#This series is too good to take a purist attitude toward

[faroreswinds]

Hello again. I spent a good deal of time trying to write down a translation of that account’s deleted blog post, but then I realized it would take to long to do properly (and because I was trying to properly show it in English). I hope you forgive me for showing instead a shortened version (and this is still quite long, so I apologize again):

Pros: graphics are greatly improved and the cutscenes look beautiful. The gameplay is very entertaining and the level of difficulty is challenging in a good way. There is a lot to do around the base camp, and its changing locations add to the excitement. It’s good to have characters like Rodrigue and Jeritza as playable cast members (especially Rodrigue, he enjoys high popularity in Japan). Byleth speaking out loud and having supports with Jeralt is pleasant and highly prized. It’s good to see the rest of the cast show up in cutscenes and cgs to show their own parts in the story.

Unfortunately this is where the pros end…

The reviewer has maintained a blog to criticize the mistakes and issues in the fodolan series since launch but did so out of love. The reviewer’s stance is that Musou storyline totally butchers the spirit and integrity of Houses

Self-described as a lore purist who at least enjoyed being able to ”fill in the blanks” for everything left unsaid in Houses. Musou introduces a lot of information that is contradictory to established canon such as House Bergliez with its crest of cichol, Kronya’s attitude being the first sign of something wrong instead of that being Monica’s true personality. Monica herself is controversial, she’s seen as good yuri fanservice and a loyal vassal but others dislike how she is now part of ”the Emperor’s loyal court” (Hubert, Dorothea, now Monica follow Edelgard to praise her constantly).

Arval as the antithesis to Sothis went nowhere, was ultimately not considered of much interest by the fans.

Sothis having her memories but no interactions with her children and Rhea angered many people. The reviewer notes they also made her sound crueler and haughtier in English

Shez is a fun and likeable character, though fans ultimately care more about the established cast.

Eyebrows were raised over why pertinent lore the game wants players to consider canon is now suddenly in a Musou spin off instead of the main game. Suspicions were raised over Kusakihara and Iwata as the main scenario planners (this is the term general used for those in charge of the story scripts): is this the story they originally meant to tell, but couldn’t because of the rush to finish the deadline [in 2019]?

Further suspicions over the Nintendo Life/Famitsu interviews confirming the canonicity of both, which is unheard of for any Musou spinoff. Musou is meant first and foremost as a purely fanservice vehicle, and it’s how people buy those games at all

“In fact, the game seems to struggle with wanting to take itself seriously, and also tell players to enjoy the fanservice, while winking at the camera”

More suspicions, now towards Westerners. The reviewer notes the large size of the English speaking fandom…as well as the strange changes made for the international releases of previous FE titles (censored cg art and dialogue in Awakening, censored dialogue in Fates plus the LGBT controversy). There are concerns that the development team took to heart too many complaints over previous games’ characters, writing, settings, scenarios.

Reviewer casts aspersions over English fandom as vulgar yet strangely puritanical, constantly given to fighting, not tagging properly, the frequent interactions between fans and seiyuu so casually on social media, and generally being an unpleasant space to be in

Reviewer embedded several tweets from a few prominent English speaker FE fans showing…bad behavior basically.

The reviewer then compared them to other events like an asian fanartist who drew a Disney’s Encanto fanart being run off twitter because of perceived issues in skin coloration. They also pointed to reddit and 4chan as further evidence of bad behavior and made an explicit comparison to calling it “otaku behavior” and hoping they’re wrong about their feedback suspicions

The reviewer is pessimistic however as they explain about complaints that Fates got a Golden Route while Houses did not, and that it seems prominent in foreign fandom as a desire

“We as players understood that taking the hand of Emperor, clad in red, and wearing horns, whose own tragedy was working with the shadows while lying to Byleth (Jpn writes them together as Beretoresu since they actually share a name overseas), and as shown in the Safflower route’s ending illustration as the dark route, was meant mostly as a pleasant delusion (the term used for headcanon) and a particular fanservice. There seems to be no such distinction for foreigners.”

The review is then divided into critiquing each lord in Musou:

Edelgard’s tragic side is stripped to make her into a full-blooded Red Emperor character. This comes across as unpleasant since the reviewer feels like the scenario team is trying to trick the players with fanservice (her outfit is very youthful and cute) when it does not mesh well with her blatant agenda of conquest. In Houses at least players understood her goals as contradicting her image when she was dressed more like an adult, and had Amyr, with its menacing looks and movements. There is a great deal of confusion over why she wants to keep Rhea alive this time, yet still greatly hates the church. Her ending was nonsensical and unsatisfying and there was no reason for the Hegemon form to make an appearance

Claude. Goodness. The reviewer is incensed. Claude’s curiosity, wanting more knowledge, to learn the truth behind things, they’re gone here. His attitude towards the Kingdom comes across as condescending. He is called a hypocrite more than once. Though showing him having doubts, and expressing fears over his vulnerabilities is good, that’s negated when his actions only invite more disaster, and his worries look more like self-pity when he’s unhappy one moment, and then coldly executing another assault against the Kingdom the next. The Sreng invasion is particularly used to lambast him. There is no reason why his mistrust suddenly allows him to swallow Edelgard lying to his face or why he is suddenly so against the Church

Shahid is wasted when Claude is then shoved back into Fodla’s war. The reviewer snidely recommended watching The Lion King for better family conflicts over a throne.

