#act 3 could be its own entire separate game

[scalpelofshar]

Personal problems, I enjoy bg3 but my god is act 3 such a slog. The game has been out since what? August? I still haven't finished a single playthrough yet

there's just so much to do and I can't compell myself to do it in any decent time (and I certainly can't do it all in one sitting)

Act 1 is so much fun and visually beautiful to run around in (obviously, its the most polished third of the game)

Ac2 2 has that bloodborne-esque aesthetic I love so much and I'm emotionally invested with the Thorm family drama™️ and it stimulates the writer in me

Act 3 I repeatedly go "ugh how is there still questing to do how long have I been in this city" which is a shame because I want to finish the game it just feels more like a chore

#and people saying how they want the upper city accessible #besties isnt act three more than big enough already? #act 3 could be its own entire separate game #i made my third new character the other day #instead of you know actually finishing the game with my first #i see what people mean when they say larian has last act syndrome #i set myself a goal to have at least one playthrough complete before the new dragons dogma comes out next month #because if i dont get one finished before then i never will #edit: i know what it is #its the writing and the pacing #there is a massive shift in quality between the first two and three #the pacing is all wrong #were supposed to be saving the city from an evil brain but i have to deal with literally all my companions shit too #i mean i dont technically HAVE to but then i get a subpar epilogue #i havent even touched astarions quest yet i havent recruited minsc i dont even know what im supposed to be doing to help karlach out #im still slogging my way through it all

[rassicas]

Would you accept the concept of NOA having an entirely separate canon and putting all inconsistencies in that canon so some of it can still be canon just in a separate universe or summat?

i mean yeah you could say NOA kind of have made their own, (objectively worse) "canon" with some of the things written in. but having two separate canons that shouldnt exist in the first place ends up creating a bigger wedge between the japanese and english playerbase's understanding of the game's story. also "NOA splatoon canon" ends up being self contradictory at points. this is what led to people thinking that splatoon has no consistency in its lore for a long time. in NOA's splatoon canon: -marina has a narwhal landlord instead of presumably living with pearl. this "fact" of mammals casually existing on the earth ends up making the main villain of the next game's (im talking about grizz in s3 here) backstory and motives make no fucking sense -inklings can take showers. but they can't drink water like every other lifeform on earth because that's what will kill them. i guess don't ask about what they're really drinking from the crust bucket or crab n go. -Inkling's aren't good with water because they're... oily...? none of that osmosis shit is real i guess. -marina was really mean for a little while after splatoon 2's launch for some reason. ((the reason being whoever wrote off the hook's dialogue it only knew how to write a callie and marie dynamic. they literally had to patch marina's dialogue a little after s2's release because she was acting like a marie clone and was too mean to pearl)) -capn cuttlefish has a cuttlebone or something so he really is a cuttlefish i guess. oh yeah hes really racist too -agent 4 is 2 years older than agent 3 -big man wants a pet salmonid i guess etc etc i think if you had to make a separate NOA canon you'd have to exclude every piece of japanese material that isnt officially translated while youre at it which is basically how the english speaking splatoon fanbase who cared about the worldbuilding was living prior to 2018

#asks

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Jean Vicquemare

He's a minor character with a surprising amount of depth when u look into it!! But he is also a Cop (derogatory) and I feel a lot of people take the few things we know about him and twist it into an entirely different entity separate from the source material. I think he's an interesting character and should also be catapulted into the sun <3

This could not be more of a divisive character in this Fandom, which is hilarious considering he doesn't even have that much screen time. He is either seen as the devil incarnate or a poor little baby who's so sad! Being a fan of him means it's just best to block his tag here on Tumblr otherwise you'll tear your hair out at how frustratingly people misrepresent his purpose in the story.

Dark Pit

Most of Dark Pit's mischaracterization comes from the fact that he's in SSBU- everyone assumes he's like every other nintendo clone; evil and just a 'bad' version of the original. But he's not!! Even the characters in his own game think he's just cruel by nature, when he's never actually done anything wrong. He's a dick, yes, but wouldn't you be a bit pissy if you kept getting dragged into a war you want no part in, called a name crafted specifically to belittle your own existence?

Dark Pit was created when Pit, the original, was on a mission to destroy a mirror that would copy anything that stood before it, since the villians were using it to create an army. It's incredibly important to note that it does NOT create 'evil' versions or even just copy the body and leave the personality at home. It's a 1:1 conversion. Unfortunately, the villians also knew Pit would destroy the mirror quite directly, standing in front of it (or more accurately, flying kicking towards it) and triggering the copy to be made. It was shattered midway through creation, creating Dark Pit- something the villians were hoping would happen, as Pit is the last angel to exist and they REAAAALLY want their own angel.

Immediately everyone assumes Dark Pit is just evil by default- even the villian is gloating about her new minion, but he immediately rejects that and punches the villian and helps you in the fight. He steals her power and flies away after, but its important to realize that Dark Pit could've just allied with the villians for the same result, and instead chose to be alone. Sure, he's kinda a dick to Pit, but he hasn't done anything outright evil. Just took a dead god's power in order to fly and left.

Cue the next mission where Palutena calls Dark Pit 'twisted' and 'inherently corrupt' like ma'am where??? Hes just an asshole cmon, you would be too if your birth parent is a reflective piece of glass. You go off on a mission to try and KILL him, and he obviously defends himself- once again, he's done nothing outright wrong. He's rude and aggressive, yes, but he literally doesn't want ANY part of all this war between gods shit, and here you are killing him for merely existing. During the final battle of the mission Dark Pit tells Pit that he is his reflection, and that they're the same person- Dark Pit is just more than willing to say the things Pit refuses to admit to himself.

AND HE'S RIGHT. Dark Pit believes the gods are selfish, are using Pit as a tool for their own gain, and that the world would be better off without them since all they ever seem to do is cause war and destruction. If you pay attention to how Pit reacts to the world around him, he DOES share these beliefs but instead of acting on them, he just buries it. Pit will even snap at the gods about half-way through the game, telling them outright that its THEIR war that is destroying the planet and that THEY'RE all at fault. Dark Pit is NOT an evil clone; he's an inversion. Everything Pit hides away, he wears on his sleeve, and interestingly, everything Pit openly is, DARK PIT STILL IS TOO. He, just like Pit, hides it away instead of admiting it.

After the fight Dark Pit runs away, and shows up mainly as an ally to Pit going forward. The game mentions further how kinda fucked up Dark Pit's whole situation is- if Pit's soul is removed from his body, Dark Pit just DOESN'T EXIST during that time. If Pit dies, Dark Pit dies, and he has no control over it. He never even gets his own name- its either Dark Pit, or his nickname of 'Pit two' (Pitto). If Pit ever attacks Dark Pit and tries to kill him, there's little Dark Pit could ever really do; In the game he'll defend himself and try and kill you, but at that point he's dead either way. His life is barely his own.

Worst part is, SSBU confirms Dark Pit allied with Viridi after the events of Kid Icarus Uprising. I cannot STRESS how horrible that is for his characterization so far. Viridi is the god of nature and hates humanity for even existing, with her first appearance being her dropping NUKES onto towns and cities to purge humanity. And Dark Pit now works as a commander under her. Either Viridi has to mellow out REAL damn fast and stop nuking medieval humans, or they accidentally wrote Dark Pit to be a Human Murderer (we specifically know Viridi sends her commanders to kill off anyone who survives her nature nukes). Really hope this stays in the realm of 'not canon' because holy shit there's so many better options to pick from than the 'little girl god with a hit list and a factory of bombs'.

(Not even sure WHY Dark Pit, who thinks gods are selfish and use angels like tools, would want to ally with a god. Yes, he can't fly without a god's help, but even then why ally with the most vindictive and murder-happy god that isn't Hades??? Poor dude really just needs a break from all the gods to sort out who he is and to start building his own life independently from Pit)

#misrepresented morally grey #round 2 #bracket c #both bracket #disco elysium #jean vicquemare #kid icarus #dark pit

[afarcryfrommymain]

Ok actually I'm gonna continue this rant where everybody can see it. (Mostly focusing on the Heralds bc Joseph,,, could be his own post honestly but he's mentioned when its important.)

Another very VERY well-made part of the framing and body language and everything in cutscenes is how they convey who is in power in every single one.

Let's start with John. He has the least amount of cut scenes in the game but also is shown not in power in 2/3 (4 if you count the beginning of his boss as a separate one) of them. The framing of the first cutscene portrays him as in charge and the focus at first, but then the moment Joseph enters the scene hes shown to have much more control and John suddenly looks like when a child is sent to the principals office or is being scolded by their parents. And that feeling doesn't end when Joseph leaves, because despite him still by all counts having some form of power over you, you already have seen cracks in the mask, and hes suddenly much less intimidating. The second scene is of course all John and the control he can possess when left alone but again, I think a big reason he is seen as pathetic by the fan base because he was already shown early to act almost neutered by Joseph and that was most likely on purpose. See, Johns area of the game is overall the easiest, and it's the one that's hinted at to go do first because it's a low-level area. He is the weakest in-game, and they absolutely knew what they were doing making the first guy you're supposed to fight still intimidating by how off the rails he can be and how him being set off causes violent tendencies that are scary when you are vulnerable, as shown in the Bunker scene and the Falls End scene. The final one i talk about above is finally putting him in a place where he is vulnerable, and it frames it as such, and it shows his panic and desperation in the end.

(Side note, the second bunker scene, from what I remember is the only John scene you can really look all around in, and it makes sense because of course you would be looking for a way out in this situation)

Faiths scenes are a little weird and different because Faith's whole thing is making you think that you want this and that she's just a helpful guide. Nope! No control here shes just showing you all this cool stuff. And for that reason her cutscenes generally allow you to look around and the focus is on both her and the environment. The scene where she has you walk the path is obviously very whimsical in nature and its the "we aren't scary! If we were evil would bliss be so beautiful? Would i be so kind?" Of course we the player also feel almost creeped out by this, because we see the fake smile with too many teeth and know what happens if you stay in the bliss too long. Faith is definitely meant to be the 2nd area in the game, mid level fights, her cutscenes can be put off but not entirely avoided like johns, a greater sense of urgency, that sort of thing. And Faith herself is intimidating because you never know when she's going to show up and where. Half way through a quest? K now you're jumping off the statue. Just stepped out of the jail? You're being shown the end by Joseph. It keeps you on your toes. Of course you can put it off for a while which is something i did often in game. Her boss is also probably the most fucking wild just because the mind fuckery that was present in her cutscenes being used against you more aggressively than before. Faiths 3rd act breakdown is fun too because you suddenly hear her giving excuses and trying to garner pity (albeit while chucking magic at you and flying,, did I mention her boss fight is my favorite?? Its my favorite.) Her final cutscene is soft and she dies with a warning. "If you listen to him, he'll be right" its ominous and it leaves you confused. Isn't she on his side? Its a weird sensation that sticks for a while after her fight. Clearly something meant to come to mind at the final fight with Joseph.

(Side note for her: I did the "side effects" or "after effects" quest or whatever its called after I beat her boss and was finishing up the quests in that area and man was it WILD to hear her giggling after death,,, she made more of an impact than y'all give her credit for, this has been my daily "please talk about faith more" psa)

Every cutscene with Jacob, regardless of weather or not hes actually in charge somehow conveys that he is in control of the situation. Its obvious for most of them, him being free and walking around, carefully chosing his words and what the player sees constantly, even when Pratt tries to reveal his plans its too frantic to understand. His presence is always felt in the Whitetail Mountains and his section of the game is obviously the most desperate. Your focus is always on him. What he's doing, where he's going, what he's saying. And he knows. He makes every word matter. And he is always confident. Even to the end. Theres something to be said about how even in the Joseph cutscene of his area, who always fucking steals the show when he's around, we still have a portion of our attention on Jacob because both of them are an equal threat. His death cutscene is probably the best example of my point. Even when he's hacking up blood and bleeding out he still is confident. He adds to Faith's warning "you did everything he said you would" still trying to instill that helplessness he's been giving you as he dies but it feels more genuine. He dies sitting on a rock, Jacob is gone but it never really feels that way.

Ik that most of this is probably stuff everyone already knew but im a bitch for narrative framing and animation so I wanted to ramble

#far cry 5 #john seed #faith seed #jacob seed #far cry 5 analysis #im talking now #do i tag joseph???? #joseph seed #hes mentioned but not a focus rly #i made a readmore so yall dont have to like. scroll through a wall of text if you dont want to #lmao sorry for the essay i just had adhd and also need to take a break from world history homework #college rly do be kicking my ass

[inposterumcumgaudio]

Uncle Jack & Foggy Jack

So if you're asking about both of them, I'm assuming that's because you're into the idea that they are one and the same.

I don't dislike the concept, but I like it much more for that the game seems to push that notion while simultaneously giving you nothing to substantiate it and, at times, even giving you details that seem to contradict it than the idea for its own sake. Good shit!

It's another one of those things you'll never have a canon answer for!

And frankly, I've never really found the question of whether Uncle Jack is Foggy Jack that interesting. It's a little contrived, a little obvious, a very basic bitch story. The most famous man in town has a mental breakdown and becomes a serial killer? And he somehow does this despite being instantly recognizable by everyone? And also he's doing this while he's still filming his show every day and looking all normal and shit?

Too, the whole Foggy Jack thing intrudes on the natural predisposition of fledging fanartists to make serial killer OC's.

Foggy Jack also exists as an urban legend in the town in a way I think predates even the toxic fog (and I was given a separate ask about this as well so I'll save my thots about that for then!)

But suffice to say, because I do not find the whole Uncle vs Foggy Jack thing compelling and I'd never really devoted much thought to it, I struggled to think of something interesting to say about it. The only chapter I ever wrote about the subject was actually about why Ollie's surface-level investigation of the crime scene in "A Pomaceous Puzzle" did not arrive at the correct conclusion. It simply doesn't fit the MO.

However... in reviewing what we know concretely about Foggy Jack from the main game, I actually did arrive at a fascinating new theory.

Because we think of this as a duality, do we not? Uncle Jack is one side of the coin, Foggy Jack the other. That's why you asked about both.

Let us go over what we know for sure about Foggy Jack, that was reported in the game, to separate out the unreliable information given in "Lightbearer". There are only two sources of "solid" information about Foggy Jack in the main game:

In "The "O" COURANT - Article 3", we learn that five Wellie women - Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, Mary Jane Kelly, and Mary Anne Nichols - have been found hacked to pieces in the streets. All of these women are named for real-life victims of Jack the Ripper.

