#Its not that i get excited either its just that i get some weird enjoyment out of knowing better than the dumbass characters | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bakuhatsufallinlove · 6 months

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re: 405

This is gonna be long.

First, I'm bringing this post back around to remind people that kocchi is a pronoun of ambiguous plurality.

This means that an interpretation of "we" is just as correct as an interpretation of "I." Readers may interpret it differently, but on simply linguistic grounds, they are of equal validity.

You will often see this kind of ambiguous language used in Japanese, even with characters that are forthright. The reason is one part cultural expectation that the listener will read between the lines, and one part a willingness to accept two things as simultaneously true. This exists and is frequently found in English as well, there just isn't a direct parallel for kocchi itself.

What I want most out of writing this blog, aside from personal enjoyment, is for people to understand that there can be more to a story for you to engage with, think about, and be moved by, when you step outside the boundaries of your own language and culture.

I think that is a much more interesting space to be in than a gotcha-laden approach of trying to prove something wrong or bad.

But if we are going to talk accuracy, the fact is that the fan translation many people have been upholding as superior has just as many problems as the official one. It takes just as many creative liberties, they are simply different ones.

The fan translator centered an "I" reading and, rather than using either of the two pronouns provided by the text ("OFA" and あいつ, meaning "that guy"), added a narratively-charged word ("nerd") that did not exist in the original and which (as far as I can tell) Katsuki has never used when speaking to villains. As a translator myself, I really disagree with that second choice. The official clearly missed the callback, but noticed the theme of "everyone who has faced AFO until now" and went with "we." The rest was just style over substance which prioritized edgy language to capture the aggression of the line; this falls squarely in line with what Viz has consistently maintained as its in-house aesthetic. It's disappointing, but unsurprising to me.

Fandom oscillates pretty violently between vilifying the official English release and fawning over it. Whole fan theories are built upon nitty gritty bits of the official release's phrasing; people will get excited over how homoerotic a line sounds, and it's because of how the official translator worded it, rather than any innate implication in the original Japanese.

If you do not speak Japanese, your experience of MHA is fundamentally dependent on the work of translators. I respect that everybody has their personal tastes or hopes for how the series will go, but it is deeply demoralizing as a Japanese speaker and translator to see fans who don't speak any Japanese at all act as though their opinion has the same weight of authority as people who do.

You are entitled to your preferences, but please recognize that they are based in taste, not personal knowledge. Not all Japanese translators will even agree in their interpretations, but it weirds me out that some non-Japanese-speaking fans will use this fervor to spread misinformation far and wide that proclaims as inaccurate perfectly good official translations, simply because the choices don't suit their own tastes.

The lists of "times the fan translations were better" I've seen mostly contain instances where the fan translators took greater liberties than the official release did, and some fans just happened to like the liberties that were taken.

We all reasonably hated the "best friend" fan translation of chapter 359, but somehow that isn't a point forever against fan translations the same way mistakes in the official release are?

At this point, it makes me wonder what the point of writing about linguistic nuance is, if the interest is primarily not in learning but in being told what you want to hear.

I know posting this won't win me any favor with anybody, but it's how I feel. I'm bummed about 405's last line in the official. I do hope it gets revised. But the vibes around translation details are getting decidedly unfun.

One last thought: if you well and truly want to experience MHA unfiltered, learn Japanese. I mean this sincerely, I'm not trying to be a jerk. We live in an age where it is easier and more possible than ever to acquire a new language, talk to people around the world, and absorb yourself in culture and history.

If you want to remove middle-men and develop your own relationship with a work unfettered by the tastes, biases, or choices of others, learn the language. It won't be easy, but I can guarantee you won't regret broadening your horizons and discovering even more beautiful stories in the world.

#mha 405 #mha manga spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha spoilers

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creaturecomfxrts · 2 months

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Dipper and Mabel pines headcanons?

FINALLY getting around to answering these! since im better at them, heres some college age headcanons that apply just as much to how i view them in the show!

DIPPER PINES

transmasc. duh. of course

parents are INCREDIBLY supportive, super understanding. hes on hormone blockers in the show and starts HRT as soon as hes able, getting top surgery and bottom surgery in his early 20s

bisexual! ran into a guy junior year of highschool and went oh GOD. this is wendy 2.0 im going to die

NERD.

LOVES board games. so much. not just dungeons and dragons and monopoly im talkin everdell, wingspan, cascadia, catan. he loves a good think. he also loves dragging everyone else into playing them with him. he always wins. almost always, anyway

absolutely adores college and everything about it hes a little freak. totally ends up being the president of a few clubs, co creating some, etc. made an occult club AND a hiking club at his college

loves doodling, loves horror. his teachers? not so much. they try not to look at the weird ass creatures he draws on the margins of his very well written homework.

probably goes into something smart. like biochem. or um. stem. im (author) is a liberal arts major all i do is write gay fanfiction.

PSYCHOTIC ASS DORM ROOM. he barely decorated it like a classic college male but has a conspiracy board and thats it. which is full of strange shit hes seen outside of gravity falls. to be fair its very well documented and somewhat neat, just…. strange decor. he lives in a single (introvert)

COVERED in tattoos, but always abides by the suit rule (all tattoos need to be able to be covered by a suit to be professional. he knows this bc hes a neerrrrddd). he has really sick sleeves of runes and other occult like things hes found interesting. he has cipher related tattoos as well and also even got ford to design a few.

he has PROMINENT eye bags. he will never fix his sleep schedule

ended up working as a summer camp counselor for a while right outside if gravity falls! the kids loved him but he couldnt stand the heat and bugs all the time so he only did it for a summer or two

even after turning 21 he doesnt actually drink that much, hes a craft beer enjoyer and likes to make it himelf (Much later in life)

ALWAYS stays in touch with mabel. if anything happens in either of their lives you better BELIEVE theyre already on the phone with eachother

medical marijuana card holder

smokes to help eith his anxiety. it works WONDERS

coffee drinker but actually Does put cream and sugar is coffee. sometimes. other times hes too tired and just thugs it out

MABEL PINES

THE number one it girl ever

NUMBER ONE TRANS ALLY EVERRRRRR she loves her brother so much

pansexual!! she loves cool people, thats her motto

went to a fashion design school, is loving it despite drowning in work

began dying her hair in cool ways through highschool, now she always has some of her natural color present but goes a little crazy on the highlights

found out about huge dangley joke earrings. went absolutely crazy. has an entire space on her desk dedicated to her many many earrings. she has babies, knives, bags of doritos, aliens, glow in the dark ones, anything you could imagine.

fantastic at fashion design. stuggled a lot with the fancier stuff but her teachers were floored when they let her go wild on casual comfy wear. she excells in combining fashion and comfort in really exciting and colorful ways.

a party girl through and through, loves clubs, raves, concerts, anything!

video game lover as well, cracked at pvp games.

still boy crazy, just less so (has had like. 10 college boyfriends)

literally the sweetest friend ever. she loves hosting movie nights and tea parties (bc who wouldnt. theyre awesome)

tea drinker, loves floral teas with honey

HATES. black coffee. a starbucks frap girlie 4ever

has been scouted for modeing multiple times and only accepted when it was a commercial with puppies

love love loves making friendshio bracelets. knows all the patterns, all of her friends have a hefty amount of a bunch of different ones because she just keeps making them

anywwy, here you go! i love these two so much, i hope ive done them justice!

