#watching a relationship develop between characters is my favorite past time and is why i read fanfic so much

[littleturtlefish]

Sigh 😔 at this point, I might as well just post my art classwork since I haven't been doing any art in my free time...

Not art-related at all but I've been (kinda) reading Komi-San Can't Communicate and I wanna post my thoughts on it since I like it (I do have some personal complaints though) but I have absolutely no way to put these thoughts out aside from here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Somewhat related but have you seen how weird some Komi-San fans are??????? Knowing the genre and all, I shouldn't be surprised, but still...i wouldnt want to share my thoughts with some fans either way

Forewarning, literally the only manga I was ever fully invested in was Mob Psycho 100 and I haven't even touched the Komi-San anime. It's also been a while since I reread the entire manga so my memory may suck, my apologies. There will be many paragraphs, my double apologies.

[SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING UP TO CHAPTER 412]

Overall, I think the manga is really cute. I don't read manga that much but I'd still say that it very much fits the slice-of-life genre well. Maybe too well 🙂 but I'll talk about that later. It's a great manga to read for fluff and just to have a good time.

Side-note: I'll be talking about the one-shot for a bit and when I say "current" Komi, I really just mean Komi throughout her 2nd/3rd year.

First things first, I absolutely fell in love with the concept and the one-shot (...first chapter?). The idea of a character with crippling social anxiety slowly coming out of their shell with the help and support of others? Fantastic :D And jeez, the art style change is REALLY obvious once you look at the one-shot. Honestly, I really wish the entire manga kept it u_u the dead-inside eyes Komi had actually showed why everyone was so scared of her. Her cute-ified/chibi look isn't as intimidating and only shows that people were scared just because she kept staring at them (which is fair lol, but her original look makes more sense). Tadano, though... I would prefer his current look compared to his old one LOL. Style aside, I'm gonna talk about this specific little thing that truly made me binge this manga: the diner and hospital talk. Technically two scenes but they share one thing and that is that Tadana and Komi sit facing AWAY from each other. I don't think I ever really struggled with social anxiety but when I was younger, I had a very hard time talking to people while making eye contact. I know chronlogically that the hospital talk is before the diner one but as a reader (since diner scene is shown first), seeing that issue be addressed without it ever being directly brought up was just...really sweet. I understood it right away. Hell, even when it was noticed and brought up in the hospital talk, Tadano was such a caring person to suggest the idea of facing away from one another i straight up wouldve cried if someone did that for me irl moreonmylovefortadanolater— One-shot Komi is also pretty interesting because she actually IS able to talk, she just varies between saying very little to saying a lot. I'm no psychiatrist but personally, I felt that could've been more relatable BUT that's not a complaint because the manga isn't obligated to accurately portray every single thing about the disorder (especially since it's clear that this manga is focusing on being lighthearted so of course it won't necessarily go into the very heavy stuff). I find current Komi's trait of using a notebook to speak much more interesting but I was shocked on the relateability of one-shot Komi, haha.

Okay, now for the actual manga. I'll admit, I don't really have much to say in the beginning portion purely because I don't really remember much 🙃 The chalkboard scene was really cute but I'll just be saying that for any scene with Komi and Tadano alone, tbh. Komi and her reactions in social situations are mood as always. Tadano was a KIND, CARING, and LOVING lil guy and all he got was death threats smh. Yamai.

She's part of a bigger issue.

In general, I love seeing Komi and Tadano together. Together relationship-wise and also just simply interacting with each other. Their relationship is SO adorable and I always reread their pining moments :ↄ I understand the dislike for the trope of an extraordinary woman falling in love with Some Guy™ but I like it here because while Tadano truly is Some Guy™, he's a genuinely nice person and not even just basic-human-decency nice; he goes out of his way for people. He also sees Komi as a friend before all else, too. Like, yes, he finds her attractive and, yes, she is literally his girlfriend now, but they still share a lot of platonic moments together and just act like a couple of besties ✨

Manbagi is also a main character I can't help but adore. I found it fascinating that the love triangle, while still a competition, was lighthearted and friendly. I've personally never seen one portrayed like that so I'm really impressed! The love triangle showcased Komi and Manbagi's friendship so much that, despite not being a fan of OT3s, I genuinely just wanted both of them to date Tadano lmao and I truly believed that it would've worked out!!! I still do; all three of those characters have chemistry with each other! Anyway, love triangle arc aside, I'm happy that she's at least getting her happy ending with that one dude :)

Speaking of that dude, the side characters are cool. My favorites are Hiki and Komitani. I like the name puns and some side stories are pretty sweet (like with Hiki's). I forgor their names but surprisingly, I liked those two bitchy girls who "bullied" Komi (quotes because it wasn't that serious). How they acted towards Komi and the reasons why they acted that way (AKA their assumptions about Komi doing it for attention or whatnot) was a nice change from the standard character reaction towards Komi. Yeah, they were still dicks and I especially didn't like how everyone quickly forgave that one tsun (?) girl, but they were a refreshing deviation from status quo. Those good examples aside, there...are a lot of side stories to the point I get tired of them :U I mean, I assume that's just a genre thing because I have read other slice-of-life manga before but would drop them because the side stories were too much >.> Clearly, I didn't really drop this manga since I'm talking about it but 400+ chapters feels like a lot to me (especially when a good portion of those chapters are side stories) and it's still ongoing, which I typically wouldn't even touch since I like endings to a story :u It feels like trudging through mud sometimes but I gotta get through it or I won't see my favs Komi and Tadano ✊😔 The side stories really would've been a dealbreaker if not for those two.

Ah, and finally: sexual fanservice. God, I hate it so much. Both, in the manga and in general. I hate how it's prevalent in so much media, I hate how it is used as a tool to attract audiences, and I hate how it works in attracting those audiences. Yes, the manga has many, many instances of sexual fanservice but I've just accepted that I can never escape it. Yamai and her sexual harassment. Close-up shots of teenage chests. Hiki being a literal middle schooler at one point. Almost every character's sexualization of Komi, no matter their age. All make me disappointed, but not surprised. You gotta make money somehow ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I am surprised that Tadano and Komi's relationship isn't sexualized all that much. Maybe I missed some things but the only sexual things I can recall are the "Tadano unlocked a new fetish" moments (which happens only twice? Thrice?) and other characters asking/teasing on how far they've gone. I like that. It makes their relationship very wholesome and also reinforces the fact that Tadano sees Komi as an actual person.

Kinda related to fanservice but I very much dislike the current art style. Y'know that meme of anime girls being compared to pugs? That's exactly what happened to Komi's face. Why is it so scrunched up??? To be fair, this applies to every character so I guess there's consistency... Her sharp edges in her hair are kinda jarring, though, because she has these really detailed eyes but her face is small and her hair, although detailed, is a geometric shape and all of these factors do not look good together. I'm fine with Tadano's design because it gives him personality, which...may or may not be a good thing, character-wise? Like, yeah, he's supposed to be some normal guy and all, which his original design perfectly portrays that bUT ITS SO BORINGGG. I like his sharp edges! It's better on him since he isn't as detailed as Komi. Anyway, I say this is related to fanservice because, while yes, this art style is much easier to draw with than with the old style, Komi's prominent eyes and tiny face surely must've been influenced by some other factor other than time management :U but that's just my theory. Final note: this art style kinda ruined the Tadano confession scene for me a bit because the close-up of Komi's face was...not good, imo.

One last thing: YAY THEY KISSED!!!!!11!°!! When I stopped reading, I stopped at the end of the Kawai arc since I do not like being left on cliffhangers and there were only some chapters left at the time. I heard about the kiss scene at Chapter 411 and so, I only read the chapters that led up to that scene instead of picking up where I last was 🙃 I have some thoughts. Why is Kawai trying to insert herself into Komi and Tadano's relationship. Why is Kawai's family weird. Why...is Kawai even here lmao. Komi and Tadano are adorable, though <3

My final thoughts are that it very much is a slice-of-life manga. Nothing revolutionary, I think, but that's fine! Watching the relationship grow between Tadano and Komi was the main thing for me and now that they're officially together, I'll admit, I'm not all that interested in the story anymore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I know the main goal of the story is for Komi to overcome her social anxiety and make 100 friends and I do like the development of that goal, but...eh... I remember seeing a comment in the subreddit mention that they wish the goal was changed so that the quality of friendships mattered over quantity and I agree. The manga does emphasize that Komi has made meaningful connections with some of the friends she made (Tadano, Manbagi, Kawai...I assume? Didn't read LMAO) but that's the thing: it's only some friends. Her other friends are side characters that have their own side stories which may or may not be boring. They're not as fleshed out as Tadano or Manbagi nor do they share the same impact. Sure, a mean character may push Komi to stand up for herself once or twice but there's no revolutionary moment within Komi compared to her moments with Tadano or Manbagi. To be fair, those small moments with side characters do build up for Komi but my point still stands that Komi has friends that are much closer than the rest. Because of that, I just feel like Komi already reached her goal 🤷‍♀️ She has Tadano, her #1 support system and friend, along with other friends that played a role in her development. She doesn't really need more friends, since the friends she has now are already caring and considerate. She was able to form deep relationships despite her communication disorder; I feel like that's a great ending. And I know, ending a story when the main couple gets together is cliche and there'd be no kiss scene if that did happen but I'm just saying!!

oh and komi's parents' lil side story was adorable

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

We've got a jam packed post this week, folks. The live airing shows continue to impress, a sequel film and a recent GL dropped, and one of my favorites of the year cam to an end. These are all streaming on Gaga or provided via fansub (feel free to ask if you don’t know where to find them).