Stated in the above and reiterated in "Interrogation Report", these murders seem to take place on particularly foggy nights. "Interrogation Report" also states that the witness, Daniel Dunglass, reported that the apparent murderer's face looked "oddly familiar" to him.

One further piece of information that we learn in Ollie's act is that Foggy Jack apparently kept a hideout in the Gardner House, at least until plague wastrels overtook it. We know this from the suitcase which contains a cleaver and the "Mystery Note" with the only the phrase "I'm afraid you've come to the end of your time" on it.

And here we learn that Foggy Jack has some interest in Margaret. And that makes sense if he's actually Uncle Jack.

But... what it's it's not a duality.

What if it's a triptych?

What if it's not Uncle Jack, but someone who would have us come to that conclusion? Someone who would want us to think Uncle Jack is avenging his murdered daughter, but is in fact trying to frame him for it?

Why, who would have motive to do that?

Who indeed.

But DJ, you say, that's crazy. You play through Ollie's entire act and not once do they ever imply that he could be Foggy Jack.

Yeah, well, there's a lot of stuff they don't imply through his act, ain't there?

And just like with Uncle Jack, the details don't say anything conclusive but consider.

Ollie is said multiple times over his act to have periods of lapsed memory, both due to the Oblivion he took and excessive drinking. Margaret mentions specifically in both "The Camp of Thine Enemies" and "Cache as Cache Can" that Ollie has trouble remembering things due to his drinking. And it's an interesting coincidence that Ollie also "vaguely remembers" leaving himself a cache of supplies in that quest and its the same sort of vague notion that leads him into Gardner House where he finds Foggy Jack's suitcase.

He's also in deep denial about the limits of his morality and how far he'll go to see traitors get theirs. Still, killing innocent women just to make Uncle Jack look bad? Surely not! Maybe Ollie ratted out a little girl and got her chased down and murdered, but he's not a serial killer!

Then again, if there's one thing Ollie hates, it's a collaborator. Deutschland Über Alles special and all. And you know who about the first people to start collaboratin' with an occupying force are?

Prostitutes.

All of Foggy Jack's not-hallucination victims are named for the "Canonical Five" of Jack the Ripper's victims, all known prostitutes. Which, sure, maybe that's just the reference, but we actually meet Elizabeth Stride before her apparent death. As Ollie. At the Jack O Bean Club, where she works as a cook serving a bunch of collaborationist traitor lovers. She has no love for them, calling them toffs and wankers as she does, but she does also muse aloud to herself about it: "Take the job, she says. You'll never have to suck another cock, she says." Which sounds an awful lot like a thing a (former?) prostitute would say, making it two separate issues to Ollie, really. And why else would a fine upstanding Wellette be out on the streets at night anyway? That's how Foggy Jack gets you!

And for my most tenuous point: remember that guy from the Interrogation Report? Daniel Dunglass. I looked his ass up and

Reminiscent!

Dunglass (the character, not the actual guy) also says that the murderer's face is "oddly familiar" to him. Uncle Jack is familiar, but not oddly so. Ollie isn't exactly a nobody in town, but he's definitely odd looking in a world that conformist.

And as long as we're drawing specious connections, Daniel Dunglass (the real guy, not the character) was a Scottish medium famous for levitation and speaking with the dead. You know who else does a lot of that?

But... even if Ollie is Foggy Jack, I don't think he killed the constables at the apple tree. Which means there's copycat killer pretending to be the guy who's pretending to be Uncle Jack pretending be urban legend Foggy Jack.

#uncle jack worthing #foggy jack #we happy few #ollie starkey

[zacki0gaming]

The PCC Comic + HOPE Series Are Masterpieces? (Absolutely Not!)

Before I Start

This is going to contain Major Spoilers, Disturbing Topics, Etc (You have been warned).

Greetings everyone! I am continuously providing reviews of both continuations of the episodes and ranting. Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to express my thoughts on the comic titled "Pink Corruption Continued" or PCC for short (which is canon btw) and the HOPE series. If I must briefly describe these two, I must say that it felt more like it was "another waste of my fucking time".

The content, more often than not, felt like I was listening to a fanfiction OC fetish that I could typically find on websites, such as Wattpad or Archive Of Our Own.

This is generally insulting in this franchise that it does an incredible successful endeavor to make me feel miserable. The HOPE series felt very empty and the PCC comic NEVER tries to make it feel "canon" and I wasn't even satisfied to the "slightest" on how this entire current 23 page comic went.

In advance of offering my critique, I would like to acknowledge a noteworthy statement that was shared by a YouTuber named "Upper Echelon," which I wholeheartedly concur with: "Human beings can be manipulated through cheap and shallow tricks." Within storytelling, whether it be in a game, novel, or other media format, individuals can be emotionally manipulated and misled by poorly-written narratives. Regrettably, creators may intentionally introduce characters who are supposed to be perceived by the audience as cool and instantly likable. Yet... Objectively speaking, this approach offers characters that are often somewhat forced into the storyline without adequate development or proper characterization. This can be interpreted as an "act of manipulation" towards the audience to forcefully evoke sympathy for these characters. Remember this because this almost happened twice for me with one of ArtofSoup's OC characters when I initially read the PCC comic for the first time that I'm going to talk about later on.

Here is what I'm going to do here before starting reviewing the entire comic:

Firstly, I'm going to explain the drama, controversaries, and the old cancellations to the best of my ability from what I can remember.

Next, about the comic, I'm going to be explaining all of the characters I've seen having ages changed, the canon ships, etc.

Thirdly, I'll be discussing additional screenshots of potential ideas that were supposedly going to be incorporated into the comic that were from discord.

Fourthly, I will be starting reviewing the entire comic by dividing the pages into 4 separate categories: Pages 1 -5 (First), Page 6-9 (Second), Page 10 - 15 (Third), and Page 16-23 (Final).,

Fifthly, I'm going to be actually discussing the "HOPE" series too because why not.

And finally, I'm going to give off my final conclusion for all of this.

Drama, Controversaries, & Old Cancellations

I can confidently say that this entire franchise's downfall is well-deserved in my opinion.

For the sake of brevity, I will succinctly address the Pink Corruption Drama because this will go down in my opinion, the most stupidest and hypocritical drawn-out drama I have ever seen in my life... All of this started because of disgusting pornographic fanart from Brittany's sister, Brea...

It is repulsive, nonsensical, and ironically hypocritical. If you want even further context on this, I will be providing links to videos, etc about the drama and allegations itself. I'm not joking, some of you people don't realize how DEEP this rabbit hole goes...

To clarify, the Pink Corruption Series used to reach its peak back in 2019 to early 2020, specifically talking about the amount of views Season 1, Episode 3 has on Brea's channel. 3.1 million views... (Probably only because the JSAB game was very popular back at this time). However, Brittany's sister, Brea, uploaded several videos discussing canceling the series but, I couldn't remember the main reason why.

This action here was the beginning of "the downfall of the entire fanchise of the Pink Corruption Series". This also most likely caused the drastic decline in viewership for the series, going from receiving millions of views to approximately 10,000 or more views in the subsequent months.

In early 2020, with insights from Bubby Aurora's "Telling My Tale" google document, the "drama," or "great schism" as some call it, began in early 2020. Brittany's sister, Brea, had been writing pornographic fanfiction for the series and constantly showed it to Brittany. This made Brittany so uncomfortable that she felt compelled to cancel the series.

In early 2020, the infamous drama, or "great schism" as some call it, began. The catalyst for this event can be traced back to insights gained from Bubby Aurora's Google document titled "Telling My Tale." At the heart of the conflict was Brittany's sister, Brea, who had been making pornographic fanfiction for the series and continuously showed it to Brittany. This caused significant discomfort for Brittany, leading her to make the difficult decision to cancel the series. (Keep this in open mind later on).

At the time, ArtofSoup and Brittany used to be friends at this time period, but I didn't fully understand what was happening behind the scenes. Because of this friendship, Brittany Robinson gave her permission and consent for ArtofSoup to continue the series in the form of a web-comic. Ecstatically, ArtofSoup began writing their comic, "Pink Corruption Continued." (I'll explain the events surrounding this in more detail after discussing the current topic.)

However, things started to fall apart when Brittany supposedly cut off contact, shit talked ArtofSoup behind their back, and continued to create episodes (that were non-canon, NOT CANON)... Without their consent... This eventually led Brittany Robinson to intentionally create the "Non-Canon Continuation of the Pink Corruption Series" on youtube, "Season 1, Episode 6 to recent". Due to this happening, Brittany Robinson started to blatantly steal ideas from ArtofSoup's work into the non-canon continuation, which infuriated ArtofSoup.

The most important links I can possibly provide for this:

Telling My Tale - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VcQcbdEQwRxJPiWgI8BZFwj8d0GtmjzC0R3ASOSzrls/edit "Telling My Tale" is a document drafted by a user named "Bubby Aurora / Mzoyagon." It recounts both her personal experiences within the fandom and people who she used to be friends with such as the current creator of the series, “ArtOfSoup” (formerly known as (Quadragon, ItzFriday). It also deals with other disturbing and horrible topics she encounters such as grooming, stalking, spying, doxxing, etc. ArtofSoup also traumatized her since she was 12 years old at that time because of it.

Lucas' Lies - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ci_EhXiI6pndj1g-T3Kfy-YgwBd0UVgD was a Google Drive that was established by "ArtOfSoup," formerly known as "Quadragon" and "ItzFriday," the current creator of "The Pink Corruption Series." The contents of the account included inadvertent conversations between Brittany's sister, Brea and ArtOfSoup, and allegedly stole ideas derived from both Brittany and Brea without their consent. Moreover, tons of screenshots and proof about it, showing Brittany Robinson lying behind ArtOfSoup’s back. 

Reasons why LucasTheDubber shouldn't upload on BreaBear Jone's channel - https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sr33b0 This was one I found from a website I've never seen before on the Internet called, "TwitLonger". It was created by a user named, "RPG_Animator_Mi" for reasons of Brittany's sister, Brea just trying to suck in all of the attention and money they can, and using Brittany herself as a vacuum. The list that he created has 7 here, some are possible evidence that Breabear is directing Lucas and some are things that are definitely wrong. However, all of these links in the list aren't going to be accessible to you all.

Pink Corruption Youtube is in DANGER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXP-EGwa63A This Youtube video revolves about two things, Identity impersonation and copyright infringement related issues. This was because of Brittany's sister, Brea, "who is alleged to have posed as her sister, Brittany in order to issue copyright strikes against fan videos of The Pink Corruption series from other Youtubers, whom are in the fanbase". The issue happened with the removal of translated versions, including "Russian", of content from the series. From the video itself, the situation escalated when a favored Youtuber within the community, known as "Heck Island" (whoever remembers this person), faced the termination of their YouTube channel due to repeated copyright strikes. Notably, these strikes were attributed to her sister, Brea alleged to be impersonating Brittany Robinson. The videos that were listed on Heck Island's channel were taken down because, "they were just regular memes videos".

Furthermore, remember what I said on why this is also comes off hypocritical too? Well... I would consider Brittany Robinson, a fucking hypocrite herself because of this. According to the "My Channel Intro 2022!" Video on Brittany Robinson's channel, toward the end of the video, this is where I initially see Brittany comes to "her sister's defense against long-term bullying because of the people harassing her online". Moreoever, she expresses a zero-tolerance policy toward negative commentary regarding her sister, which she will go to lengths of blocking you "if you say something bad about her sister", possibly for the ones about her being a groomer.

Brittany coming to her sister's defense over this shit is absolutely unacceptable. However, the gravity of the situation cannot be understated because IT'S... STILL... FUCKED... UP!!!

I could talk even further about Brittany's hypocrisy. Remember what I said about how the drama originally started back in early 2020 because of Brea shoehorning her Pink Corruption pornographic work into Brittany's face? Well... I have a screenshot of Brittany Robinson, "calling her sister's disgusting Pink Corruption work, "Cute" with a heart emote".

I can prove this further when "Pipythecat205" says in this response on the Pink Corruption discord that "Lucas just doesn't seem to care". Yet, Pipy... Is right... Brittany Robinson doesn't give a shit ALL THIS TIME and still supports her sister from this.

The Drama's Central Query So let me tell you yall something... If Brittany Robinson does actually love and care about sister, actively defends her over online harassment from other people, and has recently developed a tolerance for her sister's contentious disgusting contributions to the "Pink Corruption" series—the catalyst for the drama. What the fuck... was the legitmate point of this all happening in the first place then...???

Final Verdict On The Drama, Controversaries, & The Old Cancellations

Overall, perspectively speaking, Brittany Robinson is a straight-up hypocrite, a fake friend, and perhaps a disgusting individual. She went from being ham-fisting crude pornographic depictions of the Pink Corruption Series by Brea. Into terrible lengths to allegedly steal ideas without that person's consent for her non-canon continuation, false relationships, block people on Youtube (probably the ones, who know about the drama), and for some unknown reason, "likes Brea's content now"...

Her sister wanted to shove porn art of fanfiction TPC crap up to Brittany's face, abusing the copyright system to take down TPC Fan videos from other Youtubers who watched this series, etc.

This entire drama is remarkably atrocious in a tumultuous and regrettable manner. Brittany Robinson and her sister, Brea wanted to deliberately cause their downfall of the entire series in the most disingenuous, hypocritical, and ridiculous way. And they succeeded at it...

I'm finally done talking about this shit... I know there's more to discuss, but I've decided to focus on the most important points here in the entire drama. There were more videos about the drama itself, but unfortunately, the ones I used to watch have been already removed from YouTube.

Character Ages

After finally discussing what I know about the Drama, now we discuss the age changes made by ArtofSoup themselves. In one of the current creator's posts on the canon wiki, I had to scroll down to find the canon ages post. According to the post, it is quite clear that ArtofSoup changed the caretakers' ages.

The Caretakers' ages before being changed: (Pretty much confirmed from Brittany Robinson's old twitter account)

Pyrare - 1000+

Pentellow - 24

Iris - 25

Cube - 19

The Caretakers' ages after being changed from the current creator, ArtofSoup:

Pyrare - 45

Pentellow - 20

Iris - 21

Cube - 16-17

Please keep this in mind, because I’ll bring this up again later to provide more context by combining this with the canon ships, including the other characters as well. Now, here are the other characters whose ages have been changed:

Dub - ? (I don't know why he's age has a question mark because Brittany Robinson confirmed that all monster shapes have longevity for being 1000+ years old)

Ajaceare - 19

George - 22

Challenge - 19 (soon 20)

Teroblast - 22

Sitbnite - 15

It is likely that ArtofSoup knew about the previous ages for the Caretakers and then changed their ages for the continuation. Also, an issue with this is that the is is clear that there is a minor lore change I noticed ArtofSoup made... It was to the species' lore. They removed the monster shapes' ability for longevity, giving them instead a normal lifespan like normal shapes.

