#wish we'd gotten to see more of them lmao

[kohakhearts]

mirror world and gates of warp are such beloved anipoke moments for me. like they're so much more fun in japanese than in english because of the speech patterns of the characters........but none of those changes combined is beating whatever the writers were doing when they had alternate world goh call himself ore-sama unironically

[ace-shenanigans]

What do you think about the other SVSSS characters? Are there any others you like besides Shen Jiu?

Thoughts under the read more cuz this gets wordy, and im only doin the characters i think about the most (sy, airplane, lqg, lbh, yqy)

I have many thoughts about them and i def have my faves besides SJ, but he scratches my brain in a particular way I cant really explain.

Shen Yuan is an interesting main character, his status as 'most unreliable narrator' presents the story in a way that makes it both entertaining and infuriating to read. His views on himself and the world around him are so skewed by his late transmigration and deliberate emotional obtuseness, and I wonder how different things wouldve been if hed been born into the world like airplane. I like his relationships with the other characters, especially liu qingge and his own disciples, but im not really a big fan of bingqiu (blasphemy i know) Cute ship just not really my thing.

Speakin of airplane, hes another one thats fascinating to see. Hes so much more competent than he lets on but even he seems under the impression hes not all that great, which begs the question of how much of his first life trauma persisted into his second. Its a shame we dont really get to see him shine all that much, but hes a very entertaining second lead. That said, hes not really one of my faves (double blasphemy, burn the heretic), but i do like the fanart of him

Liu Qingge was my favorite character originally, i like his bluntness and his relationships with both versions of shen qingqiu. Enemies to friends (to lovers) is a trope im weak to, as is the miscommunication trope when its done correctly. His dedication to the sect and his devotion to sy!sqq is so fun to explore, especially as a liushen shipper. I wish we got to see more of his misgivings with the og goods get addressed, such as the brothel visits for example, but that might just be me wanting more sj!sqq content lmao

Luo binghe is a neat character, and a decent story driver. I love how his svsss and pidw versions are both so similar in some regards, and yet are notably very different characters all the same. Bingmei being more open about his insecurities because he has a genuinely safe space to talk about them is a cool contrast to bingge, who likely has to be somewhat on guard 24/7 even with his most trusted wives because of the nature of pidw's world building. His interactions with sy!sqq, lqg, nyy, and mf are all fun to explore as well, especially in how they differ from what sy originally expected. I also appreciate how absolutely unhinged he can be, and the degradation of his mental state throughout the books because of xin mo, sy!sqq's mixed messages, and his own attempts of self harm by regularly trashing his dreamscape is written so well.

I could make a whole separate post about Yue qingyuan, the things i love and hate about his character, and the tragic nature of his relationship with both sqqs, but then we'd be here all night lmao. Outside of SJ, hes my favorite character in the whole series. Hes such a tragic figure that does so little yet so much for the story, and I wish we had gotten more of his story in the extras like we did for SJ.

[iknowshocker]

https://www.tumblr.com/nikkiruncks/745434559698567168/send-me-a-character-and-ill-do-this

Kai <3

hii!! ahh you know i love to yap about my boy lets go:

Sexuality Headcanon:

i'm of the general opinion that he's only ever truly sexual/romantically interested in Bon-Bon so take from that what you will lol

Gender Headcanon:

cis he/him - but i can imagine he's not super pressed about things like painting his nails. like he'd be the girl dad (or fun uncle) that lets them put bows in his hair and play around with makeup. he was a teenager in the late 80s so while i do love the way they dress him most of the time I would have done more in the 90s flashbacks personally - (lemme know if you want to see the mood board for my kai inspired MMC i had so much fun building their wardrobes since its set in 2000 lol)

A ship I have with said character:

Bonkai all day every day there is not another option for me i fear. They truly mean so much to me and out of all the relationship fumbles in TVD they're the biggest to me. I personally didn't want kai to 'redeem' himself for her - i just wanted them moving forward together.

A BROTP I have with said character:

my true favorite here is jokai - i wish we'd had more time with their fun twin banter and seeing them grow back into their obvious bond

there's also a lot of lost potential with liv because of the veryyy obvious similarities she has with kai personality wise.

listen, i didn't hate kai and damon together in s8 (it's just annoying that he spends nearly all of his time with him negating the fact that he should be pissed damon killed him to begin with??) but i do think they've got fun friendship potential.

i just know ric and kai would have gotten along if we'd had more time to force them together - the twins have too much in common for ric to not soften to him, not to mention they're technically around the same age themselves lmao

most of the modern fics i've read put him in friend groups with jeremy and that makes a lot of sense to me

A NOTP I have with said character:

kai x katherine makes little to no sense to me and it drives me up the wall that they put it in s8, even as a throw away line. katherine canonically only ever falls for 'good guys' so putting her with kai felt so silly ?? like julie sweetie are you suddenly saying he IS good ??

A random headcanon:

considering how many i have this was the hardest question to do lol idk why ?? i just couldn't decide 😂 but im gonna go with: his favorite sabbat is probably Lughnasadh since it's one of our biggest harvest festivals, but i do think he's a fall boy so samhain/mabon are probably up there for him as well. lots of focus on cooking/baking/the ancestors around that time so catch him getting sad around the old family cookbooks lol

General Opinion over said character:

he's quite literally everything to me lol i binged s1-s6 for the first time in like 2016 and then it legit took me two years to go back and rewatch/finish because i was so deeply annoyed that they'd wiped out not only kai but the whole gemini coven that i just stopped caring. (I finally gave in because I wanted to know what happened to Bonnie and boyyy was I even more disappointed)

I just find him to be incredibly compelling and the entire parker family/gemini coven live in my head rent free. the complex dynamics between them, the rules of the coven itself, the idea that maybe there's a curse involved and the siphons represent something bigger with the spirits - it's just all so cool and i wish they'd gone deeper into the lore and finished it properly. which is why i wrote my book lol

[explosionshark]

Congratulations on finishing your rewatch!

If you're still taking questions:

(1) If Faith could have appeared in just one more episode of the show than she did, which episode should it have been and why?

(2) Is there any other character you wish we'd seen more of than we did?

(3) What is your favorite episode of Season 1, not counting the finale?

1) okay well, if we're going to do what makes the most narrative sense I'd say Faith taking Tara's place as intended in Restless is it. It's the easiest way to integrate her without changing what follows and I like that it would parallel the Graduation Day slayer dream sequence. Faith and Buffy have a tremendous, violent confrontation irl but in their shared dreams they are gentler, less hostile. It would have been a satisfying pin in their story until season 7.