Rhea is considered a lord in that she represents another faction, the Church. Rhea is quite popular in Japan and her treatment in the game is seen as insulting. Her motherly concern for Cyril’s safety is touching, but does not negate the strangeness of sacrificing herself for Edelgard against Thales, or (worse) Claude killing her. The reviewer brings up the apparent fact of the English voice director’s dislike of Rhea and his instructions for her English seiyuu to sound more harsh, violent, not as serene or dignified as in Japanese (circling back to concerns over Western involvement)

Dimitri, written surprisingly well. His arc is of a noble young king coming into his own, his friends are just as brave and amazing next to him. Unfortunately his route starts to falter in the middle, since it does not know how to strike a balance between suddenly knowing about Those Whoe Slither in the Dark and the Empire invading when both are now separately working. The powerful pathos of fighting against the girl who was once his family (and betrayed him) is gone, so it just seems like Marth fighting Hardin again. His redemption in Houses was one of the most popular things about him, and that is also gone too in Hopes…so taking both previous things into account makes Edelgard as part of his final fight seem very forced. “This is a king who is resigned to being a king, who will sadly be glad to kill his phantom, and say that his happiest moment will be on his deathbead, instead of living for his people.” Him not reaching a hand out to a helpless Edelgard is seen as cold.

Here is Byleth’s section. It is the bleakest part of the review so far and honestly made me feel really bad:

”The box art shows Byleth quite prominently, which is laughable considering her (reviewer played as Beresu for two routes and Bereto in one) almost non-existence in the story itself. The so-called rivalry pushed in [commercials and promotional work] was nothing more than an audacious lie designed to part us from nearly ¥6000 (reviewer purchased the LE box).”

The reviewer goes on to note Byleth’s high popularity and how it contradicts the magazine interviews acknowledging this. ”Is this how a [fan-favorite] is treated in other spinoffs? I can’t imagine this happening to characters like [Persona Five’s] Joker without angering fans.”

Byleth is seen as uniquely a target of particular scorn from Iwata considering their position in the game: recruiting them can be difficult and easily missed, and so means seeing Jeralt die painfully again, and absurd yet heart-wrenching retaliatory deaths of other characters. Rodrigue’s death is seen as particularly punishing, especially with dialogue from Felix and Dimitri then calling Byleth a monster and their enemy. Their death is anticlimatic yet also painful, and this level of death also unheard of for what is supposed to be a fanservice genre of games, nevermind for the former main character! In supports Jeralt laughs at the idea of Byleth becoming a teacher and calls them unqualified and Leonie still hates them.

Even when recruited, they play no further level of involvement in the story, nor do they show up in the fight against Arval that their recruitment unlocks, nor does that change the unsatisfactory route endings in any way.

The reviewer cites more suspicions and points to how Byleth is popular in Japan, but their research across English social media shows a lot of hatred for Byleth. ”Perhaps an English speaking fan wrote this game.”

”For fans of a teacher who grew close with their students, and formed bonds of cherished warmth with them in Houses, comes across as a slap in the face to see them being strangers [among the rest of the cast]”

This also carries on to other routes. If recruited for Edelgard the emperor says she feels drawn to them but nothing comes of it, but if not recruited then it means Claude recruits them and says he wants them to work together even after the war ends, but this results in both dying in Ailel. If recruited for Claude he also says he feels drawn to them but nothing else comes from it.

The dimitri one is particularly bad. I would like to stress that Dimileth is the most popular ship of Houses and in a popularity poll, Dimiresu scored first place, Dimireto second, with both varieties far outstripping any other ship (no Edelgard ship showed up in the top ten). Dimileth fans are particularly heartbroken

Considering the previous point: it seems like Koei/Iwata want to punish the players for liking Houses and Byleth, and to declare Musou, the new canon. In Musou, though the war continues, no one really dies (except maybe Claude and Rhea and Byleth and one of the other three that Byleth can kill). Nothing really terrible happens like Jeralt dying, the monastery being invaded, Rodrigue dying, Those Who Slither In the Dark are defeated. In contrast, many tragic things happen in Houses permanently for each route.

Considering the previous two points, this is especially heartbreaking for fans of Azure Moon: playing Azure Gleam means Byleth never becomes a teacher, and Dimitri keeps his eye, the whole truth of the Tragedy of Dusca is uncovered, Those Who Slither in the Dark are defeated, Dedue is never separated from Dimitri, Rodrigue and Jeralt stay alive, and so does Claude, Edelgard, and Rhea

Many Dimileth fans say their enjoyment of the ship and Houses is destroyed because they can no longer consciously think of submitting Dimitri, Dedue, Faerghus and the rest of the continent (!) to the sad events of Azure Moon when Azure Gleam clearly shows better fates for them all

A large-scale figure of Byleth is planned for release in July and is quite expensive. The reviewer calls it a poor yet expensive consolation for what is seen as the development team spitting in the fans’ eye

The reviewer concluded their blog post by saying that their enjoyment in Houses is shattered. They don’t know who to blame, either Koei or Intelligent Systems, but they know they are working on the next mainline title together, so it likely means they will stop playing Fire Emblem (they apparently started since the first games) if it means not giving KT-Intsys their money

I am sorry that this is so long. And I am sorry that this is such a negative thing to plant in your inbox. I just wanted to show information and the perspective of Japanese fans to others, since many outside of Japan don’t know what opinions are shared in those circles.

Thanks anon, and thank you for sharing other links as well (which I will keep private for their privacy).