The Ships

Now we're gonna talk about the canon ships. According to the canon wiki's posts, I found a screenshot of at some point on Youtube, ArtofSoup (Formerly known as QuadragonX on their channel's name), confirmed at least 6 ships. Let me briefly state my thoughts about these ships.

Dub x Cuda (Barracuda) - I don't see a lot of people talking about this ship, also I don't have anything to say about this.

Cintagon x Circumsphere - One of those type of ships that I generally feel so confused on why people shipped these two in the first place because clearly there hasn't been any potential romantic tension between these two.

Cube x Lythorus - I don't ship these two because I see their relationship perfectly working as "childhood best friends".

Ajaceare x George - George has a fucking wife and children since Season 1, Episode 1...

Pentellow x Iris - I'm not going to explain this insufferably generic lovey-dovey couple ship...

Squadril x Marcle - I don't see a lot of people talking about this ship but, I ship it nonetheless.

I'm starting to feel like I don't have a huge taste in romance anymore. It's still fine. :/

Anyway, if we combine the age changing and the ships together, ArtofSoup made it feel disconcerting and perhaps disgusting because of two ships on the list. The ones I'm talking about on this list is, Ajaceare x Geroge and Cube x Lythrous ship. Before you all start talking shit, none of this has to do with me being a homophobe or anything, let me please explain why...

Ajaceare x George Ship

Let's first talk about Ajaceare x George ship. Considering that this ship isn't even close to being decently popular, since Season 1, Episode 1, it has been pretty much confirmed that Lythorus was talking with George himself before he turned into a corrupt. He had a "martial family with a wife, son, and a daughter".

We don't know how old Geroge was before the comic came out besides being confirmed 22 by only the current creator, not Brittany herself. In light of this, it seems that the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted George to "secretly divorced his family, thereby opting to pursue a romantic relationship with an unattractive cyclops female monster cube". Crazy, right?

Cube x Lythorus Ship

Now we'll talk about Cube x Lythorus ship. I generally feel like they wanted Cube to be shipped with a character like I said about Lythorus's entire characterization in my Season 1, Episode 2 rant "who is so incredibly forgettable in the series that was left in a coffin for about 6 years by now, and a cardboard cutout leader who shows a level of incompetency for not having any reinforcements". But wait... Here's what I found out...

I could pretty much say that Brittany Robinson confirmed the caretakers' ages, including Cube being 19 years on her old twitter account before it was taken down. In all 31 states, a minor is referred to as someone under the age of 18. So basically, I thankfully got a screenshot of Brittany Robinson confirming that Lythrous is actually 20 years old from a QnA on her channel before it was taken down because of the recent short cancellation of her non-canon continuation of the series. We can pretty much agree that Lythorus was this old before the comic and the drama came out.

So theoretically, what I'm trying to say here: ArtofSoup never confirmed Lythrous's age being changed on their canon age post on the wiki. So, if I'm possibly correct on this and ArtofSoup likely knowing about the caretakers' previous ages, they would be changing Cube's age from being 19 to a minor (a 16-17 year old) just for him to be shipped with a fully grown adult (a 20 year old flower) in the canon continuation. If that's the case, then we have a damn problem here guys because it is a 5-4 age gap... Might as well have to give Cube a different main love interest than in the comic...

Sexualities

Also, I found a screenshot of the characters' sexualities for the canon. I don't have a lot to say about this. :/

Final Verdict for the canon ships & sexualities, and characters' ages being changed

None of this has to do with the characters' sexual orientations or anything like that. Overall, what I'm saying about this is that the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted characters like George, who has been canonically married with a loving family since Season 1, Episode 1, to be in love with Ajaceare, and changing up the lore for the monster shapes just for them to be get rid of the ability of longevity. Furthermore, ArtofSoup could also potentially involve changing characters' ages into minors so that they can be shipped with fully grown adult characters like I said for Cube and Lythorus. I can't say for sure whether this is the case, because I don't have much evidence to support it. But it's possible based on what I've covered up.

Potential Lore Changes

Despite my previous discussion about Monster Shapes losing their ability to have longevity, I found another screenshot that has happened since 2022. These were possibly future ideas for the canon continuation itself for the current creator to use if that's the case.

So technically, they are 9 here and let me tell you something. Some of these feel uninteresting or pretty weird. Although I do find some that are potentially good for the comic.

The idea of granting the Tree of Life the power to send prophetic dreams to shapes, offering glimpses into their future, is an intriguing concept that adds supernatural abilities to the trees themselves. However, on the other hand, I find this other idea for the Tree of Life to be quite ridiculous. Having the Tree of Life become bored and cause all sorts of mischief for its own entertainment feels completely out of character. I generally don't like the idea of the Tree of Life having potentially negative motives, as it doesn't make sense to me.

Making LGBTQ+ jokes that confuse some other shapes like I don't care about this...

Also, having Heroes such as Cyan, who is canonically a 0 years powerful childlike being start cussing, especially saying the world "fuck" while improperly maturing is just pretty uncomfortable... Imagine seeing Cube hear his hero start cussing while in his sudden mature state... Like, these heroes are so precious to be starting to swear tbh...

Let's FINALLY Discuss This Comic Now!

Front Cover

First off, we get a simple, yet terrible front cover. Just look at this shit...

I can already tell that the current creator is a "straight-up Iris simp" who made Iris "the pretend main lead of him being the only one to fight Dub in this front cover" instead of including the other caretakers and heroes with him. I'm getting sick of tired of these people having this sort of "Iris Simp Fetish", trying to make Iris act as if he's the coolest character and should've been the main protagonist of the series because very clearly he's definitely not in my opinion...

Second, it seemed like the current creator, ArtofSoup implemented some kind of dumb Iris vs. Dub fanart that they found somewhere on the internet for the front cover instead. (I know it's the creator's digital artwork but, come on...)

Anyway, now let's talk about the pages. (I'm not going to be discussing a lot here due to it feeling short because of the length of these pages).

Pages 1-5

On the first page, the story continues after the opening scene of Season 1, Episode 6 left off, as it originally shows Cube losing his grip from his grabbing claw while trying to stop Cyan from searching Ajaceare while he was in his sudden mature form once again.

On page 2, as the trio (Cube, Cintagon, and Iris) continues to plummet to the ground, Iris says that he can't teleport while falling, and even if he could, it likely wouldn't help save him and the others. (Well, I don't understand this part about why Iris can't teleport while falling. Perhaps ArtofSoup was trying to establish a "weakness" here for Iris's teleportation ability, but it feels very vague to me).

While this part was still ongoing, I'm not fucking joking, this was so unexpected that this happened in "THE SECOND PAGE"!! One of ArtofSoup's OC characters named, "Challenge" came out of nowhere alongside Orange because he randomly found this dude?!

On page 3, Orange screamed out Iris's name as he noticed him with Cube and Cintagon still plummeting toward the ground. Challenge quickly came up with a plan with Orange to split up so they could catch more of them. Challenge and Orange then starts zooming down toward the trio to save them.

On page 4, when Challenge grabs Cube's hands, (He does the 200 pound joke like how Lythorus did in Season 1, Episode 2 toward Cube. This reference right now for me is cheap, amateurish, and not funny at all and it's only there to be this perhaps stupid exaggeration for Cube to be called FAT) due to Challenge carrying Cube from his hands. Wow ArtofSoup, I don't think it's the best time to be doing this right about now.

On page 5, this is where the entire pacing goes all over the place... It abruptly skips ahead to Squadril, who is suddenly captured by Dub and Flower Corrupts.(In a confusing turn of events, I was... Being showcased a fucking completely new and seemingly OC character - a random inverted triangle—whom Orange somehow met at some point in page 2. And now, this story then abruptly shifts to Squadril's perspective, where we find him being held captive at Dub's base with no explanation... What...?)

Dub, who was satisfied by Cyan being out of the way for his future plans. (I swear to fucking god... I hate this plot device that this series gave Cyan. Cyan's sudden mature form "ISN'T DOING ANYTHING FOR CYAN'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!! IT'S ONLY THERE TO BE A "FRUSTRATING NUISANCE" TOWARD THE OTHER CHARACTERS, ESPECIALLY HIS CARETAKER, CUBE THAT'S IT!!") Oh my god...

BTW, CYAN WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN FOR THE REST OF THE COMIC...

Behind Dub, two corrupted flowers called him by "Boss" show Squadril being held captive all of a sudden. Squadril then tells them to back off as he won't surrender to them. This won't help Squadril as Dub then corrupts him in the process.

Alright, so... not off to a good start for me. The first five pages already have pacing issues, with OC characters randomly appearing and a touch of overused comedic references from the canon episodes that aren't funny at all for the dish. What a disgusting meal...

Pages 6 - 9

On page 6, we see Dub still processing on fixing Squadril while turning him into a corrupt. While fixing him, Dub screamed out George's name, wanting to know where George was. George was seen presumably hiding and (starts to be the only mouthless flower corrupt showing emotion...) Answer me anyone... WHERE THE HELL did this development come from???

On page 7, Cube and Iris were safely landed back down to the ground with the help of Challenge and Orange while Cintagon completely landed onto a tree branch from impact (Hey Orange, why can't you use your telekinesis on Cintagon too???). Iris then says nice work to his hero, Orange. (Lets pause here...)

Major Issue: Iris's Entire Characterization Being Changed

From a post I found out about Page 7 from the current creator, one of the information about this page is that ("Iris has more emotion than just "smug").

I actually have more evidence to go along with this which is from the Halloween Comic, ArtofSoup created on DeviantArt.

From the Halloween comic itself, Iris does a prank on Cube by using pink paint to disguise himself to make Cube think that he got infected. After Cube found out that Iris was pranking him, he didn't find this funny (Iris... Your sense of humor will always fucking suck bro to this day... Get a life dude...). Iris even "actually apologizes to Cube from the prank", which is so weird for me because of his sudden change of character.

You really think that Iris was this kind and friendly enough from the way Brittany portrayed it, who has fucked up demeanors? THINK AGAIN FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP!!!

Overall, this also implies that ArtofSoup also made Iris's personality more apologetic and nicer now. So... takes a sip of cold coke You're telling me that your making Iris's whole characterization and personality more mellow and likable now all of a sudden without even giving him any sort of meaningful character development for him to be acting this way...??? Bruh...

THIS WAS NOT EARNED!!!

Btw, that Halloween short comic just basically shows just like I said, how fucking pathetic Iris's sense of humor is toward the other characters.

Back To The Comic

Back to Page 7, Challenge, Iris, and Orange notice Poly Village unknowingly being destroyed that being up with pink flames coming out of the burned houses from some unknown corrupt. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS COMIC?!?! DID AN FUCKING DRAGON BURN THE ENTIRE VILLAGE DOWN????

On page 8, we get to introduce another OC character.... (where the hell are these characters even coming from, bro...) that comes out of nowhere. He's name is, "Teroblast", an old friend of Challenge and this MF looks like a self-insert of the current creator, ArtofSoup's QuadragonX's profile picture on the wiki into this bitch.

Am I wrong?

Anyway, while Purpex is never to be seen (like we care where she is at this point), Marcle was crying on the ground because of Squadril getting kidnapped. Teroblast was about to comfort her until he noticed Challenge with the others. With an awkward gesture, Challenge acknowledged Teroblast's presence by placing a hand on the back of his head.

On page 9, Teroblast asserts that he has not seen him since his brother's death. This statement concludes with Challenge exclaiming "ENOUGH!", which shocks Teroblast. Ok first off, let's talk about what happened here...

Question Time Imagine this scenario: You unexpectedly run into an old friend you haven't seen in ages. They are delighted to see you, but out of the blue, they start sharing very personal information immediately that you'd rather not discuss in your current situation. I want to generally hear your thoughts about this in the comment section...

I would've punched Teroblast in the face for that...

From what I'm seeing him pages 6-9, Poly Village gets burned and destroyed with no explanation to just let it happen for the sake of the plot's progression, more OC characters coming out of no where that looks like an almost self-insert of the current creator.

Page 10 - 15

On page 10, Challenge believes Teroblast doesn't understand. He explains that he and his unknown brother were very close until Dub abducted him. Judging by the appearance of the unknown shape next to Challenge, it is implied that his brother is Barracuda himself. But, who knows if that's the case...

On page 11, Teroblast expresses sympathy for Challenge, who is grieving the loss of his brother. Challenge weeps, and Teroblast speaks his name.

Here's the main issue with this: remember what I said earlier on, before I started explaining the comic, about how creators may intentionally introduce characters who make the audience instantly love and find them cool, but who are objectively blinded by them not being well-written characters? Reflecting on this comic, I nearly felt sympathy for Challenge and his predicament. However, I just... Still don't care about him because he was very unexpectedly introduced into the story in a very non-linear approach.

Secondly, Teroblast... Why the hell are you bringing up something so personal out of your fucking mouth to piss Challenge off and make him cry afterward, despite already knowing about his brother's death then...? Let's have Teroblast be aware of Challenge's brother's passing without making it a big issue, and then immediately use it as a cheap trick to try and sympathize with Challenge's situation.

On page 12, this is where I die in laughter... After Dub finishes corrupting Squadril, he turns into this very clever and calculated henchman (Hedrilateral, his name)😂😂, as he comes up with this plan for Dub to disguise as a flower. (Lets pause here).

So you're telling me that Squadril's character gets immediately thrown out of the window because I barely fucking know anything about this magician's life, just for him to become a "henchman corrupt for Dub" for god knows how long?! 😂😂

On page 13, Dub showcases a new ability for him to shapeshift into a gray flower, like the one from the video game itself.

On page 14, Dub senses victory drawing closer. He envisions a restored Cubic and a corrupted Iris, believing that Paradise will be his. (Just to keep you guys the heads up, Iris's corrupted counterpart's name is just "Corrupted Iris"...)

On page 15, Iris notices Stibnite and alerts Teroblast, Challenge, and Citren that they have a problem. Teroblast shouts to Stibnite that he has five seconds to leave, or he will take action. However, someone intervenes and advises Teroblast not to do that.

