#they really lied claiming it was a completely new character

[shouldprobablybereading]

Oh wow zellion is in this book, who could have guessed. Everyone was so sublte.

#this sounds so salty lol #I’m not unless you’re the tumblr/instagram algoritm #I was actually only spoiled on it being sigzil like an hour before I read that section #when ’zellion would use auxiliary’ popped up untagged in my feed #which is pretty impressive #ssp4 #the sunlit man #zellion #now I have to go through the tag and see if someone managed to coin him as sigzil a year early #he was so many people at that point it wouldn’t surprise me #this also explains why he didn’t get a miniature #they really lied claiming it was a completely new character

[artist-issues]

My curiosity keeps knocking, so I've gotta pull the thread. Why would you erase Joker from existence if you could?

I'll break it down:

1. The Joker has no point.

There is not one consistent message in The Joker. It's not trying to "say" anything at all, because it commits to nothing. Instead, it almost says several things. It almost comments on the haves versus the have-nots. It almost comments on mental illness. It almost comments on society's treatment of those with mental illnesses. It almost comments on the government's spending. It almost comments on violence and comedy. But everything it tries to comment on feels like a sentence that gets cut off at the halfway point; after telling you the bad news and promising good news, it fails to deliver.

I'll tell you how it does this. Arthur Fleck is introduced as mentally ill. (As in, there was a developmental problem with his brain chemistry that causes him to miss social cues and laugh nervously.) This means that when he is mistreated by background characters for "being different," the audience should start to feel sorry for him and consider how a mentally ill person should be treated. But wait. He's not actually mentally ill because of a diagnosable problem with his brain chemistry—he claims he feels clearer and better when he's off his meds. Add that to the revelation that he wasn't born with a brain-chemistry issue. He was abused by his mom's ex. So, maybe he's not actually "crazy." Maybe, he's seeing the world as it really is? After all, it's been dark and terrible for him since he was a child. Or no, because what about that laughing tick, that's not normal, right? And he's hallucinating a life with a girl he's attracted to, and believes it enough to walk into her apartment like that's normal. So is he crazy, or just the only one responding correctly to a world as dark as he is?

The movie won't tell you. It starts a sentence, then cuts off before any thought or truth statement can be completed.

The movie also sets itself up as if those who have should be taking responsibility for society's "have-nots." Or it starts to. Mr. Wayne is introduced as directly responsible for the hardship Mrs. Fleck has fallen into. He is Arthur's father, and should be caring for him. But instead, he beats up and ignores the guy most entitled to, and in need of, his help. Just like the way he ignores the poor people in his city, right? But wait. No. Maybe none of that is true. Maybe Mr. Wayne is entirely innocent of abandoning Arthur and his mother—this was all the delusion of a selfish drug-addicted woman, and the rumors she's spreading ultimately lead to the assassination, not only of Mr. Wayne's good character, but of his actual life. And his wife's. So is the character who has power and influence and badmouths the poor a portrayed in a negative light, or a positive light? Is this character a selfish rich person who cares nothing for those less fortunate than himself, or is he just one more guy who could've been good if others' cruelty (Mrs. Fleck's lies) hadn't pushed him "past the breaking point?" Does that justify his cruelty, if it's true?

Both. Neither. Nothing at all. The movie won't tell you.

So you can pick whatever ending you want. But. No you can't. You can't even do that. Because guess what? It's all in Arthur Fleck, inmate of Arkham Asylum's, crazy head. Maybe none of it was real.

2. The Joker is therefore only successful as a piece of entertainment.

Everyone could've guessed that as soon as they saw it was a movie about the Joker. Nobody needed this movie in any sense. We already know more than one origin story for the Joker, as a character. We've already done-to-death every interpretation of his craziness. Everybody knows who he is and what he's like. So obviously, this was just going to be entertaining.

That's bad enough. Stories are supposed to remind you of goodness, beauty, and truth. Why? I'm not going to dissect it because everyone can read the pinned post on my blog. But because: the world's dark enough already, and it's easy to lose your sense of goodness, beauty, and truth. A story, even if it's a tragedy, even if it has no "happy ending," can still take you out of your present state of mind, sit you down in a fresh state of mind, and remind you of truth. Being "entertaining" is just one of the tools that the story uses to take you there. Or it's supposed to be.

When you take the point, the truth, the message, the "theme," out of a story, then it's just the Romans distracting the populace with coliseum spectacle so they forget that they're losing money and wasting their lives. Woohoo. "Fun. Entertainment."

You can disagree with me about that if you want. You can believe, like many I know, "it's fine to just turn off your brain and be entertained! Not everything has to mean something! I bet you're fun at parties!" Okay, cool, so you like being entertained, and The Joker entertained you.

The problem is, what were you being entertained by?

Because:

3. The Joker increases an appetite for evil in the audience.

I don't care. I said it. It's painfully obvious.

First of all, you came here to what? Watch the bad guy lose and the good guy win? No. This movie's got no Batman. You came to glut yourself on two hours of the bad guy with no pesky good guy to share his spotlight.

Is that too harsh? Maybe you just came in expecting the Joker to be about how a good man goes bad. Okay. Uplifting. But sure, maybe a cautionary tale could be useful.

But that's not what you get with the Joker. We already established: there's no lesson, no point, to this movie besides entertainment.

And I don't just mean "aw booo, there was way too much icky blood and scary suspenseful music. Oh no, a movie about a villain had villainy in it!!"

Nope.

I mean, tell me why Arthur Fleck only has moments of peace and transcendence after he murders someone? Why's the sunlight warming him up, like a benevolent gift from the heavens, in the shot after he smothers his mother with a pillow? Why are those somber strings playing out a ditty he can "be himself" and dance to after he shoots three young men? Why is he only experiencing clarity after he kills?

Why are the most "interesting" parts of Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal the parts where the character is killing, stealing, or thinking about killing?

Why is so much effort put into telling the story as if Arthur Fleck is sympathetic, no matter which way you look at it? He only kills mean people. Except his mother. Oh but she was kind of mean, too. Never mind that whatever caused her to ignore, lie, and abuse her son was also played off, in the movie, like a mental illness. The very thing we're meant to feel sorry for Arthur about.

The movie won't tell you who's right or wrong. But it makes you see everything through Arthur's eyes, with nobody to stop him or correct him or offer a differing point of view—and that alone is dangerous. Your mirror neurons are going to make you sympathize with that main character, regardless of how heinous his actions are, when the storytellers are so careful to offer you all these reasons why his actions were "justified."

The Joker was invented to have a Batman. Introduce a villain—even a sympathetic villain—but you have to also introduce the opposite of that villain. It can be one line of dialogue; it doesn't have to be a hero. But you have to say something about the evil when it is represented. Instead of inviting everyone to feel for the villain...then leaving them feeling vaguely satisfied when he commits atrocities. They can't help it. It's the first time he's looked at peace, or in control of anything. That's how the movie is made.

So you're entertained by looking for a statement that isn't there—or by watching one man brutally slay five people, one of whom is his mother, because you were just so excited to see some blood, to see a man snap. Panem et circuses. At its finest. And you paid for it. Smart. Cultured, of you.

I'd wipe that movie out of existence and force the writers and directors to stare at a wall while sad violin music plays in the background for exactly how many days it took them to make that movie, if I could.

#Asked #answered #the joker #Joaquin phoenix #joaquin pheonix joker #arthur fleck #joker 2019 #discourse #Movie #movies #storytelling #The joker fans #joker love #dc joker #not you avoicefromthecorner #Just anyone who thinks this was a good movie in any sense at all.

[sno-the-silly-guy]

ANALYZING Subspace's Character Through Dialogue To Come To The Closest Approximation We Can Of His Personality

ALT TITLE: I start losing it over snippets of dialogue from an evil scientist

I like Subspace. Funny guy. But recently, I had an identity crisis and I realised I have no idea what his personality is anymore, so today we'll be going through most of his dialogue to uncover the DARK SECRETS of what he's really like! (Spoilers: there isn't much)

DISCLAIMER: I am not the authority on Subspace. DO NOT use this to put other people down about their headcanons. All of this could be wildly inaccurate when the Phighting lore is released in 2030.

Very long essay under the cut! Also i'm not sure if this is like an actual analysis, it's more just,,, making conclusions from his dialogue

Backstory

The backstory of a character is vital to figuring out who they are. So, i'll go over what I know of Subspaces backstory. This part is gonna be a little iffy, as it is the most reliant on my memory of what the devs have said about him and not his actual dialogue. But enough preamble, lets do a quick summary!

The farthest back we know is that Subspace is working at Blackrock with Medkit. Subspace only dislikes Medkit a little at the moment.

One day, Medkit and Subspace presumably have a disagreement, which causes Subspace to lash out and rip out his eye. Medkit, in self-defense, gives Subspace a major injury, causing his right arm and the left side of his face to slowly rot away, all while spreading to the rest of him.

Sometime after this incident, Subspace hires Hyperlaser as a mercenary. And three years ago from the current day, he created the Biografts. Possibly, currently working on a new type of Biograft.

Character Motivation

Next, we figure out his character motivation in the context of Phighting. This is a step i've singled out from his personality, as I believe it is quite important. So, lets go over a couple theories!

