pretty vibe-y.

If I were to make a complaint, it wouldn't even really be about the movie itself. But like, Nosferatu was originally made to be Dracula without paying for the rights to Dracula, wasn't it? You're not bound by the novel (not that most straight-up Dracula adaptations follow the novel all that closely either). You literally have a built-in excuse to do whatever you want, but it seems like what people want to do time and again in vampire movies is a highlights reel of the most famous moments in the book without ever really delving into the characters that made the novel so good.

Again, this is not a criticism of this movie. It's just that what I realized while watching this movie is that I really really want a Dracula adaptation that's a character study. Not even necessarily a character study of Dracula. If someone out there made an adaptation that focused the story on Jonathan or Lucy or Jack or whoever, I would love for that.

God bless Ralph Ineson's voice

Everyone in this film did well, but Nicholas Hoult's performance was probably my favorite. He emotes terror so damn well. And of course Dafoe is always a delight.

Did Original Orlok also favor biting people on the chest or was he a neck guy

[superkooku]

Heya, so I'm just someone who likes Greek mythology and I didn't read PJO (so my criticism is more general). I'm not the best person out here but I can give some tips if you'd like to.

First off, I'm always happy to see people willing to compare sources and modern adaptations to see which changes were made, all the inaccuracies. It's a sign of a curious spirit who likes to research about the myths. And also a way to discuss with a more nuanced perspective of the ancient culture.

+ Zeus tends to be demonized in modern retellings. People focus on his lustful side and forget that he's a powerful leader, a god of justice and hospitality and that he's not a heartless monster or anything in mythology.

Edit : here's some positive stuff about Zeus :

+ Hera kinda has the same problem, where she's seen as this jealous naggy wife who attacks every single child of Zeus (she only did it to a minority btw) and not given the same amount of respect as other female deities.

Or she's a victim so Zeus is 100% in the wrong. I don't vibe with either of these extremes and would prefer more nuanced explorations of Hera's character as a queen among the Olympians that CAN let go of a grudge (like when Heracles and Hebe married), as well as a goddess of marriage.

+ As for Dionysus, oh boy, where do I start 😂 ? I made a sort of essay dedicated to him on my blog because he's often done dirty in adaptations. Here's the link :

You don't have to read it, obviously, but I let this here just in case you'd like to. So to keep it short, let's say that every adaptation where he's portrayed as a goofy drunk guy or a pacifistic deity are completely wrong.

He's so much more interesting than that. He's, on one hand, a god of festivities, liberation theater and fertility. But on the other, he's also the god of insanity, he has an army of crazy followers (edit : maenads aren't really priestesses so I corrected that).

He doesn't hesitate to violently punish any king that doesn't respect his status as a god. He's a conquerer who, in order to ascend as an Olympian, had to spread his cult.

His relationship with Hera is also very interesting because she follows him throughout his numerous travels (as an antagonistic force) and she almost seems an accidental teacher in the way her punishments on Dionysus resemble those the god will later inflict (especially the madness tendency).

Whereas Zeus also shows a nicer side by being a caring father and protecting him while he was an infant.

Anyways, for Dionysus, I'd suggest you read "The Bacchae" from Euripides. It completely changed my perspective of him 😉.

He's like wine, yk ? Both a drink of celebration and joy, but also one that can unleash repressed traits, be it violence or being tipsy, so more vulnerable, or more joyful. It alters reason and decision making. Dionysus can make people more obedient or straight up rabid when he wants to. So he takes that to the maximum.

I hope this mini rant could help, my friend. If you have anything to say, don't hesitate.

Also @kingkai4ever could you help me for the PJO stuff specifically? If you have anything to add.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ

Hi-this is a call for help.

It's not urgent, but it's very important and serious to me.

Listen-I'm writing a literal essay on how the Greek Gods are incorrectly portrayed, and I want to do sections on Zeus, Hera and Dionysus.