This must have taken a lot of time, and your hard work is appreciated.

I really like these insights into other language speaking fandoms. I'm posting this for others to read as well.

<3 You are wonderful, anon, no need to apologize.

I’m going to make a post to regard these points more thoroughly. I just don’t have the time at this moment. Please forgive me if my response is inadequate to the work you put in at this time.

#Three Hopes #anon asks

[shrapnelstars]

(Don’t @ me unless you read the whole thing.)

I binge watched all of MatPat’s FNaF theories last night, and let me tell you, after going back over the story and assessing where we are now, the more I feel like the Afton arc makes more sense if you kick 4 from the timeline. Just that one change. The son going out to undo what the father wrought flows more naturally without trying to figure out what the fuck happened in that game.

I’m definitely of the opinion that Mike is an android because the series undeniably strayed further into Cyberpunk towards the end of that arc, and the books (ZOMFG!!HERETIC!) echoed that theme hard with TFC and the way it ended, not to mention how a lot of material started centering around Mike’s identity and even calling it into question (Survival Logbook). Charlie’s identity was very much shaken when she found out she was an android, and it was treated as a major moment, and she had to reconcile that information in her mind, the decision of which ends the whole series. Mike has a similar moment when he realizes that it’s very incorrect for him to still be alive, resolves to find William, and shuts down everyone’s mess in the maze fire. Those characters both take that pivotal reveal, reclaim their lives as their own instead of lamenting the validity of their existence, and end the horror show on their own terms.

I have to be honest, though: I don’t hate 4. I loved the focus on storytelling and especially the greater emphasis on the Commodore-style minigames. They were my favorite addition to the series (still are!), and did an amazing job at minimalist storytelling that used silence to their advantage when setting up atmosphere. The issue with 4? Now that I think about it, probably the fact that it had to have the Nightmare animatronics in it in the first place. If 4 was just a Commodore-style game focusing on a child who got killed by a freak accident at an arcade, that would have made a lot more sense and had a lot more focus. Take a close look at how everything falls into chaos when that color-pack of enemies has to be explained and placed in the story. If that kid was just having trauma-induced nightmares and hallucinations up until his death, we wouldn’t have to contend with the micro-discs, who made them, the house monitoring scenario, and all that other cruft. Since the Nightmares had to be made physical just to contrast with 3, we have all of these extra details.

What I like about this new arc we’re entering into is that, not only are we clear of all of that baggage and are starting anew, the series also seems to be going back to it’s Cassette-Futurist roots, focusing on 80′s-90′s aesthetics and technology, and telling a character-focused story from the ground up to avoid the pitfalls and plot contention of the first arc. It will probably genre-shift into Cyberpunk and transhumanism once again, since that’s baked into the already-seeded story right now, but at least people won’t reject it as hard when or if it happens since it’s been there all along.

I don’t know why people fight so hard against stuff like Mi/keBot and the events of the books. Scott has shown his preferred plot leanings from the very beginning, and his stories always lean towards Dystopian Cyberpunk and some form of softcore identity death (Children in the suits becoming feral, Elizabeth becoming Baby, Ennard’s whole concept, the remnant mass from the end books, Charlie being a robot, Mike being surprised at being alive after being hollowed out by Ennard, the girl turning into a junk heap in FF1 [an actual hardcore example], and on and on). Why they pick and choose certain elements to “protect” from his standard mode of writing baffles me. Speaking of, this is also the third time Scott has said that the books are allowed for solving the game story and these kinds of fans have stiff-armed him. Nobody is trying to place officer Clay or John in the games, so that strawman can be dropped. Seeing character motifs, small plot details, and bits of characterization mirrored between the books and the games is going to happen, because the overarching story is the same. And once again, Afton and Henry are canon immigrants. Any hard separation between the books and the games was shot by the time Sister Location came out because of those two characters being lifted straight from the books into the games. You can be a purist if you want, but I feel like you miss a lot of the fun of the series by trying to enforce that nobody thinks about the books and the games at the same time.

#stuff #long post #kind of a rant at the end but not really? #This series is too good to take a purist attitude toward

[kendrixtermina]

Sigh. Chibnall.

Jodie Whittaker and demographic realism

So I want to make clear that I have no problems whatsoever with Jodie Whittaker’s performance - the character seamlessly kept walking across the screen, she has great energy, love the steampunk goggles. 

Honestly I’ve always believed that giving existing characters a demographic change is not really as revolutionary or helpful as ppl think; New characters and stories (esp. told by writers of those samedemographics) solve the problem much better. Keeping specificity is often better than losing it, and the character still has a background (from an “advanced” civilization that used to do dirty deeds and is still kind of uppity attitudes, a character who’s decided to be against that attitude but still needs to be knocked own from the occasional uppity moment; It makes sense for them to look like a british dude, and they have the freedom to go wherever problems like sexism and racism don’t exist so... ), and will be linked to its origin.  But at worst something that will look dated in a few years like the 80s outfits, the show’s done dated and crowdpleasing before; There’s no hard reason not to do it and I expected no quality dip. 

It certainly worked as as attention grab, the premiere drew a lot of attention but that only lasted as long as it took for the reviews to go sour. But one of the main good things its proponents said could come of it was to help the lack of female anti heroes. So far she really didn’t get to anti hero much; It’s not Whittaker, it’s the scripts. 

