#there’s a lot of good storyline in there

[vivieenee]

Hobbies I think Jason Todd would have

★ Sewing

- Jason who probably had to sew his own wounds because he doesn't trust doctors. But during the process of learning how to sew wounds, he started sewing his clothes so he could practice.

★ Writing

- Yall can't tell me that Jason wouldn't try writing his own fiction. He'd probably also write a story inspired from his experience.

★ Video games

-I feel like he'd play a lot of video games not only fighting games but also storyline games.

-his top three would probably be call of duty, mortal kombat and the last of us. Idk

★ cooking

- I have no idea if this is considered a hobby but I think he'd cook a lot. And he's good at it.

★ playing drums

- I saw a comic panel of him playing the electric guitar somewhere but I think I doesn't really fit him.

- He'd play the drums as a form of stress relief and to let out his anger in some way

A/n: hello another post for today because I'm bored and I'm thinking a lot about him.

Alsooo I was accused of using AI and I'd like to clarify that I DONT use AI, idk why I was accused but if y'all have any ideas or questions be free to reach out and I'll respond.

Happy pride month btww

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Word Economy

Word Economy - careful management of the words that end up in your text.

In the simplest of terms, it means keeping sentences, paragraphs, and chapters as short as they can be without degrading your storytelling or rhetoric.

Does striving for economy of words mean that authors have to constantly track their word count and try to reach a fixed quota for overall words? No it does not.

But it does mean that you need to monitor your word choice to make sure you aren’t filling your prose with superfluous words that make sentences longer but not necessarily better. When you review your own work, ask yourself: “Could I communicate this same idea using fewer words?” If the answer is yes, then rewrite the relevant sentences and paragraphs with that in mind.

 Tips for Improving Your Word Economy

It’s rare to find good writing that’s needlessly verbose. If you want to reach large audiences, get a publishing deal, and perhaps end up on the New York Times bestseller list one day, you’ll need to learn how to economize your language. Here are some ways to do that:

Use the active voice. When writing in the active voice, the subject of a sentence performs an action. Passive voice sentences contain subjects that are the object of the sentence’s verb. They are not the “doer” of the sentence; they are the recipient of an action. Sentences constructed with the active voice use fewer words and are easier to understand.

Use strong verbs. If you want to revise a sentence to make it better, start by looking for a stronger verb. If you choose a verb that accurately describes the action of the scene, you can cut down on modifying words you might otherwise need to better explain that action. Precise, strong verbs get to the point, which is great for word economy.

Avoid wordy prepositional phrases. A lot of inexperienced writers weigh down their prose with prepositional phrases without adding any further meaning. So instead of writing, “He ran in the style of someone who was a professional athlete,” just say, “He ran like a professional athlete.”

Use the English dictionary and thesaurus effectively. Some young writers mistakenly believe that making a phrase longer will make you seem smarter. In reality, the opposite is true. Economical word choice makes your prose more fluid and clear, so use the dictionary and thesaurus to help you make phrases shorter, not longer.

Have individual scenes accomplish multiple things. Introduce a character by writing a short, solitary scene. Place your character in a situation that both advances your story and provides character development.

Keep chapters lean. Make sure each chapter has a purpose that ties in to the bigger story. Don’t fluff up the novel with irrelevant content. Establish trust with your reader that you will not waste their time with authorial indulgences.

Plan your narrative, and stick with the plan. In a thriller, for example, people want to be on the edge of their seat the whole time, and this requires narrative focus. Don’t meander too far from your main storyline—that is, from scenes and dialogue that develop your stakes.

Compress your dialogue. You should keep dialogue economical in the same way you do with your prose. Unless your character is naturally verbose, tighten up their language, conveying only the information that will deepen the character or move the story forward. Making people seem real on the page often means giving them shorter sentences. Most people are naturally economical speakers and will tend to say “I’ll go” instead of “Yes, I will go.”

Avoid info-dumping. Beginning writers tend to drop large chunks of information onto the page all at once. This is called info-dumping, and not only does it bore readers, but it stops the momentum cold. You want to make your information feel natural and interesting. You can avoid the dreaded info dump by having your characters discover information in the course of a conversation. If that feels overly expository, let them discover information via action.

Compress, compress, compress. Go through your writing and see how many words you can cut while keeping the original feel of your work. (Hint: adverbs—words like gently or beautifully that usually end in “-ly” and modify verbs or adjectives—are a good place to start.) Next, beware of places where you’ve given too much description, especially of a static object. Do you need to spend two whole paragraphs describing a building that’s not essential to the plot? One powerful detail will often do the trick.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[stylish-suidae]

New Vegas used Caesar's Legion to show why fascism is bad, but Fallout 4 uses The Brotherhood to show why it draws people in.

Because when they show up, they're overtly militaristic and all, but they're also *helpful*. If you're not opening fire on them, then they're showing up and killing a lot of the same guys you were. They're actively making your life easier. And yeah they might be anti-ghoul, but that's easy to overlook while they're being a literal wall of meat and steel between you and the "bad guys".

And then, Paladin Danse. And you're expected to execute someone you (presumably) like.