Our Youth

This week the show gave me everything I wanted from a POV switch, as we finally went back a little to get a peek into Hirukawa's head and learn how his feelings for Minase developed. From there, we continued with the high school era story, with Hirukawa and Minase going together to see his dad's new film, which turned out to be a BL. The show really nailed how meaningful that moment was to both of them, to see characters like themselves depicted on screen and realize what it meant (@twig-tea). This episode also gave us more of a sense of what's broken in each of their relationships with their parents, and they are now heading off to spend the weekend with Hirukawa's mother. I'm nervous to see how this past iteration of their relationship ended, but also excited to get back to the present.

Love is Like a Poison

An excellent ending to all around solid as a rock show. This drama managed to blend several genres and develop a great romance and tell so many good jokes and somehow never take a single misstep in its storytelling. So refreshing! Shiba and Haruto are a battle couple for the ages and I wish them well on their future domestic and legal partnership. Can't recommend this one highly enough!

Love in the Air Koi

Color me charmed. I really like Fuma and Kai as a pair, more than I expected to. Fuma comes across more good-humored and unserious than he does sleazy, and it's clear that he is actually very serious about Kai. “Why do your eyes always look like you’re asking for help?” was a great line to demonstrate that Fuma sees through Kai's bluster, but at the same time he knows when to back off and give Kai space to process. Kai got me with his constant smiling whenever he thought Fuma couldn't see (the shot in the side mirror of the car being my favorite). I also loved the quick scene we got with Arashi and Rei discussing their friends and the casual affection between them now that they're a couple. This show is great, and so far I think they've done a good job with the darker aspects of Kai's story. I really appreciated @bengiyo's reflections this week on what it's doing well and how the show is subverting expectations with the casting.

The Fragrance You Inherit

This week we got more context for Sakura's college days, including meeting her bestie Ryosuke (an ace king!). I definitely suspect that Sakura's affections were not entirely one-sided back then, but Mone remains a mystery for now. This story is definitely about closure rather than any new romance, and maybe in the end allowing Sakura to be who she is more freely. Speaking of which, Toki might just be my favorite teenage son character ever. He's such a good boy, and he seems driven primarily by a desire to know his mother and support her in pursuing her own happiness instead of just his. I look forward to meeting Mone's husband next episode and continuing to watch all these lovely people treat each other with compassion and kindness. You can find the show here, with big thanks to @isaksbestpillow for providing English subs.

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru: More Please

This week Gaga dropped a sequel to this charming if inessential little food BL film. The first one let us down by not making the relationship explicitly romantic, and the sequel did rectify that as the characters prepared to leave school and contemplated life no longer living together. Though still no kiss for us. It didn't blow me away, but it's a nice little bit of fluff if you have free time and want something light.

Salty Blue

This short GL film (only 15 minutes) tells a solid and sweet little friends to lovers story, with some surprises thrown in for fun. I recommend giving it a watch! You can find it here with big thanks to @nicks-den for subbing and sharing it.

[musicalmoritz]

what are your thoughts on hananene?

I’m so glad you asked this!! Some people assume I hate HanaNene because I ship Nene with Aoi and I don’t post about it as much as Aoi//Aoi, but that could not be further from the truth. When I first watched the anime I absolutely adored HanaNene, they were my favorite ship for a hot second there (though I was saving that spot for Mitsuba and Kou, and it was also Sakura and Natsuhiko for like a day. I never expected it to be the plant lesbians lol)

My love for HanaNene tends to be more mild when I’m not actively reading about them. I have never and will never dislike them, but I don’t think about them as consistently as some of the other ships (though I think of them more than some others). Then I read a scene of them in the manga and I’m abruptly reminded of why they’re one of my favorite TBHK ships. This also applies to when I’m rewatching either of the animes or when I get in the rare mood to read fan fiction for them

The thing that initially stole my heart was how weird they are. Their whole relationship is odd, it’s like if Aladdin got with the Genie. The first chapter doesn’t have anything romantic between them up until the very end and if you didn’t know they were love interests, you’d assume he was meant to be her goofy sidekick. And then we start the gag of him flirting with her while she’s very adamant about him being Not Her Type. But her relationship with him is still so different from everybody else, she’s usually so self-centered but with Hanako she notices things about him and makes efforts to make him feel better (ex: deciding to be his friend in the mokke chapter). Sure, there are still things she misses about him, Teru had to be the one to tell her he was unhappy in the new timeline. But she’s significantly better at looking out for Hanako than she is with everybody else, because he’s so important to her. She gives him time to open up about his past because she knows he’s not ready for it, she wants to be the one to confess to him because he deserves to feel loved. With heterosexual relationships I’m mainly focused on what the woman is feeling/experiencing and HanaNene is such an interesting ship for Nene! It gives her a lot of important development and stands out from her other crushes and ships. She had cheesy romantic fantasies about him but she doesn’t act like a blushing fangirl, it’s real love and we get to see a more mature side of her when they’re together

I have so many favorite moments for them so I’m gonna list them all now because I’ve been waiting for an excuse to do so. The end of the Picture Perfect arc where Nene asked Hanako if he wanted to trap her and he said “of course not, how could you even think that?” The Confession Tree chapter as a whole, it’s my favorite early chapter by far. When Hanako told Nene she’s cute when she’s smiling. When he tucked her into bed at Sumire’s house. I don’t remember when this was but when Nene made some big statement on the roof and then she was like “as a friend ofc.” When she kissed him on the cheek duh that was so cute. That convo they had in the classroom during the Picture Perfect arc. Their first kiss but that’s like a given everybody loves that scene. Wow. HanaNene.

I will say that I prefer their dynamic with Amane’s personality but I’m not one of the people who separates those ships entirely, I think people who do sort of miss the point of Hanako’s character. Amane is still a part of him, there are many scenes in present times when he acts like his old self. Sure, he’s changed over the years, but he can’t fully become a different person the way humans often do because he is forever that same 13 y/o boy. So if you were to ask me “HanaNene or Amanene,” I’d say both. I do prefer to call him Amane tho bcuz it’s such a pretty name. Amane. Amane. Amane. Pretend you can hear it, it’s gorgeous

Similar to how I will never slander Aoi and Akane for Aoi and Nene, I’ll never slander Hanako and Nene in favor of them either. I love all the canon ships so I’ll never be the type of fan to put them down in order to justify my fanon ones. I don’t need to do this because I have good reasons for liking fanon pairings, I can back them up without having to put down another ship. If you have to put down another ship in order to make yours look good, it’s probably not that great on its own

Also for headcanons. They are t4t and bi4bi to me, that’s just how it’s gotta be. Toilet-Bound Woke-Kun. Woke-Bound Hanako-Kun. Toilet-Woke Hanako-Kun. Much to ponder

[pico-farad]

I've been watching Vrains for the first time, and I finished season 1

some thoughts below (a lot. a lot of thoughts below)

Setting & Setup

The setting is a very smart choice, and the highlight of Vrains in my opinion.

The aesthetic is relevant, it integrates well with Konami marketing its mobile games, and it neatly deals with the problem every Yugioh series has to address of how to make consequences for duels that can be safely broadcast on children's television (aka the shadow realm / sent to the stars problem)

The virtual world opens up so much possibility in how to present things. 

In the character and setting designs, obviously, but also, the duels have their own visual identity. They don't need to play cards on a duel disk or hold cards in their hand, cards will just appear and disappear in pixels (it also probably saves on their animation budget). The duel grid and other visualizations can show up as they're relevant. And seeing the character take gashes to their avatars is dramatic while still being kid-friendly.

Every Yugioh needs its peanut gallery to react to the duel and be explained to, and Vrains incorporates them the most easily of any series, since they don't need to be physically present.

Kill the frog and the pigeon though.

On the topic of duels, I like both link summoning and speed duels.

I like the spacial/positioning element of link summoning, it puts an additional layer on top of "little monsters make big monster."

And speed duels have all the advantages of turbo duels, allowing for dynamic action, visual metaphor for the tide of the duel, and the ability to change locations without sacrificing pacing, all while requiring less suspension of disbelief than card games on motorcycles. It's easy to take for granted, but the heist sequences wouldn't work at all if they had to be standing duels. 

I also liked this about season 1 of 5Ds, where there's two modes of dueling (turbo duels and ground duels). The contrast between speed duels and master duels is fun.

Skills are cool too, though I feel like they could have designed better ones. Seeing Yusaku drop below 1000 got kind of predictable.

And finally, there is rich thematic potential in this kind of virtual setting. Themes about our relationship with social media, video games, artificial intelligence, and tech corporations are very relevant and have depth. I don't have the highest of hopes for Yugioh tackling them, based on how this first season has gone, but I'll withhold judgment on this until I'm finished.

Yusaku

I like Yusaku. He's blunt, but he's not edgy like I thought he would be. He's actually kind of nice toward Naoki when they meet. The three things tic is charming. I like his hacker deck, it's probably my favorite protagonist deck theme after Elemental Heroes.

Yusaku's problem is not that he's boring per se, but he isn't really put in any interesting situations in S1. 

A lot of his duels are just him being challenged to a duel he has no interest in (Go, Blue Angel, Ghost Girl), he beats them, and they don't actually end up forming a relationship or establishing a dynamic. Because their characters don't have anything to do with each-other except mutually not wanting the bad guys to do bad things.

Yusaku gains allies, but he doesn't make friends. He starts off with his only real relationship being Kusanagi, and that doesn't really change by the end of the season (and his relationship with Kusanagi is not very developed either).

