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novantinuum · 2 months

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mmmmmmm. messy ass ramble thoughts ahead. this is not coherent, it is 1am, you have been warned.

so i've been thinking about that "i can fix anything! i can just keep messing up and fixing things forever, and you'll never have to know or think about any of it!" line during steven's lil manic panic moment in the ep everything's fine in the context of like... og SU episodes

this whole lil manic slip is one that's like... it seems a little extreme for him as a character at first, when one looks at the situation on surface.

but i think it really does shed a LOT of light onto one of his deepest fear. the same fear he's harbored for a good damn deal of the show.

"i didn't wanna hurt anyone!"

this moment comes just a few eps after the S3 finale 'reveal' of rose shattering pink diamond. in that final scene of the season, steven gets 'confirmation' from garnet that this happened, and seems to accept it for what it was- a difficult decision made amidst a treacherous war.

but also, he Doesn't.

because he's the legacy rose left behind. because each and every day he's growing more into his power. because now, with this reveal of rose's decision to shatter on the table, he's putting each and every decision he makes under a microscope.

he had no choice, he claims. she wouldn't let him help her.

he had no choice. it was self defense.

but is that true?

isn't that the same thing his mom probably told herself before ending a gem's life forever?

even though she poofed bismuth and holed her away for suggesting the very same idea??

rose became a hypocrite... so what if HE becomes the hypocrite, too?

see, with steven... i think it's really easy in the main show to sorta... observe all his actions on the mere surface without considering the deeper tickings of his psyche. like... take lars being brought back to life. from audience POV, that's a good deed. steven just saved someone with his magic! positive moment.

but genuinely... i think this was one of the worst moments of his entire life. i think he's still haunted by it- by the fact that he can just "fix" people in that way. and i think fixing jasper's shattered gem only made the specter of that day worse.

steven believes his role is to be the Shield.

the protector.

the one who is willing to do whatever it takes- even up to turning himself in for a crime he didn't commit- to protect his family and his friends.

and like, we all know that it's not steven's FAULT that lars died. BUT- he still died while under steven's protection.

and so the same way steven blames himself for "hurting" bismuth, jasper, and eyeball, he blames himself for killing lars. mentally, he Takes Responsibility for his death. yet another tick mark in the box of horrible "mistakes" he's made, yet another tick mark landing him just a little closer to the rose he's desperately trying not to become.

and worst of all... it's a mistake he "covers up."

because his tears are able to bring him back from the dead entirely.

and years later he realizes this is true for gems as well ;-;;;

so yeah, i absolutely think lars' death was also at the back of his mind when he said that line at the beginning

what steven saw in the depths of his mind as he was panicking there was him slipping down a slippery slope of violence that he couldn't escape from

first, causing harm to other gems and calling it self defense...

then, letting your friend die protecting YOU when you're the one who should be protecting him and facing NO consequence for this misgiving because you bring him back to life

then, expressing anger so visceral it can shatter floors, destroy whole rooms, flip vans. out of control. inexcusable.

then... outright shattering a gem in a duel while training to hone that anger. once again, facing NO consequence because you bring her right back.

then, that sudden, terrifying thought of "what if i shattered white diamond"

like, steven has absolutely no framework by which to separate his actions from genuine desire or just plain abstract thought.

he has no framework by which to understand the beautiful tool of adding a "man would it be fucked up or what-" to the beginning of those sorts of intimidating, dark musings.

he has no framework by which to understand the complexities of his trauma, and the way in which genuinely fighting back against someone he once called an enemy might feel empowering- instead, it would seem he's disgusted in retrospect with how deep he pressed into that fight, how much a part of him ENJOYED it, all because of the horrid destination it led to.

anyways at this point steven thinks he has now become the Hypocrite like his mom, and that he's just destined to hurt everyone around him forever but never be punished for it and Ouch

this post has no end, these were just ramble thoughts, the end. goodnight. i am sleepy and need to prepare to make Wig tomorrow bc OH boy i am con crunch.

yeehaw .

#jen rambles #su #su future #steven universe #su meta #???? maybe???#it's messy but it is Thoughts

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canmom · 3 months

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Comics mini-Comints: Dungeon Meshi

reread dungeon meshi through to the end. still such a great manga. here are immediate thoughts - if I end up having time and energy I hope I can write something that goes deeper!

ironically i was only a few chapters from the end when I stopped keeping up, but I was struggling to remember all the characters and context, so reading it through in one go was definitely an ideal way to achieve maximum impact there.

ryoko kui does a very elegant job of handling a transition from 'silly antics' to 'big dramatic fantasy' while still keeping the central thematic throughline - eating and being eaten, belonging to an ecosystem, the significance of sacrificing others to achieve your own desires. a lot of setups pay off in a way that feels meticulously planned - and of course the crux of the final showdown revolves around characters attempting to eat each other, of course the big payoff is a huge feast that symbolically unites all the conflicting factions. it is maybe a bit too neat and happy for my taste, but it's undeniably tightly executed - it never loses sight of what it's about. especially compared to something like Frieren, it's an incredibly coherent serialisation, up there with e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist.

kui's art style deserves all kinds of praise - it feels effortlessly simple, but it clearly communicates all sorts of different shapes and body types and it's really fun to see her play around with remixing the different visual elements when she switches the races around. in general Laius's autistic monster loving ways clearly reflect kui's own deeply felt appreciation for all the ways people and animals live (accentuated further by all the extra sketches the scanlators tuck in). in a way you could kinda call it like Parts Unknown the fantasy manga.

the stakes of the final conflict are interesting - there is much to be said about the framing of 'desire' and its fulfilment, of this occult idea of 'the infinite'. lots you could put in relation to other manga, and also buddhism. (in particular I really want to develop a comparison to Made In Abyss, there are so many parallels, it just might be too spicy for tumblr lmao).

one thing I really like about it is how much its fantasy dungeon-exploring setting owes to D&D and other TTRPGs, rather than videogames. monster ecology has been a fascination of that game since the early days of Dragon magazine, and Kui sharply zeroes in on some of the intrinsic conflicts baked in to that fantasy milieu, notably the lifespan thing, while smartly avoiding the traps of 'evil races'. there's some really fun nods to the weirder monster manual entries. and in a story with so many characters and factions, it does a genuinely incredible job of furnishing everyone with understandable, reasonable motivations, conflicts drawn from their context just like the monsters are explained by their ecology.

and one thing that I particularly appreciate is like... how much it is able to simultaneously understand and sympathise with a character and also show us how and why they'd rub others the wrong way. it's impossible not to like our main group, they're all such charming dorks and the manga leads you along with all the crazy rpg party shit they do, but at the same time you definitely find yourself thinking 'guy's got a point' in the kabru chapters lmao. I'm projecting hard bc i don't really know a thing about ryōko kui but laius def feels like the sort of depiction of having an autism that you can only do if you've lived it.

but yeah, it's a fuzzy ending where it all turns out well. but what's the deeper thrust of it all? there's a funny moment where marcille is like 'maybe in the end our journey is about learning to accept death' and the grouchy old gnome guy completely laughs this off as naive, because death doesn't mean anything. and indeed their big plan pays off, and falin does indeed come back just fine. but still, through all of this it asks you to bite the bullet that being a living creature means eating to survive, at the cost of other creatures, with the other side being that one day you too will be eaten. in contrast to this honest way of being is the beguiling fantasy of infinity, where all your desires are immediately fulfilled - this is shown as a dangerous path of corruption that produces madness and manipulability. having limits and rubbing up against the wishes of others, or 'doing things you don't want to do' as izutsumi's arc puts it, becomes necessary for having some kind of definition as a subject. the thing that makes the demon concrete as an entity is a desire, or appetite, that can't immediately be fulfilled.

of course we can connect this to the idea of narrative conflict. a standard advice for putting together a plot is to ask what each character wants and why they can't get it. wanting something implies movement. and indeed over the course of this story, we see that while having too many desires fulfilled too readily leads to incoherence and callousness, equally a character who is left catatonic as their desires have been eaten by the demon must be reawakened to activity by finding a new desire.

it's kinda Buddhist innit. neither the opulence of the palace nor asceticism. desires are what tie you to the world. but mixed with ecology: what a creature does to find the energy to live is what defines its lifestyle, its form.

this is probably where I'd start talking about entropy gradients and shit if i wasn't typing this on a phone at 1:30am lmao.

but yeah - it's a powerful move to go from 'D&D monster recipe show sendup' to 'living with the inherently violent nature of being an organism fated to live in a finite sum game' and yet Dungeon Meshi makes it feel natural and convincing, while remaining tremendously charming and funny throughout. ryōko kui is definitely some kind of genius, and I can't wait to see what her next act is gonna be. it's all definitely making me appreciate the act of eating a lot more.

next story on my plate is probably The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, which sounds like it will present a very gnarly thematic contrast.

#manga #dungeon meshi #comics comints

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seventeenlovesthree · 8 months

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OPLA episode 1 - first impressions

Just randomly trying to summarize my thoughts here, because they are in no way coherent yet, but hooooly shit, I like where this is going. SPOILERS AHEAD.

I decided to start watching in English, then in Japanese, then in German - because I would assume that'd be the best order to judge both the best and worst parts of this. Best as in "the intentions of the dialogue, the framing and hinting", worst in "Oh God, the cringe is real". So far, there obviously have been a few lines that have been very obvious, because you HAVE to translate a lot of things that work for an anime INTO this setting. More tell than show so to speak, but I feel like that's perfectly fine for the medium.

