#we try to think “if we hadn't seen anything from this franchise would we be confused?”

[oocmadagascar]

DONT WORRY I LIKE YOUR AHKJ CLIPS!!! especially as someone who hasn’t seen much of the show, they’re EXTRA out of context ❤️

I'M REALLY HAPPY TO HEAR THAT!!! AHKJ is criminally underrated and it really shows on this account as well and that makes me sad!! It is my favorite thing to come out of Madagascar!!!!! I like it alot!!!!! If AHKJ has one fan it's me if AHKJ has zero fans I am gone

[archibaldtuttle]

Alien : Romulus - a 7/10 reason to stop making Alien films

This review will be spoiler-free

When I came out of the theater yesterday, after having gone through a viewing of Alien Romulus, I caught myself agreeing with my friends - this was pretty good!

And I am beyond poisoned about the Alien franchise since Ridley Scott got his grubby paws all over it with Prometheus. The only reason I made the effort to move my ass to the theater to see this one was because he wasn't directing (and also I didn't have to pay for it) (thanks sib).

I knew Alvarez from two of his previous films, the 2013 remake of Evil Dead and Don't Breathe. I am pretty mixed on both - they demonstrate solid filmmaking abilities and (in the case of Evil Dead), a deep respect for franchises he's adding to. However they are also a little heavy on the jumpscares for my taste, and in the case of Don't Breathe I just can't praise the film without having to mention that the third act twist is gross in an entirely unnecessary, shock-value way, that does nothing for the film thematically.

That did give me some hope for Romulus however, because that third act twist told me Alvarez likes talking about rape and impregnation. And contrary to Don't Breathe... that's right at home in Alien.

So what about the film then? It's good. Solid premise, I like that we're finally, finally, seven films in, seeing the planet-side society that births all those rundown spaceships. Good pair of main characters with on one side a demonstrably resourceful Rain and on the other a very nuanced look at the franchise's synthetics with Andy. The others are more forgettable but I can't blame that too much on the film - they're well characterized in a few short scenes and that's all I can expect really. The build-up is solid, the various ticking clocks and sources of tensions well established.

What I find particularly notable is the really good setpieces and the use of facehuggers in a way I've wanted to see for a long time. Very good physical effects supplemented by good to ok-ish CGI. The writing is very heavy-handed - I wish more people looked at what O'Bannon did with exposition before they write their own Alien scripts. I do give credit to Alvarez and his co-writer Sayagues for the cool concepts explored and the way they thread Andy's character exploration through them.

The editing is mostly blameless - I wouldn't call it great or even that good, especially with how hectic it gets during some more action-ey scenes, but you can tell Roberts isn't specialized or even used to horror films. I guess he took from his experience on Pressure which would explain a lot... The score is really good, one of the highlights of the film in my opinion - I've liked almost all I've heard from Wallfisch so I wasn't surprised to find out he did this one.

So why did I give this review a very baitey title. It became clear as I was watching the fourth, then the inevitable fifth act unfold, that we were, collectively, scraping the barrel on what can be done with Alien. Prometheus and Covenant, beyond the fact that they were garbage movies, were already trying desperately to find new things to do with the concept. Romulus succeeded, for the most part, in finding new ways to twist it into something interesting, something we hadn't seen before (or at least not entirely). And I'm pretty sure that's it.

I don't want more directors to spend months racking their brains to try and find three or more scene setups that haven't already been done in seven main films, two AVP films and countless video games, in order to string them together into a coherent 2 and a half hour flick. I don't think it's impossible, Alvarez clearly demonstrated that he could do it and I'm pretty sure other people could. But why waste so much time, talent and energy on a series that objectively does not need expanding upon?

I know why, it's because the current studio system is allergic to anything that doesn't have brand recognition. But I think it's sad. And I think it would be a lot more gracious to put an end to a franchise after a pretty good film that did all it could to honor its predecessors rather than try to keep squeezing more out of it until it turns into the horror version of Star Wars.

[wetheepiphany]

blog #2: the paradox of loving jotaro and not his anime (AKA "Great Expectations")

Part 3: how we learned to stop worrying and love our jotaro

================================================

You may think our bad experience completely ended all interest we had in Jotaro. Oh no. If anything, it only increased tenfold. Left unsatisfied by what we saw in canon, the dissatisfaction became an itch to scratch. We had already been writing little headcanons and story ideas with the character before we'd seen the anime, though it was with an incredible amount of reservation. We didn't feel we had "the right/privilege" to try anything boldly new with the character until we had properly seen Jotaro's canon/foundational material. Even then, we felt obligated to keep ourselves bound to "canon compliance," afraid of doing something that would bring the ire of an entire fandom on our heads. As we grew to accept that we didn't like the JJBA anime, we no longer felt like our work with Jotaro had to abide by it like a Holy Bible. We began to shape our own ideas with Jotaro's character, to explore his potential in ways we felt the canon material did not. The things about Jotaro's character in concept that we liked, and wished we saw more of in the show? Let's focus on that! We're going to focus on the internal world of Jotaro so that we can showcase more of the complexity of who he is, even as he maintains his usual stoic demeanor on the outside. The things in the anime or series about Jotaro's character that put a bad taste in our mouth? Let's change that! We're going to address them in-universe as issues for Jotaro's character to grow through, or chuck them entirely and write Jotaro in our own way. And as we accepted this direction for ourselves...it dawned on us. We had already made a version of Jotaro that was our own.

Early 2022: prior to ever watching JJBA, and even before we had accepted ourselves as a fan of Jotaro and JoJo, we had started using Jotaro as a character in a written role-play server with some friends. We didn't think much of Jotaro's inclusion at the time, as our own original characters were initially planned to be our main focus. We just wanted to throw some random franchise characters into the mix for background action, as them already having well-established personalities meant we didn't have to come up with behaviors or backstories entirely from scratch. Since we'd developed an interest in Jotaro due to Eyes of Heaven and the JoJo fandom, Jotaro was tossed into the fray with the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sans from Undertale.

Since we hadn't actually seen much of Jotaro's source material yet, we tried to write him based on everything we'd heard and researched about him. We knew he was stoic and didn't talk much, so when he needed to express, we had him do so through body language and subtle actions in the absence of words. When he did speak, he kept his words brief and to the point, and tended to pause before speaking as if processing what to say. We knew he was clever and observant, given how he problem-solved during battles, so he was often internally analyzing everything around him. We knew that, while he was pretty good at staying composed, he did have a temper that could be riled up; so when pushed to his composure's limits, he lashed out verbally or physically. We knew that despite his gruff exterior, he had a good heart and a strong sense of justice, so he felt guilt and tried to make things better when he knew he had done something unjust. The gang of assorted misfits did random shenanigans as filler or side characters to interact with, while our original characters did the main storyline. That was all the franchise characters were there for.

That was, at least, until one fateful interaction changed everything.

Another person's character- a middle-aged counselor- took Jotaro under their wing. Bought him some burgers for lunch. Tried to give him advice and keep him calm as Jotaro worried over being away from his friends and family (Jotaro was the only JoJo character present in the role-play setting). In that interaction, we felt something spark to life inside our Jotaro. We felt him clinging to something in this interaction that felt brand new to him: another person being the one to lead him, and take care of him for a change. After all...this was part 3 Jotaro, and he was still just a seventeen year old kid. A seventeen year old kid who- in this unique setting- was all alone, without anyone he knew around him. And though he was too proud and outwardly tough to show it...he was scared.

We felt sorry for our Jotaro, because this interaction made us aware that he was lonely. However, we didn't feel confident enough to play other JoJo characters- nor was anyone else interested in doing so. And so...we started trying to fill Jotaro's loneliness by introducing him to other characters that he might get along with. Characters with personalities or dynamics that he was never shown interacting with in canon. We first introduced him to a stray cat we'd created named Scooter. Scooter's late owner had been a heavy smoker, and so, smelling the familiar scent of cigarettes on Jotaro, Scooter began to follow him. After a positive first interaction, Scooter decided Jotaro was his new human and followed him everywhere. Jotaro was uncomfortable with this at first, having never owned a cat and not wanting a new responsibility on his hands... ...but he still made sure Scooter was getting fed, and getting fresh water, and finding a safe place to rest at night- even if said place was Jotaro's bed. When it became clear that Scooter was bonded to him...and that Jotaro had also grown attached to Scooter; Jotaro finally accepted that Scooter was his cat.

Emboldened by this success, we tried introducing other characters to him, with varying results. One of the most interesting was the godly powerful, yet sweet and demure Guardia- someone Jotaro distrusted and later challenged to a fight. He lost that fight. Badly. Even with him and Star Platinum trying to pull a last minute trump card to turn the tables. Suddenly, Jotaro realized he wasn't the strongest person in the room anymore- not by a long shot- and it hurt his pride. Suddenly, he had to figure out who he was without "the strongest" being part of his identity. Guardia didn't look down upon Jotaro for distrusting her, or for losing to her. Instead, she offered to teach him how to add new powers to his arsenal- to teach him how to become stronger. That was baffling to Jotaro. To be woefully incorrect in his judgement of character, on top of losing terribly in a fight, was so...opposite of the constant successes he'd experienced with the Stardust Crusaders. In Jotaro's experiences, failure in battle would quite literally result in death- which was why it was imperative that he never fail. And yet, in his failure, he had received mercy. He had not been killed, but instead, given the opportunity to grow stronger. The experience quite literally gave Jotaro an existential crisis. And yet, the most poignant of all the interactions Jotaro had were the ones involving that humble counselor.

Jotaro didn't think he needed counseling. He didn't need help in general. He was Jotaro Kujo, after all, with the incredible Stand that was Star Platinum- a Stand with the power of The World. Any obstacle that came Jotaro's way, he would fight to overcome, because he was Jotaro Kujo: a lone hero who carried The World squarely on his back, protector of his family and friends, and last line of defense against the worst that evil had to offer. If anyone could triumph in the worst of situations alone, it would be him. But then, Jotaro and the counselor had a beautiful little exchange of dialogue, which went something like this: "...I want you to be able to be able to be a person, outside of just being a carrier of the world." "..." "I may not know what your world is like, but I want you to return to it being...being the guy...who likes the ocean over pools. ... The guy who rocks out to Toshinobu Kubota, and likes the color clear. "...I want you to return so that you can be more of you, not just the hero." "..." "...I do not want you to return more broken than whole." "...I'm...I'm not a-... ....I am not broken." "You're not. You're a person."