#dipper pines #mabel pines #headcanons #gravity falls #gravity falls headcanons #hcs #gravity falls dipper #gravity falls mabel #writing #writeblr

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bengiyo · 9 months

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Be My Favorite Ep 11 Stray Thoughts

Last week, we all fell into intense brain rot over the ace!Kawi discourse, and did not appreciate Aou in those shorts enough or the fact that Max FUCKS. We suspect that Pisaeng may or may not have time traveled. Kawi is dealing with some of his own intimacy issues. It feels like they had their first time at the end of the episode. Also, Pear is not happy with her mom for abandoning them, Pisaeng’s mom pulled a complete reversal to support him, and Kawi reflected on his dad urging him to live his life for himself.

It’s like they knew I still was skeptical of Pisaeng’s mom, Daow, so they have her working out her issues with Pear’s dad, Phong.

I’m glad that Pear found a way to give herself peace about her mom.

I like Pear reading a poem over these scenes. The bed kissing was pretty decent.

Okay, the morning after scene was really sweet. I liked that.

I’m not sure how I feel about the flashback to a conversation we weren’t part off with the magic guy. I don’t mind the show laying out its core thesis about being present in your life and focusing on the things you can control explicitly for the audience, but it felt a bit weird. I feel like I need to brace for high-impact drama now.

Everyone has graduated, but what did Not do after getting wrecked so hard?

Domestic montages, my beloved.

I’m encouraged that these two stayed together for years, and maintained friendships with the characters we liked.

Sponge baths, my beloathed.

This timeline is too enjoyable, and Kawi doesn’t seem to have a job. They’re going to take this timeline from us. What happened to Kawi’s music aspirations?

Oh, never mind. Seems like Kawi is still involved in music.

Is Kawi about to get sick and die and then force Pisaeng to travel back to the past (Samurai Jack)?

Okay, but this actually just got super heavy. This show has not been soft about its support for gay political issues, and medical care is one of the big concerns queer people face without family and domestic protections. Some of my actual work is helping couples circumvent these blocks.

I am genuinely invested in this terminal medical condition plotline.

Oh ho! So he does go back to the past (Samurai Jack) and now we return to the day of the amusement park, now with double the time travel shenanigans!

Okay, high-key I love this. I haven’t been this stressed by the thematic implications within a BL in a really long time. We had the magic man imply that we can’t alter our destinies, but we can fix our mistakes. Kawi wasn’t destined to win the lottery, and it feels like they’re saying he wasn’t destined to save his dad either. Pisaeng is convinced that he is the reason that Kawi got sick and is facing death in the future even a Max insists that it couldn’t be his fault. Now he’s gone back to the past and altered the happy timeline we saw completely. Now he and Kawi will both face each other as time travelers trying to fix what they believe to be their mistakes in the finale. I’m so excited because we all felt that they went into that bed scene without clearing something, and now we have to face it.

#be my favorite #be my favorite meta #thai bl #bl series #Ben watches

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enderwoah · 1 year

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does the jimmy solidarity side of trafficblr understand how desperately jimmy either needs to win OR come ridiculously close to winning for me (me specifically) to be happy

like if he wins. which he could. that would be amazing. winning after dying first every single series would be incredible and i think i would go absolutely insane. he deserves it and he definitely could if he decided to stop playing up the pathetic wet cat/'bully me itll be funny' bit. which i feel as if i always have to clarify IT'S NOT A BAD BIT!! ITS FUNNY im just saying if he Did. he could do some serious damage to the server. like if jimmy solidarity decided that he was tired of being nice and literally nerfing himself and just sort of went off with a group in the next life series i personally think he could go crazy go stupid

but here's the thing. i will be happy with him winning. but i will be equally as happy (and i'd be a dirty liar if i didn't say possibly even more happy) if he got to like. third place. hell, even fifth place. and then someone stabbed him in the back at the last second. like, someone he had been running with for the entire series just. to win. stabs him in the back.

i feel as if. and correct me if im wrong. jimmy solidarity has never been straight up betrayed before, i dont think. he even did the betraying himself in last life, but i dont think someone has ever actively turned their back on him or stabbed him in the back out of wanting to win before. hes never been seen as enough of a threat to backstab. hes one of those players that gets a group or a partner and sticks with them for the entire series. he had scott in 3rd life, the southlands in last life, and tango in double life, and i fully believe that he only doesnt betray them because he doesnt want to.

imagine it in your head. jimmy solidarity is running with someone and decides that he needs to kill them. its not that weird of a thought. jimmy, in my opinion, has enough bastard energy where you CANT say that it would be out of character for him to betray someone. he could. he just doesnt. like, dude, if you want proof he literally DID betray his group in last life. no regret, broke one of the most sacred southlands rituals and tried to run away with a life. he has enough desperate bastard energy to do it if he really wanted to. he just doesnt enjoy doing it.

so imagine the absolute shock and horror that jimmy would experience when someone does directly betray him. he picks his group, or even his partner for the next life series and that person stabs him in the back suddenly? he would be flabbergasted. jimmy has little to no self-control, but jimmy i dont think would have the gall to betray one single person. he just. i dont think he'd get it. it would be horrible. and deliciously dramatic.

imagine the animatics out of that. jimmy solidarity girlbosses his way through the entire next life series. someone dies first before him, and you see how morbid it is for him to be excited, overjoyed at someone else's death. his circumstances have made it so he is happy when another person dies. he burns things down, forms strong enough alliances that he basically is untouchable, sets traps, embraces his innate bastard energy, and when he can finally see the light of a win, when he can finally see the possibility of him actually coming first...he is ripped away from that high by a sword in the back or a trapped base.

like jesus christ that would be horrible. and amazing. i would eat it up. im a jimmy solidarity enjoyer through and through, and of COURSE i want him to win, but im not gonna lie to myself and say that him getting close and then getting it torn away from him by a friend (and lets not make that sound less than it is; jimmy's enitre life basically circles around other people. getting betrayed by a friend would be horrible for him and him specifically) wouldnt be...wonderful. surely the jimmy solidairty side of trafficblr can agree im not crazy right. right.

