#which is probably why this series resonates with me so much lol

[sage-reads-things]

The way Taiyo INSTANTLY goes in for the kill after associating the little girl with his own little brother. His berserk button has proven to be "putting his family in danger," but unlike the threat to Mutsumi, this is something that triggers Taiyo's intense grief and guilt over not being able to save his brother. Nothing in the world could stop him from saving that kid once she called out for her onee-san. And obviously it's going to have immediate consequences, but hot damn, is it fun to watch.

[dano-or-not]

Multiple times now have I thought about why the ending of Mob Psycho 100 worked for so many people while the ending of Steven Universe: Future fell flat. They seem pretty similar: the protagonist gets overwhelmed by their feelings of self-loathing and belief that they're a monster, resulting in them turning into the monster they believe they are until their loved ones/the people they've helped come together to bring them back in a teary finale. However, as someone who's faced these kinds of feelings, the ending of Mob Psycho 100 just resonated with me more so I wanted to compare the two.

(I just want to mention that it's been literal years since I've last thought this much about Steven Universe considering I was young and never actually watched the show so I'm just speaking from what I remember and that memory's probably fuzzy at this point lol.).

They weren't that far off in amount of time: Steven Universe Future had 20 episodes while Mob Psycho 100 III had 12 to use to wrap up the series. Steven was in monster form for one episode while Mob was at ???% for three, meaning the latter didn't feel like the building problem was instantly resolved. The resolution matched the build-up better in terms of length.

Another difference is that Steven Universe focused more on the other characters and how they had to help Steven while Mob Psycho 100 focused more on Mob and how he had to be there for himself. Obviously both relied on the support and acceptance of their loved ones, but Mob Psycho 100 also showed Mob's thoughts and decision to love himself, which worked more in its favor. As much as you need people, you also need to be able to be there for yourself on your own. They can only take you so far.

I also think that there were just too many people at once in Steven Universe: Future. It was harder to appreciate Steven's connection with each one of his friends when they were all there at the same time. Each of Mob's friends (and it wasn't all of them, just a select few that were closest and he would want/need to see in a time like this) showing up one at a time made it easier to digest.

So really I think that if Steven Universe: Future had dedicated a bit more time to bringing Steven back from the edge and let Steven make the final step himself it could have been that much better and maybe resonated as much as Mob Psycho 100's ending did. But if you think differently or have anything to add I'd love to hear it :)

[nalyra-dreaming]

Who is your favorite and least favorite IWTV series, movie, and book character and why?

Hey nonny!

(There's two ways of reading your question, so I'm just gonna answer both versions^^)

My favorite is the new IWTV series, the revamping (ha, pun^^), of the characters, arcs, books in and by themselves while keeping the important bits and elevating it all to art is breathtaking. I love how clever it is, how much it subverts some tropes, how it plays with the meta level by giving us the books Louis reads, or what is laying around in the set behind characters. Hints over hints, and every friggin' line counts. Show of the decade, truly.

I will always love the 1994 movie, since it was what introduced me to the Chronicles, I cannot tell you the state I was in after I came home from the theater. I watched it daily as soon as I could get it on tape, I shit you not. (Easily Tom Cruise's best performance, too, imho, as a note^^)

And I waited years for the sequel... only to get Queen of the Damned. Ahem.

I am sorry, but that has to be my least favorite of it all, though Aaliyah was breathtaking. And the soundtrack was good.

Now character-wise...interestingly enough book-Louis came to mind immediately. He is (probably) my least favorite. And I say that as a fan *laughs* He is just... IDK. I know the history behind it, and I know the pain Anne must have been in (and which I do not dare to imagine), and I know why she had to leave him behind... but even though he has his reasons, too, they never really resonated with me. And neither did his backstory. As a vessel he works very well, because he is empty in IWTV, or he feels so for me, but as a character I do not feel him.

Thankfully the show version has completely eclipsed him for me, and I can finally enjoy who Louis truly is and who he will become - quite the feat I have to say, and I love, love, LOVE them for it.

All in all Lestat is probably the character who is my favorite though, not the least because he can be so capricious. There are... parallels to my own life, parallels the show will yet touch upon in future seasons. When I read The Vampire Lestat I felt those in my bones. It doesn't matter here if show, 1994 movie or book, though of course Sam... IS Lestat now. ^^ Season 1, filtered through Louis' (influenced) POV was only a hint after all, and... Lestat is yet to fully appear.

I do not really have characters that I don't like in the show - every character they have is very well cast, and very poignant in their function for the story, even the repugnant ones. They vibe. Maybe there will be a future show character I do not like in and by "themselves", but... I actually doubt it. They're so terrific at casting.

In the movie it is the same, on the contrary, I always remember here that Christian Slater jumped in for the late River Phoenix, and donated his salary, so there is always a warm feeling when watching him. For example. Antonio Banderas did have the gravitas and managed to... insinuate at least.^^ And watching that scene with the girl on stage in the theater, totally unprepared was something else. There was no sound in the theater. NONE. Absolutely breathtaking.

Now QotD of course... (the movie). Where should I start *laughs*. I said it before, but maybe the best thing that came of it was Sam getting into the VC through it. The worst was probably Armand there, lol. Not sure if he ever says anything in the theater cut (I know there were scenes cut), but... just...

So yeah.

Show characters and show have taken over^^. Will continue to take over, too, I bet. I cannot wait.

[wyllzel]

but what are your bridgerton opinions? share share

AAHHH 🫣 ty for asking omg! opinions time 😏

my big thing is that i'm annoyed whenever people complain about the lack of historical accuracy in the clothing, or when people complain that it all looks over the top... i firmly believe that bridgerton as a series of works has no interest in historicity (see rants A and B)!! so i think it's much more interesting for the costuming department to be able to construct these really interesting, elaborate gowns instead of painstakingly trying to recreate clothing from 200 years ago :^) plus they get to use modern visual language to emphasize characters' roles!!! like we know cressida and the featheringtons are trying too hard bc the patterns/materials they wear are what we associate with tacky/costume-y sort of looks 👀

i haven't seen many people talk about this - but i really wish the show had stuck with the 10 year time skip before colin's book... penelope is 28 years old during her book romance! both her maturity and her having to reckon with being "old" while never having been kissed/romanced is a big part of why her story resonated w me ;; it doesn't quite hit the same in the show, where she's probably in her early 20s still...

probably the worst decision the show has made for the polin romance is having colin keep an erotic diary rather than what he has in the novel, which is a travel journal 😭 i'll put this below the readmore since it's a pretty big spoiler haha

^ anyway cressida's gowns are everything 😔🫡

spoilers ahead for colin's weird erotic diary!!!

basically, the polin romance works so well bc they both respect one another as writers! so far, we only have one comment from penelope about colin's writing, which is right when she reads his diary and he finds her snooping :(

throughout colin's novel, we see him as really insecure bc his brothers have achieved some measure of success (anthony is respected as the viscount bridgerton and benedict is a renowned artist) while he's just kind of traveling the european continent lol... so when colin discovers that penelope is lady whistledown, he freaks out A) because she has haters and he has to "protect" her (LMAO) and B) because she's a successful writer and he wants to publish his travel journals, but he's insecure as an amateur writer...

and basically colin has to grow from:

not understanding why penelope is so proud of her gossip column, to

understanding why penelope is so proud of her gossip column (it's her life's work and is a valid literary artform), to

overcoming his jealousy of penelope's success, to

being actively proud of penelope's success and her talents

which is so fascinating!!! i can't think of many other romances/works that feature a male romantic partner who's jealous of his female romantic partner's abilities!! dude overcame his toxic masculinity and basically spends the rest of the bridgerton saga telling anyone who listens how much he loves his wife :') it's great stuff

anyway... i'm not super sure how the bridgerton show is going to tackle the whole "colin is jealous of penelope's talents as a writer" thing... because if he's writing erotica, how is he going to get published??? is he going to be regency nicholas sparks????? also, not everything has to be about sex/romance!!! his travel journals were perfectly fine as they were!!

plus so far the only hint we have that colin's insecure is his weird playboy era, but even that... i'm not super sure if that's supposed to be evidence of his insecurity, or if the show is hastily establishing his "rake reputation" that all the bridgerton men have LMAO

[fate-inspiration]

Back with a few questions, if that's okay ^^ "some fools think that Gilart fans like violins" do you mean that they think we don't know it's actually not a super wholesome, uwu sorta ship (lol)? Also I'm very intrigued by your concept of a GilAlter- if I were to accept one (I think it's contrary to the essence of Gil's character for a GilAlter to exist,but.), I think I'd like your version best- "he turned to his divine blood and not his human side.".