I want to make this clear: Varied demograpics are good; 

This is why I kind of hate the term “diversity” is one of those vague euphemisms if you mean “demographic representation”, “social equity” or “demographic realism” just say that. 

In a way this is a good thing, it used to be only the best boldest writers who could get away, noadays it has become acceptable to have varied casts. And that’s how it should be artshouldn’t have to have to pass some arbitrary quality standard to simply reflect reality. But as the rebootverse and star trek discovery should’ve proved realistic demographics can’t replace good writing. Sometimes lack of realistic demographis is associated with bad writing because both come from play-it-safe more-of-the-same consummerism focussed sameyness, often someone who goes against the formulas has a solid vision which makes them good, and focussing on ignored topics and perspectives can yield new ideas (consider stuff like Wonder Woman, Get Out, Black Panther... which were just good, novel movies) but you could have a super interesting memorable story where everyone is a medieval european monk, but the characters are differentiated by personality, attitude, beliefs, or something where the cast ticks all sort of all demographic boxes but the characters are 1D and the story trite and predictable

On the one hand you get those gamergate adjacent fanboys who make “diversity” and “good writing” out to be enimical opposites and then you have the purists/antis who treat any critique of writing to be founded in having something against realistic demographics. You need both! 

Series 11

There were good things about it: An attempt at leastto do more of your classic thought provoking space operas or going back to the shows’ pulp fiction roots, covering some historic periods/topics other than the classic historical fiction tropes (they got a pakistani writer, had Yaz and Ryan discuss social topics among themselves etc.), the emotional story centered around this family coping with a loss, having Ryan sort of be the “main” companion and the one the rest of the team is protective of

But overall the reason I didn’t rush to watch s12 as soon as it came out is that it was a bit... bland. The team interacted mostly with each other; The Doctor had more charge with one shot characters like King James or the Solitract than she really did with the companions. Graham was such a missed opportunity. Remember how everyone loved the dynamic with Wilfred? No attempt to strike a bond over how they’re the older party members, or the professional xenophile trying to nudge the bilbo baggins like reluctant hero? We’re told the Doctor really likes Yaz, and I believe it cause she always liked people like that, but are we shown?

For all that Moffat and RTD were very different writers with different strenghts and weaknesses, both were very character-driven writers, and that was really missing here a bit. 

Some ppl said they didn’t give Yaz enough screentime or personality - but the thing is, they did try. They just failed. They let her make little remarks here and there about her homelife, they just never really assembled into a whole beyond buzzwords and inspirational platitudes and the Standard Companion Traits. I didn’t get a read on what she’s about or who she’s like until the pakisan episode where she unlike Barbara, Donna etc. immediately accepted that the past can’t be changed. Ah, I finally thought, she’s a very responsible dutiful person.

Everything lacks edges and defining moments. 

So far, I didn’t sweat it. I though, ok, not everything can be the high-concept character driven spec fic epic type of story that is my personal favorite. Every time there was some addition to the mythos in any way someone cried ruined forever. When the time lords first appeared. When the time war was introduced. 

The classics too were lower on the character driven ness; Still good pulp fiction content. (imho the character concepts themselves were often pretty good, just not used to the fullest and some of the actresses were treated crappy backstage)

I thought “okey, it wouldn’t be good to break with the tradition of making the sussequent incarnations contrasting”

I did think that there was much liberty with the additions which the others did do only towards the end when it feltmore earned, but, the addition of say, sisters, isn’t too disruptive

Series 12 and the Timeless Child Nonsense

The frustrating thing about this is that it COULD have been good. 

The Master teaming up with the cybermen to try and take over Gallifrey is precisely the sort of story the classics would’ve done. 

“Your society is founded on a shady secret and exploitation of the innocent” is a good plot twist especially in these times. The Master finding that secret and using it to his advantage - also very him. 

Imagine what it could have been like if it had been approached from the perspective of someone who, for all that they were a rebel, still sort of profited from being part of that society, someone who wants to take responsibility for that past and would maybe have to make some tough choice to let the exploitation victim go because it’s right even if it has cosequences for themselves and their civilization. 

but then you ruin that by immediately taking the protagonist out of that society. They and they alone are the victim. 

like this plot could have been good except for the twist that the Doctor and the timeless child are the same. 

Not connecting it to existing lore about the earlier war game days, everything with Omega and Rassilon, that bit about the Time Lord becoming what they were through exposure to the untempered schism... that might be forgiven. Even if it does stretch the suspension of disbelief that every single piece of sci fi scanning equipment in the show didn’t pick anything up; Not to mention that it destroys the stake on every heroic sacrifice or death prophecy plot, every time a companion or oneshot character took the bullet, the whole “out of regens” plot...

This is not me being mad about things being added or changed, but this being done in such a way that undermines the philosophy, the whole flavor... 

Yes, the MC is mysterious, the 7th Doctor arcs did a lot with this etc. but doesn’t spelling something out this clear not deplete rather than add to that? It#s a definite answer even if the final origin isn’t clear. 

But they’re so much else.

The trickster hero accomplishing great deeds with planning, guile, improvisation and duct tape, the implicit value that ressourcefulness trumps raw power. 

The rebel, different because they chose to be or made themselves to be such through their adventures, sticking to their own values in a close-minded society - who embodies & encourages thinking for yourself in every situation and universal plot, who battles enemies like the Daleks and Cybermen that represent comformity

Yeah they have many names yeah they take out gods... but all this was the result of their actions & path in pursuit of knowledge, and also, as Moffat once stated, the funny part is that behind all the fearsome reputation is wit and duct tape. 