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otakween · 6 months

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Digimon World 3 - First Impressions

Yaaay, so excited to be continuing this series! Well...can we even call it a series? I guess it's kind of like Final Fantasy where the games don't connect (sometimes). The numbers give me a sense of accomplishment anyways. Digimon World was bonkers and memorable for its weird mechanics, Digimon World 2 was kind of a flop, but enjoyable enough, not sure what the world's opinion on 3 is. Either way I'm ready for the long haul -cracks knuckles-

Notes:

This is the first Digimon game I've played that feels like a riff on Pokemon. There's badges I'm supposed to earn, towns to explore with all the usual RPG buildings (inn, item store, etc.), people who challenge me to battles as I walk by them, and the only digimon that earns EXP in battles is the one at the front of my party. I see this as a win because I enjoy the Pokemon gameplay loop.

Already got two CG animated cutscenes (FMVs?) I think the animation looks good! It holds up more than some of the other games I've played anyways. The bear digimon especially looked really cute in the opening. The other cutscene that played when I entered the digital world was great for immersion.

Load screens are kind of annoying, but oh well. I guess I can fast forward if they get bad. The text scrolls very slowly as well, which maybe I can adjust.

So the main character "Junior" and his friends go into the Digital World or "Digimon Online." In this game's canon (so far anyways) the Digital World is a game. I found it kind of strange that they all logged in together and then immediately were like "kay let's split up, bye." If they were going to split up then why were Teddy and Ivy like "wait for us Junior!! You're going too fast!"

I suppose this game world is supposed to be an MMORPG because a lot of the human-looking characters I spoke to referenced playing the game and their real lives as well. Gotta love a game within a game. The map/world doesn't really have an MMORPG vibe to me, but oh well.

Since I accidentally chose the "hard mode" pack in the last digimon game, I decided to give myself a break this time and go with the "balanced" pack. The Maniac pack has the best digimon imo, but I ain't taking any chances.

I was just reading about the game and I guess it has around 20 game-original digimon? Excited to meet them all. I'm sure some of this game will also be a preview for the next anime season.

The sleepy digimon in the inn were really cute

Love the sprites and how your digimon walk behind you. Too cute. It looks like they put a lot of effort into the background as well.

I've heard some stock sounds and music from past games already which is fun

I felt a little bit of dread when they mentioned the card game. I really like the digimon card game, but having to battle and play cards in one game kinda sounds like a pain. This is gonna be a long one...

When I played Pokemon when I was younger I would just level one Pokemon up and not give EXP to anyone else lol. I know that's not good strategy-wise, but because that one Pokemon would hog the EXP they'd be overleveled and it made the games easy. For the sake of "playing the game correctly" I'll try to do it right this time and move the digimon around.

#digimon world 3 #digimon #video games #PSX #epsxe

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pumpkinsy0 · 1 year

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happy mf christmas!!!

u know what that means,,,,hcs!!!!WOOOOOO!!!!!YAYYYY!!!!!!YIPPEE!!!!!!

but yea hcs!!!!!!

•idk,,WHO,,,it was,,,but either the shepards or the curtis’ used those tree shaped airfreshners for cars and used it as an actual christmas tree to put gifts under

•maybe it was when they were lil kids too excited for christmas but hey, who can blame em

•once tim made the BIGGEST mistake of letting pony and curly b in charge of making the sugar cookies cause they over did it w the sugar for they were busy w ‘other matters’

•like they completely fucked up the cookies w too much sugar, someone could get type 2 diabetes just taking a bite out of it

•but hey!!just shake em for a bit before u eat it and youll b aight

•there was this christmas they all did secret santa and pony got tim, but he had NO clue what to get the guy so he just gave him a belt

•i mean it was a good belt so to tim all is fine

•freeze tag will ONLY b played on christmas time

•i hope this makes sense, but darry, soda, and pony all share the same pajama set when it’s christmas for some reason, like pony gets the pants, darry gets the shirt, and soda just takes the lil hat w it

•johnny is a literal god at making hot chocolate it’s canon

•tim makes haitian hot chocolate so yea, also a god

•OHOH and bc haitian independence day is on january 1st, the shepards usually buy all the ingredients near christmas time, and darry’s bday is on the same week so also bday shopping w the curtis gang, yippee!!!

•two bits the mf to buy the nasty flavors of candy canes to “spice things up” and darry got sick and tired of it so two bits off shopping duty for the rest of his christmas’

•so have y’all seen those santa mall pics w those goth kids?? yea angela and curly go to the mall to specifically get a pic w santa

•the pic is one of the tree decorations xoxo

•pony and curly making gingerbread houses???yes pls, only problem is curlys hungry ass keeps eating everything

•i feel like i’ve never seen a mistletoe like in stores to buy, so i’ll just say that pony makes them curly keeps kissing him while he’s making it and just says “we’re above the mistletoe so i think we have to like make out or somethin”

•pony and curly had gingerbread and reindeer onesies when they were like toddlers/babies (that’s what that other pic of them is for, don’t ask y curly has a giant fucking spoon i thought it was funny)

•the shepards (rlly angela and curly) have this thing for decorating their hair for christmas, once curly used christmas lights in his hair, dw no fire was set his hair is fantastic

•dally can’t wrap presents for shit he just takes newspaper and cru,bles it up around the gift to give it a weird ball shape

•soda is such a christmas candle lover, if u bought him a santa’s ass scented candle he’d buy it

•every christmas i’m GONNA bring up the gang calling pony rudolph during the holidays fuck off

•johnny likes taking walks in the snow just staring inside families homes, kinda sad???yea, but he’s on his way to the curtis house so it’s alright he’ll b fine

•steve is actually like the fucking brunch during the holidays, everyone thinks it’s dally but no at least dally finds enjoyment fr home the shitty christmas sweaters and hot chocolate, steve likes nothing except for the occasional snowball fights and everyone being together, other than that he’s out, he hates the snow(its a love hate relationship), he hates how he gets hives in the cold, just cancel the whole thing

•angela and tim fucking LOVE the peppermint chocolates, they’d kill several ppl for it, i would too

•also pony and curly like putting the chocolates on the cookies

i rlly want peppermint chocolate

#curly shepard #ponyboy curtis #purly #angela shepard #tim shepard #darry curtis #darrel curtis #johnny cade #sodapop curtis #dallas winston #steve randle #two bit mathews #the outsiders hcs #the outsiders headcanons #the shepards #the outsiders art #the outsiders fanart #my art #babs’ art corner

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sytokun · 1 year

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RWBY V9 Episode 1 first impressions. Some spoilers. Also RWDE.