But that's kind of a boring answer, if I could talk just in terms of vibes over logic I would have loved to see Faith in a The Replacement/Tabula Rasa style episode. I love the memory wipe trope when it comes to Faith and Buffy, the idea of seeing who they could be to each other without the things that complicated their real relationship. I also think Faith getting split into two people would have been an interesting way to literalize the fact that she's her own worst enemy and she scares the shit out of herself. That would have been cool.

2) Many characters! Coming off season 7 especially it's like - I wish we would have gotten a proper Wood episode, I would have liked an episode about one of the potentials. An episode about one of the former slayers that wasn't about Spike killing them would have been cool! Another Amy episode that's not about her being inexplicably evil! A proper Tara episode, especially post-breakup! Kendra! Jenny Calendar! PLEASE I'M DYING OUT HERE

3) I feel like I'm about to say some extremely unpopular shit here lmao but I honestly love a lot of the goofy stupid season 1 shit. "I Robot, You Jane" is so audaciously, charmingly dumb - it is a carnival fun house mirror of Internet stranger danger. It's a guy in a Sentai monster suit catfishing Willow. It fucking rules. I also think "The Puppet Show" is really funny! I refuse to apologize!

[dead-freight]

for the character ask game- edward little :)

send me a character

you'll have to forgive me as i haven't watched the show in full for a little while and i also haven't read the book but!! here we go.

first impression: could not have picked him out of a lineup. i knew his face and i knew his name but those were entirely separate and honestly i barely paid attention to him. he blended in with all the other dark haired scruffy boys T_T ned i'm so sorry. some of us have a lot to say about your backbone but truly you were the backbone of so many events and i couldn't even see it.

impression now: i like him a lot... i have trouble talking about him because i'm sort of prone to projecting and so i worry i'm reading him entirely wrong (this goes for a lot of favorite characters to be honest) but to me he has the vibe of someone who has the world's strongest work ethic but simultaneously would rather be doing anything else. naturally he's in a really bad position (being stuck in the ice with a bunch of sailors with cabin fever lmao) so like who would wanna be there but. i dunno. he's just so so tired but he persists!!!!!! without complaint! he's just like me fr

favorite moment: hard to pin it to one. i'm going to go with the scene where he goes to erebus to talk to james. and i guess the following scenes, going back to terror only to be brushed off and told to GO BACK into the cold for something that seems so trivial. it's just really interesting to see him interact with jfj, being caught in the middle of him and crozier. i don't really have the words for it but you can really see how ready he is to break. but he doesn't.

idea for a story: sorry i am not an ideas guy hehe...

unpopular opinion: i actually don't know if this is unpopular but he has a tendency to be woobified... and i totally get that like it's fun to call him a poor little meow meow. but he's really difficult to pin down in my mind and it just seems like there's more to him than people give him credit for. i wish we'd gotten to see that missing scene where he's supposedly slamming his cabin door and getting pissed lmao. he has a rage inside of him that he keeps tightly locked down (he's just like me fr). i just think there are a lot of sides to him we're not given in the show.

favorite relationship: with crozier... this is another one i don't really have the words for. but there's something about them that makes me very sad especially in the later episodes. crozier really seems to overlook him and treat him really? flippantly? i guess. but that edward still looks to him and doesn't turn on him even when given the chance is fascinating to me. and when he wants to go back for him... i don't know? is it only because he doesn't want the pressure of leadership? did he really want to save his captain? i don't know! and i know it can be chalked up to the naval hierarchy but their psuedo father/son coded thing is so everything to me. the last scene with him... ugh. ough.

aside from that though you know i love a bit of joplittle (o: the show very strongly gives the impression that they have an understanding that we're not privy to. and honestly i love that it can be left up to interpretation. we talk about The Look in that can scene and i know it seems silly to some people but it's so important to me. nonverbal communication of like, "hey, we're both so tired and this sucks really bad. but i see you and you see me." like. come on.

favorite headcanon: honestly? i haven't seen very many that have stuck in my mind so i don't know 😭 but i'd love to hear them from anyone who's got some to share.

[burst-of-iridescent]

atla live action thoughts: episode 6

SPOILERS AHEAD

tw: opinions

things i liked:

love the moment where roku tells aang friends can be a liability and you can see in his face that he's thinking of sozin

koh lore is interesting. funnily enough i've also written koh being the son of the mother of faces in a fic before so i see netflix has been hitting up ao3

(for legal reasons, that was a joke)

i like zhao forcing zuko to turn aang over more than him capturing aang with the yuyan archers himself like in the original. this 100% feels like something animated zhao would do and it really drives home how much of a disadvantage zuko's at. this is the dynamic i wanted to see between the two of them

lmao @ zhao wanting to get every detail of his capture of the avatar in writing, and aang blowing air at him to send him falling over himself. they pulled that right from the original and it's great

BLUE SPIRIT TIME BABY

this fight (well the parts of it that i can see) is SO GOOD. pretty sure it's almost a shot for shot remake of the original and zuko and aang are working together seamlessly

oh i fucking LOVE that zuko and aang are trapped together and get to talk. zuko smiling despite himself... aang trying so earnestly to get through to him... the way zuko actually seems to be listening to him before he hears the word compassion... chef's kiss this was an INSPIRED change

"do you think we could've been friends too?"

the transitions from younger, happier zuko to older, traumatized zuko are fucking painful. the one where he looks into the mirror to see his unscarred, smiling self for just a moment before it flashes to his present reality... next time just shoot me netflix

"he will recover" "but he will never heal"

young zuko lying in bed sobbing as he's banished by his own father what if i killed myself

HIS CREW BEING THE 41st DIVISION HE LOST EVERYTHING TO PROTECT whichever writer suggested that needs a raise posthaste

"our prince" who is cutting all of these fucking onions

things i disliked/am conflicted about:

this is where the show suffers as an adaptation, because if the animation didn't exist, the agni kai would've been fine. zuko trying to dodge, having the chance to hurt ozai yet actively choosing not to out of love, being beaten up, pinned down and brutally burned as he whimpers in fear - all of that works on its own. it conveys zuko's compassion and ozai's brutality just fine, but not to the level that the cartoon does. the scene is brutal in both versions but animated zuko not even trying to fight, sobbing and begging on his knees, and being maimed anyway just hits harder than the netflix version

not sure if i saw it right but it seemed as though there were tears in ozai and azula's eyes??? i can maybe see it for this version of azula but in no world would ozai be crying over burning zuko. it feels like they're trying to make this version of ozai more complex but he was FINE as a classic villain

that being said, i do like ozai holding zuko's hand to his heart as he burns him. the symbolism of zuko trying to reach for his father's love while ozai permanently brands his cruelty on his son... ate

i don't even like roku in the animation all that much but his presence has been weirdly reduced in the show, even though he's the avatar aang is closest to. aang having to take on the burden of redeeming roku's failure is a significant part of their dynamic and i want more of that

hollywood i'm begging you to shoot night scenes that people can see because parts of the blue spirit and aang fight sequence were so dark i looked like the squinting lady meme

i really wish we'd still gotten the moment in the storm where zuko saved the helmsman. i know they kinda replaced it with the crew realizing they were only alive because of zuko's sacrifice, but they could've done both to show how much zuko still cares, even if he can't show it

how are we 3/4th of the way into the season and aang is STILL ONLY BENDING AIR

overall rating: 9/10. definitely the best of the series so far and i love how they expanded on zuko's backstory and his relationship to aang