1: Getting revenge on Medkit

This is likely, but there is one part that stands out to me, as Hyperlaser does not make any mention of trying to attack Medkit. Strange considering he works for Subspace. (the closest acknowledgement of this is HL: "Just for you, Subspace.")

The biografts do target Medkit (BG: "TARGET SPOTTED", "I HAVE COMPLETED THE ULTIMATE MISSION"). Subspace, when talking to Broker on the phone, also presumably asks him for Medkit's location. (Broker: "No, I don't know anybody by that name.") He's also shown to be vengeful, as one of his losing dialogues is (SS: "I will get my revenge!!")

It can be safe to assume that Subspace is looking for Medkit, but this progress is halted by the True Eye Church.

2: Power/Fame

Subspace is seen numerous times trying to gain power, being friendly to anyone who has a higher status than him, and seemingly burying himself in his work for Blackrock, which he believes gives him fame. The most prominent example of this is his dialogue with Banhammer, where he tries to be less weird. It is also referenced in a comic by Soda, where he tries to suck-up to Banhammer (though he fails miserably.)

I can't find it anywhere, but i'm also pretty sure that it's been explicitly stated that he does this.

Either option is pretty likely. He could also want both!

General Personality

This is based off of my own view of what he's like, but I will try to provide as much evidence for all of my claims as I can.

First of all, he's very showy. He wants people to think that he's cool and menacing. He gets offended when people have a different perception to how he views himself. (VS: "Oh! That outfit is cute! Where did you get it?" SS: "Cute!? I'll have you know that this outfit was custom tailored for Blackrock's finest!! Which, of course, is ME!!") (SCY: "Say... Do I know ya from somewhere?" SS: "Of course!! Who hasn't heard of me?? For I am the genius Subspace T. Mine!!")

He also has art depicting him showing off his scars to the viewer, which reinforces this point. He also lies to keep up his persona. (MK: "I'm surprised your body is still holding up." SS: "You didn't do that much to me!!") (BH: "Are all the experiments at Blackrock ethical?" SS: "Of course!!") Despite all this, he isn't good at convincing others of perceived excellence.

He isn't against doing whatever if he thinks it would help him gain more power. He doesn't care for most people. (the non-consensual experiments, the way he talks to Vine Staff etc etc). He is not above snitching. (SS: "I'll have the warden know about this!!")

He's passive-agressive when talking to Medkit, and he seems to get a kick out of calling him a nickname. He only does this to annoy Medkit, because when he is seemingly talking to himself, he addresses Medkit properly. (SS: "How nice it is to see my best friend Medkit once again!!" compared to "Hey Meddy!! How great it is that we get to see each other again?!")

As seen by drawings from Soda, Subspace enjoys it when people are willing to listen to him talking about what he's interested in, especially his scientific developments. He doesn't care about what others are interested in, or any of their worries. (BB: "Any type of music you like, Subspace?" SS: "The screams of the poisoned!!" BB: "Interesting...") (SS: "Another healer?! We could use someone like that back at the lab!!" VS: "...I think I'll pass.") (VS: Be careful not to consume your own poison." SS: "I don't need any advice!!)

He doesn't seem to be aware of how difficult he is to talk to. He doesn't understand sarcasm very well (literally every medkit conversation. SS: "How's that eye doing, Meddy??" MK: "It's doing great, I think i'll be able to see out of it again soon." SS: "Really?!" MK: "No.") (NOTE: I'm not sure how genuine Subspace is when talking to Medkit. Take this point with a grain of salt.)

He gets excited when he is right about something pertaining to science. (SS: "MY INVENTION!! IT WORKED!!") He's generally passionate about his field of study.

He's been described as loud and obnoxious numerous times. (HL: "Finally some peace and quiet." MK: "How long do you think you can keep that mouth shut, Subspace? [...]") His dialogue also implies this, as all of his sentences are ended with double exclamation marks (!!) or an interrobang. (?!)

He, without a doubt, enjoys seeing/hearing people in pain, and murder. He literally tortures people for fun. All of his kill dialogue is the main example for this.

TL:DR: Passionate about science. Wants to be perceived as cool so he takes the opportunity to show off, will lie in order to further this aim, but most demons aren't impressed. Doesn't care for most people, and will do whatever it takes to be powerful/famous. Gets on most peoples nerves, but will try to annoy people he doesn't like. Loves being listened to. Loud and obnoxious. His favourite hobby is torture!

Micellaneous information

Heres some tidbits I found hard to fit in the personality section, that are also important.

He has no sense of taste, due to his rot! He also has spiky teeth!

He's been described as well known but not famous. I suppose you would only know his name if you had an interest in his specialty, like if you needed to keep up with scientific developments.

He doesn't listen to music. Unless you count screaming, that is.

He's only stuttered once, when Scythe bullies him. (SCY: "Or what? Yer gonna run back to yer little robots and cry?" SS: "I-I refuse to answer such a stupid question!!") This implies that he's lying, and that he uses his robots as free therapy. He does not stutter when lying to Banhammer though, but it's still something to consider.

I believe it has been said that he's on painkillers constantly.

Author's Notes

Again, this is not the CANON LORE, this is just my interpretation of the character. I am equally likely to be completely wrong or right on the money. This is just for fun!! (and to prove i have done my research)

Also nobody is talking about Broker phone dialogue. Help me. Why does Broker give sass to Hyperlaser, but not Subspace. He has equal reasons to dislike both, unless he's somehow afraid of Subspace (unlikely since Scythe is fine bullying him) or he doesn't like Medkit (massive implications???). Whats up with that.

I'm still not over the fact that he only calls Medkit "Meddy" when he's talking to him. What a loser. /aff

Thank you Phighting wiki on miraheze for compiling all the dialogue. I wouldn't have been able to make this without it!

#cult mention #subspace phighting #phighting subspace #subspace phighting! #phighting! subspace #phighting #phighting! #phighting roblox #phighting! roblox #I THINK thats all the notable parts. i can finally rest #very anxious to post this but we live laugh love

[anxious-critter]

A Few Days Ago There Was A Small Discussion On Twitter About A YouTuber Who Claimed That Rayman Fans Should Be Disappointed With His CLH Version. ~

I Think It's Very Presumptuous For People To Say That Ramon In CLH Is Disrespectful To The Original When Both Characters Are Literally The Same Person Who Ended Up Going Through Different Lifes Experiences.

Let's Do A Little Character Analysis? ;)

First Of All Just Letting You Know That My Area Of Study Is In The Phenomenology Of Perception, So We'll See How The Way Ramon Perceives The World Around Him Has Shaped Who He Is.

I Also Think It's Important To Highlight That This Analysis Should Not Be Aimed At Real People, So Please Don't Derail. ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ

We Start With The Fact That Ramon Moved Into Dolph's Reality At A Very Young Age, He Probably Grew Up Isolated And Rejected From Society With The feeling Of Being The Only One Of His Kind And He Remained The Aloof "Weirdo" Even When Eden Arose.

He Became The Funny Charismatic Creature, A Mascot For Eden, Even With The Spotlight On Himself He Continued To Be Dehumanized By Those Around Him.

Observing His Home We Can Notice How Empty It Is, The Furniture Is Small Because Of His Height Which Makes The Apartment Seem Even Bigger, With The Exception Of The Tv, This Not Only Demonstrates The Way He Feels Among Humans [Such A Small Being In A World That Doesn't Welcome Him Very Well], But Also In The Way That "Being On Tv" Occupies A Large Part Of His Life.

And We Also Have All This Mess, This Not Only Indicates That He Doesn't Want Cleaners In His Apartment, This Also Ends Up Demonstrating His Mental State... A Complete Mess.

He Really Cares About Children, Especially Hybrid Children Because He Sees Himself In Them, He Genuinely Believed He Was An Inspiration To Them But In The End He Was Just A Puppet Being Used By Those Who Practice Everything He So Abhors.

Suffering Speciesism From Red And Being Censored When Trying To Defend Himself Was Also A Trigger For Him And That's Why He Got So Drunk That Night. Money, Fame, Eden, None Of This Prevented Him From Suffering Discrimination Again. Things Don't Get Better For Minorities, In The End.

About Substance Abuse, People Will Try To Deal With Their Traumas And Loneliness In Many Different Ways And Substance Abuse Ends Up Being One Of Them, Basically An Escape Route From His Own Mind. It's Not Pleasant To See, But It Unfortunately Happens.

Knowing That Things Are Not As He Thinks And That He Was Being A Part Of This Was Too Much For Him, He Never Wanted Something Like This After All And As If It Wasn't Enough To Be Replaced Soon After, They Were Never Interested In Who He Was On The Inside, They Just Wanted A Friendly And Face To Spread Their Lies.

Rayman Using Weapons Is Nothing New And Knowing That Ramon Doesn't Have Powers [Or Doesn't Know How To Use Them] Using Guns Ended Up Being The Safest Way For Him, Killing The Council Was Not Just An Act Of Revenge, It Was Also An Act Of Despair, Fear, Guilt And Anger.

So On One Side We Have Rayman, Who Grew Up In A Healthy Environment With Loved Ones Around Him And On The Other Side We Have Ramon, Who Has Spent His Entire Life Trying To Fit In And Begging, Begging For Mercy, Begging For A Job, Begging For Acceptance...