And it all falls into place: the brotherhood's storyline was playing out "First They Came" right in front of your eyes. It shows you how easy it is to overlook people being victimized up until "people being victimized" includes you or people you care about.

Honestly I think it wouldve been a lot stronger if there were no speech check option to get out of it, but you know how Gamers are. And it being Bethesda it's hard to say how much of this was actually intentional, but regardless it's probably the bit of Fallout 4 with the most actual stuff to say (that's not just "slavery is bad" with the railroad, or "cooperation is good, actually" with the minutemen).

Say what you will about Bethesda's Fallout, but at the very least, I have to congratulate them for making the Brotherhood in 4 morally fallible. It's not like Fallout 3 where Brotherhood is good, Enclave bad. The Brotherhood carries a lot of shitty beliefs and has the player do a lot of shitty things.

There are side quests where you coerce farmers into supplying food and resources for the Brotherhood by any means necessary. They literally tell you to pressure them. The imagery of the Prydwen flying in with a bunch of vertibirds as they say "Do not interfere, our intentions are peaceful" is just so good too.

Anyone who shows up with military force claiming peaceful intentions is never to be trusted. I beg for this imperialistic imagery to be intentional, but it could also just be included because gunship is cool.

Danse is one of the Brotherhood's best soldiers, but as soon as he's outed as a synth, Maxson chooses to ignore all of it because he's so blinded by his own racist ideology. Your service means nothing as soon as you're viewed as expendable or undesirable in some way.

Holy shit, it actually has something to say about the military? Is there actual subtext going on here? Your value to an institution is entirely dependent on utility/convenience and never personal merit or loyalty?

They do fuck it up by Maxson just allowing the player to continue with the Brotherhood despite disobeying orders if you choose not to kill him. I think it would've been better if you became enemies with the Brotherhood after this, but you take what you can get with this game.

[pralinesims]

idk but I felt like ranking the TS4 worlds. May be kinda inaccurate cause my opinions change about them sometimes, but well, here we go:

San Myshuno (my love. my GOAT. I never get tired of it!!!)

Windenburg (another one I never get tired of. also the size >>>)

Ravenwood (looove the southeastern europe / balkan representation. also it's so so beautiful and every area is very different)

Copperdale (i think i'm one of the few people absolutely loving the high school pack lol. i also love the aesthetic of Copperdale sm, it has eerie vibes at times)

Brindleton Bay (I love east coast inspired settings)

Ciudad Enamorada (sooo underrated. I love doing gameplay there.)

Moonwood Mill (perfection tbh)

Nordhaven (so new, but I already love it sm)

Del Sol Valley (I WISH IT WAS BIGGER, but it's so good)

Tomarang (it gets heavily overshadowed I feel like bc of For Rent being so glitch heavy, which is sad cause actually it's so awesome. I really hope the bugs will get sorted one day and it'll be able to shine for what it is)

Strangerville (extremely versatile once you finish the storyline)

Mt. Komorebi (SNOW!!!!!! i also love the gameplay features very much)

Evergreen Harbor (another underrated one. it feels super realistic imo)

Forgotten Hollow (it's ridiculously small tbh, but I play relatively often in it. it's always misty and rather dark which I adore)

Sulani (everyone knows and loves it. and me too!!!)

Tartosa (i don't play there as often as I should bc DAMN I always forget how wonderful it looks, super nicely crafted)

Chestnut Ridge (COWBOY CENTRALLL, what's not to like)

San Sequoia (idk but this world has such positive vibes. it's super cute)

Oasis Springs (it aged really good imo. I like it more now than at the start)

Britechester (super pretty, but it feels kinda tiny to me cuz most of it is used for uni stuff and almost feels like a vacation world bc of it)

Granite Falls (untouched looking and woodsy. very beautiful. but it gets minus points for being a vacation world)

Henford-on-Bagley (stunning world. truly mean it. but it bores me at times so I usually only let my sims live there if they're homemaker types or similar)

Selvadorada (amazing but WHY IS THIS A VACATION WORLD!!! A TRAGEDY)

Glimmerbrook (objectively she's gorgeous, but somehow I rarely play there. which I do not understand why tbh? but well. the split realms feature is GREAT btw)

Willow Creek (have nothing against it, actually like it, but most of what came after it is just more exciting. did not age as good as Oasis Springs when talking about the BG worlds)

Newcrest (unspectacular but good. perfect at what it does)

Magnolia Promenade (4 FREAKING LOTS do I even need to say more. I usually just dump restaurants there)

Batuu (never visited it tbh despite buying the pack for the objects, uhmm I have no real opinion on it but yeah. I think the aspect of not being able to do anything to it and solely use it for Star Wars gameplay sours it for me to the point of not wanting to touch it lol.)

[l-egionaire]

This is gonna be a SUPER unpopular opinion, but im gonna say it anyway: I love this scene and its one of my favorite ones in the comics.

I get why people don't take too it but thats because the focus is always on how Katara is in this scene....where my focus went a lot to Aang.

