#the real issue is that it'd make people try to see 100% of the lines which would be. an ordeal

[quicksilversnails]

I think it'd be funny if the new Pristine Cut gallery included the number/percentage of lines of dialogue seen.

It’d probably be too immersion-breaking to work as a serious idea, but just imagine beating the game for the first time, going to the gallery and seeing you've seen like 5% of the total dialogue in the game. Jaw drop moment

[madoheart]

I wanna try and make a sweetheart angst fic,, i need suggestions

I may never post it thoug

me myself personally I'm not too knowledgeable on fanfic stuffs, I've read like 1 or 2 in my time on the internet, but if you want any problems that Sweetheart may have I can most likely provide

To clear things up that WOULDN'T be a problem, I'd say body positivity. Sweetheart is 100% in love with her looks I'd say that's painfully obvious from her merch alone.

Mentally though she's absolutely fucked, Considering that the only parental figures she has is her Donut grandma, and even then her grandma comments about how she doesn't visit much, Sweetheart probably has a very loose connection with her. Her castle and shows and everything she does to garner attention to herself I think is a result of her suffering from neglect as a kid so she's trying to make up for that. It'd also make sense with her lack of social skills and 0 actual friends as well as the fact that she holes herself up in her castle, literally NO ONE taught her how to interact with people and how to live in the real world. I don't think she's entirely oblivious to these problems, just shutting them out with her golden ego and blinding herself with her "perfect" life. Lot's of issues with how she refuses to see how fucked she is, but I think she still absolutely knows it. In my big fucking post about Sweetheart I brought up how I thought her battle is torment for her cuz she's slowly coming to the term with the fact that her world really isn't perfect, and I don't think it's a new feeling just one that's been amplified during her battle, she knows deep down her current situation is terrible but it's not like she can do anything about it. Accepting it will make her feel worse and it's not like she has any friends she can go to, who the fuck is she gonna get help from? a sprout mole?

Post Humphrey Sweetheart is absolutely 100% way fucking worse. Any redeeming qualities her castle had is now gone and she's at probably the worst spot she's been yet. Any denial about how terrible her life was has been thrown out because she is at the undeniably worst spot of her life. She now has to deal with the fact that she took her castle life for granted, unaware of how worse things could get, but going back to it would mean going back to the lonely fantasy she had before, so while it's a saving grace compared to her maid job it definitely won't fix her problems. To make things worse Perfectheart is also thrown into the mix. Perfectheart is quite literally a perfect Sweetheart, a mockery of Sweetheart, everything Sweetheart wants to be is right in front of her watching over as she toils away at her maid duties, stuck in the spot her selfishness and greed brought her to. I think I've brought up before what I think of Perfectheart and Sweethearts dynamic for any potential Sweetheart character arc. Perfectheart can see Sweethearts troubled, she acts as her overseer to keep her in line so she pays off her debt, but also tries to nudge Sweetheart in the right path so she doesn't stay as the lonely brat she is. I like to think Perfectheart is TRYING to be SWHs friend, doing things and giving her things to make her feel more comfortable in her current situation. And on the other end, Sweetheart absolutely HATES Perfectheart, not for anything she did, just their existence mocks her. While Perfectheart just thinks Sweetheart being so dismissive of her is because Perfectheart didn't end up as her perfect suitor, Sweetheart wants nothing to do with what is basically everything she couldn't be. I'm sure at some point they'll get along and Sweetheart will open up, but when Sweetheart DOES open up it is going to be EXTREMELY messy.

tl;dr, Pre Humphrey Sweetheart suffers from neglect and denying her imperfections. Post Humphrey Sweetheart has accepted her imperfections, hates herself more than she ever could, and the one person trying to be her friend hurts to look at.

Anyways that's all I have to say about Sweethearts problems, I hope at least some of this is good fuel for your angst

[dead-salmon]

I did 100% mean to send that to you. What happened was seeing so many of Nasu and Takeuchi's decisions lined up made me realize wow, these two literally never get told no except Nasu from Sakurai every once in a blue moon. Its literally two yesmen acting like we have consulted the team on this one when the team is the two of them.

well yeah, that's practically the issue in whole. look, nasu and takeuchi singlehandedly caused type moon to exist, i'm not against them having a big influence on the directions their games and stories take. they are the creators after all.

the issue is in my opinion that they have way too much influence, specifically takeuchi

this is me going on on a tangent so apologies anon, if you want the entire rant it's under the cut

but basically tl;dr: nasu and takeuchi fail to realise that type moon is a way bigger company than just the two of them. and since no one (fans or tm members) really directly opposes their whims they get to continue doing whatever they want, even if it directly goes against their writers and fanbases wishes.