Super last thing, if you still feel like answering questions. I'm curious: would you feel comfortable sharing your shipper story? Like why drew you to GilArt, which of these 2 characters do you resonate with more, etc? And what do you think of CasGil and Lion King Arturia (personally, I love that ship -so grateful for zoro's art- and any and all combos, like Casgil x default Arturia)? Thanks!

I just realized the mistake, but it's even worse than the violins, I was talking about the rape. They think that Gilart's fans like rapes because in fsn route fate, Gil plans to rape Arturia.

(Of course, for the connoisseurs, we all know Gilgamesh's state of mind in this route).

Thanks for choosing my version of Gilalter. I had already thought about him a long time ago and I can say that he will be horrible. But I didn't really think about if he will be interested in Arturia, maybe he will.

Aaaah, I fell in love with this ship. I already knew the name of the Fate license, but I never managed to watch the 2004 (2006?) anime version because it was ugly XD (I was a teenager at that time)

So I was convinced to watch Fate/Zero very late, in 2018. And I was not disappointed, it's a good way to discover the license. I fell in love with the ship at the end of the series when Gil proposes Arturia. It came out of nowhere and Gil didn't really put his best side forward and I didn't notice the moments where he praised Saber. Since I didn't know the stories of the fsn, I guess it was like an arrow in the heart XD. I think the most important thing was the sincerity of Gil in that moment. It seemed like a whim, but when you think about it, not at all and he was making the effort to force her to accept, when in principle, if it was insignificant, he wouldn't have even asked her.

So after that, I did some research and research. I never watched fsn, because I didn't want to see a SaberxShirou and I didn't have the opportunity to play the game yet, but I watched almost everything related to the license, just to have a little official moment between Gil and Arturia. (I was unfortunately very disappointed XD Arturia became a worldwide waifu, same for Gil, because even if he's an asshole, everybody loves him. So I concluded that they couldn't put them together to mix them. Probably because it would break the fantasy, I'm not sure). Then I turned to Fanfictions, I found my little happiness, even reading the most horrible stories XD, it was not serious, I had my dose. And I started to draw humans again just to be able to draw them, and I was very happy.

For the other versions... Arturia Lancer is a problem for me because of the Fanservice. It goes from a small flat woman to a big disproportionate woman, I don't like it at all. I mean, it's impossible XD. And she is presented as someone more mature and rational than Saber when Saber is this King Arthur at the end of his life in the license. So to see Lancer made my heart ache because it's like denying her true self.

After other people will probably not agree with me XD.

I have less of a problem with Gilcaster because it's just an older version of Archer, but technically they're still the same. It's just a shame that he references Lion King more than Saber. But I like that he loves Saber Lily in Carnival XD.

I love Saber Alter. But I modified it for myself and I think others like my version.

And Lily is cute. (With Ko-Gil it's the little extra)

I don't look too much at the other versions, for example the Caster version, I haven't had the chance to know it yet. But I don't think I like her, I think she's a distorted version of Saber, but I'll wait until I get a chance to read her story to be sure.

(but I'll gladly ship Arturia saber with all the Gil XD)

[maester-of-spreadsheets]

Okay, despite being gleeful all week, I do have some thoughts/musings on IWTV and fandom commentary on ableist tropes. Probably will get a little spicy idk

So pretty much since the episode dropped on streaming platforms, I’ve seen people hoping Daniel still has Parkinson’s despite being turned and that it will be ableist if most or all of the symptoms are ameliorated (the terminal illness aspect is already gone.)

And well….. I really fundamentally and completely disagree with this.

I get why people are wary about miracle cure storylines. Truly I am. I love FMA but I think it’s obnoxious that everyone gets their disabilities wiped away at the end of the plot.

But … but but but but. I have an invisible illness myself. Started up late 2017, is mostly just annoying, but it interrupts my sleep every single night without fail. The cumulative lack of sleep leads to constant fatigue and the subsequent brain fog. It’s had a cascading considerable ripple effect across my whole life. Through a lot of trial and effort I’ve come to build a life I’m increasingly happy with. I’ve come to be very proud of how much I can do despite it all. I have greater internal strength than I realized.

And if someone offered me a miracle tomorrow even with a terrible trade off I’d take it. I’d take it even if it was only 3 full nights of sleep a week instead of 7. I’d take it in a heartbeat.

Now, Daniel……… clearly didn’t get to make that informed decision lol. Knowing what Armand is like. But he is super hype at the end of the show and I get it. I get it.

The worst symptom (which, again, is DEATH) is gone. Even if he has some of the other symptoms the worst one is gone gone GONE. Of course he’s ecstatic. Throughout the series he’s loudly and repeatedly said he wanted a cure. Hell, he explicitly says as much to Armand. His manic joy at the end is just so…….

Also it’s not actually a cure. He’s largely traded Parkinson’s for a host of other terrible things I.e. now the sun will kill him, he’s eventually going to see his daughters die (which he’s worried about before). He can’t taste nachos anymore for Christ’s sake.

If the quality of the writing remains up to par than this isn’t going to be the story of someone who had a redo button pushed on their disability. The trade off is enormous and we’re bound to see the negative side of vampirism with him.

In addition, this isn’t a like … Glee-tier style portrayal of a disability. Daniel isn’t sequestered from the main plot except for a few special episodes about how sad and inspirational he is. He has a lot of other things going for him (I wrote a whole post about this.) He’s also very vocal about how much it all sucks and he wants to feel better. You also see a lot of the mundane stuff you have to do with doctors and meds etc. The only thing we didn’t get was a depiction of the fairly common experience of him crying and screaming in a car because nothing exists that will make him feel better and confronting that yet again after being on the 15 minute conveyor belt in and out of the doctor’s office.

Not that I’ve been there or anything.

(I also thought I was alone in this until I started reading personal essays about invisible illness and kept coming across scenes like it.)

There’s a lot of reasons to be wary of disability rep in fiction. Right there with you. Totally get wanting to see stories of disabled joy.

But … I’m not there yet. I might never be. For me, the disability rep that currently resonates with me most is a miracle cure narrative. It’s the biblical story of the woman who can’t stop bleeding. Who touches Jesus’s robes to try and get a cure. And she does. But the cure is secondary to me. It’s what comes before; the desperation, the isolation, the mention that she spent all her money on doctors that didn’t help. It’s bleak, but it’s also an emotion I recognize in myself. That parable was clearly written with very real emotion involved and I can feel people in similar straits over the millennia reaching out to me through it. This too is yuri a disability narrative.

And yes it gives me comfort. Invisible illnesses can be very isolating, and many people have dark nights of the soul where you wonder if it’s going to be worth it carrying on like this, what you’d trade to get your old life back (if I do get it back…. I won’t actually because these years have changed me.) You learn a lot about the depths of your desperation and the heights of your strength. And yeah, that’s what I’ve felt through Daniel’s narrative.

He’s a weird fucking dude with a different illness than me but (not to use this word again) a specificity to his depiction that actually makes him feel way more relatable to me than inspiration porn or corporatized Pride ™️. And I can’t stress how much I apparently needed that. The care in his character has me curious to see what comes next. There’s a trust there that they’ll continue mining this side of his character even if the symptoms have changed. I just really highly doubt we will get something as blithe about it as FMA. Future Daniel will probably have moments as harrowing as All’s Well by Mona Awad (which I haven’t finished yet despite plodding away through it for years because it’s so accurate about chronic pain it makes me cry. But it explores miracle cures as an unsettling fever dream. The excitable anger that comes along when you have Good Days and can really contemplate how much goddamn bullshit you’ve been through.)