See, something that I REALLY like about the comics is that they do something the original series didnt really manage to have time for: It focuses a lot on Aang's struggle as the Last Airbender and his feelings about the loss of his culture.

Just look at that painful but happy look on his face when he talks about his people. How he actually THANKS Katara for letting them stay (which also does imply he noticed and UNDERSTOOD she wasn't super comfortable, but was thankful that she didnt MAKE them leave in spite of that, which i also kind of like.) Because just having that small moment meant so much to him.

Aang's struggle as the Last Airbender gets so much good focus in the comics, from him questioning if his culture can survive in the world, to him wondering how to preserve the Air Nomad's traditions, to questioning his ideals in this new world. I LOVE that because its such a part of Aang's character that the series couldn't fully touch on in the time it had.

Honestly, I would love just a full comic of Aang with the Air Acolytes to see more of him rediscovering and rebuilding his culture. Because even though I praise the comics for touching on it....its still never really the MAIN focus. Even in "The Rift" Toph's storyline with her dad kind of takes over and it becomes more of the focus. I'd so love to see more about how Aang deals with the loss of his people and how he's trying so hard to rebuild it.

[thewrittenone]

My favorite form of MegOp is Transformers One. Although, I like DPax a whole lot more. I don't know what it is but I think I like their dynamic more. I just find DPax to be more interesting and have more opportunities for different stories/scenerios. I am also kinda bored of the "regular" MegOp cause they feel like they all have the same storyline. I also wish for more jealous Orion Pax/Optimus Prime (possessive is good too, need more of that). Trust me if I had the motivation to write I would. I also need to plan my stories and not wing it.

[kainabunny]

creative

Thought I'll post this here since been reading a lot. No, I never get exhausted on creating lore for any storyline. I've been in mcrp space for 10+ years, believe me when I say... I have ideas I really do. Issue is I'm not allowed to write that style of lore like im used to.

It wasn't a choice I was allowed to make but I make work with my writing. Especially since atm I love what I do. This is my job and I'll do my best to make a quality episodes.

Whether it's in the m c r p space or in v r or my own content. Please know that I we'll never run out of creativity for stories. I love characters.I love the environment.And I love how much i'm allowed to do. Certain careers, I work for allow me to write my own things that eventually become fan favorites. While others, I must listen to the rules since they are my clients. I never, ever run out of creativity, or else, how will I pay my bills🥺

I draw, Va, Body act,edit , make blockbench models and write. I do a lot since in the end of the say I wanna be supportive to my friends and clients. Many know me without even knowing me. I've been behind the scenes helping where I can since 2015 on projects with multiple people! So let's clear somethings up:

There seems to be a lack of communication with us.

TSBS fans of Femme:

I should paste here since im assuming majority are not not in the server. Femme Nights has shifted to Roblox. Was not by choice but unfortunately we roll with the punches. Davis is no longer at femme as writer. He is still around for other channels and for his health chose to drop femme. (Dude works on so many channels... so makes sense to drop one)

Flora and I have been the ones taking care of Femme since. So we'll support him same way he supported us. (I better not see a rumor that he hates us. My bestie is over worked plus I mod for him. So... we all friends who help each other. Also he is marring my bestie☺️) I've taken on the mantle as writer for femme while Flora has been overseeing my work and coming up with concepts( we are both figuring out our workload behind the scene🥺) I just got sick and tried of everyone just assuming we "ran out of ideas" or "oh this is a break bc they are overworked" Clearly we haven't met! 😈

Regardless, I promise each video isn't done with the intention of being "baby" we are trying our best with videos. Concepts that are wayyy more but we are hired to work here. So we have to listen to our boss. I can't promise lore will return the same way as VR. I can promise is giving a story and being entertaining. Flora and I hope everyone can understand that part.

Now with that said I know we will be losing a good chunk of the fan base. Hell ive read the comments and heard the hate you've posted about this. I do not blame anyone for leaving and dropping femme! I also don't know too much on roblox but I wanna be better! I wanna thank you folks for allowing us to grow in VR storyline. Now if you stick around please do it for Flora and myself. I promise you I'll do my best together. We just need some patience and positivity. Some actually good criticism then we hate it. We already talking on how we can add some certain characters. Storylines and expand. (Again we are trying so don't quote me. I wanna suprise you if I get the ok.) im excited, excited to see this through but Flora and I need your support.

Personal:

Now if you wanna see me more active please go to Twitter for me or join my live on twitch(Kainabunny). I really enjoying my time here and won't talk against fan bases I don't know. However, I'm trying to step up and understand the fan bases I work for. So please any questions about how I work or projects I don't mind💙 ( won't lie felt a little insulted you guys assumed Davis would leave a channel without someone who can keep up? Dude once I get approval on certain storylines I guarantee you'll adore what's to come!) Seriously, you guys should go do a little research on the projects ive helped. Most likely was the reason I've made you cry in the MCRP community 😅😅😅

Sorry for the rant hope everyone enjoys!!!

