#the dialogue I've heard has been a bit clunky

[bodbdearg]

Have never heard enough about dragonage to be interested in the new game but then I saw Emmrich........ I must play veilguard

[the-irrelevant-trumpeter]

OKAY PERCY JACKSON SERIES THOUGHTS REAL QUICK not in any particular order just what my brain is spewing

(spoilers obviously)

okay so like. it was so good. screaming crying throwing up like!!!!

walker leah and aryan are all excellent and i'm so excited to see them throughout the rest of the show

special shoutout to leah because in these first two eps she's had a lot less screentime than the other two and yet she has completely stolen the show for me

forgot that jason mantzoukas is in this and got jumpscared lmao

the car and then minotaur scenes would have been really good if i had been able to see them

i feel like i was expecting luke's scar to be bigger. this isn't a complaint or anything, just an observation.

"NO I AM SALLY JACKSON'S SON" slayed so hard like i screameddd

percy praying to his mum <3333 there's one thing percy jackson will do and that is think of his mum as a goddess

also HIM BURNING THE JELLYBEANS 😭😭😭

also also him telling his mum that he really feels like he's made friends when you know he's talking about luke is TRAGIC oh no the final episode is going to be sooo good and so heartbreaking. oof.

i really REALLY liked virginia kull as sally, but a lot of the dialogue in her scenes felt a bit clunky to me. idk i know they need exposition and all that, but some of it felt a bit weird. especially their conversation right before she was killed

okay i know a few people in the tag have already talked about this, but sally and gabe felt a little off to me. i know the posts i've seen have said that they downplayed how completely and utterly awful gabe is, and while i do think it was downplayed a little bit, he was still bad enough that i didn't feel like that was a major issue. the part that didn't feel quite right to me was the way sally argued back at him. i feel like what she says to him is kind of what the audience should WANT her to say (because gabe's a dick), but the point is that she doesn't say that, because sally jackson loves percy so damn much that she willingly endures that until she is able to get out of that situation. i swear i'm not going to be like "tHiS iSnT hOw iT iS iN tHe bOoK" much, because it's an adaptation and it's going to have to make some changes and that's fine! but in the book, percy states that he's "never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or gabe" and keeps on emphasising how she constantly withstands gabe and doesn't move against him because of her love for percy, and i just feel like that's an important aspect of her character. also i feel like sally arguing back at gabe is going to make her finally killing him less impactful. and i think it probably also plays a part in gabe's assholery being downplayed. because the argument they have there feels much more like "oh we're so dysfunctional ha ha" instead of "this is an abusive household". you know what i mean? idk i get that it was meant to be a #girlboss moment, and a part of me was like "YEAH GET HIS ASS", but i do feel like that moment didn't serve sally's character as well, changed the dynamic of sally and gabe's relationship, and negatively affected the impact the story will have when percy gives her the means to get rid of gabe and she takes it. this is a very long dot point i'm sorry.

mr d pretending to be percy's dad was SO FUNNY

clarisse is too pretty (/pos), like i was barely paying attention in her scenes because i was literally there like "women <3" thank you dior goodjohn

"you fell in love with god... like jesus?" is a top tier line

i'm so sorry but i'm a "tah-lia" pronunciation truther and it will remain this way in my head

the cut to percy flossing in the woods killed me. like straight up killed me dead.

BLACKJACK BEING THE FIRST MAGICAL THING PERCY SEES!!! THEY'RE GOING TO BE BESTIES!!!

these are all of the thoughts i have atm, and despite my more negative thoughts here, my feelings are almost completely positive (my excitement is less coherent than my criticisms, so i didn't write about them as much). i'm really excited to see the rest of the episodes!

[thepapergirlandthespiegelman]

Hazbin Hotel isn't good, I just really wish it was

And so I bit the apple, and evil spilled forth into the world

This review contains spoilers for Hazbin Hotel.

I wasn't going to watch Hazbin Hotel. I've always gotten kind of a negative vibe from it ever since it first appeared on my radar years ago. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what put me off it when so little content had even been released, but I guess it just struck me as very crude and "edgy" in this juvenile and kind of offensive way; plus I had heard some vague criticisms that the creator was a not-so-great person, though I wasn't sure how true those rumors were.

But since the Amazon show came out in January, the algorithm has been pestering me nonstop to watch this show with advertisements, memes, recommended videos.

It makes some sense; as someone who enjoys both Lucifer and Disney princesses, you might think that I'm the target audience of this show. And there's not a huge amount of crossover between those two groups, so if I won't watch it, who the hell will?

So after seeing some stuff that intrigued me, I finally decided to give the show a shot and at least watch the stuff available for free (that's the pilot, episode 1, and the first 10 minutes of episode 2). This review is based on that content as well as other clips, the soundtrack, and what I've read online about the story going forward. If that makes this review null and void to you, feel free to stop reading. I generally like to experience the entirety of a thing before reviewing it, but I'm not eager to throw money at Amazon without cause, and in this case, I feel that a lot can be said based solely on this limited content.

My initial impression? To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe that's because my expectations were through the floor, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Both the pilot and the Amazon series have serious problems, but they have some strengths as well, in my opinion.

Starting with the pilot: I'll admit that it presents a very cruel, ugly world full of frankly unrealistically shitty people. The humor is juvenile and often tasteless. The dialogue can be pretty clunky, and the "insults" levied are often so pathetic that hearing them oscillates between boring and infuriating. The worldbuilding is poorly conveyed and hard to follow.

But if you can get past all that, and I acknowledge that that's a big ask, there are some interesting things about this pilot.

