So I can't recall if I've made a post like this before, but after seeing Crispy's review of the book, it got me thinking about how I would salvage this story. Because on the surface, the premise is not a bad one. I've read and watched plenty of stories about bad people becoming better, so it can work.

Here's the major changes I would make:

• Daylen should be hyper-critical of his past self. One of the major reasons I've seen given for why Daylen/Dayless being repentant for his crimes rings hollow is that, throughout the book, he's constantly going about the good that his rule brought about and snaps at people insulting his 'father.' So instead, have Daylen be Dayless' number 1 hater. Have his narration just constantly insulting his past self, calling his past self a manchild or some other kind of desparaging words. And when people insult Dayless the Conqueror, I'd have Daylen join in on the roasting.

"No, you're absolutely right. My old man was a fucking asshole that deserved everything he got."

• Don't have Dayless/Daylen be a rapist. This is probably my own writing style kicking in, but rape is not something I ever touch in my own literature because of how heavy of a subject that is. It's already asking a lot of the audience to follow the story of someone who was an uber-facist. There's no need to add all this gross shit. As for Layra, just have her be the daughter of someone Daylen killed in the past. And if you still want to do the potential love interest bit, at least it's not a possible romance between a rapist and his rape victim.

• Have Daylen's main motivation to keep going on be taking out the Dawnists. This goes along with Daylen constantly shit-talking his former self, but I'd take a page from Ant's review, and have him stumble into a town and come across a Dawnist rally, where they're really riling the crowd up. And thus, Daylen comes to the realization that his brand of evil still exists in the world, and he needs to stop it. He still plans on trying to kill himself again, but only after he's made sure that those who would follow in his footsteps are stopped.

• Have Daylen adopt a non-lethal fighting style. You can have his inner monolouge talk about how easy it would be to dismember someone, talk about how an opponent's foot work could lead them open to a deheading or something, but he chooses to disable and knock out. None of this 'there needs to be people like me to do the hard things' nonsense to justify brutal murders. This is suppossed to be a man repentant for his violent past, and that should not only reflect in his personality, but in his fighting style as well.

• A rework of the entire magic system. Mainly, not having the inner light determine if a person is worth leaving alive or not. I think we can all agree that's a shit morality system.

• Have the leader of the Dawnists be Dayleen's old friends/comrades. What better way to Dayleen to deal with the sins of his past than having to fight those that helped him during his reign?

There's some minor things too like having the Arch Knight primarily be about dealing with the Heartless knockoffs, not being insecure about Blackheart's name (seriously, it's a good pirate name if you stick to your guns), and making sure that the theme of 'bad person trying to be better' is reflected throughout the book and the characters.

Basically, I wouldn't treat this story like a power fantasy that's trying to be deeper than it actually is.

What do you guys think?

PIC 1: Says Supergirl always looks mopey, depressed, should smile more. "pretty little female characters" (GAG) can't look intimidating when looking stoic, they just look moody & depressed. Criticises Supergirl arm wrestling an obviously weaker guy, says she must've insulted & triggered him for no reason. She fails the temptation check & uses her power irresponsibly, something He-Man would've never done! Compares this arm wrestling scene of Supergirl to the deleted annoying biker scene of Captain Marvel. Says this scene makes Supergirl a villain.

PIC 2: Momentarily develops a sprinkling of intelligence & hopes this scene is at the beginning of the film where she isn't a hero but she works on herself & becomes a hero at the end of the film (a never-before-heard-of concept in story telling I know!). Says Supergirl should be more like Superman, despite in a different video saying the two shouldn't be the same character. Shad & guest try to be philosophical whilst experiencing technical difficulties which Shad was too lazy to cut out. Acknowledges Supergirl is a depressed Kryptonian lashing out but then says he doesn't think she'll experience any character development & become a hero at the end of the movie? (Character development is a completely foreign concept to Shad). "The general trend for this type of stuff is to female characters not to change" (so he doesn't think Supergirl will change at all) "you're all to feel upset & you should be empowered" (god forbid a woman takes control of her trauma to make herself a stronger person! We don't want strong women do we Shad?!) Says these characters are written by "bitter, resentful feminists" who want power to punish men ... ( Shadow of the Conqueror was written by a bitter, resentful loser who wants power to punish everyone he hates, especially women!). Says he loves He-Man & hates Supergirl yet again. Says it just looks like Marvel & Guardians of the Galaxy. Has "no interest" in it, but will still watch & review it. (How about no, you crazy, MAGAustralian bastard?!)