The first scene, both shot-wise and sound-wise was super well directed. The first person view into Ruby's headspace was very creative, and also an elegantly concise but unique recap of the last finale. Disregarding the nonsense surrounding the actual events (Yang getting KO'd instantly, no one being able to catch her and all that), it was an excellently directed scene.

Which makes it a pity that the scene right after felt really plodding and tonally dissonant. Having the already painful low framerate and cartoony jokes is already bad, but after a scene like that is... not how you do it.

The Monochrome scene was well-animated and adorable though. Amazing how much chemistry RWBY can get from its characters when it's not actively trying to signpost it to your face.

Speaking of signposting, the Bumbleby hug was good. Blake's tender voice calling Yang's name, and just them hugging on the beach is a really romantic image. and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.

It kind of irks me more because my enjoyment of this ship is actively sabotaged by this show's own refusal to engage with it unless it's a weird combination of too-loud subtext and the fact it relishes in its own plausible deniability. I don't know what to say if there isn't a kiss or proper declaration of love by the end of this.

OK Goodnight doesn't miss, and they didn't for this OP song, Inside, either. I personally was super excited Casey was brought on in full force and her band's involvement was the singular thing that excited me about Volume 9. I have this opening on loop for hours now.

I loved how the Jabberwocky monster thing was animated, but part of me felt the design fell a bit short compared to how creatively it moved. I think if it went through another design pass or two to really bring out its more unsettling qualities it'd land even better.

But it was that thought that stirred up an iffy thought I had as I watched all the colourful characters and setting that was showcased in the opening and trailers. I know the whole point was to show a visual contrast by having everything be bright and whimsical but...

Part of me just kept thinking throughout this episode, and I suspect will keep me thinking throughout this Volume... why couldn't have all the Ever After creatures have been sentient talking Grimm instead?

Like, we don't know the canon explanation for the Ever After yet, but assuming that anything just goes here... I would have been really interested in the idea that this was a parallel world where benevolent Grimm exist and formed their own chaotic but intelligent societies. It could be an interesting exploration into the nature of Grimm, which by extension includes Salem's nature and how the heroes could not only defeat her dark nature, but perhaps understand and reason with it as well.

I just keep looking at the visual direction they decided to go with this world and can't help but think:

"Damn, Grimm mice would be cool, and a lot more visually distinct and marketable/merchandisable to RWBY fans too. Imagine Ruby making friends with a cute little Grimm? Something she's been trained to kill since forever? How weird but interesting would that be?"

"Damn, this glitchy monster thing would be way cooler as a Grimm, wouldn't it? Imagine it writhing like that and talking, but with the trademark glowing eye trails and miasmic black smoke trailing from its limbs."

"Damn, that Wonderland smoking caterpillar dude in the opening would have looked cool as a Grimm, maybe along the vibes of Koh the Face Stealer from Avatar?"

"Damn, the Cheshire cat as a teleporting Grimm feline would be cool. Its design might be a lot less polarising too since a lot of people think it hurts to look at. Some Grimm like Geists are already pretty formless to begin with."

And at the root of all these what-ifs, it just all comes back to the same question that I think sums up a lot of RWBY's problems:

"Damn, this show would be cooler in all these little ways if it just played into the ideas that made it cool to begin with."

#rwby #rwby v9 #rwde #rwby volume 9 spoilers

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licncourt · 6 months

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Hi!!!! I have been reading your tvc metas, and they are wonderful and I want to thank you for it!

I have been struggling to read theses books, and it really help me, I love IWTV, Louis is my fav, the aspect and style of first book is astonishing, the entire loustat dynamic is fascinating. And as much I love Lestat too, I didn't like TVL, and it left me frustrated with myself and disappointed with the book. It took me weeks to read TVL, and even more months to finish QotD. For me IWTV could stand alone, the other books seem to be part of a completely different series.

Your metas have helped me deal with my frustrations with TVC, and thank you for that, because i love theses characters (some of them) and I want to know their stories, still sad due to the lack of Louis, and I will try to read all the books so that my information about it are not all second handed.

and most important, I love your blog, I love your art and your fanfics 🫶

That's so nice of you I'm so so glad!! It's so exciting when someone likes my metas and fics, I love to write them! It's especially cool if it's made the books more enjoyable!! Book Louis is my special little guy of all time and like a small weird mangey rabbit that I keep as a beloved pet even though he bites so I'm also very happy to hear that you loved IWTV!!

As pretentious as it sounds, I was disappointed that a lot of new fans coming from the show didn't really Get book Louis or make an effort to understand his character. He's....challenging (nasty and gross) but there's so much rich character building there and it makes me sad when people write him off as boring and one note. AMC Louis is a really great character and I enjoy him a lot, but I don't like sentiment that he's a "fix" for a bad character.

As for TVL, I really do love it (even though IWTV is my favorite), but I can see how the style change can be jarring. In a way, it almost IS a different series because the narrator and POV has changed so drastically. It's in the same universe, but a totally different take on it to match a contrasting personality. I think it comes across better on a second read too because you're more prepared for the switch and have more context.

I can understand being partial to one style or the other (plenty of people prefer TVL to IWTV which I understand for sure), but I hope that even if the book itself wasn't for you that you enjoyed the insight into Lestat’s character. The first two books combined make for such a fantastic relationship dynamic in top of great stand alone characters, even better than just IWTV on its own in my opinion because now we know so much about them both.

This might be somewhat controversial among VC fans (?) but I don't really care for QotD either, with the exception of the Devil's Minion chapter and the ending with Loustat. I think it really shows the flaws beginning to emerge in AR's writing, but it's SO much better than what comes after that it gets more praise than maybe it deserves. Then again, I'm extremely partial to character-driven stories, so maybe if you're a plot guy it's a matter of preference.

If you've read my metas I'm sure you know that I don't really recommend anyone read past QotD, but I also see it as kind of rite of passage if you really want to be in the real trenches of the book fandom. It's miserable and you won't be the same afterward but the curse of forbidden knowledge is kind of a unifying factor, the ties that bind. If you choose to proceed then I wish you best and hope you'll come back to commiserate later.

Either way, I'm really glad you got some value from my metas! I love some of these characters so much and I'm super happy they were validating for you as a reader and maybe enhanced the experience in other ways! I aim to provide only the best VC Sparknotes.

I always have more to talk about (in meta and in fic), so I hope you enjoy everything that's coming just as much!

