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cy-cyborg · 2 months

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Hot take (maybe) but Korra should have stayed in a wheelchair in season 4.

Now that I'm done with the original Avatar, I'm rewatching Korra too and this was my biggest gripe with season 3 and 4. I'm not up to that point in the show yet but it always bugged me.

I don't usually like the whole "I'm in a wheelchair now, oh I'm so sad" thing but I could have excused it had she actually stayed in the chair because grief is real, especially for people who's identities centre on their body and what they can do like Korra, but the fact they got her out of the chair just makes it another "woe is me" story until she "gets better". The last episode of season 3 drills it in so hard too, "who will protect the world while the avatar is in a wheelchair?" As if the last show didn't have a 12 year old non-bender in a wheelchair activly involved in the fight with the fire nation and an even younger blind girl taking down airships with (mostly) just her bare hands who went on to found your whole police system. You're telling me none of the people of this world could fathom how the most powerful bender in the world could do her job just because she has to sit now?

It makes sense that Korra herself might not make that connection right away, and be unsure of her ability to do it, especially when facing off against a villain like Kuvera, but I do honestly think the whole plot of her mentally recovering from what Zaheer did to her would have been more impactful if it had left her disabled permanently. The origonal show had its issues with oversimplifying/supercripping disabled characters but at least it was creative with its depictions and went against the disability tropes of its time. TLoK had a few opertunities to show some genuinly nuanced and depictions of disability, but every time it just went for the safe old stereotypes.

Don't get me wrong, I really like TLoK, I'd go as far as to say I enjoy it as much as the origonal show, but it really dropped the ball on the disability front. Probably going to write some longer posts about korra too eventually lol

#just thoughts #disability representation #tlok #avatar #avatar the last airbender #the legend of korra

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maxiemumdamage · 4 months

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If it wasn’t clear I finally read Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

And I’m…mystified? By the criticisms of it which I had already seen plenty of before reading the actual book. Most complaints were about 1. pacing, 2. the POV character being a whiny brat/already evil, and 3. the overdramatic nature of everything. I’m not even gonna touch on that last thing, because people have always said it about the Hunger Games and it’s never been as true as they want it to be (the “Baby Bomb” in Catching Fire and Reaper’s moment with the flag come to mind, but there’s plenty of examples).

But like…I saw complaints that it took too long for the plot to pick up, but I was enthralled from the beginning. The ending was very harried and kinda rushed, sure, but that was also sort of the point — Coriolanus has a breakdown in the woods and in doing so goes past the point of no return with Lucy, so he returns to the Capitol and becomes the dictator we all know. It might've felt more jarring if I hadn't known that was how it would end, but...we all knew going in there was no way Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray Baird would run away and live in the woods together. Because before we ever knew Coryo, we knew President Snow. We knew where he'd end up.

I feel most of those complaints were rooted in the fact people always expect the Hunger Games books to be about...the Hunger Games. They view it like they're in the Capitol, like the Games themselves are the entertainment and focus and point of the story. They’re not, even when we’re reading about the creation of the Games as they became what they were in canon. The Games were never the point — it was about the people and world that created them. I went in expecting a post-war climate, and the saga of how a clever, manipulative young man worked his way into power, and as such I was immensely satisfied. This is about Snow becoming the cruel person we know, with some of his worst qualities being there from minute one and others taking time to be built or reinforced.

My biggest gripe is the romance. Yep, SnowBaird, the huge draw for every TikTok Songbirds and Snakes movie fan, just felt so out of place to me when it happened in the book. Lucy just got out of a romantic relationship that bit her in a truly spectacular fashion. But ok, sure. She's desperate, pretty much completely alone, and Coriolanus is very kind and supportive in his actions and she can't hear his self-serving and obnoxious internal monologue.

Coriolanus, though...I never understood why he seemed to be in love with her. He has a grudging almost-respect for Lucy Gray that he doesn't give anyone else, but I figured that was more because she demonstrated her cunning and talents where he could dismiss most others. She’s a performer, she’s got talent and poise, she’s forced to win people over (like him! (it’s not. his life never depended on it in the violent and final way hers did)).

And maybe it was necessary, that Snow thinks he’s in love. Because it’s at the core of the possessiveness, the jealousy, that colors so many of his interactions with Lucy. He has to be in love, so we can assign meaning or justifications to his actions. And then he tidily betrays everyone he supposedly loved, and it becomes clearer he’s only ever cared about himself.

And in general, I rarely understand romantic plots. And especially here, the point isn’t romance. It’s trust. Trust Coriolanus fails to extend to practically everyone, and it’s ultimately why he can’t make a better choice than to run back to the Capitol and Gaul.

#if it wasn’t clear: I really liked the book.#the fact I don’t really UNDERSTAND where the romance came from doesn’t mean I don’t think it serves a very important narrative purpose #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #the hunger games #coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird #max.txt

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ladinthehat · 7 months

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I literally can't fall asleep because I remembered Wayhaven exists, and I am going to make this a problem not only for myself, but anyone else who sees this post as well. I don't even write posts but I really need to throw my thoughts out somewhere lmao

Warning: spoilers for every TWC book, what did you expect. Also talks about mommy/daddy issues and some mentions of harmful stereotypes about POC, both in media and real life. ALSO probably lots of mistakes and rambling, it's literally 3 am give me a break

Wayhaven is such a promising series of books that fell so flat with book 3, even though some could argue there were already issues popping up in book 2. I, personally, enjoyed it just as much as the first one, but that's up to anyone's opinion. Hold on, this deserves a whole list.

My personal and biggest gripe, MC's relationship with their mom. To write something so complex and then chuck it down to two choices (the choices being "forgive your mom" or "don't forgive your mom and everyone will make you feel like a piece of shit") feels so disappointing, especially if you consider what people with parental issues usually deal with irl. Of course there are people who choose to forgive their parent or not, but more often than not (and, as a result of that, what feels most realistic to write in a book) they end up somewhere in-between - it's a bittersweet relationship which you can either choose to continue or not, but the past memories and missed childhood can't just be forgotten and thrown under the rug. That's what MC's relationship with Rebecca could've been, too: a *complex* relationship that can either continue or get cut off completely, and it's a choice that should be respected, because a child that has been neglected has the full right to not trust their willingly neglectful parent again. And to some degree the author does try to achieve it, but in the end you will still have only two choices. And also, in Wayhaven you can literally feel what option author considers to be correct and not choosing that gets you punished severely, e.g. the carnival situation and every dialogue where you choose to not be cordial with Rebecca (the author never forgets to mention how you made everyone feel terrible. "Congrats you piece of shit, you ruined everything because you just can't accept that your mom wants to be buddy buddy again, ugh.") This pattern of turning complex situations into only having yes/no answers, with a negative choice having severe punishments, is such a recurring pattern throughout the whole book series that at this point it feels like a feature that I just didn't get (e.g you don't even get a choice if you want to join the agency or not, you just do, because that's the correct option). Also, I don't believe that literally no one, not even MC's best friends or partner, would try to see their side or god forbid agree with MC cutting contact with Rebecca.

You can literally feel that N and A are supposed to be the star children of TWC. While it was less obvious in book 1, it can't be ignored anymore in books 2 and 3. It does feel even more weird because M and F have the darkest complexions out of the cast, and are depicted as overtly sexual/flirty for absolutely no reason, to the point that sometimes it literally contradicts what the author established about the characters before (M can't handle most fabrics touching their skin and can't eat food because the taste of anything is too much for them, what do you mean they are hypersexual?? isn't sex one of the most stimulating things you can do that can literally be too much for a lot of people that don't even struggle with overstimulation on a daily basis??), but it doesn't feel appropriate to say too much on this issue as I'm literally as white as paper, not to mention that this topic has been brought up by many POC in the IF community who can have more nuance on this situation than I ever could. I can, however, talk about how inconsistent and over-exaggerated M and F's personalities are, compared to A and N feeling much more realistic and well-paced. I hate how M and F are mischaracterized in their own universe and all the meaningful things are overshadowed by "haha M likes sex and is lewd and aggressive" and "haha F is a silly lil' goober". Their romances suffer from it too, which brings me to-

The romance routes could be so much better. And I'm not talking about N or A obviously, even though that's another can of worms that I, frankly, don't want to open, but F and M. M is dumbed down to being aggressive, sexual and borderline feral at times, which are all GREAT traits to give all at the same time in your book to a person of color btw (they're not), but their scenes perform best when the author acknowledges that M is actually none of those things. Just them existing in the same space as MC and feeling at ease and relaxed (and, dare I say, vulnerable) feel much more intimate and rewarding than literal sex scenes, and I feel like that's what romance with M should've been about: two people, who are both lost and confused and overwhelmed in this new to them world (M from memory loss, MC from being thrown into the supernatural scene) bonding, finding comfort and familiarity in each other. Breaking all that buildup with innuendos and sexual propositions feels unnecessary, to be honest.