In The End, They End Up Being The Same, But They Have Gone Through Different Life Experiences And Different Ways Of Dealing With Life's Difficulties, In The End, The Way We Perceive The World Around Us Ends Up Shaping Who We Are.

This Turned Out To Be Simpler Than I Intended, But Thanks For Reading. (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

MY FIRST TEXT HERE YAY!!! ＼⁠(⁠◎⁠o⁠◎⁠)⁠／

#ubisoft #netflix #rayman #captain laserhawk blood dragon remix #captain laserhawk #captain laserhawk rayman #captain laserhawk ramon #clh #clh rayman #clh ramon

[mxtxfanatic]

Book of the Week: Married Thrice to Salted Fish

Author: Bikabi (比卡比)

Genre: transmigration, ancient setting, danmei

Rating: M (for fade-to-black sexy times)

My Synopsis: Are you ready to cry your eyes out over a plot point you can guess from the literal title? Well grab your tissues and step right up to meet our main character: Lin Qingyu, a man who thinks the worst thing that can happen to him is being forced to marry a terminally ill young master who claims to be from another world and also to have the ability to be reborn into different people. Journey with him as he wades through court and courtyard politics, wielding his genius in medicine in order to protect himself from remaining a pawn of the royal family—and struggles with the practical knowledge that all the power and medical expertise in the world cannot stop death.

My Actual Review: Yes it’s literally in the title and official synopsis that the LI is gonna die a few times. Yes I cried every time, anyways; what of it? The story can be split into two interweaving plots: 1) Lin Qingyu fighting his way into becoming a physician against the interference of multiple royal family members and 2) the main couple falling in love as the LI works in between deaths to help Lin Qingyu achieve his dream instead of meeting his end as some book’s minor cannon fodder villain. This feels like a lot, but it works really well because Lin Qingyu, who the story focal point sticks with, still has things to do while the LI is… indisposed, so to speak. He’s not just waiting around for the LI to be reborn, and the story doesn’t stop or skip around to the LI’s return since the romance is not the only story focus. However, that doesn’t mean that the romance takes a backseat or is unimportant: each death brings the main characters closer as a couple, and each new life gives them new ways to work together as a well-oiled machine—which also makes the deaths hit especially hard despite readers knowing it’s coming.

On another note, this book has a lot of extras, to the point where they almost start to feel like too much of nothing? Especially since it just takes our cast and punts them into the modern world with no rhyme or reason (or sending them back), but they’re cute if you just mentally think of it as a modern au of the main story, for all intents and purposes.

Translation: complete

#human promotes #married thrice to salted fish #lord knows i hate hate HATE crying #and this book had me crying TWICE #HATED it #which is why i am recommending it today #so that others may suffer with me #(it’s real good y’all; trust me)

[arceespinkgun]

I'd love to hear your opinions on IDW Rodimus. I personally thought he was one of the better characters in that comic, but I have not read the Marvel comics so I have no point of comparison.

Just to clarify: I hate this character as he is in MTMTE and Lost Light. Not Rodimus as he appeared in IDW before those series. I'm not familiar with all his appearances, but his origin story seemed pretty strong to me. What I'm about to say isn't the fault of the character, it's the fault of the writer, James Roberts, who I resent for throwing out all the characterization that came from other writers before him in this and many other instances.

I don't really know what to say. Rodimus is a monster. I can't recount every horrible thing he did, there's too many. A few egregious ones are:

Punishing Rewind for having a snuff film collection, but then telling him to project a record of Fortress Maximus being tortured onto a wall to trigger Maximus during a hostage situation, then telling Swerve to shoot Fortress Maximus after Swerve repeatedly protested. Swerve said he was a bad shot, that Maximus was too close to Rung, that Maximus was already calm... Rodimus had so many chances to reconsider.

When Red Alert attempted suicide, Rodimus lied to Rung about it. You know, Red Alert's therapist? And not only did he lie about that, but he called this person who'd just tried to take his own life a bunch of ableist slurs. And Rodimus smeared him like this to cover his own ass and hide what Red Alert had found.

Bringing Overlord onto the ship because his ego is so fragile it couldn't handle Prowl calling him a wimp, then lying repeatedly about it, including during Overlord rampaging around killing the crew.

When Ultra Magnus is presumed dead and Drift is exiled by Rodimus, one issue after they're gone, Rodimus goes to Rung and Cyclonus and is basically like, you two are the new Ultra Magnus and Drift, really showing how disposable everyone is to him.

Rodimus's treatment of Drift in general was especially gross. Please keep in-mind that Rodimus is the captain, so he had direct power over him. Rodimus got possessive and impatient any time Drift was doing anything other than attending directly to Rodimus, including calling him some horrible, undisclosed thing, and threatening to have the law changed specifically in order to punish Drift for his Decepticon past (this is during peace time). He claimed to Thunderclash that he'd "rehabilitated" Drift. He had Drift take the blame for Overlord, kicked Drift out of the Autobots, and didn't intervene when Drift was assaulted for this. And we learn that Drift only hadn't told the crew the truth about Overlord in the first place because he'd felt "beholden" to Rodimus. The way Rodimus treated Drift almost felt to me like Drift was his courtesan or something, along with the racist tropes that implies... it's really bad. EDIT: oh, and it was even worse because Rodimus exiled Drift right after Drift had his legs torn off by Overlord, and because when Rodimus eventually did confess to bringing Overlord on board, he didn't look for Drift or even send him a message.

Now I know what fans might say. But he came clean/apologized/grew so it's an arc! But that's not the case. As I've reread most of MTMTE just now, I saw that this character is basically written as a complete monster until about issue 18, and then suddenly starts behaving heroically and saying the right things after no growth at all. It's not an arc, it reads like JRo just reconsidered this guy's entire characterization, but you can't do that! You have to commit! Plus, I do not really care that Rodimus did better eventually, because "making amends" should have included stepping down as the first act. No, there absolutely should not have been a vote over his captaincy. He should have been removed or better yet, removed himself. (Also, what kind of a sadistic choice was that vote? Because if Rodimus had been voted out, that would have meant Megatron would've been sole captain of the Lost Light, and there was no vote over that! That was just unilaterally decided by Optimus Prime!)

A really great example of how Rodimus doesn't really grow or change genuinely is issue #36. In that issue, he and other crew members go back in time, and Rodimus keeps trying to find a way to prevent Trailbreaker's death. He shows a lot of concern for him. But this comes out of nowhere. As I've just reread a large chunk of MTMTE, I can tell you that Rodimus and Trailbreaker had no connection whatsoever before this. And again, none of this is the character's fault. This is the writer's fault. Because Rodimus doesn't actually grow, I wouldn't blame people from being like, "Well, I prefer to think of Rodimus as the version who behaves better and says the right things." But that would be the reader's choice, not something the writer or series should be credited for.

When it comes to Rodimus in the Marvel comics, what sort of things did he do that made him a flawed, complex character? Hiring a bounty hunter to take out Galvatron, which went poorly, but the intention was to try and keep people safe. Giving in to being goaded by Galvatron and losing his cool, but he gets talked down by Arcee. As Hot Rod, he was especially impulsive, and make mistakes like getting bored and going for a drive when he was supposed to be keeping watch at a diplomatic summit, which gave the Decepticons an opportunity to attack... but he then tried to redeem himself as soon as possible by immediately going one-on-one with their leader and putting himself at great risk. This basically applies to any of Rodimus's or Hot Rod's errors in judgment. He always tried to address them ASAP, and often they were made with good intentions (in one of the annuals, he disobeyed orders because he thought Kup was being hurt, for example), not to cover his own ass or spite people.

I also want to mention Rodimus from the 80s cartoon as well. He is known for saying absolutely deranged things and being so depressed, he took any opportunity to be rid of the mantle of leadership.

But the thing about this is that his actual actions were still almost always for others' benefit. I think that's the other biggest thing that JRo ignored.

#my analysis #transformers idw #Rodimus Prime #transformers g1 #transformers marvel #negative #rant

[wumiings]

Trying to tease out any ideas about SY’s life pre-canon is so tricky because you have to sort of choose a point on the sliding scale between the two basic reasons for SQQ completely blocking out the ‘Shen Yuan’ identity:

His previous life was bad/painful and he wants to forget it in favor of the new one

His previous life was good and it’s painful to remember what he can never have back

It’s unlikely that the truth lies at either extreme, but the little information we have makes it hard to determine which way the scale tips.

On the one hand, it’s clear that SQQ disdains SY on some level. He lacks ambition; he’s a “useless pretty boy waiting around to die.” His isolated, chronically-online lifestyle is profoundly unfulfilling, and he blames himself for it (although the audience has reason to believe this is not an entirely accurate self-assessment, hence the neurodivergence/invisible illness theories).

It makes sense that he would attach himself more strongly to the identity that he sees as having more substance; pre-canon, he mostly ‘lives’ online and therefore retains ties to the ‘Peerless Cucumber’ identity after transmigrating. So far, this all seems pretty cut and dry.

But on the other hand, there’s Shen Yuan’s family. Now, I see no reason to disbelieve the three straightforward facts we’re presented with on this subject: that one of his older brothers was warm and attentive, like YQY; that he doted on his younger sister (and read her kinky danmei); and that he didn’t have the same obligation to excel as his brothers because he didn’t have to inherit the family business.