Overall for pages 10-15, the portrayal of Challenge's emotional turmoil as a result of his brother's demise, coupled with Teroblast's subsequent apology, was so poorly-done and was clearly contrived, seemingly inserted from the current creator, ArtofSoup with the intent to elect sympathy for the Challenge's character. Additionally, Squadril's entire characterization gets his ass cheeks smacked out of the window, just for him to become a "fucking henchman corrupt" for Dub...

Pages 16 - 23

On page 16, Stibnite displays his hatred for Sabrepulse and the four caretakers. Before seeing a shield, he immediately senses that something is wrong. He notices the purple dome that was created by Iris and Orange that contains Lycanthropy inside the seal from the Lycanthropy fight since Season 1, Episode 4. Wait...

So basically what's going on here is that, ArtofSoup wanted to insert another OC character coming out of the blue. Furthermore, I thought Dub was going to send "a group of corrupts to save Lycanthropy from what he said in Season 1, Episode 5", not some bat-like creature that randomly finds it out in Poly Forest. Another minor plot change that nobody notices...

On page 17, Stibnite approaches the seal. Inside is Lycanthropy, who appears to be undergoing a purification process within the seal, which is transforming him back into his pure counterpart, Lythorus. Lycanthropy and Lythorus begged anyone to save them until Stibnite saved Lycanthropy's life from purification inside the seal by summoning a bomb attack to explode the seal. (Lets pause here).

About this page, the seal that Iris and Orange created here for Lycanthropy since Season 1, Episode 4 was another way to purify corrupts. It is shown that Lycanthropy is being weakened by the seal's power, proceedingly turning him back into Lythorus, but at a slow rate. However, at the same time, looking back at Lycanthropy's entire character, you could barely give a fuck about him because he has little to nothing to do in this series...

On page 18, Challenge uses some sort of new ability or something (possibly a clairvoyance power, I don't fucking know). Meanwhile, Lycanthropy thanks an embarrassed for Sitbnite for stopping the purification and destroying the shield, though the former thinks the latter overdid it. FINALLY, Pentellow shows up and accidentally snaps a branch, Lythorus notices her, and the situation gets ugly for Pentellow.

WHERE THE FUCK WAS SHE AT???

On page 19, Pentellow gets worried about how she can't win against Lycanthropy. Challenge runs off-screen to search for Sibinite as Cube chases after him, while Tsavorite, who pops out of no where and somehow, starts to use some new ability to sense or call Cube (I don't know). Tsavorite starts saving Pentellow's life from Lycanthropy, as Tsavorite tells Pentellow and Cube to rush off, while Tsavorite and presumably Challenge stop Lythorus.

On page 20, Pentellow tells Cube that they need to go without a second thought, with Cube being clueless about what's going on (how about explaining to him while still running). Lycanthropy was about to launch a spiked ball at Pentellow and Cube when Challenge stopped the attack by using a weapon by using his prismatic ears, then threatening Lycanthropy to stop. (Let's pause here).

What follows here everyone is going to be the most blatant heroic sacrifice I've ever seen...

On page 21, Cube realizes that Challenge got infected by The Pink Corruption via his prismatic ears. Cube informs him, but Challenge already knows, and he says that although "pyramid monster shapes are resistant to The Pink Corruption Virus" Slams hand so hard on computer desk in disbelief WHAAAAAT?!

I THOUGHT THE CARETAKERS WERE THE ONLY ONES THAT WERE GIVEN THIS ABILITY!!! THIS FURRY PYRARE WANNABE MOTHERFUCKER IS NOT A "CARETAKER"!!! GTFO WITH THIS SHIT!!!

With tears in his eyes, Challenge warns Cube that he has been too cautious. He asks Cube to convey his farewell to his father (how the fuck will Cube know anything about your father if you never told him his name to him...) before succumbing to corruption. His final words to Cube were a single, urgent command: "Run!"

On page 22, while Cube, Tsavorite, and Pentellow are running away (and we never learn what happened to Orange, Iris, Gold, and Pyrare), Challenge confronts Lycanthropy, declaring that he won't allow him to harm our virus-stopping team. Lycanthropy responds by saying that he has already achieved victory, but Challenge is confused and asks what he means.

On my gosh, we are at the final stretch of the comic everyone!

On page 23, Teroblast shows up and is forced to watch Challenge being corrupted. Teroblast and Challenge are both shedding tears, with Challenge trying to say he loves him (Don't tell Teroblast that you love him after he bursts out very sudden personal information about your brother's death), before the virus fully controls him. Challenge suddenly becomes infuriated, as he screams in agony turning him into a corrupt.

You know what, I wanna talk about this dude, Challenge...

Challenge's Entire Characterization

Undoubtedly, even though it's been 23 pages, Challenge is the most forced OC character I have encountered over my years in web-based content. He was so forced here in such a highly incongruous manner, that Challenge wants to be incorporated into the comic to play a pseudo-protagonistic role, which is absolute shit. Furthermore, the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted so hard to manipulate my emotions by invoking sympathy towards Challenge situation - specifically about his brother's loss, as it is clearly shown from pages 9-11.

ArtofSoup wanted her OC fanfic fantasy to have Challenge to be the most broken character in the entire fucking series. I will explain why:

It is implied that Challenge has the ability to "see into the future".

Every Pyramid Monster Pyramid like Challenge are resistant to the Pink Corruption (even though, the caretakers only possess this power).

He can fly.

If Challenge had been introduced much later in the story, in a more linear approach, it would have been a lot better.

In all honesty, this wouldn't help right now, because I couldn't care less towards Challenge's selfless heroic act, leading to him becoming a corrupted shape since Page 23. Overall, he is poorly-written, who has been seemingly shoehorned so hard into the story with very little consideration for contextual fluidity or compelling characterization, is contrived, distracting, and is too overpowered.

Other OC Characterers

This also goes along with ArtofSoup's other OC characters such as Teroblast and Sibtinite...

Final Verdict On For The PCC Comic

Cons

Narratively, ArtofSoup wanted to ham-fist shit such as different story's direction, changing characterization without proper development, minor lore & plot changes, etc to make it feel so unappreciated, miserable, and unsatisfying to me. It happened because to make the entire comic feel like it has "OC Fanfiction Fetish Fantasy Syndrome" from the current creator, ArtofSoup. They tried to deceive me by deliberately using "forced sympathy tricks" to desperately make me care about their OC characters in the cheapest way as possible, particularly Challenge and Teroblast (mostly for Challenge) cause IT DEFINITELY SHOWS. The pacing is already all over the place in the story's progression over the span of the preceding 23 pages. The Caretakers and Heroes should've been in a different area in Paradise by now searching for more groups besides wasting their time tagging along with these fucking OC characters (that almost look like self-inserts) for the PAST 23 PAGES!!!

Pros

Despite the amount of issues in comic, story and writing-wise, I would like to acknowledge some commendable elements. For starters, the story's tone achieves a more serious tenor (from the look of the direction), while not trying to be cheesily lighthearted, like from the earlier episodes of the series. Furthermore, character designs such as Teroblast's are aesthetically pleasing, knowing that it is assuming that the canon continuation was going to add more characters with improved designs.

Score

In summarizing my evaluation of the PCC Comic, I assign it a score of 4 out of 10 (Below-average). Starting with your sister shoving that disgusting pornographic fan-art cake in your face for dessert, and ending with the transfer of ownership of your project—with your full consent—to another individual, whom you badmouthed behind their back all this time, all of this led to a lackluster fanmade series derived from the "Pink Corruption Series," specifically the "Hope" series (that I'm going to be talking about next). Finally, giving me an actual pretty bad continuation in the form of a web-comic that "never tried to make it feel canon to begin with", to shove even more cake ONTO MY FUCKING FACE NEXT with OC fanfiction fetish toppings on it.

Hope Series

Now we can finally talk about the "Hope" series... The Hope Series is a discontinued fanmade series, based on the web-series, "The Pink Corruption Series" after Brittany Robinson gave her consent and permission for the Pink Corruption series to ArtofSoup.

Most of all, just like the pilot episode from The Pink Corruption Series, this pilot episode is not good...

So Let's Discuss This Episode

Beginning Part

In this episode, the scene opens on a stormy night, with Cube singing as he sits on a rock. He receives a call from his triangle chest from his brother, "Cubical". (Lets Pause Here).

Do you want to know the main reason why Cube has a brother? It's probably because we feel so bad that Cube doesn't know anything about his biological family. I don't mind Brittany taking away the generic childhood best friend trope, but this doesn't help the fact that I wasn't even invested into Cubical's character.

In a conversation between Cubical and Cube, Cubical asks Cube about his whereabouts and mentions that he has been searching for him. Cube responds by telling Cubical not to look for him and explains that he "needed some fresh air anyway". (It is evident here that Cube has a bit of an attitude here toward his brother).

After hanging up his brother, Cube continued walking until he heard a baby crying. He found Cyan, whose wing was caught on a tree branch. Cube rescued him and decided to take him home.

For some unknown reason, I don't know why Cyan is out here this windy and rainy at this late at night, while getting stuck in a tree...

While Cube was singing to Cyan, Cubical, who had been searching for him, spotted his umbrella on the ground and picked it up, looking worried. He then found Cube and hugged him. Cube stated that Cubical didn't need to search for him. Cubical was startled when he heard Cyan and quickly moved back. Cube explained how he had found Cyan, and Cubical agreed to let Cube take Cyan home. (Cube and Cubical's relationship kind of fucking sucks tbh).

Overall, the beginning part of HOPE episode 1 was pretty boring, with nothing interesting happening. Notwithstanding, the interactions between Cube and Cyan were moderately charming, though not particularly noteworthy, Cube and Cubical's relationship is already somewhat bad and cliched. Moreover, having Cyan randomly come out of no where just to get the rest of the plot going was never explained...

Back To The Episode

Middle Part

Later, while they are eating, Cyan shoots a beam from his chest, acting like a projector, showing Pyrahedron (we fucking "replace" Pyrare with this guy now...), who explains that Cube is now the fourth caretaker of the Tree or Life and that he has one day to reach the tree and seal the monster. (Lets Pause Because I Think I Can Talk About This Right Here).

Major Issue: Cube's Entire Characterization Being Changed

I think it's a good idea to make a comparison from the pilot episode from TPC with the HOPE series.

You can clearly tell from Cube's character and personality in the HOPE series that it's "completely changed" and I find it very disagreeable. From Season 1, Episode 1, Cube was fairly apathetic about his role as one of the Caretakers and his position as the hero, Cyan. This was evident from Cube's dereliction of his duties as a caretaker, which occurred twice in the pilot episode.

The first was forgetting to assist his hero Cyan in sealing away Dub, seeing Cube questions Cyan on why he has to come along as well.

The second one was forgetting to give Cyan his name (most likely by accident).

In a metaphorical sense, Cube's pronounced apathy towards his caretaker responsibilities, evident since the first episode of Season 1, serves as a reflection of his demeanor characterized by timidity and nervousness. Seeing him throughout the series occasionally questions Cyan or the companions, the other caretakers and heroes about why he has to perform these challenging or significant tasks. Nonetheless, despite his reservations, Cube still greatly assumes his role and together with his hero, Cyan, unintentionally semi-completes their mission on sealing Dub (even though it ended in chaos toward the conclusion of that episode).

(This image right here perfectly explains what I'm saying.)

In contrast, in the HOPE series, Cube's persona went from being a shy and somewhat introverted shape, which clearly shows signs of self-doubt and uncertainty about his role as a caretaker at times throughout the TPC series. And turned him into a much more easygoing and composed personality, who has a bit of an attitude toward his brother's overprotective tendencies and doesn't seem to be bothered or anything in the slightest about being chosen in his caretaker's role. Although recognizably simpler, this marked shift in character causes me severe dissatisfaction, as I perceive Cube's character in TPC to be superior...

About the way Cube gets chosen as the 4th Caretaker of the Tree of Life here, he was chosen so damn unexpectedly, after receiving a call from Pyrahedron (I don't know how the fuck did Pyrahedron get Cyan's phone number), without giving any indication as to why he was chosen for this role. Cube never expressed any concerns or questions about this, like how his TPC counterpart legitimately did toward TPC Cyan in the pilot episode. All of this happened because "he fucking "randomly" found Cyan, who inexplicably showed up out of no where to initially be stuck in a tree and gets taken care of by Cube just to get the rest of HOPE's main plot going".

Overall, I already dislike Cube's character here. This fucking disrespects how Cube's entire characterization was established in the TPC series.

Back To The Episode

Gold pops up and interrupts the call, while being happy (Gold's character gets ruined here too...). After Pyrahedron hangs up, Cube says he will go to the Tree of Life. Cubical asks how he is okay with all of this. Cube replies that he wasn't until he saw Gold on the call and realized that he looked similar to Cyan (Are you only giving out the main reason why you were chosen was just because of your fucking appearance looked identical to Cyan here...) He thinks Pyrahedron was serious and decides to head out in the morning.

The next morning, as Cube gets ready to head out, Cubical asks if he's really ready to do this. (OH MY FUCKING GO... You know what, I might as well talk about Cubical here...)

Cubical's Entire Characterization

I don't have a lot to say here so, I will keep it brief. If I have to describe him here, Cubical serves as a "clear replacement for Cube's childhood best friend, Lythorus". Despite being a caring brother to Cube, objectively, his character comes across as goddamn irksome due to his overprotective nature, constantly fretting over Cube's safety throughout the entire pilot episode, like shut up, bro...

Back To The Episode

Btw, despite giving Cube a brother, STILL DON'T HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SHOW PARENTS!!! WTF!!!

Cubical reminds Cube about his previous encounter with Dub. Cube gets a flashback of Dub shooting a laser beam, presumably toward one of his eyes. Cube reminds his brother that he survived the incident and that he will survive.

So you're telling me that before Cube was chosen, he encountered Dub before and was attacked by him, which we can all agree that Cube gotten "infected", right? So how come CUBE HASN'T TURNED INTO A CORRUPT LET?!

Subsequently, Cube requests that Cubical cease his concerns. While initially agreeing, Cubical persuades him to at least consume a meal before departing with Cyan, which Cube acquiesces to.

An hour later, Cube traverses the terrain clutching Cyan who slumbers soundly. Suddenly, a hazy figure zips past him. He glances back but discerns nothing. Progressing towards a huge pink lake, looking shocked. Unable to wade through the water, he ponders over how to circumvent his predicament.

Ketches approached Cube and asked if he needed help crossing the water to reach the Tree of Life. Cube gratefully accepted and thanked him. Ketches introduced himself and explained that he had helped all the caretakers before Cube as well. He invited Cube to hop aboard.