Continuation of the previous point, but the same could be said about F too. Poor F, the forgotten child of TWC; they're my absolute favorite, and it hurts to see them being thrown somewhere in the background as a comedic relief side character so many times. I feel like they could be the character who gets MC the most, even if they're not dating or particularly close. They have a difficult relationship with their mom, they're thrown into an unfamiliar world that's hard to navigate and it feels like everyone wants too much from them. You can't tell me that it's not some great exposition for a deeper connection between F and MC, both romantic and platonic, as well as an opportunity to explore anxiety and impostor syndrome/separation anxiety (not interchangeable, just feels like either one could fit F) in a seemingly optimistic character. But nah, they like Rebecca and are just a funny little fella. Definitely not playing into more media stereotypes of the only black character in the main cast being a flirty comedic relief.

At this point TWC is going to rival One Piece on the amount of meaningless fillers. And they wouldn't feel so meaningless if the author didn't try to mix slice-of-life and supernatural, or at least didn't mix them so poorly, but most of the time an occasional meaningless scene is thrown into the plot for some short-term tension for what feels to be absolutely no reason other than increasing the word count. Take the blood drive thing as an example of this: what was this scene for?? It started unnecessary tension, had a weird solution and just offered nothing to the rest of the book except for allowing Bobby to finally confront the RO of choice in a very awkward manner. I feel like the author promising 7 books (correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember something like that mentioned in the earliest tumblr posts) feels like a the author chewing off more than she can bite. And it sucks, because had she not had that amount of books (and subsequently a gargantuan word count) looming over her head, we could have had more actually meaningful and fulfilling scenes like ones in the bakery, literally my favorites. It could benefit the pacing, worldbuilding and reader enjoyment greatly.

I could write so much more but at this point I could just go on forever lol

#interactive fiction #if #wayhaven #the wayhaven chronicles #twc #cog #original post #if rambling #literally no one's going to read it but at least now i feel better gnight

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theneighborhoodwatch · 4 months

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Found this welcome theory video that i found interesting: https://youtu.be/9Lz6OcILeSc?si=tcPnCX3QC4JmAyC-

Thoughts :3?

(functional link to video)

i tend to avoid youtube coverage of welcome home because i'm petty, but fuck it, it's a new year and i've never actually heard of this youtuber before. i'll give it a shake. liveblog under the cut:

"y'know if it wasn't for the unsettling mysteries, the feeling that somebody is always watching you, and the mold.... i'd wanna live in the neighborhood" that's exactly why the mold and paranoia's so scary babeyyyy

"update number two" Tch.

i'm less inclined to call the writing in this update character development so much as it is just character establishment. especially since before the july 22nd update (bc that's what this video is about) all we knew about the other neighbors was what the WHRP was willing to tell us. i feel like i'm preaching to the choir though.

ok i laughed at the grindset alpha male howdy joke

"now i wanna move onto eddie bc i wanna make a connection between [eddie and howdy]" :D OH DO YOU NOW.

i do love the energy in this video, very infectious. i too have recommended people welcome home solely on the basis that they would have the hots for eddie and y'know what i haven't been wrong yet.

I WAS GONNA SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HOW LIKE. almost all of the characters have that backstory element of having coming from somewhere else before settling down in home, but i see the point about howdy and eddie specifically dealing with stuff that comes from someplace else as like, an actual job. putting a pin in it.

i'm not Sure how i feel about the idea that the world of home/the world in which home exists is Within our world? pretty much from the beginning i assumed it was running on re:creators/deltarune dark world rules (i.e. it is a world that was born from human thought and its existence is dependent on/influenced by our world, but at the end of the day it does exist on like a separate plane of reality) and i still stand by that. barbieland in barbie 2023 is a more apt comparison though.

"possession route" Tch.

ok actually i can't tch at that because i have talked about it in my own posts. TL;DR: i think possession/haunting theory could work but only if it's anything other than actual literal ghosts. as soon as you try to make it FNAF 2 i sleep.

don't have much to say about Real Poppy Lover Hours except emphatic smiling and nodding. although i will say i have seen people use "oh she's more like a mom/aunt/etc.!" as an excuse to sideline her in fanwork bc for some reason some folks think that her having a motherly personality means that she can't be shipped with anyone? even though all of home's residents are adults who aren't even related to each other? that's a gripe for another post, though.

THE CONCEPT OF SALLY BEING AS BIG AS POPPY IS KILLING ME. I PROMISE SHE'S SMALL SHE JUST HAS A BIGASS HEAD. she would want to be big though wouldn't she.

...actually now i want big sally. note to self to draw that later.

i do like the examination of whether or not sally referring to the audience is meant to mean anything. personally i think it's just a bit of wordplay/red herring action but You Never Know!

i misheard "girlboss bossgirl slay" as "girlboss boygirl slay" for like a split second. still fits tbh.

IT'S FUNNY THAT THEY MENTION THINKING THAT THE WHRP IS A SINGLE PERSON bc i do have an ask about that right after this. i'll save my thoughts for that response though.

it's funny that "was the majority of the gang being some form of queer/disabled/nd/etc. planned in-universe" is a question at all bc at the risk of sounding like an asshole it feels so obvious to me that it very much was not. the interview is definitely playing into those themes though.

"them <3" yeah

again. extremely refreshing to see a welcome home video from someone who actually likes welcome home instead of the clicks that covering it will give them.

BARNABY-SANS COMPARISON IS... DISTRESSINGLY APPROPRIATE.

he always knows when to show up, huh.... huh.... i've been trying to break away from being so self-referential ever since welcome home and consequently this blog blew up but. huh...

do i think he's a service dog? i think to answer that question we would first have to answer the question of whether or not he's even a Dog or just Shaped Like A Dog. the laws of his reality say he is a dog, but we can at least guess that even even those can't be trusted. i think it's possible that he may see himself as in service to wally, that he worries about what will happen if he doesn't butt in, but i don't know if this is an objective truth.

"[wally] being so mysterious i don't think is like, him wanting to be mysterious. [...] there just may not be that much about him." and then relating that to how typically protagonists in puppet shows have more subdued personalities than their co-stars so they can be more relatable to the audience. Teehee. (this is positive)

oh there's something kind of poetic about the idea that each bug video ends bc wally's snapped out of his dissociation by one of his friends calling his name when paired with the idea that he's disassociating in part due to his connection with the audience isn't there. being reminded of one's own personhood through your connections with others, and how that has the potential to become more bittersweet the more wally continues to risk it in the process of regaining a sense of purpose as The Audience Surrogate. oogh. that's just me waxing poetic though.

oooh that whole passage about the idea of remembrance and the pursuit of a "correct" story and tying that back into how welcome home in-universe has been almost universally forgotten and the themes of living as a disabled or mentally ill or queer person. beautiful connection.

"hmmm, how much agency do you have in your life actually" AHEHEHE. HEHEHEHE. HEHE.

conclusion: Good Video. thank you for sending it.

#anonymous #ask #welcome home #wh speculation

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pastel-tyranny · 4 months

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Wanna be a Fashionista?: My opinions on Fashion Dreamer

Long post of my thoughts, follow my Fashion Dreamer showcase: Dyxyg5yr36

I’ll say it right here right now, this game has a chokehold on me as soon as I opened up the main menu. The gameplay loop is very addicting. But before I dive into my many praises I have to talk about some of my gripes with this game.

First of all the lack of clarity; it’s good that they have the button prompts on the screen because oh lord it’s very confusing when you first start out. It’s no wonder the first quarter of the game is a tutorial! I mean yes there are useful tips are there in the tip menu, but some things need to be written out directly. Especially when it comes down to Online Events such as the current (as of right now) Fantasy Butterfly Fairy event. I had to get help from a few other players and online video guides just to make heads or tails for some of the mission prompts. I have a few family and friends who either have the game or are in the process of wanting to get it, I think a consecutive written guide needs to be created so I don’t have to explain for the billionth time to ‘press plus then X’ and so on. (Pro tip: Once you reach platinum rank, the credits roll and take a very long time. Afterward you unlock the final cocoon.)

The next con is a bit of a personal one, the lack of fashion item variety and makeup limitations. The irony of this one I know, but items such as gloves, necklaces, leg warmers, bracelets, suspenders, and inners are relegated to specific shirts, one pieces and shoes. As of writing this there are no; jumpsuits with long pants, cat ears, traditional tiaras, and long mermaid / ball gowns. And ironically a lack of male fashion too. While yes, we get to play as a guy there is the fact some of the girls outfits don’t carry over to the guys. There’s a tee shirt from the Type A body that I really like and think would look perfect for the Type B body and vice versa with pairs of shoes or one pieces. Makeup isn’t as detailed to work with, they’re mostly relegated to prompts instead of picking blush, eye shadow, and eyeliner separately. The length of eyelashes are also regelated solely to the eye shape you picked and are only customized by color.

My final gripe is a smaller one in comparison is lag hiccups. When walking around the different cocoons with a gazillion downloaded items can cause gameplay optimization to stutter a snails pace both online and during Solo Mode. Even if it’s as short as 3 seconds or a “Loading Please Wait” prompt while running around can occur. It’s just a small issue so hopefully down the line, the devs will fix that with an update. I understand there are limitations to the game as a whole but that still doesn’t deter me from playing. Now for the major positives.

The fact you can walk around and play as a male avatar! I am beyond happy, it’s everything I’ve hoped for. Not only can you put lipstick prompts and different color eye shadow, but you can use some of the more feminine looking hair styles on the more masculine looking models is truly amazing! Same goes with facial hair on feminine models the option you can do that alone is spectacular! Both models can share hats, earrings, and glasses too! The clothing designs themselves are whimsical, fun, cute, and cool! And knowing that they could drop new online events in the future with new outfits are always something to look forward to. Another thing I have to praise is the amount of inclusivity we have at the start of the game with afro hair textures, facial features, and darker skin tones. It just goes to show how far we’ve come and I hope that the devs can push that further in future updates and installments.