And yeah I …. Don’t know how to end this. Maybe I’ll just quote Pain Woman Takes Your Keys:

This raises the question of which woman is a better writer—me in pain or me without. The pain-woman speaks in a pared-down voice; she is a dreamy laser. You can’t tell her a single thing. She has room for only one emergency. She has to creep slowly and hold onto the backs of chairs as she moves, but she has a strange superpower. She cares more about the vulnerable soft flesh of everyone than my normal busy pre-pain self. She aches in slow motion for everyone’s crumbling life. She sees dead bodies wrapped in skin, sees the present moment as death in reverse. She is in a kind of ecstasy—not the way we understand the word as joy, but the older definition in Webster’s Dictionary: “an emotional or religious frenzy or trancelike state, originally one involving a mystic sense of self-transcendence.”

And then there was a day, a quiet landmark on the couch: the first day that I realized I wasn’t depressed because I was in pain. I realized my mood could separate from the bad news broadcasted by my nerves. I was okay in here, in terrible pain, but alive and watching it. Pain explodes, over and over. It’s also super tiring. And then I need food and sleep.

Later tonight I’ll get depressed because I have lesson plans to do, and I want to be more than this ecstatic, shattered, staring beast looking at the swirls. But for now, I see swirls, and I feel the weather in my bones. And I am two bodies, and one is the history of me. And the other is a lava-lamp Ghost Girl with a new voice I have to listen to—no, more than listen to. She wants the keyboard, and she doesn’t care about the life I had before she was born.

[noblechaton]

on October 16th, 2020, I started playing Persona 5 Royal

on October 16th, 2023, I finished playing Persona 5 Royal

here's some thoughts I have on the game and the inbetween. spoiler warning btw - gonna talk about a lot

I picked up Persona 5 a few Christmases ago for myself while it was on sale at Gamestop because while I'd seen very little from the game I had grown pretty interested - I'd had an interest in Persona 4 and plenty of friends who enjoyed the series in various ways, too, so I figured it'd make for a good like. "in", as it were. but then I never really got around to playing it and eventually found out that a Royal version was coming, one that would have changes and additions and such and decided to just outright wait and get that one since like. it'd be better, presumably

and while I can't really speak to the vanilla experience as I hadn't played it and probably won't I will say that based on what little I know about the game as a whole I'm kinda glad I waited because Royal was an experience

I had few expectations given how unfamiliar with the series I was but I knew it'd be long and that there were sim elements to some degree, though I was surprised by just how engrossing it all was. it really does come across as a life simulator at times, with how much stuff you can do being kind of ridiculous in both good and bad ways imo. I loved the confidants (tho I still think there's one or two too many - Ohya literally never made it past level 1 for me lol) and the minigames like darts, baseball and such. every activity was at least amusing for the most part, though the job elements felt kinda shallow and there were some things I was surprised weren't more involved like the arcades

there's just so much here though, all the same, it's overwhelming but ultimately worth it to try and do at least a little of everything by the time the final credits hit. there's so much going on that it's why I stopped playing at times, because I'd stop for a day or two and then think about all I had going on in the game and all I had to do and just sort of groaned to myself lmao. it borders on a chore at times, but it's always fun. there's a flow to things, where you chat up confidants and play pool and do laundry and go to Mementos to do requests and then go to school the next day and answer questions so you can chat up confidants and play darts and go to the bathhouse. etc. etc. there's a cycle to things that's really addicting when it gets its claws in you, though things are at times kinda mundane and your interest in something can vary pretty heavily depending on the character(s) you interact with

which is to say that I really enjoyed it overall. just about everything up Futaba's palace was some of the most fun, engrossing and immersive stuff I've played in a game, snappy and addictive and so fun. I was having a blast, despite health and personal issues alike, and feel that period of the game is definitely the strongest as far as what I assume the base game was like, and it definitely lived up to whatever hype I'd seen up to that point. I loved the introduction with Ryuji and Ann and the buildup of the concepts and themes, I loved the gameplay and how it genuinely wanted me to think and consider my moves in a way I haven't in most other games, I loved the core cast and how despite some shallow stuff here and there they all got endeared to some level, the music, the style, the story. Yusuke was a great addition, Makoto was even better and Futaba's entire substory felt so impactful and strong, it really resonated with me, and how it connected to the larger narrative was great

and then I hit Okumura's palace and my opinions fucking nosedived lmao. it's not so much that I didn't like the place - the aesthetic was fun, the music and style were still great too. it's more so that Haru had been alluded to or otherwise had a slight presence to that point and then the payoff to her was. Ryuji and Morgana getting into some melodramatic fight over nothing? huh? I genuinely still don't really get it. I don't know why they couldn't do that story earlier on, when it would have made more sense for the characters - nor do I know why it basically assassinated Ryuji's character and likely Morgana's too

it doesn't help that Okumura wasn't at all interesting like the previous palace rulers were - which, granted, was probably intentional given that he wasn't really a natural target in the narrative - and that Haru stayed in the backseat for the duration. she didn't even get that big a moment prior to the boss fight, which was also maybe the single worst boss fight I've ever subjected myself to in a video game, one so bad and frustrating that I almost outright dropped the game as a whole before I took some time and learned how the max difficulty actually makes it easier lmao. the fight sucked, the writing jumped off a cliff, whole place was just nightmare fiction

things rebounded a fair bit with Sae's palace and Akechi taking a more serious role in things and it all kinda smoothed out again through the rest of what I assume was the base game. which I'll say - I loved Akechi. the guy was so much fun, from his social mask that hid the insanity beneath to everything he does in the third semester. easily one of my favorite rival characters in anything at this point, and his relationship with Ren Nobility was a total treat

but yeah. Okumura's palace definitely sucked a lot of fun out of the experience, enough that I took another long break lmao. but a short while back I came back around and knocked out the end of the "vanilla" story, as it were, and found it pretty okay. I think I would have been fine with it had I played that version, but since I unlocked the third semester and got the more Royal portion of the game I will say I don't think I was satisfied with the original ending in comparison

a lot of this stems I think from how much fun I found Maruki I as a character and then as an antagonist. Shido didn't really leave much a mark, the God of Control also didn't do much for me despite the Mementos palace being really neat in design/aesthetic. going from like, realistic, street-level shit people to a girl in desperate need for help to a guy who kinda didn't deserve it to someone who kinda didn't need it to a boring corrupt and shitty politician was kind of lame honestly. I know he technically jump started the game but Shido just left me with very little impact throughout - a guy that needed to go down, but that I wouldn't have flinched at being the third or fourth target lmao. I definitely would have preferred Akechi as the final boss, or something like that

but Maruki was a breath of fresh air honestly. I went into the game with relatively few spoilers or expectations but then it felt kinda obvious that his side of things was both new - an issue with Royal implementation in general imo, it all felt kinda obviously new though I'd say Maruki himself felt the most well fitted - and that whatever he was going on about would impact the end of the game

and boy did it fucking whip

I love antagonists like him. people that you get to know and see and understand as a good person trying to do good for others that's constantly stepped on and shoved around by people with less than good intentions, that finally break and try to take matters into their own hands and become somewhat twisted and corrupted by their own still respectable, upstanding morals and goals. Maruki wanted to help ease pain, to erase it from people and help them, and his intent never shifts wildly nor does he ever come across as some suddenly crazy guy and I really appreciated that. he believes what he's doing is right and, in some way, you could argue that it is - or at least that his goals are in the right place, while his means ultimately aren't

his palace and that entire third semester are sort of highlights for me and I can't really imagine a version of the game without that now. I found it all so strong for the most part that it probably stopped me from ever playing vanilla or at least from playing it for a while