Now, there is a reason for this, which is I think the core of Yusaku's character in S1. It's that due to the traumatic event of his childhood, time has stopped for him. This is very real for victims of traumatic events, being unable to move forward in their lives, develop relationships or think about the future, because their minds are still stuck in the past. This is why Yusaku seeks his revenge. It's not revenge he's seeking, it's closure.

This is a theme that's worth exploring. The problem is that I don't really think they explore it, not sufficiently enough for me to give them credit. If they were exploring it, they could have shown Yusaku reckoning with the divide between him and others in a number of ways. 

Most chiefly, by forcing him to make friends anyway. This is Yugioh goddamnit. The opportunity was right there with Naoki, but it's just played as a joke. Instead, most of this theme is squeezed in at the end of the final duel vs. Revolver, and without the proper build-up, the moment of Yusaku renouncing his revenge and reaching out to be friends with Revolver doesn't land nearly as strong as it could have.

If there is one relationship that Yusaku maybe develops though, it's...

Ai

The relationship between Yusaku and Ai should be what the show hinges on, based on the premise, Ai's status as the "partner," and glimpses I've seen of them through fandom.

Ai is the inciting incident of the story, his existence drives the plot forward, because Hanoi wants him, but Yusaku has him, and Ai doesn't want anything to do with either of them. This premise is gold. It's rife with dramatic potential. Ai is forced to work together with his captor. Yusaku is forced to work together with this goddamn annoying AI. They are both just trying to use the other, but end up developing a bond.

Or at least... that's what I think should have happened...

Very little happens between them in season 1, and it either goes nowhere, or comes out of nowhere. Ai tries to escape, but that thread is just dropped and forgotten. Various Hanoi guys hint that the Ignis can't be trusted, but it doesn't really faze Yusaku because he already doesn't trust Ai. The same thing happens when Revolver reveals that Ai is his counterpart from the Lost Incident and has known it this whole time.

There's only one turning point in their dynamic, which is in the second to last duel vs. Revolver, where Ai uses his body as a shield so that Yusaku can use Storm Access. And even then, Ai says it's because if Yusaku loses, Revolver will kill him. But that's been their entire dynamic for the season anyway? Why is this positioned as the emotional moment where they become partners?

By the end of season 1, they're... allies. The same as the rest of the characters on Yusaku's side. But if there was one character Yusaku should have made friends with, it's Ai. Especially if they are positioning for a humans vs. AI conflict.

His design is cute though.

Go

Go's problem is that he needs to be integrated into the story and cast. Aoi at least has a relationship with her brother and Ghost Girl. Go is connected to... some nameless orphan children, a nameless manager, and a childhood orphan friend who shows up for 5 seconds, is put into a coma in order for Go to have a motivation to duel Genome, and never appears again.

Go isn't a best friend character, and he's not a rival either. He's not even a friend character, period. He really just seems there to be a third duelist.

Does he even know about the Lost Incident, or why Playmaker is even fighting Hanoi? Go has no clue what the plot even is, how can he be involved in it? My guy is living in a different story.

It's a shame, because Go does have some interesting bits to his character. Being a charisma duelist is central to his character (unlike Aoi, whose relationship to charisma dueling seems to end at being a cute idol girl), which could have been used to explore the culture of Link Vrains and the performativity of online spaces.

This is tied to some kind of theme he has going on of dueling for others vs. dueling for yourself. It's brought up in contrast to Yusaku, and why he initially dislikes Playmaker. All of that could have been interesting, but it doesn't really get a full treatment.

Revolver

Revolver is fine as a season 1 antagonist. He's not really a character yet, but I'm interested in where they take him from here. His backstory is sympathetic honestly. It's a pretty familiar and tragic situation, where a child narcs on their parent, who isn't even a good parent, but then comes to regret it.

I also think Revolver is sympathetic because I would nuke the internet in a heartbeat.

His Link Vrains design is cool. Mirror Force is funny, so are the gun dragons. The final duel vs. Yusaku was sick honestly, I loved the extra extra link.

Anyway, I still enjoyed season 1 and think there's room to take a turn for the better. In my experience, there's two kinds of yugiohs, the ones that start off strong, and the ones that end strong. My suspicion is that Vrains is the latter.

On to season 2! Time to meet everyone's favorite Salad king :^)

Hm? Was there someone I missed?

ha ha...... you get your own post, Aoi.

[abrisaber]

Full Moon kinda sucked :/ (Another HB Rant - Spoilers for Full Moon)

I hate to say this but I think Vivziepop has finally lost me. Now I'm not saying I'm no longer an HB fan, JMI was geneticlly enginered to get me addicted to whatever he's in meaning I could'nt stop watching HB even if I tried. However I am starting to doubt Vivziepops talents. I have no idea what happened between the first half of Season 2 and the second half but this kind of seasonal rot has to be studied in a fucking lab.

I want to like the episodes after "The Circus," I really do. I don't even hate Cherubs, but aside from Oops and the Mid-Special, every episode following The Circus has ranged from disapointing to awful compared to S1.

It's not even like I hate the episodes after The Circus either. Seeing Stars was okay for the most part, Exes and Oohs tried to do something, even Unhappy Campers introduced a potentally intresting character (and thats it). But these episodes have so many glaring flaws in my book that it's hard to grasp.

In my opinion, Helluva Boss was at its best during the balk half of season 1/The beginning of Season 2 (Truth Seekers-The Circus) and the decline in writing quality started at around Seeing Stars.

I made a long post that explains what about Truth Seekers I like so if you care even a little bit about my opinions, you can suffer through that rant, but to shorten it here, Truth Seekers is my favorite episode of the series because it balances the comedy and the drama expertly imo. Truth Seekers feels like Helluva Boss had finally stuck the landing at what kind of show it wanted to be. It showcased how Blitzo felt about his past relationships and his current one, it gave Moxxie a chance to be heard outside of his flaws (before the show decided they wanted to retread the same fucking plotpoint a couple more times), and it was pretty funny (comedy is subjective tho so feel free to ignore my feelings on comedy from here on out).

Ozzies is a good episode because, well, Asmodeus, but also it does more for Blitzo's character. It contrasts with Truth Seekers via two of the three halucinations calling him out on his shit, and it starts to build upon how he views his relationship with Stolas.

While I don't really like The Circus, what it did at the end for Stolas and overall how it setup the relationship for him and Blitzo was genuinly good imo. How it started with Blitzo initiating the one sidedness of their relationship and whatnot.

Notice how I'm talking almost exclusively about Blitzo as my reasons for enjoying these episodes more than others. And thats because Helluva Boss is at its best when it treats Blitzo as its main character. Even from the beginning he was the real star. Obviously you have characters like Stolas and Moxxie also getting focous, but even in those episodes, Blitzo still gets development, because Blitzo is the main driving force for the show. He's the Helluva Boss. He's the center, the emotional core. HB should be about HIM and HIS relationships to others.

Some of the worst episodes are the ones where Blitzo isn't really the main focous, I'm not saying that Blitzo automaticlly makes the show good or that he should be the only one get focus, but when you pull back and look at the series, almost every beloved episode have him (or him and Stolas) at its emotional center.

To keep this already long post from being absurdly long, I'll skip ahead to why I really didnt like the newest episode, Full Moon.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First things first, the Cherubs and Dhorks fucking suck ass as antagonists. They're annoying, they're not funny, and just like Crimson and Striker in Oops, they serve zero narritve purpose outside of being glorified cardboard cutouts for the main characters to fight. They are everything wrong with B-plots in media. Their only existence is to create artifical narritve throughlines that makes artifical suspence to keep the audience engaged like babies watching those baby sensory videos. "Oooo look its the Cherubs from the most nothing burger episode of Season 1. Oooo it's the Dhorks that are easily the most forgetable aspect of Truth Seekers. OOOhhh isnt it sooooo fucking hilarous how the Dhorks killed a bunch of children? Ohhh aren't you so invested to see these characters that mean absolutely nothing to the plot that Vivziepop is trying to sell the show with? DONT YOU JUST LOVE THESE KEY JINGLING ASS CHARACTERS YOU FUCKING BABY-"

I got a little carries away there, but my point is that Dhorks and the Cherubs are worthless slop that should be removed from the plot entirely.

Usually I wouldn't even care since 2/3 instances where useless villans show up to be useless, the main plot not involving them is really good (Refering to Oops and Truth Seekers).

But the main-plot in this episode is just as bad, if not WORSE than the B-plot.

Regarding my previous rant again, I was an avid defender of Stolitz up until maybe Western Energy, although in that case with the aftermath of Ozzies being handled mostly offscreen is more me being skeptical about Vivs pacing and writibg style. I didn't have a problem with the actual idea of Stolitz yet, just with the execution.

In actuality, my problem with the writing started in The Full Moon.

Even with me being an avid defender of Stolitz, even with me analyizng and disecting Blitzo's mentality and reasonings and emotional trauma, even with me trying to justify BOTH sides of this toxic relationship with no real abuser,

THIS does NOT come off as Blitzo begging to keep Stolas in his life because he cares about him and wants to be with him. I'm sure theres some of that in there and I still have faith that Viv try to put more of that into the execution going forward. But no matter how many times I watch this ending scene and the scenes before it, no matter how long I sit and think and think and think about this dynamic, this scene does NOT feel that way to me.

To me, this scene looks like a lower class citizen begging on his knees to the person whos essentaily employing them to let him keep his job to be able to feed his family and keep his colluges/close friends in work.

This feels like a man whos society is stacked against him trying to keep the one thing he has afloat.