The ability to have as many clothes as you want without storage limitations is always major plus! Currency being relegated to just creating clothes makes sense to me. Yes it’s gacha based when it comes to getting rare patterns, however simply pressing the ‘like’ button on someone’s avatar can give you the clothes they’re wearing is very helpful. Especially during online mode when other people and clothes on the pop up boards have rare items. And people online can send you cute outfits, even while your switch is in sleep mode! This also applies to the show rooms, it’s great to see new clothes and furniture people get. I also like that this is a game solely deticated to walking around instead of jumping through menus like some other fashion games I know. I am also in love with the fact you can take pictures anywhere, the scenery in some of these maps are a sight to behold! Taking pictures in the photo eggs are fun, especially since you have a nice variety of stickers, filters, and a line of focus to fiddle with along with poses and held items. And finally I think the best part about this game for me is the many muses to see and meet. Whether they are a player or NPC, there’s no shortage of possibilities when it comes to the many choices of fashion. It gives me so much inspiration, and since you can make multiple characters (4 total) you can relegate specific styles to each muse! (Or at least that’s what I did, lol)

Now to address the big elephant in the room, does this hold up as the spiritual successor to the Style Savvy / Style Boutique / Girls Mode games? In some ways, absolutely. If you want to collect / make clothes, design your own custom avatar, and see things other people make then you gotta get the game! However the core of Style Savvy is its lovable cast of NPCs and story set in the world of fashion. And while none of the NPCs you meet have a large narrative to tell, there are a few to me that stick out and I love dearly, even if they’re one dimensional. I let the headcanons fester and make the rules up as I go. The only major goal is to reach Master Rank and get your brand up to the highest level. I heard rumors through the grape vine that a fashion show mode could potentially be added? But that’s pure speculation as of writing this.

So my final overall thoughts; as I said in the beginning of this post, the game has a chokehold on me. It’s fun, entertaining, and full of passion for fashion from the dev team that brought us Style Savvy. It scratches an itch I’ve had since the last Style Savvy game. And while it has its ups and downs, I personally think this is a pretty solid game for the average fashion sim enjoyer outside of the gameplay troubles. Thanks for reading all the way through and if you want to follow my showcase, the code is on the top of this post! :3

(Just for making it this far, I made a promise post that I would make a fashion dreamer version of Dominic from Style Savvy so I’m reposting the pics here again.)

#pastel reviews #pastel is a fashionista #fashion dreamer game #fashion dreamer #kawaii games #style boutique #style savvy #girls mode 4 #style savvy dominic

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shadouge01 · 4 months

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I’m back.

My discombobulated thoughts now that I have finished Sonic Prime SPOLIERS!!!!!!!

********

Okay so I watched season 1 in parts and season 2 when it came out and just watched season 3 today. I binged everything, so if I don’t remember something 100% correctly, that’s why.

Sonic prime is good.

I know, shocker.

Okay, I haven’t watched any of the other shows so I can’t compare it to X or Boom or whatever. But this seemed to have a darker tone than most other sonic media and I enjoyed that a lot. (I know I need to watch SATAM, don’t yell at me.)I’ve dipped in and out of this fandom a lot. And my participation is all over the place (I won’t be posting about Ken spenders anymore, I took my Kenspiracies too far when I had that stupid twitter account yeah, that was me) but ANYWAY

This show was great. Not perfect, the main flaw I found was the pacing is very fact paced and action heavy which is good for a Sonic show and good for a person with ADHD like me. However I found the first season took awhile to get going and was more episodic. I know it was to introduce the characters but I got bored a bit. I’ll say again I liked the episode in Season 1 with Thorn Rose but the Boscage Maze and especially No Place never felt that fleshed out to me. I still wanted them to be saved because I cared about Sonic and his friends, but the worlds weren’t very interesting.

I. Love. New. Yoke. The aesthetic of this place is perfect and VERY Sonic CD bad future-seque which is PERFECT. I only wish we spent more time there. Especially in season 3 which takes place entirely in the Grim after the first two episodes, which I get, I do, but the pacing again, I felt was too fast and too much action and not enough character moments. The he ending felt rushed, because I really wanted to see the rebels rebuild New Yoke after the Egg Council was gone (assuming the other shatterspaces didn’t freeze in time like Green Hill did, but I got the implication that was a unique case.) and I wanted to see the others return home as well. I guess this leaves it open to a sequel or expansion of some kind, comics, some kind of spin off media, I’d even love an animated movie if they fixed the pacing issues, but yeah, that was my only gripe. I guess I wanted more time with Sonic and Nine reconciled too before everything happened but that’s the painful thing in life, sometimes you don’t get that. We know the prism still exists so then interacting again some way in the future might be possible, if they know how to control portals and such, hell with the chaos emerald they might be able to go to other worlds anyway. I wonder where Shadow is keeping the prism. I wonder if Nine stays on the Grim by himself or if he goes back to New Yoke. He deserves friends, and I’m sure some of the others would come around to him given time. renegade Knucks was up there fighting with Sonic after all. It could work. I just want him to be happy :((

I guess those are small nitpicks in the grand scheme of things because I want to say that the tone and storytelling was GREAT, the music was epic and cinematic and fit the tone of the show very well, the contrasting color palettes of different worlds really helped make it pop. The 3D animation was fantastic and felt perfect for a show like this. Characters were VERY expressive. (Hey Sega, can you update your in game models please thanks, you know it’s bad when the SA2 models have more dynamic facial expressions). Anyway, I thought the voice acting was great. Shadow’s voice felt a little wrong but I’m probably just used to Humphrey and Griffith, I don’t like his voice in forces either but I digress. It worked for this. Sonic’s VA was amazing and really able to convey a wide range of emotions and I thought the other characters had good VAs. Nine was great. I do wish maybe he’d had a redemption earlier against a greater threat a la Zuko style but one can dream. Nine is still easily the best version of Tails, ever. I was lukewarm on Tails as a character before and Nine made me appreciate everything about all versions of Tails. Incredible. What I love about Nine is he takes things too far because he has serious trust issues and him and Sonic fail to communicate which as a neurodivergent person is very relatable. I think Tails in general and especially Nine, is very autistic coded, and I love that. I just wish season 3 Nine had more development before the end because his arc was perfect until the end of season 2 but I’m at least glad he did realize and did the right thing. He’s really just a scared kid who wants a safe place, don’t we all? Again I REALLY want to see more material with him in the future and what becomes of him with Sonic gone.

My other favorite side characters were Thorn Rose, Rusty Rose, and Dread, but I thought they were all great. I loved that the roses had a great character moment, as did Dread when he finally realized that saving his friends was more important than treasure. The Egg council was awesome, taking different traits of Eggman and turning them into a squabbling family was PERFECT. The fact that they met their demise because they were arguing over the prism was so real. Great stuff.

I want to talk about Sonic himself because this is one of the best Sonics I’ve seen. I haven’t decided if this is better than Movie Sonic, but I love both a ton along with Adventure. This Sonic is one of the most expressive Sonics with the most emotional range. Yeah, he’s still overly cocky and hilarious, and mostly always optimistic, but I love that he actually learns from his mistakes and comes up with new ideas. The fact he even took inspiration from the Egg Council to never give up was great. I loved the robots of all the main characters as well. Sonic was well written, VERY in character but still serious when he needs to be (unlike Archie Sonic (sometimes) and 06, which is bad).

Speaking of 06, this is the best written Shadow we have gotten since 06. I mentioned very early on in this blog how I love his arc through Shadow 05 and Sonic 06. Sonic is way out of character and the Elise thing is stupid, BUT, Team Dark was perfect in 06. It’s sad we don’t have Team Dark anymore, but Rouge on team sonic was cool, I just like Rouge in general and if they’re gonna make her part of the main cast, good. Okay, back to Shadow. His development in game is that he goes from being angry at the world and wanting revenge, to being emotionally numb and trying to figure out the truth, to finally realizing his purpose and knowing not to give up and kicking the bad guys when it hurts. He’s hard to crack, but he DOES care about his friends, as you can see through subtle actions, rather it be Team Dark, Sonic, whatever. He’d never ADMIT to Sonic that they’re friends, but I do genuinely think he cares for Sonic.