Luffy is endearing - the first thing you can tell in comparison to anime!Luffy is that he's got that positive main-character-energy that not only speaks his thoughts out loud, but also tries his best to make you see what kind of character you are dealing with. He was brash, stubborn and had very one-dimensional (and toxic) ideas of what and how a man/pirate needs to be - just to be taught kindness, perseverance and a positive attitude and by Shanks and I think that is displayed beautifully here. He does not get shy to approach everyone he meets with good will - on one hand, because he obviously wants to build his crew. On the other hand - it just shows who he is. The CGI works really well for him as well, the "stretchy kind" really doesn't seem too much out of place, but I would assume it's easier to accept it when you are already used to "anime logic".

This is a comment that was made a lot on Twitter already - so here's to the bi-/pansexual squad, because this series knows exactly what it is doing with the fanservice eye-candy. Zoro, so far, got the most impressive camera-angles/cinematography. The mysterious, aloof framing, the detailed and VERY immersive fight scenes/choreography - he's not only coming across as stoic and lone-wolfey, they definitely make sure you can TELL he is kind at heart too. You can tell he has experienced pain and that's why he insists that he needs to work alone - but if people show HIM kindness, he cannot not react in return. Whether it's Rika - or Luffy, doesn't even matter. That idealistic, kinda annoying kid saved him (and man, the hearts in Luffy's eyes were so present and all over the place, he was IMMEDIATELY enchanted by Zoro and doesn't grow tired of saying it out loud either). Plus, he didn't insist on getting anything in return, even if he still wanted him on his crew... So what happens? Once Zoro sees that he's in trouble, he jumps in to fight as well. And they IMMEDIATELY work off of each other well. "You go above, I go below". As someone who has ALWAYS enjoyed Luffy's and Zoro's dynamic (platonic and otherwise), I am obviously VERY easy to please here, but man, it works. So well. I cannot WAIT to see their Captain/First Mate dynamic develop. Also... I did not expect them to actually let any character use the middle finger??? I mean, good for you, Zoro, you go be edgy as fuck, but hey... (Also, the gay subtext with Helmeppo was definitely... Something...? But I mean... The gay subtext exists with ZoLu too. "Where does the third sword even go...?" I mean... Seriously...)

On the other spectrum of the bi-/pansexual eyecandy, we have Nami. And while she visibly uses her charms (read: physical attributes) to get what she wants, I am HELLA pleased that she wasn't sexualized yet. I really liked the nudge towards her concept art design! Her cheekiness and smartness come across very well. And, MAN, the dynamic with Luffy is PRICELESS. It really has a lot of sibling energy - but it also leaves a lot open. Of course, we're still at the VERY beginning of it, but as a long-term fan of the series, it's hard not to read anything into it ("I will never join anything with you" is beautiful foreshadowing and also interestingly phrased).

Oh Romance Dawn Trio, my heart. The moment they lined up next to each other, Nami and Zoro on each of Luffy's side, insisting "Not a crew/Not together!" was just... Chef's kiss. I love these dorks and their dynamics so much and I cannot wait to see this further emphasized.

Honorable mentions for other characters - I know it has been said many times before, but I really enjoy the casting. Koby is very relatable and he fits the character so well (I literally cannot wait for his glow-up), Shanks gives the vibe of the "kind and sweet everyday guy-mentor" at this point in time so perfectly, Alvida was great so far and I could go on...

Cringe is dead, I am so excited for episode 2.

#one piece #one piece live action #one piece spoilers #one piece liveblog #opla #opla spoilers #opla live reaction #personal

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stormyoceans · 3 months

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Girllll this feels like a dream 😭😭😭 I'd love to watch jimmysea in the medical plot 🤌🏻 if you're looking for feedback tho, I think it would be nice if you could also add the romance storyline? If not for every couple, only for jimmysea. Only if it's not too much stress babe, I hope your main focus is having fun in this project 💜

ALL FEEDBACKS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME ESPECIALLY SINCE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING ;;;;;;;;;

i actually have so much material about this particular plot that i had no idea how to go about putting it down in a coherent way, so in the end i tried to write the kind of summary you would find on MDL, but i realize that without the romance part it's probably not very appealing ;;;;;;;;

im still not sure of how to make sense of everything i have in my head so im just gonna share my very messy notes about jimmysea's characters and their relationship (only them for now because if i did it for everyone we would be here for a really long time ;;;;;;;). here we go!!!!

sea: a bright young man who always has a smile on his face and seems to have no worries in the world. his happy-go-lucky personality and the fact that everything comes easy to him can make him come off as a bit arrogant, but he's actually surprisingly observant and caring. when he was 17 years old, his father died in the ER after a car accident, and because the other party involved was a boy from a wealthy family, sea has been convinced ever since that his father's death was due to the doctors choosing to prioritize the boy even if his condition was less severe. this loss inspired sea to study medicine to make sure that what happened to his father didn't happen to anyone else, but it also made him resentful, which is why he struggles to respect the hospital rules. this often puts him in conflict with earth, who thinks sea's natural talent isn't enough to justify his lack of discipline.

jimmy: the only medical student to have completed his specialization under the mentorship of jane's father and to have actually earned his respect, jimmy is now one of the most renowned surgeon in the country despite his young age. his charming and gentle personality makes him be liked and respected by everyone, but his workaholism has earned him the nickname of 'the ghost of [insert name] hospital', as he seems to hardly ever leave the place. after being left at the altar by the woman he loved, jimmy has given up on relationships entirely, throwing himself into work and constantly trying to dodge his sister's attempts to set him up with someone. his walls however start to slowly crumble under the power of sea's smile and small caring gestures.

basically on one of jimmy's usual late night at the hospital, he wonders into pediatric to discuss a case with mix and finds sea reading a bed time story to a small group of children. just like jimmy, sea too seems to be reticent to go home, so night after night they end up keeping each other company and spending more and more time together. at first it's just the two of them working in the same room, jimmy doing paperwork and sea studying for his upcoming medical exams, but eventually sea manages to coax him out of the hospital, first by taking him out to eat and then by taking him to sea's favorite places around town. sea is also full of small caring gestures that make jimmy's heart tremble: he leaves jimmy's favorite coffee on his desk for him to find after a particular rough night, he forces jimmy to take a break and get some rest, he cuts fruits for jimmy and is mindful of everything that has to do with jimmy's hands. as they get closer tho, jimmy also realizes that there's a lot more behind sea's smile than it first appears: sea's mother never quite recovered from the loss of her husband, and after three years from his death she started developing sever dementia, to the point she can no longer recognize sea and sometimes even mistakes him for her husband when sea smiles

in my head their relationship is a very slow burn as they help each other heal but also as they try to reconcile their feelings with the fact that they're still a mentor and an intern. earth is also jimmy's best friend and at first he very much does not approve of how close jimmy and sea became, but eventually he comes around

THIS IS MORE OR LESS IT IM SHUTTING UP NOW BYE

#frankly embarrassing how invested i am in this entire show i came up with in my head ;;;;;;;#but im glad you liked the idea ismay!!!!!!#and i hope this does a little more substance to the romance?#as i said any feedback is more than welcome and im actually very grateful you took the time to write to me about it!!!!!#💜💜💜#100 jimmysea series #ismay 🤍#m: ask #vishingwell #tusernix #not sure if this is worth tagging you guys about but. if you want some more info about the medical drama idea?

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astroboyanalysis · 3 months

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4. His Highness Deadcross

Note for people actually following this: The slight delay in post will probably be common. I work almost every weekday and come home really exhausted so I don't normally have the energy for something like this.

While I generally don't question the order the comics are placed in in this compilation, I will say that if someone were reading Astro Boy for the first time in this order, they would probably be pretty confused right now. "But Atom is in this panel!" "Who are any of these people?"

I'm curious where the comics introducing the creation of a family for Atom will end up in the compilation. This being a serialized manga without a singular coherent storyline, this type of thing happens a lot, where it makes more sense for a story to go early, but some detail in it won't be explained fully because it's a change made in the years between whatever comics you read.

While I'm fond of the more coherent storylines of modern animation and comics, I do sort of miss serialized stories and the return to normalcy at the end of each "episode." I understand it's more common in childrens' TV, especially childrens' TV we might not think of as Artful when compared with the childrens' TV that has those storylines (thinking of like. Uncle Grandpa. That type of show.)

I think the general culture around media has shifted to one of character and story development, which is interesting. Characters and stories can still be evolved over serialized media, but it's a different approach. I remember when Wander Over Yonder was airing thinking "wow, this is a great cartoon and it's episodic instead of arc-based!"

This is a ramble. I just think it's becoming much rarer, so this problem the omnibus has to deal with is not as much of an issue anymore, at least with officially published content.

EDIT: I realized the reason for this ramble is unclear. It's much more difficult to present a coherent storyline when the changes to the main cast are episodic rather than arc-based, because the pacing would be very strange. Many times these character introductions are apropos of nothing in a larger arc or storyline, which is fine, it's just a different approach and presents a challenge when trying to create a cohesive work later, because there are many possible ways to organize the "episodes"

Genuinely Uran is so funny for this. I know this is the first time we're seeing her in the omnibus but I'm just so fond of her. Her childish but sneaky approach parallels Atom's polite near-deference with figures of authority (unless they are "evil," but at this point we don't think anything of the Pants we are being presented) Part of me believes in my heart that this is because Atom has had high responsibility for his actions - He is held accountable to a standard human children are not, and the optics of what he says and does are scrutinized somewhat. Uran has not had this, but has the same type of "free will" and lack of given purpose that Atom does. Oh yeah cobalt is there too. Hi cobalt.