...Our Jotaro had marginalized himself, in his own mind, as a tool. A means to an end. A warrior who merely existed to protect and serve- just because it was right- without getting anything in return...without caring about himself or his own wellbeing. And it was destroying him. It was destroying his life. Years down the line, it would turn him into a distant, neglectful father- distant not because he didn't care- but because he felt his duty was to protect his loved ones by any means necessary, even if it meant severing ties with them and breaking both his heart and their hearts in the process. All because he was Jotaro Kujo. All because he believed his life's sole purpose was to live saving others, or die trying. But in this role-play, in this crazy little version of alternate existence? Someone had told Jotaro, to his face, that his perspective wasn't healthy. Someone was urging him to try and take better care of himself- to love himself- instead of keeping his eyes always focused on the task at hand and the duty he had assigned himself. By seeing where Jotaro was and daring to reach out to him, this counselor had given Jotaro the chance to change his tragic fate. And they had done so without a Stand or any sort of power Over Heaven.

As we finally looked up from what we were doing, we realized that Jotaro was now our main character. All the original characters we had planned to be focusing on, all the other storylines we were starting to build; they either shifted to join into Jotaro's developing storyline or were pushed to the wayside entirely. Out of all the ideas and concepts we had introduced into this collaborative writing project, Jotaro was the one who came to life for us. Storylines, character development, and character relationships all began to form around and gravitate towards him, drawn to that brilliant spark of life and newness that he carried. This was the moment, in early 2022, when we realized that Jotaro had become our new muse. This was when we accepted that our time with Planes and Dusty were over: the era of Jotaro Kujo had begun.

This Jotaro, the one who came to life in our silly little role-play for fun, is the one we want to make art and stories about. We were already fans of Jotaro in concept, but this Jotaro- in his awakening, his development, his realization- was the one we fell in love with.

We love the way others describe and analyze Jotaro's character. We love the way other fans have interpreted that character in their own creative works. We love what he was intended to be in Stardust Crusaders. And, most of all, we love our Jotaro and the spark of life he's taken in our imagination, all his own. Maybe it's considered "heresy" for a fan to love a character and not the material they originated from, but, that's our paradox of truth. It's a bizarre one...but for a character so involved in bizarreness as Jotaro Kujo, we would have it no other way.

[avelera]

I finally watched Top Gun: Maverick last night and while I don't have many impressions and will likely never think of it again since it's not really my speed, I suppose they were:

The flying scenes were very cool. I can see why people said that was worth the price of admission to a theater.

That said, if I hadn't been able to snark at the movie with my partner the whole time, everything except the flying scenes would have had my eyes rolling out of my head or had me chewing through the walls with irritation

As my partner said at all the "Rah rah, USA!" moments like when we first meet the fighter pilots in the bar, "Hmm, maybe I do hate my country!"

Some other observations, not all criticism! but with some spoilers below:

I don't blame the actors but yeah, the introduction to all the fighter pilots scene got my back up in that instinctive, evolutionary way that watching a bunch of jocks introduced in a movie as the heroes where they cheerfully bully the geeks makes me want to punch things. There wasn't necessarily any geek bullying but it was there, spiritually.

I have seen a plank of wood with more chemistry towards Jennifer Connelly than Tom Cruise had. Girl was trying her best but it was an entirely one way street. It actually might have been more poignant and matched the vibe better to make them brother and sister. (And actually, thematically, might have worked better too with the idea that Maverick has sacrificed his whole life to being a pilot, including relationships.) Truly one of the most baffling relationships of the film.

Because the actual most romantic and heartwrenching scenes (in that it had literally any heart at all but was also, admittedly, heartwrenching) was the Mav/Ice reunion. As my partner pointed out, it really took the actor's illness to bring anything that real onto the screen, because it was literally unavoidable. It was the only emotionally "real" moment in the film, for me at least, but that said it did pack a punch, to their credit. IceMav seems the only logical ship to me in the whole franchise I mean seriously, those dudes love each other. I felt bad for Mav losing his husband in the middle of the two weeks (??) they had to train for their mission. Truly awful timing, I'm sure Ice was very sorry for it (yes, I'm scoffing a bit at the realism of the timing even as I understand it from a dramatic angle).

No like seriously, Maverick and Ice loved each other so damn much that it made Tom Cruise's total lack of chemistry with Jennifer Connelly all the more side-eye worthy. Why even include it? I mean I know it's because a paint-by-numbers Hollywood script, especially in a film with as many "hunky" shirtless dudes rolling around in the sand together as Top Gun has, requires a token female to make sure we know that no one here is actually gay. But still. It almost made me *less* convinced of Mav's sexuality every time she was on screen with him (getting just an absurd number of closeups, btw. Seriously, did they do all those closeups on her so we wouldn't realize that she's taller than Tom Cruise or something? Was she ever on set at all? A mystery...)

Oh, and literally every time Mav pulled some stunt that would get him court martial-ed or something blatantly illegal or ridiculous in a US military setting happened, my partner and I exchanged a look and rolled our eyes. Yeah, the US military, famously known for being super tolerant of this bullshit.

There should genuinely have been a flashing sign during the scene where the pilots heroically set off for their mission that just said, "YOU WILL NEVER GET TO DO THIS IF YOU ENLIST. NEVER EVER. YOU WILL NEVER EVER EVER DO ANYTHING THIS COOL SO DO NOT ENLIST HOPING YOU WILL." Like, to the point where it's irresponsible to not make it clearer that this is total fantasy.

Literally why did they even have pilots? I mean I know they gave some gobbledy-gook about why and obviously it's why we have the movie, but watching those missiles blow the airstrip to smithereens was genuinely like, "Yo, why didn't we just use those? Or bomb them from orbit? Why do we need pilots?"

More to the point why didn't they use drones? (Obviously: because we wouldn't have a movie.) Seriously, I want at least a college humor take which is just a drone pilot with a joystick somewhere in Nevada nudging the drone flight to do the same thing while totally safe the whole time and then he clocks out for his lunch break like seriously, WHY were any humans involved?

Anyway, 'twas silly but I almost would have preferred the whole thing as like a fantasy anime with not even vague attachment to the real world, so that I could enjoy the fighter pilot stuff in the spirit it's intended. Because every whisper of like... the actual political realities and how flagrantly this would violate them made me see red.

Oh, and I realized that fighter pilot narratives could be almost shot for shot replaced with knights in shining armor in a Medieval setting and it would be basically the same in a remarkable number of ways, especially the prep scenes for the pilots (armor) and the planes (their mounts). It would be an interesting film experiment to do.

And that's about all I've got!

[dinathalawriter]

TEARS

Kylo goes back to his parents (Han is alive), leaving the first order behind. They forgive him. He falls in love with Rey and builds a family, Leia and Han are happy grandparents.

As an AI language model, I cannot provide a definitive answer as to what might happen in a fictional scenario involving Kylo, Rey, Han, and Leia, as it depends on various factors such as the context, the characters' personalities, and the plot's direction. However, I can provide a hypothetical response based on the information provided in your prompt.

If Kylo were to leave the First Order and reconcile with his parents, it would certainly be a significant turning point in his character arc. If Han were alive, he would undoubtedly be overjoyed to see his son and would likely forgive him, as forgiveness and redemption have always been essential themes in the Star Wars franchise.

If Kylo were to fall in love with Rey, it would undoubtedly be a complicated situation, given their past conflicts and differing allegiances. However, if they were to overcome these obstacles and build a family, it would be a heartwarming development, especially with Han and Leia as happy grandparents.

Overall, the possibility of Kylo's redemption and reconciliation with his family and his romantic relationship with Rey would make for a compelling storyline full of emotional depth and character growth.

please write this story

Sure! Here's a short story based on the scenario you described:

Kylo stood outside the Millennium Falcon, his heart pounding in his chest. He hadn't seen his parents in years, and he didn't know how they would react to his return. But he knew he had to try.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward, knocking on the ship's door. A few moments later, the door creaked open, and he found himself face to face with his father, Han Solo.

Han's eyes widened in surprise, and then his face broke into a broad grin. "Ben!" he exclaimed, pulling his son into a tight embrace. "We thought we'd lost you."

Kylo felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. He had missed his father's embrace more than he could say. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know I messed up."

Han's expression softened. "We all make mistakes, kid. The important thing is that you're here now." He glanced over Kylo's shoulder. "Your mother will be thrilled to see you."

Kylo's stomach flipped. He hadn't even thought about how his mother would react. But before he could say anything, a voice called out from inside the ship. "Han? Who's at the door?"

"It's Ben!" Han called back.

A moment later, Leia appeared in the doorway. She took one look at Kylo and burst into tears. "Oh, my son," she sobbed, throwing her arms around him. "I thought I'd lost you forever."

Kylo hugged her back, feeling a sense of relief wash over him. For the first time in years, he felt like he was home.

Over the next few days, Kylo settled back into life with his family. They didn't talk about his time with the First Order, but Kylo could sense the unspoken forgiveness in the air. It was as if they were all saying, "We know you did bad things, but we love you anyway."

And then there was Rey. Kylo couldn't help but feel drawn to her, even though he knew it was complicated. They had been enemies for so long, but now, with the First Order behind him, he felt like anything was possible.

One day, as they sat together in the Falcon's cockpit, Rey turned to him and said, "I'm glad you're here, Ben. I don't know what we would have done without you."

Kylo's heart swelled with emotion. "I'm glad too," he said. "I don't think I could have kept going without you."

Rey smiled at him, and for a moment, everything else melted away. They sat in comfortable silence, feeling a sense of peace they had never known before.

As the weeks turned into months, Kylo and Rey grew closer. They went on adventures together, fought side by side against new threats, and fell more deeply in love with each passing day.

And as they sat together on the Falcon's deck, watching the stars go by, Kylo knew that he had found a new family. Han and Leia were happy grandparents now, and he and Rey had each other. For the first time in a long time, everything felt right.

[deuterosapiens]

Just got out of the FNaF movie. Honestly, I left this franchise when Sister Location came out. I really wanted to watch this for sort of the same reason I'm playing Hogwarts Legacy: to say good-bye.

Five Nights at Freddy's consumed so much of my personality in high school, and my the time I was studying in college, I felt the series had grown too big, too fast. I noped out of it and cut myself out of the games, the books, the fan-art and fan music and just, cold turkey, evicted the series from my life and never thought poorly of that decision.