Anyway, Shadow has been stagnant as a character since then, the best writing was in Forces with him vs. Infinite but it didn’t do much to further his character. He hasn’t been in a lot of media lately like Frontiers (although maybe they knew they couldn’t write him well for games and wanted to see how he went over in prime and the upcoming movie). Prime Shadow made me more excited for Movie Shadow, because if we got one of, if not THE best Sonics ever in Prime as well as the movie, I’m expecting good things from Shadow in the movie, considering they really nailed Tails and Knuckles in Sonic 2, imo, and now knowing that Shadow is allowed to have feelings again is so good. He’s very in character, overly serious, and cold, but he is incredibly dedicated to the cause and unquestionably a hero, like 06 Shadow. Prime Shadow reminds me a LOT of 06 Shadow and that’s GOOD. He’s also just great with his subtle nod to Sonic when Sonic talks about his friends, their excellent back and forthing with Sonic cracking jokes “I didn’t know you were a hugger” and Shadow responding with his straight man persona “do you want me to save you or not?” It was great stuff all the way through. I thought he was decent in Season 2, but Season 3 was AWESOME. I guess I had to trade Nine for Shadow, sigh. Nine did come back around in the end which GOOD, if they kept him as a villain the whole time I would’ve been pissed, but I digress. This might be the best Shadow since SA2, he’s SO GOOD YALL and I could keep raving about Prime Shadow all day. I loved when Dr. Deep called him an edge lord, it’s great meta humor, and in character for Deep who actually is an edge lord. Really hope SEGA takes the positive feedback from this and makes Shadow better in upcoming games/comics. LET FLYNN WRITE A GOOD SHADOW FOR GOD’S SAKE!

Ahem.

Anyway, I’m glad I watched Prime, it gave us the best Sonic Shadow and Tails maybe ever and it took the darker tone that Forces tried and really fleshed it out. Good job guys.

#sonic prime #spoilers #sonic prime spoilers #sonic prime season 3 #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #ramblings #nitpicks #me raving over Shadow OMG

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chriscdcase95 · 1 year

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My thoughts on “Teen Wolf: The Movie”.

So I watched the new Teen Wolf movie. Ultimately. I'm giving it a six out of ten. While there was more I liked about the movie than disliked, I had quite a few gripes.

I didn't see it as horrendous as a lot of fans say it is, but there are a few valid critiques I've seen. Maybe I'm just easy to please.

I think some of the issues could have been fixed if there wasn't such a big time skip; like instead of fifteen years, five years. Maybe instead of raising a teenager, Derek would be raising a toddler. Though I don't think we'd get the same kind of story for Eli that way, especially for this generations teen wolf.

Spoilers below.

1. So I got into Teen Wolf back in high school, and I remember being a die hard Scallison stan back then too. I'm not as big of a Scallison as I was back then, but I am glad to see them be endgame, if it wasn't for one small thing.

My main question is if Allison aged a bit after her resurrection ? Like is she still considered a teenager or is she considered a young adult now ? I feel like this is a nitpick, but some In-Universe clarification would be nice! Feels like something the writers overlooked.

Then again, werewolves are slow to age in the show's lore, so I guess you can apply "Vampire Rules" to these kind of romances. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I mean the show used to tease Parrish and Lydia, in season four; back when she was a teenager, and he was in his 20's. As if over half the fandom wasn’t shipping Sterek.

Actually, while I was working on this post, I read that Allison was eighteen when she died, so that's...better I guess.

2. Speaking of Parrish, his and Malia's relationship...I'm okay with it, more so than Scott and Malia. I mean they didn't do much with either pairing. Maybe that's the Malira shipper in me talking.

With Scalia, it felt like they just slapped them together because Scott needed a love interest for the final season. You could make the argument that a lot has happened over fifteen years that we didn't see.

With Malia and Parish, it feels like there's a whole ass story we didn't see, but y'know, show, don't tell.

3. While I'm on that, the movie leaves a lot open ended, that it felt like it was setting up a follow up. This is were most of my problems come from. I was thinking maybe it would tie into Wolf Pack, but I've been hearing that the show isn't meant to be a direct spinoff (or even the same universe) as Teen Wolf.

One thing I'd like an explanation of is Eli's mother, which again feels like they're saving for a follow up. Speaking of Eli, he became an instant favorite of mine, and someone I wouldn't mind seeing again.

Also, the cursing and nudity in this movie, I'm not saying it's out of place, and far from being prudish. I like that they’re being more risqué, but I’m also glad they didn't go too overboard with it. Still, “Darkness, you motherfucker” absolutely killed me!

Another gripe I had was that Kira didn't return. Like this is a story where kitsune are front and center, and one of the antagonists is a monster her mother helped bring into the world.

You’re seriously telling me she’s not up for another round ?

We're introduced to a new Kitsune, Hikari, who I have nothing against, but it really feels like Kira could have (should have) filled her spot. Especially since Hikari didn't have a proper introduction for a new player. "Oh, Liam has a new girlfriend who's a kitsune ? Welcome to the team I guess."

4. The villains...here's where I have more of an issue. So the Nogitsune makes a comeback. Which is fine; I saw that coming as far back as the trailers.

But the movie's other Big Bad is Adrian Harris, with no explanation for his survival. I mean sure, a slashed throat/strangulation is an injury you can survive, but the chances are often slim.

I could have easily bought this Big Bad Duumvirate, if there wasn't something that stuck out; Stiles wasn't there.

I can accept that Stiles isn't part of the story. I can accept Stydia splitting up (albeit begrudgingly). But Stiles was the Nogitsune’s primary tormenting victim, and the one Harris had the most beef with. You telling me he wasn't on their radar ?!

You're telling me that even if Harris survived or came back, the first thing he wouldn't do was try to access the speed force and pull some Eobard Thawne buffoonery on Stiles ?

Get out of town!

Anyways, the Nogitsune was a serviceable villain, but I feel like Harris could have been replaced with another past antagonist. Say Tamara Monroe, considering she was the series cliffhanger villain, and as of this movie her arc's unresolved. They probably wouldn't have been able to pull any kind of twist with her, but she at least would fit more.

Hell, even Theo Raeken would have been more fitting; the guy such has a proud history of subverting whatever redeeming qualities thrown his way, I still have a hard time buying his “redemption” at the end of the series. Actually, it wasn't even a redemption, it was just the one genuine Pet the Dog moment the guy actually had.

Anyways, Harris probably would have been a better fit in a story that had Stiles in it.

5. Not gonna lie, Derek's death was something sorta I saw coming.

What I mean is, I certainly saw someone in the main cast was gonna die. That's like an unspoken rule in “Next Generation” sequels. But I thought it would be someone else. If not Derek, it would be one of the parents.

Who'd I'd probably have die instead would be Chris Argent. I mean if you're gonna bring back his daughter, you'd think one consequence would be that Chris would die in her place.

Derek's death, I'm more mixed on, but ultimately accept. I would have preferred if Chris was the one with the heroic sacrifice. I still think it would be a more fitting end than Derek’s.

I heard some complaints that Scott and Allison pretty much adopted Eli, but I didn't see it that way. When Scott and Eli interacted, I got more of an uncle/nephew vibe than any father/son thing.

The way I see it, Eli just has a large support system following his father's death; a support system that just now includes Scott and Alison. And let's be honest, there's no way and hell Derek is gonna let Peter raise him.

I've been told this was intended to be the start of a trilogy, so if we get sequels, hopefully they'll fill us in on what we missed.

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iwrite-sinsandtragedies · 10 months

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@organized-chaotic-disaster I totally see what you mean 😭 (tho I haven’t played the Derek or Baxter DLCs myself). Tbh I think the main reason you can’t be poly is the fact that it would be hard to implement in an already complex game with high customization of your experience, especially since it’s written by one person— idk how they’d do that tbh. And I know GB has gone on record to say that Cove wouldn’t be down for a poly relationship, but it still sucks to not have the option. I understand why poly relationships aren’t really a thing in games— a combination of monogamy being the norm irl and the difficulty in implementing the mechanic itself —but I hope one day those barriers can be broken down so it becomes an option 😭 And sorry if any of this comes across as me coming for you or something, that’s not my intention!!! I just had some thoughts I wanted to share. Overall I definitely agree that things like this could and should be handled better, and hopefully will be with future games with dateable NPCs— I’d love to explore that myself, and I wish I could with OL.

[original post]

Mm, It's certainly not impossible to add in those features [the FH series, for example, is a single writer and they've added in poly options upon fan requests] but, I can understand not wanting to put the extra work in yeah, especially since the creator has been saying for a while now that "this is the last thing I'll do for olba" like, they seem to be really trying to move on to the next project, so I get it.

It's also why I don't expect to ever get any resolution for this😔but it still does make me very sad because I really do love this game so much, it's one of the few forms of media out there that make me feel comfortable/understood/safe with myself and the lack of a poly option really takes away from that feeling quite a bit.

My main gripe though is that there isn't any conversation at all about it. Like, that just takes away from the experience of the game.

Once you choose to date Baxter, everyone just goes 'Error 404' on you and seems to outright forget that you were basically setting up to and expected to marry Cove. That, to me, reads like a failing of writing.

Like, there should be some dialogue, y'know? Cove should be able to question your relationship, even in a round-about and self-concious/self-serving way, there should be some tension there where he has to tackle his very real feelings for you and you can possibly do the same for him but, there's just none. Like, if you flirt with him in Step 2, have that romantic tension carry over to Step 3 he shouldn't be able to just shrug off all his feelings instantly. Feelings don't work that way, bro😂It just bugs me that it's so inorganic and unable to be explored. Cove and MC have a lot of history, they should be able to talk about it in every aspect, y'know?