just to recall, some of the worst tm decisions were caused by what? takeuchis whims (and nasu's, but mainly takeuchi). wu zetian as a child? takeuchi wanted it. young moriarty in traum? takeuchi wanted it. summer beast eresh for anniversary, ciel for summer? takeuchi&nasu wanted it ("thought it fit better"). aesc as anniversary unit? takeuchi wanted it. lb6 summer? nasu & takeuchi wanted it. oh and if we get camazotz? well, takeuchi wants it.

the issue isn't even that they indulge in what they like, it's that they don't give a single fuck about their actual fanbase or writers goals (and why should they, they get money and praise either way most of the time).

type moon grew into quite the company, fgo is unironically one of genshins/honkais best gacha competitors despite it's outdated playstyle. however as you put it, "the team is the two of them". nasu and takeuchi seemingly forget that type moon isn't just nasu and takeuchi anymore, but many writers, developers, artists and a big fanbase alltogether

in regards to your previous ask, if anything that shows to me that nasu is a pretty happy dude. he earns a lot of money, gets admired&praised by many people, is famous in the vn scene w/o anyone knowing his real identity. he gets to do whatever he and his bestie want without too much pushback and gets to see whatever he wants to happen in fate's stories.

hell, we only got fate/samurai remnant because the guy in charge fangirled over nasu and musashi hard enough to convince nasu to let them make a game. and even then, nasu had to "lay down the groundworks" before the actual writers team could write f/sr.

-> since in nasu's mind, tm lore is at such a level that outsiders would have to make way too much research to create actual new stories. (read both of this in an interview translation, i can find them again but it'd take a bit) imo it's a little arrogant, sure tm lore is very extensive but you don't need to know every single piece of it's lore for one story. but that's just my opinion.

so in conclusion: yeah, i entirely agree with you. since they get to do whatever they want and get money for it, of course they continue doing whatever they want. gotta hand it to sakurai for trying to push back a little though. and i wonder how much longer they get to do that. type moon's biggest winning quality has always been their loyal fanbase, supporting them so much so that fgo as a gacha gets to keep up with hoyoverse gachas of all things. and said loyal fanbase seems to slowly get more frustrated too with each whimsical decision

[arcane-temp-fandomblog]

Arcane character parallels / Caitlyn & Viktor / I'm true to my moral convictions so I'm secure in the outcome of my choices

Ah, this parallel is beautiful because these two are by far people that have stellar morals and don't stray from their convictions. They also don't even blink an eye to break the rules when they think the rules/law are unjust. I mean that's the first thing both of them do when they disagree with unjust system:

Put themselves on the line to personally fix the injustice they found in the system. Break out an inmate from prison by falsifying orders or take research that's supposed to be destroyed of a person with a dream to change the world. They know they're in the right, so it's worth it.

And it pays off... for a time.

It's funny because they take a lot of personal responsibility in their choices, which you kind of need to if you're your own law. But both of them have a bit of a blind spot.

Cait's is super obvious, she's a person of Piltover - brought up in Piltover that believed every single fairytale about how just, equal and progressive her society is. She has moral backbone to break the laws but not knowledge of the system, so she's a moral person that never seen reality of the world she lives in (that is in Zaun). The naivety makes her sound deluded, as if she is for Piltover's injustice or blind - and she never realises the inequality is not a personal issue to fix of just seeing other's as equal.

So she strings along Vi, trying to guide her to her goal and support her - and it goes from failure to failure. Vi doesn't believe in the system but she believes Caitlyn has her best interest at heart (which she does like a schoolgirl in love, 100%), but her strong moral convictions and focus on fixing injustice are applied to fairytale idea of how the world works.

We all know how that goes. She's the person who would stick to the death to her morals but lived in fake reality and as the story progresses all of her assumptions about Piltover are proven false at a cost. Mostly cost of guiding Vi for real to heal her interrupted by time relationship with Jinx/Powder, Powder would never be back as she was because of 'x' years that have past. And she could have done it, but the naivety that they have equal say how the system works (both sides yk) makes her treat Vi/Ekko's opinions on Piltover as just as valid as hers. (They aren't, she doesn't have a clear perspective... yet) Plus she knows people in the highest power personally, so she can attest for their character even if the enforcers are corrupt. So on... so forth. Until she made Vi loose all conviction in the system, not her - the system ever working, and the only way Vi knows how to fix things is by punching. The cycle continues...

It's a self reinforcing cycle - where Cait looses more and more security in her own morality and judgment because she is trying to help but has no tools/clear picture how, as evident of her results.

Until Jinx decides for herself to sever the old relationship with Vi's idealised old image of Powder (it was never possible anyway, she was forever changed by shimmer and years), now they have to learn how to be sisters if ever...