I don't feel this way towards the entire scene. When Blitzo tries to avoid the whole conversation by trying to keep the transaction going, thats when I see more of the emotional side, but it still doesn't sit right with me how the dynamic is being represented.

Stolas explains it pretty well in the moments after. He says "This transactional thing we have, its not right anymore. It hasn't been. It never was. And now, all I can see is how wrong it is to be teathered to someone in such an unfair way. And not know how they feel."

To me, this finally feels like Stolas coming to his senses and realizing that he and Blitzo's relationship is unbalanced. He sees that Blitzo's reliance on him is unfair, so he works to end it.

My problems start to arise again when Stolas reacts to Blitzo trying to play it off again as Roleplay.

I can understand his side of the coin, how he feels that Blitzo only wanted him for sex and nothing more, or how he believes that Blitzo doesnt really care for his feelings and only stays for the book, and when giving Blitzo the option, he chooses to ignore it.

But I still cannot get over how icky this scene makes me feel. Blitzo has made it clear how he thinks Stolas feels about their relationship. In the Just Look My Way music video it seems that Stolas somewhat realizes that Blitzo is hurting in some capacity. When Blitzo vents his frustraitions, Stolas says "I didn't know you thought so lowly of me" which doesnt make any fucking sense in response to what Blitzo is saying.

Again, its that image of a person mistreated by society begging someone who is privlaged to let him keep his job. I cant stomach this idea that Stolas got his fucking feelings hurt over someone he indirectly played with for his own pleasure and to escape his marrige venting their frustraitions about how THEY feel about it. HE HIMSELF admitted that the relationship was unfair, so when Blitzo says "You treat me poorly and expect me to believe when you suddenly express your feelings for me? Can I get a minute to actually process what you said," its litteraly just parroting what Stolas was saying.

Stolas knows how Blitzo feels. He knows Blitzo is hurting. And yeah past relationship trauma isnt an excuse to be shitty, but it's not like Stolas made it very obvious that he did actually care about Blitzo's emotions.

Up until this point the relationship has been one sided on both sides. Both parties think the other doesnt care or that the other is just using them for something. Both sides caught feelings and didnt want to admit it, and Stolas was the bigger person for trying to initiate that discussion. But with the ending line Stolas says and all the promotional matreal being released for the upcoming seasons, the show feels like its going to make Blitzo out to be the one in the wrong when he isnt. Blitzo did the same fucking things Stolas did, so why does it feel like the next few episodes are just going to be "Blitzo sucks and we hate him." Like are you fucking serious??

Maybe I'm reading the whole thing wrong, who knows at this point.

[shes-an-oddbird]

911 Lone Star Countdown Tag Game: Redemption

I’m seriously struggling with the word "redemption" so these answers probably trail off course a few times but please enjoy anyways.

Thank you for tagging me @lonestar-s5countdown

(1) Which 911 Lone Star character redemption moment is your favorite? (Feel free to interpret “redemption” as loosely as you like. This can include moments of forgiveness, moments characters proved themselves, moments characters learned from their mistakes, etc.)

The one that’s coming to mind is Mateo standing up to Captain Tatum and the 129. I respect that he was willing to do the grunt work without complaint because he’s the new guy or whatever, but they were awful to him and him telling them off needed to happen and in the end they did respect him. It was also just a great episode for proving to everyone what a good firefighter he is.

(2) Is there a character you think deserved more of an on screen redemption moment than we got in the show?

There are maybe a few little things I would have liked to have seen. I think it would have been nice for a scene between Carlos, TK and Iris after everything that happened at the beginning of season 4.

I also would have liked to have known why the woman with the DNR bracelet ultimately dropped the lawsuit. If there really was something Nancy or Tommy did or said that changed her mind.

(3) Is there a recurring (or even one-time guest) “villain” that you would like to see return with a redemption arc? Or if not, is there a “villain” you absolutely would not want to see get a redemption?

Personally, I think characters like Billy Tyson and Sgt. O’Brien are funniest when they are being best frienemies with Owen. Pearce too actually. He got a little redemption since he and Tommy ended up with a common enemy but it’s just so much funnier when they are fighting that I wouldn’t want him to completely redeem himself. Let him continue to be a coward and a sellout and too full of himself.

(4) Are there any unresolved conflicts from the first four seasons that you wish were reconciled on screen?

Quite a few actually! Let’s be honest, Lone Star has a way of not really solving problems, just brushing past them, but the one that bugged me the most was “A House Divided”. I had such high expectations for that episode so it’s probably my fault that more than a year later I’m still disappointed. It’s not that it was a bad episode, it’s just that they didn’t actually resolve the issue between Judd and Tommy. They just injured Wyatt and decided that that was more important, so the fight was over. And yes, Wyatt is more important but actual resolution would have been so much better.

The conflict could have been so interesting if it was more developed, maybe even over a couple of episodes. Watching it seep slowly into the rest of the team instead of having them have a childish argument about it that was so embarrassing I could barely watch. It could have been so good! The teams not working at their best being on different shifts and not on speaking terms? Not knowing what to do with their little group fighting. No Catan?! It could have thrown TK and Carlos’s entire home schedule off and have had them struggling because maybe they barely get to see each other. It should have directly affected Nancy and Mateo who were on opposing sides but god forbid their relationship be allowed to have any development.

I’m ranting now but it just irks me that this could have been such a good conflict/resolution for the whole 126. They could have had Owen come home, realize something was up and play devil’s advocate or give a different perspective to Tommy about why Judd reported her. They could have let Judd make a similar decision as Tommy or at least have him struggle with making that decision when he is put in a similar situation. All while the rest of the team is working together to accomplish something/save someone and admit to each other that it wasn’t their battle to fight. It could have been an episode(s) that had a story that included all of them, a conflict that affected all of them and instead we didn’t even get a resolution to the one conflict they did give us.

(5) Which main character would you like to have a more developed backstory?

Nancy is really the only character left who doesn’t have a backstory and I would give every penny I have to fix that. I think Paul could use a more developed backstory and they could have been more consistent with Mateo’s backstory but poor Nancy, we know almost nothing about her. And we are four seasons in. We know she is close with her sister, but why? We know she has always wanted to help people, but why? Maybe I’m reading her wrong but I’ve always felt Nancy was slow to trust people and maybe is even a little introverted (crazy right?) but every time I think they’re are going to explore that that, they don’t.

[gizkasparadise]

What are your top five xianxia cdramas? And, on the other end, what are your top five historical kdramas (any time period - I'm not well versed in this to know the various types names yet xD)? Oh, and lastly, your top five drama recs that are the most (generally) underrated? Thanks!

nice!

TOP FIVE XIANXIA (& I'M ALSO GONNA INCLUDE XUANHUAN)

love and redemption. girl meets boy. boy's part of a cursed theatre troupe and part of masochism tango of reincarnation with girl that lasts 10 life times. girl is actually kind of the god of war. crack, gender reversal, gender fuckery at large, feminist and queer friendly. incredible OST. just all-around one of my favorite dramas ever.

lost you forever (part 1). a xuanhuan vs. xianxia, but im not passionate enough about 5 xianxia for this list lol. another drama with gender fuckery. a fantastic FL and beautiful relationship building (and unbuilding) and character-driven story. dont even need the second part for this to be a favorite!!

love between fairy and devil. all those tropes you fucking loved when you were like 13 on ff.net given a lot of heart and near-perfect execution (aside from that ending). awesome characters, beautiful costumes and art direction. super addicting and bingeable

the legends. bai lu playing a powerhungry demoness and acquiring a dysfunctional harem in the process. xu kai looking like a sad blue-haired puppy. a monk that creates an entire demon because he has 1 boner. sismance. i had a lot of fun with this one and pointedly did not watch the last 5 or so eps lol

till the end of the moon. there's parts i genuinely hate and would not watch ever again. there's parts that are fucking incredible. sort of like the main couple, i have a love/hate relationship with this drama but when it hits it really hits

honorable mention: eternal love/10 miles of peach blossoms (xianxia fuckery at its finest weighed down somewhat by tedious side plots and one of the most infuriating 2nd FLs of all time)

TOP FIVE HISTORICAL KDRAMAS

gaksital/bridal mask. set in the 1930s. inverse character arcs between the hero and villain. dysfunctional romance amped up to the nth level. high stakes, high consequences, and a cast full of well-developed and written characters. bring tissues

empress ki. girl crushing and girl bossing her way through two kingdoms, one of the best FLs of all time. with her is a besotted baby enemy emperor and a Noble Good besotted powerless king as she goes from slave to smuggler to concubine to empress. chef's kiss

the princess' man. you want feral wrecks for your male leads? female leads ready to throw down in a parking lot? if you like lovers to enemy (?) lovers and star-crossed romances this one is a must

the king loves. this one's also on my underrated list. the first 4ish eps are a chore, but if you get past them you have the love triangle to end all love triangles, interesting palace politics with a fascinating "evil" empress, and im siwan getting to go a lil unhinged as a treat. it's the definition of an idol drama but gd did i love this and i binged the hell out of it no regrets

mr sunshine. le cinema!!! an interesting time in history (1870s-1880s) with a wide range of flawed but compelling characters centered around one of the most badass FLs of all time. winner of the #1 second lead syndrome contest for me with dong mae. only downfall to this one is i felt negative chemistry with the endgame ship but the show is good enough without it

honorable mention: chicago typewriter isnt on this list because it's only kind of half a historical drama BUT OMG WATCH IT. it's in my top 3 kdrama and while it has a slow build once it kicks off it fucking goes off

TOP FIVE UNDERRATED DRAMAS

the king loves as mentioned above. i think why it has a lower rating is the first handful of eps are kind of a snoozefest and there's a bit of an upset with the romance (which i was 900% for). but it's a fucking fun ride and full of awesome goryeo palace drama adventures

kairos. not underrated, since it has decent scores on reviewer sites, but underhyped? not enough people have seen this one and it's an incredible time-travel thriller that i found way more interesting than other popular dramas of its type like signal

cheese in the trap. the ending's a hot mess, but compared to how some 2020-onward dramas are ending it's poetry. a solid adaptation of a really great webtoon, awesome cinematography, and one of the few dramas ive seen that actually capture the campus/college life experience right

discovery of romance. the emotional cheating element causes a lot of folks to hate it/jump ship, but i love this one (and gd BOTH the fl and ml emotionally cheat ftr he's not innocent in this hot mess). jung yumi + eric mun are one of my favorite kdrama duos and they kill it, and kim seulgi plays an incredible second female lead

when a man falls in love. man people HATED this one but i think it's a blast when you're in the mood for mess + gangsters. if you're into watching fucked up romances with severe power imbalances and the dysfunction that follows, this one's for you. it's not perfect but definitely not deserving of its 6.8 MDL rating (gd!)