Also! Not ranting at you specifically, lmao! I'm just sharing my feelings. Thank you so much for replying to me, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts! It's also just nice to see that someone out there also wants the poly options like me🥺we got too much love in our wee little hearts for this single romance bs lmaooo

I lowkey wish there was a mod community for games like these😂ngl, it'd be nice to just have a mod that ignored certain flags or something so that you could at least have the romantic tension still there with Cove while you romance someone else. It doesn't fix the lack of dialogue option but it'd be better than the clear and noticable lack of what was clearly there before. At least then it'd be easier to pretend there was something to bite into lol

#iwrite replies #organized-chaotic-disaster #olba #ol:ba #our life beginnings and always #our life beginnings & always #poly #polymance #ol cove #ol baxter #cove holden #baxter ward #baxter dlc #iwrite rambles #iwrite rants

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pandas-pandemonium · 2 years

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Speculations on Claude's difference in character in 3 Hopes vs 3 Houses

Writing this because I'm so tired of seeing so many angry comments and tweets and posts about his supposed character assassination (among other things) and because I have faith in my guy. As of writing this, I've only just finished Part 1 of Golden Wildfire and only know some tidbits from spoilers (which I willingly exposed myself to)

The main gripe people seem to have about Claude's character is to do with how forceful and unwilling to hear people out and inquire about situations and people's motives. Personally, I don't see it as character assassination but rather a different way he could have developed if he hadn't gone through White Clouds in 3 Houses or met Byleth, or hadn't had to kill his half-brother, Shahid.

What I think was the turning point for Claude's forceful and aggressive actions, was very likely the event that he killed his own brother. We see traces of 3 Houses Claude, him trying to reason with Shahid and wanting to talk things out but alas, Shahid doesn't care and Claude ultimately makes the decision to kill him. Post-battle, we see Claude is very clearly affected by that event.

6 months later, Claude reforms the Alliance into the Leicester Federation and is placed as its king.

Perhaps it's all the stress built up from the war. The Alliance has been going through battle after battle and it's taking a toll on him. It doesn't help that because he wasn't in the Academy for a year to get to know his classmates and learn to trust others, he feels like as the Alliance Leader (as of Part 1), he has to shoulder all the decisions and be responsible for everything that happens. The Roundtable Conferences don't help with his frustrations either.

Through supports and the story itself, Claude has shown signs of disdain for the Alliance's system, but he hasn't really seen the need to change it, although it is inefficient. Then Shez comes along and goes, "Hey, why don't you make yourself the sole leader so decisions will go by faster during wartime?" and it opens up a possibility he hadn't even thought about. If he becomes the sole leader and doesn't need to go through the endless circling of decisions waiting for all 5 lords to come to a unanimous decision, things will be done faster and he can do what he wants to do quicker.

Back to Shahid's death and his impact on Claude's mental state - it definitely changed him. Perhaps after making the choice to kill his own blood, he made the decision to no longer hold back. He can't be too "soft" or hesitant anymore. He needs to be more resolved in his decisions and perhaps that is why we see the Claude we see in 3 Hopes. The aggressive, cutthroat Claude who doesn't consider choosing to hear people out. This can be seen in his decision to send troops to the 3 lords' territories to create public order instead of Lorenz's suggestion to send an envoy first. Claude even says that they'll "probably make half-baked excuses anyway" and that there's no point talking things out. This is pretty much where I've left off from the game, but it's clear that Shahid's refusal to reason with him still affects him.

I do think that perhaps the writers could have shown that a bit more, but Claude is way more reserved in his emotions and willingness to express himself and it may have been difficult to show that internal turmoil. Either way, I still think calling Claude's change of character, "character assassination" is going too far especially if you don't consider the prior events and the what-if's and differences in situation and events that occur between both games.

#fire emblem warriors three hopes #fire emblem warriors three hopes spoilers #few3h spoilers #claude von riegan #golden wildfire spoilers

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musikat18 · 2 years

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Phase 4 Is Almost Over And Contrary To My Initial Line Of Thought I Did End Up Watching All Of Them Somehow So Now You Get To Hear About It

I'll be talking about both the movies AND the series in order of release under the cut, the TL;DR for me is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I don't know why everyone cares so much about if it was Good or Bad.

That might seem dumb to say on a Rating Post but I'll get to it.

WandaVision (1/15/2021)-- 9/10

I think the MCU has definitely had it's bobbles handling Wanda (even in this show) but this one actually really hit home for me. The fall/winter leading up to this show, I was actually in a pretty deeply depressive episode-- hardly able to leave my bed outside of class or speak to anyone around me in person, so even though I wasn't exactly feeling grief like Wanda was, I found her emotional arc of wanting to be In Control And Happy to at least be relatable. I do think the Agatha twist could have been handled better as far as writing goes, but I think that's mostly a flaw of the MCU formula (which you'll hear a lot in this post). I also don't think the Evan Peters of it all was anything to get that mad about, and people who were and are STILL mad about it can Submit Their Complaints To My Ask Box.

Also the final Scarlet Witch costume slapped I loved it.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (3/19/2021)-- 7.75/10

I can't really speak to the way everything in this show was handled, given that I am white as snow, but overall, there was a lot I really liked about this one. The writing and performance for Isaiah Bradley as acted by Carl Lumbly was so intense and probably my favorite part of the show overall. My main gripe is really the handling of the Flag Smashers and the need to have Walker saving people in the final fight. I think Walker was well past the point of getting the audience on his side For One Last Go by then, and the Flag Smashers were just...so, so horribly whacked out of line with their prior depiction by the end. It just wasn't congruent.

Speaking of incongruent....

Loki Season 1 (6/9/2021)-- 6.5/10

I really wanted to enjoy Loki. Like I really did. But sitting on it for a year and a half and rewatching it, I think it was just TOO inconsistent episode to episode. There are individual MOMENTS and individual EPISODES even that I think are very good on the whole, but I think it's too obvious when different writers are taking on different characters (Mobius especially). It was a pleasant surprise to see Jonathan Majors, though, and I don't think I hated the finale as much as some other people did. I just think WandaVision did a good job deconstructing Wanda, and TFATWS did a good job deconstructing Sam's relationship to the Shield, but Loki just didn't really have a grasp on Loki as a character for me.

Black Widow (7/9/2021)-- 7/10

This movie should have been in Phase 3. Also stan Florence Pugh. That's about it.

Also if you hate what they did with Taskmaster, that's fine but it's not that deep.

What If...? (8/11/2021)-- 4.5/5

What If had some really good episodes, like Star-Lord T'Challa & Stark Saved By Kilmonger. But it also had The Zombies Episode and Captain Carter and Whatever The Fuck That Finale Was. It's more inconsistency and connecting it for the sake of connecting it and not really stopping to PLAY in the worlds they created, which was a shame, and then when they did it was,,,,,,,,,,REAL hit or miss. Mostly miss.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (9/3/2021)-- 8/10

Delicious finally some good fucking food. First, kissing Simu Liu on the mouth because he's SUCH a great leading man. Second, it felt JUST disconnected enough from the MCU while still having the canon references to feel fresh. It was still very much In-Tone with the MCU as far as humor went, but the actors really carried this to something special-- Simu, Michelle Yeoh, TONY LEUNG????? icon. Even places where the narrative was weaker were WELL compensated by the actors, enough to make me eager to see the next installment.

Eternals (11/5/2021)-- 7/10

Do I think the cast was too large, in the end? Yes. But Eternals was still so...austere in a way the MCU normally is not. It was a very different kind of movie, formulaically. Sure, Big Gray Monster, but it was very much not front and center. Centering it on Sersi and taking advantage of Gemma Chan's Pure Power was great, and I loved how the dynamics between the characters drove the story.

Also, stan Phastos.

Hawkeye (11/24/2021)-- 6/10

I would have probably enjoyed it more if Clint's character buildup wasn't so little and far apart in other MCU movies. It felt like I was SUPPOSED to be relating to this old friend's struggle with grief, but it just Did Not Hit.

I was mostly here for Vera Farmiga. Real Girlies Know.

o i'm about to catch heat for this next one

Spider-Man: No Way Home (12/17/2021)-- 5/10

.......................No Way Home wasn't actually that good. I mean, it DOES go back and fix all my gripes with MCU Peter Parker and Zendaya sells as always and it was fun to see the old cast back. But uh. Into The Spiderverse did the multiverse thing to better effect, I think. The Audible Pause To Clap for Andrew Garfield's appearance,,,,we'll get to her later. Ultimately, I think Tom Holland is the weakest of the three Spider-Men of recent memory and it shows ESPECIALLY next to Andrew Garfield and without the background of having seen the other Spider-Man franchise incarnations, it's all that much weaker because you don't have the emotional context the film hinges on. It's fanservice for fanservice's sake. And we'll circle back to that. Also how dare you drag Matthew Catholic Sadboy Murdock into this.