So, this started off as a short post on the bold yin yang of PJO, but it quickly blew up into a whole ass essay on the bastardisation of Greek culture and gods. And holy hell, I'm enjoying writing it. I freaking love it, but-

While Rick Riordan's portrayals of the gods aren't totally incorrect, something about their portrayals has been seriously nagging me for months now. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's just on the tip of my tongue-

but I don't think that Rick portrayed them all correctly, and I want to write sections for them too.

So, can all of you-Greeks, Hellenistic Pagans and other people like me who are neither of the first two but are still interested in the Real Greek Gods-can all of you tell me where PJO Dionysus, PJO Zeus and PJO Hera went wrong?

More specifically, how Real Hera, Real Zeus and Real Dionysus are, and how their PJO versions differ from them.

Because I'm doing my research, but I can't always trust the internet and I really want to hear about Dionysus and Zeus and how they were incorrectly portrayed in PJO from real people themselves.

I mean, Zeus is portrayed as paranoid and abusive and while he wasn't the best guy in the Mythology, he was a great father and husband at times-as well as a great guy.

But in PJO, he was barely shown as a good father or a husband, only twice with Thalia because she was his daughter, and we all know how abusive he was to Jason and Apollo. And he's barely given any nuance-as well as Hera. They're both portrayed to be in an abusive marriage, but both Hera and Zeus really love each other.

I kind of also want to do a section on PJO Hera, because I just KNOW that Rick went wrong with her, even if I can't fully explain Zeus and Dionysus.

So, TLDR, I'm writing an essay on how Rick incorrectly portrayed the Greek Gods and want to do sections on Zeus, Dionysus and Hera, could you please help me and tell me more about the real gods and maybe how Rick went wrong with them?

Thanks to everyone who contributes to this! Even a simple like will suffice. I will also respond to every comment, and feel free to tag anyone whom you think might help.

In fact, if you want to complain about ANYTHING wrong in the PJO series, send me an ask and I'll try to include it in my essay. And I don't get very many asks, so I'll be sure to respond to all of them.

I don't mean to be rude, and if you think I am, then please tell me and I'll change what I need to.

@elytrianemrald I know you're looking forward to this essay, I'm working on it every day and getting closer to finishing it

@lady-menrva I know this might not be your thing, but I think you might know some people who could help me

@my-pjo-stuff you mentioned Artemis being your patron goddess, soooooooo you might know something about the other gods too? And if you don't, maybe you know someone who can help?

If you want to be tagged, tell me and I will tag you

[tirorah]

I can't help but laugh at how Usagi just jogs off here! The thing is, Makoto's largely been absent from the episode because she's sick with that cold they set up earlier. (And because Azama Mew had school during the shooting of these scenes, I imagine.)

But rather than elegantly work that into the script somewhere, they just have Usagi run off here so she can come back with Makoto once Ami and Rei have had a private conversation.

It's SO clunky that Usagi doesn't even explain what she's doing! She just leaves! Is she getting help? Or is she getting Ami a snack to help her get some energy back after all the extra attempts at the barrier she made? We don't know!

10/10, never change, PGSM.

[tackykachowch]

How it feels to not like timebomb after s2

[skippingthroughfields]

one thing that's missing from these convos about amc not submitting assad zaman for a golden globes nom that makes it 10x more malicious on amc's part is that a nomination isn't just like oh... ~simple appreciation for an actor's performance. even if there's no win, it results in a profile boost for these actors & them being able to command a higher salary when it comes to future projects. it's something that gets notice on their CV. these studios and networks love being able to market their shit with things like "starring golden globe nominee john doe" or "emmy winner jane doe." the emmys are more prestigious than the golden globes which are more prestigious than the critics choice awards (the one they submitted him for with two other actors lol). actors get nominated and have the opportunity to get attention from social media posts, article mentions, attending the red carpet, having their name announced and a little clip of their acting shown. that's not nothing! attention from possible new fans, publications, execs, peers, producers, directors, fashion houses & other industries which could lead to $$$ and sponsorships. I won't make any presumptions about the cast's finances but I do know amc is probably not paying them their worth, least of all the bangladeshi muslim who barely had any major roles in tv/film prior to the show.

there are fees and costs associated with submitting for awards consideration and FYC ads. the network basically took a look at assad's brown skin and name and said they don't think he's worth the money over the white actor who had less screentime and narrative importance (to the season ig) which is absolutely crazy lmao. it shouldn't be controversial to say that and you can't not discuss this without bringing up sam's name. this has nothing to do with whether he "deserved" to be submitted (and even if I said he doesn't deserve it over assad who's gonna beat my ass?). this white man isn't being persecuted by conversations about blatant racism. but I'd expect nothing less from this fanbase x.