[noildoof]

Hello Ive seen that ur into a lot of like "obscure" media and was wondering what anime, cartoons and comics u were into or what u'd recommend , Im very curious , love your art!!!!!

There's a lot, tbh I'm not even sure where to start, but let's see...

Angel's Egg isn't really that obscure anymore, but at the time I first watched it and got obsessed, it was. I still consider it to be a masterpiece and my favorite movie of all time, tied with Alien.

If you're over 18, I highly recommend Malice@Doll. It's a surreal, disturbing 3D anime that moves a lot like stop-motion. It has a lot of parallels to the Biblical story of the garden of Eden, with humans in the role of an absent God and machines doing the same things they've always done because... well, that's what they were made to do. They don't have free will. There's a lot of really interesting stuff to think about - the tradeoff of innocence for knowledge, trading an immortal mechanical body that can't feel for a flesh one that can feel pleasure but also pain. Again though, this anime gets pretty disturbing, and although it's not meant to be arousing it does have sexual content. It's not appropriate for minors.

My favorite bad anime is The Humanoid. It's very campy and one of the most 80's anime I've ever seen. The characters (mostly Alan) talk a lot about coffee, for some reason. Enough that you can make a drinking game out of it. The soundtrack is actually really good, I have it on vinyl.

Go watch Chargeman Ken right now. I mean it. Each episode is only 5 minutes long, so you have no excuse not to. You'll understand why I'm recommending this anime once you've watched it, it simply has to be seen to be believed. My favorite episodes are Dynamite in the Brain and When the Cuckoo Clock Strikes 3.

A lot of people seem to hate Bounty Dog, but I will unironically defend this anime to the death. I think it's good, or at least perfectly serviceable for a 90's direct-to-video anime. It has a weird piss-yellow color palette though, and it's not a filter - those are the actual colors used in the paint, I would know having cels from this.

This is very particular to my tastes (people who know me will understand why), but I binged Brigadoon not long ago and loved it. It's a very strange series in a way that's kind of hard to describe. Fundamentally, it's about a relationship between a girl and a mecha that develops into a romance, so I guess it's shoujo. But it's also an action series. And a comedy series. And a drama series. And a horror series at times. It defies genre categorization in a way I don't see very often. The closest thing I can compare it to is The Ancient Magus's Bride, as the relationship between Marin and Melan is pretty similar. With Dr. Seuss and Evangelion thrown into a blender.

Cool World is... not a good movie. At all. But damn, are those backgrounds nice. It has a particular "look" to it that is awesome as fuck, I just wish the actual story wasn't so stupid. I implore the people who say dumb shit like "Hazbin Hotel is just "SEX! LAUGH NOW!"" to watch Cool World, because that is literally what Cool World is. It's pretty to look at, but the entire plot and all the jokes are just "Don't have sex with cartoon characters---- OHHHH he just had sex with the cartoon character." But if you can get past the painfully unfunny "comedy" and stupid nonsensical plot, it's very nice to look at and has a great soundtrack.

... that got really long-winded, damn. Here's some other recommendations:

Anime:

Weathering Continent (also an untranslated light novel series) Laughing Target (also a manga) Mermaid Forest (also a manga) Mermaid's Scar (also a manga) Curse of Kazuo Umezu (also a manga, untranslated) California Crisis Twinkle Nora Rock Me (so bad it's amazing, also an untranslated manga) Nayuta (also a manga, untranslated) King of Thorn (also a manga) Umi no Yami, Tsuki no Kage (also a manga, but not fully translated) Dragon's Heaven (also a manga, untranslated) Lily-C.A.T. Magnetic Rose (not really that obscure but it's a masterpiece) They Were 11 (also a manga, dunno if it was translated) E.Y.E.S. of Mars Iblard Time Venus Wars (also a manga)

Manga:

Eko Eko Azarak (haven't seen much of it but I like what I've seen) Any of Rumiko Takahashi's short stories Black Jack (definitely not obscure if you're an oldtaku like me) Anything by Kazuo Umezu, especially Drifting Classroom

Movies:

The Banshee Chapter Space Mutiny (watch the Mystery Science Theater version) Yellow Brick Road

Misc:

Mary (Scissor Sisters music video) Daicon IV (anime Electric Light Orchestra music video) Apollo 20 hoax videos Cybersix (Argentine animated series) Skydoll (Italian comic, adult-only) Yoko Tsuno (Belgian comic)

[dippydippycritiques]

Under Night In Birth: Sys Celes (The Last Game I Will Set High Expectations For)

I need to get this off my chest because how French Bread rumored UNI2 as a "sequel" still bothers me to this day.

The reason why I bring this up and why I feel it's important to discuss is because a lot of people fall into this trap of setting high expectations for a game that causes your brain to run wild with imagination.

When UNI2 was rumored to be a sequel, I thought that this game was getting a complete makeover from the ground up. An anime opening, new sprites, English voice acting, a story mode that lets more characters interact with each other. I put too much faith in this game ever developing their characters further. So much so that I REALLY wanted Hyde and Gordeau to get SOMETHING. They don't even talk a single time throughout any of their games (Though Gord does talk to Linne and Seth...huh.)

Since I write in my free time. Sometimes I go into "What if" mode when I feel characters can be developed further or can have an interesting relationship if the creators ever decide to explore it. Since parents rarely exist in UNI2 (other than maybe one or two exceptions), I liked the idea of Hyde looking up to Gordeau like a father figure since they are very similar in personality. To be fair, I always had a love for the "spiritually adopted" plot when it came to any type of story (This is what I call it unless there is an official name for this plot out there.) Anime seems to use this plot more than most. Hell, I'm pretty sure One Piece is infamous for this, but other than the redemption arc or enemies to lovers plot, the spiritually adopted plot is one of my favorite stories if done well.

I think the only reason why I felt that relationship could work between Hyde and Gord was because of BBTAG. BBTAG's story mode is the only time they are allowed to talk to each other...EVER, and it's not even in their own game and that drives me BONKERS! Things like Gordeau calling Hyde kid before fighting Blake and Makoto only for Hyde to ask Gordeau if they can stay together... I hate reading into stuff like this because it ends up with me yelling at my TV screen "Expand on it, expand on it! God damn it you have a good idea here! AAAARRGH!"

I won't go too much more into my problems with UNI2, but one of my biggest grievances when it comes to writing in general is watching or playing as a character that either should have been the main character or had the potential to be expanded on so much more. Think Diamant from Engage or Jotaro from Stardust Crusaders (I haven't watched past that so if I'm wrong, please let me know.) Diamant, for example, gets so much strong writing and character development that I felt he should have been the main protagonist instead of Alear while Jotaro has the opposite effect where, as the main character, he gets very little development, but clearly has themes centered around his family and powers that could have been expanded upon, but aren't. Stuff like this drives me up a wall where I can see the potential to get a better story from a character than what we got...but it doesn't happen. That's why fanfics exist!...I just wish it was the real thing sometimes.

Anyway, sorry for my rambling here. I definitely don't expect a lot of people to read this all the way through, but it's here if you want to see it. Lesson about not setting high expectations for a game finally learned. I hope you guys have a lovely summer.

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Science Camp Review

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things Reviews:

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into the Fire

Synopsis: It's the Summer of 1985, and Dustin is at Camp Know Where, eager to put his knowledge of science and mathematics to work. However, things take a turn for the worse when a mysterious stalker shows up and counselors begin disappearing. Now Dustin is in a race against time to figure out who the culprit is before the camp is closed for good........

Observations:

This is what I'm talking about: Here is a comic that takes certain elements from the show that were given little to no screentime, and proceeds to expand on them in a meaningful way. We get to see what Dustin did during his time at Summer Camp, as well as the circumstances behind meeting Suzie and developing their relationship. We also get an intriguing mystery that pays direct homage to the first Friday the 13th movie while also being its own story. And it's all from Dustin's POV. Yay! 😊

I know I usually wait until the end of my reviews to say whether I'd recommend a comic/tie-in book, but this time I'm giving that opinion early: This comic is a personal favorite, and I strongly recommend checking it out.