Moon Knight (3/30/2022)-- 6.5/10

I hope Oscar Isaac and May Calamawy have gotten excellent treatment for carrying this show on their backs. I don't think Harrow (had to Google the character's name ffs) was strong enough to get by on Malevolent Pacifism alone, and it did just kind of Unravel at the end with the Unnecessary Big Fight & the show kind of just Stopping rather than Ending. Also, did not think it was necessary to TEASE Jake Lockley if he was just going to be in the post-credit scene. I would have rather they not bring him up at all rather than having hints so MASSIVE.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (5/6/2022)-- 3/10

When I left the theater for this movie, I didn't actually think I could hate it more than I did when it was over. Then I watched the Assembled on it. And I realized no, the depths of my hatred DO go deeper. I don't know what's worse-- the struggle of having to choose between the Wanda of WandaVision and the Wanda of the Non-D+ Series MCU and somehow choosing neither, leaving GAPING-WIDE plot holes for the sake of "having the coolest villain in the MCU instead of leaving it for the team of another Avengers movie" (Michael Waldron my detested), whatever the fuck the Illuminati was supposed to be, or bringing back Sam Raimi, who I think genuinely tried to direct something visually his own and artful, only to have him bogged down by Marvel's own capitalistic editing and filming practices. The pauses to clap for the Illuminati. How presumptuous and prideful do you have to be to include space for the audience to clap for your cameos? And I haven't even TALKED about Stephen yet, because there's almost nothing to say except it is a SECOND movie where he is implied to have to face consequences for his choices, only for none to appear because the Wider Canon demands he be fine. It is EVERYTHING the MCU is at its worst.

Not you Bruce Campbell, though, you're doing great.

Ms. Marvel (6/8/2022)-- 8/10

I think the reason Ms. Marvel ranks this well for me is not just the AMAZING attention to detail and authenticity of the creative team and Iman Vellani, but because Kamala Khan in the comics debuted when I myself was an insecure teenager writing fanfiction about my favorite superheroes and trying to survive school. I have a nostalgia for her character specifically that might bias me a little toward her show, but there was something so deeply authentic and warm about Iman's performance that I couldn't help being giddy to see her in every scene, despite the power changes and all the little things that would normally give me gripes.

Thor: Love and Thunder (7/8/2022)-- 5/10

You know that thing you do where you have two foods you really love, like, individually. Like how I like caramel and i like crawfish, which are two things that are great on their own. And then you do that thing where you go "what if I put those two things I like together!" And suddenly you're eating caramel and crawfish together and you wish you hadn't done that?

That's Love & Thunder and that's pretty much the sum of my feelings on it, if I'm honest. Like, I'm a fan of Taika's work and I like the two threads he did here separately, but not together.

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (8/18/2022)-- 6.5/10

I could talk at length about this show and good-faith criticism and bad-faith criticism and how one can unintentionally legitimize the other, but I think to be succinct I can sum it up here by saying while I had fun, I think the show, despite the efforts of the female-centered & staffed writing room, fell into a lot of traps, like putting a lot of focus on Jen's dating life. To me that was the biggest mistake. Dating can be a very large part of people's lives, but in the show it did feel like the dating parts outweighed the legal parts, which was a shame because this show had SUCH a great cast of actors playing the other lawyers. Tatiana Maslany was great in the role, but I don't think the writing necessarily always held up to the acting, nor did the lampshading of it at the end in that VERY APPROPRIATE AND KIND OF FUN fourth wall break make up for including it in the first place.

Also Augustus Pugliese you have my heart new favorite side character unlocked.

Werewolf By Night (10/14/2022)-- 10/10

Jack Russell you are my new best friend I love spooky things I love that it was self contained I love EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS. No notes. Well done. Blade next.

In Conclusion-- 6.23/10

I think, at this point, I don't really care if MCU Secretly Bad or MCU Actually Good. I think if anything, this phase points to the overall problem for Marvel being that, for the most part, they're feeding us the same thing over and over again. To me, the projects that stuck out the most here were the ones that tried something different. WandaVision experimented with TV tropes. Werewolf By Night was a Hammer horror special.

The ones that scored lowest, however, were either full of shiny but empty distractions or just more of the same.

It's not better than before. It's not worse. You're just too used to eating the same thing.

Order from a different menu.

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meikostan · 1 year

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OK finally watching oshi no ko anime, it turns out all i needed was to go outside for like an hour and im normal again

my thoughts under the cut (writing as i watch) (long) (lots of thoughts) (beautiful and true?) (manga reader) (don't read if anime only) (spoilers) (seriously) (i talk alot) (lots of thoughts)

at this point i've reread oshi no ko enough times that even if i didnt already know japanese i could probably make it without the subs SDJLF but its so cool to see lines and panels that im so familiar with brought to life!! i also liked goro's death scene, especially the way they used static and cut between shots. i keep on pulling out my physical copies of onk (well mostly vol 1) and pointing at my screen and the corresponding part of the book like

2. AIIIII little known fact about me is that ai is genuinely my favorite character... WHICH SUCKS BECAUSE SHE DIES IN THE FIRST VOLUME. seriously we only ever get to see her after this when a. her name or demeanor is invoked by another character b. aqua has his numerous mental breakdowns or c. flashbacks (including but not limited to aqua's mental breakdowns). i am always down for ai content!!!

3. its so much easier to ignore the weird vaguely sexual stuff from their babyhood because i know the rest of the series is normal and cool and not into that sort of stuff👍

4. speaking of normal yayayay it's aqua back when he was actually normal and not "normal" :D like he is just a baby. do you think now that oshi no ko is popular people will get into internet arguments about whether you can ethically have aqua as your favorite character post-normalification. actually wait this may already have been happening in the dark depths of some discord server out there.. but i dont use discord so im blissfully unaware

5. OH i dont think ive seen all of the OG b komachi before? or at least not in high detail. epic!

6. infant ruby telling people on the internet "kys" before age 2... truly a model twitter user

7. not gonna lie i havent really ever liked the way babies are drawn here (including manga)... idk their heads just look way too big like adult heads drawn on toddler bodies then ""cutified"". but this is a personal gripe

8. do you think because of infantile amnesia the twins forgot about the whole pretending to be amaterasu moment. do you think miyako still remembers. can you imagine being the foster mother of two kids who you believe to be gods sent to earth. do you think she remembers that she was "charged by the gods with keeping ai's secret" and then aqua. you know.

9. imagine: you married the ceo of a mid production company because you want to date hot men. there are no hot men in sight. you have to watch over one of the idol's twin infant babies. they reveal to you that they are divine messengers of god and also they can speak normally. there are no hot men in sight. you tend to their every need because you don't want divine retribution. you explain the intricacies of the idol industry in detail every couple of days when they complain about the injustices of the world. there are no hot men in sight. you become their foster mom after they witness the traumatic death of their mother, whose secrets you where charged with keeping safe. at least 12 years pass. they never mention any of this again. you manage the idol group one of them is in. there are still no hot men in sight. your name is miyako. every day you wake up.

10. i like how gotanda gives his business card to a toddler. whats he gonna do, call you on his fisher price dial phone? well actually nevermind aqua is probably the only other toddler (alongside ruby) who could make use of a business card

11. KANAA LETS FUCKING GOOOOO but also nothing will ever top 'lick a lying snitch/flick a crying switch'...... nothing ever... :( also taking the opportunity now to say ive always found it hilarious she assumed 'aqua' is his stage name and not his actual legal name, that's how ridiculous it is DSKLFJ

12. sobbing at the ruby ai dance... dont even have that many words i just really like it.. do you guys think ai was thinking about her own mom [& abuse/lack of relationship thereof]? not even just in this scene but in her more serious moments when she's thinking about her kids it's like "i want to make millions so they can go to the nicest schools and have the nicest things" "i want my daughter to dance freely and happily and i will support her in this" which ig can also be excused as 'thats just what a normal parent wants' but idk i like taking into consideration her own past and lack of parental support when looking at the way she tries to raise her children (not that she exactly got a chance to, even while still alive)

13. also i realized at this point that ep 1 is like an hour long not just because of the whole 'we gotta make sure no one drops this before the reveal that shows what this story's actually gonna be about', but also because it would be kinda awkward to have cut any of these scenes out? or not like out completely but like from each other. like if we had ended ep 1 at for example where they do their silly baby dance and go twitter viral (chapter 5 aka the midpoint of vol 1). that wouldve been terrible. but we can't cut it any earlier, or any later. ai's death feels like the natural conclusion to this problem. also i can't really see much of the other sections being stretched out to fit a full episode length being done very well. having ep 1 be a full 90 minutes lets them be as long as they need to be, aka a 1:1 adaptation of the manga.

14. oh boy chapter 9 time

15. i don't have anything to say about ai's outlook that has not already been said but this is the scene that made her my favorite character. not being able to tell at what point your lies become reality.. not really knowing if you've ever loved or been loved truly because your entire concept of 'love' was based off insincerity necessary for survival.. and now not ever being given the chance to explore what 'real love' means to you. FUCK

16. aww i love all these little family moments they added! very cute ^_^

17. yayy go kids get traumatized ^_^ also for some reason i remember the stalker as having really light hair o-0 fascinating. i remembered his name though!! just like ai fr

18. speaking of hair i also did not realize saitou was blond i thought he had brown hair..

19. hey the bandana (? i forget the word) guy holding the ai fan sign during the news montage is from one of the intros to the vol 1 chapters where hes like 'oh yeah i wonder where those dancing babies are now'!