[ladystoneshart]

some thoughts on daenerys and where I think the series is going:

I know there is a lot of... discourse surrounding dany's future and a general fear that her storyline is going to take a darker turn considering what they did to her in the show (understandable!) but I do think that's what's going to happen in winds to a degree.

but like. not like that.

not to keep comparing my favourite grrm side project to asoiaf but I think daenerys is going to be like miquella elden ring in a way: a generally good person who ends up causing a lot of pain and destruction while trying to do the right thing and help everyone. the fandom is going to be sooooo insufferable about it if it happens considering how everyone reacted to miquella's storyline in the DLC but I don't even think it would be a bad path for her story to take.

like miquella, dany cares for the vulnerable and the mistreated and is trying to replace the destructive rule of the past with a new age built on kindness and compassion, and like miquella she's slowly realising that there's no way to bring forth that new order without bringing also violence and destruction.

but I think in the end, unlike miquella, she'll realise you can't change the world for the better by just replacing the old über powerful blonde ruler (I'm thinking of aerys but also the whole targaryen dynasty here) with a shiny new über powerful blonde ruler who ascended to power in the same way as their ancestors: through fire and blood.

if she really wants to make a change, she needs to root out the rot of her family tree and let the world start anew. like count yimir says when asked about the nature of the world in elden ring and I choose to apply here to the iron throne and the targaryen legacy:

I fear that you have borne witness to the whole of it. The conceits – the hypocrisy – of the world built upon the Erdtree. The follies of men. Their bitter suffering. Is there no hope for redemption? The answer, sadly, is clear. There never was any hope. They were each of them defective. Unhinged, from the start. Marika herself. And the fingers that guided her. And this is what troubles me. No matter our efforts, if the roots are rotten, …then we have little recourse.

hopefully, unlike miquella, she won't cast aside her love in the name of power. hopefully, unlike miquella, she will give up control and let the common people of westeros bring forth an age of their own, after centuries of being little more than pawns in the game of thrones. it's time to put the old order to rest and let the olive trees grow, without the shadow of the Dragon looming over them. to me, that's the dream of spring.

also this is miquella for those of you who don't know

so...

[saveahorserideaneddie]

I mean this as civilly as possible—why does it matter if people ship or speculate about jeddie? Nobody knows what direction the show is going to go, fandom is all about fun. I’m a multishipper at heart so maybe I just don’t get it but liking one potential pairing doesn’t automatically mean you’re jumping ship for a different one?

im sorry but in a show like this where the writers have proven to be fickle when it comes to their own storylines and refusing to follow through because they get scared at the last second, it bothers me that people who claim to ship buddie- a pairing that has years of actual canonical buildup and real intentional development written into it- will just randomly start begging for the show to include shit like “jeddie”- a pairing of two characters who have not interacted onscreen since season 7 and even then it wasn’t more than just being in the same room- is annoying considering how long we have been waiting for buddie.

there are certain ships where multishipping doesn’t bother me (because a lot of pairings where multishipping is possible don’t have the same level of complexity and intention that buddie do), but buddie is one of those ships where literally nothing else makes sense for their characters but each other

and yall are out here actively pushing for two characters to kiss just because they both happen to be queer (yes- ik eddie is not canonically queer yet but for sake of argument) with nothing else to back it up? their dynamic of not getting along is not some “enemies to lovers” thing, and has never been set up nor intended to be that

in my experience in this fandom, “multishipping” has just been a thin veil over someone who will interact/post buddie content when it looks good for them/to get clout, but the moment someone else enters the equation, it’s as if buddie never existed for them and they go hardcore for that pairing until they eventually don’t work out and then suddenly it’s back to buddie. it’s the hoards of bt stans who were posting anti-buddie content and then when it became clear that their racist isn’t sticking around, they suddenly decided to go “oh well i was always a buddie shipper! im just a multishipper!!!”

like ive said in my posts- if you want jeddie content, then go read/write fanfic but stop posting shit begging the writers to go there because there is absolutely nothing- and i mean nothing about that ship in canon that would be narratively satisfying in any way for people who actually care about eddie as a character.

like i’ve said before, buddie has seven. years. of CONFIRMED intentional buildup in the writing, and to throw what would be groundbreaking queer rep out of the window just because “oh we threw these two gay characters who have no actual romantic chemistry or any kind of plot buildup together just for diversity points rather than actually following through on something we’ve intentionally been writing for years that would not only boost our numbers but would be something that has never been done on a show like this before”

i have made it clear multiple times why ships like this are lukewarm excuses for “representation” and why they come off as fetishizing queer characters rather than actually coming from a thoughtful and respectful place. throwing two gay characters together just for the sake of it is not the paragon of queer representation that somehow a lot of people think it is.

i also hate it because josh deserves better? he deserves his own thought out and intentional romantic partner without just being watered down to being another buddie roadblock that would only end in people starting hate him because the writers decided to ruin his character. i’ve said this multiple times as well, but we literally saw what happened the last time the writers tried to use a jealousy plot device to set up buddie- “multishippers” like you who claimed “oh its just a stepping stone” all jumped ship the next episode and started a massive fandom campaign to keep a racist around, and we got stuck with him for an entire season. the same thing would happen with josh in the context of potentially being a “stepping stone” (which to me insinuating that queer people need a “practice” relationship before their endgame is fucking disgusting) where people, like you, who claim the whole “oh fandom is fun just multiship” would drop buddie the moment two men kiss on screen because that’s all you care about.