#answered #vc

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bleachbleachbleach · 10 months

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7/2 - 7/19/2023

It’s been kind of hard to get back into thinking about my WIP? Which is an interesting experience, because yeah, sure, getting back into the idea of writing (what are words? who are these characters even) is usually a challenge, the "rotating this WIP in my brain" part is not. The Rotations have been a part of nearly every day for years, up until I needed to get serious about writing my Train Fanfic. And now it’s been almost three weeks and I’m still… honestly just fixated on my Train Fanfic. Every day, still thinking about it!! Train!

I did have to write something for another fandom a bit ago, which I wasn’t initially excited about. It’s for a challenge I’ve participated in every year since 2010, and have helped mod for a lot of that time. As mod, I basically get assigned whatever prompt set we think will be hard to give to a regular participant. Friends, the prompts were Not Good, LOL, and I’m really a very one-fandom-at-a-time kind of person, so I was like, "but... this is not Bleach... I do not want it right now!" It was actually a fantastic writing experience, though—I loved spending time with my blorbos in that fandom, and the writing went really quickly; I finished in 4 hours what for Bleach would take me 12 hours to 12 weeks, and I certainly can’t complain about that.

I really love how telegraphic you can get with the writing over there, and how that allows you to slash away so much narrative, really pare it down, and let the shorthand stand on its own. I think it works so well there because if you write late enough in the canon the characters have these very rote, old hat experiences they don’t feel the need to narrate in full, and the same goes with their relationship to each other. I’m not saying that can’t be done in Bleach, but I often feel like there’s a degree of novelty to most Bleach experiences where like, some weird shit is going down so even what is routine can’t entirely be so; or they’re doing it in new company, or after some fresh set of circumstances that have changed the terms of engagement in either major or minor ways, or they’re going to have to remember to write a report about it later; and the POV character is often needing to take all these things into account. Which is also enjoyable! And I’m not saying my blorbos in this other fandom are static and never have new experiences lol. I just think they’ve perfected the art of distilling their experiences very efficiently, and/or being comfortable with giving less of a shit. It was fun to write in that space!

I also wrote a bit of a Bleach fic I started last summer, which I’d backburnered because while I’m interested in the character relationship and the general premise, I haven’t yet been able to tell myself why it would need to be a story. And without those answers, it just feels kind of gratuitous in a way that I don’t like. There is more of it now, and there are more ideas with promise, but also more elements that feel gratuitous. I know I’m talking in vague generalities. But it’s kind of like—I don’t want to do this character the disservice of presenting her experiences as smooth and soft and clean when they surely were not; but it also feels like to delve into the parts that are jagged and awful requires a really strong narrative/character payoff. Because otherwise I’m like, well, she deserves to have stories that don’t need to be told. So I still need to figure out what the story is that needs to be told, and why it would need to include these things. I KNOW, THE VAGUE GENERALITIES, B3 WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT. I am talking about wanting to write a post-Soul Society arc fanfic about Hinamori and Jiroubou, which is surely the natural precipitate of a Soul Society Arc rewatch. It involves a lot of negative interactions with Gotei civil servants and the Gotei healthcare system, and how condor!Tobiume came to be, and a lot of suffering that, while 100% already extant in canon, just makes me feel like… if it’s all to be written out instead of something that happens behind closed doors, then it had better be worth her time.

But what I really want to finish this summer is finish Part 1 of my WIP, not work on this absurd Jiroubou fic!! I have no idea why I was doing that. Rukia has so many things to do in her chapters! Renji has a vending machine to encounter in his! There are alarmingly forthright heart-to-hearts with Akon to be had! Why am I not writing these things, and why have I not written them at any point in the last three weeks!!!!!

#i wrote this so i could convince myself to actually write my wip #self!! go!!!!

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lehdenlaulu · 4 months

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Game asks: 5, 9, 14, 22 😁✨

Thank you, love!

5. Game(s) coming out that you’re looking forward to

First of all, Dragon's Dogma 2! It coming out in this year's March was such a delightful surprise. The original game from a decade or so ago was really interesting and in many ways innovative, though it has remained pretty obscure to larger audiences. Even I came across it pretty much by chance.

It's not that I mind the recent trend of tactical/isometric RPGs (though I've never been that big a fan of turn-based, as someone who grew up on the OG Infinity Engine games, RWP all the way), but an open-world action-adventure is still a welcome change (Starfield, bless its heart, doesn't count). I've also never been into the JRPG genre, but DD is an interesting case because while it's a Japanese production, it doesn't feel like a JRPG, aesthetically or otherwise.

Anyway, feast your eyes on the latest trailer!

youtube

There are others that I'm looking forward to as well, like Awoved, Broken Roads, Star Wars: Outlaws, and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 (though with the developmental weirdness and the complete overhaul of the entire concept of the game that followed, I'm more cautiously curious than excited now). But realistically, I only expect one or two of them to actually come out this year.

Oh, and there are some cool visual novels coming out that I'm looking forward to as well, like Made Marion (currently in Early Access with Robin's route already playable), Call Me Under (which I hope has avoided the issues the studio's last two games, Errant Kingdom in particular, had), Imperial Grace, Tenebrae, and When Stars Collide.

9. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved

Huh. It's pretty rare for me to go in completely blind, though I usually don't go out of my way to look things up either as the joy of discovery is a big thing for me. But... I guess I could say the first Dragon's Dogma? I did not have many expectations, and while it wasn't the most brilliant thing ever and had some frustrating mechanics, it was super enjoyable (until the endgame bits ugh, but that's a me issue I guess).

Oh, and Enderal, of course! It's safe to say I Had No Idea What I Was In For.

14. A song that’s sure to hit your nostalgia buttons

Hah, how nostalgic do we want to get? Though a song specifically narrows things down a little, hmm.

Honestly, the first one to start playing in my head was Malukah's gorgeous Beauty of Dawn for The Elder Scrolls Online, but my brain also protests because a ten-year-old game is apparently not old enough for it to count as nostalgic. 😂

Something really old, then? How's A Pirate I Was Meant To Be? 😎

22. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

Well. The thing is, I'm apparently chronically allergic to finishing games. It's not that I lose interest, exactly, I guess I just don't like things to end or something? So I'm basically what you might call the complete antithesis of a speedrunner, I have to do literally everything else first and I often find myself loading an older save if I feel like the main quest is proceeding too fast (depending a little on the type of game, of course). 😅

So this is a bit of a challenge for me. Also, endings are tough in any media from a writing standpoint, truly satisfying and impactful endings are difficult to pull off.

But... even though I haven't technically finished it, I think I have to say Enderal. I mean, there are several possible endings, but they're all emotionally impactful, make sense, and will haunt you for a long time afterwards (as does the entire game, really).

Talk to me about video games?