[lugarn]

Before we dive in to the meat of your reply I have to just start with the idea that fix-it fic means fixing the problematic elements. It reminds me of the way modern fandom treats 'gay panic' like you're in a panic because you're realizing you're gay. Real history has been forgotten here! I am also interested in genuinely picking media apart! It's fun, but I want to do it with love for the media and what it was trying to do (Ebert-style) rather than with disappointment from what I thought it should've been.

Back in the Supernatural days I wrote a lot of meta! Not just about stuff I liked, but as part of the larger conversation about the things that the show lacked in terms of female characters (or any other regular characters) and how that was both an asset to the storytelling and a failure to imagine women and minorities as part of the world. It was fun as hell and I was part of a group who beta-read each others' metas and would make excellent points that would then make the metas even better. There was a thriving meta community and no matter what analysis we held we all knew that the other people weren't saying that the show or its fans were unworthy of love due to the media's flaws, or that people who chose not to see the flaws were inherently less than.

I also like a lot of shows that got into super heated levels of criticism! The main one was Playboyy, where the criticism veered into speaking over/ignoring sex workers' opinions of how the show handled sex work. I'm very familiar with the ways that tone-policing queers in BL have decided that something is bad and thus the people who like it are bad.

It's terrible, but like you, I focus on what I want to make. I focus on running events and writing fic and sometimes even editing vids. But I feel pretty alone, in the end, because there are so few people doing it alongside me. Fandom's not supposed to be a place where those of us who make and post things feel increasingly alone, but here we are.

As far as belonging, I think you're probably right. An adjacent issue is that there's not a real queer community online the way there is offline. Things were smaller and tighter-knit in the past, and I think that constant organizing around HIV/AIDS was part of what kept throwing people together to form more and more communities. I don't know how to fix it.

The reality is that queer folks are a small part of the percentage of the world, and while we can be powerful, in terms of viewing/buying potential, we don't really have enough market share to affect the world. (I wish we did. That would be nice.)

Media that's successful is appealing in some way to straight people. That doesn't make the media inherently worse! In a lot of ways it makes it better, the same way the analysis in my metas were made better by having a lot of eyes on them. Something that appeals to more people will also appeal to more queer people, since we're varied. It's a real win-win.

a question for QL fandom at large: when did we start only wanting media that is perfectly suited to our standards?

there has never been a perfect show, and there never will be a perfect show, because everybody likes different things and QL is run on shoestring budgets. i thought this was something we made our peace with as viewers of the genre!

so i'm just wondering at what point fandom decided that a show is only worthy of praise/fandom if it has no problems?

at what point did we decide that talking about the problems of a show is more important than talking about what we did enjoy and what kept us watching? i don't know when it happened, but it definitely has. critique is treated more seriously and gets more interaction than people talking about what they like.

it seems like a really exhausting and slightly puritan way to do things, to be constantly finding imperfections and treating them as more important than the good parts. dunno about y'all but i don't want to be unintentionally enacting puritan shit.

i want joy, i want fun, i want the spirit of camaraderie in fandom.

so, why did fandom begin to snub any media that didn't fit very high standards? and how can we steer ourselves away from that impulse?

(i am genuinely curious about why this is happening and how those of us who don't enjoy it can change, so please feel free to jump in, even if you are 'late' or think you only have a very small contribution to make to the discussion.)

[repurposedmeatlocker]

If you had to eradicate one B&BH ship from existence, which one would it be?