And then there's Viktor who posses both idea about the inequality ingrained in the system - the world - and the morals he'd happily put his head down on. But coming from Zaun he has the same issue as Vi, it's easier to understand where he's coming from in Vi's perspective:

If there ever was a person that meritocracy in Piltover (if it was real) would reward for hard work and ingrained skills and contribution to "Progress", it'd be Viktor. But this is the treatment he receives as assistant of Heimerdinger:

Which doesn't change after whatever timeskip, Heimerdinger offers speech on Progress day to Jayce NOT them both. It's only Jayce who offers them to get on stage together 'coz for Jayce they're equal, but yeah - even after all these years Viktor still does feel like an outsider when not in their lab. Jayce is the only one that acknowledges them as a duo in whole story, not even Viktor does that.

He's confident in both his skills and his morals, but 'self worth' he learned from the system he exists in, alike Vi, doesn't allow him to ever voice more than snide remark. And unlike Cait he doesn't blunder on right-wrong outcomes when using his morals because he knows the system is unequal deep down. He's extremely secure and confident on personal level but the system disempowers these qualities of his character. When in act one Viktor was the leader of their duo with Jayce on decision making, everything was going smoothly, when in act 2 they switch places 'because classism' everything goes to shit.

THEN he tries to continue his work and does compromise on his morals. Well it's framed both by him and Heimerdinger as bad mostly, but let me reframe it "A terminally ill man seeks out treatment from 'immoral source' that tests cures on animals (most medicine irl is tested on animals btw), to maybe prolong his life or find cure to an affliction that was caused by systemic inequality, to continue his life's goal to improve people's lives".

This sounds immoral to Viktor lol. Or like compromise of his morals.

Insane right. Viktor should not try to save himself and others with the same illness just in case - old wise man Heimerdinger said so. Because it's not just Viktor, it's other people like him that you just don't see in Piltover. Why would you? Piltover never developed a cure.

And the only person that sees insanity of Heimerdinge's opposition to continued working on possible cure in that scene is Jayce.

Anyway, the funniest part is that he seeks out Singed and goes all out with that he's ready to compromise his morals for "Progress", forsake any legacy, be despised, etc. He's either Viktor the moral man or Singed the immoral scientist. Go big, or go home.

And he thinks risk is minimal, he's a moral man - he will be able to foresee every fallout (which he is normally) and reason he makes the choice is moral - developing cure, and if not he's only hazard to himself anyway. Which he is usually. Because people caring about him aside from work relationships in Piltover, or even seeing him as an aspirational figure, who could have foreseen this. Apparently not Viktor.

And Jayce will understand and trust he knows what's he's doing (he would), but what Singed said is still in the back of his mind that 'perhaps no one will understand, not even Jayce'. When they next meet, Jayce makes a small but big mistake being classist unconsciously. For him Viktor is not a person from the scary undercity - he's Viktor and they're equal, why would Viktor go to the dangerous place when Jayce is working hard to ensure "everyone's safety". Since Jayce doesn't understand the system he's a part of at all at that point.

Then there's a freak accident and poor Sky - an assistant that had same dreams as Viktor to work hard and do her part to improve lives. And welp, apparently one death, one mistake he didn't foresee is enough for Viktor to decide that he's not fit either to be a scientist like old moral Viktor (he has changed forever) and his morals will never stomach going the path of Singed of progress at any cost. (And he was so sure of that one lol, he just dipped a tiny toe in Singed pool of being a Singed). Or yk, what's the point really to live otherwise.

Like Jayce had to make every single mistake that was put in his path to learn that 'yep, Piltover class system doesn't work for undercity' and there's still more... to understand how people from undercity see people from Piltover.

edit. Also since now Singed is hinted to be Orianna's father in the ending, a Pilovian girl who selflessly went to help with poisonous spills in Zaun and due to poisoning had to have her father replace every single part of her body as it died for which he was thrown out from the academy, I find it pretty interesting Viktor is dying from similar disease.

So yeah in terms of story arc, a bit learning still to do for both Caitlyn and Viktor. Here's post on:

Vi & Viktor / Systemic disempowerment & self-reliance

Caitlyn & Viktor / I’m true to my moral convictions so I’m secure in the outcome of my choices

Jayce & Caitlyn / Painful journey of naive well-meaning people

Jayce & Vi / Jinx - how two idiots snatched defeat out of the jaws of viktory

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 4 for the first time. Random thoughts.

I never said anything about it before but I love Shadow Weaver's DCAU Batman eyes. They're so expressive.

Episode 1: Okay...I wasn't expecting Catra to do that. I mean, it makes sense. If she has leverage over Hordak then she's basically in charge of the Horde and that's what she's wanted (or at least believes she wants) since episode 1. It's an aspect that made her a good antagonist, that she's not blind to the evil of the Horde, she just doesn't care as long as she herself is secure. Which naturally begs the question, when the rebellion and the princesses are crushed, when the Horde is on top, when Adora is dead, when Catra finally has everything she's ever wanted...will she actually finally be happy? Somehow, I have my doubts.