this also brings me around to Sumire - I quite enjoyed her as a character and her story I thought was really solid and given some recent events a fair bit impactful but, as I mentioned, I wish the Royal stuff was better integrated. you go into the endgame and there's a meeting of the Thieves and they basically look at the camera and go "Jeez, sorry, Yoshizawa, you can't come along because you didn't exist when this portion of the game was made :/" and I think that's pretty detrimental. she kind of isn't much of a character throughout the majority of the game, she's rarely acknowledged by the rest of the cast (save Akechi, who I think had his role adjusted in Royal too fwiw) and it really shows, though nothing barring a proper remake of the game could really amend that I imagine and what is there is still good, just sorta nailed into the preexisting structure, as it were

as far as the more general game goes. yeah. this is the one, honestly. I dunno if I can classify it a masterpiece both because I haven't played the others and because there is plenty I didn't like - I found that the romance routes were all pretty hollow for the most part given how most of them end with a sudden turn towards the romantic lol, a good few side characters weren't all that engaging to me and only seemed to exist to give me something to do, Okumura's palace is genuinely that bad, Shido could have felt more important, the twist near the end of the base game was kinda whatever, etc. - but it's definitely really good and has certainly left a mark on me, enough that I keep wanting to play it even now with the game finished. I gave it a 9 when I put it in my media thread and that opinion hasn't really shifted much in the days since. maybe a replay at a faster pace would lower it, or raise it, dunno

above all else though, Persona 5 was an experience, and I feel that word is the best I have to describe it

it reflects a lot of my best and worst days from the last two years, it holds a lot of warmth for me. it's a comfort game, it's fun to play, it's engaging and immersive unlike most any other game I've ever played. there's a lot to it, a lot of gears and a lot of things, it's long as hell even despite my gaps in playing. there's downsides and low points, but there's also some of the rawest shit in a game too. it's got a killer soundtrack, amazing presentation, endearing characters and plenty of stories that gripped me. it ends with an exhausted fist fight against the biggest and yet more understandable antagonist you've faced while one of the coolest tracks in the game plays

it took me three years, to the day, to beat

and I'm glad I saw it through

[everye]

tell me please, why on earth this game supposed to be so impressive ?? ..

yeah im sitting here guessing wut am i doing to my life so i feel like share w my sorta theory

in nowhere section, alessa's hospital room after one cutscene you can hear a strange sound resonating in your ears

kinda scratching inside braincase

as it turned out, this eerie soundrack (BLESS AKIRA AND HIS MUSIC—) accompanied us for the rest of location

it's almost funne how such small detail could trigger neuron activation and lead me to conclusions LIKE THIS lol

the first link of the chain was immediate thought that harry might have a mild headache or dizziness near this place

idk how to explain this properly maybe it's just a vibe ..

but air w h i s t l e s around that hospital bed with blood-stained sheets even though it's empty

as if it keeps remains of some energy trace so far

what kind of ? good question

if you recall dahlia's monologue, it's the place where God had been nurtured for long 7 years, endless pain threshold test and immense suffering for one little girl

A Very Heart of the Nightmare

don't feel like taking it like a bunch of empty, meaningless words so let me be clear – presence of God in alessa's womb could have real, physical effects on environment or even more, living creatures. i imagine it like some kind of radiation emerging out of her body, that badly affects a human condition and reduces lifetime in general

yeah just trying to find the reason why dahlia had turned into an old hag to the moment of the first game in precisely short time and kauffman looks kind of pasty and pale w his yellowish skin like he has a serious problem w liver. other member of the order who were attending the ritual could at least develop chronic diseases

i'd like to remind here the order was a sect of private religion and had really dangerous people in it. their influence grew into various areas of town's life, we already know abt kauffman being the director of alchemilla hospital

lisa mentioned the series of strange assassinations of officials who were intending to bring some economical changes into structuring of silent hill's life, also later we discover abt murders of the drug traffic case investigators – and it can be said they're responsible for all of that

the order operated discreetly to keep existing power structure as it was

one day, lisa garland – the member of alchemilla hospital's staff was appointed to take care of new special patient

should i describe amount of shock she probably experienced? it was tremendously cruel that someone who had suffered burns covering their entire body that far beyond the fatal level – and still struggles to breathe. but since the girl was impregnated she couldn't die, the malevolent deity simply wouldn't let her. so nurse's new duties included making sure that holy mother's body – one big solid open wound – wasn't eaten by larvae

lisa was terrified so much in the face of that new circumstances, even expressed her plea to be out of that business which is totally understandable

even though she begged superior suspend her from that case, lisa was just an innocent resident and good soul. she couldn't offer them more but a honest promise

no girlie, work it

lisa had to handle it on her own without anyone's help, because the less people know about what really happened that day is better. and just one drug-addicted nurse from uninitiated is pretty convenient number to control the situation. moreover judging from the newspaper article, it was believed alessa died in the fire caused by blaze of antiquated boiler in gillespie house's basement

ok can't say why in the game initially exclusively medical staff were among possessed human enemies known us puppet nurses and puppet doctors. but we know during its events cybil becomes the same species as them and red liquid aglaophotis makes it possible for harry to rid her of the parasite's influence and save her life

now i'd like to remark that aglaophotis and ptv are both produced by white claudia – a plant indigenous to the region where silent hill is located

in other hand, this recreational drug is meant to help member of the order to communicate with the spirit guides and spiritual realm

lisa in her diary states she suffered from severe hallucinations that suspiciously clear remind of some otherworld features: insects, blood and pus coming from bathroom faucet. even though the otherworld itself firstly appeared only at the period of game? amount of ptv her organism received only grew over time, maybe it gave her some immune against spiritual realm's invasion and helped visualize true picture of suffering beyond human comprehension in this room

im inclined to think lisa eventually wasn't allowed to leave her work space at hospital's basement at all. guess, it wasn't too difficult for order to manipulate another fact in the face of public to cover lisa's sudden disappear

the thing is, she spent really dangerous amount of time in close proximity with alessa. she felt bad at the first time with constant need to throw up, but i believe her state became only worse because of God's poisonous influence. it caused breakdown of internal organs and gradually, lisa's hair and nails fell off, her skin sloughed off and finally melting flesh dripped off her face and body

and for some reason i was sure the case of lisa's death was drug overdose: by accident or on purpose. but things got more complicated when m. ito confirmed she was actually killed by valtiel. idk what to think abt it maybe an act of mercy ??

so lisa's bloody scene probably was an allusion to her body decaying and falling apart, that is to say, very light version of what could happen to her through the years of nursing her secret patient

and as long as alessa was bedridden for life she was forced to watch how the only sincerely good person in her life turns into a literal piece of meat in due of her mere p r e s e n c e

just by being there, with alessa's body

the order went too far playing with fire, no wonder why alessa acts like this. the only option left for her to prevent the birth of God is destroying the whole town and probably killing every single person in there

because she firmly believed there's a fate worse than death

[yeetlegay]

I have an *controversial* opinion and I'm here to share it. I'm a little bit disappointed with the pool scene. There I said it. I feel like they (and we) were hyping it so much and woo it's crazy scene. And then it came. And with hand on my heart I'd take another "mutual masturbation" over that. Don't get me wrong, it was great but there was something missing.

You’re totally valid anon! I think it can be difficult for a scene with that much hype to live up to expectations, especially when it came like a month later than we thought it would lol. I actually am with you that the ep 7 love scene is hands down still my favorite of the series. The emotional resonance, directing, camerawork, lighting, writing, acting, etc. were absolutely flawless and elevated the whole series for me from an already great show to a genuine revelation in queer media. It might actually be my favorite love scene of any film/show ever, and considering my horny brand y’all can probably guess I’ve seen a lot lol.

Also, the pool scene is interesting bc it doesn’t necessarily feel as intrinsic to the plot as the other love scenes did, which I guess makes sense considering it was more of an impromptu addition rather than a planned part of the narrative. It was a good way to cinch their romantic arc and show the natural cadence of their relationship without external pressures or foils to add tension, but the result was that it felt extraneous in a way the other scenes didn’t. So maybe that’s where some of your disappointment stems from, which is totally understandable.