[meyerlansky]

my mota hot take - if bucky hadn't imprinted on gale and declared them bfs grade school style, i genuinely don't think gale would have thought twice about him (judgy bitch). egan wormed his way into that boy's heart and grew on him like a fungus. curt, however, i think gale gelled with him from day 1. barry's performance (which You Get, King) is very genuine and straightforward under a veneer of bravado and i think that... solidity? appeals to gale even more than it does to bucky

JUDGY BITCH DKFNSKDNF okay but it's true. bucky's absolutely the one doing the heavy lifting to make clegan happen, platonic or otherwise. it's not even a contest. there's reasons it's unequal, some fairer than others, but it IS unequal, and if bucky hadn't called dibs i can't see gale putting in the effort on his own. more fool him 😤

i definitely get what you mean wrt curt being Solid, too, and it's........ interesting [lmao rant ahead sorry] that the fandom has decided that he's feral, when that's really not what i get from barry's performance At All. and we KNOW that man is capable of Absolutely Off The Wall Feral. dominic kearney is feral. the scavenger is feral. oliver quick is restraint-hiding-feral, and even more importantly, the amount of artifice in barry's saltburn performance is STAGGERING—masks behind masks behind masks—so he's EXTREMELY CAPABLE of playing a character that way, with that kind of complexity of layers. there's very little artifice to curt imo, which isn't incompatible with feral, exactly, but he doesn't really GO feral at any point; like you say, he's a straightforward kind of dude, especially with the buckies. there's no restraint-hiding-feral so much as curt is In Control, even when he's having fun and being a goofball. even the RAF fight is very Controlled. there's no impulse, there's no snap decision, he uses the RAF guy underestimating him to his advantage but he doesn't make any secret of the fact that he knows he's gonna win. my personal headcanon is that the fight's the first time gale really SEES that element of curt, but it's definitely the kind of thing i can see him picking up on earlier because... that control, that self-assuredness, it's what gale tries for too!

the operative word being TRIES. because for gale it IS artifice. gale, imho, is a scared little boy hiding behind his idea of Shoulds and Musts. gale has shoved his wants and needs down so deep—to cope, to keep himself safe, but he's done it nevertheless—that he can't actually register them as what they are without getting shaken into it. and then there's curt with a much quieter confidence about what he can do, what he's capable of, and what he wants than gale OR bucky, and it's not a facade. that's actually kind of what i think does appeal to gale about bucky too, that same lack of artifice. if curt says he's gonna do something, he does it. if bucky's angry, there's no guesswork, no eggshells like your drunk dad might have, you know it. i don't think gale is capable of accessing that kind of open unapologetic honesty about his own feelings and desires, not within the time frame we see in canon and imo not for a loooooooooong time after, which is why i can't see him being very kinky without like YEARS of Feeling Safe in a relationship but the guys he has the closest on-screen relationships with are all people who aren't quiet about Being Who They Are. so i definitely agree that solidity and that straightforwardness are things about curt that MAJORLY appeal to gale, and i wish we'd gotten more than THREE SCENES OF INTERACTION about it >:[

last tacked-on thought: curt also treats gale like a person and not an idol to swoon over, which seems VERY RARE among the ENTIRE 100th tbqh, and gale doesn't really seem to LIKE being idolized [self-worth issues ahoy!] so i think that plays in too.

[darkpoisonouslove]

When we're talking about Griffins color change...

Can we please talk about the fact that Darcys color of her casual outfit is light purple too? A outfit she wears in the first season a lot comparing to the other seasons where she only wears the dark purple one (I know she starts to wear it ik seaosn 3 again but after that we never saw it again)? Just like Griffin, she changes from light colors to dark and like Griffin she also stopped wearing her cute glasses (WHY both of them looked so good with their glasses!). It's like both want to stop being associated with that previous version of themselves while they still hold on to that color scheme bc not everything was just bad about it.

Griffin hated what she did but that doesn't changed anything about the feelings she had/has for Valtor and the moments they shared with eachother just for them. And Darcy maybe hated Griffin and everything that had to do with her when she kicked her and sisters out but she cloud tower was for several years still something like a home and maybe one of the safest places she was during her teenager years. Despite the ending I think she has some really good times there. And both hold on to that memories through the colors. Griffin a bit diffrently but still in the same way.

I hear what you're saying and it makes a lot of sense but Darcy's different outfits coexist in the first season. And the lighter civilian outfit vs darker battle outfit is true for Icy too while Stormy's are pretty much the same color which I think is exactly the significance here? Because the Trix were supposed to appear as random if even excessively mean-spirited school bullies in the first season who are then revealed to actually be villainous enough to want to conquer the entire universe and almost succeed. So Darcy and Icy have a lighter color scheme in their civilian outfits because they're putting up a front while Stormy doesn't even bother to do that as she's always a chaotic baby.

Also, their battle outfits are just more practical for... battle in season 2 as that's all they do. They don't have any chill time and they're always on missions when they leave Shadowhaunt. Only time they wear something else is when they're trying to be undercover at Red Fountain in 2x08. Compare that to season 3 where Valtor doesn't always need them and they are more comfortable in their hideouts so they just hang out in their civilian outfits again. (Lmao, "Valtor is a better boss than Darkar" is not the take I expected to emerge from this 😂 (considering all his manipulation of them while Darkar wasn't even trying in that department.))

I'm just analyzing canon here. However, I do think that you're right about Darcy (and the rest of the Trix) holding on to the good times they had in CT and feeling slighted by Griffin expelling them. They are always looking to muscle back in on CT and take control of it away from Griffin. First in season 2 through their Gloomix power-up and then instantly looking to make use of Valtor's unchecked power by having him secure it for all of them. While a big part of this is definitely their egos being hurt by being kicked out by Griffin, I think there's also a part of them that really perceived CT as their safe haven, their fortress. We don't know anything concrete about the treatment witches receive in canon (besides the ton of unfortunate implications) or about the Trix' lives prior to s1 but I think that they truly felt that with all their power and their ancestry, CT should sort of be like their birth right, that they have a claim on it. Which adds very interesting nuances to them as they seem to have gotten attached to it as not just a comfortable and convenient base of operations but as a stable home, implying they've never had that before. There's certainly a lot going on here!