Angel Dust is an interesting character. One of the things I really can't stand is when media portray literally everyone as evil, but even in the pilot, it's made pretty clear that Angel Dust is not actually a bad person. First off, what exactly are his "sins"? Being gay and doing porn? Sure, he shows the capacity to be at least somewhat mean and violent, but you can tell from his interactions with Charlie, Vaggie, and Cherri Bomb that he's not actually malicious or sadistic. In the limo, he says, "I owed my girl buddy a solid; isn't that a 'redeeming quality'? Helping friends with stuff?" And like...he's correct! Vaggie dismisses this out of hand, but it shows that Angel Dust is able to care about other people, and this is reinforced later when he almost goes to comfort Charlie but gives up. There's a setup here for a story about someone who is good at their core but looks bad, either because they engage in behaviors that are socially taboo even if they're not actually harmful (e.g. homosexuality, sex work) or because they engage in behaviors that are actually bad (e.g. being mean and violent), but only because those behaviors are normalized or arguably required by their environment (I mean, what was he supposed to do? Just let his friend get blown up?). It would be genuinely interesting to see Charlie and Vaggie reckon with their own biases and black-and-white view of morality and come to see the good in Angel Dust, and then to see how Angel Dust might grow and change as a person when he actually feels seen and respected.

Alastor also has a lot of potential. His design and theming are genuinely interesting, a mix of ancient horned beast and 1930s transatlantic accented radio presenter. He's clearly a character intended to elicit intense fear, which means he can serve as an exploration of what scares us most. The "radio" theme presents some really intriguing ideas for this exploration. Alastor represents something that can be heard but not seen; not only this, but he can't even really be heard. We only hear his voice through the low-fidelity transmission of a radio, suggesting that what we're perceiving is at least a bit off from reality, somehow inauthentic, and that makes us wonder what horrors could be lurking in that gap.

It's obvious to me that Angel Dust and Alastor are the strongest characters in the show. Charlie feels like a cardboard cutout by comparison, and Vaggie is totally devoid of flavor. Angel Dust makes far more sense as a protagonist, so why does the show center around Charlie?

Hazbin Hotel feels like a show centered around a gimmicky premise: what if Disney princess, but in Hell? Ooh, how subversive, how funny! But it doesn't really know what to do with that premise. It doesn't really know who Charlie is, and it doesn't really know what Hell is. But it does know who Angel Dust is and who Alastor is, or at least it has the spark needed for those ideas to blossom into fully-developed characters, so why not start there?

Moving on to episode 1 of the Amazon series. Immediately, I was surprised by the direction in which they took the show. Based on the pilot, one of my biggest concerns was that the show would be solely about individual self-improvement and "redemption" and fail to address the systemic/environmental problems that are the ultimate cause of evil. I figured the show would likely center around individual sinners trying to improve themselves and then, after the necessary amount of struggle and conflict, they would succeed and prove to both Heaven and Hell that they were worthy of ascension, without anyone ever questioning why this system of sorting people into good and bad exists in the first place or how it can possibly be seen as ethical, even if people are ultimately allowed to move between the two. I figured Heaven would be portrayed as not evil but simply misguided or small-minded, and that, having rectified those inadequacies, the system would continue on largely unchanged. Happy ending, woooo.

Episode 1 makes it very clear that that is not the direction that this is going. Heaven is pretty clearly portrayed as evil, which was mostly a positive for me. I find the whitewashing of stuff like mass murder pretty fucking gross, so it's nice that the exterminations of Hell's citizens aren't being framed as morally justified.

Unfortunately, this does result in some narrative problems. The show depends on Charlie believing that Heaven can be reasoned with, and that if she works hard, they'll eventually see the light. But after being brutally rejected by Adam like that, why would Charlie continue to think that these are good, reasonable people who are just misguided? Not only does Adam deny her in the most explicit terms possible, he's totally pigheaded and unempathetic.

We're now getting into stuff that I haven't seen firsthand, but from what I understand, Charlie continues running her hotel and trying to negotiate with Heaven. She's able to prove that a sinner can improve themselves, but she's unable to get them into Heaven, and ultimately has to resort to trying to stop the exterminations with brute force.

If that's the case, then why have this reveal that Heaven is evil in the very first episode? Delay the reveal until closer to the end, have Charlie work hard to accomplish her dream under the impression that her work will ultimately pay off, only to have Heaven reveal that it was never about being a good person at all and merely about their desire to consolidate power for themselves. Then have Charlie reckon with that, how she's been putting all the burden on herself and her people to prove themselves, when the system was never fair to begin with and the people in power were just exploiting a narrative for their personal gain. Now THAT'S a spicy story.

I think it's my desire to see that story play out, and my respect for Hazbin being willing to make Heaven the bad guys (even if it obstinately refuses to say the G word), that has kept my interest in the show despite its obvious flaws. Somewhere in this tangled-up mess there is a story about questioning and resisting the moral narratives fed to us about ourselves by people who do not have our best interests at heart. There's a story about claiming your power and fighting back against oppressive systems.

Is Hazbin Hotel with its Disney XD-esque style and middle-school humor woefully unequipped to tell that story? Well, yes, yeah. And I guess that should have been obvious to everyone from the start. But it feels like a shame.

A similar problem with narrative trajectory occurs regarding Lucifer and Alastor. If we compare Charlie to the Disney princess formula, we see the obvious issue. We know that while Charlie's parents are very powerful, she's alienated from both of them (Lilith because she's missing and Lucifer because they have a bad relationship) and so doesn't have access to their power. In the pilot, we see that Charlie doesn't officially make a deal with Alastor, but she does allow him to work at the hotel. So we sort of have a Chekhov's deal situation here, where if Charlie was pushed to her limit, she might be tempted into making a deal with the devil. Triton won't let Ariel go to the surface, so Ariel makes a deal with the sea witch instead.

But what happens if Ariel reconciles with Triton before getting to that point? Well, then Ursula wouldn't have a tentacle to stand on.

And this is what happens in Hazbin. In episode 5, Lucifer is introduced and reconciled with Charlie in the very same episode. Lucifer is shown to be basically infinitely more powerful than Alastor and is genuinely and totally devoted to Charlie, so she no longer has any reason to depend on Alastor. He's lost all of his leverage over her and no longer presents any real threat, so...what the hell is his role in this story now?