During their voyage, Cube acquaints himself with Ketches and inquires about the other Caretakers. Ketches identifies them as Iris, Pentellow, and Pyrahedron and clarifies that Iris and Pentellow have been unaccounted for since Cyan's birth. (You know what, looking back on Pyrahedron, I wouldn't mind having different caretaker characters because I could care less about Iris and Pentellow returning here...). However, Cube expresses his hope that their disappearance is unrelated to Dub. Ketches concurs, and they eventually arrive at the Tree of Life.

End Part

After dropping Cube off at the Tree of Life, Ketches expresses his gratitude, while cautioning Cube. He says that it looks like a clear path, but there could be someone clandestinely lurking about. Cube acknowledges Ketches' advice and proceeds towards the Tree of Life.

Before I talk about what happens next, I'm not joking, the rest of this conclusion is more "hilariously bad" than the TPC pilot episode's conclusion. 😂😂😂

Issue: Laughably Bad Conclusion That Ended On The Most Biggest Discontinued Cliffhangers I've Ever Seen In This Entire TPC Universe

Suddenly, a group a flower children showed up (they are fucking corrupts btw, who popped out of fucking no where). One of them "viciously assaults Cube by uppercutting him physically as a corrupt that caused him to disembody his body from his dead flying upward into the air". 😂😂😂 I burst out laughing because of this... How come Cube hasn't even turned into Cubic yet after getting blasted by Dub from his previous encounter with him and now an uppercut (that was so strong by the way) from an infected flower child?!

Cube firmly declares his refusal to engage in combat with children, even those tainted by corruption. (ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THEY ARE CORRUPTS CUBE, DEFEND YOURSELF?! 😂😂😂) However, one of the children warns that, despite their own unwillingness to fight, Cube will still face dire consequences from the flower group. (WHAT?! THEN WHY DID ONE OF YOU LITTLE BRATS START ATTACKING CUBE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT HIM THEN?!)

Following this, one of the child corrupt flowers, pulls out a damn gong out of her ass that causes the sky and the Tree of Life to adopt a pink and black hue. Heli's fleeting appearance is observed, before taking flight. In the ensuing commotion, Dub emerges, and the episode concludes. (JESUS WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?! 😂😂😂)

Final Verdict For HOPE Series

Cons

After laughing so hard after HOPE's pilot episode conclusion, it's time to give my final verdict on this. It is so unappealing and boring than its predecessor, TPC (despite my unfavorable opinion about the latter).

From a narrative standpoint, Episode 1 presents a poorly-written script, replete with subpar pacing, characters such as Cube, who has his personality and characterization disrespectfully changed, minor inconsistencies, and an utterly hilariously bad conclusion that is more worse than the TPC's pilot episode.

Not to mention, upon me discovering a restored video of the Hope series's intro, HOPE's worldbuilding looks like in a nutshell, if The Pink Corruption Series's worldbuilding was overly simplistic and generic that will make you go...

Me: Bro...

And, take all of the elements out of what a JSAB world looks like...

Pros

Episode 1 doesn't have a lot of pros besides character designs being improved (also, Cube's hat looks ugly as shit btw).

Score

My appraisal for the show, taking into account its single episode, would be like the PCC comic, 4 out of 10 (Below-average). The HOPE series, in my perspective, appears to be an unproductive utilization of my time. Going from giving your consent and permission to someone else just to make another typical underwhelming web-series on Youtube that failed to impress me.

Right after, when Brittany Robinson - the show's former creator - discontinued HOPE and instead embarked on the Non-Canon Continuation of the TPC series, this is where her writing skills showed their "true colors" due to how unbelievably bad it was in my opinion. It was because I knew something was up with the writing since the pilot episode that was going to eventually decline later on.

Final conclusion for ALL OF THIS!

So... What's the problem here between these two works? The biggiest main issues between them were the "amount of changes" that felt so insulting to me. It includes narrative shortcomings and quality, poor characterization that were disrespectfully changed or without proper development, ineffective worldbuilding that takes away what a JSAB world actually looks like, and try to perceived manipulative tactics emotionally toward me that were employed from the PCC comic for Challenge and Teroblast haphazardly, that was distracting and unnecessary, etc.

The Entire Pink Corruption Drama is the most pointlessly disingenuous drama I have ever seen in my life from what I've analyzed to the best of my ability. All of this because from the distasteful and objectionable pornographic artwork associated with the TPC series from Brittany's sister, Brea.

If I were to amalgamate both the PCC comic and the HOPE series, my rating would be a modest 3.5 out of 10 (slightly below average). My perception is that ArtofSoup and Brittany Robinson have lost their touch for me regarding the series as a whole. While there is much to criticize, I will refrain from doing so at present. However, I cannot help but feel melancholy because the PCC comic and the HOPE series does "an incredible job to make me feel straight up miserable in my gaming chair" and it shows, it ABSOULTELY SHOWS FOR ME!

Thank you to everyone who read this...

#the pink corruption #tpc #pink corruption #brittcorruption #jsab tpc #Episode Rant #tpc long post

[mcybree]

🌓 + ❄️ + 🌌

🌓 - opinions on watcher lore?

(warning for any onlookers I am a hater in this one. avert your eyes)

I think it’s fun in passing, like I have fun with it when I make an AU and have to incorporate it in a silly way but I feel as though watcher “KILL EACH OTHER WE MUST FEED” brand of interpretations undermine the entire narrative by tossing aside every character’s own agency and reducing their internal struggles to set-ups by immoral gods. There is only so much “I dont want to do this but I have to :( the watchers told me so” a story can take before it becomes the narrative happening *to* all of the characters, rather than the characters making their own bad decisions which takes away all the fun for me. similarly, watcher grian has always bothered me but I only ever put into words why a few days ago— If I was writing the life series, I would look take one look at Grian’s character and separate grian (watcher lore) and grian (the guy) into two different characters. I’ve never seen watcher grian incorporated in a way that compliments his character or says anything about who he is as a person. The Watchers are a punchline to me <\3

❄️ - be honest, which character do you care about the least?

I have thought extensively about every character at some point in my year long hyperfixation hellscape *except* for Etho and Impulse; through nature of being a scott megabuild mutual I care about Etho now like I get it but Impulse… im sorry man. I have still yet to get it I’ll keep trying though. I cant make myself write something without feeling that I have a grasp on how everyone involved thinks and acts I could not live with myself if I made every impulse fan point at me and go HE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT!!!! before rightfully banishing me to the beyond

🌌 - what happens when the players die?

Okay so. To me. The games are set in a dubious state of reality, like a simulation but theyre still made of flesh and blood and the trees are still breathing and the dirt is still dirt. I’m going to cite the infinity train car coding for how I sort of imagine this works… where its all living breathing thinking feeling but the organics of it are still attached to adjustable values behind the scenes. This is all to say that none of the players ever really sleep— the games existing in this dubious state of reality allows for adjustments to be made and this was one of them. So when they *die* die, the memories they gathered throughout the game are sort of flipped through and finalized in this window of time before the next game, creating a warped nonsensical dream sequence loosely based on the events of the game that they experience until the next one. I visualize this as a sort of psychedelic drug trip combination of all sorts of familiar places and people merging together but eerie nightmare purgatory dreams like being at an empty convenience store at night while echoes surround you is just as likely tbh.

TLDR what happens when the players die is whatever makes the coolest visuals for an animatic SORRY. Like if I’m being completely honest it’s whatever I need it to be to tell the story I made this up retroactively,

#THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE ASK I had a blast answering these #mine #< just in case I need to find it again #asks #bree barks so fucking loud

[deidremercer]

A Formal Review of Sparkle On, Raven! The Life of Drillgirl. (Episodes 1-3)

I first learned of Sparkle On, Raven! During Dollip Daze's voice acting commission stream. You might know Dollip as the funny blue girl from Twitch and TikTok, or perhaps as the voice of Jet in Realtime Fandub Games and The Necessity of Change (otherwise known as sonic riders dub) or maybe you've ever seen her on hit internet gameshow Act Promptly. Regardless of from whence you might know her, as well as the other members of the cast, I was confused to hear Dollip unplug her microphone on stream so that she could record with her webcam mic, and I was curious as to who this "Raven" character was. So I took a look at it, and I fell in love.

Sparkle On, Raven! The Life of Drillgirl is a webseries on the YouTube channel "these are videos, one, two three" a channel which has miraculously managed to nab the YouTube handle @SquareEnixOfficial the channel itself doesn't really have any information about the channel or the show anywhere, but through context clues you can pretty easily come to the conclusion that the channel is owned and run by Chase of ClownDepot, and if you're familiar with the works of himself or any of his friends from Clownhouse or Realtime Fandub you're likely to see a few familiar faces in the credits of Sparkle On, Raven!

The first episode of Sparkle On, Raven! The Life of Drillgirl, opens with an exposition dump from our titular protagonist Raven, who explains that she is going to have the perfect, perfect school year, despite the fact that she has to manage a bunch of new students transferring to her school due to the other school in the town blowing up, and also the fact that she's a magical girl. This implies to the viewer that Drillgirl is in fact Raven's magical girl alter ego. Almost immediately we learn that this is not the case, Drillgirl is an entirely separate character who is treated as if she is the protagonist despite the fact that she appears for exactly one scene in each episode. This is brilliant, and it's comedy like this that Sparkle On, Raven! really excels at.

Sparkle On, Raven! is very clearly a parody of fanime, a mid-2000s trend that I'm sure many of you are familiar with at least from a conceptual standpoint. While the most famous work from this medium is undoubtedly SoapOpera46's timeless classic Nyan~ Neko Sugar Girls. Fanime were plentiful in the years around 2006, and while many parodies of fanime like Drama At Junior Blossom High seek to replicate the "so bad it's good" factor commonly associated with the artform, Sparkle On, Raven! seeks to not punch down at these works by amature artists and storytellers, but celebrate them.

While Sparkle On, Raven! does contain many elements of these works such as the poor mic-quality, mspaint-esque artstyle, and over-the-top character designs and names, it notably never uses these elements as the punchline. Sparkle On, Raven! is funny because the jokes are good, through clever writing or good delivery, the cast and team of the show actually deliver a show that is legitimately funny on its own and not just funny as a punching bag. Even when it does utilize elements of the medium in its comedy, the joke is never just "we did the thing." Raven's transformation sequence being arguably the worst looking bit of art/animation in the show isn't funny because the art is bad, it's funny because in a magical girl show typically the transformations are visually stunning because that piece of animation is reused in basically every episode of the show. The one joke about the mic quality isn't just "the mic quality is bad," the joke is that Drillgirl is the one character whose mic quality is incredibly crisp and clear because she is treated as the main character, the joke is that they are spending more money on their supposed lead character, and it's a joke only enhanced by the previously mentioned one appearance per episode.

Perhaps the one exception to this rule is ChuppaChups the Alien, whose voice is put through a filter that makes their dialogue almost incomprehensible, but I'm willing to forgive that because in episode 1 the closed captions allow you to very clearly understand what they're saying, and also the CC goes into an unnecessary level of detail that I find funny, and their appearance in episode 3, while very difficult to parse, does not require you to really catch the whole thing and is the setup for one of my favorite jokes in the series.

Sparkle On, Raven! also manages to tailor to one of my favorite specific brands of comedy, that being referring to someone exclusively by one very long name, in the way that I exclusively refer to the creator of Undertale as Tobias "Radiation" "Please Stop Calling Me Radiation" Foxtrot, but I think there's something here for everyone, there's a pretty wide net of comedy stylings that the show casts without ever feeling like it doesn't truly have its own identity.

I feel that a lot of the voice cast's performances speak for themselves, but one thing I've been neglecting to mention in this review thus far is how the show actually looks. Despite its MSPaint-esque line work and coloring, Sparkle On, Raven! Tends to look really good both in still frames and in motions, the team that actually makes the artwork is a pretty large group so the art style does fluctuate from scene to scene, but I think this works to it's benefit. As an example, I think the show's brief dip into a more traditional detailed anime art style as Raven and Slash standoff, preparing to fight adds a sort of weight to the scene, and when the style gets more simplistic as they actually begin to fight each other, it works both comedically and logically, as an action scene with such detail would be far more difficult to animate. I really respect Sparkle On, Raven! for it's ability to use these art style changes in this way. While I think the show both when still and in motion is pretty solid overall there are definitely specific scenes where it's obvious they prioritized one over the other, see that standoff having exactly two frames for talking as opposed to Raven drawing her sword during the fight which is some of the most fluid animation in the show. There are also a lot of really solid visual gags such as the end of said fight (my favorite joke in the series) as well as smaller things like Raven sipping out of a taped together milk carton after her original one gets destroyed in a bit of absolutely unnecessary continuity.

I also think every character, in both design and personality, ranges from pretty good to downright flawless. Slash specifically is so beautiful to me because he manages to strike the perfect balance between the reality and the fantasy of the "while you were talking to girls, I was studying the blade" guy. He somehow manages to simultaneously be exactly what the "studied the blade" guy thinks he is, with his ability to slice through apparently any material, while also embodying the incompetence of every "studied the blade" guy on the planet with his inability to deal with or even touch non-stationary targets. Drillgirl is also on the flawless side of the spectrum because she is the best. On the lower side of the spectrum we have characters like Strawberry whose primary thing just seems to be that their appearance is contradictory to their name on a funny way, and somewhere in the middle is Ryan Sasuke for being an excellent parody of the anime cool guy rival but gets points docked for just being Bakugo from MHA (even though that is incredibly funny)

The last thing I want to talk about is the credits sequences, the team really went above and beyond to make these fun and enjoyable. There's no real depth for me to add here I just think giving your characters a musical number at the end of every episode is really funny and entertaining.

#dollip daze #sparkle on raven #clownhouse #clown depot

[theanomily]

For the fandom ask game, I said my favourite character was Raven, but at the time, I deduced this by a process of elimination.

Naturally, I've been hacking my brain (is that the phrase?) as to why.

Now, it likely isn't the core reason, but it's something that I've never really seen people address. It's that, out of any character in this series, she probably has the most failures. Failure is obviously important for any relatable protagonist, but I'd say it's especially important here given that her stereotype is very much "competent, detached, unrelatable." Do not get me wrong. I adore characters like this, but I think it's this slight subversion that makes me like her more.

On top of this, I like to think that she's doing worse off than we think (but that's its own other post), which obviously gets her extra sympathy points.

Onto ripping Raven apart:

Book 1 has her "die" by the tendrils of Violet, making Otto have to do the dangerous bits.