With the announcement of the film, I knew I would inevitably have to watch it. You cannot allow a property to consume so much of who you are without it having some kind of impact when something seriously big happens.

But I cannot engage with this series like I used to, I can't be the sort of fan I used to be (I highly recommend no-one seek out my old fan-fics). I feel as though I never properly said good-bye to a Fandom that used to matter so much to me.

Seeing the movie, I think, did that.

It was a bit of fun, cheesy good fun. The kills brought me joy, the cast did their best.

This is, to my estimate, the third time I've seen Matthew Lillard as a serial killer. His work on Criminal Minds was better, but that's okay. That's fine.

Seeing these characters (many of whom I've seen in... uh... unique, shall we say, situations) brought to life brought me joy. Springtrap especially got a very loud applause from me (and a glare from my sister beside me).

It's not necessarily a good movie. It's quite by the numbers. It doesn't do anything special, or new. No boundaries were broken. But I don't think a Five Nights at Freddy's movie needed to do any of those things.

I like however what this movie represents. It's the exact opposite of the Slenderman movie.

Five Nights at Freddy's was an independent game that, through extraordinary circumstances, evolved into something unpredictable. Lightning in a bottle that won't strike again any time soon. It's reached that cult "too big to fail" status that any developer or content creator dreams of.

This movie is simple, grounded. But that's what makes it work. It doesn't go off the rails, off the walls, bonkers fucking crazy. It's a perfect example of the movie I would have wanted when the first game came out (holy shit!), almost ten years ago. Before lore and Easter eggs and absurdity broke what was originally a very simple thing.

In a way, it reminded me a lot of how far we as gamers, we as fans, we as consumers, have come. Because this movie would literally not exist if fans hadn't fallen in love, if content creators hadn't helped blow this whole thing open into the massive thing it is today.

I said it's the opposite of the Slendermsn movie. That film was a train wreck. It was Hollywood trying to cash-in on a popular trend without understanding it, or the culture associated with it.

It created controversy and fell to bad writing because it didn't get it. It didn't read the room or bother to care about the real-world incidents that the mythos inspired.

It was shameless.

This however, was respectful to the source, and respectful to the audience.

And with all of that said, I am finally free. I have finally made my peace and I'm saying good-bye. They were my friends, but they grew up without me. I've grown away from that world.

I would very much like to wonder though, what kind of fan I would be now if I hadn't given up on Fandom as a whole? If I hadn't decided that fan art and fan music were childish and that I was a grown up?

I should read The Hobbit again.

[madalyns-thoughts]

HTM post 9: Food and Beverage!

There have been a lot of noticeable changes to the food and beverage industry within HTM. With the start of covid many restaurants had to adapt or went under due to the lack of people eating out and the change in dietary preferences. With the discussion in class I got to realize just how many changes I went through in regards to these new forms of food/beverage delivery. I do believe that there is an even bigger focus on healthy eating, whether that be more farm to fork or the start of new gardens to what I have been doing of drinking more grab and go smoothies for vitamin C boost. I do have a lot of new friends that have dietary restrictions like gluten which post pandemic I have been better about cutting some of them out in favor for a gluten alternative. I have also noticed a wider variety of fresh food options now that I can go to the store and shop for myself. One big thing that I did notice that I don’t think we got the chance to talk about is the building of new restaurants post pandemic. I knew that grab and go and ordering online grew in popularity but the demand for it is starting to affect what the restaurants that I know and love look like/function. There has been a new chain restaurant Texas Road house built by my house that has a drive through for pick up orders. This is a newer addition since there was such a high demand for easy pick up post pandemic. It's virtually contactless and super convenient to pick up a full meal for the family. There is also a new olive garden going up that from what I can see has a whole side entrance/ spot for pick up. I personally had not seen anything like this in sit down restaurants before now and I am very intrigued to see if this trend will become the new normal when it comes to restaurants, franchises and maybe even mom and pop local eateries.  

Overall I think since the pandemic I have been more open to trying new recipes and finding good ideas online for fun snacks. I have less time now that I am in college and out of the house ( and no more staying at home) but I try when I can. I miss being able to sit at home, find a family recipe we hadn't had in a while, go on that special grocery store trip to get a little taste of normal and then come back and cook with the family. Writing about this really makes me want to plan out a big meal with my family when I move back for the summer, have everyone bring their favorite dish or dessert and have a meal together. I am curious, what are some recipes that you would recommend? I am always up for new foods and a good time in the kitchen!

[finallywatchingthefuckingwire]

21 years later

The Wire came out in 2002. Season 1 looks at a unit of police formed to look into a kingpin of the Baltimore drug trade that most of Baltimore doesn't know exists, including law enforcement. The first four episodes have been a study in how the bureaucracy, political and career considerations for law-enforcement make everyone work at odds. At the time, this was largely considered revelatory to the public, and the greatest achievement of The Wire beyond helping HBO's ratings was shining a light on how this works and how it prevents law-enforcement from doing anything but janitorial work.

The trick of the show to date (which I've never seen before) uses some familiar tropes along with things that would become tropes or more familiar to the public. We might have an occasional movie like Colors that focused on a critically @#$%ed situation, but one that was localized. Or we might have one that focused on an individual corrupt cop. We were still coming off broadcast and movie standards that more or less required law-enforcement winning the day to be part of the narrative. Although those standards hadn't been technically in place for years, the expectations for how we depicted police as basically good and heroic unless they were a bad apple were deeply baked into American media. We hadn't ever been shown how the system was riddled with incompetence, recklessness and indifference.

In 2002, we're only 9 years from the debut of "gritty" crime show NYPD Blue, mostly famous in early seasons for showing David Caruso's ass and melding soap opera dynamics with tough talking cop stuff. We're also only 12 years from the absolutely batshit experiment that was the unironically named, produced, performed and delivered Cop Rock. And if you aren't old enough to remember Cop Rock, I invite you to try to survive the pilot. (The show is also a phenomenal example of the casual racism built into the architecture of 1990's mass media). Both were produced by Steven Bochco.

The juggernaut that is the still-kicking Law & Order franchise started in 1990, and like The Wire, only occasionally touched on the personal lives of the leads, focusing instead on "procedural", replacing the booming baritone of The Naked City or Joe Friday with whatever the hell the L&O musical sting was. But it was squarely on the side of law. And order. And the belief that weasels weasel. This is not the quagmire of almost codependence that exists in The Wire (here in episode 4).

Of course the real predecessor was Homicide: Life on the Street, which ran only from 1993-1999. It's where David Simon got trained up on television, and it's arguably almost a draft version of The Wire. And it's the only one of these shows I'd watched at all aside from the occasional episode of L&O over the years, because you can't exist as a human and not have seen L&O.

In The Wire you can still see the DNA of crime fiction - it's still an entertainment, not journalism despite show-runner David Simon's journalistic bona fides. And they do have to tell a multi-angled story that is going to wind up having vibes of sprawling gangster movies, novels, etc... Arguably, it's still got a bit of one foot in how 90's media worked, but I'd say the weight is on the other foot that is trying to do something new, buyable and not feel like just one more soapish drama.

Anyway - it has it's moments of artifice that harken back to how TV was under Bochco or Wolf. Or speeches you expect in gangster movies. But it still feels like a quantum leap.

What's interesting is that it feels like there's been an evolutionary branching along the way. You can't throw a rock at a legacy network lineup and not hit a show that could have been on the air in the 1990s, from the entire line of Chicago-based cop, fire and ambulance programs, to The Rookie to the NCIS/ CSI line of shows. People love them. CBS is insane with the cop shows. Hawaii 5-0 is out there still, think.

L&O muddles on - and we should all send Mariska Hargitay a dollar for hanging in there for like 20 years.

But I'm not sure there's much like The Wire on right now. And maybe it's a weird time to put on a cop show that shows cops and law enforcement in less than a beneficent light. That's not to say cops need media boosterism, but that the events of the past fifteen years or so may have complicated what it means to put something on their air acknowledging cops fuck up a lot would no doubt be polarizing. I'm sure you're reading *something* into that sentence, and it's not meant to draw any specific conclusions, so you can see the problem.

Anyway. So far so good. Enjoying this first watch.

(this post by The Signal Watch)

[nobodyfamousposts]

Hey, if you know anything about Marvel, can you tell me about Civil War? Despite never having seen the movie, I wanna do a fix it of it, but the only clue I've got is that the Avengers were behaving like five year olds.

I can try, but if you're wanting to go for a Team Iron Man take on this, I will be of no help to you since from my take, Tony was the primary cause of problems as well as the biggest obstacle to any sort of reconciliation in the movie and franchise as a whole.

Basically, the Avengers as a group are held directly responsible for Tony's choice to mess with a powerful artifact he knew nothing about and LIED to Thor about his true intention in "studying it" for, and ended up creating a murderbot without telling anyone because he knew they would tell him not to. In response to the murderbot destroying a country, the UN decides to ratify the "Sokovia Accords", which on paper will create a committee in charge of the Avengers to decide where and when they can be deployed to deal with problems (or rather what they DECIDE are problems). And that may very well be true (not that we ever actually see that part in action), but it ALSO means that any superpowered individuals can be detained with no legal rights or representation and be placed in an underwater prison that may include solitary confinement, torture, and shock collars. The Avengers are surprised by the reveal of the Accords and are given three days to either sign the paperwork saying they'll go along with them or retire, which is confusing given that this had to have been in process for a good while and they should have been made aware of it more than three days before it'd become an actual law.

After his murderbot proceeded to do what most logical murderbots would and try to wipe out humanity, Tony takes no personal accountability for the harm he caused or the country destroyed until a single American mother confronts him over the death of her son who was a student studying in said country at the time the murderbot destroyed it, and he feels bad because she actually blames him for it. So after making a big deal about this ONE American life amidst all the thousands of non-Americans whom he damn well knew had to have died during that mess and which he was shown doing jack all to assist in the aftermath of, Tony suddenly decides that the Avengers as a whole need to be kept in check and pushes the others to sign away their rights. This is, of course, ignoring that up to that point Tony himself hadn't actually been doing any work with the other Avengers and that he's only technically superpowered when he wears an easily removable suit so by all counts the Accords wouldn't apply to him if he didn't want them to. Which kind of comes off as hypocritical since he wants everyone else to sign when no one else in the Avengers really has that ability.