Really funny visual gag where did you get that bigass weight. Don't answer. I do love that he's ostensibly working out in his free time despite this giving no real strength benefit to a robot with a set strength built in, although I do suppose getting used to how weight handles and how heavy objects throw as opposed to light objects would be extremely useful for him. Anyway. You could probably guess this but as I grew up on the 2003 Astro Boy dub, I was also a Teen Titans (2003) fan. Cyborg has a great episode surrounding the idea that strength is built in called "Sum of His Parts". I have my artistic preferences with that episode and personally would not have done everything the way it does, but the evaluation of psychology when your physical limits are perceived as set in stone is very relevant here.

We are like two pages into this one btw. I'm normal.

Another robot specific law: Robots aren't allowed to go overseas by themselves/unaccompanied by humans without a permit. This makes a bit of sense relative to robots widely being property to be protected (read: you do not want them fleeing). This was actually shown in "The Birth of Astro Boy"

See the above panel from the first comic in the omnibus.

It's also funny that they didn't just also get Atom permission on the way and were instead like. Okay Atom we're just going to do a whole trenchcoat deal. I imagine that permission to move between borders is different to acquire in different countries, and likely far more difficult in countries with more restrictive laws around robotic existence. Japan is fairly forward in robotic tech from what we see, but it's likely the bureaucratic process would take a while. Easier to just break the law. (In some regard, this can be argued as a loophole rather than an outright crime - It depends how "A Robot" is defined. One could argue that a robot is based on their singular brain, so one pass per brain, but there are robots with parts that operate independent of one another, and this would mean they would need multiple passes. This is like, really specific legal wording type issues. What is shown here indicates that this is the case, but I can't say for certain why as we don't know the law in full.)

Also, while they say overseas, it's likely more like humans needing to acquire a visa, and certain countries or borders have agreements on the issue. Japan is surrounded by water, so any other country is "overseas."

Also, pretty sure we'll see Atom go to other countries without permission.

It's funny to me that they both act like younger siblings a lot of the time because Atom is just a lot more mature and has a lot more experience in the world. Anyway Ha ha ha ha lookee! lookee!

Ban really does get some of the best reaction expressions lol

I'm not asking how they made indent footprints in what seems to be concrete or stone. I'm not.

Seems to me that this indicates some amount of standardization in robots, or at the very least, robots meant to look human, by country. This also would make sense to identify what's going on, but uh. Can't they wear shoes...? Anyway, this kind of standardization would likely be required for those roaming permits to be functional in other countries. I.E. If Canada does not agree to standardization law x394.32, the USA will rescind their robotic passage permits and any permits currently in use will be void.

If I were making an Astro Boy comic, I'd keep some element of this standardization. Just maybe not on the feet.

God I love this series so much. WE CAN'T LET HIM KNOW WE ARE BOARDING FLIGHT 0036!

MORE ON ROBOTS BEING DISALLOWED FROM HURTING HUMANS: "We had no choice" is apparently a retort to this. So it's definitely a choice-based thing and not a built-in limitation of the AI. Anyway Atom looks really nervous about having hurt a human, probably for multiple reasons, one being that his teacher is out cold, another being what the consequences would be for this law being broken - And also the optics of Atom possibly being within blame.

I have no comment on this really it's just something that's likely disallowed in other countries. Sentiments would have to be extremely positive toward robots in a country for one to be allowed to run for president, and for them to win ).

This would be one of those countries with lax robotic laws I mentioned earlier.

Actually gruesome as hell

Another progressive robot law Gravia had that allowed this to happen, robots can vote. I sort of doubt this is the case in other places, but I'm not sure within the initial run of the manga.

Rag your minister just kicked a human in Japan like. For not even that much reason he could have just run faster instead.

Puts you in my torture chamber I devised full of polyester balls and pours water into it, half-crushing you (but not to worry, it's a comic strip, after all.)

Our first actual portrayal of a hate group, the Deadcross Society.

SPROING. I love the ZERO pause between "how can I meet him?" and Atom just using the window immediately.

I believe this is Atom Using An Unopened Window As A Door #1 of our read through. I suppose it indicates synthetic robot skin is more difficult to cut than human skin since he's so willing to jump through windows, but he's not really worried about his clothes either. So who knows.

Atom is highly capable in robotics. This is not new it's just the first we're seeing of it in the read through.

Also, Rag is really fruity about this. Strange two panels.

I know I add this kind of thing a lot but I love this detail. Looking forward to seeing it disregarded later <3 (Said with genuine love)

While simplified (because it's a kids manga), this is a pretty realistic and also like. realistically dark (? I don't know how else to describe it. It parallels how messed up they are in real life too with real tactics) portrayal of a hate group. The explicit "The fear this and the attacks put into you is with the intent of making you resign and return to subservience" is good for kids to see, I think.

Future technology. I do agree in the world of Astro Boy it's probably much more possible to have a realistic 3-dimensional display of something, which we haven't actually really acquired yet in the real world. That said, in this case, it can't be touched or interacted closely with (It's like a stage, you just can't step past the screen and into the scene), whereas something like Pluto shows holograms that can allow for closer investigation of detail. Looking forward to analyzing how other Astro Boy media approaches this type of technology.

Having to plan ahead and conserve energy for later things is notable since if two things happen one after the other he just runs out. He conserves energy even during combat if he thinks there will be More Combat After That.

Most days he probably hardly uses any though, assuming he doesn't fly to and from school.

Fucked. Jesus Christ. (no pun intended)

his beutiful eyes

Post to be continued in a reblog. Guess who hit 30 images. I'm so silly goofy like that.

#astro boy #mighty atom #tetsuwan atom

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jennyandvastraflint · 7 months

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It's late, I'm very tired, but I am going to write you the ask anyway because I need you to know you put a new fic idea into my head and somehow it has grown and now what am I going to do? Do I have time for it? No. But it's been a lot of fun writing a snippet on the train today (as you do) and I hope it will stay for a while and maybe develop?

Basically, it's -

"[The cat] already has a name" the Doctor said suddenly. "She's called Siren." "You've named her?" Yaz exclaimed. "Has she told you?" Graham asked. "Mate, she doesn't actually speak 'cat'; she was having you on, earlier" Ryan stage whispered, before blinking and looking over to the Doctor. "You don't, do you?" "She's wearing a name tag" the Doctor explained and really, now that Yaz was examining the cat's collar, there was a tiny silver square reading 'Siren'. "Oh" she said, wondering why the Doctor hadn't used the name yet. Was it as not to get too attached? It had taken her awfully long to enter the discussion on the name, too.

I'm not quite sure how far this will go but there is actual plot already somewhere. It's a bit - difficult though. Because they're all treating the cat like you would treat a cat. Which is different from how you'd treat a human/timelord/whatever, especially when it comes to boundaries. And they don't know she's not a cat of course, because River is there ~undercover~. To them, basically, 13 has 'adopted a stray'.

Anyway, it is still very fun :) (also 90% of it has turned into a zoo tycoon ad but I am blaming that on companion-showdown) I love writing for the fam! It's difficult to juggle so many people in one scene but I love all of them so much 🥰 (but if I do write this whole piece it will probably end up being doctor/yaz/cat!river centric so that's only 3 characters and one is mainly non-verbal)

(This is about that cat named River Song in that post (yesterday?) and you saying it should be River undercover btw. Not sure whether that's been clear until now.)

Do you think Siren is a good name? Sirens sing and live in bodies of water, so I thought she might choose it as a not-too-obvious undercover name. Plus, River would dig the seductress connotations. (It might also have come to my mind because we've been talking about mermaids but anyway)

Alternatively, I was thinking Cleopatra bc we know River has cosplayed as her and it would be cute to call the cat 'Cleo'. It's a very cat-like name, I think.

Or 'Melody'? More angsty but also more obvious and riskier. And the idea is that the Doctor cannot know either she's there. But it also makes a good name for a cat I think.

(also, yeah, I totally haven't finished the lkh rewrite either, I think I told you earlier. But ohhh shiny new fic concept with thasmin and River and a cat 😍😍😍 anyway I am blaming you <3 (for the idea, not the procrastinating - the procrastinating is 100% on me))

God, I hope this is halfway coherent now. I'm not feeling too coherent 😅

Anyway thank you so much for listening <3 I'm very grateful to hear any thoughts! On the name or general thoughts :) Also questions! As I said, there is some plot. Unfinished, but I can see a main direction (and it looks suspiciously like 20k+ words so... not sure I will follow it ever)

First of all, absolutely love that my bullshit inspired you XD

Second, I love the scene you wrote omgggg! The fact the fam didn't notice the nametag and just went to the more outlandish explanation of "13 speaks cat" 😂

I love the name Siren so much!! Like first, it fits with the "River" (body of water) "Song", but it also reminds me of how when River calls for the Doctor, they are always there for her, almost as though drawn to River.

(Shiny new ideas always so appealing, yuppp, it is a thing I know all too well)

I am so excited to read more of this, and am looking forward to the plot that awaits us!

On the point of juggling so many characters, yes, I find that anything above three characters regularly interacting gets a bit crowded. Perhaps you'll still find a way to have Ryan and Graham there and doing little tasks during the fic, like for instance sending them to get food for Siren XD

I am honoured to have enabled this as your writing sounds a delight!! May the writing gods bless you, may your writing be plentiful and motivating!

#doctor who #thirteenth doctor #river song #yasmin khan #ryan sinclair #graham o'brien #tardis fam #Fanfiction #ask

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arcielee · 11 months

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Interview With a Writer

Artwork by @lonnson 💜

Continuing with my series is @lonnson, who does not only create amazing pieces but can write as well. 💜 I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to allow me to gush over your story and answering my questions!