I liked the scene and have all my usual horny thoughts about it lol but I can totally see why others might think differently and would def agree that from a storytelling perspective, while it certainly added something, it didn’t add as much as prior love scenes so in comparison it might not resonate as strongly for some.

[musical-chick-13]

In GoT, is there an unpopular arc you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

All of them lmao

For the purpose of not choosing the obvious answer of "Jaime going back to KL and not ending up with his fandom-preferred love interest made sense because his arc was never about him becoming a good person, but about accepting that he was a bad one," which I've already talked about at length...

D-n-ys (if I spell out her name I think this post will end up in the tag and I'm not that person) ending her story by becoming The Villain™ made perfect sense to me and actually made me appreciate her as a character infinitely more. I'm already the og Season 8 Apologist, but I will defend this decision specifically.

Every time she took over somewhere or threatened someone to get there, she seemed to...enjoy it? Many of the other characters, even if the decisions they made were sympathetic or understandable in the show's context, faced consequences or censure for any kind of brutality. But not for Dy (that's how I'll refer to her for the rest of this post, again to avoid the tag). Any victory she achieved this way was...celebrated? Almost?

Even when she was talking about or engaging in discussions about reforming the world, it was usually in terms of what she thought was right. And it often accompanied by language indicative of destruction (breaking the wheel, burning things down, etc.). The earliest example of this is probably when KDro (lol at the abbreviations I'm using for people's names to avoid the tags, I'm so sorry) was talking about how brutally he'd subdue the rest of the world, and her response was very much, "Oh, I am into this." She traveled around with what were essentially three sentient WMDs, and she used them to gain ground a lot.

All of which made me interpret this character as...not really wanting the Iron Throne to make the world better, but more just...because it was there? And/or because she could? At the very least her desire for it came across to me as an audience member as more selfish than she was claiming it was.

And after season 1, it was like...she didn't spend too much time in one place or with one problem? People would just randomly follow her even if I couldn't think of any good reason for them to, or toward the end, named characters would follow her not because they thought she'd be A Benevolent Ruler, but because they were either backed into a corner or thought she was the easiest end to their own goals. Most obstacles she encountered would get resolved in one scene or within a couple of episodes, whereas it took the rest of the characters one or two seasons to solve a problem with any degree of finality. Which in a series that served to deconstruct and subvert a lot of usual fantasy story beats (like Plot Armor) and priding itself on showing realistic outcomes, made me sincerely question what the point of this character not suffering pushback/having difficulty achieving her goals was. Why was Dy exempt from the general narrative trajectory befalling the other characters? (Especially since in season 1 she was on the same general path as the other characters in terms of the amount of time and effort it took to solve various problems. And then...it's not like she didn't have obstacles, it's just that they were out of the way almost instantly.)

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but a character just...getting the things they want with minimal time, struggle (either from external sources or within), or mess is never going to resonate with me. A character who gets that is a form of escapism for many people, and I completely understand that. But for me, escapism comes from people going through hardship and having trouble getting what they want before they finally achieve it. Because life...kind of sucks, if I'm being honest. I struggle with quite a lot of things and so do most of the people I know. Seeing people just get what they want with no struggle doesn't make me feel better, it just makes me feel worse.

And that against the context of everyone else in this fictional universe struggling so much, against the rest of a cast full of extremely relatable and sympathetic characters made more human through their continued struggles, and against the prevailing themes that pursuing absolute power will ruin you and no one should have unilateral control over who lives and who dies...Seeing people willing to just risk everything for her after barely meeting her? (Many times, after seeing her engage in a violent or destructive statement/display?) For her to come into all of these places (even if the general atmosphere was harmful and bad) and have little trouble taking over and getting people to agree that "This is the way things are going to be now"? None of that read to me as "escapist fantasy character," I actually found it very disconcerting.

So, all of this made me go, "But is this really a good idea? What if she changes her mind and the things she wants aren't helpful to anyone other than herself? How altruistic are her goals actually? Should we really give anyone the power to decide how every single person should live their life always?"

I thought it was a pacing issue, and/or just me not seeing eye-to-eye with the writers/GRRM on Dy. But for me to realize that all of this, everything I felt, everything I questioned, was the whole point????? That was an absolutely amazing narrative payoff, and it made me fall in love with the story all over again. It once again drove home to me all of the cool things works of fiction can do.

Because, yes, this IS a deconstruction. If someone came in, got everyone on their side with little-to-no time or discussion or resistance or protest; if someone was able to do everything they want, to make anyone and everyone listen to them; if someone said that they knew better and no one had the power to dispute that claim without putting themselves and their home in jeopardy; if someone was exempt from the "rules" of the world and generally untouchable just because they were The Chosen One?

That would be terrifying.

Sure we can put our complete and total faith and trust in someone with what we consider to be good goals, but what happens if that person's goals stop being "good"? And whose job is it to decide what "good" really means?

Where Dy ended up made perfect sense to me, and recontextualized everything beforehand in a way that made the story seem more complete. Her Villain Arc™ (which I believe, contrary to what I've seen a lot of people say, has been going on since season 2-albeit more subtly) served to uphold the idea, present since the beginning, that a single-minded quest for unbridled power is corruptive, harmful to both oneself and others, and ultimately not worth it.

Being The Chosen One doesn't make you inherently better than anyone else. It doesn't mean that you deserve more, or that you are blessed with a higher level of moral good. It doesn't exempt you from human flaws or criticism or consequences, and it doesn't mean that you are owed a level of happiness or basic respect that other people aren't.

And...I don't know. I guess in a world inundated with stories about how some "chosen" people (usually thin, young, pretty, cis, abled, white ones) are more qualified to lead or are more deserving of the things they want, that their goals mean more, this was a story that I really needed.

As I've said before: this and C/X/G/F (wow, look at me plugging this show in a completely unrelated context) were pretty much Made For Me, in a way that probably won't ever be matched by a piece of media again.

Salty ask list.

[pretty-boy-omar]

Hi there! 🌼

10 months later and still head over heels over Young Royals. 🧡

So what's your story? 🙂 How did you come upon YR? What's resonated the most about the show? What are you looking forward to in S2? Do you have a favorite scene? (This is a toughie lol)

Have a lovely day! 😊

🌼🧡

Omg thanks so much for the ask, I am truly bored despite being busy lmao 😂. I started YR because of Heartstopper. Heartstopper is what I'm really looking forward to and I heard people saying HS fans will like YR too so I watched it and I was so invested, I haven't watched a teenage show in a long time that I super loved. Not that I didnt love HS or Stranger Things (if that even counts). I liked those shows but I didn't really get obsess with those then YR happened and I'm just so 🥺🥰😍🤩💗

I think what I really love about this show is that the characters are complex and felt real despite this just being a teenage show and being about a school full of rich teenagers in nobility which is something I can definitely not relate to 😆 (I'd be honest, this is probably one of the few teenage shows I've watched so I dont have much idea about this. 😅) I'd like to say more about Wilhelm and Simon's character but this is gonna turned into an essay. I do plan to make a youtube video of why Simon is such a comfort character but I'm still making a video of Happier than Ever with Simon and Wilhelm, the focus will be on Simon's POV.

I really hope that Wille will have the courage to come out to anyone and declare that he is wholeheartedly in love with Simon. It didn't need to be a public announcement, just anyone who will realize 'holy shit, this guy's really in love.'

I hope that Sara gets her sense back and realize that August is truly not worth it. I want Wille to hang out more with Simon's friends and I want to meet his friends from his previous school too. What do his friends think of the video? I think Wille's gonna be honest to his friends about what he feels for Simon. How will they react to this?

I need more Felice and I want her to be friends with Wilhelm too. August should definitely pay back for what he did.