Tony's stance might be considered understandable if his claims about changing the Accords after the fact weren't complete lies.

Steve Rogers: I'm not saying it's impossible. But there would have to be safeguards. 

Tony Stark: Sure! Once we put out the PR - they're documents. They can be amended. I file a motion, have you and Wanda reinstated...

THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!!! And per the director commentary, Tony damn well KNEW that when he said it, he just wanted to make Steve sign.

It kind of boils down to Tony wanting to use this whole mess as a way to get one over on his dad's old friend he thinks his dad preferred to him. This is evidenced by his petty barbs at Steve and his "I win" comment when trying to make Steve sign.

Given the events of Captain America Civil war and the reveal about Hydra, Steve has reservations about relying on such a committee to direct when they can or can't help people. Plus at this time, in addition to dealing with the upcoming Accords, he is also dealing with personal issues such as the recent death of his past love interest he left behind when he got frozen trying to save the world and his missing formerly brainwashed best friend. Said best friend is conveniently framed for a terrorist attack at this exact same time and soldiers are sent to kill him. Said terrorist attack also seriously pisses off Black Panther because the explosion kills his father, and he starts trying to hunt Bucky down to get revenge because he (like everyone else) is led to believe Bucky's responsible for it. Steve interferes to save Bucky's life and gets arrested for it. Steve eventually discovers that there is a conspiracy that appears to be centered on locating six super soldiers who could cause massive harm to the world. So he forms a team to try to stop this mastermind from releasing them, and all of his team are informed of the situation and agree to come help willingly.

This team includes Scarlet Witch, whom Tony tries to keep locked up in his vacation home due to people being scared of her due to her powers and especially after she failed to contain a suicide bomber that resulted in the destruction of a building. He has Vision, the guy she's in love with, guard her to keep her from leaving the compound. Tony also doesn't seem to see her as a person and sees nothing wrong with keeping her locked up as in his own words: "There's worse ways to protect people. She's not a US Citizen and they don't grant visas to Weapons of Mass Destruction."

Tony, on the other hand, forms his own team to stop Team Cap that includes Black Widow, Black Panther, Vision, War Machine, and Spiderman. The last of whom is still a minor by this point that Tony chose to BLACKMAIL into helping him to fight Captain America and whom he doesn't tell ANYTHING about what's going on or why they need to go to an airport in Germany without his Aunt's knowledge or permission when the kid may not even have a passport.

Airport battle happens because Tony shows up to stop Steve and his team from getting a plane to go to the base where the super soldiers are being kept in stasis. Steve tries to tell Tony what's been going on and about the super soldiers and threat to the world, but Tony refuses to listen, doesn't let any of his team hear what Steve has to say so they can make their own decision on the matter, and starts a fight.

The fight results in Steve and Bucky getting away, War Machine getting shot down by friendly fire and becoming paralyzed, Tony shooing Falcon at close range just because he got mad that Falcon NOT letting himself be shot down resulted in War Machine being injured, Black Widow ditching Team Iron Man for Team Cap, and the rest of Team Cap being imprisoned in the aforementioned underwater prison with torture, shock collars, and no legal representation or rights.

Tony finally decides to actually look into the whole conspiracy angle and realizes that "yep, there is a conspiracy here and Cap was right and we probably didn't need to have that fight....whoops". He goes to visit his former teammates in the underwater prison in order to get info on where Steve went. The fact that he acknowledges that Cap was onto something doesn't stop him from needlessly and cruelly betraying Clint's secret by revealing his hidden family to Ross (aka, a major antagonist of the Hulk) out of sheer pettiness or ignoring the state Wanda is in, but that part tends to be glossed over by most Team Iron Man fans and the MCU in general so we'll move on.

He convinces Sam to tell him where Steve is so he can help, and then he leaves the rest of the group to rot in the underwater prison with no further consideration or concern for their well being. He then uses his own tech to fly to another country he has no authority to be in and did not inform any of his supervising committee people about his intention to travel to despite having signed the Sokovia Accords himself by this point, essentially breaking the very thing he had made such a big deal this whole time over that he insisted everyone else needed to sign and follow, which is of course never addressed in the MCU or by Team Iron Man fans.

Steve and Bucky make it to the secret base where the super soldiers are kept in stasis. Tony soon joins them, not realizing that Black Panther followed him. They arrive at the secret base and discover the super soldiers are already dead and the mastermind behind this horribly convoluted conspiracy just wanted to destroy the Avengers as revenge for them not saving his family from dying during the Sokovia attack. So despite how impossible this entire setup is, he manages to successfully break up the band by showing a clip that reveals Bucky (while under brainwashing) was sent by Hydra to kill Tony's dad (and maybe mom, since the video doesn't actually show him killing her but she is still dead).

This sets Tony into a rage for a crime that he knows Bucky was forced to commit against his will (and that Tony himself probably should have known about sooner had he paid any attention to the Hydra info dump from back during the Captain America Winter Soldier movie). He blames Steve for knowing about it (even though reasonably Steve only knew Hydra was involved in the death and not that Bucky personally was the one made to pull the trigger, and director's commentary revealed that Steve blocked it from himself so he was in no position to tell Tony anyway). Tony refuses to be talked down and tries to brutally murder Bucky for a crime that happened decades ago while Bucky tries to get away from him rather than fight back. He shoots Bucky in the back when Bucky tries to run away and blows off Bucky's prosthetic arm. Steve steps in to stop Tony from committing murder, and because he refuses to calm down or simply stop trying to murder them, Bucky and Steve team up to try to forcibly depower Iron Man to make him stop trying to commit murder. They do not try to kill him. Just depower. Compare that with Tony shooting laser blasts at them that can sheer a metal arm off.

Eventually Bucky goes down and Tony still refuses to stop, so since Steve can't get him to stop any other way, he attacks Iron Man's power source directly with his shield only until the suit can no longer continue the fight. Then he goes to help Bucky.

Tony throws out some childish comment about the shield and how his dad (whom he has shown nothing but distaste for this entire time) made it and how Cap doesn't deserve it, so Steve drops the shield and leaves with his friend.

Black Panther captures the mastermind responsible for the terrorist attack and his dad's death, and returns to his home country with Bucky to help him fix the remaining effects of the brainwashing he was still under. Which shows a distinct difference in revenge vs justice since he at least doesn't just try to murder in a rage without listening.

And despite everything that happened, Tony's refusal to listen, and Tony's attempted murder, Steve still manages to be the bigger person and sends Tony an apology letter and a cellphone that Tony can use to call him if he ever needs help (which Tony never uses even a year later when the universe is at stake because he's still butthurt that nobody liked his murderbot idea). Then Steve, unlike Tony, actually decides to help his teammates by breaking everyone out of the underwater prison.

Ultimately, this leaves Tony as the only remaining Avenger since War Machine is still injured, Black Widow ditched him for Team Cap in CW, Black Panther also appears to be helping out with Team Cap by the end of CW, Vision ditches him to be with Wanda by the time Infinity War starts, Tony sends Spiderman back home and pretty much ghosts him afterwards while still never telling him what the airport fight was actually about or anything about the Sokovia Accords (which by all counts, Spiderman should also have been forced to sign as well), Hawkeye and Ant Man retire, and the rest of Team Cap is still Team Cap.

And Tony learns absolutely nothing as not only does he refuse to call Captain America for help despite Bruce and Dr. Strange warning him to (which could have prevented everything that went wrong in Infinity War), when he does finally see Steve and Team Cap again, all he does is whine about them not going along with his murderbot plan that already went astronomically wrong the last time around and caused the entire mess with the Sokovia Accords in the first place.

Half of the Civil War movie could have been prevented had Steve been able to talk to the rest of Team Iron Man and gotten the chance to tell people BESIDES TONY about the super soldiers. They may have needed to bring him in and in Black Panther's case, want to kill Bucky, but they were all at least sensible enough that if they knew about the conspiracy and the potential threat of six super soldiers being let loose on the world, they would agree to put the issues aside for the moment and deal with the threat first. THEN after dealing with the threat and the conspiracy, they could just arrest Steve and Bucky again and I doubt either of them would fight them on it. Neither of them were resisting arrest, after all, they were only resisting a murder and that's an entirely different thing.

So yeah, that's Civil War. And if you want to do a fix-it, having them talk things out at the airport instead of fighting because Tony refuses to listen would probably be the place to start.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

first of all i want to say i absolutely love i'm looking thorugh you and i'm excited for the next chapter. now on an unrelated note i want to ask have you seen sarah z's new video on fanfiction? if you have, what do you think?

Hi anon, thank you so much!!! My exams are starting in 10 days and in 5 days I'll be seeing my sister for the first time in one and a half years, so I'm gonna really try to find space to finish up Chapter 8 very soon (perhaps today [not including editing time, but everything currently written has been gone through once already]) so that I can justifiably step away from it again to focus on my exams and spending time with her, before returning to it. (which probably won't be before September)

I hadn't seen it and haven't watched any of her videos in a while, but I did upon seeing this ask. (I find her long-winded and generally she doesn't say much I haven't thought of myself; watched it on double speed lmao)

I agree with her on most points, I think. Fanfic is clearly art, I think that's honestly a stupid thing to even debate about. Also, it's first and foremost a medium with intrinsic qualities that can be either used to the story's advantage or disadvantage.

While there's value in original fiction having to rise up to the challenge of building characters and setting from scratch, a narrative meant to be understood with foreknowledge of "canon" can actually inherently tell a different type of story. Like, it's kind of one of the points I'm trying to make with I'm Looking Through You; demonstrating how the story both parallels and diverges from what actually happened, which would be difficult to do in a satisfying and engaging way if I had to establish the first "timeline" within the story as well, if that makes sense.

That being said, I think Beatles RPF (the kind that doesn't take place in AUs) is sort of interesting in that respect: if you're writing fic for a book series or a movie franchise or what have you, in most cases you can expect the reader to have come across the entire canon (say with the exception of monster franchises like Discworld or the Star Wars EU). But in the case of a story based on a real history, which draws from many books and accounts as well as pictures and film, it's kind of difficult for me as an author to suss out what I can reasonably expect my readers to be aware of. Usually, when I tie in some recollection of a real event (example off the top of my head: I mention Paul getting Dot Rhone pregnant in chapter 3) I try to formulate it in a way that if someone wasn't previously privy to that particular fact it would still be understandable to the extent it's relevant to the story. The only thing I in general assume to be known is their discography. So in a way, the concept of fanfic not requiring any skills in establishing anything isn't quite accurate. I'm also kind of a big show don't tell truther, so I kind of think if you follow that principle perfectly (not saying I do btw, it's pretty difficult) with your characters, you're more or less doing the same thing whether the characters are known to the audience already or not.