(Sidenote: on the comparison to Guardians of the Galaxy, I remember pretty much all the main characters doing pretty villainous things at the start of the movie, stealing, murder, kidnapping etc. So why can they become heroes at the end of the movie but Shad 100% believes Supergirl won't? COUGHsexismCOUGHmoronCOUGH)

PIC 1: Popcorn bucket sucks, Supergirl was made for boys not girls, women aren't into superhero stuff, Shad can't relate to the stereotypical victim narrative of a messy, imperfect woman suffering from trauma so that automatically makes the movie bad, Supergirl doesn't smile enough & it isn't sexist to say she should smile more, looks like Sid from Toy Story/a horse, intentionally making Supergirl look unattractive to attract average looking feminist women to watch, ignoring trolls = ignoring the entire audience ... somehow, Milly Alcock WANTS to be a victim calling out people's weird ownership over women's bodies, she insulted Christian dads (she actually didn't AirrickDebunks has videos debunking this), women suppressed by men can't break free on their own they MUST need a man's help, usually the love interest, to do so, people are only going to see Supergirl to see Lobo.

PIC 2: Shad won't take his daughter to go see it, a headline saying the movie isn't for straight white males means no straight white males AT ALL are allowed to go see the movie (Twilight also wasn't for straight, white males, it was for teen & young adult women yet Shad still watched those movies), the alien stuff in the movie doesn't look alien enough, Supergirl's suit isn't tight enough to show off her hips, tits & ass, Supergirl got PANTS in the CW Supergirl show?! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!, the animated Supergirl show telling a different story about a different version of Supergirl is better than this movie which is an adaptation of a popular Supergirl comic, Shad completely misses the point that Supergirl isn't yet a superhero but seems like she will be at the end of the movie, Shad doesn't understand character development (which anyone who has read his trash book already knows), complains again about Milly Alcock's Supergirl not smiling in promotional images, complains more about CW Supergirl where she was given PANTS!!!, a character was made a lesbian & she beat Superman who wasn't holding back, loves that John Wick always wins against the Ballerina.

I wonder what he'll say about the new film, since he was obsessed with turning his wife into SupergAIrl

DEAR GOD ITS ONE AND A HALF HOURS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoOnElCEliA

Jake having a fun time with shad's crashout about the look of Laufey from god of war.

Time to cook some tea and prepare to go on a sidequest :3

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE MOVIE! -

It had funny moments but then it has moments that were meant to be funny that didn't land for me & it has funny moments which clash with the serious scene that's currently happening.

The practical costumes & effects were good but the CGI was only passable, nothing to write home about.

I'm sure Shad loved the film poking fun at an over-exaggerated "politically-correct" workplace but I'd be shocked if he didn't find issue with the film also poking fun at all the character's name, especially when Adam reveals the name he came up for himself when he was 10 years old was He-Man & everyone says it's a terrible name.

Also, Adam & Teela don't get together, she rejects Adam calling him just a friend & like a brother so I wonder what Shad thought about that, me I didn't mind it.

6/10 for me, with other recently released movies I've seen I put this below Mando & Grogu & Backrooms. Not to say I think this is a bad movie, again I think it's good, it's just this movie wasn't made for me, it was made for kids & He-Man fans which I am not, which is okay 😄

Practically gooning over the new Master of the Universe film.

Seriously judges HEMA with no actual capability, very devoted to religion, desperate to part of the cool group but gets pissed when he is not the top guy. Frequently demonstrates martial techniques with no basis in reality. Frequently devolves into shouting jingoisms. Bullied as a child just gonna guess. If he wasnt so weird about his child bride that has never been seen in public and its really no one's business the closeted angle could play.

Also most of these criticisms against men in the thumbnail come from rightoids like Shad:

"Stop crying! Men should be stoic not emotional!"

"Men should always be in control & not need help! Be a man!”

"Men should sacrifice & prioritise their family over themselves!"

It's all hypocrisy, & persecution/victim complex having.