P.S. The glasses were cool and I wish we'd seen more of them by virtue of more flashbacks with Griffin/more downtime for Darcy as I can't see Griffin making them work in her show outfit (they'd have to be redesigned too) and I think they could be a bit of a safety hazard for Darcy in battle.

[aihoshiino]

Hi, hello there! ^^ I hope you're doing well!! I been reading your blogs(?)/posts for a while now and I must say how much they have put into perspective for a lot of things, I really love your takes on stuff! Though with I suppose the lack of presentation and interaction of the HKAI relationship..(WHICH MADE TERRIBLY SAD BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS I WANTED MORE CLARITY ON TwT) I wanted to ask, how would you interpret/rewrite everything about their relationship leading to the breakup?

Happy to hear u are enjoying my silly little thoughts!!!

A big part of the reason I was so annoyed with the reveal that the HKAI romance in 15YL was basically in-universe RPF was that its presentation of the relationship was super compelling to me and basically exactly what I'd wanted to see. It emphasized that both Hikaru and Ai were deeply vulnerable children being victimized and exploited by a system that saw them as commodities at best and tools for pleasure at worst and thus that they were uniquely equipped to each understand the others' pain - especially given that volume 14 is bookended with these parallel discussions of CSA - the reveal that Ai was the victim of inappropriate interest from her own to-be stepfather and then 15YL's depiction of Hikaru's abuse at Airi's hands. Not only did it make it clear what these two got out of their relationship in terms of the deeper emotional stuff, it did a really good job of giving them a cute and fun rapport that made it that much easier to want to root for them which helps amp up the dramatic irony of what we know the eventual ending will be.

So broadly, I think I would've stuck to all the same beats but made it. Not RPF, LMAO. I also really wish we'd gotten a good look at their breakup scene… I want to think we'll get a flashback to it during the final arc but who even fucking knows at this point.

[hidingoutbackstage]

Okay I’m STILL procrastinating watching s15 bc I’m SCARED so here’s my extremely biased ratings/opinions on the episodes of s14 to help me procrastinate (episodes which are multiple parts of a single story will be condensed into one slot)

Room Zero: SO cute and good, I LOVED the animation style, it was simple and short but really well done with great colors, fun alien designs, and fluid animation, and I just like seeing the guys go on missions like that. It's a shame that the animated show never got picked up bc I would've adored seeing more of it. 10/10

From Stumbled Beginnings: Very cute and funny origin story for Simmons and Grif, and I love that they were p much always together since they enlisted lmao makes their dynamic rlly good and the humor actually got a couple laughs out of me. 8/10

Fifty Shades of Red: Sarge's humor never quite landed with me like is has for some people (my boyfriend lmao I literally have to pause episodes sometimes so he can stop laughing. Anyway) but it was a very humorous and in character origin for him as well. 5/10

Why They’re Here: Less interesting than the previous two, obviously just meant to fill in plot "holes" and to also show us the origins of the other characters. Also I am completely ignoring that one line from Tucker in the interview, just gonna chalk it up to the "edgy" humor it does not exist to me. 4/10

The Brick Gulch Chronicles: WONDERFUL stop motion, very fun and cute and entertaining, very wholesome and still in the vibe with what the show itself is. I appreciate the willingness to do stop motion for most of it. 10/10

Red Army Unit FH57’s Adventure: It was kinda interesting and kinda funny but I found myself kinda tuning it out cuz it just felt kinda whatever. The combo of the different animation styles was cool though and I thought the ship misunderstanding them was funny. 5/10

Locus and Felix: Okay I'm gonna be a black sheep for a second and say that I rlly don't care that much about Locus and Felix. I don't think Felix is a secretly deep sadboi whom I'm gonna spend an unnecessary amount of time thinking about, I don't think Locus as secretly good all along, and I don't care that much about their partnership and what they were like before Chorus. That being said, the animation here is absolutely gorgeous, this is probably my favorite animated story in the whole season, it looks awesome. The plot is nothing special but who cares like I said it's beautiful, 6/10

Fight the Good Fight!: VERY funny and well-executed propaganda video, short and sweet and nothing more to it. It does its job. 5/10

Meta vs. Carolina: Dawn of Awesome: Another one I really don't care for because literally everything leading UP to the fight between Meta and Carolina is a waste of time. Maybe some people really care about their weapons and stats, but I don't. And even then, you kinda know Carolina is gonna win the fight, the question is just how. 4/10

Grey vs. Gray: I don't know or care about the Game Grumps and the entire thing felt like a short gag that went on for way too long with a predictable ending. 2/10

Caboose's Guide to Making Friends: Again, ADORABLE art style and very cute having a story be told from Caboose's perspective. 7/10

Head Cannon: Kinda funny I guess. I wish we'd gotten it spread out more equally among the heads Omega jumped into. Ik he didn't spend equal time in there but who cares. Whatever, still funny. 5/10

Get Bent: I LAUGHED PROBABLY THE HARDEST AT THIS ONE AND THAT'S MOSTLY BC OF LESBIAN DONUT IT CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD AND IT WAS HILARIOUS (also hello, bisexual church?) 9/10

Red vs. Blue: The Musical: it was fine. it was creative. The dancing was well animated. Enjoyable. 5/10

Mr. Red vs. Mr. Blue: I haven't seen Reservoir Dogs but Kaikaina was in this which automatically boosts it to a 8/10 (I also like that they have movie nights it's cute)

RvB Throwdown: Fine but mostly forgettable. 3/10

The Triplets Story: REALLY interesting concept (y'all know I love the freelancers) that felt like it dragged on too long and only gave Ohio something to do. 4/10

Immersion: The Warthog Flip: I loved the costumes and the actual Warthog and it got a couple laughs out of me. 5/10

Red vs. Blue vs. Rooster Teeth: This was made for the fans/themselves. As someone who is neither, none of it was funny and I just kinda waited for it to be over. At least the animation of the armor irl looked rlly good

[bonesandthebees]

You know, it makes so much sense that your favourite character is Caitlyn lmao. And I definitely agree with what others said that this show needed a 3rd season to spread things out. Isha definitely felt like a way to progress Jinx's character quicker, because there wasn't time to do it any other way. My only gripe is that I wish we had more Jinx and Vi time for a confrontation. There is so much shit these two needed to talk about or just.. scream at each other, I don't know. It felt cheap to use Isha to partly resolve their issues. I didn't dislike it per se, but I would've preferred to see both sisters interact more than they did.

Positively surprised with Ekko development this season, they fledged out his character beautifully. The ending episodes really had my heart aching for him so much.

I would've given a lot to see more of the alternative universe stuff. Then again, I'm one of those who wishes we got more than crumbs of what really happened between Vander and Silco, what was before and how they coped after - or in case of this AU, why Silco decided to forgive.

And imma be honest, I did NOT expect that Victor/Jayce ending. I just didn't lmao, I don't know why.