I think the main thing about fanfic and the perceived poor quality of it is due to, as mentioned in the video, there being zero barriers of entry but also to the fact that constructive criticism is just not really welcome on fanfic sharing platforms. For better or for worse, in 90% of the cases, people are only gonna comment on a fic to praise it. I think that's fine in the sense that most people aren't aspiring professional writers, but it doesn't make for the best environment to improve and grow as a writer more than simply practicing the art would help anyways. If you're lucky, someone will specify the reasons they enjoy the story, but just like we can't expect everyone to write perfectly, we can even less expect all readers to spend half an hour writing a carefully worded review. I kind of wish there was a setting on ao3 where you could mark a fic as "open to criticism", so people who are just writing for themselves can just keep doing their thing unbothered, but people interested in honing their craft could get more nuanced feedback than "OHHHH MY GOOOOOD I LOVE THIS".

The kind of funny thing for me is that all original fiction I've written or attempted to write up until now was very much based around my own personal experiences, so writing from the perspective of men in the 60s who had insanely different lives from mine actually really forced me out of my comfort zone in a way? And the work I put into the historical research is considerable, so I just think that really doesn't match up with what fanfic-haters imagine the genre to be?

Of course, a bunch of stories do match up with antis' expectations of it, but alas that's not fanfiction as a medium's fault and there's nothing inherently wrong with stories written with their main purpose being escapism. I mostly think people should be aware that that's what they're consuming and if that's the only thing they consume, they might be missing out on more challenging ideas.

[candlespages]

So, got around to finishing the first Season (ST : Discovery) yesterday for the first time ;) Here are a few thoughts:

-I knew Lorca was a right bastard! I knew he'd left Cornwell there on purpose, and his lack of emotion after Landry 1's death makes much more sense! I could feel that he'd done sth fishy when the coordinates were inputted from his chair, and the way he wanted to have everything be the same as in the Mirror Universe, and all... dude was obviously trying to get sth, to delay the Discovery's return, and it feels strange that nobody thought to call him out on it?

-I am ambivalent about the emperor, I expect we haven't seen the last of her, that's certain.

-Cornwell being ready to commit genocide stroke me as... human, I guess, not right, not correct or anything, but she rationalized it like a human would, is what I mean? (to be clear, I think it's a horrible, frankly frightening and disgusting decision, but I expcet part of it is because it would be so easy to become that person? so kudos to ST: Disco to make us aware and reflect upon our dark side)

-Sarek and the other admirals participating and advocating/agreeing with this decision is... WTF??? No! Wat?! so I get that some might agree with it, heck, probably some might have been advocating or planning sth like this for a while, but all of them? Sarek too? That I can't believe

-Amanda just there to be there atm 🙄 it feels like she's even more background than in TOS/ST: IV and since I'm sure she must also have had an influence on Michael growing up, it feels ... weird. Like she's not even IN the picture, not properly at any rate (i don't think I'm expressing my thoughts properly there ^^')

-Wondering about Main Universe Lorca, then, what happened? Is he dead? When did the other one arrive, etc., were he and Cornwell together together or were they just hooking up, or exes who do, ...?

-L'Rell, want to see more of her, even though her character arc left a strange aftertaste... It felt like she was more interesting before her captivity on the Discovery. BTW, I get leaving her on the Discovey for plot reasons but it doesn't really make sense for in-universe (for me at least). The way L'Rell unifies the Klingons feels a bit deus ex machina, too, where are the actual Klingon political games? They're an actual society! They have laws and customs, etc.... the way it is portrayed feels more like "ok, we need to have an end to the war in 5 minutes at the end of ep 15, people, any ideas?" than sth actually well build from the start? No shade being thrown here, just a feeling that it was weird to me... (also the Klingon's heads? Still not over that new design)

-Now, we come to the thing w/ Ash/Voq. It's... weird. And not sth I would expect from Klingons from all I've seen of them in the franchise. Sleeper agents? Feels a lot more Romulan than Klingon to me, them being all about honour and stuff. Though I guess there is also the angle of them being more a destructive force attacking everything and anything instead of being unified. So... Idk, it's strange. Also, I can't even imagine the trauma, and the pain, and everything Voq/Ash must be going through, and the "solution" was also a bit... expedient? Idk man, this whole thing felt weird, though. I am not sure whether Michael's feelings on the matter were properly adressed either? And why do those ships not have a therapist on board, JFC! I wouldn't have wanted more agony, it's simply that the season didn't leave much time to adress everything in that situation, and I wish it could have taken it. Anyhow, the whole situation was strange, and I wish they hadn't gone to that angle.

-They killed CULBER!! Those bastards killed CULBER!! You know sth is going to end up badly for one of the characters when you only start to get to know them with their partner being in a critical state. That kiss before the 133 jumps broke me, btw... not sure I said anything about it before (?) We started to discover more about Stamets too in the eps just before, and... to have Culber be killed that easily? let's just say I hope he's gonna do us a Harry Kim ^^' I don't want to have a heartbroken Stamets, poor bean doesn't deserve that

-Saru makes for a competent AC, and I hope he ends up on that Captain's chair.

-Good dev for Tilly, nice to see her coming into her own

-Michael's dev was... Idk, some of the things made sense (like her not being over her guilt for what happened to Georgiou, not that she's actually the one who started the war or was responsible for her death, or why she was still torn about her "betrayal" of her Captain), some of the things felt... forced. The "bond" between her and Lorca, for example, which wasn't sth I could feel before, and suddenly, he makes her believe things, and she or Saru should have called him out, but maybe we can put that on the stress she was under. Her meeting with the Emperor felt also slightly gratuitous, like she's there to bring a Georgiou back in the original universe, or sth. There was a lot of good, though, ngl. Her reinstatement is merited, though I'm not sure I'd have made her a Commander right away. I don't know what to think about her command style yet, because we haven't seen much of it. Her relationship with Sarek, with Ash, with Georgiou, with Saru, all of these are a mess (and not necessarily her fault, I mean the whole thing with Ash is a mess anyway, and not of her own making, poor bean), and she needs medical leave and therapy, at least therapy anyway. Though, that Nature VS Nurture thing we could see in the Mirror Universe when she was talking w/ Georgiou, yes! here for it!

Now, some general feedback on the series itself (keeping in mind that I've only seen the first season, here, so maybe some things will make sense later on)

-Why create a war with the Klingons, though? It makes sense as a way to create interest over the story, and to catch the attention of the potential audience, but still... I don't really like things added to the lore a posteriori, b/c it makes for chaotic in-universe history (and I need my history to be "linear")

-Starfleet tech feels inconsistent, even with TNG/DS9/VOY :

->holographic communication? a way to have a three-way call? we're in 2256! that's before Kirk's era, my guys! it's not supposed to be possible yet!

->a kind of "holodeck" simulation? it was presented as a "new thing" on the first TNG ep! (more than 100 years in the future)

->the lack of technical technobabble still bothers me. A "time-crystal"? ^^'

->Those jumps, they're going to have to explain them to me, in the context of TNG being outfitted with a brand new warp engine that enables them to go aroung to WARP 9.5 (forgot the exact number), jump tech being inexistant in SF in VOY, and also... just why create sth that they are going to have to destroy for it to make sense in the later in-universe history?

-Again, that new Klingon design *shudder*, even down to their clothes, and the Vulcan clothing seems dark for no reason

-Love all the little sound effects ref to TOS, and the data "solids" refs too ;)

-Loved the updated TOS theme song at the end ;)

-again, DISCOVERY theme song is great !

-The uniforms are great! Though we can't see who the red shirts are now xD

-love the ensemble cast, great characters! great dev atm, can't wait to see more!

-interesting Story Arc so far, even if I'm not a fan of everything! Want more of that episodical feel added to it, too, but can't wait to *discover* more (see what I did there? ;) )

-Asks some good questions and makes you reflect on some intersting things, but I would love to see more allegories and philosophy

-Again that thing with Sarek... just ... I see why you would do it, to make us more interested/invested in Michael, but she's actually interesting enough a character *without*, and it feels forced.

-Will probably start Season 2 next week ;) Because even though there are things I'm not happy about/not a fan of, I liked it a lot still, and the series offers a lot of possibilities for future storylines, and I'm here for it!

-Love the diversity! Could always be more, and expecting there shall be more! Hoping we get an alien captain too ;) (rooting for Saru to get that promotion!)

-Let them install a therapist on that ship, for Somebody's sake ! ^^'

In Conclusion, good series so far, want to see more!

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

It is kind of sad that super hero media gets so much flak for being mindless action fluff only for something like Moon Knight something that tries to be a more thoughtful character based story to come along and get dumped on for not having enough action

There are people complaining about MK's lack of action? But that's one of the best things about the series! 😳

I know of a specific movie critic that always has a negative opinion of whatever movie he has to write about. I have never read anything positive coming from him, not once, and he talks about movies of all genres. It blows my mind because I had Cinema Studies one year in college and if we ever did something like that, write negatively about every movie because we wanted to sound cool or edgy or whatever, our teacher would have kicked our ass.

Mind you, I'm not talking about opinions on whether you like a certain thing or you don't, I'm referring to writing an actual critical piece about some movie or show but never getting into storytelling, characterization, plots, arcs, the underlying message, etc... just the typical "they're dumb for dumb people". Those articles about superhero movies being only mindless action are many times written by people who haven't seen the movies, I know it sounds unbelievable but it's not. Many movie critics can't be bothered to watch +25 movies and they pick a few scenes then write a piece about that.

I still remember when IW came out some of them said the movie was bad because they hadn't seen the previous ones and so they were unable to understand the story (then claimed IW should have introduced all characters for the audience who doesn't watch their movies to get their story arcs. Instead of thinking dunno, if you watch a sequel without having seen the previous movies that's on you?). I remember experts discussing the lack of characterization when it came to the Avengers... only to admit later on that they hadn't seen the movies.