you don’t actually care about the deeply rooted story that we know has been intentionally written by tim for years, just to be sidelined everytime “multishippers” decide to go crazy over a plot device and tim decides to derail the entire story and it ends up a hot fucking mess.

that’s why i hate jeddie and this whole campaign to include it in the show. i’ll say it again: it’s fine if you wanna read/write fic about it, but stop asking for it in canon.

i- as well as a lot of other people- have waited seven years for buddie and i don’t want to miss out on it just because some “multishipper” decided they wanted some watered down “lets throw the two gay dudes at each other” ship over something with actual development.

[nqueso-lies]

The Captain thing is a tiny bit confusing for me because I feel like they gave everyone their moment. Yeah, Hen turned it down (for now), but 911 did show us that she was an excellent candidate. With her speech in 817, they also kinda showed us Buck could be Captain (to the point where a lot of people, myself included, thought that could’ve been foreshadowing of him becoming so). Then of course we have Chim’s big moment in 818 - I think, because it was the last one and because Hen had that Freudian slip, everyone assumes that means he’s Captain.

Hell, we even had a (really small in comparison) moment with Eddie in 818, though I would argue he’s the only one who wouldn’t work as a Captain. We’ve rarely seen him taking the lead (especially in the later seasons), despite being a good firefighter he’s never shown to be extraordinary, and he just doesn’t have the storyline to back him up in the way that Hen, Chim and Buck do. Those three have had moments where they either were Captain or really wanted to become Captain. They’ve also had moments with Bobby that could be setting that up. So I think they added Eddie to add to the: oh my, is he? (which, from what I saw online that night, kinda worked), but I don’t think he’s in the running.

Anyway, sorry for the long ask, but my point is that the show has given every core character in the firehouse a moment that has made us think they might be Captain. Chim being the last one might result in him being the Captain, but until Season 9 starts, I am not too sure of it

The one who doesn't work there anymore, as of the finale, probably won't get it...

Sorry that's mean.

but I do see your point.

[thewardenisonthecase]

I don't like replying like this but i have lot to say so i apologize in advance.

Here's the issue with how the antaam are depicted with DAV. It's not something that begins and ends with dav. The idea that quanri are inherently violent and dangerous by nature is something that can have its roots in origins. I think they changed the wiki but for a long time on Sten's trivia section, it stated that Sten murdering 8 people, of which included children, due to him losing his sword (and thus his soul + connection to the qun) is an indicative that the qunari need the qun to keep their violent nature in check.

Then in DAI, solas balcony scene with a high approval adaar inquisitor, he directly tells them that the qunari are violent by nature and the rigid teachings of the Qun are the only thing keeping them in check. Bull also has some similar views, as he talks about how the tal-vashoth he's met kill indiscrimately, to the point where one of the reasons bull is afraid of becoming tal-vashoth is his fear of losing his mind.

This is not something new. Qunari have always been portrayed with this idea that they ARE inherently violent and aggresive and "savage" and that the reason the qun is so strict is to keep those things in check.

The problem with dav is that they dont put an actual effort to disprove this. The antaam in the game are faceless, and when they become reavers, they become this weird monstrosities. The antaam in dav are basically enemies you just kill without really putting a second thoguht. In fact, I think the only antaam character who's face you actually see is the Butcher because everyone else's helmets obscures their face. And this is a dav thing only - in da2 and dai, even the qunari and antaam who are seen wearing helmets, you can still see parts of their face, with the exception of the saarebas (but that gets into the lore of the qunari). The fact that you cant really see their faces does in a way dehumanize them. If you cant see who you're killing, you're not really going to get bothered about killing them.

One thing i found really weird about the game is that, while Taash did explain to us that the antaam have deflected and thus are no longer part of the qun, i didnt really get an explanation as to why they deflected. And granted, that is entirely on me. It's been a month or two since i last picked up the game and my memory is not that good, so maybe taash does say it and i completely forgot. But on my first playtrhoguh, i only figured out much much later (i think it's in a codex entry. i remember seeing something there). And the reason they give, which is actually not fully related to the evanuris, is that basically, the antaam were dissastisfied with the fact that te qunari haven't done the whole "go spread the qun and conquer the world" which is why they attacked the arishok and began invading other lands. That is the basic set up to why the antaam have left.

Now the issue with that (beyond the obvious) is that you then get to veilguard and the antaam are acting all types of way, and you could easily make an excuse, which is what i think the game tries to do, that since they deflected the qun, they're not really acting on qunari orders, and so it not really a reflection of the qun for them to be acting this way. But the thing is this can imply (with the context of the previous games in mind and what we know about the qunari) that because they left the qun, they have become "savage" and violent and dangerous and it circles back to solas argument.