However, if they were all as close as he claims, why doesn’t he seem to mourn them? After pushing LBH into the Abyss, SQQ “doesn’t mourn” but it’s obvious from everyone’s reactions that he really fucking does. In contrast, there aren’t many signs in the first book that he’s secretly struggling with the grief of never seeing his loved ones again.

Are these relationships so ultimately insignificant/unfulfilling that he can easily cast them off right along with the concept of ‘Shen Yuan’? Are they more fraught/bittersweet than he is willing to acknowledge (and is this related to why we get no particular details about his parents or second brother)? Or is feeling of loss so powerful that he can’t even allow himself to contemplate or allude to it, can only cling to this new identity that never had a family to lose?

SY!SQQ’s “true self” is Shen Qingqiu. And in that sense, an identity reveal really isn’t that important, because it wouldn’t change anything about how the other characters should understand him. But if you view the narrative as shaped behind the scenes by a hidden yet pervasive grief inextricably tied to Shen Yuan’s history, then that history and that self become relevant to his present and future.

As notable as it is that he opted to go by his internet handle in the mushroom body, I think it’s also somewhat symbolic that the physical form he grew for himself was a combination of Shen Yuan and Shen Qingqiu’s features. And that while these three identities (SY, SQQ, Cucumber) were integrated into a single self, he was stronger than any of them individually.

Just some food for thought.

#shen yuan #shen qingqiu #svsss #scum villain #meta #scum villian self saving system

[nrilliree]

https://www.tumblr.com/dreamfyre-beautiful/748866149787353088/problems-i-have-with-hotd-so-far?source=share

This post is killing me !

Alicent is not a good person.

Helaena is barely a character in the original version and she never had any autonomy.

The point of dancing is not to have a smalfolk perspective, stop with this fucking hypocrisy.

Criston Cole is not even a fucking member of the smalfolk ! Wtf ?!

Then the problem with Laena is not that they try to make her look older than Rhaenyra in episode 5, in fact canonically in HOTD she remains younger than Rhaenyra, so what are you complaining about ? Plus this comment is completely stupid, because Laena is older than Rhaenyra in the book ! You know ! The original version ?!

Um... A mother who abandons decorum for her child ? Alicent doesn't do what she does for Aemond by wanting to take Lucerys' eye and attacking Rhaenyra. She's been doing this kind of thing for 10 years already. She literally uses what happened to her son to try to take down Rhaenyra by making up lies saying that Lucerys ambushed Aemond to try to kill him and then she brings it all on herself, poor woman who has no did what was expected of her all these years. It mostly looks like a woman taking out her frustration on another woman, rather than a mother defending her son, we need to stop the bullshit.

So... Laena didn't die killed by Daemon. She died of a complicated childbirth, like many women of the time. She simply accelerated the death process by getting burned by Vaghar (for somes stupid reasons...). And Laenor didn't even die in HOTD, and people always seem to voluntarily forget that yes, certainly Daemyra had this plan together, but that Laenor there accepted and left of her own free will !

Then, it's crazy this obsession to repeat that Rhaenyra is trying to take the title of Corlys for Luke and therefore that she is taking it from the twins Rhaena and Baela... The TG really has a problem with legitimate heirs, huh ? Rhaenyra was designated heir to the throne by Viserys and Lucerys was designated heir to Lord of Tides by Corlys himself ! What isn't clicking in your head about that ?! Rhaenyra doesn't steal anything from anyone for her sons !

And his rant about "the new promo saying "[team black] acts more like family" maybe my family is weird but we don't fuck or get married at all" Um... wtf ? Yes, the TB is more of a close-knit family than the TG, there is not even a debate to be had over it and sorry but does this person forget that there is incest also among the TG ? Not only because of the marriage of Aegon II and Helaena, but also simply because Aegon II openly flirts with Baela, you know, his uncle's daughter? (I say this because a lot of TG claims that Aegon II is actually disgusted by incest and is only with Helaena out of obligation. So yes, the marriage to Helaena is arranged, but clearly this boy didn't have problem with the incestuous costumes of the Targaryens and Westeros This is shown by his reaction when he learns that he is going to marry Helaena and that he flirts with Baela / sexually harassed her). Aemond even since have a crush on Helaena in HOTD, so... no incest in TG ? Let me laugh !

And oh poor people who are full of the fact that the dragons in their team have no development ? We're going to see Sunfyre in season 2, it's confirmed. Then Dreamfyre plays no fucking role in the dance, just like Helaena. Welcome to reality. This show neglects dragons in general anyway, a shame when this show normaly talks about their extinction...

And still the madness of talking about the fact that Alicent doesn't have the right to terrifying childbirth scenes ?! So, the show is about the Targaryens, especially Targaryen women. At least she's supposed to ! And it makes sense that women who died in childbirth or had complications during childbirth are entitled to on-screen scenes about it. Alicent is not a Targaryen and didn't even have a complicated birth so get the fuck out.

My god the TG really have a problem understanding the basics of this story...

I have a blocked user, so I will not refer to @dreamfyre-beautiful's post, but to what you write.

1) If you feel satisfied by forcing a woman who has not yet delivered her placenta to give up her newborn baby (knowing the history of her siblings, mother and both grandmothers) or march through the entire castle - you are not a good person. If you allow one son to bully another until no one sees it - you are not a good person. If you are planning a coup and usurpation of the throne, sending your children to war because you will not bend the knee- you are not a good person.

2) Helaena is probably more of a character in the show than she was in the book at this point in Dance. She was always barely a character.

3) Criston is not a smalfolk. He belongs to a family that was the banners of the Dondarrions. It's not smalfolk.

What amuses me the most is when someone is both team green and team smalfolk, because… it's impossible. I'm not saying that team black was wonderful for the smalfolk, because during the war you can't do that, as ASOIAF has shown more than once, but it is the green team that is responsible for the vast majority of suffering among the smalfolk.

It was Aemond who burned the Riverlands. It was Daeron who burned Bitterbridge. It was the TG people who committed the Tumbleton massacre. It was the TG people who plundered Spicetown. It was Aegon who ordered the building of large golden statues of war criminals during war and famine.

These were all crimes against smalfolk.

And TB? Rhaenyra raised taxes because the Greens robbed the treasury. Alternatively, you could add the Greyjoy plundering to this.

4) In my opinion, there were some problems with Laena's casting. The actress who played teenage Laena was almost the same age as adult Laena, and the actress who played adult Laena was much older than the actresses who played Rhaenyra and Alicent. She was undoubtedly beautiful, but a little too old for the role.

5) Alicent doesn't even scream to Rhaenyra about Aemond's harm. He screams about his own, putting his own suffering above his son's in that moment. With her attitude, she forced Aemond to comfort HER.

6) Okay… I understand people say Viserys murdered Aemma, but how could Daemon murder Laena…? After all, he cared about saving Laena, not the child. He talked to the maester about this. What did he use to murder her? Because he got her pregnant? They already had two children, in the series Baela and Rhaena are apparently not twins, so it's no wonder that he thought that the third birth would also be problem-free.

7) Rhaenyra didn't take anything from Baela and Rhaena because… Driftmark was never theirs. They are Targaryens. Lucerys is Velaryon. Corlys chose to legitimize his own bastard rather than give Driftmark to his grandchildren, so where is Rhaenyra's fault? Even if she didn't want Drifmark, she had to fight for it, otherwise giving away her son's inheritance would be suspicious, right?

8) The marriage of a niece and uncle is less incest than the marriage of a brother and sister. Even outside the Targaryen family, nieces married uncles and cousins married cousins. Even Tywin Lannister was married to his cousin. And even if the marriage of Aegon and Helaena was arranged, she is not wind-pollinated and he fathered her three children.

9) I wrote about dragons here, I think it was about the same post: https://www.tumblr.com/nrilliree/749167004582297600/i-saw-a-post-complaining-that-the-show-goes-above?source=share

10) Aemma's birth was necessary because she died that way. Laena's birth was necessary because she died that way. Rhaenyra's birth was needed to show Alicent's cruelty and Alicent's objectification of Rhaenyra's children. Alicent's delivery was not necessary. And seriously, three birth scenes for six episodes was enough. Definitely. I feel sorry for every pregnant woman who watched the series.

#house of the dragon #team black #anti team green #pro team black #rhaenyra targaryen #anti alicent hightower #anti team green stans

[yazthebookish]

People continue to misconstrue what SJM said in her last interview when the host was expressing how much she appreciates the females being the lead and take action in Sarah's books, because it's always the heroes that get to do something in fantasy books while the heroines sit back at home where it's safe and do nothing or be just the damsels—that's the context.

Sarah never said she won't or doesn't write books for male characters (since she did for Chaol and she wrote a total of approx 13 Male POVs in all her series) so that statement goes against the facts. She did say there are scenes where she forgets to let the guys do something because she is focused on the females (which is a good thing and we know Sarah does focus on female empowerment in her books) but it doesn't equate to saying the guys are too insigificant in the books to be given a book or their own story. Chaol was too important to her she was inspired to write a book with him in mind and merged other characters into his story, but ultimately it was always known as Chaol's novella/book because there was so much going on with him she didn't want to dilute it to fit in Empire of Storms and added characters that complimented his journey alongside theirs and the overall plot.