And the main reason that attitude drives me up the wall is that it only fuels the toxic positivity crowd. There are a million reasons to be critical of Marvel, from their work ethic to the bad storytelling, characterization, terrible dialogue, superficial plots, inconsistent character arcs.... but if most of the critique that hits the radio, tv, newspapers is "this franchise is dumb and its viewers have no intelligence" then they're giving Marvel and its fanboys the perfect ammunition to play the victim and refuse to change anything or improve their work ethic because the only criticism they receive comes from what they deem as "bullies".

That is quite literally what Victoria Alonso did last year after the release of Eternals. Some people were criticizing the movie for different reasons and she kept on claiming the experts only hated it due to the queer rep or the diverse cast. If you write a review the right way that claim by Alonso becomes meaningless, but if your critique is "wow this is so dumb, only mindless action" then you open the door for the executives to use it to their advantage.

Just to make it clear: I'm not saying all Marvel critics are bad, I'm saying certain attitudes I've been seeing in recent years are not appropriate and they'd do us a favour if instead of writing stupid pieces that only serve as a self-congratulatory and almost masturbatory attempt at proving how much better than everyone else they are, they actually focused on the many things wrong in countless Marvel movies and series we'd probably get at the very least a very uncomfortable bunch of executives trying to defend their sometimes indefensible work.

And yes, this also means praising them when they do something right. Because sometimes....... they do. Like in Moon Knight.

[waynewifey]

Fading away. —

Pairing: Jason Grace x Roman!DaughterofPluto!Reader

Sumary: after moths of over working, a colapse makes you get into a coma and reflect on your feelings.

Warnings: coma, angst, Pluto as a caring dad, fluff at the end.

Words: +-3k.

A/N: This is my first Percy Jackson Franchise fanfiction, so take it easy on me. This is also my biggest and favourite one. I hope you like this! My requests are always open.

(Y/N) (L/N) had a good reason to hate Jason Grace. How could she not? Jason was so annoying, self centred, selfish, stubborn and worse of all? He dated Piper McLean. Piper was great, (Y/N) knew that and they seemed happy together. But, still, he chose Piper, not (Y/N), his girlfriend back at Camp Jupiter, who he totally forgot about. How come Percy remembered Annabeth but Jason wouldn't remember (Y/N)? And when he recovered his memory, he chose Piper. But she also loved him still, and seeing him hurt like a bullet going straight through her heart. She decided to spend a year at Half-Blood Camp to stay with her half-brother Nico Di Angelo when Gaea were defeated. She thought she could manage to see him almost every day, but she couldn't. So she started doing anything to get her mind occupied. Going on meaningless quests, travelling to New York randomly, volunteering for literally any service in the camp and barely sleeping — because sleeping meant dreams.

"It doesn't have to be like that, (Y/N)." Her brother gave her another shot of Nectar. The sunlight that entered Hades' cabin was leaving slowly as they talked, (Y/N) leaned on her bed watching her fingertips become solid again.

"I'll learn how to do it right and I promise I won't push myself too much, but I can't stop practicing." She avoided eye contact with Nico, feeling ashamed of herself. After all, she was supposed to be the one taking care of him, since she was older. She came back from a "quest" for her father, that was staying a weekend on the Underworld. She started using Shadow Travel to get there. The problem? She had no idea how hard it was, and she almost died every time. He sighted.

"I'm not talking about Shadow Travel. You should talk to Jason and sort this out. You're almost killing yourself everyday doing the craziest stuff just to keep your mind off him. He already broke up with Piper, what's stopping you now? I'm your brother and it pains me to see you suffering, I won't just sit and watch while you literally desapear." He got up and walked to the door. The (h/c) girl forced a smile so he believed she was fine. Nico left the cabin.

After hours reflecting and thinking, she heard the trumpets that announced the convocation to a game of Capture the Flag. Since she was feeling better, she changed her clothes and walked outside. The teams were: cabins 1, 4, 5, 9, 12, 14, 18, 21, 23, 27, 28, 29 vs. cabins 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 20, 24, 25, 26. They started the game. (Y/N) had to protect the boundary with a kid from Hipnos' cabin while a group attacked the opponent's flag and another protected their territory and their flag. Everything was going as planned, she hadn't seen anyone yet. Out of the sudden, she saw a blond guy running in their direction with a sword. Oh hell no, Jason Grace wouldn't attack her like that. But he did.

"What the hell?!" She screamed, reacting to the blade flying in her direction. Her teammate was asleep. She defended herself with her own sword and counterattacked. He invested against her leg, trying to make her fall. Her instincts took place, she jumped, attacked again and they started a meaningless battle. Jason looked the same as always. He was almost the same Jason that used to take her on cute dates in New Rome. But he fought like a greek. And that was when it hit her, he changed. The mixture of love and hate made her loose her senses for a bit, giving Jason the lead. He focused on her leg but hesitated to hit it, giving her time to get back on the fight. She knocked him to the floor, her foot on his chest and her blade on his neck, when she heard footsteps approaching quickly. Of course. It was a trap. She turned around and saw a son of Hebe holding her team's flag running, followed by two daughters of Hephaestus. She grabbed a knife from her belt and threw it to his leg, hitting exactly where she wanted. She then grabbed Jason's blade and Shadow Travelled. For a moment everything was fine, while she drowned into darkness, but then she couldn't get out. She saw her father's face mixed in the dark. He raised his hand and touched her face, than she was back at the forest. Realising not even a second had gone through, she attacked the — injured — boy and the two gigantic girls at the same time. She wasn't really expecting to defeat them, just trying to win some time so, hopefully, someone would come help her. The boy dropped the flag and got a small sword. The two girls had hammers... oh. The three of them attacked at the same time and she protected herself with Jason's sword, which flew away. She was out of hopes when a figure appeared beside her and started fighting them.

"What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to help me, we're enemies, remember?" She said, fighting Hebe's son.

"I guess you're welcome then." Jason replied smiling, fighting the hammers-girls. (Y/N) sighted in annoyance. Seconds later, her teammates came running from the enemies' territory with a flag and the three-people group surrendered. Everyone started screaming and celebrating. (Y/N)'s head hurt with the noise and she looked to her brother, feeling numb.

"Hey, can we talk?" Jason said, getting in front of her with a big smile. He was proud of himself for helping her? Of course he was. He was going to take all the credit for her team's win. The anger rose inside of her burning everything. She furrowed her eyebrows and with the last energy that remained in her body, she tried to Shadow Travel for the perhaps hundredth time that day.

She fell into the darkness while feeling her body desapear quickly. Her heart was very accelerated but then it stopped. She saw herself at the barks of Lete's river. I'm dead., she thought. The desperation started taking over. She remembered the face of all her friends. Her siblings, Hazel and Nico. Her mother. Her best friend Reyna. Camp Jupiter. New Rome. The Lar Vitellius. Lares? Lares! Maybe she could go back as a ghost! She would at least see her friends again.

"Didn't expect to see you this soon." A voice said with humor. She turned around, as always enlighten by her father's presence. But his face was sad. Not the everyday-sad-Pluto, but the my-daughter-just-died-sad-Pluto.

"Am I d-... dead?" The anxiety forbid her from crying in front of her father. The one she never knew and once she did, she didn't want to disappoint him.

"Yes and no. You see, my darling, there are things more powerful then death. Right now, your physical being is exhausted from travelling through darkness and light — which I told you not to, but we'll talk about this later, you have a decision to make. You're body is surrendering to Death out of hopelessness. But your soul, on the other hand, still fights for the heart beating in your chest. And your conscious, the controller of both body and soul, has to decide which one of them you'll support right now. As Lord of the Death that's all I can say to you. But as your father, I would like to say that we have a room for you in the castle, if you'd like that. And also, I feel obligated to show you what is happening on Earth." When he finished his words, an image formed in the air, sort of an Iris message, but no one saw them. (Y/N) saw herself laying on the grass, surrounded by some campers, Nico and Jason.

She was watching them from above. Jason put two fingers on her neck, trying to feel her pulse. She — the one in the Underworld — gasped as the blond boy whispered 'nothing'. She glanced at her father, who had a pained expression as he stared at Nico freaking out. Her brother had his hands on her chest and was murmuring something in greek. Then, he opened his eyes, filled with tears of desperation, and glanced at Jason, who didn't look any better. She wanted to scream and go back to up there, but her voice wouldn't come out of her throat.

"Half of her is already gone." Nico struggled to say. Everyone around gasped. "I can't Shadow Travel with her, it- it would k-kill the other half..."

"Let's take her to the Infirmary. Everything's gonna be fine. She'll be okay." Will Solace had appeared in the crowd and kneed down to take (Y/N) in the arms, being helped by the other two. As they walked, (Y/N) held herself in her arms, sobbing. She didn't want to die, not like that. The image faded away and Pluto hugged her. He never did that before. She left out all her emotions through the cry. Her father caressed her back and gently kissed the top of her head.

"Now you see, my child, what those on Earth are going through. You have a family up there. And if you'd ask me, Jason Grace is a good person, even being a son of my brother. You have a choice, so make it wisely." Pluto said, not backing away from the hug. She nodded and he immediately knew what her choice was. "You know I'd love to have you here with me, but I'd love even more to see you happy. Don't be reckless. And listen to your brother. You don't have to worry to come see me, I'll make sure to visit you during your recovery." As he said that, a white door appeared out of nowhere. "Here's your carpool." The girl started to walk to the door, when she heard Pluto say: "(Y/N) I lo-... Good luck." She smiled to him and went through into the door. It felt like eons in the nothingness. She felt so much pain all over her body. Then she gained conscience. She didn't knew how long it had passed. She also couldn't open her eyes or say anything, but she knew she was laying down something comfortable, a bed, perhaps. But she could hear perfectly well.

"... and I'm so sorry you had to die for me to gain the courage to say this. Please come back to us... Come back to me. Nico barely leaves this room and nor do I, Will had to force him to go eat. It's not the same without you, (Y/N/N), it really isn't." Jason's words gave her the urge to cry, but she couldn't. It was like her body had shutdown completely. She felt his warm hands on her cold ones and after that, a door was opened. Footsteps. Only one person. Jason didn't move. Someone sat down next to them.

"Dad- I mean, Hades said she will be okay." It was Nico's voice. He sounded extremely tired.

"Didn't he say that last month?" Grace was annoyed, but he didn't stop holding her hand.

"I know, I wish I could do more... I'm... I'm sorry Jason." The blond sighted.