The comics I tend to enjoy more (i.e. Zombie Boys, Tomb of Ybwen, Winter Special, The Other Side, Dungeons & Dragons, etc) are ones that either focus on the main characters and their dilemmas, or take place in-between seasons to paint a picture of what was going on during those periods of time. Will's week in the Upside Down, for instance, is something I wanted to see for years, which is why I was happy they wrote a comic focusing exclusively on his POV during the events of season 1. Same thing goes for Dustin and his time at Camp Know Where: Even if it doesn't play an important role in the main arc, it's nice seeing the writers take an obscure event and expand on it so that it could fit into the continuity of the show. I wish they would do this more often instead of writing comics that either focus on characters nobody cares about (Troy and James from The Bully) or introducing brand new characters who will play no part on the show (Francine and Ricky from Six and Into The Fire).

It's nice seeing Dustin embrace his intellect at camp, as well as demonstrating other qualities that make him lovable on the show: His compassion for others, his awkwardness around girls, his bravery, his imagination, and so on. His continuing character development is a joy to watch: From being able to stand up to the bullies at the beginning of the comic.....

...to befriending Steven and getting him to come out of his shell.....

...to crafting his own D&D Campaign as Dungeon Master (something Mike's usually been in charge of in the past) and drawing on his own experiences to make it a fun adventure....

....to meeting Suzie at camp and bonding with her (despite a few awkward moments beforehand)....

....to even forming a party to take on the culprit.

Contrary to what the camp counselors say about the kids at the beginning, Dustin's never been interested in gaining knowledge to elevate his popularity, but because he's genuinely interested in topics that fascinate him. He's also someone with a strong moral compass and believes in doing the right thing even when it's tough. All of which works when he's the one leading the mission to root out the culprit who's causing problems at the camp.

Speaking of which, as mentioned earlier, the main conflict centers around an insidious figure who specifically targets camp counselors:

The mystery is taken straight from the first Friday the 13th movie, with a few plot elements changed around. There's even a tongue-in-cheek reference to the movie in the comic:

I won't give away the identity of the culprit or their motivations in case people want to read this comic for themselves, but I will say I was satisfied with how it ended.

Something else I liked was how they wrote the bullies. Early on, the counselors remark that since a lot of the kids coming to this camp are nerds, this is their first time getting to be on top of the social pyramid. Two of those kids (Trevor and Dean) act antagonistic towards Dustin and Steven initially, and it's their goading that leads Dustin to create his own D&D Campaign to spite them. However, to Dustin's surprise, they actually express interest in wanting to play his campaign because they secretly love the game and are implied to be outcasts back at home who are looking for friends who share their interests.

On top of that, when push comes to shove and there's a real danger of the camp being shut-down because of the attacks on counselors, Trevor and Dean willingly join up with Dustin to help track down the culprit, showing they care as much about the camp as Dustin does. It's small, but it gives some depth to them, and it's a nice subversion of the one-dimensional bullies from the show (*cough* Angela *cough*).

Suzie also gets her time to shine in this comic. They introduce her as being shy and awkward around Dustin when they first meet, but once they get to know each other, she becomes fiercely supportive of him and helps rally the other campers around Dustin. Their interactions in the comic are sweet, and they thankfully avoid using the cringe-inducing nicknames of Dusty-bun and Suzie-poo 😖. We also get to see what inspired the duet they sing in the season 3 finale:

I'm curious if the Duffer Brothers will bring back Suzie for season 5, and if she'll finally find out about the Upside Down. In the past, she's usually made brief appearances where she acts as a plot-device to give the characters vital information (Planck's Constant in season 3, or the coordinates to Dr. Owen's silo in season 4) while being left in the dark about what's really going on. I get the feeling she might serve that role again in the final season, but I'd be a lot more interested if they expanded her character beyond that role, and either have her integrate with the Party and get to know the other main characters better, or give her more depth beyond being Dustin's smart girlfriend and having a stereotypical Mormon upbringing.

As for Dustin, I don't know if he and Suzie are intended to be endgame or not. It could go either way. It depends on whether or not Suzie is clued into everything, or if Dustin even survives (I know people keep saying the Duffer Brothers don't have the guts to kill off their main characters, but considering it's the last season and they need to keep the stakes high, I am betting on several main characters biting the dust before it's over).

On a final note, I liked how the comic highlighted Dustin's relationship with Steve and why it's important to him:

If Dustin ends up dead in season 5, the emotional fallout from Steve is going to be devastating. Same for Dustin if Steve dies (which A LOT of fans have been predicting for years now ☹️.)

It all depends on what happens in season 5.

[zuzsenpai]

This is another personal post with TW mental illness. I'm sorry there have been so many recently. I really have nowhere else to put these things. Feel free to ignore.

I don't think my depression has ever been this bad before, in the almost 13 years I've had it. For maybe the past two months it's been steadily growing to a point of intensity that I can't ignore. The absolutely awful feelings won't go away. I can't stop thinking about how miserable I feel.

I can barely take care of myself. I eat takeout every day. There's garbage everywhere at my house. I can't get shit done at work and at some point people are going to notice. I have multiple really REALLY urgent doctor's appointments/calls I HAVE to make (one of which is to my psychiatrist who apparently I'm blocked from messaging on the healthcare app), yet I can't seem to pick up the phone. I am mentally incapable somehow. There's a wall there.

I have been told to exercise and meditate and I physically and mentally cannot. Again, there is a wall.

I have a video game I wanted to play, I try to play it, and I feel completely unattached to it (even though I have loved it in the past). I joined a really exclusive roleplay community for that game and proceeded to be too overwhelmed to make the character application and now the mods are asking me what I want to do. I haven't written fanfiction in two months because of severe burnout, and I miss it so desperately that it's making me realize I might have been using it as a bandaid/distraction. But my brain is so fried that I feel too overwhelmed to write again. People are leaving me nice comments on my fics and I can't even bring myself to read them let alone respond to them. My memory is so bad that I can't remember a lot of what happens in any of my fave series' and I feel like creating good fan content for those things is impossible at this point.

I'm ignoring online friends in my favorite server. I promised multiple IRL friends I would watch animes they like and I am feeling guilty that I mentally cannot do that. I'm dreading the two anime cons I have coming up in March because I don't think I'm going to feel comfortable in my cosplay this year. I have a close friend (who is also my coworker) who keeps trying to get me to do things with her and her husband and I keep turning them down because I'm worried I'll get overwhelmed by social anxiety and general awkwardness. Just the thought of having awkward social interactions is terrifying me and pushing me down harder than it ever has.

I had a boyfriend between October 2022 and December 2023, but I felt like it was a huge chore every time I had to see him and I developed zero feelings for him. I felt repulsed by the thought of us being romantic. We ghosted each other in December and now I feel like shit about it because he may have been the only chance I'll ever have at a relationship... but I also am in such a bad state that it's probably good things are over. Why don't I feel relieved?

I'm having physical tics in my abdomen and jaw that are getting worse and worse to the point of pain and people noticing. I can't talk to literally anyone without sounding upset, negative, angry. I had my best friends from out of state over a few weekends ago and I was so sick the whole time, I felt like I was letting them down. I've been repeating awkward interactions with friends and coworkers over and over in my head to the point where I think about it at night.

I haven't put my Christmas decorations away because I fucking CAN'T.

This week has been particularly bad. Yesterday I was working from home because of snow. When the snow stopped I rushed to my parents' house because I needed to be somewhere with people I know. But I was so negative in how I spoke with them, and it's making me feel even worse. I used to be really talkative and intelligent when having conversations with my family, but depression has taken that away from me pretty badly over the years, to the point where I can barely talk without thinking about how absolutely dreadful I am at conversation.

But today might be the worst of it (unrelated to Valentine's Day, though it certainly isn't helping). It pained me emotionally and physically to get out of bed, and I wanted to take a mental health day. Literally fell back asleep for an hour before I had to get up and DREAMT about taking a mental health day. But being alone at home is actually so much worse than being at work where there are at least people I am comfortable with. So I went in. I have been absolutely bombarded with depressed feelings all day though. I get up to walk down the hall to the bathroom and somehow that feels worse than sitting and staring at my computer without accomplishing anything. I'm sitting here crying at work, completely destroying the four months of tally marks I had for 'days without crying at work'. I didn't break my record, sadly.

I have a therapist. I have an appointment with her today actually. Maybe I'll just read all of this to her. I don't know where it's going to lead or what she's going to tell me to do, but all I want is to walk down the hall to the bathroom and have at least average, neutral emotions instead of carrying a chest full of raging depression. I want to be able to say something happy to someone so that they don't dump me as a friend for being toxically negative. I want to live, and I have things to live for. But damn if this depression isn't making it extremely difficult to enjoy those things.

[threecheersforinking]

Drama Review: Reply 1988

**spoilers ahead**

*if you haven't seen the show, read my spoiler free WYSW post first!!*

This post will continue what I started with Boys Over Flowers (where I wrote a long unsolicited dump of all my thoughts on a show I really loved). And, needless to say, I really loved this show too. I honestly haven't cried this much at a tv show in a long time, and that's saying something because I cry very often. I think I teared up at least once every episode, and don't even get me started on the final episode because I'm pretty sure I was full on crying for at least 1 hour straight.

I guess the reason I was so attached to this show, and likely the reason this show is so popular, is because it's so relatable. Even if you haven't lived in that one particular alley in Ssangmun, most people can relate to growing apart from friends, moving out of their parents' house, leaving their childhood behind, etc. I felt like I watched this at a really appropriate time in my life, and maybe that's why I was especially emotionally impacted by it.

Characters

If you've ever read my blog before you'll know that I love a large cast of characters! So I was very pleased with all the characters and the different dynamics they had in this show. As an anime fan I'm used to teenagers/young people being the focus with adult characters being kind of an afterthought, but I really loved how developed and important all the adult characters were. The parents weren't there just to be parents, they had their own goals, lives, and struggles.