The fish in a small pond who started out a misfit, failed their tardis driving exam... etc. and often made a point that they didn’t want immortality or endless godlike power. That’s meaningless if they had it to begin with. 

The explorer who wanted to see more than their corner of the world. 

The ANTI HERO that’s made alltogether too tragic here, too absolved from their uppity civilization

All that is wiped away if they were this special creature to begin with.

Where WAS the philosophy, rly? The big humanist speeches that made me love the show. 

Going Forward

So I think - I HOPE - that this in particular will be treated like the “half human” thing from the TV movie or the now josses additional origin stories from the audios, or be handwaved under the “you cant get it wrong cause everything is in flux” carpet

It’s the Master effing with her to pay her back for the half broken chameleon arch thing. 

It’s possible the Child actually existed, long dead or trapped somewhere - again, dirty mystery at the bottom of a stck-up society is a good twist. but this shouldn’t be more than another maybe in the multiple choice past not a definite answer. 

Also, i hate this line of thought but I can’t stave it off: Why is is now that the MC looks female that we get this vulnerable, passively victimized tomato surprise rather than something with an ugly but definite choice in it. 

I will probably ignore it - parts of me resents this cause “your civilization is based on a lie” could be such a good plot twist (then again the existing twists to that end from the classics and End of Time do enough rly) but if i have to choose between that and the basic meaning of the character....

#Doctor Who #timeless child #chris chibnall

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Crowley doesn’t want to hurt Aziraphale’s feelings. He used to like needling the angel and getting a rise out of him but never with intent to actually hurt him.

Sometimes though... one has to employ Tough Love to get their point across. Because if Crowley were to let it go on than he’d be letting Aziraphale walk around offending people unawares, which wasn’t something the angel wanted to do ever. So Crowley would do it, even if it was a Good deed.

It was an age-old argument between them. For years Aziraphale maintained that reading the book yourself was the only true way to appreciate it. That books should not be changed from their original forms and should be accepted as they are. That these newfangled methods were ‘ruining’ the history of the book. For years Crowley had disagreed with this thought process even if he couldn’t explain himself properly.

But now.

Just now he’d realised what bothered him about that stance. It wasn’t Aziraphale’s lack of interest in joining the modern world, though that too was aggravating. It was the lack of consideration for others’ plights.

Like the angel was completely overlooking some important facts when he criticised digital and audiobooks and books changed from their original form. 

So here they were in the bookshop, rehashing an old argument because Aziraphale saw Crowley listening to Harry Potter on his mobile and demanded to know why he didn’t just buy a book.

“I did buy it. I bought the audiobook and downloaded it multiple times so I can have it in various places and on various devices if need be,” he’d answered simply, feeling the incoming argument rearing its old head.

The angel’s mouth twisted in displeasure and that slightly pompous attitude that he’d shed for the most part since Armageddon’t, shined through. He reminded Crowley too much of Gabriel in that moment and the demon despised it.

“Those just aren’t real books though! They’re a mockery of the art.”

And here was where Crowley decided that being nice about this topic was not the best way to go about it. This was where Tough Love came into play.

He waited several seconds, decidedly staring at his screen even though he coudn’t really see any words. “You know, it’s very ableist when you do that.”

Instantly the righteous fury that had been building up between them went cold and he peeked over the top of his mobile to see Aziraphale frowning in confusion and offense.

“You realise that there are people who cannot read? Either because of a level of blindness, or dyslexia, something else that makes it difficult for them to understand the written word, or just they’ve never learned how to because of how underprivileged they are in life?”

The angel blinked.

“Such people have to rely on Braille or audioooks or friends and family reading aloud to help them. Just because you’re some art purist doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to experience books in the only ways they can. These people are paying the same price as one would for a physical copy. They just want to get involved in something. Happiness shouldn’t be limited to the abled and privileged.”

Some sputtering followed those words as Aziraphale tried to find words to reply with, but Crowley was on a roll.

“And many people do not have the space available for physical books. Downloading an entire library onto a device that fits into your pocket and can be carried everywhere with you, saves time, energy, trees, and space. One would think you’d be happy about those facts but all you do it get on your high horse and pontificate about how these things ‘ruin everything’ for you.”

Dealing with it was just so aggravating! And he could finally explain why and it was a relief to do so! Crowley was only minutely offended but he knew that many humans wouldn’t have put up with it for as long as he had. Nor would have withheld from swearing when they finally exploded.

“You may not have realised it, Aziraphale, but my eyes are more snake-like than you’d think. The one thing I’ve never been able to control as firmly as I wanted is my vision. I have to put so much effort into the miracle the makes me capable of reading for a short period of time. And it’s exhausting. It gives me a splitting headache. I was thrilled when the original version of audiobooks became a thing because reading takes so much effort that it leaves me stressed and tired enough to sleep for weeks.”

He memorised things by pattern and colour. And he would avoid reading if he absolutely had to. This also meant he didn’t do a lot of writing. He somewhat could but didn’t like to.

It was just stressful overall.

The cushion beside him sank a bit as Aziraphale seated himself at Crowley’s side. He placed a hand on the demon’s arm, encouraging him to look over. His blue eyes were soft with concern.

“I never realised, my dear. I’ve simply been concerned by the growing lack of interest in reading this past century alone. It didn’t occur to me that many people simply didn’t have the same chances. The very series you were just listening to sparked an interest in reading again, but it just didn’t feel like enough. It felt like things were slowing down.