And look. maybe the writers didnt mean to imply this (which. im giving them the benefit of the doubt but also, one of the concepts found in the artbook includes a storyline where rook secretly joins the qun only to get info and then betray them to tevinter, which means the game never really was going to explore a more charitable side of the qun or allow for the players to be sympathetic towards it) but its how it comes off. Because this is the 4th game in a series that has done this before.

when we analyze media, we have to take in consideration what was written, what was the intention, what the writing implies and how it came off, and for dav, the implications of the writing are extremely bad and only serve to drive further points from other games - that the qunari are violent by nature and the qun was the only thing that kept them normal and now that the antaam is no longer following the qun, they're doing a lot of fuck ups.

And look. like you said. an argument could be made that they're used to depict anti militarism, and how being raised as a child soldier fucks you up mentally. But they do not show that in game. Yes, there is one codex entry by seer rowan that does bring this topic up however one single codex entry is not nearly enough. And yes, that one character decries the actions of the antaam, but the whole game is decrying the actions of the antaam, and the issue is not taht the antaam are acting this way. The issue is that, with how they are depicted in this game, they frame these actions as an issue of the qunari's nature, and not how they were raised. This is a long game, nad for the most part, we see people calling the antaam by all sorts of names and never actually exploring what led them to these actions.

Hell, you are never given any option to fully try and understand why the antaam are acting this way beyond they're power hungry bullies. A qunari rook doesn't get to explore that - they get to denouce the antaam, they get to hear a merchant in antiva saying that oh its good you're not like those dust brained antaam. In fact, many npcs will do this kind of othering to a qunari rook - you're not like the bad antaams who kill people like its nothing.

And the thing is, yes, the antaam doing what they did is bad, however, we have many other groups of people in these games who do similar, if not worse things, and they do not get near half of the scrutiny the antaam gets (im talking about the templars by the way).

The idea that there's so much criticism people are turning are blind eye to the text is not something i fully disagree with. I do think there are some criticisms out there that are either extremely nitpicky, or are explained by other games, etc. The issue with the antaam is not one of them. In fact, the reason i made this post was because i was playing vg and i got bothered with their portrayal. Me and others who have criticized the portrayal of the antaam in this game are not assuming things that arent in the text - we're taking what's in the text and we're showing why it is problem. What does the text imply. We're taking previous context and using it to show why its an issue and why its worst then in other games.

and i spoke about this already but they always take the worst fucking approach, look at the Antaam in Veilguard. It's like oh see, the qunari are incredibily violent by nature, so of course when the antaam left the qun, the only thing that kept them in check, they're gonna go all beserk.

And that is fucking crazy to me bc. there is a better explanation imo. Qunari are assigned roles when they're 12, so the antaam soldiers have been trained as soldiers since they were children and have been in the army since probably a relatively young age. And I dont doubt that training to be a part of the army in the Qun is probably very rigorous, which already might mess you up, and then you add the fact that like. going to an active war like they do in Seheron, and see the horrors of it also messes you up. It makes more sense to me that the Antaam are acting out like this, NOT because the qunari are secretly all evil and violent by nature, but because war and fighting is all they've known due to how they were raised.

if all your life you've been told you're a soldier, and you went through this rigorous training and you've seen war with your own eyes, it kinda makes sense to me that you might fuck up shit later on. Not bc of nature, but because this is how you were raised. How were you supposed to think any differently if this is how you were raised? and instead of raising the question that yeah because the qun is so rigid in their roles, it caused a situation like this, they went with noooo the qunari are inherently violent (or worse, they became like this after drinking dragon's blood which im gonna take a wild guess and say this is what they were going to do if we ever got another game)

[saras-almanac]

Aaron was supposed to be someone who unconditionally loved/understood Robert like different to andy/jack/vic/katie/chrissie and so on, yet kind treats Robert similar to everyone else really, nothing Robert does is good enough, lets his family treat him like crap (similar to Chrissie) yet makes people apologise to john etc and act's like his the best etc. robert was the love of his life like but seem to stick up for ben/john more than ever did robert like. plus fact he got with John knowing his pain/issues with feeling replaced by andy is the cherry on the top, and then married John (maybe to spite robert) and robert literally gave up life for vic and aaron. like everyone else gets replaced by a new, better brother etc (whether it andy or john) no one even understands why he did what he did.

You know I am Robert Stan first and foremost so you'll always catch me agreeing that Aaron didn't really treat Robert that great in their early relationship--especially when it comes to how his family treated and talked about Robert. (Which is why I want to write that break up fic and now I want to write the one where Chas burns the letter and/or one where Robert actively distances himself from Aaron after being rejected that way) And the whole thing about Aaron never really backing Robert is very frustrating because to me it just feels like that relationship was never fully equal (though I feel like that was by design and I hated that.) Any time Aaron ever did anything that Robert could be upset by, Robert either didn't care/forgave him instantly, or Robert went and did something "worse" so it's never down to Araron confronting stuff. I hope that when they actually get together this time, that's changed a bit. It's also why I sort of want Aaron to be pursing Robert this time a lot more.