While I want Wille to be honest and address his sexuality in public,I just think that this isn't a Red White and Royal Blue story where you can be optimistic about what will happen. For sure, there's gonna be more drama in the 2nd season. I'm so excited for the new characters, hope one of them is Wille's friends

The favorite scene is such a tough question because there's so many, most of them Wilmon moments but I'd go for the football field scene. Wille remembering Simon's number, calling him to confess his feelings and Simon going to the football field so he can save him even if Wille didn't ask. When Wille couldn't believe that he actually came and he couldn't help but hug Simon and call him beautiful. Like, he's so in love. I want that 😭

And Simon's reaction of being genuinely mad and annoyed but concerned for his safety and health which is a pretty realistic reaction on that kind of situation btw. Simon doesn't let Wilhelm calling him beautiful and confessing his love gets on him. He's just focused on getting him out of there. In other movie/series, it would have Simon staring at Wille's eyes while he's on the ground when he calls him beautiful and probably a kiss between the two to make it romantic but for me, the fact that Simon's reaction is realistic makes this scene more romantic.

[anthonyjlockwood]

4, 10, 23, 29, 31, 37 (im on my computer so imagine the 2 heart emoji)

4 - How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

Umm… that one Lukebobby angst thing, Doordash, the thing with Emi… I think three? I wish I had more though, I kind of want to work on something new but I don’t have any ideas and prompt lists never really work for me. 

But Doordash is inspired by me ordering a pizza on there one night, and them sending me someone else’s order. So I was like, that would be such a funny fanfic… and then I started thinking about what sort of pizzas Alex and Willie would order and it became a Willex fic, and then I wrote some words for it but I never figured out how to do the ending? So it’s kind of just sitting there. But I would like to finish it someday! 

10 - Which fic has been the easiest to write?

Any of the pretty short, no plot no dialogue, thought ramble projection ones lol. Life Sucks and Then – I know I always use that one for this question but it honestly wrote itself. 

i’m wide awake, i’m wide awake (but i’m in pain) was another one like that, I wrote it randomly one morning and it took me like, half an hour probably? 

and, you took me by surprise and left me falling like rain was honestly pretty easy to write even though it’s long. i don’t think i was expecting to be able to write so much in such a short period of time lol. 

23 - If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

I don’t think I ever would, but stuck in my head (with nothing left) could absolutely be revised and expanded on, if I wanted to put the work in. 

29- If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

I mean, part of what’s so great about every other fic on Earth is that they’re not written by me 😂 And I would never really want to jump into another author’s universe and try to write because, for me at least, my writing comes from a personal place and I know that no one else would really be able to write it the way I would, or get it across the same way I would, because they don’t have my life experiences. I think every author brings something uniquely theirs to their writing, even if it’s fanfic, which is something that’s so amazing about it. Because no story would have turned out the way it did if that exact person hadn’t written it. So I’m not sure I’d really want to change that? 

But I’ve been getting back into reading (and rereading) HSMTMTS fics recently, because the show’s back on now, and one of the ones I just started reading again is “designed for disaster” by @nini-ricky. I would loveeee a sequel to that one (although I would never try to write it myself lol). Another one is @cadetcama’s "Home's A Lie (But We Don't Have To Be" from her Meals & Feels series, technically that story already has a sequel, and it doesn’t need another one, but also it absolutely needs another one 😂 

For JATP, though, I’ve literally been begging @flynn-taylor for months to write a sequel to her Troped fic. Again, I’d never do it, because I could never do it as well as she could, but I will die on the hill that it needs to be continued lol. 

31- Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

I’m usually really strict with canon compliance in my writing. Because for me, fanfic is more of a homage to the original work, taking what I noticed about it, resonated with in it, and enjoyed and expanding on it. Trying to form even more relatability between myself and the characters (and, I guess, anyone else reading who might be going through similar stuff as me or feel similar ways). Because the best part about art is how it can bring everyone together through shared experience and feelings, and make people feel less alone. And in JATP, there were a lot of things that resonated with me about loss and grief and using art to try to get back to the person you used to be before. 

37- Talk about your current wips.

I’ll admit, finding time and inspiration to write lately has been really hard. Nothing I’ve been working on for the past few months has seemed appealing to me anymore, and it still exists but it’s mostly scrapped, I guess? The main thing I was working on was a Willex fic where they meet because their Doordash pizza orders got mixed up. And it’s fun, I’d love to finish it one day, but it’s too… happy? It’s not the sort of thing I usually write so it’s hard to do, especially now that I’ve let it sit for a long time. 

I’m not considering this a WIP yet, because it doesn’t have words, but @tillstarscollided and I have been talking about another Bobby angst fic we might want to try to collab on? So we’ll see if that happens, I think it would be really fun! Writing with someone else is great because it gives me the sense of friendship and community I actually started writing fic for in the first place!

[s1utspeare]

I was tagged by the lovely, brilliant @foxofninetales, who is the love of my life and i would die for, as well as the incredible @t-eyla, who is single-handed my fueling me, to share my top five creations of this year! which is very exciting!! i love reflecting and looking back on what I've done because it's good to remind ourselves of our accomplishments, big and small!

With the year ending, let's look back at what we did! What are your favorite creations you did or the ones you think deserve more love? Send this to (or tag) five other creators to share the love.

So, a countdown:

5. The DMBJ Theatre AU: I love the theatre AU! I couldn't choose just one because I like all of them, and they're all very fun and silly and self-indulgent. idk i just think i can have a little theatre nostalgia, as a treat.

4. for want of a rope: I've talked about this one before but if you had told me before 2021 that i would one day make a living writing smut i would have probably run away screaming. not only is this smut, but it's threesome smut, and it's kinky?? hello?? i genuinely don't know what i'm doing but this was such a fun challenge and I really enjoyed the process of it.

3. Tianzhen Looks Like Spring and In Your Very First Tomb: two pangxie ficlets that i just really enjoyed writing, especially because they were very spur-of-the-moment. i can literally never find the links when I need them >:( but yeah those were both very poetic enjoyable EDIT: I found links lol

2. The Swiftly Tilting Series: i started this one partially for fun and partially as a challenge to see if I could even write something this complicated and long, and lo and behold, I could! i kind of astounded myself with all of the plotting and worldbuilding I did for this series, and i'm very proud of the work and dedication that i've put into it, and I'm SO EXCITED to round out the WushanCrew's story in 2022!

1. i wish that you would love me: this. this is why I became a writer. this fic, and the ways that it's connected with people, and connected me to other people, has been the best and most wonderful thing that could have happened. It was such a cathartic piece for me to write, and i'm so so happy it could resonate with other people (ngl i was SO nervous to post this bc i was worried that people would not like the ace! Liu Sang headcanon, but then i discovered that like. half the fandom is ace so that was an unfounded worry aldighasldfjlds).

Thank you so much to everyone who has read or commented or kudosed my work this year!! I am so grateful for you and the love you have given me and my writing, and for giving me space to create and learn and grow! i love you <3

tagging @psychic-waffles, @humanlighthouse, @mejomonster, and @daydreamorama, if you haven't already been tagged and would like to do this one!!

[devilsskettle]

okay i want to shut up about fear street more than anyone else wants me to shut up about fear street but i just thought of another reason why it drives me up the wall thinking about how underutilized and underwritten ziggy is in the 1994 part of the plot line: in a movie series where one of the main themes is cyclical forms of violence and trauma, where there’s a focus on characters resolving the conflicts of their narrative parallels from the past, even if the writers didn’t expect the audience to identify with/care about ziggy as an adult, she is a representation for our protagonists of their potential futures.

for sam, this is pretty clear, since it’s the narrative reason why they go to her in the first place (seeing the witch and temporarily dying, she represents the hope that there’s a way to break the curse).

for josh, she is a perfect parallel to the stakes for him of trying to save sam - losing his older sister as she sacrifices herself to try to save the people she loves. i was actually surprised that these characters didn’t sympathize and identify with each other more, like in the mall scene when josh is like “too many people have died i’m not going to let them take my sister too!” and ziggy and martin just stand there like. okay i guess. that was such a weird writing choice to me lol i was like why wasn’t that a moment for ziggy to identify with him as someone who lost a sister like this. make it make sense. (also i’ve seen some people say that in interviews, it’s been said that cindy and alice are meant to parallel the relationship between sam and deena, so i think that would situate ziggy and josh as playing comparable roles in each plot line as well).