I'm not saying Hazbin Hotel needs to copy the story arc of a Disney princess movie just because Charlie is inspired by Disney princesses. I'm perfectly fine with the show wanting to do its own thing. But it turns down a totally viable arc in favor of...nothing. Why?

The pilot so heavily teased the mystery of Alastor's character, what terrible consequences might result if Charlie were to make a deal with him. So like...let us see that! Hell, this could even be easily connected back to the main storyline that I was talking about before. Have Charlie be totally demoralized by the revelation that Heaven isn't actually good and that the world is deeply broken in a way she never even imagined. Maybe even up the stakes by making it more personal, like having Heaven threaten to specifically target her girlfriend or one of her friends in the next extermination. Push her to complete desperation and then have Alastor swoop in and offer her a way out. Still alienated from her father (or perhaps after attempting to get closer but being once more rebuked), she feels like she has no choice but to accept, and ends up in a bad situation. Then Lucifer sees her in trouble and shows up to save her, making her realize that he does actually care about her; and Lucifer, seeing how Charlie and her friends genuinely care for each other, is shown that sinners aren't just hopelessly wicked. Alastor gets his chance to shine and the reconciliation with Lucifer feels earned and meaningful.

This show has such potential to be both interesting and emotionally impactful, but it's hindered by its unwillingness to take itself seriously and thoughtfully plan out its narrative and character arcs.

It would be one thing if the show was just complete garbage. I know that a lot of people see it that way, but I really don't think that's the case. There is something here.

I'm not currently planning on watching the rest of the show. That could certainly change, especially if others tell me that it's worth it despite the problems. If you've watched the show (or even if you haven't), I'd be very curious to hear your thoughts on my evaluation.

[1lovesickfangirl1]

how to write?? (tom rizzotto x reader)

summary: you're having a hard time writing a fanfic and tom helps you out.

word count: 536

a/n: okay so originally i was gonna write some gushy romance because i need some good tom fluff in my life, but then i realized im no good at that stuff. people say write what you know, so im writing about having a breakdown over writing (but seriously tho pls take care of yourself, your hobbies should be fun)

You've been rewriting and staring at your screen for the past 30 minutes. You had a spark of inspiration earlier in the day and started on a fanfic for your new favorite game. You liked how it was going at first, but now the dialogue looks clunky and the pacing is weird. You've been trying to fix it but all your attempts just end up getting deleted. You were at the brink of insanity when a miracle happened, Tom was calling. You pick up, thankful to see his face.

"Heyyy, sorry for calling this late but I haven't heard from you toda-"

"UUUUUUUGGGGGGH" you slammed your head on the keyboard causing Tom to jump.

"Oh god what happened? Do I need to call 911??"

"Not unless there's a fanfiction helpline. I've been writing this fic and I'm stuck on this part AND I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING!" you start flailing your arms in the air.

"Okay, well I have plenty of experience in this type of writing so I can give you some feedback. Just send it over so I can take a look!" he offers with a warm smile.

When you're a normal functioning human you know that Tom would never judge your writing too harshly. He's looked at your work in the past and has LOVED your writing. But right now you're tired, dehydrated, and your words look like gibberish. Right now you hate the idea of him looking at it.

He senses your reluctance, "Y/N, I know sharing writing you're not proud of isn't easy. But I can see how frustrated you are, I swear on my Switch that I won't judge."

And with that, you send him what you have so far. Maybe it won't be too bad. He spends a few minutes reading, using very exaggerated facial expressions in an attempt to cheer you up.

"I really like the story, but my main worry is your writing. Like, your spelling is so bad I can barely read it. And with all the time you've had to write you usually have it much neater. Have you been taking any breaks?"

You laugh nervously as Tom gives you a disapproving look.

"My mind has been stuck on this. I just NEED more content for Jimbo's Great Adventure, and since the fandom for this game is pretty small I need to make it myself. The people deserve more fan service of their favorite boy JIMBO!"

"Aaaand they also deserve fanfics that aren't made by someone who is so sleep deprived that they can barely spell. I love how passionate you are about your interests, but PLEASE get some sleep. I can help you figure it out tomorrow, but your first step is to drink some water and get some rest."

As much as you wanted to keep writing, you knew Tom was right.

"I will, but I wanna stay for a bit longer. I haven't seen you all day."

"I know how much you wanna fantasize about kissing my cute face, but it can all wait for tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere, you're stuck with me!" he gives you a sly wink.

You let out a tired laugh, "Alright, I'll log off for tonight. Love ya."

"Love you too Y/N. Sweet dreams."

[megashadowdragon]

a review of the dressrosa arc @bottlepiecemuses

Ajpiece While I do agree that "amnesia" as a plot device is often used lazily, I love how Sabo regained his memories. It wasn't simply a matter of hearing Ace's or Luffy's name; logically Sabo would have heard of them many times during his life, since they were starting to become famous pirates. Ironically enough, I think that the key to Sabo's memories was Sakazuki (which is the name of the cup that is used for sake, the same cup that the brothers used for their promise). Sabo read about how Ace died protecting Luffy from Sakazuki, and all of these names put together were enough for his past to resurface.

A genius twist for a tired trope.