I actually would love to see the idea of Aaron choosing John over Robert explored in the show (or fanfic because let's be real, fic authors do it better) and the actually heartbreak that would cause Robert that even the love of his life chose the "better son" over him. Aaron never really chose Andy over Robert and definitely didn't after he found out Andy's the reason Robert was shot and Aaron went to prison. But having Aaron actively choose John over him I think might actually destroy Robert in a way and I would love to see it.

I mean, the whole thing I'm seeing with this John story is that... well it sucks to be honest. John is boring and can't even be boring correctly. He's just there and I'm supposed to fall over myself for him? And I just do not believe that Aaron would continue on with the man who's Robert's half-brother because of what that would mean for Aaron--to have that reminder of his ex-husband who he is still very much in love with--every day? But I don't think Aaron initially thought about how him picking John would feel to Robert, even after he saw Robert for the first time. I think it's not something he's going to really understand until later, if the show even goes there.

Honestly, this entire storyline for Aaron makes no sense and feels even more out of character than when he came back in 2023. The only thing that felt in character so far was him marrying John to spite Robert because let's be real, that's exactly what he did. But it's all just so weird and obviously I'm not enjoying this storyline but I am determined to get caught up on Aaron and then eventually watch more because I am dying to see Belle's storyline in full and just catch up with the other villagers. But since I've got fanfic on the brain, I at least have to get caught up with Aaron!

[breadraccoon]

Me when I’m trying to make a new Gwen storylines: “You know, Gwen’s the kind of person who would have trouble with police in and outside of the costume. What if she ends up going to jail because she punches a cop for harassing her friends or protestors. Which give our resident girl fail a felony. Adult Gwen is all moody and sad. She might crack a joke here or there, but they all have this darker undertone. She also has to have tattoos. How could adult Gwen not have tattoos. Wait!… God damn it, just made her Vi again!!!”

It’s kind of funny how many parallels these two characters have. They even have the same VA! Both their narrative focus around over policing, bad cops, and broken systems. I love both of these characters so much. It’s hard not for me to worried about the future of their stories when the push for copaganda is so strong.

I’ve know since the start Vi ends up an enforcer. I’ve made my peace with that. I can only hope Arcane s2 doesn’t destroy what made me like Vi in the first place.

But with Gwen, I worry they might try and push her into a more cop friendly stance. Sure, she nice to Miles’s Dad. But that’s Miles’s Dad. You know, the boy she likes. In every other instance of her in spider-verse, she actively avoids if not works against the police. It’s clear she doesn’t trust them. I want that distrust to remain. At the very least for the cops in her universe who have been shown to be bad.

I know this will probably won’t happen. But I like how Gwen goes to jail in the comics. It’s her holding herself accountable for what happened to Peter. She, in the comics, takes a more active role in his death. Pushing aside how broke the justice system is in her universe *cough* they go by guilty till proven innocent *cough*, I just appreciate how she doesn’t act like she’s above the law. She made bad calls and she let system dictate its punishment. She shows more accountability than 99% superheroes. I find it refreshing in this genre. (Plus I think there should be more character giving light to how fuck the justices system is. Especially the parole system. God damn it bad)

In a multiverse of spider-powered heroes, I think giving this character these kinds of storylines make her unique. She deserves to have storylines that don’t center that fridging trope. She is also in a lot of danger of becoming just Miles’s girlfriend. I want her to have storylines that don’t revolve around her love life. And in today’s climate, having a superhero let the justice system hold them accountable for their action would be very poignant.

It’s not the end of the world for Gwen if she does that. Sometimes life’s a bitch and you keep on living. It’s very spider-man to get knocked down and get back up again. Only this time it’s not a punch that knocks Gwen over.

[tectco]

Some forehead kisses and a couple redraws for season four!

[evellynssocbrainrot]

Exactly! I am super tired of Asians and South-East Asians being depicted in bland, caricatured and wrong and even a bit racist ways.

I was so happy to discover Tolya, who might as well be the only Aroace character I have ever encountered. I loved him in the books and ngl, loved him in the TV show as well. Lewis is great, and Tolya was a sweetheart who was also a Wesper stan and marriage counselor. All that himbo needs is his poetry, his food, his sword, his role under Nikolai's reign, and his sister and he's happy. He don't need anything else, least of all romance. We've already gotten a lot of characters in romantic relationships or with love interests anyway. The love triangle will completely derail Tolya and make him a target for a lot of hate, especially from Kanej stans who are extremely defensive and passionate about their ship. And I'm sure you know, there are LOTS of them.

And for Kanej themselves, one of the reasons why I applauded Leigh's writing so much was because she was able to write an extremely compelling and captivating relationship with soul crushing levels of angst and longing, and they were like that all on their own. No third party required at all. It's just the two of them in their own world.

And what ticks me off even more, outside of the potential love triangle being abeist, sexist, and acephobic is the fact that Freddy and Amita acted the HELL out of every scene they were given. Amita Suman managed to make magic out of what little she was given. Freddy Carter put WAY too much effort into a show with a mediocre script and created a phenomenon I will never forget. The two of them together had INSANE chemistry and dare I remind you, didn't even have a chemistry read. Their connection was instant. And they even looked into their characters' traumas and all of the side effects as well. They worked so hard and tried to honor the books as much as they could.