Sunwoo was probably my favorite character, but it was hard to pick a favorite because they were all so great. Funnily enough, Bora was originally my least favorite character (due to how cruel she was to her siblings at the start), but I'm happy to say she really grew on me. The development she went through due to her relationship with Sunwoo made me like her a lot more. The two of them were so cute together and I really enjoyed their secret dating era in 1989.

I also loved Taek and Sunwoo's blended family, I thought it was so nice how they became brothers after being friends for so many years. The way the show handled the two boys' reactions and adjustment to their parents dating was really well done as well.

The Romance Subplot

As I've said before, I like love triangles, and this show was no exception. Coming directly off of my watch of Boys Over Flowers (in which the love triangle lowkey had me ripping my hair out), this love triangle was a breath of fresh air. Honestly I have never been so conflicted as to which love interest I'm 'rooting for' before. I think I may have been subconsciously rooting for Junghwan because that 'fake confession' episode hit me right in the gut, but I loved both Taek and Junghwan so much I genuinely didn't even care.

One of my favorite scenes in the show is how after Sunwoo explains to Taek that you can tell how someone feels about a person by how they look at them, the episode ends with Taek noticing how Junghwan is looking at Deoksun. It's a great dialogue-less moment and really sets the tone for their dynamic for the rest of the show.

While I liked this love triangle, I do think the implications of the time jump put me off a bit. As I said, I was kind of rooting for Junghwan, and the episode where he realized he lost Deoksun to Taek was heart wrenching. But as Junghwan said himself, what exactly had he been doing for the past 5 years? It was a bit hard to pity him when he had so many opportunities to ask her out and beat Taek to the punch.

Other Stuff

Honestly, I didn't love the 2015 flash-forwards too much, they were too few and far between and took me out of the immersion of the 80s/90s setting. I think the first one was ok, the others felt a little less necessary, and then it went so many episodes without a single 2015 scene that I almost forgot they were a thing. I enjoyed the 2015 scenes in the last episode after we knew who got married to who, but it still felt like the show could've done without those scenes. The most important/emotional moments in the series happened in Ssangmun anyway.

The time skip from 1989 to 1994 had me kind of displeased at first, and I didn't know why, because I've watched tons of shows with a time skip before and had no problems with it. I think it was in part because the first 17 episodes of the show took place over the span of less than a year, and then all of a sudden in the last 20 minutes of the 17th episode it jumped ahead 5 years without a warning.

But to be honest, I think my dislike of the time skip came from the fact that I really enjoyed these characters' daily lives and the regular pace the show had been going at that such a far jump ahead was making the end of the series feel more imminent.

I'm really glad I gave Reply 1988 a chance, especially because I barely knew anything about it before watching. I'm really enjoying kdramas so far and glad I've been trying to watch more of them.

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

[dk-wren]

Thanks for answering my ask.....if you don't mind me asking (again), who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Hello again @dnana-2809-blog!

Of course, thank you for the ask. And apologies for the delayed response. School and work have been consuming a lot of my time, so I haven’t had too much time to write down my thoughts/answer your question (at least not in a way that I felt satisfied with).

After racking my brain, here are my favorite ships/couples:

Kazurei (Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa from Buddy Daddies)

Kanera (Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla from Star Wars Rebels)

Fierrochase (Alex Fierro and Magnus Chase from Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series)

Twiyor or Loiyor (Twilight/Loid Forger and Yor Forger from Spy x Family)

Pricefield (Chloe Price and Max Caulfield from Life is Strange)

Wrightworth (or Narumitsu) (Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth from the Ace Attorney series)

Kazurei

The way I view Kazurei as a ship changes from day to day, and I think that's pretty amazing. There are several moments while watching Buddy Daddies that I was screaming in my head that they are so in love with each other and just kiss already. But at the same time, I really enjoyed how their relationship can also be interpreted as QPR or two people who deeply care for one another as friends.

At least currently, I don't really feel strongly one way or another (i.e. I won't say one interpretation is right/wrong). What I love about Kazurei though, that I feel Buddy Daddies does explicitly show, is that the bond Kazuki and Rei share goes deeper than just friends or just workmates (case in point, they raised Miri for 10+ years together). They truly care for each other's well being and that the other is looked after, whether or not that has romantic underlinings.

I get so happy seeing them together and when they do their usual antics. While I would have been over the moon with a kiss or wedding bands or literally any canon confirmation of them as a couple, I still love this ship and its ambiguity over how they would personally define their relationship.

(Also ngl I have not felt this strongly for a ship in quite a long time. And yes, the picture I chose for Kazurei is very intentional)

Kanera

I think from the moment the introductory short "The Machine in the Ghost" premiered, I've shipped these two. I can't remember when exactly, but at some point either during the first season of Star Wars Rebels or between the finale of S1 and start of S2, I read A New Dawn and began shipping them even harder.

I think the nurturing attitude both characters have and the "mother/father" roles they took on for the rest of the Ghost crew really helped me fall in love with this ship. I did not think Kanera would actually become canon, even though there were so many moments that hinted towards their relationship. So I was absolutely screaming for joy when the first kiss happened in S4. While I'm sad that on-screen dynamic was only shortly explored, I do love how each was able to grow individually over the course of the show, without it being tied to their partner or them as a couple. Because each character was able to be well-developed and have their pasts explored, I also think I was drawn to this ship since there both characters are complex, carry their own baggage, and support each other without being reduced to simply "the lovers."

And while I absolutely wanted them to have their "happily ever after" as they ride into the sunset, I am so glad that Hera now has Jacen, who will always be there to remind her of Kanan's love for her.

Fierrochase

It's been several years since I've read the Magnus Chase series (I'm long overdue for a reread), but I'm gonna do my best to remember my first impressions of Fierrochase. Perhaps it is because I was younger, but I remember really liking the banter and interactions between Magnus and Alex. It took me a moment to realize that I was totally shipping them together.

Their kiss in Ship of the Dead (book #3) was so tender and it made me so happy to see this ship become canon. Also, the ending for that book was so sweet. And while I would love to see more adventures with Magnus and this group of characters, I love how there is an openness in their stories and the development of their relationship.

I am a big fan of Percabeth, but I wanted to include Fierrochase because this ship deserves more love and attention. Likewise, since there is less canon events of Magnus and Alex as a couple, I feel I love them even more due to the amount of potential where their relationship can go. (One final thought-I think the chaotic nature of both Magnus and Alex is another reason why I love this ship so much)

Twiyor

Reflecting on why I love Twiyor, I can't really recall the reason why I started shipping them together. But as soon as my friend introduced me to this manga/anime, I was shipping them. Since I knew my friend read the manga, which was further along than the anime, I remember after watching the first few episodes, I asked them if Twiyor had become canon yet/any identity reveals. While I am dying for the day that they hopefully reveal their true feelings for each other (if that day comes), I have been enjoying the development of Loid and Yor growing more confident and comfortable in their roles as chichi and haha to Anya.

Like many other characters in the SxF universe, Twilight/Loid and Yor both carry their own losses and share the experience of having their childhoods stripped from them. I think the fact that they have found each other and (I feel at least) can truly understand each other's double lives or the reasons for their true occupations, this is the main reason why I love and ship Twiyor.

While there have been more Twiyor moments since I've first joined this fandom, which has just made me fall even more in love with them, I still don't completely know why I ship them together as hard as I do. But, I absolutely adore Loid and Yor and would love for both of them to know that the other is there for them (as well as hopefully accepting of them too).

Pricefield

Max and Chloe have been through a lot together, and not just in terms of the events of Life is Strange. While both Max and Chloe have their own guilt or regrets for how their friendship previously ended when Max had to abruptly leave Arcadia Bay, the fact that they are more or less there for each other during the 5 days that make up Life is Strange, and all the craziness that happens each day, makes me want to root for them to be together and happy with each other's company.

Literally, these two have been through so much together, and survived, that I can't help but feel it is their destiny to be together (forever). While player's choice can lead to different endings/outcomes, the fact that one ending canonically confirms they are still together, traveling across the country made me so happy. Not just to know they are alive and doing well, but that they have yet to leave each other's side. Similar to many of the other ships and couples on this list, I love this ship because they stand by each other's side through everything the universe throws at them. And now that they are relatively free from past events, they are allowed to explore and spend all the time they want together, making up for all the years and missed memories.

Wrightworth

Somehow I came across Wrightworth before actually watching/playing Ace Attorney. Since I was not familiar with the context of this ship, I was like "Cool" but didn't feel too strongly (at least not yet) for this ship since I really had no idea what was happening otherwise in the AA universe.

Once I started watching/playing Ace Attorney, I understood why basically everyone shipped Wrightworth and quickly jumped onboard too. Sooo many of their interactions just left me totally confounded as to how they are not explicitly canon. And as many people have joked or teased about, the fact that Phoenix literally became a lawyer to see Miles again in court, like AHHHHH!!!

In the case of Wrightworth, I think this is a ship that once I knew it existed, and had a bit more info about their pasts and relationship as presented in-game (but also the anime too), I was like yes, they are a couple/married, your honor.

Honorable Mention: Zeddison

(Zed Necrodopolis and Addison Wells from Zombies)

Compared to the previously mentioned couples and ships, I am not as huge of a fan of Zeddison (not in the sense of I don't ship them, but there are other couples I am rooting for a lot more than them). However, considering the amount I have written about and analyzed Zombies/Zeddison on this blog, I feel they definitely deserve some mention.