"I should be the one to be saying that. I know there's nothing else to do. I'm sorry for putting the blame on you. It's just- if we've talked before, nothing of this would have happened. If only I was brave enough..." (Y/N) felt weak and her consciousness was back at nothing again. When she heard something again, it looked like a lot of time had passed by, but she wasn't sure at all. Jason's voice was happy as he told her his plans to the future.

"I realised you would like to work with me training the legion. You're obviously skilled and the payment is quite good. And I've heard they are planning to build a village here as well, but I don't know if you-..." Every time she tried to stay conscious, she felt weaker. 'Rest', her father's voice said inside of her head, so she let herself.

Some time...? A long time...? She didn't knew. But the next time she heard, she was way stronger. She waited until then, so she could stay longer and try to understand her emotions. She heard almost an entire day. Her friends entered and left cabin 13 — she found out that she was there. Some of them talked "to" her, some just sat there in silence. When alone, Nico talked a lot about Will Solace. (Y/N) smiled mentally. Then Jason entered. She could already recognise the sound he made walking. He sat beside her bed and held her hand, as usual.

"Hello, princess. You look better." She reunited all the strength she had storage and sent it all to her right hand. She softly squeezed Jason's hand, for a small portion of second, trying to say 'hi'. She felt exhausted. He gasped.

"She just squeezed my hand!" He screamed, laughing. Nico jumped out of his bed, laughing as well. They both stared at her, waiting for more. "You're there, right? I knew you were! It's been long months, but you're getting better. Don't work too hard. We'll see each other soon, don't worry." He kissed her forehead. After that, it was easy for her to let go and dive into her sleep again.

She was slowly getting better. She noticed her comas were smaller now, and she got stronger every time. She started communicating by squeezing people's hand. One time for 'yes' and two times for 'no'. But it still was exhausting. She met with her father a couple times through dreams, but it never lasted long. She was sick of it. She wanted to jump out of the bed and run through all the camp. She was alone with Jason, as he talked about the last time he went to Camp Jupiter, telling every change. She slowly forced herself to open her eyes. It wasn't for too long, just enough for her to see the big smile he had while talking, her favourite blond hair and how he gesticulated while speaking. By that time, her feelings were completely lined. She declined her childishness and stubbornness to accept the fact that she obviously loved him. Her lips were able to form a small smile. He hadn't noticed her yet. I can do this, she thought.

"J." She whispered for the first time in five months. Her eyes were already closed again. He gasped.

"Did you just say J? That's me! I'm here, i'm right here, love. Can you hear me?" She squeezed his hand one time. Yes. He chortled. "You're so strong. I miss you so much." He started softly crying. She squeezed his hand two times. No. Don't cry, she wanted to say. "Alright, 's fine, 's fine. Gods, you're coming back. I bet Aphrodite is watching us closely." He chuckled but suddenly stopped. "I forgot we haven't talked about that yet, i'm sorry. I don't wanna be intrusive, you know. It's just, by what Nico has told me, well, you still liked me." She squeezed two times. "That's... that's great, love. But don't worry about that just yet. You should take some rest now, my love."

Five days. She had woken up every single one of them, but only listening. No squeezes, no talking, no looking. Just storing strength. She knew she was close to fully waking up. She was already able to keep track of the days. It was a Sunday, the day she received the most visits. It should be morning, because she only heard Nico's snorting. She slowly opened her eyes. The same place. Different clothes. She wondered who had changed them. Perhaps Will did. She systematically moved her arms, pushing herself to sit. Her back was laying at wall. She took a deep breath. It was going fine. She wanted to wake Nico up, but she decided to wait to see if she would be able to actually stay awake. About an hour later, Nico woke up by himself. He yawned and turned to her bed. She looked at him with a big smile. He jumped out of bed.

"Holy shit, (Y/N)! You're up! How- Wait! I need to- Wait! Don't fall asleep, I'll be right back!" She blinked slowly to sign 'ok'. He was back moments running later with a bunch of teenagers in pyjamas. They all froze at the door, staring at her. Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Percy, Jason and even Piper. Hazel was the first one to wake up from the trance. She ran to her sister and hugged (Y/N).

"Ouch." She managed to say, reacting to the tight hug that made her head hurt.

"Right, sorry! I forgot. Wait, you speak!" Hazel answered and laughed. All of the others joined in, amazed by her friend, and started talking, telling everything she had missed. (Y/N) couldn't speed properly, only a few words like 'hi', 'ow', 'miss' and 'food'. Later that day, Will came to check on her. He said everything looked just fine, but that she should rest.

"Hey." Zeus' son said, once they were alone.

"Hi."

"Gods, it's so good to finally hear you again. I've talked to myself for a long time." They giggled softly. (Y/N) wasn't showing any signs of it, but that day had been extremely tiring. Her entire body hurt but she couldn't give up just yet.

"I... heard." She whispered. "A bit." Her eyes tried to close but she opened them wide, fighting her own nature. Jason noticed that.

"Hey, no need to over do it.” He brushed her cheek with his thumb.

"Sleep... here." She begged, placing her hand beside her. He froze for a moment, embarrassed. And then, with a rubor across his face, he sat on the bed beside her. She laid her head on his chest and quickly fell asleep.

“Go to sleep, love. We have all the time in the world.”

[lilmissbacon]

Frozen 3 concept

I'mma start off with explaining that I'm not the biggest fan of Frozen and I'm definitely not a fan of Elsa's character in general.

But as much as I love the songs and outfits of the second movie, the inconsistencies and how it never explains how sh🤬 works in the world with magic and such are just infuriating. As well as why the spirit that connects them controls ice which is just a variation of water. And how the Frozen franchise just loves to make Elsa more special within every installment.

I am so very tired of it. So I came up with a way that it could all be fixed and make sense if they make a third movie.

Also to note that Anna and Elsa are supposed to be two halves of the fifth spirit but that's VERY briefly touched in movie (quote: well actually a bridge has two sides and mother had two daughters) and Disney themselves take Elsa as the fifth spirit alone so that's stupid.

Why Elsa specifically controls ice

We all know how we're frustrated with the fact that Elsa is supposed to connect all the elements when she only controls ice.

But let's think about it from another prospective. The first movie is based about the seasons. It's a seasonal theme rather than an elemental theme like in its sequel. So why not bring that back?

The enchanted forest cannot be the ONLY place that has mystical spirits. What if there were three other forests with their own fifth spirits and each fifth spirit represented a season?

And each seasonal spirit's magic is a mix of two elements.

Elsa/Winter: Ice = water + air

Spring: Plants = water + earth

Summer: Lava = earth + fire

Fall: Lightning/Storms = air + fire

This still fits in with the fact that the fifth spirit can play back moments in time as well. Each spirit has their own Ahtohallan. Elsa's is made of ice because it's just frozen water and the water is was plays back those moments in time.

Spring's would be like an island made of plants, fungi and marsh. Plants have water running within them so they can take the form of moments in time like Elsa's ice statues.

Summer's would be a volcano with a river flowing through it. Lava and water can mix to create lava rocks. When doing so the memories within that water would be imbedded into the rocks they form and therefore be able to play moments in time as rock statues.

Autumn's would basically be a fog bank with almost ghostly figures making up the memories since fog is a mist, aka: water. Kinda like the scene where Elsa fights the wind spirit and their powers mix for a moment.

Where the others come from

For this, I decided to look around other lands within that side of the world that has legends of spirits. I decided upon:

Spring = Scotland

Summer = Arabia

Fall/Autumn = Japan

I chose for Arabia to be summer, of course , because it's a desert country so it very hot. Japan is autumn because it's culture and everything just always reminded be of the beauty of fall. And Scotland is spring because that's what was left and when I think of Scotland, I think of it's green forests and plants.

Nothing too deep.

Personalities

You think I'd make Summer hotheaded and spring, giddy and bouncy, right?

No, because you see, as I've stated in another post of mine; Why Frozen Doesn't Work In The Big Four, I explained how Elsa's personality reconciles more with summer. The opposite season of her own.

Elsa is kinda quiet, gentle, diplomatic, practical, worries silently and is angelically innocent (even though she doesn't deserve to be).

All are traits relating to summer. So if her personality is opposed to her season, then it'd be the same for the other fifth spirits.

Spring would be a leader, confident, energetic, true to a cause, dependable, easily irritated and stubborn.

Summer would be reserved, well mannered, a good listener, natural poise and pessimistic.

And autumn would be energetic, tender-hearted, optimistic, friendly and overly talkative.

How the spirits work

I fully believe that the spirits have no physical form but rather inhabit certain things. Basically possession but the spirits don't have control over themselves once they choose a vessel and depending on the solidarity of what their element is, determines what kind of vessel they need.

The wind spirit is said to be a playful spirit and would want to make its own choices. Being an element you can't hold, it doesn't really need a host.

Water is liquid and needs something to be it's host but doesn't necessarily need something alive. Therefore it can inhabit a small animal or it inhabits its own element, hence a water horse.

Fire isn't a solid or liquid but it's not necessarily a gas either. Fire always needs to burn on something in order to burn. Therefore it cannot just make out it's own body like water but it doesn't need a large vessel. Hence, a little salamander.

Earth is the most solid of them all so it would need multiple hosts in order to sustain itself. That's why there are multiple earth giants and not just one like the other spirits.

I believe the spirits don't have control over their actions once they choose a host because all the spirits (besides wind) seem to not know what's even going on most of the time. And that would explain why the spirits didn't get rid of the dam themselves, because their vessels didn't know that was the problem.

I also believe that they need a host to begin with because they are actually susceptible to death. As it has been confirmed that Elsa is NOT immortal and there wouldn't have been a legend of a fifth spirit if people hadn't seen one before.

It would also explain how the spirits drove the citizens out of Arendelle without physically being there; they managed to leave their hosts for a time in order to do so. Along with what the light that Elsa was following at Ahtohallan, was. The fifth spirit was able to sustain itself by staying in its birth place and activated the memory of Elsa's mom singing, to bring Elsa there and when Elsa's dress transforms is when the spirit possesses her.

Why does the fifth spirit need to be human? Because humans are more durable. The fifth spirit doesn't control anything completely solid like rock so it doesn't need multiple vessels but it also controls more than a single element, therefore is too much to figure out/control for just any animal.

That's why it chose a very young child to give it's powers to rather than the person who actually did the deed of saving their enemy. It needs to be someone who will have the time to learn and control their powers by adulthood.