Did I also mention that HOSAB had one female POV while there were 4-5 male POVs? Bryce and Hunt are still the leads but you also had other characters driving the story too. Ruhn's own arc is obviously important and there is a good chance he would get his own book and while Lidia will definitely kick ass, but do you think her own arc would be more important than Ruhn's? Her arc would probably compliment his.

To reiterate, SJM was responding to the host's praise who said she appreciates how the male characters in her books take the backseat to allow the heroines to take the lead (in terms of action and important scenes)—it wasn't about whether she only write books solely focused on female characters or male characters or about her answering a question if she writes books focused on male characters and her saying no, that's not the context.

It's also like the people who say the series is about the three Archeron sisters when it's not given that there are two novels and a novella left (with the potential of more based on her new contracted books) and she never even said that in one of her interviews, the EW article about the tv show doesn't count because it's likely not Sarah's words but what the journalist understood about the series and who will be featured in the show. What Sarah always said is that the spin-off books are about different characters and follows different POVs. Each book will feature a couple, so the spin-off books are about the characters in this world whose story was not told yet, it's not just the sisters (the screenshots below give better clarity so I'll leave it at that).

Back to my main point, If she does eventually write a book focused on a male character, then don't come here and complain about how she lied if she never said what you claim she said in that interview from the very beginning.

Not really a rant but it always confuses me how people take a piece of information when half of us were present during that interview and turn it into something completely different. To each their own thoughts I guess.

#people can have at it though #I don't know how I ended up writing an essay length post #just trying to make a point

[the-writing-mobster]

Where I can read your fics? They seem pretty interesting!

Thank you for the ask, love! Fic links, anyone?

You can find all of my fics on Ao3! I need to make an actual like... Official link post, don't I? I used to have one pinned but other things take priority.

So I guess I'll sprinkle the links to my fics here for your immediate viewing pleasure instead of sending you on a wild goose chase ;)

IMPORTANT NOTE — A lot of my fics are locked so only people with confirmed AO3 accounts can read them. This is because of AI scraping, obvs. TMDG is the only one that I think is unlocked since it's fairly new. But it'll eventually get locked as well.

~

| The What Do You Want Duology | 🥀 💀 |

(YWIW, the sequel, still lies unfinished, unfortunately, but WDYW is completed and currently under revisions!)

Summary (for those still not in the know):

Frisk spent most of her life fighting to survive in a cruel world where her only upper hand was her soul's Determination and her feminine charms. After angering the most dangerous man in her life, she is thrown down into Hell to be ripped apart and destroyed by the demons said to inhabit it. With her soul refusing to give up, of course she survives.

However, when she is taken hostage by the infamous Gaster brothers, she finds herself trapped in the strange, abyssal gaze of Sans the Skeleton. With political and sexual tensions on the rise, can these two work through their differences? Or will they forever be asking each other, "What Do You Want?"

—

| Baby Face - UF Highschool AU | 💖 🤘🏻 |

Technically an au based off of my characterizations of the UF characters in wdyw. This one is tooth rottingly sweet and set in a surface Ebbott City in the 90s. Inspo was movies like Clueless & the documentary Kid 90. I actually loved this story so much I completely reworked it and turned it into an original novel.

Important to note that this fic isn't really a romance. It's more about platonic love and friendships than it is about Frans romance.

Summary:

Seniors should not date freshmen. No matter what. Not even if the freshman is hot. Not even if the freshman says it's ok. Not even if the freshman makes moves. That’s the mantra Sans lives by, and even though Frisk, one of the cutest girls according to all of his friends, catches a crush of epic proportions on him, he makes it a point to keep his distance. She’ll thank him later.

Or

Sans is in a rock band and Frisk has a big ole unrequited crush on him.

—

| The Most Dangerous Game | 💙 🔪 💔 |

The dreaded serial killer dead dove fic we've all been raving about recently!!!

It's important to note that this one isn't a romance. They are (albeit obsessive) enemies through and through.

Summary:

Frisk Starling should've been used to cases like these. After all, it was her duty to investigate. Give the victims their voice back, catch the sick freak who did it and give the broken families the justice she couldn’t have for herself.

That is until a string of murders throughout the tristate area begin to appear. Women used like toys, mutilated and disposed of for the cops and journalists to find with only the tiniest slivers of useless evidence and the glaring fact that all the women...

Every…

Single…

One…

Look almost exactly like her… Frisk begins to wonder if maybe… the monster she's hunting down has turned her into the hunted.

And God, does she make the most exhilarating, delicious prey yet…

—

Honorable mention One Shots:

| The Witch, The Judge & the 3 Card Gamble | ♠️♥️♣️ |

Probably my best prose ever. Genuinely.

Summary:

After suffering a gruesome bullet to the ribs, the vengeful Witch hovers over a dying fire, praying her campsite isn’t spotted by vagabonds who’d surely make her pay for existing…

But as a shadow blots out the stars if not for the two red pricks of light glaring her down, she fears her true nightmares have come to claim her after all; The Grim Reaper, the judge of her fate.

And she doesn’t like her odds.

—

| We'll See - Christmas Rom Com | 🎄 💕 |

I wrote this as a secret Santa present to @themsource. It is very cute and fucking funny if I do say so myself. It puts the comedy in Romantic Comedy.

Summary:

Sans has some inhibitions about Christmas, clouded with cynicism and bitterness. But if there's anyone to make him have a change of heart, it's Frisk; Ebbot City's own Little Miss Mother Teresa.

—

☣️ HONORABLE MENTION SMUT ONE SHOTS ☣️

| French Kisses | Smut | 🫧💓 |

Summary: Sans has landed a well-paying position as a senior accountant and Frisk has a few ideas on how to reward him — one of those ideas involves a French Maid dress.

| The Librarian's Assistant | Smut | 📚💓 |

This one was pretty steamy...

Summary: Frisk's days working as a librarian can get pretty quiet and repetitive... Until a new patron with an obvious infatuation with her starts becoming a regular visitor.

Eventually she can't help herself...

.

.

.

I hope you are satisfied with my thorough answer! If you do end up reading, I'd love to hear from you again on your thoughts! 🫶🏻🫶🏻

‼️ Also — join my discord for readily available updates and fun discussion! DM me for the invite since those invite links expire ‼️

#ask and answer #mob answers #the writing mobster #fic links #fic resource post #mob's fics #THESE ARE ALL OF THEM #all of my published fics! #wdyw #underfell #underfell sans #underfell frans #frans #fanfic #underfell frisk #undertale #baby face #highschool au #tmdg #serial killer au #sk! sans #final! frisk #smut fics #westfell #3 card gamble #we'll see #christmas rom com #ywiw

[booksandchainmail]

re: recent posts, would you recommend starting Guide now or try and catch up to Pale Lights?

That depends, how much do you like reading a serialized work as it publishes?

I really enjoy getting weekly chapters, and the way a serialized release schedule builds investment. But I also have friends who really dislike having to wait for more every week, and won't read a serial until it's complete.

Pale Lights is currently in a place where there's enough of a backlog that there's an initial binge to get you deep into the characters and world, but IMO not so much that it's too intimidating to catch up. Book 1 wrapped up a few months ago with ~300k words, and book 2 is only around 10 chapters in. Despite the lengths, I find web serials really manageable to read as they come out: keeping up with ~6000 words a week isn't a huge timesink.

On the other hand, PGTE is around 3 million words, which is a hefty chunk of time to commit. Those words are absolutely worth it, but it does take a while.

From a story perspective:

PGTE is rougher at the beginning, since it's the author's first work. It's also more accessible to get into, since it's built on top of a standard fantasy world template, so there's less immediate worldbuilding to wrap your head around. It has a single protagonist, plus frequent interludes from outside perspectives. Pale Lights throws you into the deep end a bit in terms of setting, but also more meaty worldbuilding in a way it takes PGTE a bit to work up to. It has multiple POV protagonists, but no regular outside interludes (aside from an epilogue).

Practical Guide takes place in a world built on deliberately-generic high fantasy tropes, and then plays around with them and builds on top of them. It features a lot of battles and army movements and fights between people with vast amounts of personal powers. Pale Lights is a much weirder setting, has less outright fights, and features more small-scale conflicts (so far) between characters closer to baseline human with one specific power each.

tldr:

My personal advice would be to read Pale Lights first, if only because it's the one where when you start reading matters now. PGTE isn't getting any more or less finished, so if you read it a year from now you'll get the same experience. I think PGTE is an amazing piece of work, but Pale Lights has the potential to be even better, and is currently a smaller commitment to start with. Practical Guide is one of my favorite works of all time, and I've probably spent more time thinking about it than any other work. I can't say Pale Lights has reached that level yet, but I think it will given more time.

That said, they are very different in setting and premise, so I'd recommend reading the little summary blurbs for each, and seeing if one really grabs you (since I think those convey genre well).

blurbs and a few extra notes under the cut:

the one caveat to "PGTE is complete" is that it's currently being rewritten on an app called Yonder, which is unfortunately paywalled and on a weird subscription model. Hopefully we'll get the complete rewrites of individual books available for purchase at some point, but who knows. It will also theoretically get a webtoons adaptation as the rewrite goes, but no details have come out yet. When this was announced it was also said that the PGTE website would be taken down, but that decision was postponed, there's no new deadline, and if it does go down there are... ways to acquire a copy.