#Darna plays video games #q and a #jul-likes-magpies

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one-strugling-bean · 2 years

Text

Random Thoughts on HTTYD RttE S2 (Ep1-7)

(This one is a lot bigger so gonna divide it by episodes)

Ep1 - why do the twins get so many pets

Snotlout's sadness over not being able to train his dad, that was funny

"What did he do?" "He's Snotlout's dad" "Enough said" - there is more than one way to interpret this and i think im gonna take the protective! Astrid one

Ep2&3- Okay, im gonna make a wild guess and start assuming this show is gonna be hurting Astrid a lot

How strong is Toothless?? He's just able to carry a Mostrous Nightmare like that

Hm, gotta say I'm disappointed Heather betrayed them already - like, with Dagur being her brother and all, one immediately expects a betrayal to happen eventually, but this was really fast and too sudden I'd say

Im gonna make another guess before i move on with the episode, and that is Heather is either double-crossing Dagur or she'll regret going on to his side and goes back to helping the Riders

Also, not sure how to feel about Ryker yet - he seems too competent and too much of a real threat for this show. Then again the show does seem to building itself up to a more serious plot

Ruffnut pickpocketed the guard omg yessssssssss

Ep4 - aww, it's nice to see the twins caring about eachother

Aaaand Ruffnut got really pissed at Snotlout for his stunt, wow

Fishlegs is such a cute nerd ahhh

Omg Snotlout's been bitten so much, Ruff has 0 chill

I swear this scene on the cliff with the twins is just, so weird. Its supposed to be kinda emotional but its so so silly and bizarre i can't pay total attention to the actual emotional part - guess that's just the twins for you

Snolout should've died like, 3 hours ago pretty sure

He caught a wolf in that state???

This episode was so so weird but so so enjoyable

Ep5 - Heyy it's Spitelout time - cant wait

First few lines of the two 'louts interacting and they're already giving me Draco&Lucius vibes

"Hope you're at least smart enough to figure that one out" - eh excuse me, le what. He just called his son stupid in front of all his friends and threatened him at the same time. Okay yeah, im starting to understand why no one likes this guy

God that axe is so getting destroyed

Fishlegs and Ruffnut got married, poor Fishlegs

Meatlug!! Ruff, don't throw the lady out!

Astrid is once again so so done with Snotlout - can't blame her honestly, the guy has butter fingers

Okay, that beach scene went a whole lot better than what many made me expect, but then again, it seems Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout were expecting worse too

The scene was scary until Spitelout talked - the music, the dark of the night, the clear fear of Snotlout confronting his dad and the apprehension in both Hiccup and Astrid's faces

Not as afraid of the man anymore, but still not a fan - also he's voiced by David Tennant so he's gotta get a pass

"We're the model of a modern viking family" this made me laugh a lot, my humor might be broken i know

Ep6 - Hookster? That's a new one. Another extremely original nickname to add to the list of Hookfang's nicknames given by Snotlout, right next to Hooky and Fangster

"He's really become a tyrant, huh?" "Power'll do that to ya" Twins, don't ever change

Aw Barf&Belch are gratefuuuul, that's cute, i rarely see anything about them anywhere, this is nice to watch

"Ah, no Toothless, don't laugh! You're better than that!" Ha poor Hiccup

Nooo don't ditch the double-headed baby, he's gonna get caught by hunters!!

Hiccup is just giving me tired dad vibes this ep and I'm loving it

Ahhh Barf&Belch are sho cute, how come I've never noticed this??

"I guess we're gonna have to put you in some real danger" yeahhhhh don't ever ask that of the Thorston twins

The look of pure happiness and giddy excitement on Tuff's face as they saw the tree trunks roll down towards Hiccup is everything

What is "Bjorn Boars"

"I can only think of one man that souless" Of course it's fucking Snotlout, how did i knowww

"WHAT. IS. WRONG WITH YOU??"

Okay, what did the twins do to make Snotlout go along with this, i gotta know

"Unfortunately, we weren't expecting Thor's mighty hammer to meet Snotlout's paper jaw" I swear this kid delivers the best one liners

I love how the ending is just mass destruction of the ship

"Will someone tell this lunatic it's over?!" Hiccup deserves so many breaks

Ep7 - "Heather won't be a problem, okay?" Hmmmm i had wondered how Astrid had been able to escape so easily from Heather on ep3 without us seeing their fight - im guessing Heather revealed to Astrid that she's playing double spy

Aw cute Thorston sandwich, but damn does Snotlout look annoyed. Good for him

Yeahhhh i saw that alliance coming

"You can't just run off on your own. I rely on you, Astrid" Oof, that hurt

"Dagur was right, you don't look like much" Astrid was right, you look like a psycho" "Not exactly the compliment I would've led with" These lines are fun

Ha, sassy, taunting Hiccup is fun Hiccup

"I saw it! You did that on purpose!" Uhm, excuse me sir, how did you see that? Your back was turned!

So, Ryker is indeed smart. Like, he's intelligent and an actual threat. Me likey the high-ing of stakes

"Maybe if you didn't move and kept your mouth shut!" Fishlegs sassying the others brings me endless joy

"Feels like they're going left. No, right. Left. Which one's which??" Mood. That's me everytime someone asks where's left and right

"Heather's not evil? There goes that dream" What does that mean? Im confused

Aw, Fishlegs, you're nice

Yeah, i hope she knows what she's doing too Hiccup

This is getting too long, so gonna stop this here

Im really excited to see where this is going now, and apparently people like to read my dumb commentary so the 2nd part of season 2 should be coming soon

#httyd #race to the edge #opinions and commentary #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #astrid hofferson #fishlegs ingerman #snotlout jorgenson #tuffnut thorston #ruffnut thorston #Toothless #hookfang #Stormfly #barf and belch #httyd rtte commentary #Gonna start using this tag to mark these posts

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gcrtys · 2 years

Text

a review of new tales from the borderlands

so, new tales from the borderlands was ... something! i was really excited going into it, and i can say it was moderately enjoyable. it was not worth $40-50 at all, esp. with the preorder which included three skins in all grey!! woohoo!! that was super cool!!!

anyway,

style

in comparison to the original tales from the borderlands, the game shines in some aspects. the mocapping is wonderfully done. a lot of people are saying its awkward and weird, and at some times, it definitely can be. its not an entirely perfect system but it shows a good amount of emotion. with the funding of telltale’s tftbl, it was clear where they were lacking. odd cuts, janky animations, etc.

gameplay

the gameplay of new tales is definitely more polished. there were a few things that were odd and not well done and some segments were definitely dragged out a lot more than they shouldve been. i wish there were more interactable events in the world b/c i did enjoy exploring. vaultlanders was a unique addition, though overall felt very lacking and didnt make sense in terms of the storyline. it couldve done without it, and im 99% sure this was only added for replay value (collectables?)