Book 2 has Wing "die" under her protection. Also, her advice to Wing to basically repress his grief is... not very good. She can't save Otto from the Voice'd pilot, and this then means that he has to go with her into a dangerous situation, in which they are immediately separated because she gets beaten up by robots. My recollection is a little rusty, but I'm pretty sure she also surrendered to Cypher because the robots had Max.

Book 3 had her lose Max. That's what sets the entire book into motion. It's Otto that has to save her from Constance and Verity that one time. Shelby and Laura get captured by them under her protection as well.

Book 4 has her (and others, to be fair) abandon Diabolus. She cannot protect the kids from Furan's men, and she certainly could not beat Pietor in a fight. Not everybody made it home after the final battle.

Book 5 has Diabolus get critically shot under her protection. Wing manages to sneak out of H.I.V.E. under her nose.

Book 6 has her infected with Animus for the most part. The first bit we see her not infected, it's the aftermath of her stabbing Max. Her acting skills aren't perfect, and Pietor realises she's no longer under his control, and so subtlety has to be abandoned and Lucy dies.

Book 7 has most of the alpha stream die/be captured under her protection. She cannot beat Anastasia in a fight.

Book 8 has her backed into a corner of having to sacrifice herself and Nigel.

Furthermore, we see from the 15 years ago flashback that it's kind of her fault Anastasia is still alive to begin with. I confess I cannot remember if it's in book 7 or 8.

And that's just what I can think of from the top of my head.

[nenya85]

Hii! For the writer's ask game, could you do 3, 4, 10, 15, and 18, please? Thanks so much and have a nice day! :D

Thanks @darkonesdagger7437  for asking!

3.  Who’s your favorite character overall?

Seto Kaiba. He keeps trying to move forward with his life, but he only has the tools he has from Gozaburo to work with and it’s almost painful to watch him try and fail and take a step forward and try again.  It makes sense that he’s afraid to give up the anger that fuels him, that he’s afraid to trust to others when he’s been betrayed so often. And the thing is, by most measures, Kaiba is wildly successful.  He could retreat into his money and hide from any suggestion that anything is wrong with his life.  But he never takes that, or any other, easier route.  No matter how grudgingly or gracelessly, he keeps searching for connection and trying to be a better person.  He really illustrates how hard it is to change and how some battles need to be fought even if they can never be fully won. 

The other thing that gets me is how young he is for all his responsibilities, and how he tries to shoulder them nonetheless.  I kind of love that some of the most painful expressions of isolation and despair and some of the most ringing affirmations of the strength of the human spirit belong to the same person.

4.  Which character(s) do you love to hate?

For a character that’s just straight up hateful, I’d have to say Gozaburo.  

But for a character that I find layered and fascinating, while hating both his cruelty and his enjoyment of his own cruelty, I’d have to say Pegasus.  Pegasus really had a charmed life – until suddenly he didn’t.  There’s a sense that his entire world and all his happiness revolved around Cyndia, and when he lost her, in a very real way he lost everything.  There’s something painful about watching the scenes/reading the manga frames where he’s desperately searching for a way to see her again, and the way he’d rather live with an illusion of her than with the reality of life without her.

But this leads him to incredible acts of cruelty.  My own take on it is that being cruel to others soothes something in Pegasus, that hurting others in the way that he’s been hurt makes him feel more like an agent of fate and less like its victim.  I think this combination of a creative playfulness with genuine cruelty makes him the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Villain.

10.  How do you get around a writer’s block, if anything?

For me, writer’s block is often tied to being in a down mood in general and then withdrawing from stuff as a result, so I’ve switched from focusing on writer’s block as a separate thing, in favor of concentrating on it as a sign that something else is bothering me.  I also try to do things that in general make me feel more connected to fandom or community.  Probably the thing that helps the most is trying to cut myself slack and be patient with myself.

15. What two characters did you never expect to work together?

I really love the idea of Kaiba and Sugoroku coming to understand each other.  I think if there’s one thing Kaiba needed throughout his life, it was an adult who was able to put Kaiba’s emotional needs above their own agenda.  And given the way Sugoroku, especially in the anime, eats Jounouchi’s rebel without a cause attitude for breakfast, I love the idea of him getting to know Kaiba better.  I also think of all the characters, given his age, he’s able to see Kaiba as a teenager.  In the manga he calls Kaiba a terrible boy, but what struck me isn’t the word, “terrible,” which is deserved, but the word, “boy.”  In “Giving up the Ghosts,” Sugoroku is actively trying to help Kaiba, Yami, Atem and Mokuba escape a dangerous situation.  In “Return to Romance,” he’s dealing with much more down to earth matters, but I really like writing them getting to know and respect each other.

18. What is one theme/storyline/idea you wish to write but never have?

Right now, my energy is totally taken up with my current WIP, “Life After Life.”  However, I have an idea that’s been kicking around for a while, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it work.  But when I thought about it in terms of a post-DSoD scenario, it started to click.  Here’s the synopsis:

Kaiba returns from the after-life and gets to work figuring out how to bring Atem back with him.  Sex and dueling might be involved.  But when Kaiba, still on a bit of a honeymoon high, where nothing resembling a discussion of feelings occurred to mar the moment, returns with Atem, Yugi falls apart.  He’s been the brave warrior for so long, and when he sees Atem, standing in front of him, real and alive, he dissolves into tears and thanks Kaiba for bringing Atem back.  Atem, shaken and guilty at the effect his leaving has had on his partner, focuses on comforting Yugi.  Kaiba (of course) assumes the idyll is over, as Mokuba wonders why he’s always the one left picking up the pieces.  I really want the story to be an exploration of the importance of romantic (Kaiba/Atem), platonic/friendship (Atem and Yugi) and familial bonds (Kaiba and Mokuba) as the characters negotiate their way through them.

#thank you

[lorz-ix]

AEW: Fight Forever (2023)

No prizes for guessing who was convinced to get back into wrestling recently.

What we got here is the first non-indie alternative to WWE games that wrestling fans have had in, what, over a decade? A game that saw a bunch of delays from its original release date, and it shows. I'll start with the negatives.

If we compare this to the annual WWE releases, it's a losing battle. For a similar prize (speaking of base game here, if you count DLC then WWE is much more expensive) you're getting a game that looks noticeably worse and has less content. The graphics are the first thing you'll notice, looking outdated, like this obviously doesn't have the budget of a AAA game. But that's fine, worse graphics are totally chill, if it wasn't for the lack of consistency, as some characters look totally fine and others are comedically uncanny.

In terms of content, you have a variety of match types, but there's always a bunch of stuff you wish you could do and simply isn't there, like a steel cage match for example. There's online modes, but they're predictably rather empty. There's a career mode, and it's fun enough, with branching storylines, but it's very short and will surely disappoint a bunch of people (despite the fact that you're expected to play it several times so I'd rather have something short and manageable). The customization gets the worst end of the deal, as created characters get a very underwhelming amount of options, most members of the roster only get 1 costume (while some get up to 6). A bunch of features you would expect from other games like this you might have played are lacking or missing.

The other disappointing part of the game that's obviously a product of the lower budget and the delays is the roster. I started watching the TV program around the time that this came out, and there's a bunch of wrestlers that seem very important on TV and are nowhere to be seen here. Similarly, after watching the show for a few months, there are plenty of characters in this roster that I haven't seen on TV even once, or people who look fairly different on TV compared to the game. From what I hear from other people that followed AEW before me, the roster screams "this should have come out like a year ago". All these negatives really pile up and make it a hard game to recommend for a whopping 60 dollars, whether you're a fan or not.

As for the positives, the core gameplay is what's carrying this entire experience. The controls are simple enough to learn and to remember, but you still get a bunch of stuff you can do during a fight. It's snappy, satisfying, and a bit addictive. In part I had so much fun playing that it contributed to that feeling of wanting to do more things but not being able to, because the content isn't there.

The career mode was a decent highlight, it's simple and even repetitive at times, with very little voice acting and other details that scream low budget, but there's a good amount of comedic situations that made me chuckle, and looking at the branching structure, you get what feels like 3 separate, complete stories with varying degrees of seriousness. I had fun watching my bootleg John Cena character have a Persona 4 moment and fight his own shadow/manifestation of self-doubt before a big fight, only to play the campaign with a different character and go through a vastly different story.

The last more-or-less positive was the online battle royale mode they added with a free update. It's janky, it's online-only, which really sucks because there are very few active players, but it's a really silly and entertaining extra mode to play every now and then. Not exactly competitive or anything, but I'm so glad it's there. Makes you feel there's more value for your money, for sure.

I know I sound overly negative, but I really feel like the game, with all its flaws, is worth playing, it's ultimately fun. I'd say it's a massive case of "wait for a sale", because I can't imagine anyone who isn't a mega fan of AEW and/or the wrestlers in that company thinking it was worth their 60 whole bucks.

#lorz mediapost 2023 #gaming #long post

[mashounen1945]

Maybe people should stop talking about videogames

Okay, that's too extreme. Let me re-phrase it...

I'm okay with people playing videogames they like while they talk about various things and sharing that with everyone else (either on live streams, like most people dedicated to this, or on pre-recorded videos, like "The D-Pad" in most of their playthroughs), or talking about technical stuff like how something in a game works or what you can see when going out-of-bounds on a 3D game (yeah, I'm talking about "Shesez" and his Boundary Break series here), or telling fun facts such as unused content (like "TetraBitGaming" does sometimes). I'm even okay with showing and explaining glitches, which the watchers/readers might very easily interpret as you mocking a game for its flaws; I've seen "Son of a Glitch" talk about glitches in games he seemingly likes genuinely, such as both Sonic Adventure titles and NiGHTS Into Dreams..., and also with games usually seen by the general public as "objectively good" like the first Mega Man X, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and it's very clear he does it out of legit appreciation of all those games (especially when a glitch is really obscure or difficult to pull off or -like screen-wraps in classic Sonic games- a side effect of something clever the developers did to solve some other bigger problem -such as finding a way to save memory while the game is being played in the case of those classic Sonic games-).

But what I can't tolerate anymore is videogame critiques, reviews and journalism. Yeah, the entire field of videogame journalism is already like a rotten apple tree, but even if it wasn't... If those guys saying "videogames are The 10th Art" are right, then videogames are one of the most subjective forms of art ever, much more like painting and less like movies and television. Moreover, while, it's true that every form of art is subjective, the highest priority for a videogame is to entertain its receiver, more so than for any other form of art. More precisely, a videogame seeks to entertain in such a way that each individual player feels like the game is tailor-made for them.

But really, videogames aren't art. Okay, yes, the task of developing a videogame certainly requires knowledge and skill and they could be considered arts in their own right (and by that, I mean the technical work to create what was asked by the person/team who had the idea of making a game in a certain way, regardless of what kind of game it turns out to be once all the bugs and glitches were repaired and it can officially be said there's a completed product ready to be released), and the story within a videogame might be a masterpiece. However, a videogame's story is still dependent on the game itself (perhaps it'd be more accurate to say it's dependent on its gameplay), through which that story is told, and the story is always something secondary during a game's development. And more importantly: gaming itself, the specific act of playing videogames and getting good at them, isn't art.

Rather, videogames are a hobby. Yeah, big surprise... But seriously videogames are, have always been and will always be a hobby. And that's not something bad, a hobby isn't necessarily inferior to art, but it seems some people feel like they'll not be respected as adults (or even as human beings) and the stories told through videogames won't be respected as actual literature and the people working on videogames won't gonna be appreciated and better compensated if they don't prove there's something serious, some sophistication, some finesse, some je ne sais quoi, some quality metric with a sharp line separating the good from the bad, in both videogame development and gaming.

There are very, very few "videogame reviewers" I still respect, and one of them is "That Trav Guy". His reviews are much more... How to call them? "Down-to-Earth"? "Humble"? Also, all videogame YouTubers say their reviews are "just their personal opinions" but it feels like Trav's videos convey that message much clearer and much more unambiguously than the work done by many others (it certainly helps that he didn't create a whole-ass character as part of his reviews, unlike some obnoxious, self-aggrandizing YouTubers like AVGN). During one of the Metroid anniversary streams done by "SomecallmeJohnny" (when he was playing Metroid Prime 2, IIRC), Trav had explained his reviews aren't about whether a game is good or bad and how good/bad it is, but about what worked and what didn't work in that game. And really, that's the exact thing reviewing videogames should entirely be about.

To top it off, there are so many cases of the gaming community's perception of something changing a lot through the years and depending on which game they're talking about. There are the famous "First Game Syndrome" and the "First Installment Weirdness" trope and things being either well received or at least neutral only to "age like milk" later on, all cases of something in a comparatively old game getting either better or worse when it reappears in sequels of that old game or when the old game itself gets ported to newer platforms. Lastly, we have "gamers" just being hypocritical in general. And even if they're not, perhaps they have their emotions too high or each of them is too desperate for making their favourite games look good and they can't think straight despite having good intentions and being convinced they're not biased.

If there's a genuine need for some kind of quality standard, then let's shut up about videogames, keep playing whatever we want while letting everyone else do the same but staying all silent about it for 10 years, and then come back to meet up and compare notes. Maybe that way, we can effectively get rid of all biases and stop judging a series/genre for past failures and stop holding each series and genre to different standards and just... calm the f*** down about all this and start again.

Now, what would be the moral of this rant? I guess it's "Nobody can really assign a score to a videogame". As long as it's playable from a purely technical standpoint and we're leaving its story aside, there are no such things as good or bad videogames. Just let everyone play and share whatever they like, let players of each game share advice on how to play it. In a nutshell: let videogames be enjoyed as the hobby they are.

And for those out there who see themselves as "true gamers"...

Stop being annoying Beta Male Cucks ™.

#videogames #video games #gaming #videogame journalism #video game journalism #videogame criticism #video game criticism #videogame review #video game review #rant

[hypertechex]

What I would change about every Overwatch Hero heading into Overwatch 2: Damage (Part 2)

Pharah: Pharah's ultimate can afford to be given a little bit of movement. Maybe letting her hover and move horizontally at a slow speed would make her not feel like a complete sitting duck when using her ultimate ability.

Reaper: Reaper was originally designed to counter most Tanks and flank the enemy backlines at close range. Since then, they have changed him to compete with Cassidy as a mid-range duelist. His effective range needs to be readjusted to fit his original playstyle more, because now in this new format, he is in a place where he essentially takes over the "Main Tank" role in a team setting. This is why I believe it is healthier to return him to his original purpose as a Tank counter. His audio cues for teleporting should also be removed so that backline heroes rely on awareness to fend off the Reaper rather than him yelling his position to the whole lobby.