UMMMMM probably Butt-Head x Daria 🫣

I guess whatever floats your boat. I'm in no position to judge in regards to fictional ships. There isn't anything inherently WRONG with it, but I just find it EXTREMELY out of character on both ends. Daria doesn't give af about Butt-Head or Beavis. At most she tolerates them or sees them doing bullshit like "woah! That's crazy guys. Get well soon!" Butt-Head is much the same. At no point in the run of the show do I see a smidge of chemistry between them that would suggest something romantic. When it comes to indulging in fan content for things like this, I tend to have a preference for sticking somewhat close to canon. I just can't see it as something that works whereas something like Butt-Head and Beavis is implied enough in the show as a joke to build off a legitimate interpretation.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Hey CJ 👋 I hope you’re doing well in life.

I’m on the same page as you, when it comes to taking a step back from TWDG & the fandom. And, coming back to the games after sometime & seeing it in a different light. Some things that didn’t click with you back then, makes a bit more sense now.

Also, I’m curious.. what are thoughts on true colors? Steph & Ryan? 👀

Hello, my friend! 👋 Been a while! But yeah, I'm doing fine; a lot of the usual work with writing fic and blog posts in between.

Yeah it's funny to step away from a fandom you're so engrossed in for so long, like twdg was such a huge part of my life back in 2018-2020 with me running this blog, writing fic, and streaming. Now I'm just in a completely different headspace in general, and looking at the games now, they're still amazing but my reasonings are different. Also I talk about the comics a lot, which isn't something I would've guessed I'd be doing. If you go back to when they were announced, I made posts being like "yeeeeeah I dunno if I'm gonna read them :/" jokes on me. I read them multiple times, I need to make that useful haha.

As for LiS True Colors, I actually super loved it?? way more than I ever did the first LiS game?? though I think I might've loved it for the wrong reasons. I don't know, I haven't actually looked into what LiS fans thought of it compared to the other games, but for me it was a "perfect time, perfect place" game in the moment. To me the whole thing was nearly a perfect escapism game; the music is an A+, the entire town is gorgeous and covered in flowers and woods, Alex gets to live in a nice apartment for free [the true fantasy], there's a whole LARP campaign to play through, a flower festival where I've never been so conflicted on who to give a rose to, and overall just the coziest vibes. I swear, I spent most of the game just wandering around the town looking at all the flowers, it was great.

Like if Gabe didn't die and True Colors was just about Alex moving to this fantasy-like small town and working through her issues with the help of her powers, I would've been 100% on board. I didn't mind the mystery, though I totally guessed Jed would be the twist villain given the first episode immediately presents him as a hero who saved a bunch of people in the mines, I was like "Oh did he now... mmhmmm mmhmmm and he's Ryan's dad, oohhh he's gonna be this game's Jefferson-" except he was done better than Jefferson imo. He didn't turn into a cartoon character and his motivations behind the cover up were interesting. He didn't do it for the aesthetic like Jefferson did. And in the end I got everyone to side with me, except Charlotte because I told her to take the money so she wanted to speak out but couldn't, which was honestly fine with me like take their money, send Ethan to college, we'll stab Typhon just fine without your vocal support.

I liked most of the characters, except for Diane and Mac, though I reluctantly disliked Mac less by the end... Diane can suck an egg, though. I don't think I've ever wanted to throw a character out a window more than when Alex came back all bloodied with a bullet wound on her head as she exposed the truth and when she asks why no one's saying anything, Diane just goes, "We don't want to embarrass you" kjlkajdslkjalkjdl LADY DON'T PISS ME OFF

As for Ryan and Steph, I liked them both, trying to choose between them was absurdly difficult. It was like True Colors saw how easily I picked between Louis and Violet and took it as a challenge to create Ryan and Steph specifically to stump me. I mean, soft boy who loves nature, goes out of his way to be kind and helpful to those around him, has a slow build up to being emotionally available with someone he trusts, and has some daddy issues? A girl with pretty brown eyes who loves DnD and LARP, has a passion for music and will deflect with humor, who knows who she is and is eager to help those around her, and who isn't just another rehash of Chloe? They knew what they were doing; they dressed Steph up in as a witch after having Ryan act like a goof acting like enemy creatures, they were made for me.