As always, you can look over the masterlist to see the other amazing authors I have spoken with. This series is just a BTS of some of the talented minds on Tumblr and ao3. 💜

Story: Winterwood on ao3

Paring: Aemond Targaryen x OFC

Rating/Warning: SA mentioned, graphic depictions of violence, major character death.

So, when did you start writing? I've liked coming up with stories since I was a kid but I never really wrote them down (I was more of an artist than a writer). I think my first "real" fanfiction was a crossover between Downton Abbey and a popular German detective audiobook series (very niche, I know 😅).

It was my first attempt at writing fanfiction and I have no idea if it was any good but at the end of the day it helped me get started on writing (hopefully) better stuff so it wasn't a waste of time.

What inspired this story? I really got into the gothic horror genre and dark fairytale retellings last year and read a lot of books with that vibe.

The main bit of inspiration definitely came from "The Wolf and the Woodsman" by Ava Reid, which is about a girl and a one-eyed prince. When I watched House of the Dragon later that year, I immediately thought of that novel again.

I also took some inspiration from fantasy movies I love, like Stardust or The Chronicles of Narnia.

I wanted to do creepy creatures to pop-up in my story, like the bat creatures that were inspired by the cliff ghasts from His Dark Materials. And I also love reading books about bloodthirsty faeries so I thought they fit the vibe (of Winterwood) as well.

I also love the book "Vaesen" by Johan Egerkrans about spirits and monsters from Scandinavian folklore!

Can you explain your interpretation of Aemond? What drives him in Winterwood? What made him the way he is? I wanted to keep him relatively close to canon, because I do enjoy a good morally-grey character with villain tendencies. But obviously I also wanted to explore some stuff with him that's just my personal interpretation of Aemond.

In my story, Rhaenyra is Queen, Aegon has been executed and Aemond has been exiled to be a Night's Watch man. He's still ambitious and proud, but he's also been disillusioned by life. He can be testy and cranky but he's also feeling very lonely. He's done bad things during the war and they still haunt him.

I also really wanted him to be somewhere on the asexual spectrum because I'm always drawn to characters who could potentially be ace in how they're portrayed in canon.

My take on Aemond is that he's never really experienced a lot of affection in his life and therefore craves but also fears it. He's interested in swordplay, studies and dragons but he's not a womanizer. And I really wanted to keep his "bad" traits. He's judgmental, testy and very, very guarded. He opens up to others at the speed of a glacier.

What inspired your character creation Lya/Skaðe? Her character kind of developed naturally as I wrote the first chapter. I didn't want her to be "Aemond's love interest", I wanted her to be the second main character of the story.

She's as complicated as him and they're not so different from each other, which is why they don't get along at all in the beginning. They're lone wolfs, capable fighters and don't trust easily. Lya follows her own agenda and keeps some secrets that are potentially dangerous... Her name is spelled very similar to "liar" which may be a hint to her not being entirely trustworthy.

You already hinted at it, but you prefer to draw or to write? Drawing, definitely. I've drawn since I was a kid and it's still my main creative outlet. I think about fictional scenarios about 85% of the day (😅), but only very few of them are coherent enough to actually write them down. I'd LOVE to write a book though, that's the dream. Do you have a personal favorite story you'd like to share? If you happen to be a fan of The Suicide Squad, I loved anchorage by mentallyillmermaid on ao3 (I'm one of the ten people who are really into the Polka-Dot Man x Ratcatcher ship haha)

#interview with a writer #iwaw9 #bts #of their brilliant writing

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dykeserket · 1 year

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OMG hiiiiiiii @candyvoncaramell

i wrote more than expected so um under the cut ^_^ pls enjoy my 1.4k words of jane rambling LMAOOOO

i have soooo many thoughts on her. im also still on my reread so nothing is like. super solid and everything is more just like little things im picking up that when i reread again ill be able to have more coherent thoughts lol but ill list out some ideas + a little explanations that ill expand on later cause there is a Lot.

-so the first most obvious thing is the character parallels. jade and jane are Very heavy parallels personality-wise. like positive people with anger issues [dealing with repressed frustration for a variety of reasons] who are so deeply lonely because of - while they are close to their friends theres still Limits. [ie jane being left in the dark and jade knowing Too much. its a big weight on her. there is a very visible change in her personality when she Stops fufilling that role]

-and of course with the grimbark / crockertier control - little red riding hood and the big bad wolf yknow

-but Character-wise as in the role she fufils in the Game is parallel to john - which sets her up to Main Character Status <- i will get into this later. but she is john in the way that dirk is her rose - leading her to play the game, quite literally telling her hes pulling the strings while setting her up as the Leader and quoting things rose said. and the first one entered and the one you control as a Player Character.

-i will also! mention aspects at this point. i will get to classes later. but essentially - life is heavily connected with space. because of the creation and growth side of both of them and imo are key aspects as a Universal Whole. because while Time and Space are the cardinals and the most important in Homestuck Narrative. thats just because of the cherubs ie everything revolves around caliborn - homestuck is a time-centered event where every little action and detail bleeds into eachother to create the events. its very very fascinating and in the first couple acts absolutely brilliantly done. but it also brings up the fact that Homestuck Narrative and Sburb Mechanisms should be considered seperate - people put too much weight on a biased session but im getting off track.

-anyway!!!! as i was saying life is very very important [feferi and her role as a witch of life and the creation of the dreambubbles - and meenah who is also Designated Main Character is a life player <- smth smth dancestor session]

-so life is a very important aspect and its very telling that jane Never gets to fufil that role as Maid of Life because. it never comes to be. her session is dead and void. shes restricted in every aspect of her being. her most known identity is being mindcontrolled to serve plot purpose - aradia parallel - so she very much set up to Fail. just like her session

-i really got sidetracked there but i also quickly want to mention - my own personal theory of aspects - the Equality theory [name wip] - which basically states every aspect has its opposite and parallel. Life is parallel to Breath. so another john parallel And goes into how her restricted freedom affects her life being restricted and so on and so forth.

-ANYWAY! the next parallel and arguably the most important relationship to understanding Jane is her relationship with jake. there is a lot going on there and i am still working it out. but i Will say. feferi and eridan parallel. ok moving on.

-another really interesting part of her that no one ever talks about - like ever. i mean come on i dont even see theorists mention her - is Nannaquin. the sprite version of Beta Jane. and i have to say i have so so many thoughts about sprites and their roles and how they are quite literally just Ghosts. but im just gonna get into it and say.

-what we see of nanna is not her. we are Not seeing Nanna Egbert. we are seeing the Nannasprite. she looks a mimics her actions - even has memories and recounts on her past. but she is dead and we cant take any of her words or actions at face value. she is a Ghost. [ironic since shes also the Maid of Life] but she is a ghost who is being controlled by the whims of the Game - with her sprite knowledge, the only one who ever Really explains things, the most Sprite of all sprites, who we only ever Really see in glimpses. i have to wonder, she cant talk about much because shes limited by her game construction - just like jade. did that kill her inside? when all was said and done did she have that visible shift in personality? does she Ever come into her own or is she just left as it is? we never get to know because we never really see her once the betas have left the session.

-what we do know about her is that, she was left alone for most of her life under the condesces Direct parentage. the one time she actually recounts her life its about her missing jake and imagining a life with them together - specifically the idea that he never left and they would get married like they were Supposed to. an idea thats obviously been groomed into her and its just so tragic.

-do you think this idea haunted jane.

-because none of the beta kids get along with their Others. they react in different ways for different reasons - but. we never really see jane...React. yknow. to see herself from such a different and similar position. not even beginning to mention the whole thing with Dad - which as a sidenote. i dont think Nanna had a horrible life to the end. i mean she changed her name, either through marriage or legally [probably legally because we never see hints otherwise, and grandma english did the same] and she had her son. which when she fufilled her duty as a sprite she told john she was going to go look for him and well. yknow. anyway

-the very last and final thing i want to mention. jane's alice in wonderland vs jade's wizard of oz.

-jade's wizard of oz for the most part. is a one man show. she plays a lot of the parts herself - she starts as dorothy and becomes the wizard before dying as the witch. its a theme of loneliness and all the parts she plays to keep it all moving.

-jane's alice in wonderland is more about Isolation in the way of...things sort of happen. shes thrust in this new magically world where nothings as it seems and everyones acting, in her opinion, crazy! she has no idea whats going on but she just has to accept it and move on. [dirk is the queen of hearts, roxy is the cheshire cat, jake is the mad hatter, seb is the white rabbit] its a loss of control when being thrust in unfamiliar situations.

and with that im coming to a close of my Jane Thought Dumping. there is still more - some stuff i didnt mention and some other stuff i probably forgot about but basically this is a major gist of ideas. i think you can take janes story in one of two ways.

it was Bad Writing in the way that she never got closure, by the end hussie just abandoned her in favor for the others that arrived, and a variety of other things.

there was Some Purpose. in the way that she never got to fufill anything because its an inherent part of her world. there was Never going to be a satisfying conclusion - not there.

i think it was a mix of the two, near the end of the comic it was a lot more rushed as hussie attempted to tie up one too many loose ends and people got set aside but i can see glimmers of purpose. [i have purposefully Not mentioned the retcon arc for a variety of reasons. i have Also many thoughts on that specifically as a very big john liker. i think it was a good idea and not a suprising act to pull but at points just executed extremely poorly] however none of that really matter considering how badly homestuck2 fucked it all up. if you think hs2 jane was in character you are wrong and a loser!!!!! BOOO!!! BOO!!!!! anyway yea thats about it hope it makes sense LMAO

#talks #mine #jane crocker #homestuck #I DIDNT EVEN TALK ABOUT HER RELATIONSHIPS IN DEPTH!!! CAUSE THERES SO MUCH THERE #or so much that could happen. we missed out fr with the fact they never got the alpha trolls and humans to interact as a bigger group #and also my specific thoughts with her relationship with characters like. feferi. tavros. aranea. meenah. meulin.#MEUJANE FOR THE WIN!!! its such a good ship i swear #and by extension kurloz honestly sorry idc much about her and gamzee. i have yet to will myself into truly caring about him yet #jane!#nannaquin!