Sojourn: Honestly, with the live changes they made to Sojourn within the first Beta wave, they made a really fun and balanced hero. No changes needed.

Soldier 76: The only change I would make would be to reduce his primary fire damage by a small amount.

Sombra: I believe her new Opportunist passive ability may be a bit too strong after the more prominent characters receive inevitable nerfs. I would reduce her damage multiplier from 150% to 145% (maybe lower).

Symmetra: Blizzard needs to sort out their rules on using map geometry for creative pathing before I begin to talk about this character. Her entire concept is shut down by Blizzards own mixed messages on promoting exciting competition (as we have seen recently with Florida Mayhem's "Illegal Maneuver"). If that will never be resolved, then I suggest just starting from scratch with this character for her next rework.

Torbjorn: To make him better (and more fun), I would say bring back his Level 3 Turret for when he uses his ultimate. Torbjorn would use his ultimate and, if on the field, his turret would transform into its level 3 form (maybe not as strong however). If it is not on the field, he can have time to place it down as I would see that a separate duration for his turret would work well.

Tracer: This hero has almost not been changed at all through the course of Overwatch 1 and Overwatch 2 (currently in Beta testing phases), and for a good reason. This hero has a balanced design that always makes her a reliable hero in the game whilst she never becomes overpowered or unplayable even if she is favored in a certain meta or underperforming in others. Tracer is possibly the most balanced hero in Overwatch. No changes needed.

Widowmaker: Widowmaker has an outstandingly weak ability in her Venom Mine. It acts as an alarm for when someone passes through a small area, but why take the time to place it when it will likely break anyway when you could spend those moments paying attention to where the enemy team is going for an easy shot? I have two ideas. Make the venom mine harder to break so it is slightly more consistent at getting the value it was intended to get or give her more than one use of the Venom Mine, so players are incentivized to cover more ground and communicate with the team the position of the enemy.

[theleftovertaco]

Love Languages

Had a though about which love languages each of the boys would subscribe to (receiving, not giving, if you want me to make that one I probably can)

People mentioned: Harry, Fred, George, Neville, Ron, Oliver, Draco

Harry

Harry likes physical touch.

As a child he barely got any affection from people, and he was initially uncomfortable showing much of any physical affection

However, once you openly showed him said affection, the two of you were attached at the hip.

It does not matter where you are, if your in the same room, your probably touching in some way.

If it’s a large public setting, it’s likely just pinkies, hands, or arms that are linked. But in the presence of close friends he’ll gladly return a hug, and when you’re alone it’s an entirely different story.

He will literally flop on top of you, hold onto you, and hold you until you’ve both fallen asleep.

He also enjoys sitting on your lap or you sitting on his lap.

Stroke his hair or run your fingers on his face or over his eyes and he will melt

Anyways yea Harry is a cuddle whore

Fred

Fred likes quality time

You don’t always spend every moment next to each other, boundaries are really important to both of you and you both respect those boundaries.

But when you are together, it is the best time either of you could have.

Sneaking into the kitchens at 3 am to eat sweets.

Shopping at Hogsmeade, getting butterbeer, watching muggle movies

If you like practical jokes you gladly take part in them, if not then he respects that.

Sometimes he just wants someone to listen to him.

So he’ll lay next to you and just talk, for hours.

About school, about his latest pranks, about family.

If you can use the time you have together in a way that makes you both happy, then he will love you forever.

To him, it’s not about the amount of time you spend with him, it’s about what you both do with it.

George

George likes words of affirmation- he always feels like he lives in his siblings shadow

Occasionally that means living in Fred’s shadow too.

People never really acknowledge them as separate people, and sometimes he needs reassurance that someone sees him as an individual.

Telling him on a daily basis, that you see him as a separate person, even if you don’t have to say those exact words, is important to him.

He also just really likes hearing that you believe in and love him

Within 2 weeks of you dating he greets you with an “I love you.”

And at first he freezes when he realizes what it is that he said.

But when you reply with reciprocation he melts.

The first time you tell him you love him, he practically combusts with happiness.

This could also translate to a praise kink but we’re not gonna talk about that rn ;)

Neville

Neville prefers gifts

Not necessarily expensive ones, just small little things, trinkets and such

If you just hand him a shiny rock he lets out this little trill of happiness and adds it to his collection alongside his plants

If you give him a plant he'll fucking collapse.

Once when you came back from a trip over Christmas, you gave him seeds to a rare plant that wasn't found in Europe, he nearly burst from excitement

That was the first time he kissed you in public

He also really likes candy and once when you brought him these little rock candies that were only found in muggle stores he practically ripped the wrapper off and shoved them into his mouth.

(He shared of course)

Neville often gets his fathers hand-me-downs, and while he enjoys them, it sucks that his grandmother refuses to buy him anything of his own

So when you buy him a sweater and a pair of slacks he almost cries

Sugar baby Neville au i said what i said

Ron

Ron likes acts of service

A lot of it is when you help him with things like homework

Sometimes Hermione is too tired or unwilling to and when you step in to help where you can, its like a little piece of him falls in love with you all over again

But part of it is other forms of service

A few months before you were together, Ron had a really bad day and returned to the common room with a huge headache, and when you offered to give him a head massage he decided he was gonna ask you out

Sometimes just running your hands through his hair after a long day makes him absolutely melt into the couch cushions

He also often gets homesick, especially when it comes to food, and if you cook or bake for him, he practically jumps in the fucking air

You called his mom once to get a recipe for these Christmas cookies that he missed since he couldn’t go home for Christmas one year and if you both hadn’t been in public he would have cried

When you brought him homemade candies he did cry (he’d had a long day, let him live)

But yea sometimes he just needs someone to take care of him nothing wrong with that my dudes

Oliver

Oliver likes an even mix of gifts and and acts of service tbh

Often for Christmas or his birthday you’ll get him a new broom servicing kit or a book about Puddlemere United

One year you managed to get one of his favorite books signed by some of Puddlemere’s players

When you presented it to him he tackled you in a hug so tight you thought your lungs would pop.

He also really likes trying new candies so you get him a subscription box where he can try new ones from around the world and the two of you spend a few days every month trying new candies together for a year.

When it comes to acts of service its a little more physical

Quidditch takes a toll on a person's body so often he'll come back from a game or a practice and just collapse.

So if you give him a massage he'll practically sink into the bed.

Dude is just tired sometimes give him a break

Draco

Draco is probably into words of affirmation

I think people would assume it's gifts but that's actually how he shows love to other people because that's how his parents showed love to him even though it's not necessarily what he wants

But yeah I think Draco sometimes deals with a lot of shit especially during 6-7 year and so he's probably stressed as shit

And feeling really guilty about what he's having to do

But he feels like he has no choice or else he and his parents are going to die.

So sometimes he just needs reassurance that he's not a terrible person

Occasionally after working on the cabinet in the ROR he'll just go to you and collapse on your shoulder and start sobbing

Sometimes just making sure he knows that he's okay and that he's loved will make him want to cry

Anyways Draco Malfoy redemption arc

#harry potter x reader #harry potter headcanon #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley headcanons #george weasley x reader #george weasley headcanon #neville longbottom x reader #neville longbottom headcanons #ron weasley x reader #ron weasley headcanon #oliver wood x reader #oliver wood headcanon #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy headcanon

[miekasa]

okay but what about airport!levi? he gives quiet businessman vibes sitting in his slacks and turtleneck

IN HIS TURTLENECK 😭😭 He would also be quiet and to himself, but not in the emo way. You got me thinking about all of them now, so here are my other thoughts about the boys at the airport.

Levi

He thinks the idea of separating classes on an airplane is beyond stupid, but if the flight is particularly long, or particularly packed, he’s not above paying for business class for a little extra personal space for the two of you.

When he doesn’t do that, tho, he never picks your guys’ seats ahead of time, so sometimes you’ll be separated. Good thing he’s also not above lying at the check-in desk, “I’m in Zone 1, could my wife be seated next to me so that we can board together?”

They respond with an “of course,” and move your seats together, and Levi walks back with a content nod of appreciation. You are not married, and marriage sucks about as much as class separation on a 30 foot long plane, but it has its benefits.

Masks on, regardless. No debates. Pandemic or not, the mask stays on. Do not perceive him, keep the pressurized air sharing to a minimum.

Doesn’t wander much in the airport. There’s nothing in there that he hasn’t seen already, except for the marked up prices on touristy t-shirts.

And if you wander, he’ll usually just sit in the waiting area to watch your bags while you window shop and do your thing. If you’re gone for more than 30 mins, he might call, under the pretenses of, “Making sure you didn’t get lost. You know that Starbucks was near gate 41 to the left, not the right, right?” Like he’s a comedian or something 🙄

He does encourage you to get snacks before you board, tho. Airplane food is gross, and he would much rather pay for a $13 sandwich that you can snack on later, than for you to have to eat mush.

He’s got a little portable mug he takes with him for when he’s wants to buy a hot drink before getting on his flight. It’s cute.

Doesn’t fall asleep on the plane ever. No matter how long the flight is—at most, he’ll take a quick power nap somewhere in the middle if it’s over 9 hours, but other than that, he’s good to go.

Doesn’t mind if you fall asleep, and he always adjusts your neck pillow to make sure you don’t get cramps.

Jean

Travel champion. This man loves being in the airport even though he’s convinced it’s a time capsule, he fucking loves it.

King of “your airport fashion matters, babe.” Not necessarily wearing a whole three piece suit, but he does put in a little effort; it’s not just the first pair of sweats he has laying around.

Swears coffee tastes better in the airport. It does not. That does not stop him from buying it. He should learn to quit tho, especially for someone who hates airplane bathrooms as much as he does.

Charming with all the security personnel and desk assistants. You could be checking in for a flight at 4am, and Jean’s got people smiling and cheery for their shifts.

Bitches about the selection of movies on the flight, and learns to just download his own ahead of time. Gets really startled when he’s watching something and the flight attendants try to grab his attention for food or drinks—the very loud, classic, Jean Kirstein “HUH?”

On that note, he also gets startled by the loudspeaker announcements in the airport. He doesn’t know why he has to hear about American Airlines flight 2170 to Cancun, when he is not on American Airlines flight 2170 to Cancun.

Not opposed to paying extra for better airplane food or drinks on the plane if it’s the right time of day. He always finds something to toast to, plus he likes to treat you whenever and wherever he can.

Takes care of your overhead luggage and helps out the people around him if he sees they’re struggling. Gets shy when you call him a gentleman for it, and he rubs his neck, grumbling, “I was just helping the line move a little faster.”

Great timing, generous, will pick up your checked bags for you, and already rented a car a week in advance: 10/10 travel buddy.

Porco

He doesn’t like planes and there’s no solid reason why—nothing bad happened to him as a kid, and it’s not even that rare unfortunate incidents freak him out or anything—something flying just makes him a bit uneasy.

He won’t say it though, and he tries to keep it together when you’re checking in, but you can tell he’s anxious once you’re sitting and waiting for your flight to board.

He’ll ask to switch seats if you have the window seat, because somehow the feeling of being boxed in between the plane wall/window and another person makes it feel more like a car than a plane and he’s okay with that.

Going to the airport is one of the few times he hair won’t be styled, and falls in his face a bit. He usually throws on a beanie to cover it up, but you think he looks pretty cute either way.

Can’t usually fall asleep and he hates it because he just sits there thinking about the worst for the entire duration of the flight. But when you travel with him for the first time and coax him into taking a nap it’s so much better.

It’s about the only time he’ll let himself be publicly babied by you; but it makes everything so much easier that he doesn’t even mind.

So now, whenever you get on flights, he just puts his hood up, lays his head on your shoulder and waits for the magic to happen.

Bonus: you’re traveling with his friends, and Pieck and Marcel past to your seats, surprised to see Porco fast asleep on your shoulder. Pieck squeals, going on about how you must be a wizard to have gotten him to nap, to which Marcel just shakes his head, “Nah, he’s just really in love with her. Look at his face, that’s the calmest he’s been since he was five.”

Connie

Loves the airport. Not an ounce of organization in his soul though. By that I mean, yeah, he’s probably forgotten his passport at home, or forgotten that a full size bottle of body wash cannot go into his carry-on luggage.

Forgets to wear shoes that easy to take off and is fumbling over himself after the security check trying to lace them back up or put them back on.

Likes for you guys to have coordinating sweatsuits, and even though you don’t travel super often, Connie’s got at least 3 pairs of them lined up for you guys.

Sweet enough to drop plans or rearrange his schedule to travel with you if you were originally gonna be alone. He knows you can handle yourself, but he doesn’t want for you to travel alone if you don’t have to, especially if you’re going someplace far and/or for an extended period of time.

He always finds breakfast food to eat before he gets on his flight (if you two even have time to spare for food that is). It could be 9pm, but Connie’s asking for a breakfast wrap.

Hates waiting in the little pre-flight area. Claims it’s boring as hell and that’s why there’s no reason to get there 3 hours early 🙄��

He always spends at least 30 minutes browsing all the movie and TV show options available on-board, loudly exclaiming in excitement when they have something cool to watch—only to fucking fall asleep 10 minutes later. Right on top of you when he was oh-so-excited to watch Madagascar 2.

Always steals the aisle seat, even if it’s yours. It’s probably for the best though, because he has to get up to pee at least twice, no matter how short your flight is.

Makes some cheeky remark about you meeting him in the bathroom. He doesn’t mean it... unless he does. Unfortunately, you’ve never... successfully been able to do that out of fear of being caught by the flight attendants, but there have been a few quickies in the “family” (“It’s ethical, because technically we’re participating in the act of making a family, babe”) bathroom before you boarded. It’s his fault, not yours.

Armin

He really likes planes, and traveling in general. I think trains would be his favorite mode of transportation, but airplanes are good too.

I hate to say it but he claps when the plane lands. I will not elaborate or defend my stance on this.

Prefers the window seat because he likes to look out at the clouds as he’s in the sky.

He took his passport photo a little before he cut his hair, so the security personnel always hold it up and flicker between his ID photo and his current appearance a few times before stamping it. It makes him a little embarrassed because he can’t tell if they think he looks better or worse and sometimes he’s really fighting for his life convincing them that that’s him in the picture 😭

Listens to music rather than downloading a movie or watching a show, and always brings wire headphones to the airport so that it’s easier to share and listen with you.

If you fall asleep on him first, he’ll likely fall asleep on you shortly after. If he’s tired enough, he’ll fall asleep first, though he’s somewhat embarrassed and disappointed because he wanted to see the descent and skyline outside.