PGTE blurb:

The Empire stands triumphant. For twenty years the Dread Empress has ruled over the lands that were once the Kingdom of Callow, but behind the scenes of this dawning golden age threats to the crown are rising. The nobles of the Wasteland, denied the power they crave, weave their plots behind pleasant smiles. In the north the Forever King eyes the ever-expanding borders of the Empire and ponders war. The greatest danger lies to the west, where the First Prince of Procer has finally claimed her throne: her people sundered, she wonders if a crusade might not be the way to secure her reign. Yet none of this matters, for in the heart of the conquered lands the most dangerous man alive sat across an orphan girl and offered her a knife. Her name is Catherine Foundling, and she has a plan.

PGTE prologue epigraph:

In the beginning, there were only the Gods. Aeons untold passed as they drifted aimlessly through the Void, until they grew bored with this state of affairs. In their infinite wisdom they brought into existence Creation, but with Creation came discord. The Gods disagreed on the nature of things: some believed their children should be guided to greater things, while others believed that they must rule over the creatures they had made. So, we are told, were born Good and Evil. Ages passed in fruitless argument between them until finally a wager was agreed on: it would be the mortals that settled the matter, for strife between the gods would only result in the destruction of all. We know this wager as Fate, and thus Creation came to know war. Through the passing of the years grooves appeared in the workings of Fate, patterns repeated until they came into existence easier than not, and those grooves came to be called Roles. The Gods gifted these Roles with Names, and with those came power. We are all born free, but for every man and woman comes a time where a Choice must be made. It is, we are told, the only choice that ever really matters.” – First page of the Book of All Things

Pale Lights series blurb:

Vesper is a world built on the ruins of older ones: in the dark of that colossal cavern no one has ever known the edges of, empires rise and fall like flickering candles. Civilization huddles around pits of the light that falls through the cracks in firmament, known by men as the Glare. It is the unblinking stare of the never-setting sun that destroyed the Old World, the cruel mortar that allows survival far below. Few venture beyond its cast, for in the monstrous and primordial darkness of the Gloam old gods and devils prowl as men made into darklings worship hateful powers. So it has been for millennia, from the fabled reign of the Antediluvians to these modern nights of blackpowder and sail. And now the times are changing again. The fragile peace that emerged after the last of the Succession Wars is falling apart, the great powers squabbling over trade and colonies. Conspiracies bloom behind every throne, gods of the Old Night offer wicked pacts to those who would tear down the order things and of all Vesper only the Watch has seen the signs of the madness to come. God-killers whose duty is to enforce the peace between men and monsters, the Watch would hunt the shadows. Yet its captain-generals know the strength of their companies has waned, and to meet the coming doom measures will have to be taken. It will begin with Scholomance, the ancient school of the order opened again for the first time in over a century, and the students who will walk its halls.

Pale Lights book 1 blurb:

Tristan Abrascal is a thief, one of many making their living under the perpetual twilight of the greatest city in all of Vesper: Sacromonte. Quick wit and a contract with a capricious goddess have always kept him one step ahead, until one night he crosses a line by accident that burns all the bridges he had left. But not all is lost, for his mentor offers a way out of peril that turns out to be more than a simple escape. It is also an opportunity to get even with the infanzones, the nobles he’s lived under all his life, and it so happens that Tristan has a full ledger’s worth of scores to settle with them. Lady Angharad Tredegar has fled halfway across the world, leaving behind a ruin of a life: her family butchered by a ruthless enemy, their estate torched and their nobility revoked. Yet no matter how far she flees the blades of assassins follow, and she finds herself growing desperate for any protection. She has one relative left to call on, her estranged uncle in Sacromonte, but she finds that the safety he offers comes at a cost. Angharad has sworn revenge, however, and her honour will allow for no compromise. She will do what she must to survive so that one day bloody vengeance can be visited upon her enemies. The paths of the two take them to the doorstep of the Watch, but for desperate souls like them enrolment is a lost cause. They will have to do it the hard way instead, by surviving the trials on the isle known as the Dominion of Lost Things. Where every year many go, and few return.

#pgte #pale lights #practical guide to evil #erraticerrata

[wolfsbane-666]

So I just saw the new Willow episode and I wanna share some thoughts about Kit's character and her relationship with Jade, Boorman, and Elora.

Spoilers ahead.

Episode three certainly was something. And while it had a great impact on a lot of characters, I want to focus on Kit a little bit (mainly because she's such a little shit and I love her for it).

This episode changed a lot of things for her. Kit can no longer deny that Dove, this unimportant kitchenmaid who just seemed to be her brother's latest plaything, is actually Elora Danan, the woman who is destined to save all of them. Kit saw the result of Elora's magic.

But what does that mean for her? What does it change? The answer is everything.

First it means that her mother has lied to her all her life. In episode one, Sorsha said:

"[...]Tomorrow Prince Graydon marries my daughter, Kit. At last unifying Tir Asleen and Galladoorn, [...] strengthening us against any threat we might face. [...] may they rule wisely and justly, and defend our realm till that day when the true empress Elora Danan returns"

When I first saw this scene, I must admit, I was a little pissed. Sorsha basically called her daughter a fucking stand-in.

But looking back now gives this scene even more weight. Because Elora was never gone. She was there, hidden in plain sight, the whole time. Sorsha was willing to marry her (very gay) daughter off to some guy she doesn't even know, obviously forcing Kit into a situation she felt very uncomfortable with, just to keep up her charade. Something she even admitted to Boorman later on.

That alliance through marriage is only necessary to unite the kingdoms to protect the realm until Elora returns. If Sorsha had decided to let Willow train Elora from the beginning on, the marriage most likely wouldn't have to exist since the realm would already be united under Elora.

I don't know if that's too far-fetched. If Kit still would have been married off to Graydon to secure an alliance. My point is, that Kit feels betrayed by Sorsha. She already did so because Sorsha tried to force her into a loveless marriage, but that betrayal just became a lot more impactful.

But her mother is not the only person she feels betrayed by. If Elora was with them all the time, it also means that Madmartigan didn't have to leave them to protect Elora. That tale, that explanation of his departure that Kit tried to make up for herself, has now completely fallen apart.

So far as Kit knows, her father left her and Airk to chase after some myth about magical armor. And that's where Boorman comes in. He was with her father. He knows what happened to at least a certain point.

The thing is, he is obviously not being completely truthful either. After episode three I honestly don't really trust him anymore. He acted very suspiciously when they reached the Slaughtered Lamb. Plus he lied to Kit about what he found in the well. So I keep asking myself, what is his goal. Boorman claims that Madmartigan found the Kymerian Cuirass, yet he never returned from his adventure.

I doubt Sorshad would have sent Boorman away with her daughter if she truly thought that he had something to do with Madmartigan's disappearance. But I'm sure that Boorman knows a lot more than he lets on and that he is following some sort of agenda on his own.

And that he is using Kit to get to it. He keeps feeding her breadcrumbs about her father and although she keeps asking, Boorman always deflects from Madmartigan's fate.

Of course, that's only theory and could be complete bullshit but at the same time, I find it too suspicious to just ignore.

And that leaves us with Jade in the end. Over the first three episodes, their relationship got pretty dented. At first, Kit felt betrayed by Jade because she was prepared to leave her when she needed her the most. Jade felt hurt by this as Kit wasn't happy for Jade following her dreams. All of that changed, however when Airk got taken. Kit clearly appreciated Jade coming with her and probably wasn't even that mad at her anymore (given the straddling and kissing and overall very gay behavior).

But then Elora came into the picture and better turned to worse again. They became hostile toward each other and more distant. Before Dove's true identity was revealed, there were comforting touches (like when Jade talked about her deceased parents) or soft smiles (like when Jade was watching Kit sleep). But once Willow said who Dove really was, that stopped. Jade believes in Willow and Elora, something that Kit clearly didn't. In Kit's eyes, they were just wasting valuable time that could determine Airk's fate. Airk, who she had a very big fight with. Kit is feeling a huge amount of guilt.

So their relationship strained over time, but the reveal that Jade let Kit beat her during their sparring sessions, that was a huge blow. You could literally see the hurt and betrayal in Kit's eyes. How she questioned everything. Has Jade been letting her win since the beginning? Has she ever actually beaten her or was it all just an act? How much did Jade hold back? Was their friendship just an act too? Was Jade only her friend because she was the princess? What else has Sorsha told Jade to do?

And now combine all that with the fact that Kit has feelings for Jade. That fucking hurts.

But Kit still cares. When Jade was forced to kill her mentor, Kit tried to comfort her, even if they were interrupted before she actually could.

How Kit handles the situation in the next episode is going to be very important. I love her, but girl needs to forget about her pride and swallow that ego of hers.

She saw that Dove truly is Elora Danan. And she saw that Willow was much more than she originally thought. And I believe that that will have a huge impact on not only how Kit interacts with those around her but also how she views this quest.