they brought in some other new things i didnt necessarily enjoy. the entire system that was created for rating the group dynamic also did not care in terms of the game. i had about two scenarios where it did.

i didnt even know what was changing my group dynamic or how characters felt about one another. i didnt even know if they were on good terms by the ending of the game -- it wasnt made clear by gameplay. my only indication were a few popups stating “fran doesnt respect octavio” (yeah, i wouldnt either) and it was annoying. lou13 has an entire point in the beginning of the game stating teamwork would make the process easier to survive, and yet this didnt reflect one in the entire game. not where i saw, at least.

charm

holy. fuck. they bombed hard with the music choices. one of the BIG big aspects of tales, what made it shine, was the introduction and intros. they were well done, crisp, perfectly timed. its difficult for me to pick a favourite intro from any episode of tales because theyre all so well done -- from a stylish crash onto pandora to “busy earning” by jungle, to the somber crash onto pandora to “retrograde” by james blake. it was clear every song in tales was carefully chosen and the intros were framed around them.

whereas in new tales, its... weird. the introductions to the episodes are odd, weirdly timed and dont expand upon much. it felt like they were trying too hard to mimic the bonding the tales team went through -- but that was natural in comparison to this. even then, there wasnt a single introduction i enjoyed. episode 5′s introduction was the best out of the bunch but even then, the music choice was odd and it felt like there was nothing happening. it wasnt worth watching. whereas in tales, it would hook you and keep you there the entire time.

the name cards are also very oddly timed. a lot of them dont appear when theyre supposed to. typically in borderlands, we get a line or two before a character’s name is revealed. i found multiple times, either name cards did not appear for characters that would be reoccurring, or would just be flat out poorly timed. it didnt feel like borderlands, which is known for the flash of the cards and the catchy one-liners to accompany them.

writing

so... its definitely an improvement from borderlands 3. some would disagree and say its a difficult storyline to follow, which, i understand

i think episodes 2-3 were quite literally worthless and provided nothing. i dont think i even remember what happened in those episodes. the ones that really captured me, were the last two. its where the spirit of the game (quite literally) came out to reveal itself. i didnt expect myself to get emotional but episode four did make me cry, and then immediately sober up in confusion when it jumped to a retro 90s fighting style game with fran.

some of the jokes dont hit quite right and a lot of episode four is... odd. between the std’s joke, the spiderant, so on... it felt unnecessary. the running gag of lou13 “data sharing” (aka having sex) was uncomfortable to watch.

and there were a lot of inconsistencies with the writing, as is usual with the borderlands universe, but:

- anu creates a device to replicate siren technology, which is disregarded after episode 1 and never brought back up again

- octavio’s idiocy goes beyond being an idiot and quite literally just having no brain for the sake of “humour”, which just comes off as frustrating

- characters just stand out in open hallways and get shot and die. its seen as emotional and heartbreaking in game, and incredibly stupid as the player of said game. why the hell did stapleface die from a gunshot to the shoulder? why couldnt anu heal her? who knows, there is absolutely no explanation for it

- when the characters are going on a gameshow and stopped by a bouncer, he says “all contestants are accounted for” and then when you get into the area, there is literally. a single person. and its not a sake of others going before said person -- they literally begin the gameshow, starting with that person, a moment later.

- rhys calls anu to ask her help to stop tediore from opening the vault, and then, never follows up. literally. he is not seen from again for like five chapters or something ridiculous and when he does return, its for a completely separate reason and its never brought up again.

- the writers seemed to have either never played the original tales, or did not care enough to stay true to rhys’ character in general. he’s power-hungry, an asshole, and the type of superior he wouldve hated. the writers chose to ignore every single line of rhys discussing how atlas could be different from the other corporations and went with “actually, theyre ALL bad” which like, yeah, i get it. capitalism, boo. but when it doesnt match up with the characters behaviour its... very irritating.

while there was definitely some of sassy rhys in there ("you’ll be hearing from me, specifically my tears” is one of my personal favourites), it didnt make up for the rest of how they butchered his character. also, i see them hinting at sasha’s return and i DO NOT like it. stay away from her.

they also decided to make athena the ceo of hyperion-- how or why that happened, i have no idea, and frankly at this point i dont want to find out.

characters

the cast is... certainly a cast. but delete lou13.

i really liked anu and i resonated with her. although a little irritating at times, i could appreciate her as a character. it was a real breath of fresh air in comparison to the other borderlands characters we typically receive. octavio was... octavio. i did enjoy fran, but the consistent horniess was overdone after about the second episode.

a lot of the side characters that were introduced just, dont get brought back in. youre introduced to a big group of characters in the first episode by octavio, and then you barely see any of them for the rest of the game. (justice for diamond danielle) its a waste and once again, one of the biggest complaints i have about borderlands games is wasted potential. from bl3′s clay, to athena (who actually makes a reappearance, after the audience reminded the writers she existed), katagawa jr, aurelia, rose, gladstone, and so on...

now we have an additional cast of characters we’re most likely never going to see again, who were introduced as important to one of our protagonists and then never expanded upon. (the fact we saw a literal talking gun more than any of his closest friends was weird)

anyway, going back to my first point, im sorry but i hated lou13. his entire existence was unnecessary. a robot filled with existential dread, oh boy, i wonder where we’ve seen that one before! this isnt familiar and not well done at all.

where loaderbot in the original tales shines, lou13 fails in every. single. category. from personality, to likability, to personal sacrifices for our protagonists... its all lackluster, disappointing, and i could not care less about this character.

anyway, we’re never going to see about 99% of those introduction characters again and while its annoying, im fine with it if it means more room for other, already established characters who deserve some more time in the spotlight.

going back-- we finally saw katagawa senior! they copied katagawa jr’s model entirely, and put a beard on him. fantastic, great work everyone. take a day off, you guys deserve it. mustve been really difficult to come up with that one, especially considering the art we see for him in the next episode is literally not the same man.

overall

if you go into this expecting tales from the borderlands, you’ll be disappointed.

if you go into this expecting good writing, you’ll be disappointed.

if you go into this expecting a few laughs, you might get some! it depends on your humour! i thought badass superfan was hilarious and there were a few bits i genuinely enjoyed. a lot of the humour was enjoyable to me, but after all, this is all matter of opinion. if youre not a fan of reoccurring jokes or bits that drag on for a little bit too long, planned awkward laughter, tension, etc. this might not be your style of humour.

if you go into this wanting good characters to grow attachments to... play tales from the borderlands.

5/10 just want troy baker back plz ty.