#AJPiece It wasn't until you pointed out the potential negatives of Bart being so wholly invested in Luffy to the point of eclipsing anything else did I realize the connection between him and Bellamy in this Arc. Both characters fully dedicated themselves to someone else, but while Bart gets met with positivity Bellamy gets the opposite. Doflamingo uses Bellamy's as a tool and then discards him unceremoniously where as Bart gets welcomed into the Straw Hat Fleet and treated as an ally. Never realize that until now so thanks for helping me make that connection.Show less

A cool detail about Doflamingo that I've never seen anyone bring up before is how in the Skypiea arc he mocks Bellamy for believing in the sky islands. Yet we learn in this arc that the way he flies around is by using his strings to grab onto clouds. The only way a cloud could be a solid thing to latch onto, and be able to support the weight of a person, is if it were sky islands that Doflamingo was grabbing onto. Meaning he himself must know they exist. So why does he chastise Bellamy for believing in them? Well, just being generally cruel is one reason. But it's also worth noting that Mariejois, the home of the Celestial Dragons, the place and life Doflamingo seems desperate to return to, is also a heavenly land above the clouds. In my opinion, Doflamingo in his mind has firmly associated happiness, a peaceful life, and what have you, with the life of a Celestial Dragon. A life he will never be able to return to. So when he sees Bellamy: someone that at least on the surface is extremely reminiscent of a younger Doflamingo, dreaming about the joys of a land beyond the clouds, it frustrates him, and he tries to quash it as soon as possible - maybe reflecting a desire to stop the grief his younger self felt by longing for the same thing, only for it to never materialise.

Fun little tidbit about Bartolomeo (probably not #AJpiece worthy but something anyways): His pirate epithet is "Cannibal". This is likely because "cannibal" is Japanese slang for an (internet) troll. Which really matches his behaviour.

The Finnish localization of One Piece (which being a Finn I read, in addition to weekly releases) was able to adapt this idea beautifully. We have an expression in Finnish of "_ syö miestä", literally "_ eats man" (no partitive case in English so it ends up sounding a bit clunky translated), which means that that something is very tiring, aggravating, or frustrating. So the Finnish localization mentions Bartolomeo being called the Cannibal because of how badly "his behaviour eats man".

AJPiece "Doflamingo is bereft of heart" which is subtly conveyed through his empty heart executive seat. He killed his brother Corazon (which means heart) and then actively tries to snuff or cage Law, who is the captain of the Heart pirates. Also, he has actively been trying to get his hands on the OP OP fruit l which is literally shaped like a heart. He is never able to get hold of the OP OP fruit, kills his brother named heart in spanish and then pursues the captain of heart pirates to subjugate him and being him under control.

All of these thoughts came to my mind with that one line of dialogue from AJ. Thankyou for this treat as always.

The most ironic thing about this was had Senor followed her instead of listening to her to stay away, he could have saved her from that Mudslide on account of his ability to Swim on Land.

[cc-kirby]

With the new fall season coming, my thoughts on the three Summer 2023 anime series I watched this year:

My Tiny Senpai: Loved loved loved this series. I came into it hoping to just get some lighthearted romantic fluff and came out of it getting even more than that even. Shiori was an angel and needs to be protected.

My two types of girls are tsunderes and fail girls and this series managed to give me two girls that are combinations of both in their own ways. Shinozaki's Sister and Hayakawa completely own my heart now.

The discourse surrounding the trailer was incredibly fucking stupid even when it was directly happening and as this series went along it really made it look even dumber in hindsight than it did before. If you don't like to watch move slowly this series will drive you nuts, and in episode 9 it makes a big decision that even had me raising an eyebrow and groaning a little bit before accepting that it wasn't going to be permanent (and I was right, thankfully). As someone who doesn't mind slow burn romance, especially when there's no love rival involved (the oldest of hats in any romantic comedy), I really enjoyed it. Lots of good, goofy comedy and two main protagonists you really do find yourself rooting for. Definitely worth a watch if you just want to see lighthearted office fluff.

The Dreaming Boy is a Realist: Man. I almost dropped this one. It really was getting there. This is one where it just doesn't just calm down. It throws like fifteen different characters at you and expects you to know and remember them right away and honestly the first few episodes of this show were insanely hard to follow, let alone the clunky, confusing script and dialogue.

The first few episodes were so overwhelming and the amount of times I had to pause to look up a character they'd mention by name that you only saw for a minute or two in a previous episode so you can be like "ah, that's who they're talking about. I remember them, I think? Maybe?" It kept getting worse and worse about this and I kept getting extremely close to dropping it before I'd give it one more chance mostly because some of the character designs are extremely cute. Even that wasn't saving the series though.

However, then it did something I completely wasn't expecting: it slowly got better. Slowly but surely, episode after episode, it started to breathe a little more and characters finally got fleshed out in the proper ways and you know what? I'm not going to say it became a good series, but it definitely very slowly improved and they even stuck the landing on the ending.

Was it too little too late? Maybe. It's such a bummer because by all accounts this seems like *such* a neat idea for a series (boy is so smothering to the girl that he likes (who doesn't like him back) that he finally has an epiphany that he's been stunting her and keeping her from making friends because they're all too weirded out by him hovering around her, and also realizing he'll never have a chance with her so he backs off (letting her finally grow and gain friends herself) and slowly gains major self-improvement to the point where he earns respect in places he'd have never expected and he becomes the person people come to for advice and he just becomes a better person overall while also slowly repairing his relationship with the girl) and from what I've heard the manga and the light novels are just so much better. They do an inner voice-monologue thing with the main boy that serves as him giving himself teaching lessons and advice that the anime FINALLY begins to explore near the end and if they had been doing that from the beginning they really would've had something.

Honestly the more I watched the more it made me want to read the light novel and manga because everyone swears up and down they're both miles better than the anime was. It just felt like the anime series didn't feel like it had enough time to properly convey all of the stories it wanted to share so they crammed a LOT into 12 episodes and gave nothing any room to breathe.

What this series has most going for it are some of the character designs. Rin is the exact type of girl, right down to personality, that I had a crush on all the time in high school, and Kei isn't too far behind. And of course Aika makes enough of those grumpy puffy tsundere faces that you understand why Wataru (WHY WAS HIS SISTER SO HOT THOUGH) had such a big crush on her, even if it led to him being so overbearing about it.

I would say you're probably fine passing on this one, but maybe give the light novel or manga a shot. I didn't hate it like I was expecting to but your mileage will vary. This one REALLY went out of its way to try and get better and it almost made it, to the point where I'm thumbs in the middle rather than down.