“I apologise for my callous words on the subject. I never meant to be inconsiderate toward you or anyone else.”

He practically poured wounded sincerity, and Crowley knew he wouldn’t hold it against the angel because Aziraphale had never been a malicious person at heart. Sure he’d done or said some things in his quest to be God’s Perfect Little Angel, but half of the time he hadn’t even believed the things he was saying. He was just scared of Falling.

He had his moments of being a complete arsehole too, but those were few and far between.

Crowley just wanted him to understand, and it seemed like he finally was. That was all he’d wanted.

With a sigh, the demon said, “You’re forgiven. And if you have any questions about modernisation and concerns about things, we can talk about it and remain open-minded to each other’s points, yeah? We’re both experts in different parts of humanity so listening to each other’s experiences is prudent.”

Aziraphale beamed and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Yes! It’s a very Kind thing for you to offer, dear.”

He grumbled about four-letter descriptors and went back to listening to Voldemort monologue himself hoarse for a whole bloody chapter!

With this success under his belt he couldn’t wait to get on the topic Wikipedia’s usefulness!

A/N: Saw a post today bitching about how audiobooks were for ‘lazy’ people and ‘weren’t real books’. and Aziraphale kind of feels like he’d be the sort to think that until put in his place. So here’s some angst.

#Crowley #Aziraphale #Ineffable Husbands #ficlet #Watermelonsmellinfellon #feels

[tinkiisms]

TIME TO DROP SOME OPINIONS....about the popular fairy fanbase ships.

yes i am. be prepared.

okay im not genuinely meaning to ship-bash, these are just full honest opinions 

fawn/nyx

far from the worst, it’s actually quite a nice ship to build off of the antagonistic-beginning-turned-to-love trope. but there is a very real criticism to be made of “legend of the neverbeast” in that they changed fawn’s personality drastically from all the previous films/books/games/canon. from her abandoned tomboyishness to her ill-advised curiosity and willingness to break rules. her attitudes are much more akin to tinker bell in the earlier films.

remember when fawn hesitated to help tink try out new talents, or to understand tink’s curiosity about the winter woods, or humans...yeah, imo “neverbeast” would have made more sense for their characters if tink had been the one to approach a dangerous animal out of curiosity and gone to fawn for help, idk what they were thinking. “let’s give fawn a rounder face, a spiky dress and tinker bell’s personality, no one will notice!” (except tink herself. she invented that look.)

while fawn/nyx could definitely be it’s own thing and a unique dynamic, i think if you’re shipping fawn/nyx based on fawn’s personality in the last film you’re practically shipping tink/nyx at heart. which i do. fawn is already in love with rosetta, too, read the book.

tink/vidia

unlike fawn and nyx’s antagonism which was born of a specific situation/set of circumstances, tink and vidia’s began by vidia simply being extremely, unnecessarily rude and cruel to tink simply for being annoyed by her. i do enjoy this ship based on...headcanons, idk. but the way they interact really does not lend itself to a healthy basis for a relationship. i know everyone adores vidia’s change of heart after the events of “great fairy rescue,” and i too appreciate the sour/sweet dynamic, but it still doesn’t convince me that they’d be compatible on a real level besides the easy banter of friends.

what happens when they get into a fight again over one of their major differences and have the stakes of a relationship involved? meanwhile in the book series, we see that they absolutely still cannot stand one another, and maybe it’s just ‘cause i’m a book purist but i enjoy that dynamic more? i find it more interesting. tink/silvermist and vidia/prilla are much better, healthier starting places for a loving ship.

zarina/james

i don’t think i should need to explain why it’s messed up. he emotionally manipulated her for an entire year and then literally tried to murder her. but i don’t see people exploring this intrinsic and toxic part of their relationship, i see them glossing over it and romanticizing them, pretending james actually had feelings for her so they can ship it, while the only canon we got says otherwise...

tink/zarina is so much healthier, tink literally traded everything for zarina and supported her and wanted her to come home the whole time, z admired her from the beginning, there is so much room for both fluff and angst in their plot and it’s just wonderful.

tink/bobble

the fanbase makes the ship ugly. it didn’t have to be like this. it could be a cute tinker/tinker ship and i enjoy the possible shenanigans. but i’ve seen so many fans that seem to ship this specifically to spite the fact that tink and terence were implied by the narrative, and they hate terence for no good reason. i can’t count how many people say he has no personality, boring is “just a pretty boy” etc like??? that’s their prerogative to think so, but they then ship her with bobble who perfectly fits their “cute nerdy” stereotype, but do they ever ship her with clank? hmm? (spoiler alert: no. he’s not the right kind of nerdy attractive for them.)

they also ignore that bobble and clank literally live together and are...imho probably gay-coded with the way they’re always together, hugging, even acting like an old married couple. but that’s speculation. so i don’t Hate tink/bobble but i have my Feelings.

clarion/milori

this ship isn’t really a problem, but i just personally find it really boring. it came out of nowhere--there was no such thing as a lord of winter before “secret of the wings“ because there was a minister of winter who took care of that season’s duties. replacing the female minister with a male to push the contrived love story seems a little unnecessary but obviously disney does what it does.

i think queen ree was a fine character NOT to have a romance, having so much more to occupy her time and interests, and lord milori is an interesting character enough on his own bc of his broken wing subplot. the “forbidden love” aspect to mirror tink and peri’s would have interested me more if clarion had her own sibling, not a romance. “we were born of the same laugh.”