I definitely feel for Glimmer in this. When you go through as big a loss as she did you need to be able to feel and vent if you're ever going to get through it. It doesn't have to be right away but everyone doing everything in their power to avoid the topic entirely can make you feel like you're going crazy. It'a especially bad for her since it unintentionally makes it feel like everyone is acting like it doesn't matter that Angela is gone when it clearly means everything to Glimmer.

Episode 2: I actually had a potted cactus plant once. Accidentally forgot about it and left it outside for an entire winter. Once the snow was gone the cactus looked like it had melted.

I kind of want to see what an interaction between Double Trouble and Clayface from the Harley Quinn animated series would look like. I'm guess Catra was just testing how good Double Trouble was as a doppelganger because it doesn't seem like she did anything while Adora was being distracted, though I suppose that could be a reveal in a later episode.

Not much to say except that I love how buff Huntara is while still clearly being a woman. Like, women can have a variety of different body types, as this series and Steven Universe show, and Huntara's build isn't just, like, Bow's body with lipstick and ponytail and the animators calling it a day. No, she looks like a freakin' jacked adult woman.

Episode 3: I didn't figure out the Flutterina = Double Trouble twist until a minute before it was revealed, so good job there. Before that I was wondering if Flutterina was some fan's original character where they won some contest where their OC got to be in the show for an episode. She was giving off some weird self-insert vibes. That twist made it all work though. It's honestly not a bad plan. Shapeshifters haven't really been a thing in the series before now so there's no reason to suspect it. Even if they did they'd probably be expecting it by way of magic or technology, while Double Trouble's seems to be a natural ability.

I like that even though Bow is definitely the goofier one of the trio he is still consistently shown as competent. That's never in question. He was very heroic and reassuring to the villagers this episode. I get why those kids idolize him so much.

Catra's having guilt over what she did with the portal and to Entrapta and her response is basically to just double-down. She doesn't know any other way to be. Not going to lie, I am kind of hoping we get another moment in the show where Adora just completely overwhelms Catra with the sheer power of She-Ra. I'm not saying like brutalize her or anything but just something where Catra is made to realize just how powerful Adora is and that she could just destroy Catra if she had a mind to do so.

Episode 4: Well, I was saying I wanted Adora to do it but I guess I don't mind Glimmer being the one to get some good shots in on Catra. Like I predicted, Shadow Weaver's moving in to become her teacher like she was with her father. Honestly I like that that was more Adora's problem than Glimmer using her as bait, which she seemed to get over pretty quick. Yeah, it was kind of a heartless thing to do but it was an understandable tactic and she clearly outright told Adora that she did it and why afterwards, which at least means she's still being honest.

It occurs to me that Glimmer and Catra may be the ones running parallel right now. Both are basically leading their respective sides of the war. They both have lost someone very important to them. And both are trusting someone they probably shouldn't. Both even have outfits that've been updated in the intro. The difference is Glimmer's just trying to deal with a bad situation while Catra's is entirely self-inflicted.

Minor thing but I like Glimmer's new outfit this season. I'm sure this is the intention but it makes her look older and more mature. A little more muscular in some shots too.

Episode 5: Heart of Etheria project. No idea what that is but assumedly whoever's a part of it doesn't like Light Hope and Mara being friends. Sounds like it's very much interested in She-Ra being just a warrior, and perhaps a tool, for the greater good. It does make me wonder though how much Light Hope remember from when she was rebooting. Even if she deleted the Mara memory she could potentially still have the memory of her and Adora watching the Mara memory, as well as Adora asking to be her friend.

Episode 6: Yep. Scorpia; definitely favorite supporting character. There is something kind of funny about her whole "Scorpions are loyal" line when you remember the story about the Frog and the Scorpion, where it stings the frog despite it meaning death for itself as well simply because that is its nature. But finally we're having someone go save Entrapta, and I can only assume at some point Scorpia's going to access the power of the Black Garnet.

The parallels between Catra and Hordak are definitely at their max here with that speech of hers to him. She's basically trying to convince herself that she doesn't need anyone, the timing of which is appropriate since she just drove away Scorpia and now truly doesn't have anyone. Not that I blame Scorpia, obviously. Like Adora before her, however good you believe someone can be and that you can help them, at some point you just have to cut the toxic people out of your life. You have the right to be happy too.

And man, Bow is just the best. He saw something was wrong between Adora and Glimmer and defused the situation like (snap) that, pushing them to talk like any sane person would.

Episode 7: I'm sure it is just because I've seen way too many TV shows and movies (both animated and live action) that don't do it but it is just such a relief to have a show where the characters just TALK and LISTEN to each other. It doesn't solve all their issues but they're at least not being stupid and freakin' petty. It helps the drama feel a lot less forced and contrived.