The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses: I figured this was gonna be the one that I most loved from the getgo, and honestly? It's a tough tie between it and My Tiny Senpai, but this might have the edge because it's the only one whose sweetness got me tearing up on multiple occasions, especially in the final episode, and it's all because Mie is one of the cutest dorkiest sweetheart girls on the planet. This series was the one that I went out of my way to zoom to where the manga currently is so I could follow along.

The biggest complaint I heard about this series was how it felt like she was constantly losing her glasses. I felt like I was going crazy because I felt like I was the only one who understood what they were going for. They aren't going to do entire episodes where she doesn't forget her glasses. They even mention, multiple times in multiple different episode, how it's been awhile since she last lost them. The entire point of the series is how Komura is getting closer to closer to Mie from the time they spend together when he takes care of her after she forgets, or breaks, her glasses. At about the halfway point in the series they even show that so much time has passed that they're in a new semester. I dunno, I feel like they were telegraphing this to the point that it should've been obvious, especially for someone who can be legendarily oblivious like myself.

Coming of age romance stories are some of my favorites. Hi Score Girl is a series that I only finally watched in 2023 and it affected me so much that it leaped into one of my five favorite series that I've ever seen. So basically, I knew I was gonna love this one from the premise alone. I will admit the weird art direction, especially in that first episode, drove me absolutely insane, and I was VERY thankful that they mostly knock that shit off pretty quickly afterward, because that almost killed the entire show for me.

Another one where the romance is slow, but it definitely moves at a faster pace than in My Tiny Senpai, and the slow developments really do make you root for the both of them, especially when it finally becomes obvious to Mie that she has feelings for Komura too. Her selfishness about it is completely adorable, and the series ends on such a sweet, high note, leaving you hopeful that these two will finally be able to communicate how they feel for each other, and that a season two would be wonderful.

Also, we need a season two so we can get more of Azuma, who I know as the manga keeps going gets more attention and story. I like how in the series to Komura he is like a rival for Mie's love but then to everyone else it becomes readily apparent that he knows these two have feelings for each other and in his own little ways he tries getting them to spend more time with each other. Between him and Sudo in Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible, 2023 should be the year of the cool wingmen.

A definite, and obvious watch recommendation. This one was so sweet, like a much needed hug after a long day.

[paperboy-pb]

Hi! I have my own story with an Asthmatic protagonist (although we haven't explored it in-story yet) & I (@orange-ghost) am Asthmatic myself :]

I'm scrolling through that Mayo Clinic article and I think it forgot something? That, OR it just has it under a different name that I don't recognize. Or I'm overlooking it. Ever heard of a Nebulizer? It's a special machine I've had to use ever since, like... basically birth whenever I get sick from cold air. AKA my worst trigger by far.

It's this small but clunky, loud as shit machine that has a tube and a small face-mask attached to it. You can get a bunch of different ones! I've had this weird frog one since I was a kid, for example.

Basically, every Nebulizer comes with a face mask thing that you connect to the machine with a tube.

The face mask has a compartment that splits in 2 where you put in your liquid asthma medication (Albuterol, in my case.) Once the dose is in there, you close it back up, switch the machine on, and it makes this big rumble-like(?) noise and creates a mist. Then you just gotta sit there, chill, and breathe that in until it runs out.

When the machine's running low/almost done, it'll start to sound different-- like it's struggling, basically. And that's when you should go over and switch the machine off; you'l usually have a tiny bit of medication left, though, and that's fine. Mine takes like... I don't know, 7 minutes? You can't really move around much. Just gotta sit there and breathe with your mouth, nose, or both. I've been told to take deep breaths with my mouth for it. And it helps your airways a lot; gets the medication & moisture directly to there and it'll either help fight inflammation or open

Pretty much whenever I catch a cold or flu, it sets off my Asthma & I gotta do all that every 4 hours or so. My coughing will calm down for a little while? But it'll still be there regardless until I get better, and after using a Nebulizer, the cough becomes wetter, or "more productive." Because, y'know, with Asthma, you're dealing with mucus. Which you're eventually gonna start coughing up after a few days as Phlegm!

Fun! Except not really. Gross. You're gonna be spitting that stuff out for a while. It's a good thing, though-- gets that excess mucus outta there. But pay attention to the color because it's a pretty good way of seeing how your airways are doing.

Brief explanation of why (ft. My internal dialogue.) Google it if you wanna learn in-depth!

Clear = "Sweet! I'm doing better! I shouldn't suffer for more than like, 2 days going onward."

White or yellow-ish = "Goddamn it. The airways are still inflamed. Back to the Nebulizer I go (provided it's been 4+ hours since I did it last.) We're gonna be sick for a while."

Brown = "Concerning! Aight, time to contact a doctor, that's probably blood." (Or you have some other condition... either way please contact a doctor, that's not exactly a good sign.)

Any other color is also a doctor's visit / call!

It also has this really fucking annoying side effect immediately afterward-- or at least, Albuterol does. I wouldn't know about every medication out there, but with Albuterol, you get physically shaky and jittery for a while afterward. To the point where things like drawing or writing are a problem on my end for like 20 minutes afterward because I just can't hold a pencil straight. Sucks because I usually use being sick as a chance to draw or write & be productive!

That's all I've got for now. For the PB readers, stay tuned! For the people who just wanna learn about Asthma... hey, me & Matthew are still down to educate based off our own experiences!

Visual, if that helps:

What sort of things (medication, other techniques etc.) would an asthmatic character use to manage their asthma day to day? Also, how are severe attacks managed in hospital?

Hi lovely asker!

So it depends on how severe of asthma they have and what type of asthma too.

So for some people they only have asthma that flares or is triggered during certain activities or when certain factors are at play. Extreme weather, allergens, exercise, smoke, fumes, are all things and for some people they will trigger an asthma attack. Here's a link from the CDC of triggers for asthma.