Having done both routes, I do prefer Steph. I adore her and Alex together, but Alex and Ryan are super cute, too.

It's not a perfect game and there are issues in the writing but honestly, I don't care. I had a good time. I was engaged. I looked at every single flower and kissed a pretty girl so good that the world exploded. What a great game.

[imminent-danger-came]

how would you rank the ninja from worst to best based on the ninjago seasons youve seen?

Nya and Wu are the best, everyone else is the same to me

[bookwyrminspiration]

I don't really have a final conclusion for this, I've just been thinking recently that I appreciate the effort Shannon made to say its okay to learn differently than others and have unique needs, however Exillium being the medium through which that message is conveyed in Unlocked falls short (at least for me) because...that's also the punishment school. Having different educational needs and being sent to a different school--not to mention one that's not even part of formal society and is literally in the wild--for poor behavior/choices are two very different things, but they've been lumped together.

Yes, it's entirely okay to learn differently and have unique needs, but that's not why kids get sent to Exillium. It's not a school to help accommodate their learning. Kids are, from what we've seen, sent almost always because they've caused problems and are deemed unfit for the typical schools. Disruptive, problematic, criminal, lesser, etc. So also having it be the alternative learning school kind of implies a correlation between having different needs and making poor choices/having problem behavior. Like none of these students "learn differently" (that we've been told at least) they caused problems (intentional or not) that people didn't want to deal with. Maybe this isn't representative of all Exillium students, but it's all we've seen so far that I can recall.

And yes Exillium is improving and did have a positive initial intention, but as it is right now I find myself (personally, these are my feelings) uncomfortable at it being used to say its okay to learn differently. Because it doesn't feel like it follows through on that message. Having the school where kids with criminal behavior are sent out of sight separate from the rest of society being the school for alternate learning styles just doesn't sit quite right.

And yes, some of the kids sent there were just labeled disruptive/problematic and they didn't actually do anything wrong but be themselves, but their being fucked over by the system doesn't change that that is how the system works.

I'm not really going anywhere with this and it's difficult to articulate (I'm sure I've missed a few clarifying points because I keep debating with myself back and forth) because I do think Shannon meant well, I'm not an expert, and there are always arguments to be made to the contrary (like I said, I've been debating with myself). It's just something I've been thinking about because I always feel icky reading that part of Linh's Exillium commentary, but maybe I'm making a problem out of nothing.

[lambentplume]

my UI lit review just makes me want to make games

[sarcasticmirage]

I'm feeling my fma 03 obsession returning and just putting it out there that if you're a brotherhood prefer-er, who needs to tell 03 fans how much better it is:

don't

mainly please don't just say it follows the manga, I SWEAR that whoever was posting about it already knows that 03 doesn't and I'm also pretty sure that they don't care

[mbspolls]

I think that might've been me and I'm sorry. I don't remember ever saying anything about that, but I can be unconsciously rude when it comes to adaptations. I never meant to be that way.

I understand entirely if you still feel that way towards me, and I will be unfollowing I promise.

I'm sorry for whatever I may had said.

if this completely unprompted response to "what did you think of my quiz" is you (which i believe it must be, as i haven't really gotten any other rude uquiz comments in a while):

then i don't understand how this can be "unconsciously rude" or some sort of accident. do you just always throw this kind of thing around without thinking?

i also don't understand how, if this is, in fact, you, you can apologize for something you apparently don't remember. "sorry if i was mean, i forgot, and it was probably because i'm always mean about adaptations"??

i happen to love adaptations, and this one in particular. and both my blog and the uquiz were labelled as being primarily TV/show verse. if you don't enjoy that, that's fine! but that's no reason to come into my house and piss on the furniture??

so, basically. listen, dude, i'm open to apologies, and i'm quick to forgive. but this? this is kinda a non-apology, my guy. "i'm sorry for whatever i may have said" is literally textbook non-apology.