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kuwdora · 4 months

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January 15 - if you made a painting embodying a character, who would it be? @sassaffrassa

I cannot remember if I told you about this one specifically, sass, or just foamed at the mouth about my other art ideas. Can I describe this coherently? Guess we’ll find out.

I would love to paint Ciri from the witcher books. This is nothing in my skill set right now. And it it probablyyyyy too many ideas to fit into one piece and could probably be 2-4 pieces. But maybe it’s just one very busy single piece. But it's Ciri and lots of things from the witcher books.

Stylistically I want to make a painting that’s surrealist/eldritch horror with fantasy vibes. Composition-wise I’m, ahhhh, inspired by the old Star Wars posters and Bosch.

I want Ciri’s face with her very huge scar prominent to be a main focus. I want horrifyingly exaggerated uterus to be a focus as well, fallopian tubes reaching out with tentacle-like horrors, ovaries dripping with blood, with disdain and rage.

In the background behind Ciri rises the Tower of Swallows—or maybe Ard Gaeth behind her. Stars in the background. Space and time, you know.

Ciri is flanked by all the people pursuing her for good and ill, so Eredin and Emhyr and Vilgefortz on one side, Yen, Geralt and the Hansa on the right. The fallopian tubes are wrapped around Vilgefortz neck because fuck that guy (I can hold many different kinds of feelings about shitty villain characters). But really fuck that guy and choke him out with a fallopian tube. Or maybe wrapped around all of them, Eredin, Emhyr and Vilgefortz.

On the right Yen has a bloodied lip and messy hair a la her captivity scene, or maybe her scrutinizing expression I think she’s wearing when she’s speaking with Freya in Skellige. Geralt is below Yen and is looking exhausted and determined and wearing a headband, jowly and pale. And beside him is the rest of the Hansa. Cahir with wet eyes looking up at Ciri like she’s hung the moon. Regis looking poised and mindful at Geralt, Dandelion holding his memoirs. Milva cropped hair with her bow Angouleme with a cheeky expression and maybe a knife.

Also have a smaller Vysogota over one Ciri’s shoulder, and Kelpie over her other. Maybe Mistle somewhere, too. Definitely need Ihuarraquax somewhere because fuck yeah unicorns.

Below Ciri and her exaggerated uterus is maybe moment from Ciri’s final fight with Bonhart, her balancing carefully on the beam and Bonhart thinking he’s got her but we know he doesn’t but the stakes are still high.

And just below that is Ciri riding Kelpie over the lake, and Avallach standing on the edge of the water watching her. And if I continue to be maximal I’d want to find a place for some compositional elements about The Spiral. Maybe a reflection in the water of the lake, or something anchored to Avallac’h in the scene.

To layer it even more like this is a Bosch painting meets meets Kahlo and Dali, I would have Nimue with a magnifying glass that she’s looking through from the corner of the painting, examining this Whole Scene with a dreamy-eyed Tilly at her side. Maybe reaching through the looking glass into the scene. Throw in an ouroboros somewhere. Maybe framing the whole painting??

Anyway. This is a lot. My brain is a lot and it is what it is… and hey now! I made a post about it, so it’s out of my head! I cannot and will not paint this, but if anyone is inspired oh my god have at it and run with the ideas if it moves you.

January posting meme + claim a date - can still prompt me.

#January posting meme #january posting meme 2024 #kuwdora’s witcher thoughts #textpost

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theredcapeofk · 4 months

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20 Questions More

A deeper and more detailed version of the 20 questions for AO3 fanfic writers. Thanks @fazedlight for the tag!!

1) How do you keep getting ideas for your ship/fandom?

I have three main sources of inspiration:

my own brain where my ship and fandoms live rent-free.

tumblr: other people's works keep the passion alive and new ideas coming

discussing the ships and fandoms with other fans

2) Which authors inspire you in your fandom, and why are they so freakishly good?

So many of you guys do inspire me for so many different reasons it's hard to make a list.

3) Aside from the characters of your main ship, who are the characters you love to write?

I love to have Eliza around she brings a sense of calm and reassurance to my scenes. I also love to have Esme, she's so cute and I like having her melt everyone's hearts from sheer cuteness.

4) Are there pairings or tropes you know for sure you'd never write about? Which ones?

Writing and reading fanfics have taught me that my views tend to change on ships and tropes. So my never today could inspire me tomorrow.

5) What is your writing process and why is it cursed?

I don't know about a writing process... I get an inspiration and start writing. Sometimes I outline longer fics and sometimes the stories cannot be outlined so I let it write itself as I go. Of course I make the whole thing coherent.

If that wasn't cursed enough, I'll just add that there are times where my brain just won't English so I have to think my writing in French and translate it.

6) What is your favorite part of your writing process?

The outpour of inspiration that makes me write until my eyes/fingers hurt

7) What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for a fic?

I honestly don't remember. But every research I ever make for a fic is a fall down the rabbit hole. You start by a word research and two hours later you end up watching a tutorial on how to comb a Giraffe's hair...(It never actually happened, but you get my point lol)

8) Is there a particular writing rule you struggle with (grammar, spelling, tense, reality in general)?

Sometimes all of the above plus typos and the sequence of tenses? This used to never be a problem, but the further I get from my English classes the blurrier sequence of tenses become.

9) What was your hardest scene to write so far and why?

Fight scenes and action scenes. Like how am I supposed to describe who does what and how...?

10) Have your characters ever done something you didn’t expect, changing your plot completely?

Very often. In Change my Direction Kara was supposed to heal a lot faster. And then she didn't and here we are lol. In My Eyes are Up Here Kara was supposed to spill the secret sooner but she couldn't. And in a project I'm still working on on the rift era, Lena was supposed to cave in sooner but she's stubborn lol

11) If you could converse with any of the characters, who would it be and why?

Definitely Kara and Lena. I have so many questions and I would love their take on what canon left unsaid. I would also like to speak to Brainy and Cat. I would pester Brainy about the 31st century to know the extent of Kara's and Lena's legacy. I'd ask Cat how she managed to create Catco and also what finally gave Kara away.

12) What are some of the tropes or themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?

Kara and Lena are always idiots in love in my fics and when they do admit their feelings to each other, they only live for one another.

As for themes, I tend to come back to the rift era because canon created a tension that needed solving and their version only broached the surface. And this conflict brought so many things to the surface for the characters there are so many alternate answers to be given I feel that it's an exploration that keeps on giving.

13) What's your most important resource as a writer?

My phone. I've been writing mostly on my phone for years and I love the flexibility it gives me. I can carry it around with me and write whenever inspiration strikes.

14) Can you share some of your strategies for editing and revising your work?

You guys actually have strategies for that? Hahaha. What I tend to do, is highlight words or sentences as I go along. Then, when I'm done with a chapter, I put the fic away for a few days and then I start re-reading the chapter from the start. Best-case scenario I take the highlights off, worst-case scenario I highlight more stuff lol. As some words need translating I try to do this step incrementally because I know how long or hard the language check can be.

When I get stuck to a point where I can't move on, I beg my English speaking friends for help. @lenaralanvers has helped me so much since 2021

15) Which is worse: making the summary, picking the tags, or the anxiety when you post your fic?

The summary is always my absolute nemesis

16) How do you define success for your fanfic - hits? Kudos? Comments? Bookmarks? Or just if you like it?

I think I define it from the hits.

17) Do you have a playlist for your favorite character/ship?

I do have a playlist for Supercorp and it's always growing. There's a lot of Celine Dion and Greek pop songs in it. There's something about Celine Dion's voice and late 90's and early 2000's songs that just screams Supercorp to me. The Greek pop songs have a special way of expressing pain and regret that fits perfectly with the rift era.

18) If fan art was going to be made from your work, which fic would you pick and which fan artist would you like to create it?

If I had to pick someone, I would commission them :). maybe 2024 is the year I finally do this.

And if anyone wants to create fanart from any of my fics please feel free to.

19) How many WIPs do you currently have?

Phew...tough question! I don't have time to actually count them all, but I'd say twelve? out of the top of my head. Some will be one shots, some will hopefully become multichapters.

20) What's your advice to new fanfic writers?

If you want to write fanfic go for it. Don't let anything or anyone stop you from ever writing. Never plagiarize anyone and if you get your inspiration from someone, always give credit.

- - - - -

Tagging (respectfully and without pressure). If you've done the game before, feel free to send me a link to it ;) @chaotic-super, @lenaralanvers , @inkedroplets , @fyonahmacnally if you want some rapid-fire q's thrown your way. But also anyone who'd like to do this!

#20 questions #writing

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lurkingshan · 1 year

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Make it Right 2

I have so many thoughts and feelings about this show that I'm struggling to decide where to start. I guess the best place is my overall impressions, which haven't changed since I finished the first series: I LOVE THIS SHOW AND I WILL DEFEND THESE CHARACTERS TO ANYONE. Fight me!