Zeddison very much represents the trope of star-crossed lovers or two lovers from opposite sides, with Zed being a part of the zombie world and Addison a part of the human world. Overall, in terms of form, I do not think this couple does anything super groundbreaking (or that hasn't been seen in movies before). However, over the course of the three Zombies movies, I do appreciate how different stages of their relationship are shown (Exp: revealing their relationship to their family/peers, jealousy, reconciliation, and worries about being long distance). I love Zeddison because of how much they are willing to stand up for their partner and really don't care about what others think of them together. And again, I also love that their relationship is composed of both highs and lows, which are explored to an extent.

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Thank you again for this ask!

I had a lot of fun thinking about my favorite ships, especially since I haven't spent too much time thinking overall or collectively about all the ships/couples I love. Hope my answers are somewhat interesting. Thank you again for your patience as I worked on this ask!

-Dakota Wren

[stormyoceans]

monica watches » sleep with me

summary: harry, an overnight radio DJ who is in a wheelchair, and luna, who suffers from a sleeping condition, navigate their respective disorders and issues from past relationships as they start their romance

details: GL, philippines, 6 episodes, ~20 min each

content warning: ableism

available on: GagaOOLala, iWantTFC

what i liked:

high quality production and amazing performances

great representation of disability

all the characters, even the side ones, are fully fledged and nuanced. this show is actually a great example of how effective visual language and good dialogues can help conveying informations about the characters without falling into exposition dumps that take away from the feeling of immersion in the story. luna’s character development, in particular, is fantastic and the use of colors, lighting and setting to show it is [chef’s kiss]

janine gutierrez (harry) and lovi poe (luna) have a very nice chemistry and the relationship between the two characters feels incredibly natural. instant attraction doesn’t always seem believable to me, but in this case it fully does, maybe because there’s also an initial awkwardness to it that makes it really charming and close to real life: the characters talk over each other, stumble over their words, hesitate over the right thing to say….. it’s a carefully crafted unpolished feeling that makes you forget you’re watching a show   

communication and consent are SO SEXY it’s honestly insane how sexy and hot those are

it features what has become one of my favorite female friendships of all time!!!!

the cinematography is very immersive and atmospheric, you really get to breathe in the night time and inhabit all the different spaces these characters live in, which is also helped by the editing and the framing of each scenes (some of them looks like paintings)

need me the entire soundtrack of this show tbh

what i disliked:

'disliked' is definitely too strong of a word, but this is one of those rare cases where i wish the show was just a little bit longer. around episodes 4 and 5 the pacing feels slightly rushed to me and i would have liked to linger more on the different stages of harry and luna's relationship. i also would have loved to see more of harry's job as a DJ and learn more about why she wanted to become one in the first place

as an italian, seeing spaghetti getting broken in half got kill bill sirens blasting in my head (JOKING IM JOKING) [but also please don't break your damn spaghetti]

notes: a huge thank you to lisa @stickymoonsoul for recommending this to me, i HIGHLY RECOMMEND it too!!!

[mangora]

Finally watching episode 9 so here are some live notes:

•Aiden falling over when Tess gave him the water bucket was a peak visual gag

•Alec??? Alec hello???

•Yul with Kai’s shirt…toxic yaoi scraps…

•Oh my god fuck this guy

•Grett you poor baby holy shit???

•LETS GO RIYA GO OFF QUEEN

•Riya looked up to Grett omg…

•FUCK HIM UP ALEC oh my god I hate Yul Grett needs to dump his sorry ass

•I don’t really know how I feel about how they’re portraying Gabby’s mental health. Idk it’s just kinda off

•I love Jake but how much longer are we going to do this TomJake subplot fuck me it’s so boring

•The Ally and Jake beef is kinda sucky too. Also what’s Jake been doing for the last nine episodes if not trying to improve? Wh

•Jake I could fix you

•Tom’s totally lying about his boyfriend huh

•YEP okay

•Also Aiden and Tom bonding over their scars is kinda cute

•Tom still thinks about him??? Okay we’re getting somewhere I’ll let them cook

•Emily I love you so much Emily. Trevor too. Power friendship

•Girl why are you eating a raw carrot. Creature

•I’m still sad that we didn’t get any real Jake/Ellie interactions after they set up a rivalry between them in season one. Come on. Toxic friends. Or rivals who can’t let go of a past platonic bond

•When are we going to get a non-elimination episode it’s been like eight eliminations in a row now I think

•Jake…buddy…

•FUCK EM UP GRETT

•“Ok ok I’m sorry” immediately when Ashley tells him what to do. He’s such a lapdog I love him

•TESSALLY CRUMBS

•JAKE!! FUCK YEAH KILL HIM!! HE’S SO BACK!!

•I’m so proud of him

•Tom <3 I don’t really like him this season but he’s still my cutie patootie yk

��ALLY BABYGIRL YOU DID IT

•Can you guys tell who my favorite team is yet

•I feel like Gabby isn’t really acting villainous yet. Kinda let down on that front tbh

•Yul kinda seems vaguely attracted to Tom

•If Riya goes home…

•Why has no one voted for Yul yet

•Sorry but when did Grett like make up with Gabby? Wouldn’t it make sense for Gabby to still hold a grudge against her for season one? She holds grudges, we know she does, she did it in season one and she’s doing it now

•Listen I get Gabby’s anger but Tess, Aiden, and Tom are right like all of these people would betray Gabby at any other point given the chance and Alec fucked Ellie over multiple times

•Man I miss their friendship actually

•IF RIYA GOES HOME…

•OH MY GOD IS IT TESS

•FUCK

•ONC stop voting off some of your strongest characters before the merge challenge fuck off I’m so sick of these eliminations

•Gabby kinda ate tho

•“Someone say bye to Ally for me” sobbing

•Gabby you’re so babygirl I’m going to miss your friendship with Tom so much

•OLIVER’S BACK

•Wait are Tom and Jake going to talk next episode then? I mean I guess I’m excited but…also not really because it’s probably going to end how it always does. With them just moping and not resolving anything. Augh

Overall the episode was okay I guess? Animation is wonderful as always but I’m really sick of the same like three plot threads being drawn out and of an interesting character going home every single episode without being fully developed beforehand. I feel like the writers— as much effort and love as they’re putting in— aren’t very organized and could use a lore Bible or a clearer outline, because some plots and character arcs are just dropped randomly, and some aren’t resolved in a very sensible or well-paced fashion. That’s not to say the writing is entirely bad, the writers clearly have some good ideas and the dialogue gets better every episode, but I think they need to balance the story better and plan out what they’re going to do with each character more effectively— it would also be nice to have some more relationships between characters instead of each character having 1-2 focal relationships with a few vague allies or enemies outside of that, considering how much time we have left with the season still. But that’s just a matter of preference on my end, I <3 complex relationship webs.

[dustydustyrose]

To me BB and BS feels like, half of the Crwby wanted BB and half wanted BS, someone lost a bet and BB won pffffft (not saying this is actually what happened, ofc)

I'm personally not a huge fan of BB, and here's why:

- V1-3 BB reminds me of me and my best friend. In other words, I read 95% of their interactions as platonic. (TBF, growing up a lot of people thought my best friend and I were dating so LMAO take that as you will 😂)

- BB didn't become obvious to me until V5. I remember watching the scene where Yang and Blake were reunited, pausing the video, and saying "do they have feelings for each other?") it was that exact moment. But to have 3 whole seasons of (imo) 0 romantic interactions to suddenly having nothing but romantically coded interactions felt kind of jarring and forced to me

- When Blake and Sun are in Menagerie together, it felt like Crwby was using that as an opportunity to say BS was not going to happen in the most out of character way possible (Blake slapping Sun in the face. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I remember even Blake's VA saying that scene made her uncomfortable with how ooc it was). Imo that season would've been a great conclusion to BS even without that scene 😭 that scene just felt like someone was trying to prove a point

- I personally don't like how much BB depends on each other. One reason I liked both of them so much was because of how independent they were, and now it feels like they revolve around each other and can do nothing without each other (I'm of the opinion that even in romantic relationships partners should have their own stuff outside of each other, so those two being attached by the hip in everything they do just feels.... meh to me)

- The execution feels like it wasn't planned at all. Whether it was planned or not doesnt really matter as much as execution. To me, it didn't feel planned, and that's another reason why I'm not a fan of the ship

- I agree that whatever BS had going on in the past doesn't make BB less valid. It's just the way they ended BS to make BB more obvious that felt so... cringey to me 😭

I won't say that I outright dislike BB. It's just not my favorite. And yeah BB was a 4 season long slow burn, but that's still 4 out of 9 seasons to me. The way BB started is the main reason why I'm not a fan. The start (V5, imo) felt very abrupt. It wasn't there, then it was suddenly in my face 😂

Another thing I will say is that lgbtq req between when rwby first came out to now is VASTLY different. Taking that into consideration, even if BB was planned from the beginning, I understand why it would've been so subtle at the start. Imo, though, I think crwby was unsure of BB until the end of V3, but by then they'd already developed BS in a way, so V4 was them back tracking and V5 was them setting it in stone. And that is why BB feels so awkward up until V5

Also, that one comic about Yang wanting Blake to open up to her... felt weird to me PFFFFFT. Hear me out!!!!

It felt weird because the start of the comic we see Yang helping a bunch of people out and saying it's the "big sister" in her. Then she spends the rest of the comic with Blake and... yeah. To start a comic with a "big sister" mentality only to end with subtly implied romance felt WEIRD 😭

Anyway, that's all I'll say on the matter (probably). I just had thoughts i wanted to vomit into the universe. Really happy for all the BB shippers tho~ I know yall have been waiting for this for a long time ✨️💖