When he’s not asleep or window-watching, he’s somewhat fidgety out of excitement, rather than nervousness. He’s excited to be traveling and looks forward to wherever you’re going, even if it is just a weekend long work trip.

Hates traveling alone, though. It just feels particularly lonely to him to be going someplace foreign without company by his side. So, he’ll call you at every checkpoint and send you updates.

He only ever buys two things in duty free: shot glasses with the name of the city/country you’re traveling to, and whatever variety of button down short-sleeves are available to him.

Erwin

You knew this was coming, but this man is absolutely at the airport 18 hours before your flight takes off, and he’s driving like a manic getting there, like you don’t have all the time in the world.

Fascinated by anything and everything in duty free. Definitely spends more money than necessary on your return flight on the grounds that he was getting a good deal.

Exchanges money in the airport and keeps cash in his fanny pack. There’s no traveling without the fanny pack.

Plays crossword puzzles on his phone on the plane, and it’s just about one of the only games he has. That and Candy Crush—I get the feeling he’d be on level 500+ of that game and he always knocks out at least 10 levels on a flight.

Always a little surprised when he feels his your head on his shoulder, but he says nothing, and acts like he didn’t even notice, but there’s a telling little smile on his face.

Takes the most foul selfies of him and your sleeping self. In his defense, he had the best intentions; but that angle was flattering nobody. It’s too bad he’d already paid for the in-flight wifi and sent it to Hange because now you’ll never live them down.

You could probably get him to put on a (skincare) face mask during your flight. He forgets to take it off tho, and if you don’t tell him, he’d fully walk through customs with it on his face.

Accidentally gets drunk because he doesn’t understand that just because he can handle several glasses of whiskey in his favorite bar on a Friday night, does not mean it will translate on a plane.

#anonymous #yeah this is a roast of erwin a bit but im right i know i am #aot x reader #levi x reader #jean x reader #jean kirstein x reader #connie springer x reader #armin x reader #erwin x reader #porco x reader #aot headcanons

[stxrvel]

bittersweet feelings (1)

summary: you have to deal with the harsh truth after Bucky arrives from one of his missions.

pairing: bucky barnes x avenger!reader

warnings: nothing i think, just you know English is not my native language so sorry for any mistakes!

words: +2.5k

note: hi! I've been feeling physically unwell since I last posted and have been in bed, but today I was finally able to get a moment of calm and lucidity, so, enjoy and hope you like it!

also, i've been working on a series that I want to publish soon, but I don't know why I always find it difficult to do all that planning. anyway, I really hope I can bring it to you soon! thank u for all the support!

part 2

part 3

Admiring Bucky Barnes from afar has become too much of a challenge in recent days. Before, you were wrapped up in papers, essays, final exams and projects due, locking yourself in your room at a time or living in your university library, simply too busy to wander your eyes over the sprawling figure of Bucky strolling around the Complex. Ironically, he always spent more time there when you weren't there.

But now, completely free of academic responsibilities and banned from going on missions at Fury's whim, you had a lot more time to wander the halls of the Complex, especially in the gym where the man with the metal arm used to spend most of his time. Many times (if not all the time) you felt like a lousy attempt of a stalker, and you was almost 100% sure that he realised what you were doing but preferred not to say anything so as not to embarrass you. And that was much more embarrassing.

But did that stop you? Absolutely not.

He'd cut his hair a few days ago, and although you loved the way his hair looked on his shoulders and the way it blew in the wind every time he walked, as if he were a model on a bloody photo shoot, you shamelessly admitted that you had quickly grown to love his new style. Because, honestly, did something look bad on Bucky?

Your hands moved indiscreetly across the table, crumpling the paper between your fingers that you had previously been reading, as you watched the aforementioned man's shoulders shake after hearing Sam Wilson say something about Scott's card game. You moved your eyes scanning his entire face, trying to memorise the expression on his face as he smiled so openly, as he almost never did in public.

“Am I interrupting your crazy stalker moment?”

Tony's voice startled you, and you turned your head so sharply to look at something other than Bucky that a slight twinge of pain made its way from the back of your neck to your right shoulder. You grimaced and watched the millionaire sit down next to you on one of the black chairs that were spread out in the first floor cafeteria. Ahead of you, a large glass door separated you from one of the side exits of the Complex, where Bucky and Sam had stopped to talk and, surely at first, discuss the mission Bucky had just returned from.

“I'm not a crazy stalker,” you told him dismissively, but your nerves were eating you up inside. Even though you knew you weren't entirely discreet, you still weren't ready for someone to tell you that you were too obvious for him not to know anymore.

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say,” Tony commented sarcastically and you felt a quick pang of fear inside your chest, “I was just coming to tell you that Fury made the decision to send you to Milan with Steve the other week.”

Your gaze finally shifted away from Bucky's figure, closer and closer to where you stood, to Tony and you frowned at him in extreme confusion.

“What? So soon?”

“Isn't that what you wanted? To go back to the camp?”

“Well, yes, but I thought his tantrum was going to last much longer.”

Tony let out a laugh and proceeded to open the packet of peanuts in his pocket, “If he hears you say that, consider yourself fired, kiddo.”

“Then it's a relief that no one heard me say it,” you smiled innocently at Tony, who only gave you a tight-mouthed smile in return.

“It's just a recon mission. Steve thinks there's an empty HYDRA base you can investigate, and you're pretty nimble with that non-digitized document review stuff.”

“You mean I'm good at reading physical documents?”

“You know what I mean, eagle eyes. There's nothing you're missing.”

“Ow,” you croon with a smile, “Thanks for the compliment, Stark.”

“You're welcome. Now, don't go freaking out. Barnes is walking this way.”

He then stood up and planted himself in front of you, as your heart did a wild flip and you felt him pause for a second, before resuming his march at an unnatural pace. You didn't even know if it was possible for a heart to beat that fast. You felt sweat beading on your hands and started to breathe through your mouth as you felt the nervousness take over your whole body.

“What?” you exclaimed, staring at him, sitting uncomfortably in the chair across the table they had shared.

“I told you not to freak out, you're only going to make it worse.”

You narrowed your eyes at him with a frown. Next, you took about three deep breaths to try and calm your frantic heartbeat, before Sam's figure - and consequently Bucky's - appeared in your field of view to the side of Stark's body. The man gave you a look with an arched eyebrow, as if to ask you to behave yourself, which was an exaggeration.

That was an exaggeration. You spent a lot of time with Bucky! Even when you two were alone you didn't feel as nervous as you did at moments like this.

When your gazes met, you could barely return the smile he gave you before you turned your eyes to Sam, who had just spoken but you hadn't gotten to hear everything he'd said because your head was in the clouds.

“...and that you're going back to the camp with Steve. How long since you've been out? Almost four months? You must be anxious.”

You just nodded, looking at him through tight lips.

Tony rubbed his eyes in an exasperated gesture.

“I could ask Fury to let me tag along,” Bucky's voice reached your ears like a forbidden delicacy. It had been several days since you'd last heard it and it was like a gift from the gods, “Lest he bore you with his awkward silences.”

“We don't have awkward silences,” you grumbled quickly, not knowing exactly why you were getting defensive. Tony raised his eyebrows at you and you shrugged in place, “I mean, we talk about a lot of things.”

“Oh yeah?” Bucky's jocular tone didn't do much for your nerves and sanity, “Name a topic you've been talking about for more than three minutes.”

You pursed your lips and stared at his perfect face, uninjured by the mission, as you conjured up memories of your conversations with Steve. Your almost non-existent conversations.

Your cheeks flushed as you realised he was right, but you weren't going to let him win you over this time.

“One time, we talked all night about a movie.”

“If you're going to say you talked about Lord of the Rings, that doesn't count,” Sam spoke with a half smile on his face.

“Why not?” you grumbled quickly, watching the grimace in his face.

“He talks to everyone about those movies. It doesn't even feel like a conversation anymore, it's like a monologue.”

“Careful, Sam,” Tony spoke up after several seconds, “She likes those movies too.”

“Hey! They're good movies.”

“Good for a nap,” Sam let out a laugh.

You watched Bucky pursed his lips and looked down at the floor, holding back a chuckle.

“They're entertaining,” you muttered with a frown.

Sam pointed at you, his eyebrows arched and his corners raised in a playful grin.

“Well, that's it,” Bucky interrupted whatever Sam was going to say, “You know what they say, to each his own.”

“I'm with Barnes on this one,” Tony spoke up, resting one of his hands on Barnes' shoulder and giving it a little squeeze. Bucky watched his hand and then the millionaire's face with an arched eyebrow, but Tony quickly turned his attention away from Bucky to Sam, “Speaking of Steve, he asked me to tell you to look for him in the main room. He said something about a pending conversation.”

Tony put his arm around Sam's shoulders, leaning part of his body to lead him to walk with him out of the cafeteria. They promptly struck up a conversation on their way out of the cafeteria, and you felt your hands shake once you realized you were alone with Bucky after a couple of weeks of not being able to talk properly with him.

You turned your head away from where the two people who had accompanied you a few seconds before were leaving, hearing the creak of a chair being dragged in front of you. You watched Bucky move his body into a sitting position, settling his forearms on the table and his eyes fixed on yours. Settling into the chair, you gave him a tight-lipped, tense smile. Act normal.

“So the boss finally gave in,” the black-haired man said, his lips curling as he interlocked his hands.

You nodded your head slightly, “It was quicker than I thought. I thought he'd never let me back in the field.”

“And can you blame him? You sure scared the soul out of his body,” Bucky arched his eyebrows, and the mere memory of what happened gave you a feeling of irritability.

You grimaced, “Oh, it wasn't a big deal.”

“It wasn't a big deal? Honey, you threw yourself at those people all by yourself.”

You stared at him for a few seconds, like you did every time he called you names when you were alone. He never did it in public, and it was something you didn't try to think about very often.

“So what? This was all unnecessarily dramatic,” you tried to say in the most neutral tone of voice possible as you crossed your legs under the table.

“There were twenty men,” he said, as if that explained everything.

“Do you think me incapable, Barnes?” you arched an eyebrow, speaking with courage.

“No, of course not,” he quickly replied, his gaze softening, “But you disobeyed a direct order from Natasha and put your life at risk. You know how Fury is with you, he cares too much about you.”

You rolled your eyes, letting your back fall against the back of the chair, “But I'm not made of porcelain. I'm as good as Nat, she trained me herself!”

“But Fury didn't see her grow up.”

Well, he had a point and rightly so. You had grown up with the boss, who had practically adopted you, which was one of the reasons he used to be overprotective or refuse you to do some things because he thought it was for the best. And that fact had also helped you form fraternal bonds with all the Avengers until you were old enough and capable enough to be a part of them.

Well, you saw everyone as a nice family except Bucky. And that was a big problem.

You watched him through your eyelashes with an almost imperceptible pout.

Bucky gave you a beautiful smile, the kind that could light up an entire city, “Honey, I understand that it bothers you, but the position you put Fury in at the time, or everyone for that matter, made it hard for him not to make the decision he did. Maybe he overstepped, I'm not denying that, but he was scared.”

“There were other ways...” you started to renege again.

“And would you really have listened to him?” he inquired without wiping away his smile. It amazed you how lenient he could be with you, when with the rest of the world he was a hermit and sulky most of the time.

You sighed. Yep, you could be pretty stubborn when you put your mind to it.

“Well, the important thing is that he finally realised his mistake,” you blurted out with an amused grin. Bucky frowned and pointed the index finger of his metal arm at you.

“I think you missed the point of our little debate.”

“No, no... I understand, Bucky, I do. But Fury have to trust my skills a little more. I could against all of them! It was a spectacle.”

“But you're not always going to come out on top, sweetheart. At some point someone can catch you off guard, and that's what Fury's afraid of.”

“Well, it'll have to happen at some point. Unfortunately, I'm not invincible,” you agreed and admitted what he had said, because he was certainly right, with a tight-lipped smile.

You thought Bucky would be amused, or at least agree with you, but he merely bowed his head, frowned and tensed noticeably. You noticed that his expression suddenly hardened, and it frightened you that you had said something that would have angered him.

“What?” you asked fearfully.

He looked up from the table to look at you again, waking up. He gave you a smile, but a stiffer, harder and committed one. Your chest tightened, “It's not.... It's nothing. Just try to be careful next time, more cautious if necessary. You know, strategist.”

“Yeah, I know, I don't risk it if I don't think it's necessary.”

“That's my girl.”

You froze for a few seconds, just watching him, before your face heated up into an all too violent blush. He'd never said anything like that to you before... but you certainly didn't balk at the possibility that he might again.

“Thank you, Bucky,” you smiled shyly at him.

The sound of the cafeteria doors swinging open distracted the man in front of you, but you kept staring at his profile, gawking and surely with heart-shaped eyes. How was it possible that you liked him so much? Even though it had been a while since you last spoke, it seemed that your feelings for him had only grown three times his size.

Then, you heard it:

“Bucky!”

A woman's voice in the distance.

Confused, you turned your gaze in the direction of the voice, which came from the same place Bucky had been watching for several seconds. She was the one who had opened the doors so frantically, then. You frowned at her from a distance, unable to recognise her figure or features; it wasn't usually easy for you to forget the faces of people you knew, and you certainly didn't know this woman.

However, when you turned to ask Bucky, the half-smile on his face gave you the answer without words. Your chest tightened and you clenched your hands so as not to show the abrupt change of mood you had just gone through when he turned his face and fixed his eyes on yours. All without erasing that smile.

That smile he had on his face for her.

“I guess you'll have to go with Steve to schedule everything about the mission.”

You nodded, uncomfortably, not looking away.

“Fine. In the meantime, I'll go on my date,” he crooned, and the burning you felt intensified so much that it felt like you couldn't pass saliva without straining. But you smiled at him, your lips curving awkwardly and your face reluctant to show a feeling you didn't experience.

“Wow, I thought I'd never hear you say something like that.”

“Life is full of surprises, honey,” he said smiling as he stood up, “Do you want me to walk you to the living room?”

“No, don't worry. I'll be there in a minute,” you replied quickly. It was the first time since you had met him that you wanted him to leave you alone for once.

“All right. Good luck with the old man.”

“Thanks. Good luck with your- your- your date.”

You hated the way your voice betrayed you, but Bucky didn't seem to pay too much attention to it as he waved goodbye to you and started walking in the direction of the woman waiting for him outside the cafeteria doors. You felt your chest tighten as you sighed deeply and a couple of tears welled up in your eyes.

Damn it, at what point had all that happened?

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