but again, it’s not a bad ship, it’s just not my personal preference. i’d have liked clarion with fairy mary or one of her actual ministers if they were going to do a romance, so it was hinted/built over more time.

rosetta/sled

again not bad, and i love that they both have that southern charm and like each other which i find adorable, but i have preferences over this. sled is a gentle but fun-loving animal talent--he takes rosetta on an owl ride in one comic which she doesn’t enjoy. reminds me of the frog-riding fawn did with rosetta once, only sled didn’t seem to notice ro’s being upset while fawn was very concerned in her case. imo sled/ro just feels unnecessarily heterosexual* when basically the same (if not better) dynamic could be achieved with rosetta and fawn.

ro and fawn also have clashing personalities in what they’re interested in, but it’s not like tink/vidia where they have deep ideological differences, they’re both loyal and loving and already best friends. that said, i do enjoy rosetta/sled, it’s just not the best option for me.

*unnecessarily heterosexual could describe rosetta’s character lol she’s had the most romances of all the characters, all boys, and yet i’m like “rosetta likes girls??? yes???” that’s just my fault for trying to force every character i like to be gay.

tink/terence

there are definitely aspects of their relationship i can see being reasons people wouldn’t ship them. the fact that terence is overbearingly “helpful” toward tink when she’s working, the fact that tink doesn’t communicate that she’s annoyed to him before exploding, the fact that they both held a grudge over the fight for a while at least. but that’s also something i find interesting that makes their relationship realistically imperfect--they’re never intentionally cruel to one another but they have some communication issues and pride to deal with, which they both work through by the end of “lost treasure” and come out the other with a stronger friendship/bond. in the end, they both make mistakes but they’re best friends and love each other.

in the books he’s hopelessly in love with her and she intentionally suppresses her own feelings for a long time which is also a little messy, but it’s never presented as terence being “friendzoned” and feeling like he deserves tink’s love even if he wants it, he is happy to be her actual friend, and i think that itself is a healthy portrayal of an unrequited-best-friend-crush that people ignore for some reason.

i think silvermist and tink have an equal amount of chemistry and best-friendship but the world is too oblivious to see it. one day you will all know.

#⊹*⋅✧ | ᵒᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵏᵉᵗᵗᶫᵉˢ (ooc) #i have strong opinions and theyre unnecessary but i like to share them anyways #plus im a hypocrite because im like 'i theoretically do not ship this based on canon goodbye' #but if the chance to ship it with someone else is hinted im like 'YES HELLO I LOVE IT IM DOWN LETS GO' #i just love shipping

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews… American Gods (S01E03) Head Full of Snow Airdate: May 14, 2017 @stzamericangods Ratings: 0.716 Million :: 0.28 18-49 Demo Share Score: 9.25/10

**********SPOILERS BELOW**********

It’s amusing to see all the ‘WTF?!’ comments and viewers delightfully claiming they have ‘no idea what’s going on’, but vacantly profess to love it anyway. It’s that type of attitude that gives episodes that aren’t quite up to par (see American God’s opener 'The Bone Orchard’) a pass with the masses, even when the following two episodes blow it away in substance and scrupulously crafted content… Each scene in both 'The Secret of Spoons’ & the currently reviewed 'Head Full of Snow’ not only yields the visual feast the first episode provided, it tacks on a rich backbone for the series to craft its wages of war on.

If the Gods we have come to meet in E1 & E2 are crafty, violent, or manipulative…even all consuming… then the Gods in E3 are grounded, compassionate, and gentle… A juxtaposition shown in spades in both The Jinn (Mousa Kraish) and Anubis, the Egyptian God of Death & Mummification (Chris Obi). Anubis’ introduction is calming and somber, even when he rips out Mrs. Fadil’s heart to weigh its virtues to decide her fate. Before that act he tastes her cooking to give her a final validation and also allows her to fix her clothing on her corpse, granting her dignity in her post-final moments. This is an amazing lens to view the inevitable and final act of death in, one I hope to see when the final spurt of DMT transmits my consciousness through the forbidden fractals of human eradication and takes me to wherever those doors of psychedelia have promised me a peaceful home in the endless and vast experience of infinity.

The Jinn’s scenes are literally spellbinding… A down on his luck salesman shackled to his current help by his relative, Salim (Omid Abtahi) selling trinkets of little value hops into a cab that will forever change his life… Guess there are advantages to not taking Uber after all. Salim exchanges stories with The Jinn… The audience is immediately keyed in as the The Jinn is wearing dark sunglasses at night in New York in the pouring rain. He drifts off at a stop after revealing he’d been driving the cab for 36-hours straight… Giving way for Salim to lean in close as the camera keeps a steady lock erupting in anticipation on his hand as he gently toggles The Jinn awake, exposing the literal fire in his eyes.

Upon this fiery revelation, Salim reveals he has an understanding of The Jinn’s existence and struggle through a story told by a relative from his home country. As The Jinn confesses his frustrations with his current job driving a taxi, Salim once again draws forward and this time advances in and caresses the same shoulder he once toggled to wake him… A gesture that’s met with a sultry return. If there was any question as to their brewing sexual chemistry, Salim hops out of the cab and tells The Jinn that he’s in Room 318 right as a beautiful woman hops in the backseat barking out directions. The camera immediately cuts to an titled, low angle, claustrophobic shot of Salim & The Jinn riding the elevator together to the 3rd floor, slowly holding steady, rattling the romantic suspense, until they carefully grab for each other’s hands. Can you tell I loved this scene? Oh yeah… But it’s the following scene that absolutely floors me and takes my growing appreciation and attachment to 'American Gods’ to burgeoning new heights.