for deena, i think she’s the most apt reflection of her potential future out of all three main characters. first of all, they’re the most similar in terms of personality: cynical social outcasts convinced the world is fucked who actually care a lot more than they let on. and again, she is living the consequences of what the stakes are of trying to break this curse. the main risk for deena isn’t that she might die, it’s that everyone she cares about will die and she’ll be trapped alone in a town she hates, just like ziggy. 

this would also mean that adult ziggy would play a similar role to the kids in 1994 as nurse lane did for her in 1978. like. god. do you ever think about how nurse lane was the one person who was nice to her and cared about her, and ziggy was the only person who noticed that something was wrong and she was the only one who didn’t write her off as crazy and violent like her daughter when she attacked tommy and instead actually sympathized with her, but no one believed nurse lane, and then no one believed ziggy about what really happened during the camp nightwing massacre, and how they both had to live not only with the loss of their loved ones but also the doubt and mockery of everyone in town who thought they were just crazy. anyway. ziggy similarly is the only adult in town (other than, eventually, martin) who believes and is willing to help the kids in 1994 at the expense of her own safety, just like nurse lane tried her best to protect the kids at camp at the expense of her own reputation (and if she had succeeded in killing tommy before he became the nightwing killer, she would probably have spent the rest of her life in jail or a mental institution, which she had to have known - so she also was willing to sacrifice her freedom, and as ziggy puts it, ruin her own life. god i am sad about this)

oh and also the motivation of ziggy to help these kids in the first place (we assume) comes from a place of self identification with them and trying to save them in the same way she wishes she could’ve saved her younger self and her sister. so like. i want to see that play out in part 3 if that’s the intended interpretation 

so going back to the focus on resolving the conflicts of their narrative parallels from the past, the kids do this for ziggy, cindy, and alice as much as they do it for sarah fire and hannah miller. sam does this…. just by surviving lol, josh does this by not only believing in the curse but also unrelentingly telling others the truth about it (and miss queenofairanddarkness actually seems to believe him), and deena does this by breaking the damn curse and (presumably) becoming less cynical and self-defeatist in her world perspective. and ziggy does this for nurse lane, effectively warning the kids about the dangers of the curse and helping them fight it, where nurse lane was unable to stop the events of camp nightwing, and (as we see at the end) giving her closure about the death of her daughter. she also, i think, plays the same kind of parallel role to sarah fier as deena does in different ways, both as a social outcast who is scapegoated for other people’s wrongdoings as well as her relationship with nick reflecting the relationship between sarah and solomon. like deena and sam, she also is connected by sarah by bleeding on her bones and seeing (some of) the truth about the curse 

anyway. all this is to say that these movies had the potential to do this effectively, and i’m not even saying that they should’ve set aside a huge amount of time from the plot to explore this concept, but there’s small, easy changes and additions that i think could’ve been made that wouldn’t ultimately change anything about the movies but would’ve made such an impact on the overall quality of the writing. first of all, there’s this big time jump from ziggy’s story to the 1994 “present” which is fine and expected and i wouldn’t expect them to try to include a whole lot about what her life is like in between, but we don’t know anything about her present day life, except that she has a dog and a lot of clocks and that she might be an alcoholic. we don’t even know what her job is. we have no idea what she’s been doing for 16 years. it takes maybe two extra minutes at the beginning of her introduction in part 2 to show a little bit more of her daily life, or a line or two to give us an idea of what that might look like. for character development/relationship building purposes, she needs to actually have a conversation with other people lol. she shares how much silent screen time with martin in part 3? another criminally underutilized character but don’t even get me started.

even in the 1978 plot line, her character is established almost entirely by tell-not-show; everyone is like oh she’s trouble! she’s a creep she’s a weirdo! but we see very little of her actually getting up to trouble or doing anything out of the norm (all of the characters in 1978 suffer from this writing problem, to be fair). then in the 1994 part of part 3, the way that they show her reactions to what’s happening is through flashback to her in 1978, and first of all it’s like. we just saw that we know what happened. second, it’s lazy writing! we see nothing new from her basically the entire movie. (i’m specifically thinking about the part where she learns that nick is behind the curse - cut to a series of flashbacks - moving on with the plot. then at the mall, when she sees the tree - cut to a flashback of the camp nightwing - deena comes up to her: “this is it.” “yup.” and she walks away and leaves deena to her own flashback to her sarah fier vision. and that’s the full extent of either of their emotional reactions to that moment. missed opportunity imo. and sure, maybe that’s the character - she’s not a people person lol - but you can write characters who are closed off and blunt while still being interesting and emotionally compelling and not basically stock characters. 1978 ziggy and deena are actually both examples of this so i’m mainly disappointed because i know they could’ve done better lol) 

anyway. i’m not saying they needed to derail the main plot to make ziggy the main character or anything, i’m just saying that with better pacing and attention to her as a character, i think these movies could’ve had the depth and emotional resonance they were aiming for and in fact it would strengthen the themes that are central to the main plot and the protagonists without having to change anything major, making a small shift that could’ve made these movies go from mediocre and forgettable to actually pretty damn good. anyway netflix call me i have ideas for you <3

[elencelebrindal]

If I'm not mistaken you've now read/watched the three mxtx works and WoH. How would you rank them following personal preference? Which main couple did you like the most? Favorite plot twists in all four?

Yep, I did. I still have to read Faraway Wanderers though. Can't wait to.

This came out to be quite a long post, so I'll put it under the read more thingy.

Now, how would I rank them?

I'll have Tian Guan Ci Fu at the top, no doubts. It's my absolute favorite among all these four, and will probably remain my favorite even after I finally get to read the huge thing that's 2ha. It's the perfect balance of a story with no characters left unexplained (except for the minor ones and RIP Hua Cheng's backstory, why did mxtx rob us so much), of characters being unique all in different ways, and of a romance that, while being absolutely the main focus of the novel, is not overwhelming. For me, an aro/ace person, the romance written in TGCF is so good that it made even me stupidly happy. I don't get such big smiles on my face while reading my own romantic content.

This is the ONLY novel I've ever read that doesn't have a single character I hate in it. Only one, maybe two at most, that I dislike. That's it. Everyone's good. Everyone.

Then I'll definitely have Word of Honor. Just like TGCF, it's a really good balance between an interesting story (I was literally squirming in my seat while impatiently waiting for things to be revealed, enjoying every second of it) and a subtle romance that was still obvious enough to make me wonder what the hell happened with censorship in this drama. Not that I'm complaining though.

Almost all the characters are incredibly good. They have depth to them, all the main ones have either a satisfying backstory or a beautifully crafted development.

And this is it for the ranking. I wrote way more than I should have, but oh well.

After that, it's a tie between Mo Dao Zu Shi and Scum Villain. I don't want to favor one over the other, because I genuinely like them the same. Scum Villain is really underrated, and while I understand it somewhat, it's really unfair.

MDZS (and The Untamed) has a story that draws you to it, especially if you (like me) have an obsession with all things dark and spooky and terrifying like the demonic cultivation in this, like the whole mystery they have to solve with body parts leading them to the solution. The drama, as good as it was, really didn't do justice to the spook factor of using dismembered parts of a corpse to move around.

SVSSS is straight up weird, literally an isekai but make it Chinese. I think the best part of it is Shen Yuan panicking and cussing everyone out every time something happens around him, though... I really loved the story and the way it played out. I especially liked how the novel kept mentioning Proud Immortal Demon Way and compared the events of that book to the events that were happening in that book's world.

But why do I prefer Word of Honor to them? Well, it's simple. There's some aspects of the romance that don't resonate well with me.

WangXian is a beautiful couple, and they deserve all the happiness in the world (they have a canonic son!!!!!!!!), but Wei WuXian's initial obliviousness made me really uncomfortable at times. Not because he didn't know Lan WangJi was in love with him (the fool! thank goodness for Guanyin Temple), but because he kept teasing Lan WangJi about it while the latter was drunk. I mean, I get it. If you don't know, you don't realize what you're doing. But as a person that easily suffers from people making fun of me behind my back... it kinds struck a nerve. I still love them to pieces, though, they're so good together.