Also also! Have you listened to the soundtrack on it's own? Do you have any favourites that you come back to? Mine would be Me Meilleure Ennemie, To Ashes and Blood and The Line (to any TOP fans here, please go watch The Game Awards performance of this, you will not be disappointed).

-🌹

I'm so late responding to this rose my bad

yeah ngl I realized caitlyn was probably one of my top characters and was like. man. I'm predictable aren't I. I can't help it if I love a character who is so wrapped up in having a sense of purpose and duty and that sense of purpose being warped by horrible events that happen to them until their idealized former self is nothing but a shadow as they do terrible things for their cause because it's the only path they can see forward

god same I also wish we'd gotten more of Vi and Jinx having it out. they really deserved to have a proper conversation about stuff, even if it was a screaming match more than a dialogue. we got it a little bit in viktor's commune but I wish we'd had more.

EKKO I LOVE HIM he's literally like. the only non war criminal character. the one good guy. I love him so much I loved his development this season he's great. I also wish we'd gotten more of the alternate universe stuff with him. I feel like if we'd gotten a 3rd season we could've had multiple episodes of ekko stuck in alternate timelines figuring out how this world is different and what changed things so much, like how silco and vander made up and all that.

I'd gotten a lot of s2 spoiled for me before I even watched the show so I knew the vague details of viktor and jayce's ending but yeah it definitely seems a bit unexpected if you don't know it's coming lmao

I'll be honest I haven't really listened to the soundtrack on my own but I've been meaning to because so many of the songs were fun to listen to while I was watching the show, so I'll do that soon!

[snockpuppet]

Now that I've finished Veilguard and had a few days to stew on it, here are some thoughts. Gonna keep it spoiler-free.

-Story: Enjoyed it for the most part! I wish we'd gotten more about how Rook and Varric met, even if it was just a cutscene or something like that. And more explanation of the Rook nickname. I enjoyed that we got long sought answers for some things, while sowing the seeds for what will come after the conclusion of this arc. Pacing could have been a bit better; it felt like you unlock one story quest then a bunch of sidequests, over and over. Pretty similiar to DA2 in a way. I like that there are lasting companion consequences for a few of the big choices early on that don't just get brushed off.

-Choices: Some of the companion choices are harder than others. For some there seems to be a more natural answer if you're going for the "good" option. But there are a few where I had to sit there and really think it over before choosing. I absolutely will be picking opposites next time because I have to know how they all play out lmao. I like that the final choice for each companion's story also has an effect on their gameplay from that point forward.

-Companions: I LOVE the companions in Veilguard! They're a colorful bunch with a lot of personality and often I had a really hard time picking a party because I love them all so much. The party banter is really fun, and I'm glad it triggers more often than Inquisition and they even allow for banter to get interrupted and then get picked right back up where they left off. I also like that they don't always stay in the same spot in the Lighthouse. I found myself popping back after nearly every mission just to see what new little convos they were having. It makes them feel more alive. And I enjoy seeing the friendships forming between party members that don't rely on your character directing the conversation.

-Replayability: Listen, the second the credits were done rolling on my first playthrough I was immediately jumping back in on a new character. This is the first time a Dragon Age game has made me do that. I did do two full runs of Inquisition but those were months apart, and my second run of DA2 was a year after the first. I've never replayed Origins because I didn't really feel compelled to. With Veilguard, I've gotten the itch to try and do a run for every faction and romance every companion. I probably wont tunnel on the successive runs the same way I did with my first, but I do eventually want to see it all.

-Combat: My favorite combat in the series so far. I prefer more action oriented gameplay and while I suck at dodging and blocking I've really enjoyed what I've played of Mage and Rogue so far. And I love that each companion's skillset is unique and not based on player classes like they were in Inquisition. Pretty much any party comp can be viable and I didn't feel like I was being punished when I would have two companions of the same class in my party. I also enjoyed the primer+detonator mechanic, which is definitely a holdover from Anthem. I could do with less ranged enemies constantly shooting me though lmao.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game, and will still be playing a ton of it for the foreseeable future. In terms of rankings, for now I'd say probably just a smidge below DA2, which is my favorite of the series. Inquisition will always hold a special place for me since it was my first DA game, and Origins was more of a "play it to say I did, then leave it on the shelf" kind of game, but DA2 still stands out as my favorite. But who knows, maybe after playing more Veilguard it'll take the top spot. We'll see!

[xjustonemoremiraclex]

rwrb thoughts from someone who hasn't read the book (yet)

The good/general thoughts:

pleasantly surprised by the acting! which I know sounds mean, but listen, I saw these guys in other things and I wasn't suuuper into them, so it was a nice surprise lol

THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE TWO again, pleasantly surprised by that lol they played off each other SO well

10/10 soundtrack, it definitely took inspiration from older rom-coms and I loved it <3

PS I really liked all the side characters! I wish we'd gotten to spend a little more time with some of them, but everyone was pretty great <3 also, all the women were awesome, and I am very gay and very in love <3

Ok, I really, REALLY liked how they showed the two of them texting each other, and the whole editing around it. It was pretty cute

I was living for all the latine songs at the new year's party, that was a nice touch

ok, when everyone was getting down at the party and alex and henry stayed up and stared at each other and time slowed down, I know it was supposed to be romantic, but I have to say it: it was also the funniest shit I've ever seen lol

henry at the party is giving both 'i have social anxiety and my only friend here is a social butterfly and keeps leaving to be with other people send help' and 'i thought you invited me here as a first date kind of thing but you're dancing and making out with other people and i'm feeling so betrayed rn :('

'christ you're as thick as it gets *kiss*' LMAO

Listen, I'm not usually into rom-coms (I say, like a liar), but I was pretty happy with the writing, in general. I laughed at all the funny parts, got emotional over all the dramatic ones and swooned at the romance bits. Great job, everyone

'I just can't afford for you to fall in love with me' LMAO babe, we're WAY past that. On both sides

ok, full disclosure: I don't really like sex scenes all that much (there's nothing wrong with them, I'm just very ace lol), so I usually just use my phone while they're happening, and while I did that a little bit here too, I was still paying attention, and honestly, they were pretty sweet. They did a good job. And, like, I have no idea why the film was R-rated lol you literally don't see anything

again, love the little montages that show the passing of time, while also showing they're keeping in touch and getting to know each other better and stuff. It makes the relationship between the two and the way it's developing feel a bit less rushed, which is nice

ZAHRA MY MOST BELOVED

YES PLEASE I WANT TO SEE THAT POWERPOINT PRESENTATION THANK YOU

KARAOKEEEE

alex giving an impassioned romantic speech to henry, about to confess his love: // henry:

'I didn't want to break his heart' - oh, honey, you already did :(

'to tell you that I love you, knowing that you wouldn't say it back' brb sobbing

NOT CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE 😭😭😭

'because when they write the history of my life, I want it to include you and my love for you' help i'm dying 😭😭😭😭😭😭

MIGUEL DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW IT WAS YOU please die in a fire <3

alex's speech was really good by the way 🥺

LOVESICK HOMOSEXUALS LMAO ZAHRA MY BELOVED

'baby' screaming crying throwing up jgdkfk

I FORGOT THE KING WAS STEPHEN FRY why is this so funny to me

SEQUEL WHEN

The... less good?/general questions:

Kinda wish there'd been a bit more enemies in my enemies-to-lovers film

'he just grabbed my hair in a way that made me understand the difference between rugby and footbal'' - please, I beg you, someone smarter than me - what the fuck does this mean 😭 ppl are LIVING for this quote and I'm like ??????

this is probably me being stupid and ignorant lol but why would alex's relationship cost his mum the election? like, from what I've seen, her government has been very pro-queer, that's not really a secret, so her son being queer and in a relationship with a man shouldn't lose her any voters..? the people who are against 'the queers' were not going to vote for her in the first place, soooo..? me is confused

honestly, this is probably an unpopular opinion, but... the king was not that bad? like, i'm not saying he's not kind of homphobic and kind of a dick lol but i get the impression that everything stems from the whole thing about sticking to tradition and public image and bla bla. Like, again, obviously, part of that involves homophobia, but I think that on a personal level, he... doesn't really care? Even at the end, he's like 'ok, are you absolutely sure about this, cause there's no going back. Yes? Really? Well, go off I guess *long-suffering sigh*'. Like, I got way more homophobic vibes from phillip than the king idk 🤷‍♀️ (I really hope I don't have to clarify that this only applies to the film, and not like, the real life crown lol)

Sooo, as I said, I haven't read the book yet, but I've seen some posts about it, and I think after watching the film I've realized that it's biggest flaw is that it's that - a film. It's a great film, don't get me wrong! And it's pretty obvious I really liked it. But damn, I'm a firm believer that book adaptations only work as series. They don't have to be super long or anything, but there is just no way to fit everything in a book in a two hour film. And yeah, when you're adapting something you have to make some changes, but Idk, it's kind of a shame that you lose so much (and even without reading the book, I can tell there's a lot of stuff missing). In any case, I can't talk too much about it until I read the book, but yeah 🤷‍♀️ It does seem like they did a good job, though - like, it genuinely can stand on its own really well, but I guess I'll have to find out for myself

Also, tagging @silassstingy bc I promised her my thoughts on the film and she might give me some interesting insights on some of the stuff I mentioned, cause she's a queen like that <3

[coredrill]

okayyyyyyyy initial bravern finale thoughts. i think i will be thinking abt this show for the next 7-10 business years so more to come ofc but. AH!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ISAMI SINGING THE OP LET THAT BE DIEGETIC TOO!!!!!!!!!! AND ALSO ON SPOTIFY!!!!!!!!!!

isami off his Fucking rocker at that one point like Yeah you deserve it king go OFF LMAO. i found that quite satisfying :] real talk tho for as much as i call him baby rice cracker all the time i really love him as a protagonist? like he just feels so damn human in the way he struggles so much but tries his best and then gets hit AGAIN but keeps trying again and again anyways. it's really good! and his whole arc of like. learning that he Can rely on others and with that reliance brings mutual care..............sobs

i love that piloting these fucking things just makes your hair grow. LMFAO

okay i know i've been complaining abt the translation of "bang brave" or whatever tf smith keeps saying before he dies BUT the reveal that that is just ANOTHER thing he's doing bc he's a Fucking Freak and isami thinks it's weird too KILLED ME. smith: "brave bang :]" isami: If You Say That Shit One More Time You're Sleeping On The Couch Tonight". what is wrong with you lewis smith!!!!!!!!!!

i wouldn't be atall surprised if this show got the ssssg treatment and got four million random manga/light novel spinoffs especially considering it's consistently like the most popular show in japan lmao. the lulu-superbia spinoff sounds like a lot of fun so i'd def be interested to see more in that vein!!! i need to learn japanese tho cause no way they're getting eng translations!!!!

i feel like. there is a specific Vibe of mecha thing that verum vita fits which Also includes dissonanza backarrow and uhhhh idk the name but that one mf who pops up in ep30ish of gaogaigar and is just kinda like. observing? like verum vita is not a court jester like the other two and this analysis does not go any deeper than Vibes but. it had me leo dicaprio pointing like. another one!!!

i'm literally obsessed with the unhinged worldbuilding in this show. like?

population is nine billion???

the suez canal is still blocked????

if you're gay you can just. Do That ???

like i love that they don't explain this shit either it's so funny to me. LMAO

something something smith can only express himself and his love for isami as bravern not just bc it gives him as a character/person separation from his Human Self but also. bc i wouldn't be surprised if that was The Way to get the queer stuff so blatant, bc he was in robot form rather than one human man saying "i love you" to another and then glomping him in an explicitly romantic sense after all the talk of riding and him being inside him. LMAO. this isn't a complaint beyond a vague shake of the fist at Corporations and TV Censors, just smth i think is REALLY interesting and which i had a surprising amount of fun watching play out from a story perspective :]

i feel like my hottest bravern take is and will always be that i really don't mind the 12eps LMAO. like i thought it provided a fun variety of Situations with which to deal with the DDs and it didn't give it enough time for the gimmick or mystery elements to start to feel old. also i am just generally of the opinion that most stories would work better if you wrote them to be told in X amount of time and then had to trim off like. 40% of that. so i know it's a personal thing but i think it worked well for bravern!!

i do wish we'd gotten to see smith and isami hug if only cause i think isami fuckin needs it. LMAO. but overall i'm satisfied w their arc, especially bc i think the whole "beyond bang brave" thing works REALLY well w smith returning to his human body. like as soon as superbia kicked it i had a feeling that would happen, and obv it's textually referring to isami/bravern/lulu's massive super robot powerup, but i also think it can just mean like. what happens After? cause smith keeps saying "bang brave" or whatever tf when he dies but to go Beyond that is to come back to life and experience a life where he can receive love, too (i.e., via cooking and food AND ALSO via Literally being brought back to life from bravern's heart. who had just merged with isami on a particle level or whatever lmao). so i'm rly satisfied with how it played out in the end :]

overall i think my only real complaint w the show on the whole aside from the military propaganda was that the boys looked like such fucking DERPS in half their shots. lmao. like obviously i'm biased cause i'm a sakuga whore and i actually rly do like their more realistic style a surprising amount cause i usually don't go for that sort of thing but uh. there's a reason that lulu is the human i gif most often and it's cause she always looked better than them by a long shot FSKDLJH. her character animation was consistently the best & most expressive and she was always the most on-model which. FUCKING DESERVED BTW. her arc was incredible and i'm so excited to rly think about her some more and dig into her as like. a rei ayanami clone (maybe even specifically rebuild? w the "your hair grows long inside your mecha" thing) but who takes control of HER OWN STORY TOO and is able to grow wildly beyond being that story point. like i love that she's taken care of too. agh she's really such an amazing character maybe i'll have to cosplay her too FKLDJSHF i'm rotating her in my brain So Much

overall that was really good and i really enjoyed it and i can't wait for the blurays <333 i love it when robot shows are made by people who love robot shows!!!!!