#borderlands #new tales from the borderlands #tales from the borderlands #ntftbl #tftbl #**mine

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classychassiss · 1 year

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My excitement for earthspark has become one big sigh. My biggest fear of the writer's trying to have their cake and eat it too has come true. I almost can't enjoy the Terrans/Maltos because of all the other poor writing choices for no good. reason. Just seconding everything you said, and debating what is going with this show. Sigh.

I ended up finishing the season off, and I really enjoyed Lorin Williams (?) writing in Episode 14, I think that episode was really strong but then it was followed by like. The Bear One so that was weird. And the final two parter had these moments, like I loved Frenzy and Laserbeak being a terrible twosome and stuff but a lot of stuff was rushed/glossed over for shock value and that is disappointing. I know some people are like, excited over how the Bot Brawl is a nod to the gladiatorial combat on Cybertron but like. It feels too cartoonishly evil to me, like I understand its the Big Bad Evil Guys here, but there are ways to do things without resorting entirely to cliche ultraviolence.

Like why can't it be an underground Decepticon AEW with illegal sponsors? You can still comment on how humiliated they feel becoming essentially wrestling Rodeo Clowns to the humans for good will and energon, but if we're going with 1v1 racial allusions, I would think That would be more understandable than straight up hobo fight blood sport, no one HAS to die, but I guess you can't drive the point home if they don't get scrapped. I cant imagine that wouldn't work either, like Combaticons as micro celebs and underground champions? A Chance for humans to start seeing them as beings once they start thinking of them the same way they do their human wrestlers when GHOST and Mandroid come around? IDK! I also....Don't Know how I feel about it being set in Philly like its the Bad Part of town but Dats Me

I'll even be upfront: There are parts of me, and this may not be MY place, but there are parts of me that are a little uncomfortable watching two Blasian kids watching their Cybertronian mixed siblings get aggro'd with micro and macroaggressions in a narrative that presumably exists in a world where human racism doesn't, or else things would get too complicated against the Robot Racism. But the fact that its like a 1v1 to depictions of Real World Racism is a bit too much. Again though like, this is just me. I understand that this isn't uncommon in stories like this, and that some suspension of disbelief is needed, its maybe just an observation of hypervigilance on my end.

I think what the show could really use is some more showing not telling. Its not the worst TF show, not by a country mile, and I do enjoys the Maltos and Terrans, but it isn't what I was hoping for either, and I think the hammy writing in some areas and lack of consistent tone so far don't make it as enjoyable as it should :/ We'll have to wait and see if Season 2 will address the unanswered questions and shifting rules in the universe, and I'm curious about the Human/Terran powers!

#asks #chass blabs #long post #I ought to tag this ugh #earthspark spoilers #tfe spoilers

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risingsouls · 1 year

Text

[Finished the Planet Kanassa missions and oof. I got some mad feels and thoughts.]

[First I’ll go with just overall general thoughts. I really enjoyed it and liked the gameplay. They basically added mob fights to the game, which makes sense, so it keeps it from getting too repetitive. It looked gorgeous as the rest of the game has and I’m having fun overall with the DLC. The characters are fun and it’s neat to see their dynamics and how that’s maintained here and whatnot and just goooood shiiiit.

Now for some more specific feels. First, a small one. As far as this game goes and what I remember of the main story, they honestly somehow managed to make Bardock more brutal and callous than Vegeta. Like damn some of the shit he says is just cruel and had me muttering “fucking christ, bardock” more than a few times. And it’s like...you know he IS that way, and that’s how the special portrayed him, but I guess with the combination of seeing more of it through the gameplay and being bombarded more often these days with Super’s “softer” rendition of Bardock, it was insane. And maybe that’s also because we don’t get to see or play as Vegeta in this game in a situation like purging a planet for Freezie pop, but damn. They really are doing it wrong with Vegeta when Bardock makes him look almost saintly. In this game at least.

The other thing that I think might have been the best(?) part of this particular part of the DLC and its execution is just...that sinking gut feeling you have the entire time that comes with being in control of the ones slaughtering innocent people for an empire’s greed. Or maybe that’s just me because I RP a ton of characters tied to the Cold Empire. Either way, watching and listening to Bardock, Tora, Fasha, Borgos, and Shugesh discuss and interact with the Kanassans was like...poignant and almost hard to stomach. Juxtaposed with the characters’ excitement and enjoyment of it all it’s like this weird combination of wanting to share in the emotions of the character you’re controlling but 😬😬 on a base level you just can’t. Not completely, because you know YOU’RE the bad guy here. So yeah. I think they did an excellent job not only juxtaposing the Kanassans’ reactions to the Saiyans’ excitement, but also in getting it all to elicit that big oof feeling from the player, too.

Last small thing, more related to my bs than anything: Nabs was absolutely having a bad time watching that because it brought back all her trauma from being on the force. Even Bardock flinched a few times and that’s HIM. I’ve also been re-reading my fic so I’m in the early part and that’s full of Nabooru’s existential moral crises and then we get this SO. :’3]

#.:ooc:.#.:momo plays dbz kakarot:.#bardock dlc spoilers

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olderthannetfic · 2 years

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the conversation surrounding heartstopper going on in this blog is so interesting. for full disclosure, ive been keeping up with heartstopper for over two years now, i think, and was super excited for the adaptation. i haven't finished it yet, but im fully aware that i look absolutely insane while im watching it. i physically cannot sit still. there's something about it that just brings me joy.

also for full disclosure, im not usually one for overly sanitized ships and i do often prefer mlm ships. i ship batman and the joker in all their fucked up and complicated glory; i was reading harry/voldemort fanfiction on ffnet as early on as 14 years old, and it was smutty fic too. so i can definitely say that the main couple in heartstopper is not my usual jam and that it does not evoke in me the same type of fixation the aforementioned ships do.

BUT that doesn't remove any of the enjoyment for me. as much as I see my queerness in the Other and the Weird and the Freakish, there's also a part of me that sort of aches for the soft, young, queer experience I didn't get to have when I was in middle school or high school. And Heartstopper soothes that ache really well. Maybe it just speaks to my inner child that desperately wishes they could have had THAT image of queerness in their life, rather than it being something hidden, something bad, something that had to be confined to my computer screen and websites I was too scared to tell my parents about.

There's a conversation to be had, of course, about purity culture, overly sanitized media, the voluntary blind eye turned to the sexual aspect of teenagehood. And I agree that Heartstopper is guilty of all those things. But, I suppose that what I want to say is that there's more to it than that handful of problems, and different reasons as to why it seems to appeal to so many people

It looks well lit and shot with some cute actors. It's live action m/m that many people can get access to. I don't think it's mysterious why it's popular even aside from the exact merits or weaknesses of its writing.

I'm not interested in it because I didn't like or relate to this kind of thing when I was a teen either and nothing about that has changed.

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