“I wish you could see what I see,” Salim tenderly expresses his amazement as The Jinn exits the bathroom in just a towel. His rugged features are highlighted by the perfect lighting… His swelling, seasoned hyper-masculinity, hairy chest, thick beard, and actual fiery eyes contrast to Salim’s soft, more angular but still masculine features. The towel drops and I want to say that The Jinn’s most definitely is wearing a prosthetic cock… As a purist, and a lover of the *natural* human form, of both male and female… I do wish they would have used Mousa’s real nude body, all of it… Not just because I admire him, but because it gives boys and men (and females too, most definitely females) a false idea of what real male genitalia is like. Not that what Mousa is sporting here, a flaccid wonder, doesn’t exist in the world… And I did consider that they chose the prosthetic because it was a God and they wanted to really vitalize Jinn’s masculinity and godliness, even making his presence intimidating, complimenting the fire shooting from his eyes… But for the record, if that’s what Mousa is like flaccid then Salim must be a pro. It’s really my only complaint, a small (technically huge) one at that, to an otherwise perfect scene.

A passionate, gay Muslim sex scene… Yes. In 2017. The music, the drums, the fluidity of their motion, the close-ups, the juxtaposition of Mousa’s weathered, rugged body and Omid’s vibrant, smooth skin, the flesh colored sheets, the sudden transportation into the starry, sand soaked dessert as a backdrop, Mousa’s thrusting, transference of energy and fire into Omid’s body, moving from his bottom half where he is being entered towards his solar plexus… The fire escaping his mouth and lighting up his green eyes, eventually setting them ablaze… And back into reality where Omid lays vulnerably on his soft sheets, in complete awe, fading into darkness…. PHEEEEEEWWWW! Not since 2015, when Netflix’s Sense8 rocked the world with their polysexual orgy scene to Fatboy Slim & Macy Gray’s 'Demons’ have we seen a sex scene this intensely and shockingly erotic. The metaphors within 'American Gods’ literally slam you over the head with a hammer, but it works. The Jinn’s fiery nature certainly translates into the bedroom… And I don’t care what the rest of 2017 has in store for us… I’m calling this this 'The Best Sex Scene of The Year’.

Salim awakens by himself, but The Jinn’s clothes are left on the floor… In them are the keys to a taxi and a brand new identification card. Jinn’s may not grant wishes, but they certainly have a way of altering people’s lives right when they need it the most… As clearly the man in the identification card is neither The Jinn or Omid. Something tells me that won’t stop Omid from living out his new life to the fullest extent. What does that say about Americans? You tell me… What can I say, it’s a melting pot but all the ingredients seem to separate when boiled.

Mr Wednesday (Ian McShane) has an ironically intense and passionate scene with Zorya Vechernyaya (Cloris Leachman) sharing a buzz-worthy kiss that proves that even the elderly are human and spark a bit of electricity now and again. Coincidentally, Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) meets the unseen third Zorya Sister, Zorya Polunochnaya (Erika Kaar), and is kissed innocently, but ambush style, as Zorya explains she has never kissed a man before… And yeah even Shadow is unable to pronounce her last name, good thing the three sisters share a first name and not a last. Unlike her other sisters, this Zorya is young & beautiful and watches the stars to make sure a beast stays trapped in the midst of space. She reaches out and grabs the moon and literally gives it to Shadow… How many time-worn lovers have promised that one? This Zorya can do it! And it brings good fortune to Shadow, who awakens to re-challenge Czernobog (Peter Stormare) in another game of checkers and wins both his life back and the strength of Czernobog & his trust hammer in the impending fight of the Gods.

Shadow and Mr Wednesday continue on their journey, strategically robbing a bank in the most inventive way possible, much to Shadow’s opposition. Though the more Shadow is introduced to this strange new world of Gods where anything is possible, roads are made of marshmallows, he himself can will it to snow, and Leprechauns named Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) that are close to 7 feet tall can lose his lucky coin and are plagued without with bad luck (even 'A Good Samaritan’, played by the legendary Scott Thompson is killed immediately upon giving him a lift), the more that Shadow becomes comfortable and sound in his surroundings. As the episode closes out and Sweeney digs at Laura Moon’s grave to retrieve his lucky coin, he reaches her final resting place and finds that the coin Shadow had flipped onto her gravesite and sank into the ground had penetrated the coffin leaving a coin size hole near the top… Slick cut editing shows Sweeney revealing an empty grave and Shadow opening his hotel to Laura Moon, who casually remarks… 'Hi, puppy.’ Yup. You’re watching 'American Gods’.

#American Gods #STARZ #american gods starz #Shadow Moon #Laura Moon #mr wednesday #Ricky Whittle #Emily Browning #pablo schreiber #Mad Sweeney #Ian McShane #Gillian Anderson #Media #cloris leachman #zorya vechernyaya #zorya polunochnaya #zorya utrennyaya #zorya sisters #Peter Stornare #czernobog #erika kaar #Omid Abtahi #Chris Obi #Anubis #mousa kraish #The Jinn #Scott Thompson #Kevin Cage #Spotlight Saga #spotlightsaga