Episode 8: A little bit of amusement in Bow thinking at first that Glimmer and Adora didn't even notice he was gone despite them coming to his rescue very shortly afterwards, given Catra is only now realizing Scorpia has left and assumedly she did so a while ago. Bow and Sea Hawk hadn't been gone for that long so it's not unreasonable Glimmer and Adora wouldn't be worried about their absence (Bow was literally talking about "me time" when they last saw him), while Catra is only noticing Scorpia's absence now and it was because she wanted something. Like Scorpia said, she's a bad friend.

Kind of ironic given that a lot of Catra's issues are the direct result of Shadow Weaver giving her very little love growing up but it does seem this tough love is probably what'll get through to Catra the best. She might finally stop making bad decisions and lashing out if she's forced to live with the consequences of them, like Adora told her last season.

Glimmer gets a bit of slack from me since she suffered through a huge loss, that being her mother, and then was immediately thrown into being queen right after. It'd be hard for anyone to be 100% on their game and well-adjusted in a situation like that, and I buy that she was on some level resentful of Adora for coming back instead of her mother, even if unintentionally so. What definitely helps is that Glimmer very clearly and immediately regretted what she said to Adora. Like Catra she's lashing out but unlike Catra Glimmer recognizes some of the damage she's doing and knows, at least in this case, that she went too far.

Episode 9: Now that I can see the design in color I definitely prefer Mara's She-Ra with pants to Adora's She-Ra with shorts. Honestly, while the differences are pretty minor, I do think Mara's She-Ra design is overall a lot better than Adora's. Sharper shoulder guards. Bigger cape (especially the cape, I love capes). I don't know, there's just a lot that clicks with it and I wouldn't mind Adora getting a similar outfit later.

Madam Razz definitely had a Yoda feel this episode. I was very much expecting her to start wacking Mara with a stick over the sugar like Yoda did with R2. Though while that was Yoda acting crazy, for Razz it's because she experiences time out of order, and I don't think I've ever seen that concept taken to this extent, or at least done this way before. There are characters like River Song from Doctor Who, Professor Paradox from Ben 10, or even the Reverse-Flash who interact with other characters in time out of order but those characters are still on a linear path from their own perspective, even when travelling through time. Razz is just bouncing around her own timeline, seemingly not even any real reason or cause to it like Subaru from Re:Zero. Clearly she's not just remembering things oddly because her talk about things of the present are heard by people in the past and have an effect. I wonder if maybe the reason why is because Razz was at ground zero of Mara's actions and this is a side-effect of pulling Etheria away from the rest of the universe.

Bringing more Star Wars into this, it basically sounds like the Heart of Etheria project has turned Etheria into a magic Starkiller Base; storing power that'll be unleashed to destroy whole planets. And jeez, I think this was the first time I really felt creeped out by Light Hope when she was talking to Mara.

I'm looking forward to seeing what it means that the First Ones only made the sword and that Etheria made She-Ra. If that's the case, why is only the sword able to bring out the She-Ra form? Is it like MCU Thor's hammer and the weapon was just meant to help him control the power he already had? Or is what we think is She-Ra not actually She-Ra and that form that Adora and Mara take is just a stand-in for the real thing?

Episode 10: It didn't even occur to me until now but Double Trouble's capture is another blow to Catra's circle of "friends" too. They were at least able to make her laugh. One less person for her to talk to and just...really just distract her from her thoughts.

It's a good dilemma this episode presents about what to do with the Heart of Etheria. The safest and probably best option is to just dismantle it, like Adora and Bow want, since it could easily lead to the destruction of the entire planet if it goes off. Not the mention there's so little they know about it and what it was intended for and the one person who can potentially tell them, Light Hope, they were warned not to trust. But it's not hard to understand where Glimmer is coming from in wanting to use that power to fight the Horde. They're already losing the war and now she knows Hordak Prime and his FAR more powerful forces are on the way. Tapping into the Heart is a huge risk but she's not seeing any other paths for the rebels to win. It's a really good dilemma, with good arguments presented from both sides, and I buy this widening the schism between Adora and Glimmer.

Episode 11: I have mixed feelings on King Micah still being alive. On the one hand there's a lot of good potential interactions we can now have with him, primarily between Glimmer and Shadow Weaver, and he is a fun character. But on the other I can't help but wonder if this kind of lessens the impact of what Angela gave up to overcome the false reality. Part of what made it so emotional was that she had to accept the person she loved was dead and not coming back...except now we see that he wasn't dead and now he is coming back. Yeah, their family lost out on years together and that does still carry some emotional weight but I was already also half-expecting Angela to come back later in the series because she's stuck between dimensions, meaning there's a chance she could still be alive. If both Glimmer's parents come back then that really feels like it takes a lot of weight out of her story. But I guess we'll see what happens.

Also, why did the Horde exile him to Beast Island? Why not just kill him?!