Now real talk, does this show have high production quality, smart writing and plotting, sharp editing, scene construction, and overall narrative consistency and coherence? No, it does not. It has none of those things, and a lot of them have gotten markedly worse from the first season. But all that barely phased me because the characters just hooked themselves right into my heart and wouldn't let go. This show is very very messy, but in the most lovable way ("LIKE GAY PEOPLE" - @bengiyo).

There were three main storylines that I was invested in for this second season. I will talk about them in order of least to most emotional investment. @waitmyturtles @wen-kexing-apologist @manogirl tagging you to come back to this later after you finish your watches because I want to talk about ALL OF THIS. For anyone reading - major spoilers from here on out!!

Yok & Lukmo

Boy, I did not expect this romance, and I really liked it. Which came as a surprise, because I did not care much about Mo in the first series. I was more invested in Yok, but in season 1 he felt kind of removed from everyone else, which was of course by design. He felt apart from the other boys because he is different. And it was just really really lovely to see a femme gay character get to embrace who he is and be loved for it. I like that he was wary of Mo and tested him for awhile before he let him in, and that Mo did waver a bit when he was first challenged on whether he really was okay being in a gay relationship. That felt authentic to me, and only made it feel more solid when they came back together with Mo more confident in what he wanted. I also liked that in the end Yok's mom stepped up to take her kid's side and express her acceptance of who he is and his relationship - it was very sweet.

I do have to deduct some points here for that very tonally bizarre sex scene that got tacked on to the end of their story. The way that scene was directed, shot, and edited just didn't feel in line with their dynamic at all, and I spent most of it thinking we were in some kind of weird dream sequence. I did find it amusing though that these two were better with physical intimacy in their one scene than the leads ever managed across two full seasons.

Frame & Book

My beloveds!! They were my favorite part of season 1, and I still loved them here, though I think the show faltered a lot on their storyline in season 2. The ideas behind their arc - Book working through some past relationship trauma, dealing with the fallout of Book's public violation, Frame struggling to hang in as Book pushed him away - were all good. But the execution was pretty spotty. The entire arc needed some clearer storyboarding and a pacing and sequencing revamp. The choppy editing this season felt most evident to me in this storyline, where I often felt like scenes came abruptly out of nowhere or felt out of sequence, and emotional swings happened too fast to be believable. And I didn't love where the show ultimately took some of the resolutions with the ex-boyfriend (and the teacher who was apparently inviting his students for group sex parties??) but I can't say they aren't in line with this show's overall forgiving attitude toward whatever these boys get up to.

All that said, at the core of this storyline was Frame and Book struggling to endure a traumatic event together, figuring out how they need to show up for each other in those moments, and learning from their mistakes to become better communicators. All of that worked and fit the characters really well. I believed that Book would totally shut down and push Frame out in the face of public humiliation and deep shame. I believed Frame would try and try and try to get through to him but also experience moments of weakness where he would be tempted to just say fuck it and go back to the easier path of casual hookups. And though a lot of the journey to get there was sloppily executed, I believed that they would ultimately come out of that mess more committed and in love than before (I could have done without all the wedding talk though, they are 16 people!).

Fuse & Tee

And here we come to the arc that frustrated and thrilled me in equal measure. FUSE YOU ABSOLUTE WANKER I WANT TO YEET YOU OFF A CLIFF AND ALSO GIVE YOU A GIANT HUG. I was deep in my feelings about this story all season. Fuse made me so mad, Tee made me so sad, and they both made me so happy in the end when they finally figured out their shit.

As we discussed in the clown server, Fuse's storyline feels very familiar to a lot of early Thai bl. His inability to let go of his shitty girlfriend and his constant wavering between Jean and Tee was reminiscent of Phun in Love Sick (and would also be a dynamic repeated in other shows like Together with Me). The key difference for me, and what made it comparably more upsetting than in Love Sick, is that unlike Noh, Tee did not have his own other relationship to deal with or any ambivalence about whether he wanted to actually be together. Tee only wanted Fuse, and wanted commitment and fidelity from him, and watching Tee get increasingly depressed as he tried to be happy just getting what he could from Fuse, caught in a cycle of getting hope and then being rejected again, was so painful. And while he might not have been fully aware of how selfish and cruel he was being at first, eventually Fuse definitely saw how this was affecting Tee and came to understand he was the cause, and he still didn't stop fucking with him! I was so angry with him around the midpoint of the season, I just wanted Tee to dump him and start dating his little friend.

What made it all so much harder to swallow is that Jean and Fuse's relationship was so mild. THEY DON'T EVEN LIKE EACH OTHER. Fuse does not want to touch or kiss her - that was established way back at the beginning of season 1. They go long stretches where they don't even talk to each other until one of them remembers the other exists. Jean has a whole other boyfriend that she seems to have a much deeper relationship with. And this is where the show kind of pissed me off, because the way they turned Jean into an evil manipulative woman stereotype with her pulling this elaborate scheme to pretend her boyfriend was her brother so she could parade around town with him (and even brazenly bring him in front of Fuse!) just felt so false and over the top to me. Why would she bother to do any of that just for the sake of stringing along this boy who isn't even interested in being her boyfriend in any real way? @bengiyo mentioned that his reading of it was she is insecure in her relationship with the older boy and so wants Fuse as a back up, which I could buy to a certain extent, but they really lost me with the lengths she went to. Jean is a very pretty girl who will no doubt have another boyfriend in a week; all this just to hang on to Fuse? I didn't buy it.

And that's a problem because it made it harder to understand why the hell Fuse was having such a hard time letting go of her, and why he was willing to hurt Tee so much in the process. I think if he genuinely liked Jean and had a deeper relationship with her, that would have worked better for me. As it was, he just seemed like a coward, and the way he kept rejecting Tee and then still trying to have his way with him after was infuriating. When he told Tee he was breaking up with him and staying with Jean, and then still tried to get him to sleep with him after, that's when I was ready to strangle this kid. And some of this I can rationalize as him not being ready to firmly commit to being out in a gay relationship and needing Jean as a kind of shield and safety blanket, but if that was the intent I think the show muddied the message a bit by having literally everyone already know about Tee and Fuse. That horse was long out of the barn before Fuse finally did something about Jean.

To the show's credit, it knows exactly how awful Fuse was throughout this entire debacle, and the last segment of their arc is all about Fuse recognizing it himself and atoning for his behavior with Tee. I love that we saw him apologize to Tee with increasing sincerity. I love that we saw him finally be the one to pursue Tee and make his feelings clear, and that Tee actually made him work for it. I loved that we had multiple episodes of Fuse trying to work up the courage to ask Tee to be his faen, and that Tee knew what was happening and enjoyed watching Fuse flounder. My absolute favorite scene was Fuse finally breaking down and confessing to Tee at the beach (with a little help from best bro Lukmo) - that he knows he was wrong, that he knows he was selfish, that he understands what Tee means to him now, that he loves him and wants to be with him and he's ready to commit to that. And Tee, because he is a kind and generous person who has been patiently waiting for this all along, immediately forgave him and responded in kind. It was so emotionally cathartic and satisfying, and felt very much earned after that loooooong journey through the mess. More than anything else I felt so proud of Fuse, and so happy for Tee, and I believed they would be solid from that point on. I didn't even need the sweet little epilogue to feel that way, but I was delighted to get it (and a direct homage to Love Sick with Fuse putting his hand over the camera lens as he leaned over to kiss his boyfriend).

Final thoughts

As I wrapped up my watch I have been reflecting on why this show is not as beloved in fandom as something like Love Sick. Why does it not seem to have the same nostalgic pull? Why don't people (other than @absolutebl and @bengiyo) talk about it as much as other classic Thai bls? And the only thing I can think of is that it's too raw for most of the bl audience. And I mean raw in every sense - the production, the acting, the emotions, the inexperience and naivete and even the physicality of the characters. Nothing particularly sophisticated is happening here, and nothing is smoothed over. If you want to love these characters, you have to love them through all the bad decisions and fucked up choices and flaws run wild. You have to love them when they're ugly as much as when they're beautiful. And I think that's hard for a lot of the audience that just wants to see sweet love stories. But I am here for it and so glad I finally got to watch this.

#make it right #make it right 2 #thai bl #i wish more people would watch this #hit me up if you need help finding the right links i am here for you #shan shouts into the void

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bitter-rabbitholes · 2 months

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I got to watch the Phantom & Ghost playthrough (thanks to @pain-in-the-butler d(^-^)), and I've been dreaming of Phantom & Ghost getting a remaster with HD graphics and a expanded story line, so here's how I would've liked it:

a coherent narrative

I think it would've benefited the story to just stick to one POV for the entire game, and you'll have to complete both Sebastian and Ciel's routes to get the final ending. Similar to other visual games games that have multiple endings depending who and how you play, that give you a true ending after completing the game.

like wow, the game is kinda nonsensical to follow? not only can you switch between the two different POVs while playing, but you can do it after nearly every scene? So all the clues and reveals feel all over the place and referenced in ways that don't make sense.

general appeal

alright lets be honest, the game's main appeal is its characters. getting to play all these scenarios with the servants and Lizzy is what's fun. sadly, the minor characters weren't as interesting to bounce off of, so it would be nice to lean into their eccentricities (when you got a guy named Patrick the Grey wizard).