20. another part of that montage shows a house with a wii in it, which came out november 19 2006. characters are shown using twitter which started earlier that same year; it was a pretty popular website even in 2008, but the mobile app only became a thing in like 2010. i'm seeing a mix of flip phones and smart phones so this has gotta take place sometime around 2010. it's kinda difficult to tell exactly what age the twins are in the main story because like the first page of vol 2 has ruby listing her age as 14, but - and the proof is not at my finger tips rn - i swear to god they're like 16 at this point. i have legitimate reasons to believe this but i need to grab exact proof adding to that we also have 15 years of lies, which if im remembering right would be referring to the twins age? i was trying to logic out exactly what year oshi no ko takes place in even though i already know the answer is 'in the modern day' but anyway yeah i'll just finish my episode and move on

21. THE IPHONE RUBY IS HOLDNIG HAS A HEADPHONE JACK. i want so badly to say that's an iphone 4 but there's like a separation between that and the power button. i also dont have an iphone 4 with me so i cant check it irl :( but anyway the iphone 4 was released in 2010, meaning the evidence is piling up for this part of the story taking place some time around 2010. or maybe i'm looking too deeply into this and should go back to actually watching the episode.

22. this is reminding me i was gonna write a fic specifically about this time period where the twins go to therapy and have to adjust to life without ai, having miyako graduate from fake mom to actual mom, aqua faking being fully recovered from the incident so he'd be released from therapy (fic concept was inspired from him stating this in like vol 6), etc. i never did because i spent like 3 hours researching play therapy and never got anywhere with it.. but maybe...

23. THE KIDS HAVING TO WATCH HER FUNERAL THROUGH THE FUCKING CAR WINDOW... I'M GOING TO KILL MYSELF

24. YESS AQUA NORMALIFICATION COMPLETE

25. AM I INSANE OR IS THAT AKANE? HER HAIR COLOR IS THE SAME BUT IT'S SO SHORT

26. MEM!!!!

27. AHHH POST CREDITS AI MAKING HER VIDEO FOR THE TWINS "i don't think i'll still be an idol by then" YEAH BUT AT WHAT COST 😭

FINAL THOUGHTS: i liked it alot ^_^ i dont really watch that much anime anymore (not that i watched an incredible amount before, but i am familiar with it) but i really liked this. i think they did a very good job of adapting the first volume! i know the rest of the episodes will be not-film length which does make me a bit sad because i think it would work out well, or at least not badly, if they were. it does also make me really excited for the future, seriously i will actually explode when i see the theater arc in full. cannot wait to see aqua mental breakdowns and ruby evil arc and and and and

the only thing i would've liked is if they could somehow have found a way to incorporate the pre-chapter intro scenes from the manga where they're talking about 15 years of lies, interviews with their pre-school teacher, etc. though both the pre-school teacher and the aforementioned bandana guy appear which may have been their way of doing it? like adding a fun detail for obsessives like myself to point at like 'my god it's those guys from exactly 2 panels in the manga'

tumblr ate my post and erased everything up to #2 while i was writing it and i was about to flip but it turns out that it automatically saves posts while youre writing them now and it was in my drafts safe and sound soooo crisis averted ^_^ anyway those were my thoughts on ep 1

#oshi no ko #animanga

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animalnarratives · 9 months

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Bingo: logan ofc

tears i saw you rb the post and i was going to ask you about him too...

going in order. JUST A LITTLE GUY. Not much else to add. hes just a dude :( trying his best to drive the car :( me personally i am so moved. funny little dude of course. he jests a little during williams videos and i find it very endearing. yes king keep the shy tentative jokes coming i love you

i am addicted to traumatizing him is a DRAMATIC way to put it... though i have. a couple of. (coughs) wips of sorts. mostly i think he is especially compelling in unrequited/unbalanced love scenarios. thats my bad. i could make him worse but i could make anyone worse thats not exactly a flex. i could however also make him worse in that i could make an asshole out of him. i couldnt fix him because he doesnt need fixing <3

my opinions are not popular, because the popular opinions are WRONG. people wildly mischaracterize as this brash patriotic guy for some reason and i know its the patriotic american stereotype but come on ... literally All the interviews saying to some degree that hes quiet or shy. the gq (?) article saying the team says he says hi to the security guards and to a surgeon (???). he is so lovely. and nobody gets it. also people characterizing him as a fratboy that gets a shitton of pussy i am so sorry i think he is chronically rizzless. massive virgin if you will. and also that he would get a 100ish score on the raads-r

people liking him for the wrong reason is a very specific gripe i just mean people on twitter flocking to defend him from the trump supporter allegations because they like trump. now ill do you one better PEOPLE HATE HIM FOR THE WRONG REASON. And mischaracterize him by that same occasion. he is NOT an asshole he is NOT bad tempered he is NOT boring if you think he is that is a SKILL ISSUE.

i lied actually there is not One thing that makes me insane about him. there are MANY things. Again such a shy little guy... but also how hes an absolute touch freak. always in people's space. specifically oscar's and alex's and sometimes benny's (thank the Lord...).

Of course. i think its pretty obvious because i keep on rambling. he fills me with such an intense emotion... everything about him. maybe i shouldve ticked the gen compelling box actually. My boy... always fidgeting. touching his own hands. sitting weirdly. walking weirdly. And his weird right ear and his smile he almost never lets cameras capture but that makes his eyes crinkle... and how he says he's been so so unhappy until literally last year in London because he misses the sun and the sea and you kind of feel like an outsider in europe all the time. and again how hes a touch freak but he rarely puts his hands on people---most often nudging them with his hip or his arm or his shoulder. how he listens to drake the most and eminem of course but then hes also into that saxophone song he mentioned? how he asks benny about 90s rock? and i could go on and on. hes such a creature. i love him. he is my everything. genuinely havent been compelled by any of the drivers like i have been with him. and trust me in the almost 3 years ive been here ive been MASSIVELY compelled. Hes also a bit of a loser and thats the cherry on top

#Can you tell he is my favorite #ask game #logan #this is so long THATS MY BADDDD

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aedorbin · 2 years

Text

Obey Me! The Brothers play League of Legends (HC)

Lucifer

Has no interest 8) (strong start lol)

Mammon

Was the one who originally introduced Levi to the game

Played from the beginning, season 1

Kept trying to get Levi to play but his brother kept refusing to on the principle that it was a game suggestion from Mammon and probably too normie for him

Generally plays jungle and champs with speedy clears

He also enjoys snowball champions and Azir (gold vibes)

When he plays TFT, he cannot econ, he has such a big problem with saving enough money and levelling properly (so he sticks to Hyper Roll)

Leviathan

Started playing LoL in season 4 after finally giving up on playing Dota 2

Once he started playing LoL he realised that the insistence on toughing out the terrible-ness of Dota was immensely not worth it but won't admit it

Definitely a mid lane and ADC main

Plays only skill shot champions in mid, probably a lot of mages (cough this man plays ahri)

massive KDA fan.

Complains about "brain dead" champs like Sona and Brand breaking the game, then plays lux with her star guardian skin

His favourite skin line is actually the cosmic line, closely followed by star guardian

His ADC main is Jhin and Caitlyn

Enjoys playing ranked but gets massively salty when people throw

Has spent way too much time on the game and has bought an ungodly amount of skins

Probably hardstuck diamond 1 and salty

Streams 100000%

Secretly enjoys when Mammon invites him to duo queue but will call it "charity work" and just elo boosting Mammon

Satan

Did not care when Mammon and Levi were talking about the meta but had his interest piqued when Arcane came out

Really enjoyed the art style and compelling story (especially the morally grey villain Silco)

Really could not believe that LoL was the source material for such a great show but after browsing the LoL site he found the lore and binged it all, starting with Piltover/Zaun, in a single night

Whilst the world building was nice, he had gripes with how the lore was not the most cohesive

Thought that Draven and Darius really reminded him of Mammon and Lucifer respectively

Though gaming is not what he is the most familiar with, has begun to try his hand at Runeterra because he wants to itch that lore scratch that came from the incomplete feeling the base lore gave

Asmodeus

Loves KDA's music, outfits and vibes

Definitely stole Levi's cosplays for each of them and had his own mini photoshoot

Loved how sexy his take on Evelyn came out (<3)

Beelzebub

Gaming is not a usual pastime for him, especially not PC gaming sessions where each game is 35 mins on average

Only knows about LoL after Belphie asked if he'd play double up with him when it came out

Did not really understand but came first with Belphie every time he joined by solely beefing up his tahm kench

Still does not entirely get the appeal but enjoyed playing with Belphie nonetheless

Belphegor

Has played TFT but has no interest in trying the main game

Only started playing once he could get the TFT DDD app

Enjoys hyper roll because its fast and fun

---

My first post on my new Obey Me side blog 8) Not really sure why I picked league to be the first HC I wrote but yeah! I'm open to requests so feel free to shoot me some ideas! :D

My Masterlist

#obey me #obey me asmodeus #obey me beel #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie #obey me brothers #obey me levi #obey me leviathan #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me shall we date #obey me satan #obey me headcanons #obey me fluff #league of legends #arcane #obey me requests

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rosemirmir · 11 months

Text

Finished ex aid today, still have many, many thoughts to simmer and develop the words for but there are some things I can say (Spoilers)

So right off the bat, I think this is Takahashi's strongest writing I've seen. Haven't seen Zero One so I can't judge it, nor can I judge any supplemental material for ex aid that comes afterwards that he wrote.

I enjoy Geats tremendously, but his writing in Ex Aid feels stronger to me in ways I cannot articulate at the moment. (Also Geats is still ongoing, I don't wanna completely compare something that isn't finished yet.) Anyways, this is not the focus here though.