Medications: For the general person a Daily Steroid and an Bronchodilator are usually all that is needed. Here is an article from the Mayo Clinic that actually lists all the meds used to treat asthma. Its a bit heavy on the medical terms but it's a really good list the different types of Asthma and what meds are usually used to treat it.

Equipment: If needed there is home oxygen concentrators for at home along with portable oxygen concentrators as well. Nebulizers. CPT devices, percussion vest, PEP devices, are all also things that someone may or may not use. If needed Suction Devices also are an option for people who have a hard time clearing mucus/phlegm.

Techniques: CPT, and certain breathing techniques like Huff Coughing help. Here is a link to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation that talks more in dept about airway clearance.

If there are conditions in combination with asthma I would research to see how they would affect each other or if they exacerbate each other. Conditions like Cystic Fibrosis, GERD, COPD, Severe allergy conditions, connective tissue disorders, and others often cause complications with asthma. When conditions are in combination, often you'll need to treat one condition to treat the other condition. For example: Treating your GERD will decrease asthma symptoms because it's no longer irritating what it was, hence making it easy to breathe. Or something like Xolair and Cromolyn Sodium often can treat Asthma and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome together.

And In my experience, in a hospital setting, asthma attacks and the beginnings of them are treated with bronchodilators. If things get worse from there, things like steroid injections, epinephrine and of course oxygen as needed are used. If all that fails, intubation would be the next step if the person still isn't satting right and aren't getting oxygen.

That is all I can think of for now but if you have any more questions feel free to ask and good luck writing!

~ Mod Virus 🌸

[dojunie]

Hello, it's "time goes by fast" anon. May I ask you for some tips for writing? How did you get into it? I've tried to myself, but I mainly draw and it's so different and harder compared to writing. It might be because my first language isn't English, so when I try to come up with sentences, it kind of gets stuck at finding the right words.

tips for writing!!!!! my goodness i wish i had a specific set of rules or thoughts or whatever but i have no set lines that i follow 🤕🤕🤕🤕 and i used to draw too!!!! i had this blog on tumblr where i used to upload my art for bts, but as i gradually grew out of bts and drawing in general, i stopped updating it lol

i got into writing fanfiction in 2014 when i was fourteen i think (5SOS... 💀) but ive been making up stories for basically my whole life, so i have no concrete rules... so i'll just mention a few of the things i do that help me put out a finished product that i'm proud of!

[a/n]: i got WAY too into answering this so it's going under a readmore LOL, please scroll if this doesn't interest you

what i do is that i edit... a lot. probably too much. definitely too much. if i had to give you the #1 thing i do that i think has the biggest impact on my work, is that i am Always Editing. ive heard other advice where people say to not edit until you're done, but i just don't operate that way; i gotta edit as i go. i just gotta. every single time i open something i'm working on i read it over from the very beginning of that chapter/scene, and always end up fixing a few things on the way down that i didn't notice while writing. and if you do this every time, or often enough, eventually you will shape your words into something you've really thought through and understand the purpose of. for example, like you said, a sentence where the words/idea doesn't quite flow as well as i envisioned it in my head. i take things out, i delete it altogether and try rewriting it with a different feeling, i move the sentence to a different part of the paragraph, i try a different word (i LOVE the thesaurus.com website for helping me find different words for the same meaning, cause it really spices up a sentence if the word sounds too... stuck. i literally have it saved in my browser bookmarks lol.)

and besides my habit of excessively overediting i'm not sure what else to tell you 😔 so i'm going to list a few things ive realized i really pay attention to while writing! ⇩⇩⇩⇩

sentence length!!! vary your sentences!!! this really helps keep the reader engaged with reading and comprehending tone and feelings; i.e long sentences feel very descriptive, they draw you in with a lot of information at once and (especially in dialogue!) / and shorter sentences feel important, sharp and direct, they snap quicker and more suddenly. long and short work well together!

character voices!! for me, this means the way each person in the story thinks, acts, or talks; like how in misdial, Jeno's 'voice' is very matter of fact. it's a little more blunt, a bit flat and unemotive, to the point that his true feelings are often misunderstood because people can't tell what he's thinking. he's serious. still. careful. so i use a lot of periods and short sentences to try and get this across! with mc, however, i want her to come across as spunky, easily agitated, hard-headed and quite relaxed; so i make it a point to have her talk back under her breath, she curses a lot, sometimes speaks before she thinks about what she's really saying. a lotta exclamation points, wordy sentences, smart-ass retorts and playful comments. the way your character talks (in their head and out loud) really sets the tone of the writing!

if something sounds weird and clunky, or stuck, try reading it out loud! not like yelling it or anything, but maybe just whisper it to yourself. i've found that this helps me figure out which part of a sentence is the weird bit that needs to be changed to flow better.

dont be afraid to scrap certain parts or change a scene completely! this is something i struggle with still, lmao, but ive unfortunately realized that it does actually help to cut a part if it's giving you hell. (by this i mean it doesn't flow right no matter what you do, doesn't fit the rest of the scene, or feels clunky and weird and wont sound right no matter how you edit it). i was stuck on a fic once for almost a week, trapped by a scene that i couldn't bear the part with because i thought it NEEDED to be in the fic... and then the moment i removed it and tried to write it a different way, it just worked. (and just to be clear, i dont delete it completely! i just copy paste the problem section into a temporary doc so i dont lose all that work, but sometimes just getting it out of the way is enough to get the gears turning again!)

and that's all i guess!?!?! WOW i kind of went crazy with this but ive never been asked this question before, and really wanted to give you my honest thoughts... so i genuinely hope this helps you in some way!!!!

tysm for asking me this! thinking about this so seriously actually helped me as well 🙇‍♀️

(i'm going to dub you 📚 anon <3)

[aletheiawriting]

Do you have any advice for not feeling discouraged by points in your writing you aren't good at? I'm awful at writing dialogue and I've been feeling really discouraged and like theres not point to writing because all of my dialogue comes out as awkward and clunky as medieval armor

Hi!, I’ve actually been struggling with this lately, too, and bad dialogue is precisely my problem. Here’s the way I’ve dealed with it/am trying to deal with it! 