Episode 12: So the Horde exiles Micah to Beast Island instead of killing him. The First Ones protect their secrets by sending their bad tech to Beast Island. Does no one know how to just destroy things in this world?

Ohhh, I am so looking forward to next episode. While it's debatable whether Glimmer should be going through with her plan she is at least being smart with how she's going about it. Double Trouble was being paid by Catra to work for the Horde, not out of any sense of loyalty. Glimmer has the resources of Bright Moon at her disposal so it's reasonable she could pay them more to switch sides. Double Trouble was very good at sabotaging even a group as tight-nit as the heroes, so Hordak and Catra are probably easy pickings with all their issues.

Episode 13: ....WELL THAT AIN'T GOOD!

I'll admit, I had a little bit of an unintended laugh. After all we've heard about Horde Prime, like this shadowy all-powerful monster, I wasn't expecting the fabulous flowing dreadlocks and smoothness. Credit where it's due, man has charisma and charm, which goes a long way in helping your big evil world conqueror not be a very flat character, because it's doubtful he's going to have the same kind of sympathetic motivation as Hordak or complexity as Catra to keep him elevated.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Double Trouble kicking at Catra while she's down. Adora and Scorpia were honest but they never wanted to hurt Catra. Not so much with Double Trouble and they just shove reality into her face. Everyone leaves Catra because of Catra. She's the common factor. It's her fault and no one else's. Again, I don't know for certain if Adora and Catra get together at the end (Catra would have a LOT to make amends for regardless) but Double Trouble was definitely implying Catra had feelings for her with the way they put Catra's hand on "Adora's" cheek while talking about how she left her.

I like that we see Glimmer's plan actually working at first. The princesses get a massive power boost and decimate the Horde forces. But the minute it starts going wrong she immediately admits Adora was right and she tries to stop the energy flow. I imagine having her there with Catra was intentional by the writers. Despite some parallels, Glimmer can actually accept her failures and work to try and fix things. Unlike Catra, she didn't blame Adora for things going wrong.

So the sword allows the First Ones to control She-Ra and the energy she'd be absorbing from the planet. Assumedly that means there are at least some parts to She-Ra that have nothing to do with the First Ones and thus maybe Adora can still use some of those powers without the sword.

Season 4 verdict: Yeah, the show keeps getting better, though I will admit last season's finale had me more emotional, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison given everything that happened in that finale vs. this one. This is definitely the series hitting its darkest hour, where it feels like EVERYONE lost. Not just the rebels but the Horde as well. The sword and Light Hope are gone and She-Ra (for now) along with them. Glimmer and Catra are basically prisoners. Hordak's probably going to have his personality stripped away. The Fright Zone is in ruins. The only one who's gained anything is Prime.

Really looking forward to what the final season has in store, especially since there seems to be the implication that Catra just saved Glimmer's life.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o1j5gk/going_in_blind_watching_season_4_for_the_first/

[literaphobe]

hi michelle! so want to start saying that i identify as bi and honestly, I would LOVE it if jake was bi. I think it'd be great. But i'm also okay if he's not, bc how cool is it that they're allowing a man to break down traditional gender norms/roles! i think one of the greatest parts of loving a show like b99 is that it lets us escape the 'real world' for twenty minutes every week. and that means something different for every person watching the show. 1

SO while i believe you are entitled to your own opinions, and you can share them on your blog bc it's yours, i don't think its fair to invite people to share their opinions but shut down anyone who feels differently than you. for example, you said to someone who said they didn't care if jake was bi that you hope they 'get well soon'. also, you posted saying that if bi people didnt want jake to be bi then they're wrong. im sorry but thats really hurtful. you dont get to decide how people think 2

just bc someone feels differently than you doesnt make their feelings less valid, ESPECIALLY someone who identifies as lgbt+. you run a popular blog and it makes me sad to think people might feel their opinions are less valid or wrong bc they see it here. again, im not saying you cant have opinions or post them. but maybe just think about how your words can affect others. also saying this off anon bc i respect you and am open to having a conversation. Thanks for reading, hope u have a good day

hi. thank you for ur mannerly tone and for having the courage to go off-anon.