Though If there is one gripe I do have with Ex Aid I can name right now (again, thoughts still simmering) it's that the restart felt a bit contrived? I get how they needed to extend time for the last bit of episodes, but I felt there could have been a different way to go about it.

I really enjoyed this entire cast of characters. Parad especially got me with his arc and developments which I did not see coming. I love when a character smacks me emotionally and grips my heart out of the blue.

I loved Poppy, she is a delight. Kiriya felt tailor made for me. Kuroto is so much and is fun to see because of that. Nico is my daughter. And Hiiro and Taiga... AUGH

The big thing though, and the reason why I'm making this post in the first place:

Is that the ending arc of this show felt... Kinda weird to watch since the pandemic started? I don't even know if weird is the word that best describes what I felt. It just really hits different after 2020, and this ongoing pandemic.

This is not the fault of the show though. Takahashi couldn't see 3-4 years into the future.

That being said though, it is why the ending to Ex Aid hit me so hard. Emu's speech to the press, and his hope and optimism for the future as the world continues to deal with the gamer virus into the future... I needed that.

Man, I really fucking needed that.

Without getting into detail here, the state of things since the pandemic began and continues to go on has broken me in a lot of ways and still continues to devastate me.

So seeing Emu's speech at the end there made me bawl. I think it made me cry more than any other scene in the show. It gave me a bit of some really needed hope.

Emu is a rider i really appreciate. His hope and optimism that he has is just so important to me.

So I can say that Ex Aid will be a very special series in my heart, not only for how the ending affected me positively, but other reasons as well too.

#even though i didnt make a liveblog tag as i watched it ill just start it now #this is a stream of thoughts and i really hope it makes some sense #i dont know where it is in my rankings of what ive seen yet #both because my thoughts are still simmering but also I just suck at making rankings and lists for things #but ex aid is definitely gonna have a special place in my heart #god finishing blade and ex aid almost back to back is A TRIP #linky posts #linky watches ex aid

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poirott · 2 years

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i went to see dotn today and thought of you! i think i last reblogged your gifsets when motoe came out. dotn was so good and i'm super proud i figured out most of the final solution. have a good day!

Hello! Thank you for all the asks I got about Death on the Nile, they’re much appreciated! <3 I’m sorry for not replying to them on time! It’s been a busy time in fandom, with Branagh winning a BAFTA and an Oscar, and film festival awards. A lot of my time over the past few months has been spent covering his ‘Belfast‘ promo tour, festivals and appearances, at my Ken blog, but also keeping an eye on anything DOTN related. :)

I’ve seen DOTN at a pre-premiere in February but didn’t post about it because it's almost impossible discussing the film, or even just hinting at or trying to talk around certain elements, relationships and plot points, without going into spoiler territory, and most of the things I wanted to squee about were indeed riddled with spoilers. Not just details related to book canon, like the identity of the killer, the clues, who dies, etc, but some of the amazing details and twists that were created just for the film. And there were a LOT of those and I LOVED THEM, as I did the canon reference to Poirot’s past, new ground being covered that was mentioned in the books but never filmed before, and nods to other Poirot novels (certain quotes, Poirot’s plans for the future, etc) and even films.

I LOVED DOTN and thought it was better than Murder on the Orient Express, especially the fast-paced second half that felt like a different film compared to the slower first half. The first third or half served to introduce the characters and the relaxed atmosphere of the Nile trip, giving us some of the most stunning shots of the boat, the sights, and life on the river, before everything went haywire on board. The cast had great chemistry, each character had a "wow” moment, Okonedo, Wright and Bateman were the standouts for me (apart from Branagh), certain relationships went deeper than expected and into new directions which was exciting to see, and the costumes, set design, locations and score were all top notch.

Some people are griping about the background CGI but I think the team did the best they could, since they could not film on location in Egypt (for most of the film, anyway), due to the restrictions they were faced with (the existing boats were either too old or too small + logistical problems, which the 1978 film also notoriously had), and anyway, they built the whole Karnak boat from scratch and it was a gorgeously made set, with beautiful scenic backdrops. I wish the boat could remain a museum piece somewhere for people to visit and admire.

The 2nd half kicked in with the building of tension, foreboding scary music, quick cuts, night time shots of the Karnak floating on dark water (fear of drowning, hello), then BAM, a twist you didn’t see coming, and BAM, another one, pandemonium everywhere, tensions flying high, people yelling at Poirot to do something, Poirot walking around like a badass looking handsome, yes, all the good stuff! <3 The faster pacing made me think the 2nd half was more heavily edited/trimmed than the 1st. Trailers have shots that don’t appear in the theatrical cut. Even after re-watching the film a couple of times, I’m still discovering new things through dialogue or stuff in the background!

Poirot being flirted at, genuinely flirted at, and not recognizing it for what it is because he’s not used to the sensation, it’s been too long for him, added like 50 years to my life! :) No one could wipe the huge grin on my face! And the adorable dork that he is, his first instinct is to react in a shy manner and stare at the lady and stumble over his words, like he can’t quite make out whether her interest is real or not. I LOVE HIM SO. Ken’s delivery and comedic timing got the most laughs at my screening. Also the scene with Jackie by the railing when they talk about love, that both the Ustinov and Suchet adaptations have covered before, yet Ken managed to make it his own with a gentleness and heart-breaking vulnerability, delivering one of the best moments in his Poirot franchise. Jesus Christ. My heart bleeds for Poirot. Oscar winner Kenneth Branagh!

Despite having new shocking twists and turns, watching DOTN felt soothing and calming and like a weight was lifted off my shoulders because it’s been such a long wait since the end of filming till release. I remember sagging into my seat, happy and content. It was almost surreal to be at the cinema again. The pandemic may have stalled the release and affected the film’s box office (not unusual for non-blockbuster films coming out these days) but didn’t conquer it; we have news the 3rd film is already written, so let’s keep our fingers crossed it gets greenlit. It’s tricky discussing box office results because we’re in different times now, the pandemic changed the game.

At the end of the day, DOTN’s RT audience score is much, much better than MOTOE’s, at 82%, and the critics score also slightly higher, which is another plus for me. That and knowing the Agatha Christie estate and 20th Century are fully behind Ken and support him.

My contentment also stems from certain theories I've had - and waffled on and on about obsessively on this blog - about Ken’s Poirot for 7 YEARS, becoming canon in the film. :D Another theory a friend of mine had came true as well, even though it seemed too bold and “out there” for the screenwriter to do, yet it happened. It added a whole new dimension to the story, made it more personal, like a sucker punch in the gut. DOTN hit the spot for me, not because it validated my fan theories (as rewarding and affirming as that was), but because the film was better, more fun, emotional and exciting than I expected. With all the disappointments over the delays I’d have been fine with just an ok movie, as long as we finally got to see it, and own it on dvd.

But it was so much more than that, it delivered for me and was worth the wait, Ken’s Poirot was everything I’d hoped for, and that made my happier than I can explain in a single post, or a hundred. :)

After Ken got choked up and teary-eyed on stage at TIFF 2021 festival, as he talked about uncertainties and issues with the pandemic and writing ‘Belfast’ when lockdown began, and how much it meant to him that audiences got to experience it in cinemas, I just wanted a happy resolution and a good outcome for him, both for ‘Belfast’ and for DOTN. And I think he got that.

Jamie Dornan, who sat next to him on stage, leaned over, touched Ken’s knee and shoulder and asked him if he was alright, with the audience clapping and cheering in support. I giffed it here:

Ken nodded and said through tears it was just “gonna be one of those nights.” He could barely speak for a while. “You plot a place in your life when... Very simple thing, you’re very happy, and then, in a minute, it was very difficult to deal with everything that came up.” (He started writing ‘Belfast’ 3 months after DOTN finished filming, and he was happy then, I took this to mean DOTN contributed to his happiness, but then DOTN got delayed because of the pandemic, he was shooting ‘Belfast’ in-between lockdowns, etc.) But all the stress that comes with a movie release in a pandemic can get too much sometimes, and as a leader and director, he’s expected to exude an unflinching confident aura and stay strong for everybody, putting on a brave face, and bottling up any fears or sad feelings. It was unusual for him to break down and he recovered quickly, thanks to Dornan’s warmth and the audience’s support.

His honest reaction moved me to tears. I’ve never seen Ken like this before. ‘Belfast’ had a tight schedule in-between lockdowns, the actors had to be tested every day before shooting, DOTN has been through the wringer over and over again, getting pushed back several times. It’s been nerve-racking and intense and Ken’s been keeping it together like a professional, always cheerful and confident in every interview.

But it’s all over now, we can breathe and relax and watch the films to our hearts’ content, and be happy for Ken’s success. Bless you, sir. You did it. I’m letting the feeling of calm and relief sweep over me as I look forward to more news about the 3rd film. <3

Sorry for the essay. Take care, everyone, and cheers!

#death on the nile #poirot #hercule poirot #kenneth branagh #replies #apologies again for the lateness #it feels great giffing and discussing the movie #i've already re-watched it 3 times #i talked about it in tags before #in other posts weeks ago #but since there are so many spoilers around #i was wary of posting anything concrete #i burst into tears when ken cried at TIFF #it pains me to see him sad #it was so sudden and #i just wanted to give him a hug #we love and support you <3<3 #major respect for jamie for being so kind

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