It’s certainly good to know that there’s an aspect of your writing that you should improve, but if you don’t want to drive yourself mad with it you should draw a distinction between the time of practice and effort you have to dedicate to solving the problem, and Regular Writing Time. 

During Regular Writing Time, tell yourself that sure, maybe your dialogue will be bad and clunky, but hey, everything else will be better! So do everything else, and every time you feel like your dialogue sucks, write a little note for your future self and then go on writing, forget about it. (In Google docs, for example, you can add little comments to a word or paragraph that it’s very easy to go back to later, when you’re editing #notspon). The note should be about what you want your dialogue to be doing: I want this bit to convey the awkward relationship between these two characters, I want this bit to feel more tense, I need this bit to sound more natural, I should free this bit of unnecessary exposition. 

Outside of Regular Writing Time, there’s tons of things you can do to improve your dialogue. Use a dialogue prompt to write a short story focused specifically on a conversation, write down a real-life conversation you’ve heard (eavesdropping is rude, but…) to take note of How Actual People Speak, or write a short bit of dialogue taking a book/show/movie that you think has good dialogue as an example (personally, sometimes I try to ask myself “Would [tv show that I think is really well written] have this dialogue in it?” and it has genuinely helped lol). 

Same for any other aspect of writing you may struggle with; hoard a bunch of writing tips about it, and save them for when you’re practising that specifically! During Regular Writing Time, though, Just Write.

Of course, keep in mind that you ARE going to improve with time anyway. There is absolutely always a point to writing: every single piece of “bad” dialogue you write helps you, as evidenced by the mere fact that you know it’s bad - you’re self-aware! That’s the first step to improvement. You have a great and valuable story to tell. So keep telling it. Good luck!!

[everyday-inspiration]

How do I tell my mother that I am asexual? I have never mentioned anything about my sexuality before. I've been scared to. I don't know how she is with that sort of thing. I was scared that she'd want to dis-own me.. or kick me out. I've seen that happen a lot. I have lied to my family saying that I had multiple crushes- and they seemed to believe me.

Hi there! We got a couple questions like this, one anon and one not, and I’m not sure if it’s from the same person so I’m gonna post the anon one and if you/anyone has anything to add or ask or anything, totally feel free, anon or not!

Anyway, on to the question! First off, you have no obligation to come out to anyone, ever. Unfortunately we all live in a world where concerns like this are valid. Your safety and your comfort comes first, though. It is completely okay to only reveal what you’re comfortable with, even to people like parents or other relatives or close friends.

I’m actually asexual as well, and I’m out to my siblings and friends but not parents (or extended family but I’m not close to them anyway, so of course who you come out to and what people you’re closest to are up to you). I know my mom would be very…hostile is probably the best word to describe it, because she’s one of those people who would not want to wrap her head around it and would need it constantly explained. And there are unfortunately people like that, people who won’t do the work (albeit very simple work) to understand another person’s life experience. And if you think someone will react like that, where you revealing something to them will just lead to more discomfort and emotional labor on your end, it is totally fine to not reveal that thing, no matter who the person is.

Conversely, I’m not out to my dad but I have talked to him about asexuality. When getting a feel for what people think about something, using relevant topics that are removed from you is helpful. So, one time when I brought it up to my dad, I mentioned something I read online about asexuality and went from there. You could use a line like “so I read that the LGBT acronym is often expanded to LGBTQIA. The A stands for asexual, did you know about that?” That line itself could be a bit clunky, and of course you know better how to frame a conversation with your mother than I do, but a lead in that brings up the topic but also separates you from the focus of conversation is helpful. Things like “this character in a movie/tv show/book I just consumed is ace” or even something like “my friend came out to me as ace, do you know much about that?” Can really open a dialogue. If you do decide to come out, there are lots of ways to do that. Some people find it helpful to say what they feel before they use the term, so saying something like “I don’t want to have sex” (or whatever phrase best applies to you) might be something someone is more receptive to than “I’m asexual,” especially if they haven’t heard the term before. But again, you don’t have any obligation to explain anything to anyone, so if you want to just say “I’m asexual” and be done with it, that’s fine too. If you just want her to know and maybe don’t want a big conversation about it, you can just say “I’m asexual and it means blank. Okay so how was your day?” It can be as big a deal or as small a deal on your end of the conversation as you want it to be.

So to kind of wrap things up, you are never under any obligation to come out to anyone in anyway, no matter who they are and especially if doing so might endanger you. If you decide not to come out now, that doesn’t mean you can’t come out later. There are lots of ways to ease into a conversation to see how someone like your mom might react. It’s always tricky and it’s an ongoing struggle for any queer person to figure out how/when/to whom to come out, but it does get easier. And, people change. If you think your mom might not be able to hear and support you now, she might in the future. Again, your safety and comfort comes first, so do what’s best for you, you don’t owe it to anyone to come out.

Also, just throwing this out there, it might be worth looking into what being aromantic means. Sexual attraction and romantic attraction are often aligned, but not always, so if you’re saying you haven’t had crushes, that might be a spectrum worth exploring. Anyway, this is a very long answer so I’ll finally end it, I hope this helps! :)

[fayesdiary]

On it!

GBA Trilogy

The GBA titles are one of the best places to start- they're easy to, er, get, their spritework is gorgeous, they have a good chunk of the many mechanics you'll encounter throughout the whole series and their difficulty is relatively tame.

Blazing Blade is considered the vanilla FE experience, but Sacred Stones is self-contained and feels a bit closer to modern FE titles, since it has a route split and multiple class promotions. And again, very beginner-friendly. I'd recommend you save Binding Blade for later though, I heard that game is a bit unfair and janky.

The Marth/Archanea games

If you want to start at the very beginning with Marth's games I'd reccomend playing Shadow Dragon on the DS - the original one on the NES has aged as well as you'd expect and I wouldn't recommend playing it unless you hate yourself, you're adamant to play Fire Emblem's very modest roots or have access to the 30th Anniversary Edition on Switch.