Add more scenarios, more character combinations, more dialogue options. Can't tell you how disappointed I was that Stella's pov barely showed anything, esp since the moments between Lizzy and Stella were really good. Like, let's play with all these different povs! Stella's route could have flashbacks and much needed backstory to solve the mysteries. Lets see Lorraine, Patrick, and Stella's parents in the past, since so much of the story revolves around them And having all these expanded character options really build the replayability of the game.

tonal dissonance

This game was disorienting to me because how light the story remained. Kuro is a dark story! It has a lot of morbid humor and something disturbing happening in the background. This game really was just some average errand for Ciel and Sebastian and it falls flat. So I had ideas to bring in out more of those darker tones kuro has, described in the next section.

the villain

I understand why Lorraine was made into the villain as a "surpise twist", but I truly dislike that she was the bad guy after dealing with suggested abuse and getting jealous over a child (without even the backstory to back it up??). There's ways to give misdirection over the villain without resorting to the cheap maid plot twist, that is frankly tired now. (also I thought count ridley would be the villain? what was he around then for lol)

There's still a mysterious air around Stella's father, right? maybe, instead of villainizing an abused maid for the nth time, we can have a more in depth exploration of the maid's abuse and the father's character. maybe we find out the father was quite a vile person. Stella's route could imply the abuse happening in the background and how disturbing it is.

perhaps after the first half of the game, Lorraine is pined as the murderer, but Stella insists that she's innocent and we to find the true culprit. the player is mislead here a bit, because Lorraine's attitude does take a turn and she acts very bitter and erratic (which we find out later her signs of abuse).

eventually Lorraine is found innocent and her father is blamed for the murder, and Lorraine gets with Patrick to take care of Stella at the mansion, a perfect happy ending.

However in the true ending, we find out that Lorraine did kill the father, but it was to protect herself and Stella from his abuse. We don't know how the mother died exactly, but let's implied that he was the one to kill her (mad father vibes). Ciel doesn't reveal this, since the case with the ghost and embezzlement is solved, but Lorraine gets away with the murder. Sebastian could suggest that Lorraine only did it for her benefit, because now she's acting as head of the manor, through Stella (or whatever edgelord nonsense he'll say).

The games ends on the note we, the audience, will never know Lorraine's true motives, all while Stella remains naive, still thinking the best of her parents and Lorraine. All we can hope for, is that they'll take care of each other now, though who knows what the future holds.

So there's plenty of dark aspects to this story while having a rather positive ending for our main characters! let me know what yall think! any other ideas for an ending or story route?

(anyway here's a drawing of Stella and Lorraine to convince yall: x)

#b.au #i really want to go into different endings and the like #i used to be a huge rpg maker fan so the influence definitely shows lol #also any witch's heart fans here? heard the game is getting an update #i should get back in the game it's been sooo long #anyway my versions the sisters unite!! none of this jealousy over a child nonsense #but yeah i have a ton of ideas the more i think about it #you can tell how much better this story got cause it focuses on the women lmao #kuro #kuroshitsuji #phantom & ghost #lorraine mcdowell #stella rose #b.txt

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ladyhindsight · 1 year

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I decided to speak separately on the matter of racism in TLH. I'll give my honest opinion that I'm sure many people disagree (I don't care)

I suppose it's easy to just try to paint CC as someone who hates people of color even though we do not have factual evidence of that. I don't see a white person obsessing over their white characters and their features as a personal offense to me, I see it as something an author should work on so it doesn't get so atrociously obvious in their writing. The writing is problematic? VERY, but I'm not so simplistic as to believe this must mean the author is an horrible person who believes white features are objectively superior. The more I research about CC, the more I have reasons to side-eye her author persona, but I refuse to make this personal anymore.

The matter of race regarding Alastair is something I have felt deeply hurt and argued passionately about in the past, but once I realized how unserious CC's writing is, it stopped hurting me on a personal level and I went through a time of deep frustration while I saw fully how the world of TSC was so unplanned since the start and doesn't try to have any coherence. It helps that I have reads books so much more racist than any of TSC could ever be, that affects my view of it all, of course.

Part of the unseriousness is how in love the writing is with the characters. It's not one character in love with another, it's like the whole book is in love with the main characters. I'm sure I've read you saying: this before, the author's fascination with her own characters make the writing absurdly biased.

That takes to the treatment of Alastair's character: he is one of the characters of color I have related the most ever, I truly love him as a character. But the story is so in love with the main white characters that it gets fucked up how it can't not be forgotten how Alastair has committed the biggest of sins known to man: raise his voice to hurt the golden protagonists James and Matthew, not because bullying is bad, but because James and Matthew are so much better than him regardless of what they do, and regardless of what Matthew does or says against him, so hurting them is very, very bad. Bad Alastair!

In Chain of Iron, James seems perfectly ready to move on and be friendly to Alastair, and that's written as in to show how of a benevolent gracious kind understanding forgiving humble person he is, specifically how much of a perfect husband he is to Cordelia, being polite to her brother, it's not about actually showing understanding to Alastair - Matthew doing the complete opposite of James is not shown as flawed either. They are just perfecly right in whatever they decide to do, James being the perfectest and Matthew being just a little silly angsty guy.

The flaw is more actually in the writing of the MAIN white characters, and that has been the case since ever. As if Jace was split in two different parts, James and Matthew, and TLH just goes from there.

I should note, CC already mentioned Cordelia being half-Persian in early 2014, which can still be said to be early on the planning of TLH, so I don't think it's fair or accurate at all if someone talks as if Cordelia and Alastair's ethnicity was changed "last minute," that's definitely not the case

- R

I’ll add your other message here too since a lot of the subject matter overlaps.

I've been reading your posts that I had missed and this one is a contenter for my favorite post of yours.

The description of physical traits done by CC is something I've been observing for a while and I did my own research through the books.

I have reasons to be fond of CJ - she was the one who made up Robert/Michael and I'm inclined to believe CC may not have thought of it/included it in the books if not for CJ, and I wouldn't have Robert as he is in The Evil We Love. What a terrifying idea (to me).

On the other hand.......... CJ went a long way on her skills of painting skin color. The only slack I could give is 1) years ago nobody in the fandom knew how to paint dark skin, and even when ChoG came out a couple of years ago several artists showed how much they still didn't know how to paint dark skin with their takes on Cordelia and Alastair. It was a disturbing time; 2) CC's descriptions sucked ass.

First on the case of the Wiki: it's not 100% reliable, as I particularly noticed with skin color descriptions. I was the one to add there that Alastair has brown skin, what was written before was straight up lying and it was hard to not wonder if it was in bad faith somehow.

On the Rosales. The wiki has Diego described as olive-skinned with the only source being LoS, but in LoS his skin is described as brown.

Their color in that previous CJ artwork, as you noticed, sucks. Brown skin seems to be used very loosely in these books, and CJ seems to have projected Latino/Mexican stereotypes in her coloring of the ~Hispanic~ characters in general, and that goes together with the books also implying that Latinos all have the same coloring.

I know Americans/gringos don't understand much about Latinos but if you're doing some form of creation/art like writing and drawing it's expected that you try to understand this kind of thing.

Several of popular TDA fanart portrays Cristina very light, and it's annoying that people don't bat an eye at it. Latinos can have any skin color, and artists seem to use that as if it means that any color can be used to draw any Latino character, ignoring how they are actually described and instead going for the idea of Latino they have in their heads as reference.

Rafe is one of the Malec children and his ethnicity is left very vague, he is only assumed to be a person of color because he is Argentinian, but Argentinians are among some of the whitest Latinos. (No offense meant to Argentinians of color or even Argentinians in general - other Latino countries are often very white, like Cuba, with the obvious famous case of Camilla Cabello, a white Cuban). Rafe still could be an Argentinian of color, of course, but, you get what I mean? The generalization is definitely there.

Jaime's skin color has been corrected in his new flower card. I'm not Mexican so I'll just refrain from commenting the tattoo.

About Cordelia, you noticed the problem too. It was more a matter of general fucked-updness, but it's more complicated than it seems.

The oldest mention of Cordelia being half-Persian that I could find is from March 2014 (x). The first description was from CC's twitter in September 2014 (x) which artists used for a good while to make her very light colored, since it says "light" brown skin, and it was eventually changed to brown, just lighter than Sona's, Ariadnes's and Magnus' browns according to the on page TLH descriptions. Magnus really got darker over the tears didn't he

I assume this was the case of CJ too. I would like to point that since Persians can be generally very light-skinned, nobody had to assume they were dark skinned. I remember even talking to a Persian reader that was surprised at Cordelia and Alastair being dark skinned, but that person seemed to actually believe that they should be light skinned Persians, and I don't have knowledge of colorism-related tensions in Iran to have a deep understanding of this reaction. I don't get behind colorism.

Anyway, but even then CJ didn't have a problem drawing Sona brown-skinned, so she shouldn't have a problem drawing Cordelia brown skinned too.

There is the misconception going on even implied in the wiki that Cordelia and Alastair weren't Persian in the previous flower cards, that those arts were drawn before they were made to be Persian, and like I explained this is just NOT TRUE. CC and CJ simply fucked it up.

Have you seem one of Magnus previous flower cards? This is atrocious. What I collected in the books was that Magnus was first described as brown skinned in Clockwork Angel, it's a mistake that it wasn't first in TMI but CA is still many books and years ago. After it CC stil reblogged art with white-skinned Magnus and the fandom sure still did draw a lot of light skinned Magnus.

The casting for the movie and TV show surely didn't help. I was ignorant about the issues of Southeast Asian representation and this video series was very useful for me to understand the problem.

All these issues within TSC have been a big topic for me over the years, so I can discuss it at lenght, but here I talked a lot already. Hope my information was useful.