[thatgirl4815]

The finale was really underwhelming, more than I thought. I didn't get the pool scene? Why did ray kiss boeing? also he seemed really into the kiss idk why the kiss was like that lol for example when sand kissed boeing you could see he wasn't into it. Sucks that boeing was involved in sandray's scenes i wanted more lovey dovey scenes from them. Idk overall it was meh i dont want a second season cuz I really dont care about the other couples specially topmew lmao

The pool scene caught me off guard too, especially because though I know Sand has a hard time saying no to Boeing, he just let that kiss happen. The way Sand kissed Boeing and then Ray was a pretty good indicator of where his heart truly lies, but Ray kind of blew that up when he initiated the kiss with Boeing; I think that was coming more from a place of anger that Sand kissed Boeing (even if he encouraged it), so Ray wanted to level the playing field It might've also been the showrunners' way of hinting at the threesome that everybody has been going on about. I took Ray's behavior as more aggressive than anything, and I don't think he genuinely wanted anything to do with Boeing there, he just wanted to get back at Sand somehow. Immature but very in-character. "You kiss your ex, I kiss your ex too."

The Boeing conflict resolution felt a little quick, and it ended up being relatively surface-level anyway. I just wish we'd gotten to see why Sand feels so strongly about this relationship after all this time. I understand a lot of that can be inferred, but that doesn't change the fact that it would hit a lot harder/be more understandable if the audience could feel it too. More showing, less telling.

I also have had a hard time with TopMew, because it's something I could like but I just...don't. It's just very dry to me. It doesn't help that the series often goes back and forth between their scenes and SandRay's, and SandRay's plot has always had more drama, more angst, and if I'm being honest--just more chemistry.

Overall, I liked where each of the couples ended up, but the execution was off at some points, which I'm mostly chalking up to time constraints. That could've been handled better. Also, BostonNick had some issues towards the end that I think needed to be addressed better. Still trying to get all my thoughts together on it.

[autobot-ratchet]

Lost Light 22-25

Lost Light 22

love how pissed Magnus is at Megatron lmAO he talks to Megatron like a jilted ex

I will admit, it does kinda suck that we never got the time to address that it was Terminus's fault Megatron got stuck in the functionist universe, Roddy and Magnus think Megatron ran away and Megatron thinks Roddy and Magnus abandoned him and I don't remember this ever being cleared up

damn this thing can just punch a planet to pieces, no wonder both Drift and the Grand Architect were like “we gotta do something about this thing”

aw man, that casual drop that Terminus and alternate Orion Pax are dead... lines like this make me wish we weren't forced to jump to the end so fast, we could've maybe expanded on this if we'd been given the time...

it was very likely not on purpose but it is kinda funny that Drift is the first one to get shot on not-Pharma's order lmAO especially after he “needed to see the prisoners (Ratchet).” Some part of Pharma was just like “this fuckin hand-slicing boyfriend-stealing bitch”

ADAPTUS, that's the name of the god that took over Pharma's body, I could NOT fucking remember lmAO

aww, cute that Megatron remembers the Scavengers

I also wish that we could've gotten more between Megatron and Drift, but again, we were forced to jump to the end and honestly I'm grateful we got these two panels at all

god. Still so fuckin wild that not only are the guiding hand still around, we've already fuckin met them all. I remember not taking the news that Rung is Primus very well lmfAO

Lost Light 23

this fuckin panel of everyone reacting the the reveal is so funny gdhfsjk Whirl thinks this is exactly as funny as I've been finding it throughout this reread, Tyrest is in the back quietly having a crisis, this is great

ghfd Rodimus being like “yeah yeah shut up for a second Adaptus, we're still processing the whole Rung is Primus thing”

IT WAS HIS HAT MR. KRABS, HE WAS NUMBER ONE!!!!!!!!

wild that Drift's account of the Guiding Hand and the birth of Cybertron wasn't too far off, but it was Adaptus that betrayed the others and not Mortilus

also wild that literally everything about Rung has been foreshadowing for this reveal, his serial code, his coming back from the brink of death, the jokes about how forgettable he is

“Not even my beloved Ratchet will be able to...” oouUUGHGFHDFJ in a way, Pharma ended up helping us stop Adaptus... by being so gay for Ratchet that it distracted him long enough for Tyrest to kill him dead lmAO

still so thankful for this

“Hey, Froid? Shut up.” lmfAO GET HIS ASS

love the squad coming up with their own plan despite “The Magnificence” telling them they have to do things exactly as they say. Hell yeah, fuck destiny, make your own destiny

So Epistemus was the one who ACTUALLY orchestrated all of this, or rather the Omega Guardians speaking through what's left of Epistemus. I'm not gonna lie, this is definitely a bit of the lore that just went in one ear and out the other, especially since Nickel just unceremoniously crushes the shit immediately after it shows its true colors and then we go do our own plan lmAO so like. Truly none of this monologue matters beyond telling us this thing is why this is happening and being a cool little bit of lore if you care about that kind of thing

Lost Light 24

god, Rung still breaks my heart, he tells Rewind and Chromedome they're lucky... he puts their hands together........

fuck I forgot about Fort Max and Red, okay NOW the whole gang's all actually here for real this time lmfAO

oughfdhj Rung deleting his patient files and reminiscing about the first time he met Skids... he loved that guy........

aaaaAAUUUGH GOD... HE GAVE EVERYTHING HE HAD TO MAKE THOSE MATRIXES........

love Drift being unable to really explain what is meant by “be a good person,” and I love everyone else chiming in with more nitpicks about how to define “a good person.” It's a good question! And there's not really a set answer! Which is why that's not really what the morality lock's truly about, it's about being at peace with yourself, and that's what makes the part where everyone manages to open their respective matrixes hit so hard. It means that, if only for that moment, they all felt okay enough about themselves to bypass the lock, tangible proof that they are indeed good enough despite everything