mlm/bi representation will always be more important than ‘straight man comfortable with his sexuality’. while i am not saying that straight men in media shouldn’t be portrayed as comfortable in their sexualities, the stance that it’s okay to take away representation from people in the lgbt community as long as we have Good Hets is harmful, and it gives people in the tv/movie industries a cop out. they don’t have to give us more lgbt characters! straight characters who Know What’s Up are good enough to make them seem woke and avoid criticism! and whether you’re comfortable with this happening as an lgbt has nothing to do with it. we have to hold the media accountable, we can’t just settle for less. whether you want to watch b99 uncritically or not is entirely up to you. i get that it’s exhausting to analyze the media content you consume! i more than understand just wanting to escape and not ask for more! it’s tiring! it’s draining! it’s disappointing, it hurts so much and it gets so so lonely. but we can’t just let the world stagnate. progress needs to be made constantly, and shows can’t be made to feel like they can just do one or two good things and not be expected to do anything else! i’m not asking you to fight for this, i just want the acknowledgement that this is the right thing to do

i didn’t exactly... invite anyone to say anything. i truly am just sending my thoughts out into the void. and yes, i am aware that my words reach a wider audience because i have a larger than average follower count. of course i know my words can affect others. that’s what i’m trying to do. aside from getting thoughts out my brain, i want to promote a less passive line of thinking. i want lgbt folk to want better for themselves. unfortunately, because words and actions have responses, people will climb into my inbox and start conversations that i inevitably have to take part in (sometimes i don’t though. it really depends on where my head’s at that day. having to discuss this repeatedly is draining). most of the time, i’m just making a statement

i don’t particularly enjoy “shutting down people who feel differently from me”. usually, if i’ve done that, i really am tired because i’ve likely discussed and explained numerous times whatever it is the person who got shut down said to me. i might also come off as mean-spirited or perhaps aggressive if i know some anon is just trying to pick a fight/spew hate at me. if you don’t understand where i’m coming from/don’t believe why having an opposing stance is harmful (this might vary depending on the issue), i am (given i have energy that day) more than willing to elaborate on whatever it is i say here. if i say stuff like ‘get well soon!’ it is a tired response to something i have already covered in depth and i am making some semblance of a joke to deflect/put a lid on the stuff i really want to say (likely because i have already said it) 

i never said that bi people who didn’t want jake to be bi were wrong. i was trying to get them to think deeper and explore why they don’t want that. being lgbt sometimes means that we allow and normalize a lot of unfair treatment. we think that we have it good enough so we decide not to ask for more, to settle. and i will never blame any lgbt for falling victim to this line of thought. we were brought up to think this way, we were conditioned to think this way. acceptance does not equal inclusion, and sadly many of us are so grateful for the acceptance that we do not bother to even think about having inclusion. or, better inclusion, for that matter. of course, it is definitely not up to me to decide how anyone thinks. i’m just trying to convince you! very desperately. but if you don’t agree no matter what i say then what can i do? it’s your life. it doesn’t affect me much in the grand scheme of things. i’m not going to hate you for disagreeing. i’m not going to sic the dogs on you. am i going to be kind of annoyed if someone walks into my inbox, turns on anon, and hurls insults at me? yes, that’s hurtful, and it’s kind of funny sometimes depending on how dumb you sound, but it’s mostly tiring and a lot of pain. so like... read, if u don’t like it, move on, if your well-being is drastically affected from reading the things i say, i’ll tag it so you can blacklist 

the sad thing is, being a member of the lgbt community doesn’t automatically make your opinions on lgbt issues valid/unproblematic. internalized homophobia exists. things i described in the point above can lead to this. just because a bi person says ‘im bi! and i don’t care/don’t think bi jake is important!’ doesn’t mean that suddenly, there is no need for him to be canonically bi, that we aren’t being queerbaited/pandered to by the show. do i think that the show is intentionally/heinously queerbaiting us? not exactly. but lack of awareness and lacking understanding on why bi-coding jake w no intention to make it canon is just as harmful bc it produces the same result (in jake’s case)

once again, i don’t intend for people to feel “less valid/wrong” when they read what i have to say on this blog. self-reflection is important. sometimes, people have opinions that are wrong! including myself! which is why more often than not i think deeply into the things people say to me here and consider whether my opinion holds up. you don’t have to feel bad for being wrong. we are all constantly wrong on stuff. everyone, at some point, has had a bad take/the wrong take on something. if you hold yourself up to this standard that you must always be right or you are suddenly a horrible person/must feel bad and demoralized, i suggest that you change your approach to issues such as this. i hate to say this but it is not my job to make sure everyone is 100% cool and chill about everything i do and say here. some things need to be said. some things need to be acknowledged. i’m sorry if any of you have been hurt/upset by anything i’ve ever posted but after a certain point... that is your issue and not mine 

[zestys-world]

YES HEHEHE!! I'm SO glad you asked!! (user name qi rong enjoyer pls know I 100 percent agree with that username)

So I'm imagining the history between qi rong and xie lian before this is pretty similar to canon. Like communication issues GALORE here.