Only for the writers to end it off with this terrible scene. What a shame. Freddy and Amita deserve better. All the actors do.

The show could have been as good as Game of Thrones if it had a well-written script. I don't even care if the storyline doesn't exactly follow the books word for word. I'm not expecting a complete copy and paste because that is not fun. New stuff and updated scenes are the fun part. All I care about are the characters and their accuracy. And the most important scenes in their stories.

Ranking the love triangles (sort of,neither are full ones, they are all one sided) from the Grishaverse with little explanation , from less bad to the worst and doing my best to NOT take fandom reactions in count

- Nikolai/Alina/Mal

Fits the theme,doesn’t drag , the dynamics are well stablished , its existence is sort of justified and leaves nice take aways

(Could have done it without the classist and sort of sexist stuff)

-Nikolai/Zoya/Kirigin

Doesn’t drag, makes clear who doesn’t have a shot and stablishes the dichotomy of infatuated with the fantasy vs truly in love with the person

-Zoya/Nikolai/ his hypothetical future wife

Keeps interested in how it will turn out,like the first one is duty vs love thing , lacks a clear third person to put higher

-Show! Mal/Alina/Alexei

Doesn’t really have a reason to exist but doesn’t bother me, is there to make the audience feel sympathy for Alexei and that’s it,doesn’t tarnish the story doesn’t help either

-Jesper/Kaz/Inej & Wylan/Jesper/Kaz

Both have good character moments but to be honest you can make Jesper’s feelings for Kaz platonic and not a lot would actually change , it’s not explored enough to actually justify it’s existence

-Jan/Alys/Bajaan

It’s a whatever thing,mostly there to give Van Eck some karma of his wife not needing or missing him so it’s just fine, i just don’t thing he deserves a happy ending for how he acted with Inej

-Show!Mal/Alina/The darkling

(See bellow to the book version for further elaboration)

Is way better that it’s book counterpart in developing Alina & the darkling in season one, at least it’s justified. Also doesn’t drag out, problem is that on season two is very boring actually and monotonous on the A&D part since Nikolai & Alina’s dynamic is way more entertaining

-Zoya/The darkling/Alina

Could have worked as stablishing parallels between the girls but both the show and the books include scenes done specifically to turn Zoya into a misogynistic target so can’t be higher

-Book! Mal/Alina/The darkling

If fandom reaction counted it would be in the deepest of hell cause it’s very existence made it absolutely unbereable to be in the fandom pre-show & kos duology but alone it has good things related to themes, some mystery on the first book and doesn’t pretend that any can be the endgame,it’s very clear what the girl wants in question. The problem is that the darkling’s feelings for Alina are so poorly done that you can’t convince me it wasn’t added as consolation prize for shippers

-Nina/Rasmus/Hanne

This one actually feels like it drags , he even turned out to be evil so the audience won’t feel bad for him. Also unlike the Zoya/ Nikolai situation which was very similar, the Rasmus scenes took away from Hanne & Nina to spend more time on page together, you are just not interested in what’s happening until the twist,you are just waiting for it to hurry up. Doesn't go lower because the existence brings some good angst and character moments, as well as the themes of duty vs love (the ones above did it better)

-Wylan/Jesper/Kuwei (i very honestly did NOT expect this to be this low)

It exist only for a joke, setting Jesper as desirable is not unwanted but this exists ONLY for a joke. The character moments i can't even really give credit to the scene, they just come after it´s brushed out. It could have done more, or less cause didn't have to exists and it was a joke only. A very lame reason for a LT to exist if you ask me. I know i ranked other lesser LT higher but those had some sense of endearment of satisfaction, this one doesn't have any.

Now i need to make an aclaration. The ones above go from "funtional" "harmless" "whatever" or "could have worked with better writing" the ones i am going to list bellow just should be vanished from existence. As a fan i could erase way more of the listed ones from my stomach, but analysis wise i think they can be saved, NOT this ones:

-show!Tolya/Inej/Kaz

I could make a full essay of how terrible this one is. Is build on acephobia,ableism, sexism and i don't think the writers thought about it but there are also some racist tropes to boot. I don't have a problem in having another guy crushing on Inej, just not that man, not for those reasons not like they did it.

The only reason is not lower is because technically it didn't get to happen, only because of that.

-Zoya/Mal/Alina

I have said many times before: it should have been Ruby, that was the right call. This whole subplot was stupid, has the three characters being sort of jerks at one point or another, it just feels too out of character for Zoya, even pre-develoment Zoya, its just harmful to Zoya as a whole. I can give R&R some props to try and fix it without making a retcon (thats dignity, i can appreciate it) but overall it comes from a very sexist place that doesn't even make sense. It´s a miracle Zoya doesn't really get fandom flack for this given how set up she was to be hated.

[puptergeist]

Post-priest Martin Septim gives biiiig soft dom vibes

When you bring him the Mysterium Xarxes and he says "By the Nine! Such a thing is dangerous even to handle! Forgive me. You were right to bring it. But you'd better give it to me."

Like oookay I am on my knees actually, and also you can lock me in a cage if you want