(Despite Elsa not truly being worthy and being a horrible sister, she was already chosen at birth and she at least gets the job done. At everyone else's expense but still.)

Plot

How would the seasonal spirits meet? Why would they leave their homes for this? What brings them together?

The four sided snowflake represents the elements connected to the winter spirit. Every season would have their own version of this. But there are also four seasons just like there are four elements.

So, could there be a fifth spirit for the fifth spirits? A fifth spirit to connect the seasons and if so, what is it? What's their power?

I believe, much like the winter spirit called to Elsa, the ultimate fifth spirit will call all the seasonal spirit's to come together at a single location. Anna would come with Elsa as well, of course, and during their journey, they'd all eventually meet each other along the way.

Eventually Anna would start to feel a little neglected when Elsa keeps talking to / about the other people who also have magic. Anna doesn't wish for magic, but she wishes for Elsa to finally see herself and Anna as equals (because Elsa clearly wouldn't after finding others like herself, let's be real). So Anna goes off to have her own sort of "Show Yourself" moment and is the one to find the location they've been looking for which is where she becomes their fifth spirit; the Aurora Borealis.

It was in one of the original scripts for the first movie that Anna was gonna have the power to control the Aurora Borealis, but then the creators decided that took away from Elsa's agency for self isolation due to her powers.

It's true that Anna having been able to accomplish what she did without powers is one of her best attributes but Anna becoming the light spirit is really the only way she's gonna get any appreciation within the fan base or the disney community. Plus Anna's done all the work to begin with so she deserves it.

With the other spirits being seasonal & elemental, it would only make sense for the one to connect them all would be light.

But all the spirits also have an opposite to balance them out:

Fire | Water

Earth | Air

Winter | Summer

Spring | Autumn

So maybe the reason they were all being called there is because Light's opposite is Darkness and it's plotting to take them all out. They are in charge of keeping balance and darkness wants to create chaos. But you also need darkness for balance, so maybe someone else will be with them through the journey and become the vessel for darkness in order to control it. Because, again, spirits have no control once they have a host.

This could be a possible redemption arc for Hans. We could learn about what he's been through and what truly drove him to be the bad guy because from what we know of his brothers, they were really bad. I think he just really lost a nerve due to unintentional (or intentional) abuse and was trying to prove to his family that he was better than they believed. People who suffer from abuse can be irrational like that.

I think it would be a phenomenal thing for him to overcome his inner darkness while also taking control of the literal spirit of darkness.

Metaphorical-wise it's beautiful.

Art/Designs

I edited the other seasons + Anna off of concept art for Elsa's white dress while Hans is kinda my own creation but I still used his concept art for a base. Everything after that are purely original.

Location they are led to ⬇️

Let me know what you all think 👍

[cheesytoucans]

Usually when I start to watch something and I discover I really like it, I go after people that talk about it (that's how I found you), so when I started to watch zestiria I went after people that were talking about it, and I couldn't understand the hate because I hadn't played the game yet and how can you watch ep 0 and not come to the conclusion that you would die to make Alisha smile because she's precious and don't need protection but don't deserve anything bed happening to her ever

I’m glad I’m not the only one who was completely baffled by the majority of the fandom response once this show started airing. I avoided talking about it at the time because I’m the last person to start drama but like I feel as though we’re far enough removed from it now that we can look back and reflect on just what the hell happened now. I initially started watching the show because I had seen someone reblog some gifs of episode 0 so they were of course all of Alisha and I was immediately intrigued about this cute anime knight girl because that’s just who I am as a person. So I watched that episode 0 and was immediately smitten with this kid because let’s be one hundred percent honest here, I don’t care if you’re in the camp that hates Alisha for whatever dumb reason you cannot watch that episode and tell me that she doesn’t command the screen when she’s on it, and this is something that continues for the entirety of both cours. She’s the kind of character that demands that you look at her and in this way that I don’t think many other characters master nearly as much as she does. 

So go ahead and imagine my surprise after I watch through that episode and get to after the credits where they play the opening for the first time and show the main boys. I’ve played tales games before, I know they always have male protags but you can’t blame me for thinking that maybe the tales franchise had turned over a new leaf and was finally going to focus on a different gender for a change, keep in mind that I knew very little about this particular tales game, I’ve only played abyss and graces. So I was kind of getting a little bad feeling rising in the pit of my stomach, I’ve been here before, I know what kind of fandoms anime with dual male protags attract. But I ultimately decided that I liked Alisha too much as a character to avoid talking about her all because I was a little worried about the fandom and wrote that first long ass Alisha post without doing any research at all because I wanted that post to be a lot about how the episode tells you about her and who she is without having to come right out and say it and without having to know about who she is beforehand, if I had learned a lot about her before I wrote it it would have effected that angle that I was going for negatively. 

So I wrote that and posted it and I got a pretty good response and was feeling pretty good about it and I was infinitely curious about Alisha so this is when I started doing research about her. What I forgot at the time was that the Japanese fandom and the English speaking one have wildly different opinions on things and it will forever be an extreme embarrassment for me that I forgot about demographics. I stupidly assumed that the fandom was of the mindset that the Japanese one had, that Alisha was snubbed in the game and she was now getting the attention that people wanted in the anime. And for the majority of the first season I wasn’t exactly proven wrong as the shit storm didn’t really start until the end of the first season and then the second season. It’s when that last episode came out and I started to hear people say that it was somehow suggesting that Alisha and main boy were gonna get together and that they liked each other that I started to get really worried. I’m just gonna go ahead and say that that scene was in no way suggesting that and it’s definitely a habit of these kinds of fans to read so far into the smallest things because they’re worried that cute girl is gonna get in the way of their ship and that pattern of behavior grosses me out so much for so many reasons. 

But the first cour was over and a big break before the second was starting so people really only had that one thing to complain about so I mostly ignored it and stayed in my own little corner of the fandom. It was the second cour where people really started to get nasty and I just wanna say that it’s not like I don’t understand where ya’ll are coming from. When you like a thing it can be hard to see it changed, I get it, but to be honest some of the fandom turned into 4 year olds screaming that things were different now and they hated it and it started driving me up the wall. I’m all for a good analytical discussion of where you think something went wrong and what not but just about all the posts I saw where people just crying that things were different with no reason as to why that was a bad thing outside of “it’s different so now it sucks.” and I haven’t played the game, so it may very well be that the game is so much better and the anime didn’t capture it or whatever but no one could ever tell me why they thought that so you can’t blame me that I never knew because no one could ever tell me. 

This of course all came with thinly veiled anger for Alisha that was coming from a mindset of “she’s the reason that the main boys aren’t getting screen time to be gay together and therefore I hate her” which honestly hurt more than people being mad that it was different from the anime because you know that no one was being honest. You’re allowed to not like a character for whatever reason, it’s when you try and find a more “acceptable” reason as to why you don’t like them because you won’t admit the real reason because you think that real reason might be perceived as petty or dumb is where I start to get annoyed. Just be honest, tell me you don’t like her because you think she’s getting in the way of the main boys and we’ll both know where we stand, I’m perfectly ok with that. 

So I was seeing all of that as a relative outsider who only knew the anime and all I saw was an extremely well written, well framed, flawed, engaging, anime girl with an interesting world view that the show thoroughly explored getting shit on by a majority of the fandom was obviously off putting. And once again I will fully admit that I am forever and always biased towards anime girls and care so little about anime boys but you can’t tell me that that whole situation wasn’t shitty and annoying to have to deal with on a daily basis.   

[just-a-writer-here]

...depends on the mistake of I'm honest. If we're talking about the Towers, then yes. I'd risk it because so many people fucking died that day. Not just those stuck in the Towers, but pedestrians that were nearby, rescuse officers (and pups), and those that were rescued but still fucking died - plus their families lost loved ones.

If we're talking about President Bush refusing to sign the climate control thing (it's late, I'm supposed to be sleeping, please excuse me from my lack of details), then yes. That's something I think should have been changed, since we're (America, this is all from the point of view of an American) currently dealing with a cheeto that doesn't believe in Global Warming and 12 years to try and prevent imminent death due to Global Warming.

If we're talking about that ship that spilled oil after running aground at the Galapagos Islands, then yes. Again. Wasnt that a severe ecological disaster? Aren't we still dealing with the after effects of that? (Or was that the BP spill? Because that's another thing I'd like to change, even if it's from a different year than 2001.)

If it's the activation of Wikipedia, then... I dont know. That's a good place to get points to cross check and topics to pick from... so, this is my first non-yes-let's-change-this topic.

If the big mistake is the launching of the ipod, then sure? From the perspective of someone who grew up very poor, this would have saved my mom from buying one and me from feeling out of touch with everyone else. (Not that it ever stopped as I kept growing up: we still poor now, 18 years later.)

If it's any one of the movies listed in the picture? Then... depends. I grew up with Harry, not having the movies would have created a completely different me, and I dont know if I like that idea. And LoTR? Another movie franchise I grew up on because my mother owned all three by the time I was old enough to start remembering movies after I watched them. Monsters Inc., Shrek, and Jurassic Park are a bit like HP: I grew up on them and would have likely turned out differently had they never existed, and I dont know if I like that idea. Mummy Returns was a movie I found out about later in life, but if that movie hadn't existed, I probably would have never gotten interested in mythology, so, I would say I wouldn't like to stop this movie from being made... (The other movies are ones I still haven't seen. Oops. But for the fact that I love the movies I listed above, I say I wouldnt like to get rid of the others because they could have had the same impact on others like those listed had on me. And I dont wanna effect someone like that, ever.)

The listed shows above have similar reasons as the movies as to why I hesitate on saying I'm all for on stopping on airing.

If I missed anything, likely it's because I didn't know about it or dont know enough to give proper reasoning for my answers. It is out of respect that, of the events I know about, I left them out. I dont want my tired brain to get facts wrong.

I only included that of the Galapagos spill because anything ecologically damaging like that should be changed. No matter the year, no matter the geographical setting.

Here's to giving an opinion on a writing prompt because I'm TIRED.

Here's to the fact that I also realize I've been doing cursive wrong... 👀

You are from the mid 5000’s and have been forcibly sent back in time to 2001; the years just before humanity’s biggest mistake in recorded history. Do you save the world and risk erasing yourself from existence or do you willfully ignore it and try to blend in until you can find your way home?