#idk if any of this makes sense #willow 2022 #willow series #kit tanthalos #kit x jade #jade claymore #sorsha #madmartigan #willow ufgood #elora danan #dove #boorman #thraxus boorman #willow spoilers

[paradoxcase]

Gideon the Ninth audiobook, through to the end of the book

I finally rebooted into linux again and finished listening

New voice:

The text says John's voice is "bittersweet" and "scratchy", I'm not sure if this voice matches the description and it also doesn't say " trying to be a cool goofy dad" to me, either. I dunno, maybe I'll get used to it during the next book

Other stuff:

Camilla: "[Palamedes] doesn't get distracted" with the narration adding, "as if this had caused difficulties in the past." Haha

Anastasia's note says "ask EJG", which obviously stands for "Emperor John Gaius"

Judith says "no one should ever have to watch their cavalier die" which mimics Gideon saying the opposite during the pool scene

Ianthe says that none of the challenges could be completed by yourself (without a cavalier), but that wasn't actually true of the Sixth House challenge, was it? The one with the molar. That could be completed by a necromancer alone, and that's also the one that Cytherea completed and retrieved the key for without anyone else's help

Also according to Ianthe, Babs didn't help her solve any of the challenges, and she said that it was harder working them all out by herself. I wonder if that's just because Ianthe didn't want to let Babs in on anything she was doing or because Babs refused to help for some reason. Teacher claims he gave the facility key to Babs, but Babs didn't say anything about them having one after the first murders, and I feel like he probably would have if he knew, and also he definitely would have told Corona about it

Ianthe thinks Lyctorhood is "the same thing" as soul siphoning, but more humane. I am honestly really questioning now what it is about soul siphoning that makes it so heinous to these characters when most of them are perfectly fine with things like Lyctorhood, the life siphoning, and all the Weekend at Bernie's stuff. Like, if it's because souls are sacred, then why isn't burning a soul inside yourself as an energy source for eternity also wrong?

Colum seems to come back to himself briefly before being possessed by the devil thing. I'm not sure how this fits into what we've been told about soul siphoning or the devils, honestly. Is Colum able to come back on his own? He was objecting to being siphoned in this scene. If he did come back, how was the devil able to possess him if he was alive and occupying his body?

I'm not sure when Palamedes leaves to go confront Cyhtherea. The last we see of him before that scene is him examining the YOU LIED TO US message and coming to the conclusion that Cytherea has been there before, but Gideon doesn't know where he is when the fight between Ianthe and the Eighth House starts. Harrow claims she saw him come out of the room after Camilla, but I think she's the only one to claim that she saw him at that point and Harrow's observations can be suspect. I can't think of a reason for her to hallucinate Palamedes still being there, but maybe it was just because she expected him to be there. Palamedes also later says in The Unwanted Guest that he didn't personally witness Gideon fighting and only got information on that from Camilla, but Gideon definitely did some fighting after Colum was possessed by the devil. Then again, Gideon also had that brief scuffle with Camilla back when we first meet her and Palamedes

Prior to Palamedes exploding himself, the text says "Five people had died that day." I'm not sure if the fifth person after Marta, Babs, Mayonnaise Uncle, and Colum is Teacher, who is arguably not really a person, or Judith, who did not actually die

I think Ianthe gloating about how she became a Lyctor probably helped Palamedes figure out that Cytherea was one, and that Lyctorhood had preserved her in an almost-dead state for 10,000 years, which therefore helped him realize that he could just manually advance her cancer to kill her. Before Ianthe spelled it out, he didn't believe that his hypothesis was actually correct, because he thought John was better than that

Cytherea says that one of her goals was to destabilize the Empire by killing off the heirs to all of the Houses. Since that actually did happen, and all of the heirs and their cavaliers either died, ascended to Lyctorhood, or were abducted by BOE, I'm now wondering if that plan worked and things really were destabilized by this. The Ninth House got an influx of new population and their heir actually became a Lyctor/Saint, but at the cost of there now being no one to continue Anastasia's line. I'm not sure if that counts as a positive or a negative for them (before the devils showed up, anyway)

Cytherea claimed that Teacher scared her. Like I said previously, I'm not sure I actually believe her. Based on the room that had the Teacher-related stuff in it, I believe he would have been Cassiopeia's project

Wait, now I'm wondering if Teacher's death, and the subsequent release of all of the souls that made him up had something to do with the first appearance of a devil like 30 minutes later

Cytherea's voice when she announces her true name is very different than how she's been voiced so far, but she does switch back into the "Dulcinea" voice several times during the subsequent fight, mostly when addressing Gideon

"Cytherea" is pronounced with a voiced th, which is the way it's pronounced in the English word "cytherean", but that word has different pronunciations for the c and second e than in the Locked Tomb

Harrow strapped Gideon's sword to her back when she brought it to her here, just like she later does in Harrow the Ninth

The "we do bones, motherfucker" line is even funnier when Moira Quirk says it

This final battle was over an hour long, wow, I thought it felt like it went on forever when reading the ebook, but it really does go on forever. This is officially a Peter Jackson approved audiobook

Cytherea compares both Gideon and Camilla to Loveday during this battle, and talks about how she'd like to have them as cavaliers. This feels kind of weird and offensive both to Gideon and Camilla, and also to Loveday?

I think it's interesting to note that there's a moment where Ianthe saves Gideon from getting killed by possessed!Colum, and another moment later when Ianthe saves Camilla from getting killed by Cytherea. It's kind of weird to think of Ianthe playing the role of the cavalry in this book after reading the other two, and seeing Ianthe responding to Harrow almost getting killed by G1deon by saying "yikes!" and leaving immediately

Cytherea: "I always wanted a little sister" Ianthe: "I've tried the sister thing already, and I wasn't any good at it." She really did come off as being a little at odds with Corona in this book, but after reading the rest, I'm not sure she actually means it?

Ianthe eats her own hair and flesh during this fight and the one with Colum and Mayonnaise Uncle, but I don't think we see her doing this at all during Harrow the Ninth. I guess it's like Harrow and the bone chips - after becoming a Lyctor she eventually figures out she doesn't need to do that anymore

Cytherea says that Gideon is as brave as G1deon, but prettier, which lines up after having read the other books

When Gideon is getting ready to kill herself, Harrow says "what are you doing?" and Gideon says "the cruelest thing anyone has ever done to you." I think it's interesting that she can understand that here, but doesn't seem to remember it when she reappears in Harrow the Ninth and thinks that Harrow tried to remove her because she hated her

John tells Harrow that Cytherea was his most loyal Lyctor - but wouldn't that have been G1deon?

John somehow knows the Ninth is dying here, and it's not explained how, and I don't think it is ever explained how in the other two books, either. John didn't know that Harrow's parents had killed 200 children, so how did he know it was in need of more citizens?

#the locked tomb #gideon the ninth

[ritabuuk]

For Webcomic Day Week, I want to make several posts sharing some of my favorite webcomics! Like Sparks by Revel Guts (@revelguts)!

Sparks takes place in what we gradually learn is a post-apocalyptic world, where humans depend on the Satyr for their magical power and protection. The story follows Philo, who is about to complete his training at the Academy and start his new life in service to humanity.

Unfortunately for Philo, with his abysmal magical control, he's finishing dead-fucking-last in his class (maybe even last ever), so his post-graduation options are sure to be much more limited than, say, Atlas, the "cold jerk type" valedictorian. Atlas is determined to become an apprentice under Arch Mage Vasilis and eventually assume the role himself, directly advising the future human king, Prince Marcos.

So, no one is surprised when, during the graduation ceremony, Atlas is called upon to go to the palace... but why was Philo selected to go as well??? What is Arch Mage Vasilis thinking??? (This is a question I find myself asking a lot).

The comic so far is building a web of magical and political intrigue. The Satyr are second-class citizens and most often wind up conscripted as soldiers, treated as glorified batteries, or made into pretty little pets so that human nobles can play with their hair. There are laws against human-satyr fraternization, but those rules seem to only be meant for the peons to follow - and not even the king practices what he preaches. Why are the laws set up this way? What horrors happened in the past that ended the old world and brought this one into being? What is Vasilis scheming, (because, oh boy, is he scheming!)? Why does he claim to have a younger brother when everyone knows that's impossible? What is Atlas's true motive for becoming the next Arch Mage? Why did he even think that would be a valid career choice? And what are those sneaky other satyrs up to? How does Philo and his seemingly boundless magical energy fit into everyone else's plans?? Will Philo, in his earnestness, be able to carve out his own path? Philo is both the most honest and the most constantly lying character of the bunch, and will all of his off-the-cuff lies eventually catch up to him? ...I don't know, don't look at me, I'm here for the ride too!!

And besides the web of intrigue, there's also a web of many, many shipping possibilities! Personally, I'm rooting for several possibilities, in a quantum way, haha!

Shipping aside, my favorite character so far is Pallas, the Arch Mage's so-called younger brother, who winds up in a friends-with-benefits situation with Philo (at least, that's what Pallas said, though, is that really what he still wants?). Pallas seems to be superficial, petty, and spiteful, maybe he indeed is, but he also is going through some abusive shit too. And in private, he seems to be genuinely caring, and even willing to take on sacrifices for others. He has needed to survive his whole life doing a political dance, and perhaps he is hiding his true self under fifteen layers of misdirection. Or is Philo's full-chested sincerity just somehow able to bring out the best in everyone around him? Or maybe we're all being fooled, and secretly, Pallas is just as cold and calculating as his older brother? Or is he just an unwitting pawn in whatever it is Vasilis is scheming?? Or does he have his own counter-schemes up his sleeves?!??