Mirroring canon here: something happens to tank xie lian's reputation/standing (maybe his family's wealth and status goes to the dogs and qi rong gets mad at xie lian for giving up or something. They'd have to be quite young) and qi rong goes into the unhealthy coping mechanism of blaming everything on xie lian (had a very similar coping mechanism until I went to therapy.) Like since his brain would NEED someone to take the blame or he'd put it on himself (or worse, not know where to put it; causing his emotions to SPIRAL), he puts it on Xie Lian. (I accidentally just told you my analysis of the character sorry! I don't think Xie Lian is to blame here or in canon [although he could've been nicer to qi rong; but then again, qi rong is not blameless] I think they were both kids surrounded by bad decisions)

Once Xie Lian's parents die, the cousins lose contact. While Xie Lian does his own thing, Qi Rong finds solace in writing. He uses it to vent, and a few years down the line he ends up with quite a harrowing novel. It does alright for the first year before blowing up. (Qi Rong didn't really want that to happen, he probably just sold it to make some money) After which, Xie Lian finds it.

As for the contents of his novel?

I don't really know what it'd be named or what his penname would be but probably something bizzare because its qi rong

His writing style is probably slightly unrefined (first novel after all!), yet very descriptive and emotional. I bet it has multiple foul language warnings.

Xie Lian (qi rong was probably uncreative with names) the character is an overexaggerated version of the real person. He's a bad Prince who plans to rule unjustly or something. People don't really know this at first, because the character hides it.

Until one day, during a festival, a child (hong-er) falls to its death from a high tower. In the og story, xie lian let's him die (not after transmigration tho- we'll get to that later)

The child dies and comes back as a vengeful spirit (a representation of qi rong's inner child who is HURT [not projection via me I SWEAR💔💔])

The spirit of the child is the catalyst for the downfall of xianle (although even just the fact that the Prince left him to die makes his people think lesser of him). Insert book 2.

It's a story about hubris, consequences and the butterfly/domino effect.

Qi Rong is pretty much a side character who doesn't show up much (self-hatred) and dissapears into the background after the first act.

NOW we get to the fun stuff

So, Xie Lian is a struggling student trying to turn his life around. One day, he sees an eerie book at the store. He reads the back of it, sees from the synopsis that the villain has his name. His intuition says to pick it up, so he does (despite his common sense). On his way home he gets his by a bus or something.

Now, TRANSMIGRATION TIME!!

I can't decide when in the original timeline Xie Lian would transmigrate to (maybe around 15?) but basically no one except the people close to him notice a change. They don't say anything though, since they like this version better. The public has no idea, just thinking their Prince grew kinder with age.

Now he doesn't really remember the plot, but he's trying his best. He's got a pretty docile system until the protagonist (hong-er) comes falling from the sky. I'm imagining that the only real limitations he has before that though are to not spill the beans about his identity and to not act that weird.

He catches Hong-er. So, that protagonist has no reason to plan his downfall. However, an underdeveloped background character (Jun Wu) interacts with him. "Body in Abyss, Heart in Paradise."

So HE plans the downfall of Xianle. And it does go the same as canon (except for the obvious). Xie Lian, after the fuckening, thinks the plot is over. Until DA DA DUM CANON!!

Qi Rong is put into his namesake's role instead of his self insert protagonist (that makes post-canon AWKWARD) and is just happy to see his fictional cousin's true downfall (he's lying to himself he feels bad) until the obvious changes pop up. He doesn't confront Xie Lian until a few centuries go by tho.

Xie Lian, since he did not get to read the novel before his death, thinks that the system must've tailored the characters to look and act like people he knew in his previous life (feng xin, mu qing etc). He probably thinks that the system attached identities to whoever fit those real people best.

So then after that, a repeat of canon tgcf with a few changes (maybe major? depends on how I'd write it in the future)

The cousins make up and happily ever after BOOM

I hope this was to your liking!! Sorry for the rambling 😭😭 I just think their relationship is so interesting and could've been fluffy if not for their circumstances. Also I adore crossovers so tsis was an easy one to get the initial idea for (crafting the outline was less so but I've had more difficult to sort ones before). If you or anyone has any more questions, I'm willing to attempt answer them!! You can reply under this post or even send in an ask (doesn't even have to be specifically about this au, I'm flexible). I'm pretty much always ready to talk about media, fanfiction and aus. No pressure though! Thank you!!!! :]

My pitch for a tgcf x svsss crossover:

a tgcf au where modern day xie lian reads a popular novel, finds out a character has the same name as him, that character ends up being the villain, the book has a lot of parallels to his life and several other characters have the names of people he knows and are all kind of in character (except for him). then he dies and boom svsss au. the kicker? qi rong wrote the book to cope with his trauma. he's transmigrated shang qinghua style and he and xl make up after talking about their past. several shenanigans ensue before that though.

hua cheng (who is qi rong's original character do not steal) is supposed to be the hero and eventually kill this ooc xie lian. but oh what a surprise he falls in love. tgcf goes on as almost normal, except for the svsss stuff (system, pop culture references, comically bad plots) and a lot happens.

Thought about writing this, still might, but I've got other projects. I'd love to discuss! I have a lot more to say