Fun fact I've finished Shadow Dragon like last week

Mystery of the Emblem obviously comes later since it's a sequel, and you can choose which version to play: the original on the SNES (it also has an abridged remake of FE1 if you want to do both in one go), or the Japan-only remake on the DS.

Be warned though that unlike FE11, which is a faithful remake of FE1, FE12 does take some liberties in remaking Mystery's plot- mainly due to it including the first playable avatar- and the changes have been controversial.

But assuming you play the two games on the DS- it is good and relatively beginner-friendly, but the presentation is shit and it feels a bit clunky at times with it having no ways to transport slower units besides Warp and being forced to visit the villages with Marth.

...Don't worry about permadeath, though- you get a truckload of characters in both games, most of them have two lines of dialogue at best and even if you somehow get everyone killed they give you generic units as a replacement.

Jugdral

Unless you've already some experience playing Fire Emblem, this is gonna be a big fat no for now. These games are not beginner-friendly at all.

Geneaology has a great world, story and characters, but it plays unlike any other game with its 12 chapters and gigantic maps. And worse, its gameplay is clunky and dated as hell (as one example, you can't trade items and weapons and to pass a weapon to another unit you're forced to use a workshop), and many times it feels like the game is deliberately wasting your time.

Thracia is a midquel to Geneaology and as such you shouldn't play it before Geneaology. Its gameplay is much better and closer to a GBA titles though, but be warned that it's really hard, especially if you're blind. The latest translation did include a lot of QoL changes, though.

I know I've made these two games look a bit bad, but I really recommend you play them one day- emphasis on play them, because their gameplay-story integration is almost unparalleled.

Just... not as the first games for a newcomer.

The 3DS games

I'd recommend you play Awakening first- it's a shorter, more streamlined experience, it's easy on normal difficulty, it lets you disable permadeath and lets you turn your units into unstoppable monsters if you're that kind of RPG player, and most important of all- it's really, really cool.

Fates' gameplay is much like Awakening's but with a lot more polish, and while the rest of the games are... divisive, it's way better than people give it credit for. The recommended order to play the games is Birthright>Conquest>Revelations, but you can play them in any order you want. You should still keep Rev for last though, the game itself says so.

As for which game to play first between BR or CQ: Birthright's design is a lot simpler and it lets you grind infinitely, while Conquest requires a lot more strategy, given that you have limited resources, the enemies are packed with strong skills and almost every map has a unique objective. Personally I found Conquest to be a lot more fun.

If you're still not sure, you can always decide if you feel more like Nohrian Scum or Hoshidan Filth.

But if you want to play all the three Fates games in a row, take a break in-between or you're likely going to burn out. I know I did.

Shadows of Valentia is the objectively best game in the franchise really good! Its presentation is one of the best and comes the closest to Three Houses, its gameplay is a lot simpler since you don't have too much stuff to keep track of but still a lot of fun, you can grind and rewind turns, and its characters are as charming as they get!

If you're a madman like me, you can try the original game on the NES, Fire Emblem Gaiden. Maybe after you play Echoes though.

TL;DR: The GBA and 3DS games are the best places to start, you should avoid the Jugdral games for now but absolutely play them one day, Marth's games are best played on the DS versions and you should check the NES titles only if you're masochistic or curious about Fire Emblem's beginnings.

Oh, also, I'm gonna assume you're emulating these games, so a word of advice:

Save states and the fast-forward buttons are your best friends!

so i now have the capability to play all the old fire emblems besides the ike ones. i don’t even know where to start honestly (this is me asking for suggestions)

Oh that's a good question, and it probably depends on your personal preferences!

If you want to see how the series got its start, there's always Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem! They got a 3DS update at some point, if I'm not mistaken (though I haven't played them), but Marth's games were the origin of the series.

From what I understand, Gaiden is a lot more experimental in format than most other games: it includes actual dungeon crawling portions (which are faithfully incorporated in the 3DS remake) -- but this is another one I don't have first-hand experience with, so I can't say too much about it.

I haven't played the oldest games like Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776, but I have heard generally good things about Genealogy's story and overall handling of its themes. It's also pretty brutal in its difficulty, from what I understand, so if you're particularly good at tactical RPGs in the vein of Fire Emblem it might be a good starting point -- or if you're like me and terrible at them, maybe skip them for now.

Blazing Blade was actually my first introduction to the series, and I really enjoyed it -- one of my favorite things about it is actually the sprite animations, which is just lovely. Funny enough, I never finished it (I got through the prologue with Lyn multiple times but never got more than one or two chapters further), but the characters were really fun and it's one of the games that pops instantly to mind when I think of "classic Fire Emblem," for better and worse (RIP me permadeath is mandatory and unit management is painful).

I have such a weird relationship with Sacred Stones because I know I have played this game. I have evidence that I have played this game. I remember absolutely nothing about it. I have the vaguest memories of Myrrh and running low on her dragonstone charges and that is it. Even so, it's another good game with strong characters and more of those excellent sprite animations (but also it still has the permadeath and units you don't use will fall further and further behind).

Unfortunately it wasn't until the 3DS generation that we started getting some major quality of life improvements: Awakening is where we got optional skirmishes to help with leveling units, making unit management easier since you can keep everyone roughly equivalent in level and have a wider roster to use; I believe it's also the first game where permadeath was optional rather than the default, so along with varying difficulty options it's a lot kinder to people that aren't excellent at the game like me, I am a filthy casual and I feel no shame. Later games like Shadows of Valentia (the Gaiden remake) even include an option to rewind turns so you don't have to make quicksaves and restart if you want to avoid units falling (which, yes, I do even if I have permadeath off I don't want anything bad to happen to my friends okay).

I know @fayesdiary has a lot of experience with the older games -- any advice for someone looking for a place to start?