You probably have seen it already, but readers asked a lot for corrected flower cards of Cordelia and Alastair, and it happened. (x)

Thanks for reading all of this :)

- R

Like with the previous discussions about Cordelia, race, and racism in Clare’s writing, I said that I don’t really believe there to be any conscious malicious intent behind any of it. My opinion still stands on the thoughtless writing and Clare being unable to consider the implications of her writing being the main underlying issue. Obviously there are as many outlooks and thoughts on this as there are readers, and it’s difficult to speak in generalizations because the response Clare receives has been from side to side, and her readership is not a monolith.

I’m sure Clare doesn’t think of herself in any bad way, but as it is with her overall writing, her biases do show. The narrative is untrustworthy and partial to certain aspects and characters, so I can’t say those problems aren’t there. There’s also the issue of Clare’s behavior outside her books and writing. I am not incredibly familiar with everything within the fandom and readership, but I see stuff every once in a while. Somewhere around Chain of Gold, I saw people raising the issue of Clare’s Pinterest use. Where Cordelia was concerned, Clare favored images (for likeness, I assume) with light skin and red hair, because red hair was the trait she prioritized in Cordelia’s appearance, not her ethnicity which, I’d say, bears more significance and importance all things considered.

As to the flower cards, when An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters & Denizens of Downworld was published in 2016, Cordelia’s card still featured her with white skin, though she and Alastair were told they were both half-Persian descent. Alastair did feature a bit darker skin tone though. Though it is notable that people of any descent vary in their looks, I think the problem was that Clare chose to include biracial characters of Middle Eastern descent and still chose Cordelia to be light-skinned, as if there wasn’t already so many white characters. I don’t know when the change did happen, but the flower cards did not reflect that Clare’s description of Cordelia in 2014: “She has light brown skin, dark red hair, and black eyes.”

It is questionable that only just a while ago in fall 2022 were the Cordelia and Alastair cards updated to be more appropriate to their looks. Also questionable that readers had to ask for them. Additionally questionable is that one twitter comment asking about Matthew and James because it seems like the purpose of updating Cordelia’s and Alastair’s cards went right over their heads. The information you provided was helpful, but also there still exists these inconsistencies that it’s incredibly hard to fault readers being upset with Clare and CJ. There’s been controversy around the official CJ art for a long time, I think (I suck at counting time), and it’s been really something. Aline, Jia, Magnus, for instance, were all drawn white for the longest time. There definitely has been issues with fan art overall as well for years, and not just exclusively in TSC fandom.

Magnus’ hands have been described as “white” two times, and both times (in City of Bones and City of Fallen Angels I think?) I was perplexed. Also shucks that the wiki wasn’t 100% accurate, because it was quicker to check it than go over everyone’s descriptions from the books. Also, now that you mentioned it, I did imagine Rafael with darker skin but because of the cover art for The Land I Lost, not that he was ever really described properly.

It’s good that you have personally been able to rise above the issue that it doesn’t hurt you anymore. The unplanned nature and the focus being somewhere else than authentic world-building goes for a long way in anything we discuss about TSC. There’s definitely stuff to be corrected in readers’ perception but at the same time, all the concern and hurt readers experience because of Clare’s thoughtlessness and bias are not negated by that (not that you implied it is, of course).

#Series discussion #Anti CC #Anti Cassandra Clare #Reply

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rubykgrant · 1 year

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I've mentioned this before, but whatever, I'll say it again... in retrospect, and just in my own personal opinion, I think it would have been really cool if the beginning of season 6 wasn't Wash looking for the Reds and Blues, but the introduction to Project Freelancer. Instead of most of the Freelancer story being told on flash-back sequences as it related to what the characters were currently doing in the present, it is just played through as a solid season within itself.

Instead of the clash of Serious Freelancer Washington having once been a little goober, we first meet dorky Wash, and later watch him essentially go through the process of trying to live up to (what he believes to be) the very important legacy more "impressive" Freelancers left. We get a little more of the backstory, how the agents were recruited or joined the program. Also, the AI are initially kept more vague for the audience...

The parallel storytelling is still a neat idea, especially when Epsilon has met Carolina for the first time and they're both working through some angst regarding the Director. So imagine if the first season showing the Freelancers is them going on missions, doing their thing, and when they're given AI, at first all we see/hear is a vague glow and the voice (because through seasons 1-5, we mostly just knew Omega, and also Gary but we didn't know WHY Gary was relevant, who was just a voice). A solid Freelancer season, that begins very coherent, especially with the character interactions. These people all try to work really well together, because they NEED to. However, things start to fall apart, and to the viewer, it seems like a lot of the characters are becoming secretive, distrustful, and overly competitive. To a viewer seeing this for the first time, no other frame of reference, it seems like this is what Tex talked about with Omega giving her trouble, implying the AI are unstable somehow. The Director and Price would probably encourage this idea, and when the AI are going to be "recalled" so they can be "fixed", everything suddenly starts falling apart.

The Meta happens, Tex goes AWOL, several top agents supposedly "betray" the program, and everybody who is left assumes this was a dangerous result of the AI... NOW we get a season 7, which is in fact Wash being sent out on his Recovery missions, and him trying to track down the Reds and Blues, because "Tex was with them, she's a hazard now, and they interacted with the Omega AI, they might still have it". That's the "official" reason. NOW, we finally get a proper look at Delta, and eventually the Alpha Reveal (which is a whole trip the first time you see it, no matter the context). This plays out mostly the same, followed by Villain Wash, who is especially ticked-off because he fully sees how Project Freelancer basically framed all of the Agents who rebelled against the program, and are now throwing him under the bus because he knows the truth. Epsilon Orb has memory loss, big fight in the snow, then the slightly-incorrect Epsilon Unit season...

Now Carolina is here, and she's already 100% done with all these Red and Blue shenanigans. Unfortunately, it isn't gonna stop. Through her bonding with Epsilon, and him recovering memories of the other Fragments he has, as well as Alpha's original memories, we get flash-backs to Project Freelancer, now with the new perspective of the AI. They were NOT all manipulating their Freelancers or trying to brainwash them... even Sigma, who could arguably be called a bit "insidious" with his plans, didn't just control Maine, or even really want to destroy everybody else. We'd see the AI's avatar holograms, and FINALLY see the moment when Tex found out the truth about Allison and her being the Beta AI. We'd see that CT wasn't just a traitor, she was knew something was WRONG here. Previously, it would seem like North had betrayed his sister when he ditched the program, and then it would seem like South betrayed her brother by taking his AI... but NEITHER of those things happened the way they seemed, they both got tricked and then backed into corners in different ways, but never wanted to hurt each other. We'd see the time Tex tried to save Alpha.

Anyway, there's a lot that could be rearranged or adjusted, which is easy to think of in hind-sight, but my main point was; it would have been really COOL to sort of have a solid Freelancer season, with more depth at the beginning, but it spirals out of control, and THEN we see why that MAKES SENSE

#red vs blue #rvb

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moviewarfare · 6 months

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A Review of “Saw X (2023)”

SAW is one of those franchises that I feel like it should have ended long ago. SAW III had the iconic villain die but nope the franchise continued. SAW 3D was titled the final chapter but nope the franchise continued. Somehow, this franchise managed to get to its 10th entry but is there any worth to it or is this just another pointless cash grab?

Firstly, I love how this entry does something different. For the first time in the series, John Kramer himself is the main protagonist. Previous entries would usually have a protagonist who is trying to survive his traps. We get a lot more insight into his moral code and we get to see a more human side to him. One thing this film does well is make us fully in support of Jigsaw. Sometimes Jigsaw will make certain people be involved in his games but it is very questionable whether they deserve it. This is not the case in SAW X as the antagonists are just vile human beings who prey on sick individuals. Additionally, having this movie set after SAW I but before SAW II was a good choice. This meant not having any of the convoluted baggage of entries after 2.

Tobin Bell returns as Jigsaw and he gives a great performance. I loved seeing him portray these new sides to John while also showing his anger towards these scammers. Shawnee Smith also returns as Amanda and seeing more of her relationship with John was a big focus in the film. Amanda is having doubts about being able to follow in his footsteps but John being a mentor and encouraging her is surprisingly heart-warming in a torture movie. I do like they also explore the idea of whether one truly deserves it or not. The scammers all have different levels of involvement in the scam, does someone with minimal involvement deserve to be in the game? They also raise the question of his moral code. John believes everyone deserves a second chance which is why his games have a chance of surviving. However, these scammers are terrible and one of them is truly unforgivable. It is doubtful they would changed if they survived. Both of these are raised by Amanda to John and build up their eventual conflict. The biggest reason anyone is watching these movies is the traps which are enjoyable enough in SAW X. They are not overly ridiculous and gratuitous like some previous entries but they are gruesome enough to make you want to look away.

Nevertheless, the film does have some problems. There is a twist in the 3rd act that is a little questionable. You have to wonder why the characters bothered to take that risk when it could easily go wrong. Additionally, the conclusion is not very satisfying because it not giving a proper closure to a certain character. John also has a thing against bringing innocents into his games but in future films, chronologically, he brings people who made honest mistakes and even used a player's child as bait. John is very flippant with his code.

Overall, this is one of the best SAW movies in a long time. It brings something fresh to the franchise and feels like a coherent movie. I still don't think there should be any more in this franchise but the studio is obviously going to make more. However, if it is of a similar quality to SAW X then I might warm up to the idea of more SAW.

For more reviews like this visit: https://moviewarfarereviews.blogspot.com/

#movies #films #movie review #film review #saw #saw franchise #saw x #saw 10 #saw 2023 #tobin bell #jigsaw #horror

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