“Ratchet, if this is it, I...” “I know. Me too.” This is another moment that, now, is very sweet and gay, but when this first came out it still hadn't been explicitly confirmed that Drift and Ratchet were in love with each other so I was burning alive inside from wanting so badly to believe they were canonically together but not wanting to get burned lmAO not to mention how many people were insistent that they weren't gay and therefore would never believe that they were unless it was quite literally shoved right in their faces lmAO I wanted both confirmation and indisputable proof that Dratchet was real

that being said, as much as I personally wanted that proof, I'm glad Anode and Lug are the ones to get an on-screen kiss and an explicit “I love you,” the trans lesbians deserve that W

love that Ratchet is the first one to open his matrix, he really is soft at heart and that kicks my ass every time a piece of transformers media confirms it lmAO soft old man full of love... a romantic underneath it all........

love that Swerve and Misfire open their matrix together, love how excited Lug is to open hers, love that Tailgate gets to open a matrix just like how Ten drew him doing on his skateboard, love that Whirl gets to open a matrix at all

fuckgfhdajsk Roddy's speech is hitting me just as hard as it ever did. I've teared up a handful of times, but so far only two parts of this comic have made me full-on cry during this reread, Rewind's final message and this speech from Rodimus, they're both so fucking good, so filled to the brim with love I can't fuckign stand it lmfAO

as cool and dramatic as it would've been to have Megatron be able to open the matrix (for real, like how striking of an image would that have been, on par with/parallel to him standing in the Necrobot's flower field), I'm so fucking glad Rodimus got to do it instead, he deserves to feel okay about himself after how much has been stacked against him

get vaporized, idiots

“Don't forget me” I wON'T!!! I WON'T EVER FORGET YOU RUNG

Lost Light 25

still absolutely hysterical that after so many crumbs of Dratchet and begging for explicit confirmation, I finally got it on the same page that reveals that Ratchet's fucking dead lmfAO I'll take it, it's still a W because it means that all their previous interactions throughout the comic are now romantically tinged as dictated by canon so I was right all along lmAO Fandom interactions aside, I like. Still can't believe this, I had already read Chromedome and Rewind's interactions as romantic and turned out to be right about that, then Cyclonus and Tailgate's, then Drift and Ratchet's, but because I personally liked Dratchet the most and their buildup was a bit more subtle than CDRW or Cygate (though not by much if we're being honest, they just never had a big plot-relevant death scare that forced them to explicitly declare their love like the other two couples did) I didn't want to just assume they'd also be canon because it would break my heart if they weren't. But they WERE... I WAS RIGHT ABOUT ALL THE GAYS........ and more than just going “neener-neener” at the fandom, it makes me happy to be right about all of them because like. It feels good to have seen the love present between all these sets of characters and for it to be properly realized in canon instead of just remaining platonic because no gays allowed or brushed off for different cishet pairings that fit the status quo more. It's not about fitting in, it's about the love, they're misfits who are happy because they love each other dearly and they're like that on purpose and how is that not the best fucking thing ever

ugh, hate that Prowl's right about everything he's said since he showed up in this issue lmAO and even though the Knights of Cybertron turned out to be a bust, at least the crew had something good to bring back home in the form of a whole 'nother Cybertron filled with new life, we achieved something on more than just a personal level so ha ha fuck you to everyone who had no faith in us lmAO

god, everyone's going through it in the non-quantum duplicate ending, I definitely understand why this upset so many people lmAO

absolutely fucking obliterates my heart that nobody remembers Rung. I vaguely remember there being some sort of scrapped arc or dialogue or something that implied there was still a trace of Rung left and the quantum duplicate version of the crew that travels to another universe had to go find him and I cling to that idea very hard lmAO I can't stand the idea of everyone just forgetting and moving on from him forever, especially after he left that final message

“And this is my wife, Anode.” BEATS MY CHEST LIKE A GORILLA I know that the words “conjunx endura” would function just the same but. “Wife” hits different and I am about it

lmAO AWW I said earlier that Fort Max and the Scavengers were cute, I forgot that they literally do have a moment where they talk again and become friends

oh I forgot we actually get somewhat of an explanation as to how exactly Drift started getting future visions. Granted it's more of a theory but I've been paying attention this time around and it makes sense to me lmAO

“Treat him well, doc. He's a keeper.” awwWWWUUUHHHH ❤️❤️❤️ I remember a lot of people assuming there would be/wanting for there to be drama between Rodimus and Ratchet over Drift and I'm still so grateful for this panel for being like “nah fuck that” lmAO everyone involved in the Roddy/Drift/Ratchet trifecta is a good person who loves the other two and that's that on that *bangs gavel*

hjfsdk love all these moments they're reminiscing on that we didn't get to see, here you go kids, have some fanfic material

MAGNUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSS ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️WAAAGHFGSHFDJAGFDJfsdhj

god same Swerve, I'm not ready for this reread to be over, what if I just reread it again after this lmAO

absolutely wild that after all the on-screen romance between Cyclonus and Tailgate, Rodimus is the one who gets a kiss from Cyclonus lmAO don't get me wrong, this kiss is everything, it is an unbelievably powerful and sincere gesture coming from Cyclonus but it's just very funny to imagine Tailgate being like “where's MY kiss?????”

“A present from Ratty. Sorry- from Ratchet.” god... that is still such an ugly-sounding nickname lmfAO the thought/reasoning behind it is very sweet, I remember Jro saying on twitter he got it from an old children's story that he liked, but. I hear the word “ratty” and I think of a wet chinese crested dog

ohh my god I forgot that Roddy lied and said that Megatron opened the matrix when he himself couldn't... swEETHEART........ urgh and the parallel between this and when Rodimus spoke to him before the first trial...

oughfsgjd Magnus and Megatron... it's like. Honestly fucked up how sweet they are together lmAO like could you fucking imagine in any other continuity

at least CyWhirlGate is winning in the sad ending lmAO

god the fuckin one-two punch of Rodimus clearly not being happy in this universe and Whirl refusing the gift of Ratchet's hands... Good for Whirl for knowing he's not broken and I'm sorry Roddy baby you deserve better

I fully understand why a lot of people were upset by the sad version of this comic's ending, especially since we see it in so much more detail than the happy quantum duplicate ending, but like. I dunno man I like that it's left so open for this version of them. I remember it being explicitly stated that this was done on purpose as a way to hand this series off to its fandom and let them make whatever kind of continuation they want, and I really love that a lot. In fact, it's kinda got me looking at some now four-year-old notes I jotted down about some ideas for fics to write. I love that it's presented as “not quite right” to have everybody go their separate ways and to have things end “more realistically” and that even though there was only the slimmest chance of the quantum duplicate trick working, it worked because that WAS the right ending. This comic's story was always more about the journey than the destination, more about the characters and the love between them than about completing our objective, and I think this ending reflects that perfectly

For as much as fandom keeps killing my passion, art is still so fuckin good and worth making and engaging with lmAO rereading this comic was an excellent decision, I really needed this to help reignite my passion, and fuck I gotta make something again lmAO