In any case, for reading online, I recommend the standalone mirror, as the comic occasionally includes male-presenting nipples that are sometimes just too much for some other pearl-clutching platforms (god, not even Tumblr banned male-presenting nipples, the censorship out there is getting completely, completely out of control, my god).

The story is free-to-read, although if you want to know precisely what happens whenever we get a tasteful fade to black — oh, you voyeur, you ;) — that's available on Patreon SubscribeStar. The 15+ version of the story is also coming to paper, and is currently available for pre-order!

#sparks comic #webcomic #webcomicday #webcomic day #webcomics day #but yeah i'm making it into a week woo! #webcomic review

[sang8262]

JP lore thoughts n rants yknow the drill

because i have too many thoughts and i must speak

mostly about JP's plans and role as the antagonist in WT

the usual warnings for World Tour spoilers of course, also it really is aimless rambling there is no thesis here:

Currently, the most recent DLC release was Ed, and we're looking at Akuma's very soon.

Quickly on Akuma, I don't expect much main WT story advancement with his Master dialogue or bond levels and what not. So far, Rashid, AKI, and Ed have all had major connections with Shadaloo, and therefore, have important roles in the main story.

I just don't think Akuma is going to have too much in terms of... Ken being framed, or Neo Shadaloo. Though who knows. We're also getting a major patch update with him too, so I'm half wondering if it'll also include WT quests and story... Copium: huffed.

Anyway, I'm thinking about JP (period. like, all the time) and his involvement with where the story will lead into the future.

He's the main antagonist of SF6 after all, and while he's had a hand in some important events in the story, we only NOW got some clarification about his goals: to convince Ed to become the new leader of Neo Shadaloo, to help revive the organization.

And even then, we aren't too sure about WHY he wants to do this. Other characters related to the main story have very clear motives and plans.

FANG (and therefore AKI) want to revive Bison. They're at odds with JP however, though we aren't entirely sure why.

Ed wants nothing to do with Shadaloo's remnants, nor Bison. He just wants to save survivors, and specifically now, find Falke.

Ken and Bosch: these two in particular have major beef with JP, so they likely want revenge. But we'll have to see how the story decides to resolve their narratives.

Kimberly is in a similar boat, but I think the way they set her story up in WT is far too similar to Ken and Bosch's storylines. I really HOPE they give her more of a role, but I somehow doubt they'll make it interesting... in a way that isnt just "Bosch's narrative but done worse".

And the handful of characters who are investigating JP and Shadaloo's remnants: Cammy, Guile, Chun-Li and Li Fen, Rashid... could all be major parts of the future story line, in particular, to stop JP and Shadaloo from reviving.

----

All that said, it's INFURIATINGLY UNCLEAR what JP wants and why he's doing it.

For a fact, he was the chief financial advisor for Shadaloo before the organization's fall. Per *his* words-- never a good thing to believe at face value-- he wanted Psycho Power to see the world as Bison did. And he also acknowledges himself that someone in his position as 'accountant', really has no need for such a violent, combat oriented power as Psycho Power.

Why did Bison agree? How did JP survive the mind crushing influence of Psycho Power? Did Bison even agree to this, or did JP in fact, obtain it another way? How long has he had Psycho Power (because I do not trust his claims that he's not very good with using it, i beg to differ mr. "can teleport, can summon ghost mimicks, can control them precisely, can adjust his Psycho Power output to either give someone it OR completely fry them from the inside out")

----

With Ed's update, we get a TINY bit more into JP's plans. Ed has the potential to use his Psycho Power just as Bison did: to brainwash victims and control them. Ed of course, never wants to do this, but he acknowledges that he *could* use his powers this way if he decided to. JP and the other Shadaloo remnants are said to want Ed as the new leader, presumably to control the world using this brainwashing power for their benefit.

So it doesn't seem like JP wants to revive Bison, but rather a new leader with the same abilities to rule the world... who also is under his control??

I really don't see what JP would get out of the situation other than 'world domination', which I guess he admits to in a way, with how he "wanted to see things through the same lens Bison did". But while Bison was driven by a hunger for absolute power, I'm not sure if that's what JP wants?

He's someone so secretive about his personal identity, going so far to change his name, even get plastic surgery to change his appearance (this was mentioned in the World Tour Guide book by the devs). So, being the leader of a giant criminal organization is probably not great optics. Likely why he wants Ed to take that spotlight instead (along with, the fact that Ed could brainwash people).

That said, JP's *known* publicly as the CEO of successful NGO's. And he surely isn't shy about putting himself in the limelight (as with Nayshall) if it's to help see through his plan. BUT WHAT PLAN,,,, would have him DO all this,,,,,,

----

My only guess is that his own Psycho Power just isn't strong enough or capable of brainwashing and controlling other people's wills.. so he needs Ed to do so. And I don't think it's for any 'philanthropic 'consequentialist morally good' reasons, like, brainwashing everyone to agree so there's no conflict. That type of shit.

But consider: here is this man who is exceptionally talented at manipulating people, able to lie, convince, and threaten people into doing what he wants-- WITHOUT brainwashing powers. And to me, it seems that he genuinely enjoys manipulating people. I think I talked about it in another rant post, but he's got that, "lmao life is meaningless! :D" flavor of nihilism going on. He's deeply perceptive about human nature and entertained by how people behave. But he's remorseless about what he does to others, partially due to the "everything is meaningless" attitude.

It reads like he has fun toying with people... but he's also very efficient with it. He isn't doing it purely for entertainment, nor does he put himself at risk *just* to get a kick out of scamming someone. Like, he frames Ken and hires Luke as a bodyguard, but then quickly cuts ties with them once they aren't useful to him anymore.

He doesn't toy with people out of spite or MERELY cruel entertainment, which is all the more baffling because we don't know what drives him to do this at all. Why does he need to launder so much money? He's used it to restore old Shadaloo bases, sure, but what does he get out of that? Once he does establish a new Shadaloo from the remnants, what is his goal?? If he doesn't-- or cannot-- lead this new Shadaloo as the leader... what does he get out of reinstalling such a criminal organization again???

----

I feel like I didn't get anywhere with this rant, just venting some questions and frustrations, if I want to call it that.

I have never seen such a compelling and charismatic villain with such unclear motives as JP. I need to put him under a microscope. I need to pry apart his brain for answers.

why is he like this seriously,, all i can hope for is that WT gets more chapters and we get some conclusion (or justice) for what JP's done... and more scenes with cybele, please

#jp rambles #sorry it's late and im stressed #had to talk about old man to get my mind off things;;; #but now i have more questions than answers arhgrjgh

[mxtxfanatic]

Book of the Week: Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage

Author: Qian Shan Cha Ke (千山茶客)

Genre: ancient setting, josei

Rating: M (very mature, dark themes but not too graphic of depictions)

My Synopsis: What happens when a girl gets tired of being nice and decides to go apeshit? You get Shen Miao, our adorable 30+ year-old protagonist recently stuffed back into her 14-year-old self and ready to eat the flesh and drink the blood of her enemies! Using this new lease on life, she’ll methodically and maliciously ruin every antagonist’s life using the tools in her versatile skillset, including: knowledge of the future, a psychological understanding of assholes, weaponized gender stereotypes, and men. And lest we forget our love interest, Xie Jing Xing: the boy/man (cause god forbid the author know how old anyone BUT Shen Miao is…) who thought he had it all figured out until he discovered that Shen Miao is a horny drunk. See just how far they’ll go to bathe in the blood of their enemies while keeping their loved ones safe in this very long but extremely satisfying novel.

My Actual Review: It’s so satisfying to see a previously downtrodden character scheme her way into a happy ending, and Shen Miao fucking deserves it. Some reviews that I’ve seen have claimed that the LI eventually takes over her revenge schemes, but I didn’t see it. They just partner up and she uses his manpower to do what she wants. There are also places where their separate goals intersect, so it just makes more sense for him to do the cleanup. The thing about Shen Miao is that she has no issues with letting others do the work for her, especially if it’s against people she wasn’t invested in putting work against to begin with. It’s the empress in her, I fear. As for the main pair as a couple, I loved their every interaction, and their descent into romance felt natural and gratifying. Greatest thing about this romance is the fact that it truly kicks off because Xie Jing Xing did not know to guard against horny drunk Shen Miao lmao!

The translation is pretty good outside of some clunky grammar, but once you train your eyes to glaze over the the five-millionth time the translator inserts directly into the story to complain about how often the LI is described as hot (unlike every other character, I guess???) as if this book is their early 2000s fanfic, it gets even better! Another thing that may or may not be here nor there is that this author is really weird with age consistency. Like, “MC is forever un-aging while everyone else ages 2 years every few months” weird. Shen Miao is forever 14 until the time skip in which she is forever 16, while Xie Jing Xing goes from “the same age as the students” to “17/18ish” to “vaguely in his 20s” during the same course of time where we literally never see Shen Miao acknowledge a birthday in any year. As for more serious content warnings, this story involves underage relationships (including non-explicit sex, marriage, and pregnancy), rape as a weapon, (assumed) incest between cousins, child abuse, and described but not explicitly shown torture. Though there are some humorous parts, this is not a lighthearted story. Read if you want something dark with an ultimate happy ending.

Translation: complete

#human promotes #rebirth of the malicious empress #my first foray into m/f cnovels #very good place to start #love me a girl winning #shen miao did the damn thing this whole novel #she up there in the hall of fame forreal