BingQiu, well... this is a rollercoaster of a couple. Again, I absolutely love them together, but some parts come off almost as scenes where consent is thrown to the wind. As a reader you know Shen QingQiu is willing and in love (gods, they married each other, I'd be a fool to say the opposite), but there should be a limit to how many times a willing person should say "No" in such a novel. This is mostly me being my aro/ace self, though. I don't really understand what goes on in the world of intimacy between people because I (literally) don't give a fuck, so I'm probably reading too much where there's too little. Don't take this as me not liking BingQiu, I'm in love with them and I desperately need more content.

Favorite plot twists, eh? Okay, big SPOILER ALERT from here onwards. And I mean it. BIG. SPOILER. ALERT.

Now, which main couple did I like the most?

Hualian. I don't even need to think about it. Bonus point because they're both out of their minds and the extras show it.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. I never have smiles so big and goofy in front of anything else, not even my own stuff. Hualian genuinely makes me happy.

Stop reading if you haven't finished all four of these, please.

...

Okay, here I go.

WoH:

Wen KeXing faking his death and telling basically everyone but Zhou ZiShu.

The villain being Zhao Jing; I was actually fooled and thought the main bastard of the series was Gao Chong.

Episode 35, and I'm not saying anything else. Although, as soon as that son of a bitch put his hands on Cao Weining's face like that, I genuinely knew what was going to happen.

The hairpin being the key for the armory. That was so stunning I had to pause the episode for a second and take a walk around the house.

MDZS:

Jin GuangYao being the villain. And being an amazing villain, on top of that.

Nie Huaisang. Fuck's sake, that man fooled the entire fandom just like that. I don't think many people realized he was the one behind everything.

The golden core transplant reveal. I'm sure that more experienced readers and viewers (aka people that had read/watched a ton more cultivation world stuff) had hints of it, but when I watched The Untamed I never read/watched anything remotely close to this genre. It hit me like a brick and I sat in front of the screen in shock.

SVSSS:

Shang QingHua being Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky. It's such a silly thing, but it made me pause for a good five minutes. I wasn't expecting it in the slightest.

The whole thing with the Old Palace Master. The man belongs to the dumpster he never got thrown into.

Tianlang-Jun not actually being the villain. Poor demon, he just wanted to continue with the questionable hobby of reading porn and daydreaming about Shen QingQiu's relationships.

I think I had another one, but it's late and I'm probably forgetting it.

TGCF:

Oh boy, where do I belong? Ah yes, the entirety of book 4. Took me out on the spot.

Jun Wu being Bai WuXiang completely blew me away. That was probably the biggest plot twist in the history of plot twists.

Also, Ling Wen knowing, and her being the creator of the Brocade Immortal.

Fu Yao and Nan Feng being Feng Xin and Mu Qing. For some reason, even if it's kinda obvious when you take a good look at them, it never clicked before being revealed.

On the same note, Ming Yi being He Xuan, and the Earth Master being actually dead. What a ride that arc has been for me.

One of the most important details, however... I got it myself. The ring Hua Cheng gives to Xie Lian. I see so many people saying that they didn't expect the ring to be his ashes, but I did something I generally can't stop myself from doing. I guessed something tremendously important by accident, something I do with many many books so I can ruin the experience for myself. I was literally sitting down, taking a break from reading (I devoured TGCF in 3 days, I needed that break lol), and all of a sudden this goddamn revelation descend upon me like the holy spirit, completely out of the blue. I just sat up, looked at the screen, and went "the ring is is fucking ashes, isn't it?", and completely ruined the surprise for myself.

And this is it.

If there's more I forgot (probably) I don't know. For now, this is my answer. Way too long, as always.

[albelen]

book talk: oathbringer

So. MUCH. HAPPENED.

Granted, it took me two months to read this because I had finals and sometimes I was not in the right headspace to read.

Where do I even begin? My thoughts, as always, are so scattered and since I have the smaller copy of the book I didn't use any sticky notes to write my comments, but instead just doggy-eared some of the pages I deemed important / I liked:

● this is from a conversation between Jasnah and Dalinar about the claims of the latter's heresy:

"I don't mind people believing what works for them, Uncle. That's something nobody ever seems to understand- I have no stake in their beliefs. I don't need company to be confident."

Among all the characters in the book, I feel like I respect Jasnah more than anyone. Her intelligence and confidence in herself and in her work are the things I admire about her a lot.

In particular, I resonate with her when it comes to religious views, which I'm not gonna talk about because that's a conversation for another day.

● there is a page of Moash marching with the parshman and Voidbringers, he's contemplating about the how humans can't govern themselves.

I honestly don't remember why I thought this was an important page, but upon re-reading it there's this line:

Moash had failed Kaladin and the others- but that was merely how men were in this debased age. He couldn't be blamed. He was a product of his own culture.

Now, I don't want dismiss Moash's hatred for Elhokar and the lighteyes, he's more than entitled to feel that way after his grandparents were killed unfairly, but the fact that he thought he couldn't be blamed for his actions and that he is what he is because of his culture... that's just way too easy, Moash. Just because the society you grew up in is as is, doesn't mean you just take it, storming man. I feel so strongly about this because I love everyone from bridge four, but after what Moash did in this book... I don't know if there's a way for him to redeem himself.

● Adolin hanging out with Bridge Four!! ISTG, Adolin is the real GOAT in this series.

I feel for him when he felt small, being surrounded by Radiants.

I mean, who wouldn't? Your father, your brother, your fiancé, your cousin and your friend. Personally I would have had very low esteem in myself, but Adolin fought through it and just did what he can. He is a character I admire a lot too. Because despite his upbringing, his background and his privileges, he still choses to be humble, be nice to anyone and work hard.

All in all, he's really the most likeable character imo. He and Shallan haven't known each other for the longest time, but it really feels like he's sincere with his feelings despite his prior reputation with girls haha

● Kaladin's friendship with Adolin and Shallan: I know our favorite bridgeboy has his Bridge Four and thinks that's they are all he needs, but I can't help but feel relieved that Kal has Adolin and Shallan.

Like I've said previously, I don't think Kal had any romantic feelings for Shallan, but he thought he did because she reminded him of Tien. His friendship with the two newly-weds are important and it's gonna help him along the way. I love that for Kal ;w;

● I need a Wit in my life, I need him to make me see things I don't see, to make my reflect and realise all the important things in life.

There is this line I particularly liked when he found Shallan:

"[...] You mostly failed. This is life. The longer you live, the more you fail. Failure is the mark of a life well lived. [...]"

This is something a lot of us should probably hear, because I know I do especially when I have doubts in myself and I'm scared of doing things for the fear of failing.

● I don't like Taravangian, and I know he's just trying to save the world but also just actually trying to save his people but when he told Dalinar this:

"This is the sacrifice, isn't it?" Taravangian said softly. "Someone must bear the responsbility. Someone must be dragged down by it, ruined by it. Someone must stain their soul so others may live."

This reminded me of someone, but for the sake of not going into a more serious tone I shall leave it like that.

● As this post is getting longer, these two lines are the last ones that I'm gonna mention:

"I will take responsibility for what I have done," Dalinar whispered. "If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man."

I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory. Dalinar frustrated me all throughout this book. I wanted to slap young Dalinar, especially because of how he treated Evi. I have to admit he was so cool in the last part of the book lol I loved his interactions with Lift.

I kinda wish we had interactions between Lift and Kaladin - I hope we got one in the next book.

And the last line and the one that gave my goosebumps:

She pulled him tight, “Maybe you don’t have to save anyone, Kaladin. Maybe it’s time for someone to save you.”

Kaladin always thinks of saving others, but never thinks that maybe he’s the one who needs to be saved. He helped the parshman, he bonded with the Wall Guards... he cares so deeply for anyone he barely thinks of himself. 

Oh, Kaladin, I just wanna wrap him in a blanket and give him a warm soup. :(

I’m itching to read Rhythm of War, but I think my brain needs a break from fantasy books.